When we compare the condition of the country at the present day with what it was one year ago at the meeting of Congress, we have much reason for gratitude to that Almighty Providence which has never failed to interpose for our relief at the most critical periods of our history. One year ago the sectional strife between the North and the South on the dangerous subject of slavery had again become so intense as to threaten the peace and perpetuity of the Confederacy. The application for the admission of Kansas as a State into the Union fostered this unhappy agitation and brought the whole subject once more before Congress. It was the desire of every patriot that such measures of legislation might be adopted as would remove the excitement from the States and confine it to the Territory where it legitimately belonged. Much has been done, I am happy to say, toward the accomplishment of this object during the last session of Congress. The Supreme Court of the United States had previously decided that all American citizens have an equal right to take into the Territories whatever is held as property under the laws of any of the States, and to hold such property there under the guardianship of the Federal Constitution so long as the Territorial condition shall remain. This is now a well-established position, and the proceedings of the last session were alone wanting to give it practical effect. The principle has been recognized in some form or other by an almost unanimous vote of both Houses of Congress that a Territory has a right to come into the Union either as a free or a slave State, according to the will of a majority of its people. The just equality of all the States has thus been vindicated and a fruitful source of dangerous dissension among them has been removed. Whilst such has been the beneficial tendency of your legislative proceedings outside of Kansas, their influence has nowhere been so happy as within that Territory itself. Left to manage and control its own affairs in its own way, without the pressure of external influence, the revolutionary Topeka organization and all resistance to the Territorial government established by Congress have been finally abandoned. As a natural consequence that fine Territory now appears to be tranquil and prosperous and is attracting increasing thousands of immigrants to make it their happy home. The past unfortunate experience of Kansas has enforced the lesson, so often already taught, that resistance to lawful authority under our form of government can not fail in the end to prove disastrous to its authors. Had the people of the Territory yielded obedience to the laws enacted by their legislature, it would at the present moment have contained a large additional population of industrious and enterprising citizens, who have been deterred from entering its borders by the existence of civil strife and organized rebellion. It was the resistance to rightful authority and the persevering attempts to establish a revolutionary government under the Topeka constitution which caused the people of Kansas to commit the grave error of refusing to vote for delegates to the convention to frame a constitution under a law not denied to be fair and just in its provisions. This refusal to vote has been the prolific source of all the evils which have followed, In their hostility to the Territorial government they disregarded the principle, absolutely essential to the working of our form of government, that a majority of those who vote, not the majority who may remain at home, from whatever cause, must decide the result of an election. For this reason, seeking to take advantage of their own error, they denied the authority of the convention thus elected to frame a constitution. The convention, notwithstanding, proceeded to adopt a constitution unexceptionable in its general features, and providing for the submission of the slavery question to a vote of the people, which, in my opinion, they were bound to do under the Kansas and Nebraska act. This was the all-important question which had alone convulsed the Territory; and yet the opponents of the lawful government, persisting in their first error, refrained from exercising their right to vote, and preferred that slavery should continue rather than surrender their revolutionary Topeka organization. A wiser and better spirit seemed to prevail before the first Monday of January last, when an election was held under the constitution. A majority of the people then voted for a governor and other State officers, for a Member of Congress and members of the State legislature. This election was warmly contested by the two political parties in Kansas, and a greater vote was polled than at any previous election. A large majority of the members of the legislature elect belonged to that party which had previously refused to vote. The antislavery party were thus placed in the ascendant, and the political power of the State was in their own hands. Had Congress admitted Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton constitution, the legislature might at its very first session have submitted the question to a vote of the people whether they would or would not have a convention to amend their constitution, either on the slavery or any other question, and have adopted all necessary means for giving speedy effect to the will of the majority. Thus the Kansas question would have been immediately and finally settled. Under these circumstances I submitted to Congress the constitution thus framed, with all the officers already elected necessary to put the State government into operation, accompanied by a strong recommendation in favor of the admission of Kansas as a State. In the course of my long public life I have never performed any official act which in the retrospect has afforded me more heartfelt satisfaction. Its admission could have inflicted no possible injury on any human being, whilst it would within a brief period have restored peace to Kansas and harmony to the Union. In that event the slavery question would ere this have been finally settled according to the legally expressed will of a majority of the voters, and popular sovereignty would thus have been vindicated in a constitutional manner. With my deep convictions of duty I could have pursued no other course. It is true that as an individual I had expressed an opinion, both before and during the session of the convention, in favor of submitting the remaining clauses of the constitution, as well as that concerning slavery, to the people. But, acting in an official character, neither myself nor any human authority had the power to rejudge the proceedings of the convention and declare the constitution which it had framed to be a nullity. To have done this would have been a violation of the Kansas and Nebraska act, which left the people of the Territory "perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." It would equally have violated the great principle of popular sovereignty, at the foundation of our institutions, to deprive the people of the power, if they thought proper to exercise it, of confiding to delegates elected by themselves the trust of framing a constitution without requiring them to subject their constituents to the trouble, expense, and delay of a second election. It would have been in opposition to many precedents in our history, commencing in the very best age of the Republic, of the admission of Territories as States into the Union without a previous vote of the people approving their constitution. It is to be lamented that a question so insignificant when viewed in its practical effects on the people of Kansas, whether decided one way or the other, should have kindled such a flame of excitement throughout the country. This reflection may prove to be a lesson of wisdom and of warning for our future guidance. Practically considered, the question is simply whether the people of that Territory should first come into the Union and then change any provision in their constitution not agreeable to themselves, or accomplish the very same object by remaining out of the Union and framing another constitution in accordance with their will. In either case the result would be precisely the same. The only difference, in point of fact, is that the object would have been much sooner attained and the pacification of Kansas more speedily effected had it been admitted as a State during the last session of Congress. My recommendation, however, for the immediate admission of Kansas failed to meet the approbation of Congress. They deemed it wiser to adopt a different measure for the settlement of the question. For my own part, I should have been willing to yield my assent to almost any constitutional measure to accomplish this object. I therefore cordially acquiesced in what has been called the English compromise and approved the "act for the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union" upon the terms therein prescribed. Under the ordinance which accompanied the Lecompton constitution the people of Kansas had claimed double the quantity of public lands for the support of common schools which had ever been previously granted to any State upon entering the Union, and also the alternate sections of land for 12 miles on each side of two railroads proposed to be constructed from the northern to the southern boundary and from the eastern to the western boundary of the State. Congress, deeming these claims unreasonable, provided by the act of May 4, 1858, to which I have just referred, for the admission of the State on an equal footing with the original States, but "upon the fundamental condition precedent" that a majority of the people thereof, at an election to be held for that purpose, should, in place of the very large grants of public lands which they had demanded under the ordinance, accept such grants as had been made to Minnesota and other new States. Under this act, should a majority reject the proposition offered them, "it shall be deemed and held that the people of Kansas do not desire admission into the Union with said constitution under the conditions set forth in said proposition." In that event the act authorizes the people of the Territory to elect delegates to form a constitution and State government for themselves "whenever, and not before, it is ascertained by a census, duly and legally taken, that the population of said Territory equals or exceeds the ratio of representation required for a member of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States." The delegates thus assembled "shall first determine by a vote whether it is the wish of the people of the proposed State to be admitted into the Union at that time, and, if so, shall proceed to form a constitution and take all necessary steps for the establishment of a State government in conformity with the Federal Constitution." After this constitution shall have been formed, Congress, carrying out the principles of popular sovereignty and nonintervention, have left "the mode and manner of its approval or ratification by the people of the proposed State" to be "prescribed by law," and they "shall then be admitted into the Union as a State under such constitution, thus fairly and legally made, with or without slavery, as said constitution may prescribe." An election was held throughout Kansas, in pursuance of the provisions of this act, on the 2d day of August last, and it resulted in the rejection by a large majority of the proposition submitted to the people by Congress. This being the case, they are now authorized to form another constitution, preparatory to admission into the Union, but not until their number, as ascertained by a census, shall equal or exceed the ratio required to elect a member to the House of Representatives. It is not probable, in the present state of the case, that a third constitution can be lawfully framed and presented to Congress by Kansas before its population shall have reached the designated number. Nor is it to be presumed that after their sad experience in resisting the Territorial laws they will attempt to adopt a constitution in express violation of the provisions of an act of Congress. During the session of 1856 much of the time of Congress was occupied on the question of admitting Kansas under the Topeka constitution. Again, nearly the whole of the last session was devoted to the question of its admission under the Lecompton constitution. Surely it is not unreasonable to require the people of Kansas to wait before making a third attempt until the number of their inhabitants shall amount to 93,420. During this brief period the harmony of the States as well as the great business interests of the country demand that the people of the Union shall not for a third time be convulsed by another agitation on the Kansas question. By waiting for a short time and acting in obedience to law Kansas will glide into the Union without the slightest impediment. This excellent provision, which Congress have applied to Kansas, ought to be extended and rendered applicable to all Territories which may hereafter seek admission into the Union. Whilst Congress possess the undoubted power of admitting a new State into the Union, however small may be the number of its inhabitants, yet this power ought not, in my opinion, to be exercised before the population shall amount to the ratio required by the act for the admission of Kansas. Had this been previously the rule, the country would have escaped all the evils and misfortunes to which it has been exposed by the Kansas question. Of course it would be unjust to give this rule a retrospective application, and exclude a State which, acting upon the past practice of the Government, has already formed its constitution, elected its legislature and other officers, and is now prepared to enter the Union. The rule ought to be adopted, whether we consider its bearing on the people of the Territories or upon the people of the existing States. Many of the serious dissentions which have prevailed in Congress and throughout the country would have been avoided had this rule been established at an earlier period of the Government. Immediately upon the formation of a new Territory people from different States and from foreign countries rush into it for the laudable purpose of improving their condition. Their first duty to themselves is to open and cultivate farms, to construct roads, to establish schools, to erect places of religious worship, and to devote their energies generally to reclaim the wilderness and to lay the foundations of a flourishing and prosperous commonwealth. If in this incipient condition, with a population of a few thousand, they should prematurely enter the Union, they are oppressed by the burden of State taxation, and the means necessary for the improvement of the Territory and the advancement of their own interests are thus diverted to very different purposes. The Federal Government has ever been a liberal parent to the Territories and a generous contributor to the useful enterprises of the early settlers. It has paid the expenses of their governments and legislative assemblies out of the common Treasury, and thus relieved them from a heavy charge. Under these circumstances nothing can be better calculated to retard their material progress than to divert them from their useful employments by prematurely exciting angry political contests among themselves for the benefit of aspiring leaders. It is surely no hardship for embryo governors, Senators, and Members of Congress to wait until the number of inhabitants shall equal those of a single Congressional district. They surely ought not to be permitted to rush into the Union with a population less than one-half of several of the large counties in the interior of some of the States. This was the condition of Kansas when it made application to be admitted under the Topeka constitution. Besides, it requires some time to render the mass of a population collected in a new Territory at all homogeneous and to unite them on anything like a fixed policy. Establish the rule, and all will look forward to it and govern themselves accordingly. But justice to the people of the several States requires that this rule should be established by Congress. Each State is entitled to two Senators and at least one Representative in Congress. Should the people of the States fail to elect a Vice-President, the power devolves upon the Senate to select this officer from the two highest candidates on the list. In case of the death of the President, the Vice-President thus elected by the Senate becomes President of the United States. On all questions of legislation the Senators from the smallest States of the Union have an equal vote with those from the largest. The same may be said in regard to the ratification of treaties and of Executive appointments. All this has worked admirably in practice, whilst it conforms in principle with the character of a Government instituted by sovereign States. I presume no American citizen would desire the slightest change in the arrangement. Still, is it not unjust and unequal to the existing States to invest some 40,000 or 50,000 people collected in a Territory with the attributes of sovereignty and place them on an equal footing with Virginia and New York in the Senate of the United States? For these reasons I earnestly recommend the passage of a general act which shall provide that, upon the application of a Territorial legislature declaring their belief that the Territory contains a number of inhabitants which, if in a State, would entitle them to elect a Member of Congress, it shall be the duty of the President to cause a census of the inhabitants to be taken, and if found sufficient then by the terms of this act to authorize them to proceed "in their own way" to frame a State constitution preparatory to admission into the Union. I also recommend that an appropriation may be made to enable the President to take a census of the people of Kansas. The present condition of the Territory of Utah, when contrasted with what it was one year ago, is a subject for congratulation. It was then in a state of open rebellion, and, cost what it might, the character of the Government required that this rebellion should be suppressed and the Mormons compelled to yield obedience to the Constitution and the laws. In order to accomplish this object, as I informed you in my last annual message, I appointed a new governor instead of Brigham Young, and other Federal officers to take the place of those who, consulting their personal safety, had found it necessary to withdraw from the Territory. To protect these civil officers, and to aid them, as a posse comitatus, in the execution of the laws in case of need, I ordered a detachment of the Army to accompany them to Utah. The necessity for adopting these measures is now demonstrated. On the 15th of September, 1857, Governor Young issued his proclamation, in the style of an independent sovereign, announcing his purpose to resist by force of arms the entry of the United States troops into our own Territory of Utah. By this he required all the forces in the Territory to "hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel any and all such invasion," and established martial law from its date throughout the Territory. These proved to be no idle threats. Forts Bridger and Supply were vacated and burnt down by the Mormons to deprive our troops of a shelter after their long and fatiguing march. Orders were issued by Daniel H. Wells, styling himself "Lieutenant General, Nauvoo Legion," to stampede the animals of the United States troops on their march, to set fire to their trains, to burn the grass and the whole country before them and on their flanks, to keep them from sleeping by night surprises, and to blockade the road by felling trees and destroying the fords of rivers, etc. These orders were promptly and effectually obeyed. On the 4th of October, 1857, the Mormons captured and burned, on Green River, three of our supply trains, consisting of seventy-five wagons loaded with provisions and tents for the army, and carried away several hundred animals. This diminished the supply of provisions so materially that General Johnston was obliged to reduce the ration, and even with this precaution there was only sufficient left to subsist the troops until the 1st of June. Our little army behaved admirably in their encampment at Fort Bridger under these trying privations. In the midst of the mountains, in a dreary, unsettled, and inhospitable region, more than a thousand miles from home, they passed the severe and inclement winter without a murmur. They looked forward with confidence for relief from their country in due season, and in this they were not disappointed. The Secretary of War employed all his energies to forward them the necessary supplies and to muster and send such a military force to Utah as would render resistance on the part of the Mormons hopeless, and thus terminate the war without the effusion of blood. In his efforts he was efficiently sustained by Congress. They granted appropriations sufficient to cover the deficiency thus necessarily created, and also provided for raising two regiments of volunteers "for the purpose of quelling disturbances in the Territory of Utah, for the protection of supply and emigrant trains, and the suppression of Indian hostilities on the frontiers." Happily, there was no occasion to call these regiments into service. If there had been, I should have felt serious embarrassment in selecting them, so great was the number of our brave and patriotic citizens anxious to serve their country in this distant and apparently dangerous expedition. Thus it has ever been, and thus may it ever be. The wisdom and economy of sending sufficient reenforcements to Utah are established, not only by the event, but in the opinion of those who from their position and opportunities are the most capable of forming a correct judgment. General Johnston, the commander of the forces, in addressing the Secretary of War from Fort Bridger under date of October 18, 1857, expresses the opinion that "unless a large force is sent here, from the nature of the country a protracted war on their [the Mormons's] part is inevitable." This he considered necessary to terminate the war "speedily and more economically than if attempted by insufficient means." In the meantime it was my anxious desire that the Mormons should yield obedience to the Constitution and the laws without rendering it necessary to resort to military force. To aid in accomplishing this object, I deemed it advisable in April last to dispatch two distinguished citizens of the United States, Messrs. Powell and McCulloch, to Utah. They bore with them a proclamation addressed by myself to the inhabitants of Utah, dated on the 6th day of that month, warning them of their true condition and how hopeless it was on their part to persist in rebellion against the United States, and offering all those who should submit to the laws a full pardon for their past seditions and treasons. At the same time I assured those who should persist in rebellion against the United States that they must expect no further lenity, but look to be rigorously dealt with according to their deserts. The instructions to these agents, as well as a copy of the proclamation and their reports, are herewith submitted. It will be seen by their report of the 3d of July last that they have fully confirmed the opinion expressed by General Johnston in the previous October as to the necessity of sending reenforcements to Utah. In this they state that they "are firmly impressed with the belief that the presence of the Army here and the large additional force that had been ordered to this Territory were the chief inducements that caused the Mormons to abandon the idea of resisting the authority of the United States. A less decisive policy would probably have resulted in a long, bloody, and expensive war." These gentlemen conducted themselves to my entire satisfaction and rendered useful services in executing the humane intentions of the Government. It also affords me great satisfaction to state that Governor Cumming has performed his duty in an able and conciliatory manner and with the happiest effect. I can not in this connection refrain from mentioning the valuable services of Colonel Thomas L. Kane, who, from motives of pure benevolence and without any official character or pecuniary compensation, visited Utah during the last inclement winter for the purpose of contributing to the pacification of the Territory. I am happy to inform you that the governor and other civil officers of Utah are now performing their appropriate functions without resistance. The authority of the Constitution and the laws has been fully restored and peace prevails throughout the Territory. A portion of the troops sent to Utah are now encamped in Cedar Valley, 44 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, and the remainder have been ordered to Oregon to suppress Indian hostilities. The march of the army to Salt Lake City through the IndianTerritory has had a powerful effect in restraining the hostile feelings against the United States which existed among the Indians in that region and in securing emigrants to the far West against their depredations. This will also be the means of establishing military posts and promoting settlements along the route. I recommend that the benefits of our land laws and preemption system be extended to the people of Utah by the establishment of a land office in that Territory. I have occasion also to congratulate you on the result of our negotiations with China. You were informed by my last annual message that our minister had been instructed to occupy a neutral position in the hostilities conducted by Great Britain and France against Canton. He was, however, at the same time directed to cooperate cordially with the British and French ministers in all peaceful measures to secure by treaty those just concessions to foreign commerce which the nations of the world had a right to demand. It was impossible for me to proceed further than this on my own authority without usurping the war-making power, which under the Constitution belongs exclusively to Congress. Besides, after a careful examination of the nature and extent of our grievances, I did not believe they were of such a pressing and aggravated character as would have justified Congress in declaring war against the Chinese Empire without first making another earnest attempt to adjust them by peaceful negotiation. I was the more inclined to this opinion because of the severe chastisement which had then but recently been inflicted upon the Chinese by our squadron in the capture and destruction of the Barrier forts to avenge an alleged insult to our flag. The event has proved the wisdom of our neutrality. Our minister has executed his instructions with eminent skill and ability. In conjunction with the Russian plenipotentiary, he has peacefully, but effectually, cooperated with the English and French plenipotentiaries, and each of the four powers has concluded a separate treaty with China of a highly satisfactory character. The treaty concluded by our own plenipotentiary will immediately be submitted to the Senate. I am happy to announce that through the energetic yet conciliatory efforts of our consul-general in Japan a new treaty has been concluded with that Empire, which may be expected materially to augment our trade and intercourse in that quarter and remove from our countrymen the disabilities which have heretofore been imposed upon the exercise of their religion. The treaty shall be submitted to the Senate for approval without delay. It is my earnest desire that every misunderstanding with the Government of Great Britain should be amicably and speedily adjusted. It has been the misfortune of both countries, almost ever since the period of the Revolution, to have been annoyed by a succession of irritating and dangerous questions, threatening their friendly relations. This has partially prevented the full development of those feelings of mutual friendship between the people of the two countries so natural in themselves and so conducive to their common interest. Any serious interruption of the commerce between the United States and Great Britain would be equally injurious to both. In fact, no two nations have ever existed on the face of the earth which could do each other so much good or so much harm. Entertaining these sentiments, I am gratified to inform you that the long-pending controversy between the two Governments in relation to the question of visitation and search has been amicably adjusted. The claim on the part of Great Britain forcibly to visit American vessels on the high seas in time of peace could not be sustained under the law of nations, and it had been overruled by her own most eminent jurists. This question was recently brought to an issue by the repeated acts of British cruisers in boarding and searching our merchant vessels in the Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent seas. These acts were the more injurious and annoying, as these waters are traversed by a large portion of the commerce and navigation of the United States and their free and unrestricted use is essential to the security of the coastwise trade between the different States of the Union. Such vexatious interruptions could not fail to excite the feelings of the country and to require the interposition of the Government. Remonstrances were addressed to the British Government against these violations of our rights of sovereignty, and a naval force was at the same time ordered to the Cuban waters with directions "to protect all vessels of the United States on the high seas from search or detention by the vessels of war of any other nation." These measures received the unqualified and even enthusiastic approbation of the American people. Most fortunately, however, no collision took place, and the British Government promptly avowed its recognition of the principles of international law upon this subject as laid down by the Government of the United States in the note of the Secretary of State to the British minister at Washington of April 10, 1858, which secure the vessels of the United States upon the high seas from visitation or search in time of peace under any circumstances whatever. The claim has been abandoned in a manner reflecting honor on the British Government and evincing a just regard for the law of nations, and can not fail to strengthen the amicable relations between the two countries. The British Government at the same time proposed to the United States that some mode should be adopted, by mutual arrangement between the two countries, of a character which may be found effective without being offensive, for verifying the nationality of vessels suspected on good grounds of carrying false colors. They have also invited the United States to take the initiative and propose measures for this purpose. Whilst declining to assume so grave a responsibility, the Secretary of State has informed the British Government that we are ready to receive any proposals which they may feel disposed to offer having this object in view, and to consider them in an amicable spirit. A strong opinion is, however, expressed that the occasional abuse of the flag of any nation is an evil far less to be deprecated than would be the establishment of any regulations which might be incompatible with the freedom of the seas. This Government has yet received no communication specifying the manner in which the British Government would propose to carry out their suggestion, and I am inclined to believe that no plan which can be devised will be free from grave embarrassments. Still, I shall form no decided opinion on the subject until I shall have carefully and in the best spirit examined any proposals which they may think proper to make. I am truly sorry I can not also inform you that the complications between Great Britain and the United States arising out of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty of April, 1850, have been finally adjusted. At the commencement of your last session I had reason to hope that, emancipating themselves from further unavailing discussions, the two Governments would proceed to settle the Central American questions in a practical manner, alike honorable and satisfactory to both; and this hope I have not yet abandoned. In my last annual message I stated that overtures had been made by the British Government for this purpose in a friendly spirit, which I cordially reciprocated. Their proposal was to withdraw these questions from direct negotiation between the two Governments, but to accomplish the same object by a negotiation between the British Government and each of the Central American Republics whose territorial interests are immediately involved. The settlement was to be made in accordance with the general tenor of the interpretation placed upon the Clayton and Bulwer treaty by the United States, with certain modifications. As negotiations are still pending upon this basis, it would not be proper for me now to communicate their present condition. A final settlement of these questions is greatly to be desired, as this would wipe out the last remaining subject of dispute between the two countries. Our relations with the great Empires of France and Russia, as well as with all other Governments on the continent of Europe, except that of Spain, continue to be of the most friendly character. With Spain our relations remain in an unsatisfactory condition. In my message of December last I informed you that our envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Madrid had asked for his recall, and it was my purpose to send out a new minister to that Court with special instructions on all questions pending between the two Governments, and with a determination to have them speedily and amicably adjusted if that were possible. This purpose has been hitherto defeated by causes which I need not enumerate. The mission to Spain has been intrusted to a distinguished citizen of Kentucky, who will proceed to Madrid without delay and make another and a final attempt to obtain justice from that Government. Spanish officials under the direct control of the Captain-General of Cuba have insulted our national flag and in repeated instances have from time to time inflicted injuries on the persons and property of our citizens. These have given birth to numerous claims against the Spanish Government, the merits of which have been ably discussed for a series of years by our successive diplomatic representatives. Notwithstanding this, we have not arrived at a practical result in any single instance, unless we may except the case of the Black Warrior, under the late Administration, and that presented an outrage of such a character as would have justified an immediate resort to war. All our attempts to obtain redress have been baffled and defeated. The frequent and oft-recurring changes in the Spanish ministry have been employed as reasons for delay. We have been compelled to wait again and again until the new minister shall have had time to investigate the justice of our demands. Even what have been denominated "the Cuban claims," in which more than 100 of our citizens are directly interested, have furnished no exception. These claims were for the refunding of duties unjustly exacted from American vessels at different custom-houses in Cuba so long ago as the year 1844. The principles upon which they rest are so manifestly equitable and just that, after a period of nearly ten years, in 1854 they were recognized by the Spanish Government. Proceedings were afterwards instituted to ascertain their amount, and this was finally fixed, according to their own statement (with which we were satisfied), at the sum of $128,635.54. Just at the moment, after a delay of fourteen years, when we had reason to expect that this sum would be repaid with interest, we have received a proposal offering to refund one-third of that amount ($42,878.41), but without interest, if we would accept this in full satisfaction. The offer is also accompanied by a declaration that this indemnification is not founded on any reason of strict justice, but is made as a special favor. One alleged cause for procrastination in the examination and adjustment of our claims arises from an obstacle which it is the duty of the Spanish Government to remove. Whilst the Captain-General of Cuba is invested with general despotic authority in the government of that island, the power is withheld from him to examine and redress wrongs committed by officials under his control on citizens of the United States. Instead of making our complaints directly to him at Havana, we are obliged to present them through our minister at Madrid. These are then referred back to the Captain-General for information, and much time is thus consumed in preliminary investigations and correspondence between Madrid and Cuba before the Spanish Government will consent to proceed to negotiation. Many of the difficulties between the two Governments would be obviated and a long train of negotiation avoided if the Captain-General were invested with authority to settle questions of easy solution on the spot, where all the facts are fresh and could be promptly and satisfactorily ascertained. We have hitherto in vain urged upon the Spanish Government to confer this power upon the Captain-General, and our minister to Spain will again be instructed to urge this subject on their notice. In this respect we occupy a different position from the powers of Europe. Cuba is almost within sight of our shores; our commerce with it is far greater than that of any other nation, including Spain itself, and our citizens are in habits of daily and extended personal intercourse with every part of the island. It is therefore a great grievance that when any difficulty occurs, no matter how unimportant, which might be readily settled at the moment, we should be obliged to resort to Madrid, especially when the very first step to be taken there is to refer it back to Cuba. The truth is that Cuba, in its existing colonial condition, is a constant source of injury and annoyance to the American people. It is the only spot in the civilized world where the African slave trade is tolerated, and we are bound by treaty with Great Britain to maintain a naval force on the coast of Africa, at much expense both of life and treasure, solely for the purpose of arresting slavers bound to that island. The late serious difficulties between the United States and Great Britain respecting the right of search, now so happily terminated, could never have arisen if Cuba had not afforded a market for slaves. As long as this market shall remain open there can be no hope for the civilization of benighted Africa. Whilst the demand for slaves continues in Cuba wars will be waged among the petty and barbarous chiefs in Africa for the purpose of seizing subjects to supply this trade. In such a condition of affairs it is impossible that the light of civilization and religion can ever penetrate these dark abodes. It has been made known to the world by my predecessors that the United States have on several occasions endeavored to acquire Cuba from Spain by honorable negotiation. If this were accomplished, the last relic of the African slave trade would instantly disappear. We would not, if we could, acquire Cuba in any other manner. This is due to our national character. All the territory which we have acquired since the origin of the Government has been by fair purchase from France, Spain, and Mexico or by the free and voluntary act of the independent State of Texas in blending her destinies with our own. This course we shall ever pursue, unless circumstances should occur which we do not now anticipate, rendering a departure from it clearly justifiable under the imperative and overruling law of self-preservation. The island of Cuba, from its geographical position, commands the mouth of the Mississippi and the immense and annually increasing trade, foreign and coastwise, from the valley of that noble river, now embracing half the sovereign States of the Union. With that island under the dominion of a distant foreign power this trade, of vital importance to these States, is exposed to the danger of being destroyed in time of war, and it has hitherto been subjected to perpetual injury and annoyance in time of peace. Our relations with Spain, which ought to be of the most friendly character, must always be placed in jeopardy whilst the existing colonial government over the island shall remain in its present condition. Whilst the possession of the island would be of vast importance to the United States, its value to Spain is comparatively unimportant. Such was the relative situation of the parties when the great Napoleon transferred Louisiana to the United States. Jealous as he ever was of the national honor and interests of France, no person throughout the world has imputed blame to him for accepting a pecuniary equivalent for this cession. The publicity which has been given to our former negotiations upon this subject and the large appropriation which may be required to effect the purpose render it expedient before making another attempt to renew the negotiation that I should lay the whole subject before Congress. This is especially necessary, as it may become indispensable to success that I should be intrusted with the means of making an advance to the Spanish Government immediately after the signing of the treaty, without awaiting the ratification of it by the Senate. I am encouraged to make this suggestion by the example of Mr. Jefferson previous to the purchase of Louisiana from France and by that of Mr. Polk in view of the acquisition of territory from Mexico. I refer the whole subject to Congress and commend it to their careful consideration. I repeat the recommendation made in my message of December last in favor of an appropriation "to be paid to the Spanish Government for the purpose of distribution among the claimants in the Amistad case." President Polk first made a similar recommendation in December, 1847, and it was repeated by my immediate predecessor in December, 1853. I entertain no doubt that indemnity is fairly due to these claimants under our treaty with Spain of October 27, 1795; and whilst demanding justice we ought to do justice. An appropriation promptly made for this purpose could not fail to exert a favorable influence on our negotiations with Spain. Our position in relation to the independent States south of us on this continent, and especially those within the limits of North America, is of a peculiar character. The northern boundary of Mexico is coincident with our own southern boundary from ocean to ocean, and we must necessarily feel a deep interest in all that concerns the well-being and the fate of so near a neighbor. We have always cherished the kindest wishes for the success of that Republic, and have indulged the hope that it might at last, after all its trials, enjoy peace and prosperity under a free and stable government. We have never hitherto interfered, directly or indirectly, with its internal affairs, and it is a duty which we owe to ourselves to protect the integrity of its territory against the hostile interference of any other power. Our geographical position, our direct interest in all that concerns Mexico, and our well-settled policy in regard to the North American continent render this an indispensable duty. Mexico has been in a state of constant revolution almost ever since it achieved its independence. One military leader after another has usurped the Government in rapid succession, and the various constitutions from time to time adopted have been set at naught almost as soon as they were proclaimed. The successive Governments have afforded no adequate protection, either to Mexican citizens or foreign residents, against lawless violence. Heretofore a seizure of the capital by a military chieftain has been generally followed by at least the nominal submission of the country to his rule for a brief period, but not so at the present crisis of Mexican affairs. A civil war has been raging for some time throughout the Republic between the central Government at the City of Mexico, which has endeavored to subvert the constitution last framed by military power, and those who maintain the authority of that constitution. The antagonist parties each hold possession of different States of the Republic, and the fortunes of the war are constantly changing. Meanwhile the most reprehensible means have been employed by both parties to extort money from foreigners, as well as natives, to carry on this ruinous contest. The truth is that this fine country, blessed with a productive soil and a benign climate, has been reduced by civil dissension to a condition of almost hopeless anarchy and imbecility. It would be vain for this Government to attempt to enforce payment in money of the claims of American citizens, now amounting to more than $10,000,000, against Mexico, because she is destitute of all pecuniary means to satisfy these demands. Our late minister was furnished with ample powers and instructions for the adjustment of all pending questions with the central Government of Mexico, and he performed his duty with zeal and ability. The claims of our citizens, some of them arising out of the violation of an express provision of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and others from gross injuries to persons as well as property, have remained unredressed and even unnoticed. Remonstrances against these grievances have been addressed without effect to that Government. Meantime in various parts of the Republic instances have been numerous of the murder, imprisonment, and plunder of our citizens by different parties claiming and exercising a local jurisdiction; but the central Government, although repeatedly urged thereto, have made no effort either to punish the authors of these outrages or to prevent their recurrence. No American citizen can now visit Mexico on lawful business without imminent danger to his person and property. There is no adequate protection to either, and in this respect our treaty with that Republic is almost a dead letter. This state of affairs was brought to a crisis in May last by the promulgation of a decree levying a contribution pro rata upon all the capital in the Republic between certain specified amounts, whether held by Mexicans or foreigners. Mr. Forsyth, regarding this decree in the light of a "forced loan," formally protested against its application to his countrymen and advised them not to pay the contribution, but to suffer it to be forcibly exacted. Acting upon this advice, an American citizen refused to pay the contribution, and his property was seized by armed men to satisfy the amount. Not content with this, the Government proceeded still further and issued a decree banishing him from the country. Our minister immediately notified them that if this decree should be carried into execution he would feel it to be his duty to adopt "the most decided measures that belong to the powers and obligations of the representative office." Notwithstanding this warning, the banishment was enforced, and Mr. Forsyth promptly announced to the Government the suspension of the political relations of his legation with them until the pleasure of his own Government should be ascertained. This Government did not regard the contribution imposed by the decree of the 15th May last to be in strictness a "forced loan," and as such prohibited by the tenth article of the treaty of 1826 between Great Britain and Mexico, to the benefits of which American citizens are entitled by treaty; yet the imposition of the contribution upon foreigners was considered an unjust and oppressive measure. Besides, internal factions in other parts of the Republic were at the same time levying similar exactions upon the property of our citizens and interrupting their commerce. There had been an entire failure on the part of our minister to secure redress for the wrongs which our citizens had endured, notwithstanding his persevering efforts. And from the temper manifested by the Mexican Government he had repeatedly assured us that no favorable change could be expected until the United States should "give striking evidence of their will and power to protect their citizens," and that "severe chastening is the only earthly remedy for our grievances." From this statement of facts it would have been worse than idle to direct Mr. Forsyth to retrace his steps and resume diplomatic relations with that Government, and it was therefore deemed proper to sanction his withdrawal of the legation from the City of Mexico. Abundant cause now undoubtedly exists for a resort to hostilities against the Government still holding possession of the capital. Should they succeed in subduing the constitutional forces, all reasonable hope will then have expired of a peaceful settlement of our difficulties. On the other hand, should the constitutional party prevail and their authority be established over the Republic, there is reason to hope that they will be animated by a less unfriendly spirit and may grant that redress to American citizens which justice requires so far as they may possess the means. But for this expectation I should at once have recommended to Congress to grant the necessary power to the President to take possession of a sufficient portion of the remote and unsettled territory of Mexico, to be held in pledge until our injuries shall be redressed and our just demands be satisfied. We have already exhausted every milder means of obtaining justice. In such a case this remedy of reprisals is recognized by the law of nations, not only as just in itself, but as a means of preventing actual war. But there is another view of our relations with Mexico, arising from the unhappy condition of affairs along our southwestern frontier, which demands immediate action. In that remote region, where there are but few white inhabitants, large bands of hostile and predatory Indians roam promiscuously over the Mexican States of Chihuahua and Sonora and our adjoining Territories. The local governments of these States are perfectly helpless and are kept in a state of constant alarm by the Indians. They have not the power, if they possessed the will, even to restrain lawless Mexicans from passing the border and committing depredations on our remote settlers. A state of anarchy and violence prevails throughout that distant frontier. The laws are a dead letter and life and property wholly insecure. For this reason the settlement of Arizona is arrested, whilst it is of great importance that a chain of inhabitants should extend all along its southern border sufficient for their own protection and that of the United States mail passing to and from California. Well-founded apprehensions are now entertained that the Indians and wandering Mexicans, equally lawless, may break up the important stage and postal communication recently established between our Atlantic and Pacific possessions. This passes very near to the Mexican boundary throughout the whole length of Arizona. I can imagine no possible remedy for these evils and no mode of restoring law and order on that remote and unsettled frontier but for the Government of the United States to assume a temporary protectorate over the northern portions of Chihuahua and Sonora and to establish military posts within the same; and this I earnestly recommend to Congress. This protection may be withdrawn as soon as local governments shall be established in these Mexican States capable of performing their duties to the United States, restraining the lawless, and preserving peace along the border. I do not doubt that this measure will be viewed in a friendly spirit by the governments and people of Chihuahua and Sonora, as it will prove equally effectual for the protection of their citizens on that remote and lawless frontier as for citizens of the United States. And in this connection permit me to recall your attention to the condition of Arizona. The population of that Territory, numbering, as is alleged, more than 10,000 souls, are practically without a government, without laws, and without any regular administration of justice. Murder and other crimes are committed with impunity. This state of things calls loudly for redress, and I therefore repeat my recommendation for the establishment of a Territorial government over Arizona. The political condition of the narrow isthmus of Central America, through which transit routes pass between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, presents a subject of deep interest to all commercial nations. It is over these transits that a large proportion of the trade and travel between the European and Asiatic continents is destined to pass. To the United States these routes are of incalculable importance as a means of communication between their Atlantic and Pacific possessions. The latter now extend throughout seventeen degrees of latitude on the Pacific coast, embracing the important State of California and the flourishing territories of Oregon and Washington. All commercial nations therefore have a deep and direct interest that these communications shall be rendered secure from interruption. If an arm of the sea connecting the two oceans penetrated through Nicaragua and Costa Rica, it could not be pretended that these States would have the right to arrest or retard its navigation to the injury of other nations. The transit by land over this narrow isthmus occupies nearly the same position. It is a highway in which they themselves have little interest when compared with the vast interests of the rest of the world. Whilst their rights of sovereignty ought to be respected, it is the duty of other nations to require that this important passage shall not be interrupted by the civil wars and revolutionary outbreaks which have so frequently occurred in that region. The stake is too important to be left at the mercy of rival companies claiming to hold conflicting contracts with Nicaragua. The commerce of other nations is not to stand still and await the adjustment of such petty controversies. The Government of the United States expect no more than this, and they will not be satisfied with less. They would not, if they could, derive any advantage from the Nicaragua transit not common to the rest of the World. Its neutrality and protection for the common use of all nations is their only object. They have no objection that Nicaragua shall demand and receive a fair compensation from the companies and individuals who may traverse the route, but they insist that it shall never hereafter be closed by an arbitrary decree of that Government. If disputes arise between it and those with whom they may have entered into contracts, these must be adjusted by some fair tribunal provided for the purpose, and the route must not be closed pending the controversy. This is our whole policy, and it can not fail to be acceptable to other nations. All these difficulties might be avoided if, consistently with the good faith of Nicaragua, the use of this transit could be thrown open to general competition, providing at the same time for the payment of a reasonable rate to the Nicaraguan Government on passengers and freight. In August, 1852, the Accessory Transit Company made its first interoceanic trip over the Nicaraguan route, and continued in successful operation, with great advantage to the public, until the 18th February, 1856, when it was closed and the grant to this company as well as its charter were summarily and arbitrarily revoked by the Government of President Rivas. Previous to this date, however, in 1854, serious disputes concerning the settlement of their accounts had arisen between the company and the Government, threatening the interruption of the route at any moment. These the United States in vain endeavored to compose. It would be useless to narrate the various proceedings which took place between the parties up till the time when the transit was discontinued. Suffice it to say that since February, 1856, it has remained closed, greatly to the prejudice of citizens of the United States. Since that time the competition has ceased between the rival routes of Panama and Nicaragua, and in consequence thereof an unjust and unreasonable amount has been exacted from our citizens for their passage to and from California A treaty was signed on the 16th day of November, 1857, by the Secretary of State and minister of Nicaragua, under the stipulations of which the use and protection of the transit route would have been secured, not only to the United States, but equally to all other nations. How and on what pretext this treaty has failed to receive the ratification of the Nicaraguan Government will appear by the papers herewith communicated from the State Department. The principal objection seems to have been to the provision authorizing the United States to employ force to keep the route open in case Nicaragua should fail to perform her duty in this respect. From the feebleness of that Republic, its frequent changes of government, and its constant internal dissensions, this had become a most important stipulation, and one essentially necessary, not only for the security of the route, but for the safety of American citizens passing and repassing to and from our Pacific possessions. Were such a stipulation embraced in a treaty between the United States and Nicaragua, the knowledge of this fact would of itself most probably prevent hostile parties from committing aggressions on the route, and render our actual interference for its protection unnecessary. The executive government of this country in its intercourse with foreign nations is limited to the employment of diplomacy alone. When this fails it can proceed no further. It can not legitimately resort to force without the direct authority of Congress, except in resisting and repelling hostile attacks. It would have no authority to enter the territories of Nicaragua even to prevent the destruction of the transit and protect the lives and property of our own citizens on their passage. It is true that on a sudden emergency of this character the President would direct any armed force in the vicinity to march to their relief, but in doing this he would act upon his own responsibility. Under these circumstances I earnestly recommend to Congress the passage of an act authorizing the president, under such restrictions as they may deem proper, to employ the land and naval forces of the United States in preventing the transit from being obstructed or closed by lawless violence, and in protecting the lives and property of American citizens traveling thereupon, requiring at the same time that these forces shall be withdrawn the moment the danger shall have passed away. Without such a provision our citizens will be constantly exposed to interruption in their progress and to lawless violence. A similar necessity exists for the passage of such an act for the protection of the Panama and Tehuantepec routes. In reference to the Panama route, the United States, by their existing treaty with New Granada, expressly guarantee the neutrality of the Isthmus, "with the view that the free transit from the one to the other sea may not be interrupted or embarrassed in any future time while this treaty exists." In regard to the Tehuantepec route, which has been recently opened under the most favorable auspices, our treaty with Mexico of the 30th December, 1853, secures to the citizens of the United States a right of transit over it for their persons and merchandise and stipulates that neither Government shall "interpose any obstacle" thereto. It also concedes to the United States the "right to transport across the Isthmus, in closed bags, the mails of the United States not intended for distribution along the line of the communication; also the effects of the United States Government and its citizens which may be intended for transit and not for distribution on the Isthmus, free of custom-house or other charges by the Mexican Government." These treaty stipulations with New Granada and Mexico, in addition to the considerations applicable to the Nicaragua route, seem to require legislation for the purpose of carrying them into effect. The injuries which have been inflicted upon our citizens in Costa Rica and Nicaragua during the last two or three years have received the prompt attention of this Government. Some of these injuries were of the most aggravated character. The transaction at Virgin Bay in April, 1856, when a company of unarmed Americans, who were in no way connected with any belligerent conduct or party, were fired upon by the troops of Costa Rica and numbers of them killed and wounded, was brought to the knowledge of Congress by my predecessor soon after its occurrence, and was also presented to the Government of Costa Rica for that immediate investigation and redress which the nature of the case demanded. A similar course was pursued with reference to other outrages in these countries, some of which were hardly less aggravated in their character than the transaction at Virgin Bay. At the time, however, when our present minister to Nicaragua was appointed, in December, 1857, no redress had been obtained for any of these wrongs and no reply even had been received to the demands which had been made by this Government upon that of Costa Rica more than a year before. Our minister was instructed, therefore, to lose no time in expressing to those Governments the deep regret with which the President had witnessed this inattention to the just claims of the United States and in demanding their prompt and satisfactory adjustment. Unless this demand shall be complied with at an early day it will only remain for this Government to adopt such other measures as may be necessary in order to obtain for itself that justice which it has in vain attempted to secure by peaceful means from the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. While it has shown, and will continue to show, the most sincere regard for the rights and honor of these Republics, it can not permit this regard to be met by an utter neglect on their part of what is due to the Government and citizens of the United States. Against New Granada we have long-standing causes of complaint, arising out of the unsatisfied claims of our citizens upon that Republic, and to these have been more recently added the outrages committed upon our citizens at Panama in April, 1856. A treaty for the adjustment of these difficulties was concluded by the Secretary of State and the minister of New Granada in September, 1857, which contained just and acceptable provisions for that purpose. This treaty was transmitted to Bogota and was ratified by the Government of New Granada, but with certain amendments. It was not, however, returned to this city until after the close of the last session of the Senate. It will be immediately transmitted to that body for their advice and consent, and should this be obtained it will remove all our existing causes of complaint against New Granada on the subject of claims. Questions have arisen between the two Governments as to the right of New Granada to levy a tonnage duty upon the vessels of the United States in its ports of the Isthmus and to levy a passenger tax upon our citizens arriving in that country, whether with a design to remain there or to pass from ocean to ocean by the transit route; and also a tax upon the mail of the United States transported over the Panama Railroad. The Government of New Granada has been informed that the United States would consider the collection of either of these taxes as an act in violation of the treaty between the two countries, and as such would be resisted by the United States. At the same time, we are prepared to discuss these questions in a spirit of amity and justice and with a sincere desire to adjust them in a satisfactory manner. A negotiation for that purpose has already been commenced. No effort has recently been made to collect these taxes nor is any anticipated under present circumstances. With the Empire of Brazil our relations are of the most friendly character. The productions of the two countries, and especially those of an agricultural nature, are such as to invite extensive mutual exchanges. A large quantity of American flour is consumed in Brazil, whilst more than treble the amount in value of Brazilian coffee is consumed in the United States. Whilst this is the case, a heavy duty has been levied until very recently upon the importation of American flour into Brazil. I am gratified, however, to be able to inform you that in September last this has been reduced from $1.32 to about 49 cents per barrel, and the duties on other articles of our production have been diminished in nearly the same proportion. I regret to state that the Government of Brazil still continues to levy an export duty of about 11 per cent on coffee, notwithstanding this article is admitted free from duty in the United States. This is a heavy charge upon the consumers of coffee in our country, as we purchase half of the entire surplus crop of that article raised in Brazil. Our minister, under instructions, will reiterate his efforts to have this export duty removed, and it is hoped that the enlightened Government of the Emperor will adopt this wise, just, and equal policy. In that event, there is good reason to believe that the commerce between the two countries will greatly increase, much to the advantage of both. The claims of our citizens against the Government of Brazil are not in the aggregate of very large amount; but some of these rest upon plain principles of justice and their settlement ought not to be longer delayed. A renewed and earnest, and I trust a successful, effort will be made by our minister to procure their final adjustment. On the 2d of June last Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the President "to adopt such measures and use such force as in his judgment may be necessary and advisable" "for the the purpose of the differences between the United States and the Republic of Paraguay, in connection with the attack on the United States steamer Water Witch and with other measures referred to" in his annual message, and on the 12th of July following they made an appropriation to defray the expenses and compensation of a commissioner to that Republic should the President deem it proper to make such all appointment. In compliance with these enactments, I have appointed a commissioner, who has proceeded to Paraguay with full powers and instructions to settle these differences in an amicable and peaceful manner if this be practicable. His experience and discretion justify the hope that he may prove successful in convincing the Paraguayan Government that it is due both to honor and justice that they should voluntarily and promptly make atonement for the wrongs which they have committed against the United States and indemnify our injured citizens whom they have forcibly despoiled of their property. Should our commissioner prove unsuccessful after a sincere and earnest effort to accomplish the object of his mission, then no alternative will remain but the employment of force to obtain "just satisfaction" from Paraguay. In view of this contingency, the Secretary of the Navy, under my direction, has fitted out and dispatched a naval force to rendezvous near Buenos Ayres, which, it is believed, will prove sufficient for the occasion. It is my earnest desire, however, that it may not be found necessary to resort to this last alternative. When Congress met in December last the business of the country had just been crushed by one of those periodical revulsions which are the inevitable consequence of our unsound and extravagant system of bank credits and inflated currency. With all the elements of national wealth in abundance, our manufactures were suspended, our useful public and private enterprises were arrested, and thousands of laborers were deprived of employment and reduced to want. Universal distress prevailed among the commercial, manufacturing, and mechanical classes. This revulsion was felt the more severely in the United States because similar causes had produced the like deplorable effects throughout the commercial nations of Europe. All were experiencing sad reverses at the same moment. Our manufacturers everywhere suffered severely, not because of the recent reduction in the tariff of duties on imports, but because there was no demand at any price for their productions. The people were obliged to restrict themselves in their purchases to articles of prime necessity. In the general prostration of business the iron manufacturers in different States probably suffered more than any other class, and much destitution was the inevitable consequence among the great number of workmen who had been employed in this useful branch of industry. There could be no supply where there was no demand. To present an example, there could be no demand for railroad iron after our magnificent system of railroads, extending its benefits to every portion of the Union, had been brought to a dead pause. The same consequences have resulted from similar causes to many other branches of useful manufactures. It is self-evident that where there is no ability to purchase manufactured articles these can not be sold, and consequently must cease to be produced. No government, and especially a government of such limited powers as that of the United States, could have prevented the late revulsion. The whole commercial world seemed for years to have been rushing to this catastrophe. The same ruinous consequences would have followed in the United States whether the duties upon foreign imports had remained as they were under the tariff of 1846 or had been raised to a much higher standard. The tariff of 1857 had no agency in the result. The general causes existing throughout the world could not have been controlled by the legislation of any particular country. The periodical revulsions which have existed in our past history must continue to return at intervals so long as our present unbounded system of bank credits shall prevail. They will, however, probably be the less severe in future, because it is not to be expected, at least for many years to come, that the commercial nations of Europe, with whose interests our own are so materially involved, will expose themselves to similar calamities. But this subject was treated so much at large in my last annual message that I shall not now pursue it further. Still, I respectfully renew the recommendation in favor of the passage of a uniform bankrupt law applicable to banking institutions. This is all the direct power over the subject which I believe the Federal Government possesses. Such a law would mitigate, though it might not prevent, the evil. The instinct of self-preservation might produce a wholesome restraint upon their banking business if they knew in advance that a suspension of specie payments would inevitably produce their civil death. But the effects of the revulsion are now slowly but surely passing away. The energy and enterprise of our citizens, with our unbounded resources, will within the period of another year restore a state of wholesome industry and trade. Capital has again accumulated in our large cities. The rate of interest is there very low. Confidence is gradually reviving, and so soon as it is discovered that this capital can be profitably employed in commercial and manufacturing enterprises and in the construction of railroads and other works of public and private improvement prosperity will again smile throughout the land. It is vain, however, to disguise the fact from ourselves that a speculative inflation of our currency without a corresponding inflation in other countries whose manufactures come into competition with our own must ever produce disastrous results to our domestic manufactures. No tariff short of absolute prohibition can prevent these evil consequences. In connection with this subject it is proper to refer to our financial condition. The same causes which have produced pecuniary distress throughout the country have so reduced the amount of imports from foreign countries that the revenue has proved inadequate to meet the necessary expenses of the Government. To supply the deficiency, Congress, by the act of December 23, 1857, authorized the issue of $20,000,000 of Treasury notes; and this proving inadequate, they authorized, by the act of June 14, 1858, a loan of $20,000,000," to be applied to the payment of appropriations made by law." No statesman would advise that we should go on increasing the national debt to meet the ordinary expenses of the Government. This would be a most ruinous policy. In case of war our credit must be our chief resource, at least for the first year, and this would be greatly impaired by having contracted a large debt in time of peace. It is our true policy to increase our revenue so as to equal our expenditures. It would be ruinous to continue to borrow. Besides, it may be proper to observe that the incidental protection thus afforded by a revenue tariff would at the present moment to some extent increase the confidence of the manufacturing interests and give a fresh impulse to our reviving business. To this surely no person will object. In regard to the mode of assessing and collecting duties under a strictly revenue tariff, I have long entertained and often expressed the opinion that sound policy requires this should be done by specific duties in cases to which these can be properly applied. They are well adapted to commodities which are usually sold by weight or by measure, and which from their nature are of equal or of nearly equal value. Such, for example, are the articles of iron of different classes, raw sugar, and foreign wines and spirits. In my deliberate judgment specific duties are the best, if not the only, means of securing the revenue against false and fraudulent invoices, and such has been the practice adopted for this purpose by other commercial nations. Besides, specific duties would afford to the American manufacturer the incidental advantages to which he is fairly entitled under a revenue tariff. The present system is a sliding scale to his disadvantage. Under it, when prices are high and business prosperous, the duties rise in amount when he least requires their aid. On the contrary, when prices fall and he is struggling against adversity, the duties are diminished in the same proportion, greatly to his injury. Neither would there be danger that a higher rate of duty than that intended by Congress could be levied in the form of specific duties. It would be easy to ascertain the average value of any imported article for a series of years, and, instead of subjecting it to an ad valorem duty at a certain rate per centum, to substitute in its place an equivalent specific duty. By such an arrangement the consumer would not be injured. It is true he might have to pay a little more duty on a given article in one year, but, if so, he would pay a little less in another, and in a series of years these would counterbalance each other and amount to the same thing so far as his interest is concerned. This inconvenience would be trifling when contrasted with the additional security thus afforded against frauds upon the revenue, in which every consumer is directly interested. I have thrown out these suggestions as the fruit of my own observation, to which Congress, in their better judgment, will give such weight as they may justly deserve. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will explain in detail the operations of that Department of the Government. The receipts into the Treasury from all sources during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1858, including the Treasury notes authorized by the act of December 23, 1857, were $70,273,869.59, which amount, with the balance of $17,710,114.27 remaining in the Treasury at the commencement of the year, made an aggregate for the service of the year of $87,983,983.86. The public expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1858, amounted to $81,585,667.76, of which $9,684,537.99 were applied to the payment of the public debt and the redemption of Treasury notes with the interest thereon, leaving in the Treasury on July 1, 1858, being the commencement of the present fiscal year, $6,398,316.10. The receipts into the Treasury during the first quarter of the present fiscal year, commencing the 1st of July, 1858, including one-half of the loan of $20,000,000, with the premium upon it, authorized by the act of June 14, 1858, were $25,230,879.46, and the estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters to the 30th of June, 1859, from ordinary sources are $38,500,000, making, with the balance before stated, an aggregate of $70,129,195.56. The expenditures during the first quarter of the present fiscal year were $21,708,198.51, of which $1,010,142.37 were applied to the payment of the public debt and the redemption of Treasury notes and the interest thereon. The estimated expenditures during the remaining three quarters to June 30, 1859, are $52,357,698.48, making an aggregate of $74,065,896.99, being an excess of expenditure beyond the estimated receipts into the Treasury from ordinary sources during the fiscal year to the 30th of June, 1859, of $3,936,701.43. Extraordinary means are placed by law within the command of the Secretary of the Treasury, by the reissue of Treasury notes redeemed and by negotiating the balance of the loan authorized by the act of June 14, 1858, to the extent of $11,000,000, which, if realized during the present fiscal year, will leave a balance in the Treasury on the 1st day of July, 1859, of $7,063,298.57. The estimated receipts during the next fiscal year, ending June 30, 1860, are $62,000,000, which, with the above-estimated balance of $7,063,298.57 make an aggregate for the service of the next fiscal year of $69,063,298.57. The estimated expenditures during the next fiscal year, ending June 30, 1860, are $73,139,147.46, which leaves a deficit of estimated means, compared with the estimated expenditures, for that year, commencing on July 1, 1859, of $4,075,848.89. In addition to this sum the Postmaster-General will require from the Treasury for the service of the Post-Office Department $3,838,728, as explained in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which will increase the estimated deficit on June 30, 1860, to $7,914,576.89. To provide for the payment of this estimated deficiency, which will be increased by such appropriations as may be made by Congress not estimated for in the report of the Treasury Department, as well as to provide for the gradual redemption from year to year of the outstanding Treasury notes, the Secretary of the Treasury recommends such a revision of the present tariff as will raise the required amount. After what I have already said I need scarcely add that I concur in the opinion expressed in his report--that the public debt should not be increased by an additional loan--and would therefore strongly urge upon Congress the duty of making at their present session the necessary provision for meeting these liabilities. The public debt on July 1, 1858, the commencement of the present fiscal year, was $25,155,977.66. During the first quarter of the present year the sum of $10,000,000 has been negotiated of the loan authorized by the act of June 14, 1858, making the present outstanding public debt, exclusive of Treasury notes, $35,155,977.66. There was on the 1st of July, 1858, of Treasury notes issued by authority of the act of December 23, 1857, unredeemed, the sum of $19,754,800, making the amount of actual indebtedness at that date $54,910,777.66. To this will be added $10,000,000 during the present fiscal year, this being the remaining half of the loan of $20,000,000 not yet negotiated. The rapid increase of the public debt and the necessity which exists for a modification of the tariff to meet even the ordinary expenses of the Government ought to admonish us all, in our respective spheres of duty, to the practice of rigid economy. The objects of expenditure should be limited in number, as far as this may be practicable, and the appropriations necessary to carry them into effect ought to be disbursed under the strictest accountability. Enlightened economy does not consist in the refusal to appropriate money for constitutional purposes essential to the defense, progress, and prosperity of the Republic, but in taking care that none of this money shall be wasted by mismanagement in its application to the objects designated by law. Comparisons between the annual expenditure at the present time and what it was ten or twenty years ago are altogether fallacious. The rapid increase of our country in extent and population renders a corresponding increase of expenditure to some extent unavoidable. This is constantly creating new objects of expenditure and augmenting the amount required for the old. The true questions, then, are, Have these objects been unnecessarily multiplied, or has the amount expended upon any or all of them been larger than comports with due economy? In accordance with these principles, the heads of the different Executive Departments of the Government have been instructed to reduce their estimates for the next fiscal year to the lowest standard consistent with the efficiency of the service, and this duty they have performed in a spirit of just economy. The estimates of the Treasury, War, Navy, and Interior Departments have each been in some degree reduced, and unless a sudden and unforeseen emergency should arise it is not anticipated that a deficiency will exist in either within the present or the next fiscal year. The Post-Office Department is placed in a peculiar position, different from the other Departments, and to this I shall hereafter refer. I invite Congress to institute a rigid scrutiny to ascertain whether the expenses in all the Departments can not be still further reduced, and I promise them all the aid in my power in pursuing the investigation. I transmit herewith the reports made to me by the Secretaries of War, of the Navy, of the Interior, and of the Postmaster-General. They each contain valuable information and important recommendations, to which I invite the attention of Congress. In my last annual message I took occasion to recommend the immediate construction of ten small steamers of light draft, for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the Navy. Congress responded to the recommendation by authorizing the construction of eight of them. The progress which has been made in executing this authority is stated in the report of the Secretary of the Navy. I concur with him in the opinion that a greater number of this class of vessels is necessary for the purpose of protecting in a more efficient manner the persons and property of American citizens on the high seas and in foreign countries, as well as in guarding more effectually our own coasts. I accordingly recommend the passage of an act for this purpose. The suggestions contained in the report of the Secretary of the Interior, especially those in regard to the disposition of the public domain, the pension and bounty-land system, the policy toward the Indians, and the amendment of our patent laws, are worthy of the serious consideration of Congress. The Post-Office Department occupies a position very different from that of the other Departments. For many years it was the policy of the Government to render this a self-sustaining Department; and if this can not now be accomplished, in the present condition of the country, we ought to make as near an approach to it as may be practicable. The Postmaster-General is placed in a most embarrassing position by the existing laws. He is obliged to carry these into effect. He has no other alternative. He finds, however, that this can not be done without heavy demands upon the Treasury over and above what is received for postage, and these have been progressively increasing from year to year until they amounted for the last fiscal year, ending on the 30th of June, 1858, to more than $4,500,000, whilst it is estimated that for the present fiscal year they will amount to $6,290,000. These sums are exclusive of the annual appropriation of $700,000 for "compensation for the mail service performed for the two Houses of Congress and the other Departments and officers of the Government in the transmission of free matter." The cause of these large deficits is mainly attributable to the increased expense of transporting the mails. In 1852 the sum paid for this service was but a fraction above four millions and a quarter. Since that year it has annually increased, until in 1858 it has reached more than eight millions and a quarter, and for the service of 1859 it is estimated that it will amount to more than $10,000,000. The receipts of the Post-Office Department can be made to approach or to equal its expenditure only by means of the legislation of Congress. In applying any remedy care should be taken that the people shall not be deprived of the advantages which they are fairly entitled to enjoy from the Post-Office Department. The principal remedies recommended to the consideration of Congress by the Postmaster-General are to restore the former rate of postage upon single letters to 5 cents; to substitute for the franking privilege the delivery to those now entitled to enjoy it of post-office stamps for their correspondence, and to direct the Department in making contracts for the transportation of the mail to confine itself to the payment of the sum necessary for this single purpose, without requiring it to be transported in post coaches or carriages of any particular description. Under the present system the expense to the Government is greatly increased by requiring that the mail shall be carried in such vehicles as will accommodate passengers. This will be done, without pay from the Department, over all roads where the travel will remunerate the contractors. These recommendations deserve the grave consideration of Congress. I would again call your attention to the construction of a Pacific railroad. Time and reflection have but served to confirm me in the truth and justice of the observations which I made on this subject in my last annual message, to which I beg leave respectfully to refer. It is freely admitted that it would be inexpedient for this Government to exercise the power of constructing the Pacific railroad by its own immediate agents. Such a policy would increase the patronage of the Executive to a dangerous extent, and introduce a system of jobbing and corruption which no vigilance on the part of Federal officials could either prevent or detect. This can only be done by the keen eye and active and careful supervision of individual and private interest. The construction of this road ought therefore to be committed to companies incorporated by the States or other agencies whose pecuniary interests would be directly involved. Congress might then assist them in the work by grants of land or of money, or both, under such conditions and restrictions as would secure the transportation of troops and munitions of war free from any charge and that of the United States mail at a fair and reasonable price. The progress of events since the commencement of your last session has shown how soon difficulties disappear before a firm and determined resolution. At that time such a road was deemed by wise and patriotic men to be a visionary project. The great distance to be overcome and the intervening mountains and deserts in the way were obstacles which, in the opinion of many, could not be surmounted. Now, after the lapse of but a single year, these obstacles, it has been discovered, are far less formidable than they were supposed to be, and mail stages with passengers now pass and repass regularly twice in each week, by a common wagon road, between San Francisco and St. Louis and Memphis in less than twenty-five days. The service has been as regularly performed as it was in former years between New York and this city. Whilst disclaiming all authority to appropriate money for the construction of this road, except that derived from the war-making power of the Constitution, there are important collateral considerations urging us to undertake the work as speedily as possible. The first and most momentous of these is that such a road would be a powerful bond of union between the States east and west of the Rocky Mountains. This is so self-evident as to require no illustration. But again, in a commercial point of view, I consider this the great question of the day. With the eastern front of our Republic stretching along the Atlantic and its western front along the Pacific, if all the parts should be united by a safe, easy, and rapid intercommunication we must necessarily command a very large proportion of the trade both of Europe and Asia. Our recent treaties with China and Japan will open these rich and populous Empires to our commerce; and the history of the world proves that the nation which has gained possession of the trade with eastern Asia has always become wealthy and powerful. The peculiar geographical position of California and our Pacific possessions invites American capital and enterprise into this fruitful field. To reap the rich harvest, however, it is an indispensable prerequisite that we shall first have a railroad to convey and circulate its products throughout every portion of the Union. Besides, such a railroad through our temperate latitude, which would not be impeded by the frosts and snows of winter nor by the tropical heats of summer, would attract to itself much of the travel and the trade of all nations passing between Europe and Asia. On the 21st of August last Lieutenant J. N. Maffit, of the United States brig Dolphin, captured the slaver Echo (formerly the Putnam, of New Orleans) near Kay Verde, on the coast of Cuba, with more than 300 African negroes on board. The prize, under the command of Lieutenant Bradford, of the United States Navy, arrived at Charleston on the 27th August, when the negroes, 306 in number, were delivered into the custody of the United States marshal for the district of South Carolina. They were first placed in Castle Pinckney, and afterwards in Fort Sumter, for safe-keeping, and were detained there until the 19th September, when the survivors, 271 in number, were delivered on board the United States steamer Niagara to be transported to the coast of Africa under the charge of the agent of the United States, pursuant to the provisions of the act of the 3d March, 1819, "in addition to the acts prohibiting the slave trade." Under the second section of this act the President is "authorized to make such regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient for the safe-keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United States of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color" captured by vessels of the United States as may be delivered to the marshal of the district into which they are brought, "and to appoint a proper person or persons residing upon the coast of Africa as agent or agents for receiving the negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color delivered from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave trade by commanders of United States armed vessels." A doubt immediately arose as to the true construction of this act. It is quite clear from its terms that the President was authorized to provide "for the safe-keeping, support, and removal" of these negroes up till the time of their delivery to the agent on the coast of Africa, but no express provision was made for their protection and support after they had reached the place of their destination. Still, an agent was to be pointed to receive them in Africa, and it could not have been supposed that Congress intended he should desert them at the moment they were received and turn them loose on that inhospitable coast to perish for want of food or to become again the victims of the slave trade. Had this been the intention of Congress, the employment of an agent to receive them, who is required to reside on the coast, was unnecessary, and they might have been landed by our vessels anywhere in Africa and left exposed to the sufferings and the fate which would certainly await them. Mr. Monroe, in his special message of December 17, 1819, at the first session after the act was passed, announced to Congress what in his opinion was its true construction. He believed it to be his duty under it to follow these unfortunates into Africa and make provision for them there until they should be able to provide for themselves. In communicating this interpretation of the act to Congress he stated that some doubt had been entertained as to its true intent and meaning, and he submitted the question to them so that they might, "should it be deemed advisable, amend the same before further proceedings are had under it." Nothing was done by Congress to explain the act, and Mr. Monroe proceeded to carry it into execution according to his own interpretation. This, then, became the practical construction. When the Africans from on board the Echo were delivered to the marshal at Charleston, it became my duty to consider what disposition ought to be made of them under the law. For many reasons it was expedient to remove them from that locality as speedily as possible. Although the conduct of the authorities and citizens of Charleston in giving countenance to the execution of the law was just what might have been expected from their high character, yet a prolonged continuance of 300 Africans in the immediate vicinity of that city could not have failed to become a source of inconvenience and anxiety to its inhabitants. Where to send them was the question. There was no portion of the coast of Africa to which they could be removed with any regard to humanity except to Liberia. Under these circumstances an agreement was entered into with the Colonization Society on the 7th of September last, a copy of which is herewith transmitted, under which the society engaged, for the consideration of $45,000, to receive these Africans in Liberia from the agent of the United States and furnish them during the period of one year thereafter with comfortable shelter, clothing, provisions, and medical attendance, causing the children to receive schooling, and all, whether children or adults, to be instructed in the arts of civilized life suitable to their condition. This aggregate of $45,000 was based upon an allowance of $150 for each individual; and as there has been considerable mortality among them and may be more before they reach Africa, the society have agreed, in an equitable spirit, to make such a deduction from the amount as under the circumstances may appear just and reasonable. This can not be fixed until we shall ascertain the actual number which may become a charge to the society. It was also distinctly agreed that under no circumstances shall this Government be called upon for any additional expenses. The agents of the society manifested a laudable desire to conform to the wishes of the Government throughout the transaction. They assured me that after a careful calculation they would be required to expend the sum of $150 on each individual in complying with the agreement, and they would have nothing left to remunerate them for their care, trouble, and responsibility. At all events, I could make no better arrangement, and there was no other alternative. During the period when the Government itself, through its own agents, undertook the task of providing for captured negroes in Africa the cost per head was very much greater. There having been no outstanding appropriation applicable to this purpose, I could not advance any money on the agreement. I therefore recommend that an appropriation may be made of the amount necessary to carry it into effect. Other captures of a similar character may, and probably will, be made by our naval forces, and I earnestly recommend that Congress may amend the second section of the act of March 3, 1819, so as to free its construction from the ambiguity which has so long existed and render the duty of the President plain in executing its provisions. I recommend to your favorable regard the local interests of the District of Columbia. As the residence of Congress and the Executive Departments of the Government, we can not fail to feel a deep concern in its welfare. This is heightened by the high character and the peaceful and orderly conduct of its resident inhabitants. I can not conclude without performing the agreeable duty of expressing my gratification that Congress so kindly responded to the recommendation of my last annual message by affording me sufficient time before the close of their late session for the examination of all the bills presented to me for approval. This change in the practice of Congress has proved to be a wholesome reform. It exerted a beneficial influence on the transaction of legislative business and elicited the general approbation of the country. It enabled Congress to adjourn with that dignity and deliberation so becoming to the representatives of this great Republic, without having crowded into general appropriation bills provisions foreign to their nature and of doubtful constitutionality and expediency. Let me warmly and strongly commend this precedent established by themselves as a guide to their proceedings during the present session.
When we compare the condition of the country at the present day with what it was one year ago at the meeting of Congress, we have much reason for gratitude to that Almighty Providence which has never failed to interpose for our relief at the most critical periods of our history. One year ago the sectional strife between the North and the South on the dangerous subject of slavery had again become so intense as to threaten the peace and perpetuity of the Confederacy. The application for the admission of Kansas as a State into the Union fostered this unhappy agitation and brought the whole subject once more before Congress. It was the desire of every patriot that such measures of legislation might be adopted as would remove the excitement from the States and confine it to the Territory where it legitimately belonged. Much has been done, I am happy to say, toward the accomplishment of this object during the last session of Congress. The Supreme Court of the United States had previously decided that all American citizens have an equal right to take into the Territories whatever is held as property under the laws of any of the States, and to hold such property there under the guardianship of the Federal Constitution so long as the Territorial condition shall remain. This is now a well-established position, and the proceedings of the last session were alone wanting to give it practical effect. The principle has been recognized in some form or other by an almost unanimous vote of both Houses of Congress that a Territory has a right to come into the Union either as a free or a slave State, according to the will of a majority of its people. The just equality of all the States has thus been vindicated and a fruitful source of dangerous dissension among them has been removed. Whilst such has been the beneficial tendency of your legislative proceedings outside of Kansas, their influence has nowhere been so happy as within that Territory itself. Left to manage and control its own affairs in its own way, without the pressure of external influence, the revolutionary Topeka organization and all resistance to the Territorial government established by Congress have been finally abandoned. As a natural consequence that fine Territory now appears to be tranquil and prosperous and is attracting increasing thousands of immigrants to make it their happy home. The past unfortunate experience of Kansas has enforced the lesson, so often already taught, that resistance to lawful authority under our form of government can not fail in the end to prove disastrous to its authors. Had the people of the Territory yielded obedience to the laws enacted by their legislature, it would at the present moment have contained a large additional population of industrious and enterprising citizens, who have been deterred from entering its borders by the existence of civil strife and organized rebellion. It was the resistance to rightful authority and the persevering attempts to establish a revolutionary government under the Topeka constitution which caused the people of Kansas to commit the grave error of refusing to vote for delegates to the convention to frame a constitution under a law not denied to be fair and just in its provisions. This refusal to vote has been the prolific source of all the evils which have followed, In their hostility to the Territorial government they disregarded the principle, absolutely essential to the working of our form of government, that a majority of those who vote, not the majority who may remain at home, from whatever because, must decide the result of an election. For this reason, seeking to take advantage of their own error, they denied the authority of the convention thus elected to frame a constitution. The convention, notwithstanding, proceeded to adopt a constitution unexceptionable in its general features, and providing for the submission of the slavery question to a vote of the people, which, in my opinion, they were bound to do under the Kansas and Nebraska act. This was the all-important question which had alone convulsed the Territory; and yet the opponents of the lawful government, persisting in their first error, refrained from exercising their right to vote, and preferred that slavery should continue rather than surrender their revolutionary Topeka organization. A wiser and better spirit seemed to prevail before the first Monday of January last, when an election was held under the constitution. A majority of the people then voted for a governor and other State officers, for a Member of Congress and members of the State legislature. This election was warmly contested by the two political parties in Kansas, and a greater vote was polled than at any previous election. A large majority of the members of the legislature elect belonged to that party which had previously refused to vote. The antislavery party were thus placed in the ascendant, and the political power of the State was in their own hands. Had Congress admitted Kansas into the Union under the Lecompton constitution, the legislature might at its very first session have submitted the question to a vote of the people whether they would or would not have a convention to amend their constitution, either on the slavery or any other question, and have adopted all necessary means for giving speedy effect to the will of the majority. Thus the Kansas question would have been immediately and finally settled. Under these circumstances I submitted to Congress the constitution thus framed, with all the officers already elected necessary to put the State government into operation, accompanied by a strong recommendation in favor of the admission of Kansas as a State. In the course of my long public life I have never performed any official act which in the retrospect has afforded me more heartfelt satisfaction. Its admission could have inflicted no possible injury on any human being, whilst it would within a brief period have restored peace to Kansas and harmony to the Union. In that event the slavery question would ere this have been finally settled according to the legally expressed will of a majority of the voters, and popular sovereignty would thus have been vindicated in a constitutional manner. With my deep convictions of duty I could have pursued no other course. It is true that as an individual I had expressed an opinion, both before and during the session of the convention, in favor of submitting the remaining clauses of the constitution, as well as that concerning slavery, to the people. But, acting in an official character, neither myself nor any human authority had the power to rejudge the proceedings of the convention and declare the constitution which it had framed to be a nullity. To have done this would have been a violation of the Kansas and Nebraska act, which left the people of the Territory "perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." It would equally have violated the great principle of popular sovereignty, at the foundation of our institutions, to deprive the people of the power, if they thought proper to exercise it, of confiding to delegates elected by themselves the trust of framing a constitution without requiring them to subject their constituents to the trouble, expense, and delay of a second election. It would have been in opposition to many precedents in our history, commencing in the very best age of the Republic, of the admission of Territories as States into the Union without a previous vote of the people approving their constitution. It is to be lamented that a question so insignificant when viewed in its practical effects on the people of Kansas, whether decided one way or the other, should have kindled such a flame of excitement throughout the country. This reflection may prove to be a lesson of wisdom and of warning for our future guidance. Practically considered, the question is simply whether the people of that Territory should first come into the Union and then change any provision in their constitution not agreeable to themselves, or accomplish the very same object by remaining out of the Union and framing another constitution in accordance with their will. In either case the result would be precisely the same. The only difference, in point of fact, is that the object would have been much sooner attained and the pacification of Kansas more speedily effected had it been admitted as a State during the last session of Congress. My recommendation, however, for the immediate admission of Kansas failed to meet the approbation of Congress. They deemed it wiser to adopt a different measure for the settlement of the question. For my own part, I should have been willing to yield my assent to almost any constitutional measure to accomplish this object. I therefore cordially acquiesced in what has been called the English compromise and approved the "act for the admission of the State of Kansas into the Union" upon the terms therein prescribed. Under the ordinance which accompanied the Lecompton constitution the people of Kansas had claimed double the quantity of public lands for the support of common schools which had ever been previously granted to any State upon entering the Union, and also the alternate sections of land for 12 miles on each side of two railroads proposed to be constructed from the northern to the southern boundary and from the eastern to the western boundary of the State. Congress, deeming these claims unreasonable, provided by the act of May 4, 1858, to which I have just referred, for the admission of the State on an equal footing with the original States, but "upon the fundamental condition precedent" that a majority of the people thereof, at an election to be held for that purpose, should, in place of the very large grants of public lands which they had demanded under the ordinance, accept such grants as had been made to Minnesota and other new States. Under this act, should a majority reject the proposition offered them, "it shall be deemed and held that the people of Kansas do not desire admission into the Union with said constitution under the conditions set forth in said proposition." In that event the act authorizes the people of the Territory to elect delegates to form a constitution and State government for themselves "whenever, and not before, it is ascertained by a census, duly and legally taken, that the population of said Territory equals or exceeds the ratio of representation required for a member of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States." The delegates thus assembled "shall first determine by a vote whether it is the wish of the people of the proposed State to be admitted into the Union at that time, and, if so, shall proceed to form a constitution and take all necessary steps for the establishment of a State government in conformity with the Federal Constitution." After this constitution shall have been formed, Congress, carrying out the principles of popular sovereignty and nonintervention, have left "the mode and manner of its approval or ratification by the people of the proposed State" to be "prescribed by law," and they "shall then be admitted into the Union as a State under such constitution, thus fairly and legally made, with or without slavery, as said constitution may prescribe." An election was held throughout Kansas, in pursuance of the provisions of this act, on the 2d day of August last, and it resulted in the rejection by a large majority of the proposition submitted to the people by Congress. This being the case, they are now authorized to form another constitution, preparatory to admission into the Union, but not until their number, as ascertained by a census, shall equal or exceed the ratio required to elect a member to the House of Representatives. It is not probable, in the present state of the case, that a third constitution can be lawfully framed and presented to Congress by Kansas before its population shall have reached the designated number. Nor is it to be presumed that after their sad experience in resisting the Territorial laws they will attempt to adopt a constitution in express violation of the provisions of an act of Congress. During the session of 1856 much of the time of Congress was occupied on the question of admitting Kansas under the Topeka constitution. Again, nearly the whole of the last session was devoted to the question of its admission under the Lecompton constitution. Surely it is not unreasonable to require the people of Kansas to wait before making a third attempt until the number of their inhabitants shall amount to 93,420. During this brief period the harmony of the States as well as the great business interests of the country demand that the people of the Union shall not for a third time be convulsed by another agitation on the Kansas question. By waiting for a short time and acting in obedience to law Kansas will glide into the Union without the slightest impediment. This excellent provision, which Congress have applied to Kansas, ought to be extended and rendered applicable to all Territories which may hereafter seek admission into the Union. Whilst Congress possess the undoubted power of admitting a new State into the Union, however small may be the number of its inhabitants, yet this power ought not, in my opinion, to be exercised before the population shall amount to the ratio required by the act for the admission of Kansas. Had this been previously the rule, the country would have escaped all the evils and misfortunes to which it has been exposed by the Kansas question. Of course it would be unjust to give this rule a retrospective application, and exclude a State which, acting upon the past practice of the Government, has already formed its constitution, elected its legislature and other officers, and is now prepared to enter the Union. The rule ought to be adopted, whether we consider its bearing on the people of the Territories or upon the people of the existing States. Many of the serious dissentions which have prevailed in Congress and throughout the country would have been avoided had this rule been established at an earlier period of the Government. Immediately upon the formation of a new Territory people from different States and from foreign countries rush into it for the laudable purpose of improving their condition. Their first duty to themselves is to open and cultivate farms, to construct roads, to establish schools, to erect places of religious worship, and to devote their energies generally to reclaim the wilderness and to lay the foundations of a flourishing and prosperous commonwealth. If in this incipient condition, with a population of a few thousand, they should prematurely enter the Union, they are oppressed by the burden of State taxation, and the means necessary for the improvement of the Territory and the advancement of their own interests are thus diverted to very different purposes. The Federal Government has ever been a liberal parent to the Territories and a generous contributor to the useful enterprises of the early settlers. It has paid the expenses of their governments and legislative assemblies out of the common Treasury, and thus relieved them from a heavy charge. Under these circumstances nothing can be better calculated to retard their material progress than to divert them from their useful employments by prematurely exciting angry political contests among themselves for the benefit of aspiring leaders. It is surely no hardship for embryo governors, Senators, and Members of Congress to wait until the number of inhabitants shall equal those of a single Congressional district. They surely ought not to be permitted to rush into the Union with a population less than one-half of several of the large counties in the interior of some of the States. This was the condition of Kansas when it made application to be admitted under the Topeka constitution. Besides, it requires some time to render the mass of a population collected in a new Territory at all homogeneous and to unite them on anything like a fixed policy. Establish the rule, and all will look forward to it and govern themselves accordingly. But justice to the people of the several States requires that this rule should be established by Congress. Each State is entitled to two Senators and at least one Representative in Congress. Should the people of the States fail to elect a Vice-President, the power devolves upon the Senate to select this officer from the two highest candidates on the list. In case of the death of the President, the Vice-President thus elected by the Senate becomes President of the United States. On all questions of legislation the Senators from the smallest States of the Union have an equal vote with those from the largest. The same may be said in regard to the ratification of treaties and of Executive appointments. All this has worked admirably in practice, whilst it conforms in principle with the character of a Government instituted by sovereign States. I presume no American citizen would desire the slightest change in the arrangement. Still, is it not unjust and unequal to the existing States to invest some 40,000 or 50,000 people collected in a Territory with the attributes of sovereignty and place them on an equal footing with Virginia and New York in the Senate of the United States? For these reasons I earnestly recommend the passage of a general act which shall provide that, upon the application of a Territorial legislature declaring their belief that the Territory contains a number of inhabitants which, if in a State, would entitle them to elect a Member of Congress, it shall be the duty of the President to because a census of the inhabitants to be taken, and if found sufficient then by the terms of this act to authorize them to proceed "in their own way" to frame a State constitution preparatory to admission into the Union. I also recommend that an appropriation may be made to enable the President to take a census of the people of Kansas. The present condition of the Territory of Utah, when contrasted with what it was one year ago, is a subject for congratulation. It was then in a state of open rebellion, and, cost what it might, the character of the Government required that this rebellion should be suppressed and the Mormons compelled to yield obedience to the Constitution and the laws. In order to accomplish this object, as I informed you in my last annual message, I appointed a new governor instead of Brigham Young, and other Federal officers to take the place of those who, consulting their personal safety, had found it necessary to withdraw from the Territory. To protect these civil officers, and to aid them, as a posse comitatus, in the execution of the laws in case of need, I ordered a detachment of the Army to accompany them to Utah. The necessity for adopting these measures is now demonstrated. On the 15th of September, 1857, Governor Young issued his proclamation, in the style of an independent sovereign, announcing his purpose to resist by force of arms the entry of the United States troops into our own Territory of Utah. By this he required all the forces in the Territory to "hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel any and all such invasion," and established martial law from its date throughout the Territory. These proved to be no idle threats. Forts Bridger and Supply were vacated and burnt down by the Mormons to deprive our troops of a shelter after their long and fatiguing march. Orders were issued by Daniel H. Wells, styling himself "Lieutenant General, Nauvoo Legion," to stampede the animals of the United States troops on their march, to set fire to their trains, to burn the grass and the whole country before them and on their flanks, to keep them from sleeping by night surprises, and to blockade the road by felling trees and destroying the fords of rivers, etc. These orders were promptly and effectually obeyed. On the 4th of October, 1857, the Mormons captured and burned, on Green River, three of our supply trains, consisting of seventy-five wagons loaded with provisions and tents for the army, and carried away several hundred animals. This diminished the supply of provisions so materially that General Johnston was obliged to reduce the ration, and even with this precaution there was only sufficient left to subsist the troops until the 1st of June. Our little army behaved admirably in their encampment at Fort Bridger under these trying privations. In the midst of the mountains, in a dreary, unsettled, and inhospitable region, more than a thousand miles from home, they passed the severe and inclement winter without a murmur. They looked forward with confidence for relief from their country in due season, and in this they were not disappointed. The Secretary of War employed all his energies to forward them the necessary supplies and to muster and send such a military force to Utah as would render resistance on the part of the Mormons hopeless, and thus terminate the war without the effusion of blood. In his efforts he was efficiently sustained by Congress. They granted appropriations sufficient to cover the deficiency thus necessarily created, and also provided for raising two regiments of volunteers "for the purpose of quelling disturbances in the Territory of Utah, for the protection of supply and emigrant trains, and the suppression of Indian hostilities on the frontiers." Happily, there was no occasion to call these regiments into service. If there had been, I should have felt serious embarrassment in selecting them, so great was the number of our brave and patriotic citizens anxious to serve their country in this distant and apparently dangerous expedition. Thus it has ever been, and thus may it ever be. The wisdom and economy of sending sufficient reenforcements to Utah are established, not only by the event, but in the opinion of those who from their position and opportunities are the most capable of forming a correct judgment. General Johnston, the commander of the forces, in addressing the Secretary of War from Fort Bridger under date of October 18, 1857, expresses the opinion that "unless a large force is sent here, from the nature of the country a protracted war on their [the Mormons's] part is inevitable." This he considered necessary to terminate the war "speedily and more economically than if attempted by insufficient means." In the meantime it was my anxious desire that the Mormons should yield obedience to the Constitution and the laws without rendering it necessary to resort to military force. To aid in accomplishing this object, I deemed it advisable in April last to dispatch two distinguished citizens of the United States, Messrs. Powell and McCulloch, to Utah. They bore with them a proclamation addressed by myself to the inhabitants of Utah, dated on the 6th day of that month, warning them of their true condition and how hopeless it was on their part to persist in rebellion against the United States, and offering all those who should submit to the laws a full pardon for their past seditions and treasons. At the same time I assured those who should persist in rebellion against the United States that they must expect no further lenity, but look to be rigorously dealt with according to their deserts. The instructions to these agents, as well as a copy of the proclamation and their reports, are herewith submitted. It will be seen by their report of the 3d of July last that they have fully confirmed the opinion expressed by General Johnston in the previous October as to the necessity of sending reenforcements to Utah. In this they state that they "are firmly impressed with the belief that the presence of the Army here and the large additional force that had been ordered to this Territory were the chief inducements that caused the Mormons to abandon the idea of resisting the authority of the United States. A less decisive policy would probably have resulted in a long, bloody, and expensive war." These gentlemen conducted themselves to my entire satisfaction and rendered useful services in executing the humane intentions of the Government. It also affords me great satisfaction to state that Governor Cumming has performed his duty in an able and conciliatory manner and with the happiest effect. I can not in this connection refrain from mentioning the valuable services of Colonel Thomas L. Kane, who, from motives of pure benevolence and without any official character or pecuniary compensation, visited Utah during the last inclement winter for the purpose of contributing to the pacification of the Territory. I am happy to inform you that the governor and other civil officers of Utah are now performing their appropriate functions without resistance. The authority of the Constitution and the laws has been fully restored and peace prevails throughout the Territory. A portion of the troops sent to Utah are now encamped in Cedar Valley, 44 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, and the remainder have been ordered to Oregon to suppress Indian hostilities. The march of the army to Salt Lake City through the IndianTerritory has had a powerful effect in restraining the hostile feelings against the United States which existed among the Indians in that region and in securing emigrants to the far West against their depredations. This will also be the means of establishing military posts and promoting settlements along the route. I recommend that the benefits of our land laws and preemption system be extended to the people of Utah by the establishment of a land office in that Territory. I have occasion also to congratulate you on the result of our negotiations with China. You were informed by my last annual message that our minister had been instructed to occupy a neutral position in the hostilities conducted by Great Britain and France against Canton. He was, however, at the same time directed to cooperate cordially with the British and French ministers in all peaceful measures to secure by treaty those just concessions to foreign commerce which the nations of the world had a right to demand. It was impossible for me to proceed further than this on my own authority without usurping the war-making power, which under the Constitution belongs exclusively to Congress. Besides, after a careful examination of the nature and extent of our grievances, I did not believe they were of such a pressing and aggravated character as would have justified Congress in declaring war against the Chinese Empire without first making another earnest attempt to adjust them by peaceful negotiation. I was the more inclined to this opinion because of the severe chastisement which had then but recently been inflicted upon the Chinese by our squadron in the capture and destruction of the Barrier forts to avenge an alleged insult to our flag. The event has proved the wisdom of our neutrality. Our minister has executed his instructions with eminent skill and ability. In conjunction with the Russian plenipotentiary, he has peacefully, but effectually, cooperated with the English and French plenipotentiaries, and each of the four powers has concluded a separate treaty with China of a highly satisfactory character. The treaty concluded by our own plenipotentiary will immediately be submitted to the Senate. I am happy to announce that through the energetic yet conciliatory efforts of our consul-general in Japan a new treaty has been concluded with that Empire, which may be expected materially to augment our trade and intercourse in that quarter and remove from our countrymen the disabilities which have heretofore been imposed upon the exercise of their religion. The treaty shall be submitted to the Senate for approval without delay. It is my earnest desire that every misunderstanding with the Government of Great Britain should be amicably and speedily adjusted. It has been the misfortune of both countries, almost ever since the period of the Revolution, to have been annoyed by a succession of irritating and dangerous questions, threatening their friendly relations. This has partially prevented the full development of those feelings of mutual friendship between the people of the two countries so natural in themselves and so conducive to their common interest. Any serious interruption of the commerce between the United States and Great Britain would be equally injurious to both. In fact, no two nations have ever existed on the face of the earth which could do each other so much good or so much harm. Entertaining these sentiments, I am gratified to inform you that the long-pending controversy between the two Governments in relation to the question of visitation and search has been amicably adjusted. The claim on the part of Great Britain forcibly to visit American vessels on the high seas in time of peace could not be sustained under the law of nations, and it had been overruled by her own most eminent jurists. This question was recently brought to an issue by the repeated acts of British cruisers in boarding and searching our merchant vessels in the Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent seas. These acts were the more injurious and annoying, as these waters are traversed by a large portion of the commerce and navigation of the United States and their free and unrestricted use is essential to the security of the coastwise trade between the different States of the Union. Such vexatious interruptions could not fail to excite the feelings of the country and to require the interposition of the Government. Remonstrances were addressed to the British Government against these violations of our rights of sovereignty, and a naval force was at the same time ordered to the Cuban waters with directions "to protect all vessels of the United States on the high seas from search or detention by the vessels of war of any other nation." These measures received the unqualified and even enthusiastic approbation of the American people. Most fortunately, however, no collision took place, and the British Government promptly avowed its recognition of the principles of international law upon this subject as laid down by the Government of the United States in the note of the Secretary of State to the British minister at Washington of April 10, 1858, which secure the vessels of the United States upon the high seas from visitation or search in time of peace under any circumstances whatever. The claim has been abandoned in a manner reflecting honor on the British Government and evincing a just regard for the law of nations, and can not fail to strengthen the amicable relations between the two countries. The British Government at the same time proposed to the United States that some mode should be adopted, by mutual arrangement between the two countries, of a character which may be found effective without being offensive, for verifying the nationality of vessels suspected on good grounds of carrying false colors. They have also invited the United States to take the initiative and propose measures for this purpose. Whilst declining to assume so grave a responsibility, the Secretary of State has informed the British Government that we are ready to receive any proposals which they may feel disposed to offer having this object in view, and to consider them in an amicable spirit. A strong opinion is, however, expressed that the occasional abuse of the flag of any nation is an evil far less to be deprecated than would be the establishment of any regulations which might be incompatible with the freedom of the seas. This Government has yet received no communication specifying the manner in which the British Government would propose to carry out their suggestion, and I am inclined to believe that no plan which can be devised will be free from grave embarrassments. Still, I shall form no decided opinion on the subject until I shall have carefully and in the best spirit examined any proposals which they may think proper to make. I am truly sorry I can not also inform you that the complications between Great Britain and the United States arising out of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty of April, 1850, have been finally adjusted. At the commencement of your last session I had reason to hope that, emancipating themselves from further unavailing discussions, the two Governments would proceed to settle the Central American questions in a practical manner, alike honorable and satisfactory to both; and this hope I have not yet abandoned. In my last annual message I stated that overtures had been made by the British Government for this purpose in a friendly spirit, which I cordially reciprocated. Their proposal was to withdraw these questions from direct negotiation between the two Governments, but to accomplish the same object by a negotiation between the British Government and each of the Central American Republics whose territorial interests are immediately involved. The settlement was to be made in accordance with the general tenor of the interpretation placed upon the Clayton and Bulwer treaty by the United States, with certain modifications. As negotiations are still pending upon this basis, it would not be proper for me now to communicate their present condition. A final settlement of these questions is greatly to be desired, as this would wipe out the last remaining subject of dispute between the two countries. Our relations with the great Empires of France and Russia, as well as with all other Governments on the continent of Europe, except that of Spain, continue to be of the most friendly character. With Spain our relations remain in an unsatisfactory condition. In my message of December last I informed you that our envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Madrid had asked for his recall, and it was my purpose to send out a new minister to that Court with special instructions on all questions pending between the two Governments, and with a determination to have them speedily and amicably adjusted if that were possible. This purpose has been hitherto defeated by causes which I need not enumerate. The mission to Spain has been intrusted to a distinguished citizen of Kentucky, who will proceed to Madrid without delay and make another and a final attempt to obtain justice from that Government. Spanish officials under the direct control of the Captain-General of Cuba have insulted our national flag and in repeated instances have from time to time inflicted injuries on the persons and property of our citizens. These have given birth to numerous claims against the Spanish Government, the merits of which have been ably discussed for a series of years by our successive diplomatic representatives. Notwithstanding this, we have not arrived at a practical result in any single instance, unless we may except the case of the Black Warrior, under the late Administration, and that presented an outrage of such a character as would have justified an immediate resort to war. All our attempts to obtain redress have been baffled and defeated. The frequent and oft-recurring changes in the Spanish ministry have been employed as reasons for delay. We have been compelled to wait again and again until the new minister shall have had time to investigate the justice of our demands. Even what have been denominated "the Cuban claims," in which more than 100 of our citizens are directly interested, have furnished no exception. These claims were for the refunding of duties unjustly exacted from American vessels at different custom-houses in Cuba so long ago as the year 1844. The principles upon which they rest are so manifestly equitable and just that, after a period of nearly ten years, in 1854 they were recognized by the Spanish Government. Proceedings were afterwards instituted to ascertain their amount, and this was finally fixed, according to their own statement (with which we were satisfied), at the sum of $128,635.54. Just at the moment, after a delay of fourteen years, when we had reason to expect that this sum would be repaid with interest, we have received a proposal offering to refund one-third of that amount ($42,878.41), but without interest, if we would accept this in full satisfaction. The offer is also accompanied by a declaration that this indemnification is not founded on any reason of strict justice, but is made as a special favor. One alleged because for procrastination in the examination and adjustment of our claims arises from an obstacle which it is the duty of the Spanish Government to remove. Whilst the Captain-General of Cuba is invested with general despotic authority in the government of that island, the power is withheld from him to examine and redress wrongs committed by officials under his control on citizens of the United States. Instead of making our complaints directly to him at Havana, we are obliged to present them through our minister at Madrid. These are then referred back to the Captain-General for information, and much time is thus consumed in preliminary investigations and correspondence between Madrid and Cuba before the Spanish Government will consent to proceed to negotiation. Many of the difficulties between the two Governments would be obviated and a long train of negotiation avoided if the Captain-General were invested with authority to settle questions of easy solution on the spot, where all the facts are fresh and could be promptly and satisfactorily ascertained. We have hitherto in vain urged upon the Spanish Government to confer this power upon the Captain-General, and our minister to Spain will again be instructed to urge this subject on their notice. In this respect we occupy a different position from the powers of Europe. Cuba is almost within sight of our shores; our commerce with it is far greater than that of any other nation, including Spain itself, and our citizens are in habits of daily and extended personal intercourse with every part of the island. It is therefore a great grievance that when any difficulty occurs, no matter how unimportant, which might be readily settled at the moment, we should be obliged to resort to Madrid, especially when the very first step to be taken there is to refer it back to Cuba. The truth is that Cuba, in its existing colonial condition, is a constant source of injury and annoyance to the American people. It is the only spot in the civilized world where the African slave trade is tolerated, and we are bound by treaty with Great Britain to maintain a naval force on the coast of Africa, at much expense both of life and treasure, solely for the purpose of arresting slavers bound to that island. The late serious difficulties between the United States and Great Britain respecting the right of search, now so happily terminated, could never have arisen if Cuba had not afforded a market for slaves. As long as this market shall remain open there can be no hope for the civilization of benighted Africa. Whilst the demand for slaves continues in Cuba wars will be waged among the petty and barbarous chiefs in Africa for the purpose of seizing subjects to supply this trade. In such a condition of affairs it is impossible that the light of civilization and religion can ever penetrate these dark abodes. It has been made known to the world by my predecessors that the United States have on several occasions endeavored to acquire Cuba from Spain by honorable negotiation. If this were accomplished, the last relic of the African slave trade would instantly disappear. We would not, if we could, acquire Cuba in any other manner. This is due to our national character. All the territory which we have acquired since the origin of the Government has been by fair purchase from France, Spain, and Mexico or by the free and voluntary act of the independent State of Texas in blending her destinies with our own. This course we shall ever pursue, unless circumstances should occur which we do not now anticipate, rendering a departure from it clearly justifiable under the imperative and overruling law of self-preservation. The island of Cuba, from its geographical position, commands the mouth of the Mississippi and the immense and annually increasing trade, foreign and coastwise, from the valley of that noble river, now embracing half the sovereign States of the Union. With that island under the dominion of a distant foreign power this trade, of vital importance to these States, is exposed to the danger of being destroyed in time of war, and it has hitherto been subjected to perpetual injury and annoyance in time of peace. Our relations with Spain, which ought to be of the most friendly character, must always be placed in jeopardy whilst the existing colonial government over the island shall remain in its present condition. Whilst the possession of the island would be of vast importance to the United States, its value to Spain is comparatively unimportant. Such was the relative situation of the parties when the great Napoleon transferred Louisiana to the United States. Jealous as he ever was of the national honor and interests of France, no person throughout the world has imputed blame to him for accepting a pecuniary equivalent for this cession. The publicity which has been given to our former negotiations upon this subject and the large appropriation which may be required to effect the purpose render it expedient before making another attempt to renew the negotiation that I should lay the whole subject before Congress. This is especially necessary, as it may become indispensable to success that I should be intrusted with the means of making an advance to the Spanish Government immediately after the signing of the treaty, without awaiting the ratification of it by the Senate. I am encouraged to make this suggestion by the example of Mr. Jefferson previous to the purchase of Louisiana from France and by that of Mr. Polk in view of the acquisition of territory from Mexico. I refer the whole subject to Congress and commend it to their careful consideration. I repeat the recommendation made in my message of December last in favor of an appropriation "to be paid to the Spanish Government for the purpose of distribution among the claimants in the Amistad case." President Polk first made a similar recommendation in December, 1847, and it was repeated by my immediate predecessor in December, 1853. I entertain no doubt that indemnity is fairly due to these claimants under our treaty with Spain of October 27, 1795; and whilst demanding justice we ought to do justice. An appropriation promptly made for this purpose could not fail to exert a favorable influence on our negotiations with Spain. Our position in relation to the independent States south of us on this continent, and especially those within the limits of North America, is of a peculiar character. The northern boundary of Mexico is coincident with our own southern boundary from ocean to ocean, and we must necessarily feel a deep interest in all that concerns the well-being and the fate of so near a neighbor. We have always cherished the kindest wishes for the success of that Republic, and have indulged the hope that it might at last, after all its trials, enjoy peace and prosperity under a free and stable government. We have never hitherto interfered, directly or indirectly, with its internal affairs, and it is a duty which we owe to ourselves to protect the integrity of its territory against the hostile interference of any other power. Our geographical position, our direct interest in all that concerns Mexico, and our well-settled policy in regard to the North American continent render this an indispensable duty. Mexico has been in a state of constant revolution almost ever since it achieved its independence. One military leader after another has usurped the Government in rapid succession, and the various constitutions from time to time adopted have been set at naught almost as soon as they were proclaimed. The successive Governments have afforded no adequate protection, either to Mexican citizens or foreign residents, against lawless violence. Heretofore a seizure of the capital by a military chieftain has been generally followed by at least the nominal submission of the country to his rule for a brief period, but not so at the present crisis of Mexican affairs. A civil war has been raging for some time throughout the Republic between the central Government at the City of Mexico, which has endeavored to subvert the constitution last framed by military power, and those who maintain the authority of that constitution. The antagonist parties each hold possession of different States of the Republic, and the fortunes of the war are constantly changing. Meanwhile the most reprehensible means have been employed by both parties to extort money from foreigners, as well as natives, to carry on this ruinous contest. The truth is that this fine country, blessed with a productive soil and a benign climate, has been reduced by civil dissension to a condition of almost hopeless anarchy and imbecility. It would be vain for this Government to attempt to enforce payment in money of the claims of American citizens, now amounting to more than $10,000,000, against Mexico, because she is destitute of all pecuniary means to satisfy these demands. Our late minister was furnished with ample powers and instructions for the adjustment of all pending questions with the central Government of Mexico, and he performed his duty with zeal and ability. The claims of our citizens, some of them arising out of the violation of an express provision of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and others from gross injuries to persons as well as property, have remained unredressed and even unnoticed. Remonstrances against these grievances have been addressed without effect to that Government. Meantime in various parts of the Republic instances have been numerous of the murder, imprisonment, and plunder of our citizens by different parties claiming and exercising a local jurisdiction; but the central Government, although repeatedly urged thereto, have made no effort either to punish the authors of these outrages or to prevent their recurrence. No American citizen can now visit Mexico on lawful business without imminent danger to his person and property. There is no adequate protection to either, and in this respect our treaty with that Republic is almost a dead letter. This state of affairs was brought to a crisis in May last by the promulgation of a decree levying a contribution pro rata upon all the capital in the Republic between certain specified amounts, whether held by Mexicans or foreigners. Mr. Forsyth, regarding this decree in the light of a "forced loan," formally protested against its application to his countrymen and advised them not to pay the contribution, but to suffer it to be forcibly exacted. Acting upon this advice, an American citizen refused to pay the contribution, and his property was seized by armed men to satisfy the amount. Not content with this, the Government proceeded still further and issued a decree banishing him from the country. Our minister immediately notified them that if this decree should be carried into execution he would feel it to be his duty to adopt "the most decided measures that belong to the powers and obligations of the representative office." Notwithstanding this warning, the banishment was enforced, and Mr. Forsyth promptly announced to the Government the suspension of the political relations of his legation with them until the pleasure of his own Government should be ascertained. This Government did not regard the contribution imposed by the decree of the 15th May last to be in strictness a "forced loan," and as such prohibited by the tenth article of the treaty of 1826 between Great Britain and Mexico, to the benefits of which American citizens are entitled by treaty; yet the imposition of the contribution upon foreigners was considered an unjust and oppressive measure. Besides, internal factions in other parts of the Republic were at the same time levying similar exactions upon the property of our citizens and interrupting their commerce. There had been an entire failure on the part of our minister to secure redress for the wrongs which our citizens had endured, notwithstanding his persevering efforts. And from the temper manifested by the Mexican Government he had repeatedly assured us that no favorable change could be expected until the United States should "give striking evidence of their will and power to protect their citizens," and that "severe chastening is the only earthly remedy for our grievances." From this statement of facts it would have been worse than idle to direct Mr. Forsyth to retrace his steps and resume diplomatic relations with that Government, and it was therefore deemed proper to sanction his withdrawal of the legation from the City of Mexico. Abundant because now undoubtedly exists for a resort to hostilities against the Government still holding possession of the capital. Should they succeed in subduing the constitutional forces, all reasonable hope will then have expired of a peaceful settlement of our difficulties. On the other hand, should the constitutional party prevail and their authority be established over the Republic, there is reason to hope that they will be animated by a less unfriendly spirit and may grant that redress to American citizens which justice requires so far as they may possess the means. But for this expectation I should at once have recommended to Congress to grant the necessary power to the President to take possession of a sufficient portion of the remote and unsettled territory of Mexico, to be held in pledge until our injuries shall be redressed and our just demands be satisfied. We have already exhausted every milder means of obtaining justice. In such a case this remedy of reprisals is recognized by the law of nations, not only as just in itself, but as a means of preventing actual war. But there is another view of our relations with Mexico, arising from the unhappy condition of affairs along our southwestern frontier, which demands immediate action. In that remote region, where there are but few white inhabitants, large bands of hostile and predatory Indians roam promiscuously over the Mexican States of Chihuahua and Sonora and our adjoining Territories. The local governments of these States are perfectly helpless and are kept in a state of constant alarm by the Indians. They have not the power, if they possessed the will, even to restrain lawless Mexicans from passing the border and committing depredations on our remote settlers. A state of anarchy and violence prevails throughout that distant frontier. The laws are a dead letter and life and property wholly insecure. For this reason the settlement of Arizona is arrested, whilst it is of great importance that a chain of inhabitants should extend all along its southern border sufficient for their own protection and that of the United States mail passing to and from California. Well-founded apprehensions are now entertained that the Indians and wandering Mexicans, equally lawless, may break up the important stage and postal communication recently established between our Atlantic and Pacific possessions. This passes very near to the Mexican boundary throughout the whole length of Arizona. I can imagine no possible remedy for these evils and no mode of restoring law and order on that remote and unsettled frontier but for the Government of the United States to assume a temporary protectorate over the northern portions of Chihuahua and Sonora and to establish military posts within the same; and this I earnestly recommend to Congress. This protection may be withdrawn as soon as local governments shall be established in these Mexican States capable of performing their duties to the United States, restraining the lawless, and preserving peace along the border. I do not doubt that this measure will be viewed in a friendly spirit by the governments and people of Chihuahua and Sonora, as it will prove equally effectual for the protection of their citizens on that remote and lawless frontier as for citizens of the United States. And in this connection permit me to recall your attention to the condition of Arizona. The population of that Territory, numbering, as is alleged, more than 10,000 souls, are practically without a government, without laws, and without any regular administration of justice. Murder and other crimes are committed with impunity. This state of things calls loudly for redress, and I therefore repeat my recommendation for the establishment of a Territorial government over Arizona. The political condition of the narrow isthmus of Central America, through which transit routes pass between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, presents a subject of deep interest to all commercial nations. It is over these transits that a large proportion of the trade and travel between the European and Asiatic continents is destined to pass. To the United States these routes are of incalculable importance as a means of communication between their Atlantic and Pacific possessions. The latter now extend throughout seventeen degrees of latitude on the Pacific coast, embracing the important State of California and the flourishing territories of Oregon and Washington. All commercial nations therefore have a deep and direct interest that these communications shall be rendered secure from interruption. If an arm of the sea connecting the two oceans penetrated through Nicaragua and Costa Rica, it could not be pretended that these States would have the right to arrest or retard its navigation to the injury of other nations. The transit by land over this narrow isthmus occupies nearly the same position. It is a highway in which they themselves have little interest when compared with the vast interests of the rest of the world. Whilst their rights of sovereignty ought to be respected, it is the duty of other nations to require that this important passage shall not be interrupted by the civil wars and revolutionary outbreaks which have so frequently occurred in that region. The stake is too important to be left at the mercy of rival companies claiming to hold conflicting contracts with Nicaragua. The commerce of other nations is not to stand still and await the adjustment of such petty controversies. The Government of the United States expect no more than this, and they will not be satisfied with less. They would not, if they could, derive any advantage from the Nicaragua transit not common to the rest of the World. Its neutrality and protection for the common use of all nations is their only object. They have no objection that Nicaragua shall demand and receive a fair compensation from the companies and individuals who may traverse the route, but they insist that it shall never hereafter be closed by an arbitrary decree of that Government. If disputes arise between it and those with whom they may have entered into contracts, these must be adjusted by some fair tribunal provided for the purpose, and the route must not be closed pending the controversy. This is our whole policy, and it can not fail to be acceptable to other nations. All these difficulties might be avoided if, consistently with the good faith of Nicaragua, the use of this transit could be thrown open to general competition, providing at the same time for the payment of a reasonable rate to the Nicaraguan Government on passengers and freight. In August, 1852, the Accessory Transit Company made its first interoceanic trip over the Nicaraguan route, and continued in successful operation, with great advantage to the public, until the 18th February, 1856, when it was closed and the grant to this company as well as its charter were summarily and arbitrarily revoked by the Government of President Rivas. Previous to this date, however, in 1854, serious disputes concerning the settlement of their accounts had arisen between the company and the Government, threatening the interruption of the route at any moment. These the United States in vain endeavored to compose. It would be useless to narrate the various proceedings which took place between the parties up till the time when the transit was discontinued. Suffice it to say that since February, 1856, it has remained closed, greatly to the prejudice of citizens of the United States. Since that time the competition has ceased between the rival routes of Panama and Nicaragua, and in consequence thereof an unjust and unreasonable amount has been exacted from our citizens for their passage to and from California A treaty was signed on the 16th day of November, 1857, by the Secretary of State and minister of Nicaragua, under the stipulations of which the use and protection of the transit route would have been secured, not only to the United States, but equally to all other nations. How and on what pretext this treaty has failed to receive the ratification of the Nicaraguan Government will appear by the papers herewith communicated from the State Department. The principal objection seems to have been to the provision authorizing the United States to employ force to keep the route open in case Nicaragua should fail to perform her duty in this respect. From the feebleness of that Republic, its frequent changes of government, and its constant internal dissensions, this had become a most important stipulation, and one essentially necessary, not only for the security of the route, but for the safety of American citizens passing and repassing to and from our Pacific possessions. Were such a stipulation embraced in a treaty between the United States and Nicaragua, the knowledge of this fact would of itself most probably prevent hostile parties from committing aggressions on the route, and render our actual interference for its protection unnecessary. The executive government of this country in its intercourse with foreign nations is limited to the employment of diplomacy alone. When this fails it can proceed no further. It can not legitimately resort to force without the direct authority of Congress, except in resisting and repelling hostile attacks. It would have no authority to enter the territories of Nicaragua even to prevent the destruction of the transit and protect the lives and property of our own citizens on their passage. It is true that on a sudden emergency of this character the President would direct any armed force in the vicinity to march to their relief, but in doing this he would act upon his own responsibility. Under these circumstances I earnestly recommend to Congress the passage of an act authorizing the president, under such restrictions as they may deem proper, to employ the land and naval forces of the United States in preventing the transit from being obstructed or closed by lawless violence, and in protecting the lives and property of American citizens traveling thereupon, requiring at the same time that these forces shall be withdrawn the moment the danger shall have passed away. Without such a provision our citizens will be constantly exposed to interruption in their progress and to lawless violence. A similar necessity exists for the passage of such an act for the protection of the Panama and Tehuantepec routes. In reference to the Panama route, the United States, by their existing treaty with New Granada, expressly guarantee the neutrality of the Isthmus, "with the view that the free transit from the one to the other sea may not be interrupted or embarrassed in any future time while this treaty exists." In regard to the Tehuantepec route, which has been recently opened under the most favorable auspices, our treaty with Mexico of the 30th December, 1853, secures to the citizens of the United States a right of transit over it for their persons and merchandise and stipulates that neither Government shall "interpose any obstacle" thereto. It also concedes to the United States the "right to transport across the Isthmus, in closed bags, the mails of the United States not intended for distribution along the line of the communication; also the effects of the United States Government and its citizens which may be intended for transit and not for distribution on the Isthmus, free of custom-house or other charges by the Mexican Government." These treaty stipulations with New Granada and Mexico, in addition to the considerations applicable to the Nicaragua route, seem to require legislation for the purpose of carrying them into effect. The injuries which have been inflicted upon our citizens in Costa Rica and Nicaragua during the last two or three years have received the prompt attention of this Government. Some of these injuries were of the most aggravated character. The transaction at Virgin Bay in April, 1856, when a company of unarmed Americans, who were in no way connected with any belligerent conduct or party, were fired upon by the troops of Costa Rica and numbers of them killed and wounded, was brought to the knowledge of Congress by my predecessor soon after its occurrence, and was also presented to the Government of Costa Rica for that immediate investigation and redress which the nature of the case demanded. A similar course was pursued with reference to other outrages in these countries, some of which were hardly less aggravated in their character than the transaction at Virgin Bay. At the time, however, when our present minister to Nicaragua was appointed, in December, 1857, no redress had been obtained for any of these wrongs and no reply even had been received to the demands which had been made by this Government upon that of Costa Rica more than a year before. Our minister was instructed, therefore, to lose no time in expressing to those Governments the deep regret with which the President had witnessed this inattention to the just claims of the United States and in demanding their prompt and satisfactory adjustment. Unless this demand shall be complied with at an early day it will only remain for this Government to adopt such other measures as may be necessary in order to obtain for itself that justice which it has in vain attempted to secure by peaceful means from the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. While it has shown, and will continue to show, the most sincere regard for the rights and honor of these Republics, it can not permit this regard to be met by an utter neglect on their part of what is due to the Government and citizens of the United States. Against New Granada we have long-standing causes of complaint, arising out of the unsatisfied claims of our citizens upon that Republic, and to these have been more recently added the outrages committed upon our citizens at Panama in April, 1856. A treaty for the adjustment of these difficulties was concluded by the Secretary of State and the minister of New Granada in September, 1857, which contained just and acceptable provisions for that purpose. This treaty was transmitted to Bogota and was ratified by the Government of New Granada, but with certain amendments. It was not, however, returned to this city until after the close of the last session of the Senate. It will be immediately transmitted to that body for their advice and consent, and should this be obtained it will remove all our existing causes of complaint against New Granada on the subject of claims. Questions have arisen between the two Governments as to the right of New Granada to levy a tonnage duty upon the vessels of the United States in its ports of the Isthmus and to levy a passenger tax upon our citizens arriving in that country, whether with a design to remain there or to pass from ocean to ocean by the transit route; and also a tax upon the mail of the United States transported over the Panama Railroad. The Government of New Granada has been informed that the United States would consider the collection of either of these taxes as an act in violation of the treaty between the two countries, and as such would be resisted by the United States. At the same time, we are prepared to discuss these questions in a spirit of amity and justice and with a sincere desire to adjust them in a satisfactory manner. A negotiation for that purpose has already been commenced. No effort has recently been made to collect these taxes nor is any anticipated under present circumstances. With the Empire of Brazil our relations are of the most friendly character. The productions of the two countries, and especially those of an agricultural nature, are such as to invite extensive mutual exchanges. A large quantity of American flour is consumed in Brazil, whilst more than treble the amount in value of Brazilian coffee is consumed in the United States. Whilst this is the case, a heavy duty has been levied until very recently upon the importation of American flour into Brazil. I am gratified, however, to be able to inform you that in September last this has been reduced from $1.32 to about 49 cents per barrel, and the duties on other articles of our production have been diminished in nearly the same proportion. I regret to state that the Government of Brazil still continues to levy an export duty of about 11 per cent on coffee, notwithstanding this article is admitted free from duty in the United States. This is a heavy charge upon the consumers of coffee in our country, as we purchase half of the entire surplus crop of that article raised in Brazil. Our minister, under instructions, will reiterate his efforts to have this export duty removed, and it is hoped that the enlightened Government of the Emperor will adopt this wise, just, and equal policy. In that event, there is good reason to believe that the commerce between the two countries will greatly increase, much to the advantage of both. The claims of our citizens against the Government of Brazil are not in the aggregate of very large amount; but some of these rest upon plain principles of justice and their settlement ought not to be longer delayed. A renewed and earnest, and I trust a successful, effort will be made by our minister to procure their final adjustment. On the 2d of June last Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the President "to adopt such measures and use such force as in his judgment may be necessary and advisable" "for the the purpose of the differences between the United States and the Republic of Paraguay, in connection with the attack on the United States steamer Water Witch and with other measures referred to" in his annual message, and on the 12th of July following they made an appropriation to defray the expenses and compensation of a commissioner to that Republic should the President deem it proper to make such all appointment. In compliance with these enactments, I have appointed a commissioner, who has proceeded to Paraguay with full powers and instructions to settle these differences in an amicable and peaceful manner if this be practicable. His experience and discretion justify the hope that he may prove successful in convincing the Paraguayan Government that it is due both to honor and justice that they should voluntarily and promptly make atonement for the wrongs which they have committed against the United States and indemnify our injured citizens whom they have forcibly despoiled of their property. Should our commissioner prove unsuccessful after a sincere and earnest effort to accomplish the object of his mission, then no alternative will remain but the employment of force to obtain "just satisfaction" from Paraguay. In view of this contingency, the Secretary of the Navy, under my direction, has fitted out and dispatched a naval force to rendezvous near Buenos Ayres, which, it is believed, will prove sufficient for the occasion. It is my earnest desire, however, that it may not be found necessary to resort to this last alternative. When Congress met in December last the business of the country had just been crushed by one of those periodical revulsions which are the inevitable consequence of our unsound and extravagant system of bank credits and inflated currency. With all the elements of national wealth in abundance, our manufactures were suspended, our useful public and private enterprises were arrested, and thousands of laborers were deprived of employment and reduced to want. Universal distress prevailed among the commercial, manufacturing, and mechanical classes. This revulsion was felt the more severely in the United States because similar causes had produced the like deplorable effects throughout the commercial nations of Europe. All were experiencing sad reverses at the same moment. Our manufacturers everywhere suffered severely, not because of the recent reduction in the tariff of duties on imports, but because there was no demand at any price for their productions. The people were obliged to restrict themselves in their purchases to articles of prime necessity. In the general prostration of business the iron manufacturers in different States probably suffered more than any other class, and much destitution was the inevitable consequence among the great number of workmen who had been employed in this useful branch of industry. There could be no supply where there was no demand. To present an example, there could be no demand for railroad iron after our magnificent system of railroads, extending its benefits to every portion of the Union, had been brought to a dead pause. The same consequences have resulted from similar causes to many other branches of useful manufactures. It is self-evident that where there is no ability to purchase manufactured articles these can not be sold, and consequently must cease to be produced. No government, and especially a government of such limited powers as that of the United States, could have prevented the late revulsion. The whole commercial world seemed for years to have been rushing to this catastrophe. The same ruinous consequences would have followed in the United States whether the duties upon foreign imports had remained as they were under the tariff of 1846 or had been raised to a much higher standard. The tariff of 1857 had no agency in the result. The general causes existing throughout the world could not have been controlled by the legislation of any particular country. The periodical revulsions which have existed in our past history must continue to return at intervals so long as our present unbounded system of bank credits shall prevail. They will, however, probably be the less severe in future, because it is not to be expected, at least for many years to come, that the commercial nations of Europe, with whose interests our own are so materially involved, will expose themselves to similar calamities. But this subject was treated so much at large in my last annual message that I shall not now pursue it further. Still, I respectfully renew the recommendation in favor of the passage of a uniform bankrupt law applicable to banking institutions. This is all the direct power over the subject which I believe the Federal Government possesses. Such a law would mitigate, though it might not prevent, the evil. The instinct of self-preservation might produce a wholesome restraint upon their banking business if they knew in advance that a suspension of specie payments would inevitably produce their civil death. But the effects of the revulsion are now slowly but surely passing away. The energy and enterprise of our citizens, with our unbounded resources, will within the period of another year restore a state of wholesome industry and trade. Capital has again accumulated in our large cities. The rate of interest is there very low. Confidence is gradually reviving, and so soon as it is discovered that this capital can be profitably employed in commercial and manufacturing enterprises and in the construction of railroads and other works of public and private improvement prosperity will again smile throughout the land. It is vain, however, to disguise the fact from ourselves that a speculative inflation of our currency without a corresponding inflation in other countries whose manufactures come into competition with our own must ever produce disastrous results to our domestic manufactures. No tariff short of absolute prohibition can prevent these evil consequences. In connection with this subject it is proper to refer to our financial condition. The same causes which have produced pecuniary distress throughout the country have so reduced the amount of imports from foreign countries that the revenue has proved inadequate to meet the necessary expenses of the Government. To supply the deficiency, Congress, by the act of December 23, 1857, authorized the issue of $20,000,000 of Treasury notes; and this proving inadequate, they authorized, by the act of June 14, 1858, a loan of $20,000,000," to be applied to the payment of appropriations made by law." No statesman would advise that we should go on increasing the national debt to meet the ordinary expenses of the Government. This would be a most ruinous policy. In case of war our credit must be our chief resource, at least for the first year, and this would be greatly impaired by having contracted a large debt in time of peace. It is our true policy to increase our revenue so as to equal our expenditures. It would be ruinous to continue to borrow. Besides, it may be proper to observe that the incidental protection thus afforded by a revenue tariff would at the present moment to some extent increase the confidence of the manufacturing interests and give a fresh impulse to our reviving business. To this surely no person will object. In regard to the mode of assessing and collecting duties under a strictly revenue tariff, I have long entertained and often expressed the opinion that sound policy requires this should be done by specific duties in cases to which these can be properly applied. They are well adapted to commodities which are usually sold by weight or by measure, and which from their nature are of equal or of nearly equal value. Such, for example, are the articles of iron of different classes, raw sugar, and foreign wines and spirits. In my deliberate judgment specific duties are the best, if not the only, means of securing the revenue against false and fraudulent invoices, and such has been the practice adopted for this purpose by other commercial nations. Besides, specific duties would afford to the American manufacturer the incidental advantages to which he is fairly entitled under a revenue tariff. The present system is a sliding scale to his disadvantage. Under it, when prices are high and business prosperous, the duties rise in amount when he least requires their aid. On the contrary, when prices fall and he is struggling against adversity, the duties are diminished in the same proportion, greatly to his injury. Neither would there be danger that a higher rate of duty than that intended by Congress could be levied in the form of specific duties. It would be easy to ascertain the average value of any imported article for a series of years, and, instead of subjecting it to an ad valorem duty at a certain rate per centum, to substitute in its place an equivalent specific duty. By such an arrangement the consumer would not be injured. It is true he might have to pay a little more duty on a given article in one year, but, if so, he would pay a little less in another, and in a series of years these would counterbalance each other and amount to the same thing so far as his interest is concerned. This inconvenience would be trifling when contrasted with the additional security thus afforded against frauds upon the revenue, in which every consumer is directly interested. I have thrown out these suggestions as the fruit of my own observation, to which Congress, in their better judgment, will give such weight as they may justly deserve. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will explain in detail the operations of that Department of the Government. The receipts into the Treasury from all sources during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1858, including the Treasury notes authorized by the act of December 23, 1857, were $70,273,869.59, which amount, with the balance of $17,710,114.27 remaining in the Treasury at the commencement of the year, made an aggregate for the service of the year of $87,983,983.86. The public expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1858, amounted to $81,585,667.76, of which $9,684,537.99 were applied to the payment of the public debt and the redemption of Treasury notes with the interest thereon, leaving in the Treasury on July 1, 1858, being the commencement of the present fiscal year, $6,398,316.10. The receipts into the Treasury during the first quarter of the present fiscal year, commencing the 1st of July, 1858, including one-half of the loan of $20,000,000, with the premium upon it, authorized by the act of June 14, 1858, were $25,230,879.46, and the estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters to the 30th of June, 1859, from ordinary sources are $38,500,000, making, with the balance before stated, an aggregate of $70,129,195.56. The expenditures during the first quarter of the present fiscal year were $21,708,198.51, of which $1,010,142.37 were applied to the payment of the public debt and the redemption of Treasury notes and the interest thereon. The estimated expenditures during the remaining three quarters to June 30, 1859, are $52,357,698.48, making an aggregate of $74,065,896.99, being an excess of expenditure beyond the estimated receipts into the Treasury from ordinary sources during the fiscal year to the 30th of June, 1859, of $3,936,701.43. Extraordinary means are placed by law within the command of the Secretary of the Treasury, by the reissue of Treasury notes redeemed and by negotiating the balance of the loan authorized by the act of June 14, 1858, to the extent of $11,000,000, which, if realized during the present fiscal year, will leave a balance in the Treasury on the 1st day of July, 1859, of $7,063,298.57. The estimated receipts during the next fiscal year, ending June 30, 1860, are $62,000,000, which, with the above-estimated balance of $7,063,298.57 make an aggregate for the service of the next fiscal year of $69,063,298.57. The estimated expenditures during the next fiscal year, ending June 30, 1860, are $73,139,147.46, which leaves a deficit of estimated means, compared with the estimated expenditures, for that year, commencing on July 1, 1859, of $4,075,848.89. In addition to this sum the Postmaster-General will require from the Treasury for the service of the Post-Office Department $3,838,728, as explained in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which will increase the estimated deficit on June 30, 1860, to $7,914,576.89. To provide for the payment of this estimated deficiency, which will be increased by such appropriations as may be made by Congress not estimated for in the report of the Treasury Department, as well as to provide for the gradual redemption from year to year of the outstanding Treasury notes, the Secretary of the Treasury recommends such a revision of the present tariff as will raise the required amount. After what I have already said I need scarcely add that I concur in the opinion expressed in his report--that the public debt should not be increased by an additional loan--and would therefore strongly urge upon Congress the duty of making at their present session the necessary provision for meeting these liabilities. The public debt on July 1, 1858, the commencement of the present fiscal year, was $25,155,977.66. During the first quarter of the present year the sum of $10,000,000 has been negotiated of the loan authorized by the act of June 14, 1858, making the present outstanding public debt, exclusive of Treasury notes, $35,155,977.66. There was on the 1st of July, 1858, of Treasury notes issued by authority of the act of December 23, 1857, unredeemed, the sum of $19,754,800, making the amount of actual indebtedness at that date $54,910,777.66. To this will be added $10,000,000 during the present fiscal year, this being the remaining half of the loan of $20,000,000 not yet negotiated. The rapid increase of the public debt and the necessity which exists for a modification of the tariff to meet even the ordinary expenses of the Government ought to admonish us all, in our respective spheres of duty, to the practice of rigid economy. The objects of expenditure should be limited in number, as far as this may be practicable, and the appropriations necessary to carry them into effect ought to be disbursed under the strictest accountability. Enlightened economy does not consist in the refusal to appropriate money for constitutional purposes essential to the defense, progress, and prosperity of the Republic, but in taking care that none of this money shall be wasted by mismanagement in its application to the objects designated by law. Comparisons between the annual expenditure at the present time and what it was ten or twenty years ago are altogether fallacious. The rapid increase of our country in extent and population renders a corresponding increase of expenditure to some extent unavoidable. This is constantly creating new objects of expenditure and augmenting the amount required for the old. The true questions, then, are, Have these objects been unnecessarily multiplied, or has the amount expended upon any or all of them been larger than comports with due economy? In accordance with these principles, the heads of the different Executive Departments of the Government have been instructed to reduce their estimates for the next fiscal year to the lowest standard consistent with the efficiency of the service, and this duty they have performed in a spirit of just economy. The estimates of the Treasury, War, Navy, and Interior Departments have each been in some degree reduced, and unless a sudden and unforeseen emergency should arise it is not anticipated that a deficiency will exist in either within the present or the next fiscal year. The Post-Office Department is placed in a peculiar position, different from the other Departments, and to this I shall hereafter refer. I invite Congress to institute a rigid scrutiny to ascertain whether the expenses in all the Departments can not be still further reduced, and I promise them all the aid in my power in pursuing the investigation. I transmit herewith the reports made to me by the Secretaries of War, of the Navy, of the Interior, and of the Postmaster-General. They each contain valuable information and important recommendations, to which I invite the attention of Congress. In my last annual message I took occasion to recommend the immediate construction of ten small steamers of light draft, for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the Navy. Congress responded to the recommendation by authorizing the construction of eight of them. The progress which has been made in executing this authority is stated in the report of the Secretary of the Navy. I concur with him in the opinion that a greater number of this class of vessels is necessary for the purpose of protecting in a more efficient manner the persons and property of American citizens on the high seas and in foreign countries, as well as in guarding more effectually our own coasts. I accordingly recommend the passage of an act for this purpose. The suggestions contained in the report of the Secretary of the Interior, especially those in regard to the disposition of the public domain, the pension and bounty-land system, the policy toward the Indians, and the amendment of our patent laws, are worthy of the serious consideration of Congress. The Post-Office Department occupies a position very different from that of the other Departments. For many years it was the policy of the Government to render this a self-sustaining Department; and if this can not now be accomplished, in the present condition of the country, we ought to make as near an approach to it as may be practicable. The Postmaster-General is placed in a most embarrassing position by the existing laws. He is obliged to carry these into effect. He has no other alternative. He finds, however, that this can not be done without heavy demands upon the Treasury over and above what is received for postage, and these have been progressively increasing from year to year until they amounted for the last fiscal year, ending on the 30th of June, 1858, to more than $4,500,000, whilst it is estimated that for the present fiscal year they will amount to $6,290,000. These sums are exclusive of the annual appropriation of $700,000 for "compensation for the mail service performed for the two Houses of Congress and the other Departments and officers of the Government in the transmission of free matter." The because of these large deficits is mainly attributable to the increased expense of transporting the mails. In 1852 the sum paid for this service was but a fraction above four millions and a quarter. Since that year it has annually increased, until in 1858 it has reached more than eight millions and a quarter, and for the service of 1859 it is estimated that it will amount to more than $10,000,000. The receipts of the Post-Office Department can be made to approach or to equal its expenditure only by means of the legislation of Congress. In applying any remedy care should be taken that the people shall not be deprived of the advantages which they are fairly entitled to enjoy from the Post-Office Department. The principal remedies recommended to the consideration of Congress by the Postmaster-General are to restore the former rate of postage upon single letters to 5 cents; to substitute for the franking privilege the delivery to those now entitled to enjoy it of post-office stamps for their correspondence, and to direct the Department in making contracts for the transportation of the mail to confine itself to the payment of the sum necessary for this single purpose, without requiring it to be transported in post coaches or carriages of any particular description. Under the present system the expense to the Government is greatly increased by requiring that the mail shall be carried in such vehicles as will accommodate passengers. This will be done, without pay from the Department, over all roads where the travel will remunerate the contractors. These recommendations deserve the grave consideration of Congress. I would again call your attention to the construction of a Pacific railroad. Time and reflection have but served to confirm me in the truth and justice of the observations which I made on this subject in my last annual message, to which I beg leave respectfully to refer. It is freely admitted that it would be inexpedient for this Government to exercise the power of constructing the Pacific railroad by its own immediate agents. Such a policy would increase the patronage of the Executive to a dangerous extent, and introduce a system of jobbing and corruption which no vigilance on the part of Federal officials could either prevent or detect. This can only be done by the keen eye and active and careful supervision of individual and private interest. The construction of this road ought therefore to be committed to companies incorporated by the States or other agencies whose pecuniary interests would be directly involved. Congress might then assist them in the work by grants of land or of money, or both, under such conditions and restrictions as would secure the transportation of troops and munitions of war free from any charge and that of the United States mail at a fair and reasonable price. The progress of events since the commencement of your last session has shown how soon difficulties disappear before a firm and determined resolution. At that time such a road was deemed by wise and patriotic men to be a visionary project. The great distance to be overcome and the intervening mountains and deserts in the way were obstacles which, in the opinion of many, could not be surmounted. Now, after the lapse of but a single year, these obstacles, it has been discovered, are far less formidable than they were supposed to be, and mail stages with passengers now pass and repass regularly twice in each week, by a common wagon road, between San Francisco and St. Louis and Memphis in less than twenty-five days. The service has been as regularly performed as it was in former years between New York and this city. Whilst disclaiming all authority to appropriate money for the construction of this road, except that derived from the war-making power of the Constitution, there are important collateral considerations urging us to undertake the work as speedily as possible. The first and most momentous of these is that such a road would be a powerful bond of union between the States east and west of the Rocky Mountains. This is so self-evident as to require no illustration. But again, in a commercial point of view, I consider this the great question of the day. With the eastern front of our Republic stretching along the Atlantic and its western front along the Pacific, if all the parts should be united by a safe, easy, and rapid intercommunication we must necessarily command a very large proportion of the trade both of Europe and Asia. Our recent treaties with China and Japan will open these rich and populous Empires to our commerce; and the history of the world proves that the nation which has gained possession of the trade with eastern Asia has always become wealthy and powerful. The peculiar geographical position of California and our Pacific possessions invites American capital and enterprise into this fruitful field. To reap the rich harvest, however, it is an indispensable prerequisite that we shall first have a railroad to convey and circulate its products throughout every portion of the Union. Besides, such a railroad through our temperate latitude, which would not be impeded by the frosts and snows of winter nor by the tropical heats of summer, would attract to itself much of the travel and the trade of all nations passing between Europe and Asia. On the 21st of August last Lieutenant J. N. Maffit, of the United States brig Dolphin, captured the slaver Echo (formerly the Putnam, of New Orleans) near Kay Verde, on the coast of Cuba, with more than 300 African negroes on board. The prize, under the command of Lieutenant Bradford, of the United States Navy, arrived at Charleston on the 27th August, when the negroes, 306 in number, were delivered into the custody of the United States marshal for the district of South Carolina. They were first placed in Castle Pinckney, and afterwards in Fort Sumter, for safe-keeping, and were detained there until the 19th September, when the survivors, 271 in number, were delivered on board the United States steamer Niagara to be transported to the coast of Africa under the charge of the agent of the United States, pursuant to the provisions of the act of the 3d March, 1819, "in addition to the acts prohibiting the slave trade." Under the second section of this act the President is "authorized to make such regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient for the safe-keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United States of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color" captured by vessels of the United States as may be delivered to the marshal of the district into which they are brought, "and to appoint a proper person or persons residing upon the coast of Africa as agent or agents for receiving the negroes, mulattoes, or persons of color delivered from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave trade by commanders of United States armed vessels." A doubt immediately arose as to the true construction of this act. It is quite clear from its terms that the President was authorized to provide "for the safe-keeping, support, and removal" of these negroes up till the time of their delivery to the agent on the coast of Africa, but no express provision was made for their protection and support after they had reached the place of their destination. Still, an agent was to be pointed to receive them in Africa, and it could not have been supposed that Congress intended he should desert them at the moment they were received and turn them loose on that inhospitable coast to perish for want of food or to become again the victims of the slave trade. Had this been the intention of Congress, the employment of an agent to receive them, who is required to reside on the coast, was unnecessary, and they might have been landed by our vessels anywhere in Africa and left exposed to the sufferings and the fate which would certainly await them. Mr. Monroe, in his special message of December 17, 1819, at the first session after the act was passed, announced to Congress what in his opinion was its true construction. He believed it to be his duty under it to follow these unfortunates into Africa and make provision for them there until they should be able to provide for themselves. In communicating this interpretation of the act to Congress he stated that some doubt had been entertained as to its true intent and meaning, and he submitted the question to them so that they might, "should it be deemed advisable, amend the same before further proceedings are had under it." Nothing was done by Congress to explain the act, and Mr. Monroe proceeded to carry it into execution according to his own interpretation. This, then, became the practical construction. When the Africans from on board the Echo were delivered to the marshal at Charleston, it became my duty to consider what disposition ought to be made of them under the law. For many reasons it was expedient to remove them from that locality as speedily as possible. Although the conduct of the authorities and citizens of Charleston in giving countenance to the execution of the law was just what might have been expected from their high character, yet a prolonged continuance of 300 Africans in the immediate vicinity of that city could not have failed to become a source of inconvenience and anxiety to its inhabitants. Where to send them was the question. There was no portion of the coast of Africa to which they could be removed with any regard to humanity except to Liberia. Under these circumstances an agreement was entered into with the Colonization Society on the 7th of September last, a copy of which is herewith transmitted, under which the society engaged, for the consideration of $45,000, to receive these Africans in Liberia from the agent of the United States and furnish them during the period of one year thereafter with comfortable shelter, clothing, provisions, and medical attendance, causing the children to receive schooling, and all, whether children or adults, to be instructed in the arts of civilized life suitable to their condition. This aggregate of $45,000 was based upon an allowance of $150 for each individual; and as there has been considerable mortality among them and may be more before they reach Africa, the society have agreed, in an equitable spirit, to make such a deduction from the amount as under the circumstances may appear just and reasonable. This can not be fixed until we shall ascertain the actual number which may become a charge to the society. It was also distinctly agreed that under no circumstances shall this Government be called upon for any additional expenses. The agents of the society manifested a laudable desire to conform to the wishes of the Government throughout the transaction. They assured me that after a careful calculation they would be required to expend the sum of $150 on each individual in complying with the agreement, and they would have nothing left to remunerate them for their care, trouble, and responsibility. At all events, I could make no better arrangement, and there was no other alternative. During the period when the Government itself, through its own agents, undertook the task of providing for captured negroes in Africa the cost per head was very much greater. There having been no outstanding appropriation applicable to this purpose, I could not advance any money on the agreement. I therefore recommend that an appropriation may be made of the amount necessary to carry it into effect. Other captures of a similar character may, and probably will, be made by our naval forces, and I earnestly recommend that Congress may amend the second section of the act of March 3, 1819, so as to free its construction from the ambiguity which has so long existed and render the duty of the President plain in executing its provisions. I recommend to your favorable regard the local interests of the District of Columbia. As the residence of Congress and the Executive Departments of the Government, we can not fail to feel a deep concern in its welfare. This is heightened by the high character and the peaceful and orderly conduct of its resident inhabitants. I can not conclude without performing the agreeable duty of expressing my gratification that Congress so kindly responded to the recommendation of my last annual message by affording me sufficient time before the close of their late session for the examination of all the bills presented to me for approval. This change in the practice of Congress has proved to be a wholesome reform. It exerted a beneficial influence on the transaction of legislative business and elicited the general approbation of the country. It enabled Congress to adjourn with that dignity and deliberation so becoming to the representatives of this great Republic, without having crowded into general appropriation bills provisions foreign to their nature and of doubtful constitutionality and expediency. Let me warmly and strongly commend this precedent established by themselves as a guide to their proceedings during the present session.
when we compare the condition of the country at the present day with what it was one year ago at the meeting of congress we have much reason for gratitude to that almighty providence which has never failed to interpose for our relief at the most critical periods of our history one year ago the sectional strife between the north and the south on the dangerous subject of slavery had again become so intense as to threaten the peace and perpetuity of the confederacy the application for the admission of kansas as a state into the union fostered this unhappy agitation and brought the whole subject once more before congress it was the desire of every patriot that such measures of legislation might be adopted as would remove the excitement from the states and confine it to the territory where it legitimately belonged much has been done i am happy to say toward the accomplishment of this object during the last session of congress the supreme court of the united states had previously decided that all american citizens have an equal right to take into the territories whatever is held as property under the laws of any of the states and to hold such property there under the guardianship of the federal constitution so long as the territorial condition shall remain this is now a position and the proceedings of the last session were alone wanting to give it practical effect the principle has been recognized in some form or other by an almost unanimous vote of both houses of congress that a territory has a right to come into the union either as a free or a slave state according to the will of a majority of its people the just equality of all the states has thus been vindicated and a fruitful source of dangerous dissension among them has been removed whilst such has been the beneficial tendency of your legislative proceedings outside of kansas their influence has nowhere been so happy as within that territory itself left to manage and control its own affairs in its own way without the pressure of external influence the revolutionary topeka organization and all resistance to the territorial government established by congress have been finally abandoned as a natural consequence that fine territory now appears to be tranquil and prosperous and is attracting increasing thousands of immigrants to make it their happy home the past unfortunate experience of kansas has enforced the lesson so often already taught that resistance to lawful authority under our form of government can not fail in the end to prove disastrous to its authors had the people of the territory yielded obedience to the laws enacted by their legislature it would at the present moment have contained a large additional population of industrious and enterprising citizens who have been deterred from entering its borders by the existence of civil strife and organized rebellion it was the resistance to rightful authority and the persevering attempts to establish a revolutionary government under the topeka constitution which caused the people of kansas to commit the grave error of refusing to vote for delegates to the convention to frame a constitution under a law not denied to be fair and just in its provisions this refusal to vote has been the prolific source of all the evils which have followed in their hostility to the territorial government they disregarded the principle absolutely essential to the working of our form of government that a majority of those who vote not the majority who may remain at home from whatever because must decide the result of an election for this reason seeking to take advantage of their own error they denied the authority of the convention thus elected to frame a constitution the convention notwithstanding proceeded to adopt a constitution unexceptionable in its general features and providing for the submission of the slavery question to a vote of the people which in my opinion they were bound to do under the kansas and nebraska act this was the question which had alone convulsed the territory and yet the opponents of the lawful government persisting in their first error refrained from exercising their right to vote and preferred that slavery should continue rather than surrender their revolutionary topeka organization a wiser and better spirit seemed to prevail before the first monday of january last when an election was held under the constitution a majority of the people then voted for a governor and other state officers for a member of congress and members of the state legislature this election was warmly contested by the two political parties in kansas and a greater vote was polled than at any previous election a large majority of the members of the legislature elect belonged to that party which had previously refused to vote the antislavery party were thus placed in the ascendant and the political power of the state was in their own hands had congress admitted kansas into the union under the lecompton constitution the legislature might at its very first session have submitted the question to a vote of the people whether they would or would not have a convention to amend their constitution either on the slavery or any other question and have adopted all necessary means for giving speedy effect to the will of the majority thus the kansas question would have been immediately and finally settled under these circumstances i submitted to congress the constitution thus framed with all the officers already elected necessary to put the state government into operation accompanied by a strong recommendation in favor of the admission of kansas as a state in the course of my long public life i have never performed any official act which in the retrospect has afforded me more heartfelt satisfaction its admission could have inflicted no possible injury on any human being whilst it would within a brief period have restored peace to kansas and harmony to the union in that event the slavery question would ere this have been finally settled according to the legally expressed will of a majority of the voters and popular sovereignty would thus have been vindicated in a constitutional manner with my deep convictions of duty i could have pursued no other course it is true that as an individual i had expressed an opinion both before and during the session of the convention in favor of submitting the remaining clauses of the constitution as well as that concerning slavery to the people but acting in an official character neither myself nor any human authority had the power to rejudge the proceedings of the convention and declare the constitution which it had framed to be a nullity to have done this would have been a violation of the kansas and nebraska act which left the people of the territory perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way subject only to the constitution of the united states it would equally have violated the great principle of popular sovereignty at the foundation of our institutions to deprive the people of the power if they thought proper to exercise it of confiding to delegates elected by themselves the trust of framing a constitution without requiring them to subject their constituents to the trouble expense and delay of a second election it would have been in opposition to many precedents in our history commencing in the very best age of the republic of the admission of territories as states into the union without a previous vote of the people approving their constitution it is to be lamented that a question so insignificant when viewed in its practical effects on the people of kansas whether decided one way or the other should have kindled such a flame of excitement throughout the country this reflection may prove to be a lesson of wisdom and of warning for our future guidance practically considered the question is simply whether the people of that territory should first come into the union and then change any provision in their constitution not agreeable to themselves or accomplish the very same object by remaining out of the union and framing another constitution in accordance with their will in either case the result would be precisely the same the only difference in point of fact is that the object would have been much sooner attained and the pacification of kansas more speedily effected had it been admitted as a state during the last session of congress my recommendation however for the immediate admission of kansas failed to meet the approbation of congress they deemed it wiser to adopt a different measure for the settlement of the question for my own part i should have been willing to yield my assent to almost any constitutional measure to accomplish this object i therefore cordially acquiesced in what has been called the english compromise and approved the act for the admission of the state of kansas into the union upon the terms therein prescribed under the ordinance which accompanied the lecompton constitution the people of kansas had claimed double the quantity of public lands for the support of common schools which had ever been previously granted to any state upon entering the union and also the alternate sections of land for 12 miles on each side of two railroads proposed to be constructed from the northern to the southern boundary and from the eastern to the western boundary of the state congress deeming these claims unreasonable provided by the act of may 4 1858 to which i have just referred for the admission of the state on an equal footing with the original states but upon the fundamental condition precedent that a majority of the people thereof at an election to be held for that purpose should in place of the very large grants of public lands which they had demanded under the ordinance accept such grants as had been made to minnesota and other new states under this act should a majority reject the proposition offered them it shall be deemed and held that the people of kansas do not desire admission into the union with said constitution under the conditions set forth in said proposition in that event the act authorizes the people of the territory to elect delegates to form a constitution and state government for themselves whenever and not before it is ascertained by a census duly and legally taken that the population of said territory equals or exceeds the ratio of representation required for a member of the house of representatives of the congress of the united states the delegates thus assembled shall first determine by a vote whether it is the wish of the people of the proposed state to be admitted into the union at that time and if so shall proceed to form a constitution and take all necessary steps for the establishment of a state government in conformity with the federal constitution after this constitution shall have been formed congress carrying out the principles of popular sovereignty and nonintervention have left the mode and manner of its approval or ratification by the people of the proposed state to be prescribed by law and they shall then be admitted into the union as a state under such constitution thus fairly and legally made with or without slavery as said constitution may prescribe an election was held throughout kansas in pursuance of the provisions of this act on the 2d day of august last and it resulted in the rejection by a large majority of the proposition submitted to the people by congress this being the case they are now authorized to form another constitution preparatory to admission into the union but not until their number as ascertained by a census shall equal or exceed the ratio required to elect a member to the house of representatives it is not probable in the present state of the case that a third constitution can be lawfully framed and presented to congress by kansas before its population shall have reached the designated number nor is it to be presumed that after their sad experience in resisting the territorial laws they will attempt to adopt a constitution in express violation of the provisions of an act of congress during the session of 1856 much of the time of congress was occupied on the question of admitting kansas under the topeka constitution again nearly the whole of the last session was devoted to the question of its admission under the lecompton constitution surely it is not unreasonable to require the people of kansas to wait before making a third attempt until the number of their inhabitants shall amount to during this brief period the harmony of the states as well as the great business interests of the country demand that the people of the union shall not for a third time be convulsed by another agitation on the kansas question by waiting for a short time and acting in obedience to law kansas will glide into the union without the slightest impediment this excellent provision which congress have applied to kansas ought to be extended and rendered applicable to all territories which may hereafter seek admission into the union whilst congress possess the undoubted power of admitting a new state into the union however small may be the number of its inhabitants yet this power ought not in my opinion to be exercised before the population shall amount to the ratio required by the act for the admission of kansas had this been previously the rule the country would have escaped all the evils and misfortunes to which it has been exposed by the kansas question of course it would be unjust to give this rule a retrospective application and exclude a state which acting upon the past practice of the government has already formed its constitution elected its legislature and other officers and is now prepared to enter the union the rule ought to be adopted whether we consider its bearing on the people of the territories or upon the people of the existing states many of the serious dissentions which have prevailed in congress and throughout the country would have been avoided had this rule been established at an earlier period of the government immediately upon the formation of a new territory people from different states and from foreign countries rush into it for the laudable purpose of improving their condition their first duty to themselves is to open and cultivate farms to construct roads to establish schools to erect places of religious worship and to devote their energies generally to reclaim the wilderness and to lay the foundations of a flourishing and prosperous commonwealth if in this incipient condition with a population of a few thousand they should prematurely enter the union they are oppressed by the burden of state taxation and the means necessary for the improvement of the territory and the advancement of their own interests are thus diverted to very different purposes the federal government has ever been a liberal parent to the territories and a generous contributor to the useful enterprises of the early settlers it has paid the expenses of their governments and legislative assemblies out of the common treasury and thus relieved them from a heavy charge under these circumstances nothing can be better calculated to retard their material progress than to divert them from their useful employments by prematurely exciting angry political contests among themselves for the benefit of aspiring leaders it is surely no hardship for embryo governors senators and members of congress to wait until the number of inhabitants shall equal those of a single congressional district they surely ought not to be permitted to rush into the union with a population less than of several of the large counties in the interior of some of the states this was the condition of kansas when it made application to be admitted under the topeka constitution besides it requires some time to render the mass of a population collected in a new territory at all homogeneous and to unite them on anything like a fixed policy establish the rule and all will look forward to it and govern themselves accordingly but justice to the people of the several states requires that this rule should be established by congress each state is entitled to two senators and at least one representative in congress should the people of the states fail to elect a the power devolves upon the senate to select this officer from the two highest candidates on the list in case of the death of the president the thus elected by the senate becomes president of the united states on all questions of legislation the senators from the smallest states of the union have an equal vote with those from the largest the same may be said in regard to the ratification of treaties and of executive appointments all this has worked admirably in practice whilst it conforms in principle with the character of a government instituted by sovereign states i presume no american citizen would desire the slightest change in the arrangement still is it not unjust and unequal to the existing states to invest some or people collected in a territory with the attributes of sovereignty and place them on an equal footing with virginia and new york in the senate of the united states for these reasons i earnestly recommend the passage of a general act which shall provide that upon the application of a territorial legislature declaring their belief that the territory contains a number of inhabitants which if in a state would entitle them to elect a member of congress it shall be the duty of the president to because a census of the inhabitants to be taken and if found sufficient then by the terms of this act to authorize them to proceed in their own way to frame a state constitution preparatory to admission into the union i also recommend that an appropriation may be made to enable the president to take a census of the people of kansas the present condition of the territory of utah when contrasted with what it was one year ago is a subject for congratulation it was then in a state of open rebellion and cost what it might the character of the government required that this rebellion should be suppressed and the mormons compelled to yield obedience to the constitution and the laws in order to accomplish this object as i informed you in my last annual message i appointed a new governor instead of brigham young and other federal officers to take the place of those who consulting their personal safety had found it necessary to withdraw from the territory to protect these civil officers and to aid them as a posse comitatus in the execution of the laws in case of need i ordered a detachment of the army to accompany them to utah the necessity for adopting these measures is now demonstrated on the 15th of september 1857 governor young issued his proclamation in the style of an independent sovereign announcing his purpose to resist by force of arms the entry of the united states troops into our own territory of utah by this he required all the forces in the territory to hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment notice to repel any and all such invasion and established martial law from its date throughout the territory these proved to be no idle threats forts bridger and supply were vacated and burnt down by the mormons to deprive our troops of a shelter after their long and fatiguing march orders were issued by daniel wells styling himself lieutenant general nauvoo legion to stampede the animals of the united states troops on their march to set fire to their trains to burn the grass and the whole country before them and on their flanks to keep them from sleeping by night surprises and to blockade the road by felling trees and destroying the fords of rivers etc these orders were promptly and effectually obeyed on the 4th of october 1857 the mormons captured and burned on green river three of our supply trains consisting of wagons loaded with provisions and tents for the army and carried away several hundred animals this diminished the supply of provisions so materially that general johnston was obliged to reduce the ration and even with this precaution there was only sufficient left to subsist the troops until the 1st of june our little army behaved admirably in their encampment at fort bridger under these trying privations in the midst of the mountains in a dreary unsettled and inhospitable region more than a thousand miles from home they passed the severe and inclement winter without a murmur they looked forward with confidence for relief from their country in due season and in this they were not disappointed the secretary of war employed all his energies to forward them the necessary supplies and to muster and send such a military force to utah as would render resistance on the part of the mormons hopeless and thus terminate the war without the effusion of blood in his efforts he was efficiently sustained by congress they granted appropriations sufficient to cover the deficiency thus necessarily created and also provided for raising two regiments of volunteers for the purpose of quelling disturbances in the territory of utah for the protection of supply and emigrant trains and the suppression of indian hostilities on the frontiers happily there was no occasion to call these regiments into service if there had been i should have felt serious embarrassment in selecting them so great was the number of our brave and patriotic citizens anxious to serve their country in this distant and apparently dangerous expedition thus it has ever been and thus may it ever be the wisdom and economy of sending sufficient reenforcements to utah are established not only by the event but in the opinion of those who from their position and opportunities are the most capable of forming a correct judgment general johnston the commander of the forces in addressing the secretary of war from fort bridger under date of october 18 1857 expresses the opinion that unless a large force is sent here from the nature of the country a protracted war on their the mormons part is inevitable this he considered necessary to terminate the war speedily and more economically than if attempted by insufficient means in the meantime it was my anxious desire that the mormons should yield obedience to the constitution and the laws without rendering it necessary to resort to military force to aid in accomplishing this object i deemed it advisable in april last to dispatch two distinguished citizens of the united states powell and mcculloch to utah they bore with them a proclamation addressed by myself to the inhabitants of utah dated on the 6th day of that month warning them of their true condition and how hopeless it was on their part to persist in rebellion against the united states and offering all those who should submit to the laws a full pardon for their past seditions and treasons at the same time i assured those who should persist in rebellion against the united states that they must expect no further lenity but look to be rigorously dealt with according to their deserts the instructions to these agents as well as a copy of the proclamation and their reports are herewith submitted it will be seen by their report of the 3d of july last that they have fully confirmed the opinion expressed by general johnston in the previous october as to the necessity of sending reenforcements to utah in this they state that they are firmly impressed with the belief that the presence of the army here and the large additional force that had been ordered to this territory were the chief inducements that caused the mormons to abandon the idea of resisting the authority of the united states a less decisive policy would probably have resulted in a long bloody and expensive war these gentlemen conducted themselves to my entire satisfaction and rendered useful services in executing the humane intentions of the government it also affords me great satisfaction to state that governor cumming has performed his duty in an able and conciliatory manner and with the happiest effect i can not in this connection refrain from mentioning the valuable services of colonel thomas kane who from motives of pure benevolence and without any official character or pecuniary compensation visited utah during the last inclement winter for the purpose of contributing to the pacification of the territory i am happy to inform you that the governor and other civil officers of utah are now performing their appropriate functions without resistance the authority of the constitution and the laws has been fully restored and peace prevails throughout the territory a portion of the troops sent to utah are now encamped in cedar valley 44 miles southwest of salt lake city and the remainder have been ordered to oregon to suppress indian hostilities the march of the army to salt lake city through the indianterritory has had a powerful effect in restraining the hostile feelings against the united states which existed among the indians in that region and in securing emigrants to the far west against their depredations this will also be the means of establishing military posts and promoting settlements along the route i recommend that the benefits of our land laws and preemption system be extended to the people of utah by the establishment of a land office in that territory i have occasion also to congratulate you on the result of our negotiations with china you were informed by my last annual message that our minister had been instructed to occupy a neutral position in the hostilities conducted by great britain and france against canton he was however at the same time directed to cooperate cordially with the british and french ministers in all peaceful measures to secure by treaty those just concessions to foreign commerce which the nations of the world had a right to demand it was impossible for me to proceed further than this on my own authority without usurping the power which under the constitution belongs exclusively to congress besides after a careful examination of the nature and extent of our grievances i did not believe they were of such a pressing and aggravated character as would have justified congress in declaring war against the chinese empire without first making another earnest attempt to adjust them by peaceful negotiation i was the more inclined to this opinion because of the severe chastisement which had then but recently been inflicted upon the chinese by our squadron in the capture and destruction of the barrier forts to avenge an alleged insult to our flag the event has proved the wisdom of our neutrality our minister has executed his instructions with eminent skill and ability in conjunction with the russian plenipotentiary he has peacefully but effectually cooperated with the english and french plenipotentiaries and each of the four powers has concluded a separate treaty with china of a highly satisfactory character the treaty concluded by our own plenipotentiary will immediately be submitted to the senate i am happy to announce that through the energetic yet conciliatory efforts of our in japan a new treaty has been concluded with that empire which may be expected materially to augment our trade and intercourse in that quarter and remove from our countrymen the disabilities which have heretofore been imposed upon the exercise of their religion the treaty shall be submitted to the senate for approval without delay it is my earnest desire that every misunderstanding with the government of great britain should be amicably and speedily adjusted it has been the misfortune of both countries almost ever since the period of the revolution to have been annoyed by a succession of irritating and dangerous questions threatening their friendly relations this has partially prevented the full development of those feelings of mutual friendship between the people of the two countries so natural in themselves and so conducive to their common interest any serious interruption of the commerce between the united states and great britain would be equally injurious to both in fact no two nations have ever existed on the face of the earth which could do each other so much good or so much harm entertaining these sentiments i am gratified to inform you that the controversy between the two governments in relation to the question of visitation and search has been amicably adjusted the claim on the part of great britain forcibly to visit american vessels on the high seas in time of peace could not be sustained under the law of nations and it had been overruled by her own most eminent jurists this question was recently brought to an issue by the repeated acts of british cruisers in boarding and searching our merchant vessels in the gulf of mexico and the adjacent seas these acts were the more injurious and annoying as these waters are traversed by a large portion of the commerce and navigation of the united states and their free and unrestricted use is essential to the security of the coastwise trade between the different states of the union such vexatious interruptions could not fail to excite the feelings of the country and to require the interposition of the government remonstrances were addressed to the british government against these violations of our rights of sovereignty and a naval force was at the same time ordered to the cuban waters with directions to protect all vessels of the united states on the high seas from search or detention by the vessels of war of any other nation these measures received the unqualified and even enthusiastic approbation of the american people most fortunately however no collision took place and the british government promptly avowed its recognition of the principles of international law upon this subject as laid down by the government of the united states in the note of the secretary of state to the british minister at washington of april 10 1858 which secure the vessels of the united states upon the high seas from visitation or search in time of peace under any circumstances whatever the claim has been abandoned in a manner reflecting honor on the british government and evincing a just regard for the law of nations and can not fail to strengthen the amicable relations between the two countries the british government at the same time proposed to the united states that some mode should be adopted by mutual arrangement between the two countries of a character which may be found effective without being offensive for verifying the nationality of vessels suspected on good grounds of carrying false colors they have also invited the united states to take the initiative and propose measures for this purpose whilst declining to assume so grave a responsibility the secretary of state has informed the british government that we are ready to receive any proposals which they may feel disposed to offer having this object in view and to consider them in an amicable spirit a strong opinion is however expressed that the occasional abuse of the flag of any nation is an evil far less to be deprecated than would be the establishment of any regulations which might be incompatible with the freedom of the seas this government has yet received no communication specifying the manner in which the british government would propose to carry out their suggestion and i am inclined to believe that no plan which can be devised will be free from grave embarrassments still i shall form no decided opinion on the subject until i shall have carefully and in the best spirit examined any proposals which they may think proper to make i am truly sorry i can not also inform you that the complications between great britain and the united states arising out of the clayton and bulwer treaty of april 1850 have been finally adjusted at the commencement of your last session i had reason to hope that emancipating themselves from further unavailing discussions the two governments would proceed to settle the central american questions in a practical manner alike honorable and satisfactory to both and this hope i have not yet abandoned in my last annual message i stated that overtures had been made by the british government for this purpose in a friendly spirit which i cordially reciprocated their proposal was to withdraw these questions from direct negotiation between the two governments but to accomplish the same object by a negotiation between the british government and each of the central american republics whose territorial interests are immediately involved the settlement was to be made in accordance with the general tenor of the interpretation placed upon the clayton and bulwer treaty by the united states with certain modifications as negotiations are still pending upon this basis it would not be proper for me now to communicate their present condition a final settlement of these questions is greatly to be desired as this would wipe out the last remaining subject of dispute between the two countries our relations with the great empires of france and russia as well as with all other governments on the continent of europe except that of spain continue to be of the most friendly character with spain our relations remain in an unsatisfactory condition in my message of december last i informed you that our envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to madrid had asked for his recall and it was my purpose to send out a new minister to that court with special instructions on all questions pending between the two governments and with a determination to have them speedily and amicably adjusted if that were possible this purpose has been hitherto defeated by causes which i need not enumerate the mission to spain has been intrusted to a distinguished citizen of kentucky who will proceed to madrid without delay and make another and a final attempt to obtain justice from that government spanish officials under the direct control of the of cuba have insulted our national flag and in repeated instances have from time to time inflicted injuries on the persons and property of our citizens these have given birth to numerous claims against the spanish government the merits of which have been ably discussed for a series of years by our successive diplomatic representatives notwithstanding this we have not arrived at a practical result in any single instance unless we may except the case of the black warrior under the late administration and that presented an outrage of such a character as would have justified an immediate resort to war all our attempts to obtain redress have been baffled and defeated the frequent and changes in the spanish ministry have been employed as reasons for delay we have been compelled to wait again and again until the new minister shall have had time to investigate the justice of our demands even what have been denominated the cuban claims in which more than 100 of our citizens are directly interested have furnished no exception these claims were for the refunding of duties unjustly exacted from american vessels at different in cuba so long ago as the year 1844 the principles upon which they rest are so manifestly equitable and just that after a period of nearly ten years in 1854 they were recognized by the spanish government proceedings were afterwards instituted to ascertain their amount and this was finally fixed according to their own statement with which we were satisfied at the sum of just at the moment after a delay of fourteen years when we had reason to expect that this sum would be repaid with interest we have received a proposal offering to refund of that amount but without interest if we would accept this in full satisfaction the offer is also accompanied by a declaration that this indemnification is not founded on any reason of strict justice but is made as a special favor one alleged because for procrastination in the examination and adjustment of our claims arises from an obstacle which it is the duty of the spanish government to remove whilst the of cuba is invested with general despotic authority in the government of that island the power is withheld from him to examine and redress wrongs committed by officials under his control on citizens of the united states instead of making our complaints directly to him at havana we are obliged to present them through our minister at madrid these are then referred back to the for information and much time is thus consumed in preliminary investigations and correspondence between madrid and cuba before the spanish government will consent to proceed to negotiation many of the difficulties between the two governments would be obviated and a long train of negotiation avoided if the were invested with authority to settle questions of easy solution on the spot where all the facts are fresh and could be promptly and satisfactorily ascertained we have hitherto in vain urged upon the spanish government to confer this power upon the and our minister to spain will again be instructed to urge this subject on their notice in this respect we occupy a different position from the powers of europe cuba is almost within sight of our shores our commerce with it is far greater than that of any other nation including spain itself and our citizens are in habits of daily and extended personal intercourse with every part of the island it is therefore a great grievance that when any difficulty occurs no matter how unimportant which might be readily settled at the moment we should be obliged to resort to madrid especially when the very first step to be taken there is to refer it back to cuba the truth is that cuba in its existing colonial condition is a constant source of injury and annoyance to the american people it is the only spot in the civilized world where the african slave trade is tolerated and we are bound by treaty with great britain to maintain a naval force on the coast of africa at much expense both of life and treasure solely for the purpose of arresting slavers bound to that island the late serious difficulties between the united states and great britain respecting the right of search now so happily terminated could never have arisen if cuba had not afforded a market for slaves as long as this market shall remain open there can be no hope for the civilization of benighted africa whilst the demand for slaves continues in cuba wars will be waged among the petty and barbarous chiefs in africa for the purpose of seizing subjects to supply this trade in such a condition of affairs it is impossible that the light of civilization and religion can ever penetrate these dark abodes it has been made known to the world by my predecessors that the united states have on several occasions endeavored to acquire cuba from spain by honorable negotiation if this were accomplished the last relic of the african slave trade would instantly disappear we would not if we could acquire cuba in any other manner this is due to our national character all the territory which we have acquired since the origin of the government has been by fair purchase from france spain and mexico or by the free and voluntary act of the independent state of texas in blending her destinies with our own this course we shall ever pursue unless circumstances should occur which we do not now anticipate rendering a departure from it clearly justifiable under the imperative and overruling law of the island of cuba from its geographical position commands the mouth of the mississippi and the immense and annually increasing trade foreign and coastwise from the valley of that noble river now embracing half the sovereign states of the union with that island under the dominion of a distant foreign power this trade of vital importance to these states is exposed to the danger of being destroyed in time of war and it has hitherto been subjected to perpetual injury and annoyance in time of peace our relations with spain which ought to be of the most friendly character must always be placed in jeopardy whilst the existing colonial government over the island shall remain in its present condition whilst the possession of the island would be of vast importance to the united states its value to spain is comparatively unimportant such was the relative situation of the parties when the great napoleon transferred louisiana to the united states jealous as he ever was of the national honor and interests of france no person throughout the world has imputed blame to him for accepting a pecuniary equivalent for this cession the publicity which has been given to our former negotiations upon this subject and the large appropriation which may be required to effect the purpose render it expedient before making another attempt to renew the negotiation that i should lay the whole subject before congress this is especially necessary as it may become indispensable to success that i should be intrusted with the means of making an advance to the spanish government immediately after the signing of the treaty without awaiting the ratification of it by the senate i am encouraged to make this suggestion by the example of jefferson previous to the purchase of louisiana from france and by that of polk in view of the acquisition of territory from mexico i refer the whole subject to congress and commend it to their careful consideration i repeat the recommendation made in my message of december last in favor of an appropriation to be paid to the spanish government for the purpose of distribution among the claimants in the amistad case president polk first made a similar recommendation in december 1847 and it was repeated by my immediate predecessor in december 1853 i entertain no doubt that indemnity is fairly due to these claimants under our treaty with spain of october 27 1795 and whilst demanding justice we ought to do justice an appropriation promptly made for this purpose could not fail to exert a favorable influence on our negotiations with spain our position in relation to the independent states south of us on this continent and especially those within the limits of north america is of a peculiar character the northern boundary of mexico is coincident with our own southern boundary from ocean to ocean and we must necessarily feel a deep interest in all that concerns the and the fate of so near a neighbor we have always cherished the kindest wishes for the success of that republic and have indulged the hope that it might at last after all its trials enjoy peace and prosperity under a free and stable government we have never hitherto interfered directly or indirectly with its internal affairs and it is a duty which we owe to ourselves to protect the integrity of its territory against the hostile interference of any other power our geographical position our direct interest in all that concerns mexico and our policy in regard to the north american continent render this an indispensable duty mexico has been in a state of constant revolution almost ever since it achieved its independence one military leader after another has usurped the government in rapid succession and the various constitutions from time to time adopted have been set at naught almost as soon as they were proclaimed the successive governments have afforded no adequate protection either to mexican citizens or foreign residents against lawless violence heretofore a seizure of the capital by a military chieftain has been generally followed by at least the nominal submission of the country to his rule for a brief period but not so at the present crisis of mexican affairs a civil war has been raging for some time throughout the republic between the central government at the city of mexico which has endeavored to subvert the constitution last framed by military power and those who maintain the authority of that constitution the antagonist parties each hold possession of different states of the republic and the fortunes of the war are constantly changing meanwhile the most reprehensible means have been employed by both parties to extort money from foreigners as well as natives to carry on this ruinous contest the truth is that this fine country blessed with a productive soil and a benign climate has been reduced by civil dissension to a condition of almost hopeless anarchy and imbecility it would be vain for this government to attempt to enforce payment in money of the claims of american citizens now amounting to more than against mexico because she is destitute of all pecuniary means to satisfy these demands our late minister was furnished with ample powers and instructions for the adjustment of all pending questions with the central government of mexico and he performed his duty with zeal and ability the claims of our citizens some of them arising out of the violation of an express provision of the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo and others from gross injuries to persons as well as property have remained unredressed and even unnoticed remonstrances against these grievances have been addressed without effect to that government meantime in various parts of the republic instances have been numerous of the murder imprisonment and plunder of our citizens by different parties claiming and exercising a local jurisdiction but the central government although repeatedly urged thereto have made no effort either to punish the authors of these outrages or to prevent their recurrence no american citizen can now visit mexico on lawful business without imminent danger to his person and property there is no adequate protection to either and in this respect our treaty with that republic is almost a dead letter this state of affairs was brought to a crisis in may last by the promulgation of a decree levying a contribution pro rata upon all the capital in the republic between certain specified amounts whether held by mexicans or foreigners forsyth regarding this decree in the light of a forced loan formally protested against its application to his countrymen and advised them not to pay the contribution but to suffer it to be forcibly exacted acting upon this advice an american citizen refused to pay the contribution and his property was seized by armed men to satisfy the amount not content with this the government proceeded still further and issued a decree banishing him from the country our minister immediately notified them that if this decree should be carried into execution he would feel it to be his duty to adopt the most decided measures that belong to the powers and obligations of the representative office notwithstanding this warning the banishment was enforced and forsyth promptly announced to the government the suspension of the political relations of his legation with them until the pleasure of his own government should be ascertained this government did not regard the contribution imposed by the decree of the 15th may last to be in strictness a forced loan and as such prohibited by the tenth article of the treaty of 1826 between great britain and mexico to the benefits of which american citizens are entitled by treaty yet the imposition of the contribution upon foreigners was considered an unjust and oppressive measure besides internal factions in other parts of the republic were at the same time levying similar exactions upon the property of our citizens and interrupting their commerce there had been an entire failure on the part of our minister to secure redress for the wrongs which our citizens had endured notwithstanding his persevering efforts and from the temper manifested by the mexican government he had repeatedly assured us that no favorable change could be expected until the united states should give striking evidence of their will and power to protect their citizens and that severe chastening is the only earthly remedy for our grievances from this statement of facts it would have been worse than idle to direct forsyth to retrace his steps and resume diplomatic relations with that government and it was therefore deemed proper to sanction his withdrawal of the legation from the city of mexico abundant because now undoubtedly exists for a resort to hostilities against the government still holding possession of the capital should they succeed in subduing the constitutional forces all reasonable hope will then have expired of a peaceful settlement of our difficulties on the other hand should the constitutional party prevail and their authority be established over the republic there is reason to hope that they will be animated by a less unfriendly spirit and may grant that redress to american citizens which justice requires so far as they may possess the means but for this expectation i should at once have recommended to congress to grant the necessary power to the president to take possession of a sufficient portion of the remote and unsettled territory of mexico to be held in pledge until our injuries shall be redressed and our just demands be satisfied we have already exhausted every milder means of obtaining justice in such a case this remedy of reprisals is recognized by the law of nations not only as just in itself but as a means of preventing actual war but there is another view of our relations with mexico arising from the unhappy condition of affairs along our southwestern frontier which demands immediate action in that remote region where there are but few white inhabitants large bands of hostile and predatory indians roam promiscuously over the mexican states of chihuahua and sonora and our adjoining territories the local governments of these states are perfectly helpless and are kept in a state of constant alarm by the indians they have not the power if they possessed the will even to restrain lawless mexicans from passing the border and committing depredations on our remote settlers a state of anarchy and violence prevails throughout that distant frontier the laws are a dead letter and life and property wholly insecure for this reason the settlement of arizona is arrested whilst it is of great importance that a chain of inhabitants should extend all along its southern border sufficient for their own protection and that of the united states mail passing to and from california apprehensions are now entertained that the indians and wandering mexicans equally lawless may break up the important stage and postal communication recently established between our atlantic and pacific possessions this passes very near to the mexican boundary throughout the whole length of arizona i can imagine no possible remedy for these evils and no mode of restoring law and order on that remote and unsettled frontier but for the government of the united states to assume a temporary protectorate over the northern portions of chihuahua and sonora and to establish military posts within the same and this i earnestly recommend to congress this protection may be withdrawn as soon as local governments shall be established in these mexican states capable of performing their duties to the united states restraining the lawless and preserving peace along the border i do not doubt that this measure will be viewed in a friendly spirit by the governments and people of chihuahua and sonora as it will prove equally effectual for the protection of their citizens on that remote and lawless frontier as for citizens of the united states and in this connection permit me to recall your attention to the condition of arizona the population of that territory numbering as is alleged more than souls are practically without a government without laws and without any regular administration of justice murder and other crimes are committed with impunity this state of things calls loudly for redress and i therefore repeat my recommendation for the establishment of a territorial government over arizona the political condition of the narrow isthmus of central america through which transit routes pass between the atlantic and pacific oceans presents a subject of deep interest to all commercial nations it is over these transits that a large proportion of the trade and travel between the european and asiatic continents is destined to pass to the united states these routes are of incalculable importance as a means of communication between their atlantic and pacific possessions the latter now extend throughout seventeen degrees of latitude on the pacific coast embracing the important state of california and the flourishing territories of oregon and washington all commercial nations therefore have a deep and direct interest that these communications shall be rendered secure from interruption if an arm of the sea connecting the two oceans penetrated through nicaragua and costa rica it could not be pretended that these states would have the right to arrest or retard its navigation to the injury of other nations the transit by land over this narrow isthmus occupies nearly the same position it is a highway in which they themselves have little interest when compared with the vast interests of the rest of the world whilst their rights of sovereignty ought to be respected it is the duty of other nations to require that this important passage shall not be interrupted by the civil wars and revolutionary outbreaks which have so frequently occurred in that region the stake is too important to be left at the mercy of rival companies claiming to hold conflicting contracts with nicaragua the commerce of other nations is not to stand still and await the adjustment of such petty controversies the government of the united states expect no more than this and they will not be satisfied with less they would not if they could derive any advantage from the nicaragua transit not common to the rest of the world its neutrality and protection for the common use of all nations is their only object they have no objection that nicaragua shall demand and receive a fair compensation from the companies and individuals who may traverse the route but they insist that it shall never hereafter be closed by an arbitrary decree of that government if disputes arise between it and those with whom they may have entered into contracts these must be adjusted by some fair tribunal provided for the purpose and the route must not be closed pending the controversy this is our whole policy and it can not fail to be acceptable to other nations all these difficulties might be avoided if consistently with the good faith of nicaragua the use of this transit could be thrown open to general competition providing at the same time for the payment of a reasonable rate to the nicaraguan government on passengers and freight in august 1852 the accessory transit company made its first interoceanic trip over the nicaraguan route and continued in successful operation with great advantage to the public until the 18th february 1856 when it was closed and the grant to this company as well as its charter were summarily and arbitrarily revoked by the government of president rivas previous to this date however in 1854 serious disputes concerning the settlement of their accounts had arisen between the company and the government threatening the interruption of the route at any moment these the united states in vain endeavored to compose it would be useless to narrate the various proceedings which took place between the parties up till the time when the transit was discontinued suffice it to say that since february 1856 it has remained closed greatly to the prejudice of citizens of the united states since that time the competition has ceased between the rival routes of panama and nicaragua and in consequence thereof an unjust and unreasonable amount has been exacted from our citizens for their passage to and from california a treaty was signed on the 16th day of november 1857 by the secretary of state and minister of nicaragua under the stipulations of which the use and protection of the transit route would have been secured not only to the united states but equally to all other nations how and on what pretext this treaty has failed to receive the ratification of the nicaraguan government will appear by the papers herewith communicated from the state department the principal objection seems to have been to the provision authorizing the united states to employ force to keep the route open in case nicaragua should fail to perform her duty in this respect from the feebleness of that republic its frequent changes of government and its constant internal dissensions this had become a most important stipulation and one essentially necessary not only for the security of the route but for the safety of american citizens passing and repassing to and from our pacific possessions were such a stipulation embraced in a treaty between the united states and nicaragua the knowledge of this fact would of itself most probably prevent hostile parties from committing aggressions on the route and render our actual interference for its protection unnecessary the executive government of this country in its intercourse with foreign nations is limited to the employment of diplomacy alone when this fails it can proceed no further it can not legitimately resort to force without the direct authority of congress except in resisting and repelling hostile attacks it would have no authority to enter the territories of nicaragua even to prevent the destruction of the transit and protect the lives and property of our own citizens on their passage it is true that on a sudden emergency of this character the president would direct any armed force in the vicinity to march to their relief but in doing this he would act upon his own responsibility under these circumstances i earnestly recommend to congress the passage of an act authorizing the president under such restrictions as they may deem proper to employ the land and naval forces of the united states in preventing the transit from being obstructed or closed by lawless violence and in protecting the lives and property of american citizens traveling thereupon requiring at the same time that these forces shall be withdrawn the moment the danger shall have passed away without such a provision our citizens will be constantly exposed to interruption in their progress and to lawless violence a similar necessity exists for the passage of such an act for the protection of the panama and tehuantepec routes in reference to the panama route the united states by their existing treaty with new granada expressly guarantee the neutrality of the isthmus with the view that the free transit from the one to the other sea may not be interrupted or embarrassed in any future time while this treaty exists in regard to the tehuantepec route which has been recently opened under the most favorable auspices our treaty with mexico of the 30th december 1853 secures to the citizens of the united states a right of transit over it for their persons and merchandise and stipulates that neither government shall interpose any obstacle thereto it also concedes to the united states the right to transport across the isthmus in closed bags the mails of the united states not intended for distribution along the line of the communication also the effects of the united states government and its citizens which may be intended for transit and not for distribution on the isthmus free of or other charges by the mexican government these treaty stipulations with new granada and mexico in addition to the considerations applicable to the nicaragua route seem to require legislation for the purpose of carrying them into effect the injuries which have been inflicted upon our citizens in costa rica and nicaragua during the last two or three years have received the prompt attention of this government some of these injuries were of the most aggravated character the transaction at virgin bay in april 1856 when a company of unarmed americans who were in no way connected with any belligerent conduct or party were fired upon by the troops of costa rica and numbers of them killed and wounded was brought to the knowledge of congress by my predecessor soon after its occurrence and was also presented to the government of costa rica for that immediate investigation and redress which the nature of the case demanded a similar course was pursued with reference to other outrages in these countries some of which were hardly less aggravated in their character than the transaction at virgin bay at the time however when our present minister to nicaragua was appointed in december 1857 no redress had been obtained for any of these wrongs and no reply even had been received to the demands which had been made by this government upon that of costa rica more than a year before our minister was instructed therefore to lose no time in expressing to those governments the deep regret with which the president had witnessed this inattention to the just claims of the united states and in demanding their prompt and satisfactory adjustment unless this demand shall be complied with at an early day it will only remain for this government to adopt such other measures as may be necessary in order to obtain for itself that justice which it has in vain attempted to secure by peaceful means from the governments of nicaragua and costa rica while it has shown and will continue to show the most sincere regard for the rights and honor of these republics it can not permit this regard to be met by an utter neglect on their part of what is due to the government and citizens of the united states against new granada we have causes of complaint arising out of the unsatisfied claims of our citizens upon that republic and to these have been more recently added the outrages committed upon our citizens at panama in april 1856 a treaty for the adjustment of these difficulties was concluded by the secretary of state and the minister of new granada in september 1857 which contained just and acceptable provisions for that purpose this treaty was transmitted to bogota and was ratified by the government of new granada but with certain amendments it was not however returned to this city until after the close of the last session of the senate it will be immediately transmitted to that body for their advice and consent and should this be obtained it will remove all our existing causes of complaint against new granada on the subject of claims questions have arisen between the two governments as to the right of new granada to levy a tonnage duty upon the vessels of the united states in its ports of the isthmus and to levy a passenger tax upon our citizens arriving in that country whether with a design to remain there or to pass from ocean to ocean by the transit route and also a tax upon the mail of the united states transported over the panama railroad the government of new granada has been informed that the united states would consider the collection of either of these taxes as an act in violation of the treaty between the two countries and as such would be resisted by the united states at the same time we are prepared to discuss these questions in a spirit of amity and justice and with a sincere desire to adjust them in a satisfactory manner a negotiation for that purpose has already been commenced no effort has recently been made to collect these taxes nor is any anticipated under present circumstances with the empire of brazil our relations are of the most friendly character the productions of the two countries and especially those of an agricultural nature are such as to invite extensive mutual exchanges a large quantity of american flour is consumed in brazil whilst more than treble the amount in value of brazilian coffee is consumed in the united states whilst this is the case a heavy duty has been levied until very recently upon the importation of american flour into brazil i am gratified however to be able to inform you that in september last this has been reduced from to about 49 cents per barrel and the duties on other articles of our production have been diminished in nearly the same proportion i regret to state that the government of brazil still continues to levy an export duty of about 11 per cent on coffee notwithstanding this article is admitted free from duty in the united states this is a heavy charge upon the consumers of coffee in our country as we purchase half of the entire surplus crop of that article raised in brazil our minister under instructions will reiterate his efforts to have this export duty removed and it is hoped that the enlightened government of the emperor will adopt this wise just and equal policy in that event there is good reason to believe that the commerce between the two countries will greatly increase much to the advantage of both the claims of our citizens against the government of brazil are not in the aggregate of very large amount but some of these rest upon plain principles of justice and their settlement ought not to be longer delayed a renewed and earnest and i trust a successful effort will be made by our minister to procure their final adjustment on the 2d of june last congress passed a joint resolution authorizing the president to adopt such measures and use such force as in his judgment may be necessary and advisable for the the purpose of the differences between the united states and the republic of paraguay in connection with the attack on the united states steamer water witch and with other measures referred to in his annual message and on the 12th of july following they made an appropriation to defray the expenses and compensation of a commissioner to that republic should the president deem it proper to make such all appointment in compliance with these enactments i have appointed a commissioner who has proceeded to paraguay with full powers and instructions to settle these differences in an amicable and peaceful manner if this be practicable his experience and discretion justify the hope that he may prove successful in convincing the paraguayan government that it is due both to honor and justice that they should voluntarily and promptly make atonement for the wrongs which they have committed against the united states and indemnify our injured citizens whom they have forcibly despoiled of their property should our commissioner prove unsuccessful after a sincere and earnest effort to accomplish the object of his mission then no alternative will remain but the employment of force to obtain just satisfaction from paraguay in view of this contingency the secretary of the navy under my direction has fitted out and dispatched a naval force to rendezvous near buenos ayres which it is believed will prove sufficient for the occasion it is my earnest desire however that it may not be found necessary to resort to this last alternative when congress met in december last the business of the country had just been crushed by one of those periodical revulsions which are the inevitable consequence of our unsound and extravagant system of bank credits and inflated currency with all the elements of national wealth in abundance our manufactures were suspended our useful public and private enterprises were arrested and thousands of laborers were deprived of employment and reduced to want universal distress prevailed among the commercial manufacturing and mechanical classes this revulsion was felt the more severely in the united states because similar causes had produced the like deplorable effects throughout the commercial nations of europe all were experiencing sad reverses at the same moment our manufacturers everywhere suffered severely not because of the recent reduction in the tariff of duties on imports but because there was no demand at any price for their productions the people were obliged to restrict themselves in their purchases to articles of prime necessity in the general prostration of business the iron manufacturers in different states probably suffered more than any other class and much destitution was the inevitable consequence among the great number of workmen who had been employed in this useful branch of industry there could be no supply where there was no demand to present an example there could be no demand for railroad iron after our magnificent system of railroads extending its benefits to every portion of the union had been brought to a dead pause the same consequences have resulted from similar causes to many other branches of useful manufactures it is that where there is no ability to purchase manufactured articles these can not be sold and consequently must cease to be produced no government and especially a government of such limited powers as that of the united states could have prevented the late revulsion the whole commercial world seemed for years to have been rushing to this catastrophe the same ruinous consequences would have followed in the united states whether the duties upon foreign imports had remained as they were under the tariff of 1846 or had been raised to a much higher standard the tariff of 1857 had no agency in the result the general causes existing throughout the world could not have been controlled by the legislation of any particular country the periodical revulsions which have existed in our past history must continue to return at intervals so long as our present unbounded system of bank credits shall prevail they will however probably be the less severe in future because it is not to be expected at least for many years to come that the commercial nations of europe with whose interests our own are so materially involved will expose themselves to similar calamities but this subject was treated so much at large in my last annual message that i shall not now pursue it further still i respectfully renew the recommendation in favor of the passage of a uniform bankrupt law applicable to banking institutions this is all the direct power over the subject which i believe the federal government possesses such a law would mitigate though it might not prevent the evil the instinct of might produce a wholesome restraint upon their banking business if they knew in advance that a suspension of specie payments would inevitably produce their civil death but the effects of the revulsion are now slowly but surely passing away the energy and enterprise of our citizens with our unbounded resources will within the period of another year restore a state of wholesome industry and trade capital has again accumulated in our large cities the rate of interest is there very low confidence is gradually reviving and so soon as it is discovered that this capital can be profitably employed in commercial and manufacturing enterprises and in the construction of railroads and other works of public and private improvement prosperity will again smile throughout the land it is vain however to disguise the fact from ourselves that a speculative inflation of our currency without a corresponding inflation in other countries whose manufactures come into competition with our own must ever produce disastrous results to our domestic manufactures no tariff short of absolute prohibition can prevent these evil consequences in connection with this subject it is proper to refer to our financial condition the same causes which have produced pecuniary distress throughout the country have so reduced the amount of imports from foreign countries that the revenue has proved inadequate to meet the necessary expenses of the government to supply the deficiency congress by the act of december 23 1857 authorized the issue of of treasury notes and this proving inadequate they authorized by the act of june 14 1858 a loan of to be applied to the payment of appropriations made by law no statesman would advise that we should go on increasing the national debt to meet the ordinary expenses of the government this would be a most ruinous policy in case of war our credit must be our chief resource at least for the first year and this would be greatly impaired by having contracted a large debt in time of peace it is our true policy to increase our revenue so as to equal our expenditures it would be ruinous to continue to borrow besides it may be proper to observe that the incidental protection thus afforded by a revenue tariff would at the present moment to some extent increase the confidence of the manufacturing interests and give a fresh impulse to our reviving business to this surely no person will object in regard to the mode of assessing and collecting duties under a strictly revenue tariff i have long entertained and often expressed the opinion that sound policy requires this should be done by specific duties in cases to which these can be properly applied they are well adapted to commodities which are usually sold by weight or by measure and which from their nature are of equal or of nearly equal value such for example are the articles of iron of different classes raw sugar and foreign wines and spirits in my deliberate judgment specific duties are the best if not the only means of securing the revenue against false and fraudulent invoices and such has been the practice adopted for this purpose by other commercial nations besides specific duties would afford to the american manufacturer the incidental advantages to which he is fairly entitled under a revenue tariff the present system is a sliding scale to his disadvantage under it when prices are high and business prosperous the duties rise in amount when he least requires their aid on the contrary when prices fall and he is struggling against adversity the duties are diminished in the same proportion greatly to his injury neither would there be danger that a higher rate of duty than that intended by congress could be levied in the form of specific duties it would be easy to ascertain the average value of any imported article for a series of years and instead of subjecting it to an ad valorem duty at a certain rate per centum to substitute in its place an equivalent specific duty by such an arrangement the consumer would not be injured it is true he might have to pay a little more duty on a given article in one year but if so he would pay a little less in another and in a series of years these would counterbalance each other and amount to the same thing so far as his interest is concerned this inconvenience would be trifling when contrasted with the additional security thus afforded against frauds upon the revenue in which every consumer is directly interested i have thrown out these suggestions as the fruit of my own observation to which congress in their better judgment will give such weight as they may justly deserve the report of the secretary of the treasury will explain in detail the operations of that department of the government the receipts into the treasury from all sources during the fiscal year ending june 30 1858 including the treasury notes authorized by the act of december 23 1857 were which amount with the balance of remaining in the treasury at the commencement of the year made an aggregate for the service of the year of the public expenditures during the fiscal year ending june 30 1858 amounted to of which were applied to the payment of the public debt and the redemption of treasury notes with the interest thereon leaving in the treasury on july 1 1858 being the commencement of the present fiscal year the receipts into the treasury during the first quarter of the present fiscal year commencing the 1st of july 1858 including of the loan of with the premium upon it authorized by the act of june 14 1858 were and the estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters to the 30th of june 1859 from ordinary sources are making with the balance before stated an aggregate of the expenditures during the first quarter of the present fiscal year were of which were applied to the payment of the public debt and the redemption of treasury notes and the interest thereon the estimated expenditures during the remaining three quarters to june 30 1859 are making an aggregate of being an excess of expenditure beyond the estimated receipts into the treasury from ordinary sources during the fiscal year to the 30th of june 1859 of extraordinary means are placed by law within the command of the secretary of the treasury by the reissue of treasury notes redeemed and by negotiating the balance of the loan authorized by the act of june 14 1858 to the extent of which if realized during the present fiscal year will leave a balance in the treasury on the 1st day of july 1859 of the estimated receipts during the next fiscal year ending june 30 1860 are which with the balance of make an aggregate for the service of the next fiscal year of the estimated expenditures during the next fiscal year ending june 30 1860 are which leaves a deficit of estimated means compared with the estimated expenditures for that year commencing on july 1 1859 of in addition to this sum the will require from the treasury for the service of the department as explained in the report of the secretary of the treasury which will increase the estimated deficit on june 30 1860 to to provide for the payment of this estimated deficiency which will be increased by such appropriations as may be made by congress not estimated for in the report of the treasury department as well as to provide for the gradual redemption from year to year of the outstanding treasury notes the secretary of the treasury recommends such a revision of the present tariff as will raise the required amount after what i have already said i need scarcely add that i concur in the opinion expressed in his report that the public debt should not be increased by an additional loan and would therefore strongly urge upon congress the duty of making at their present session the necessary provision for meeting these liabilities the public debt on july 1 1858 the commencement of the present fiscal year was during the first quarter of the present year the sum of has been negotiated of the loan authorized by the act of june 14 1858 making the present outstanding public debt exclusive of treasury notes there was on the 1st of july 1858 of treasury notes issued by authority of the act of december 23 1857 unredeemed the sum of making the amount of actual indebtedness at that date to this will be added during the present fiscal year this being the remaining half of the loan of not yet negotiated the rapid increase of the public debt and the necessity which exists for a modification of the tariff to meet even the ordinary expenses of the government ought to admonish us all in our respective spheres of duty to the practice of rigid economy the objects of expenditure should be limited in number as far as this may be practicable and the appropriations necessary to carry them into effect ought to be disbursed under the strictest accountability enlightened economy does not consist in the refusal to appropriate money for constitutional purposes essential to the defense progress and prosperity of the republic but in taking care that none of this money shall be wasted by mismanagement in its application to the objects designated by law comparisons between the annual expenditure at the present time and what it was ten or twenty years ago are altogether fallacious the rapid increase of our country in extent and population renders a corresponding increase of expenditure to some extent unavoidable this is constantly creating new objects of expenditure and augmenting the amount required for the old the true questions then are have these objects been unnecessarily multiplied or has the amount expended upon any or all of them been larger than comports with due economy in accordance with these principles the heads of the different executive departments of the government have been instructed to reduce their estimates for the next fiscal year to the lowest standard consistent with the efficiency of the service and this duty they have performed in a spirit of just economy the estimates of the treasury war navy and interior departments have each been in some degree reduced and unless a sudden and unforeseen emergency should arise it is not anticipated that a deficiency will exist in either within the present or the next fiscal year the department is placed in a peculiar position different from the other departments and to this i shall hereafter refer i invite congress to institute a rigid scrutiny to ascertain whether the expenses in all the departments can not be still further reduced and i promise them all the aid in my power in pursuing the investigation i transmit herewith the reports made to me by the secretaries of war of the navy of the interior and of the they each contain valuable information and important recommendations to which i invite the attention of congress in my last annual message i took occasion to recommend the immediate construction of ten small steamers of light draft for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the navy congress responded to the recommendation by authorizing the construction of eight of them the progress which has been made in executing this authority is stated in the report of the secretary of the navy i concur with him in the opinion that a greater number of this class of vessels is necessary for the purpose of protecting in a more efficient manner the persons and property of american citizens on the high seas and in foreign countries as well as in guarding more effectually our own coasts i accordingly recommend the passage of an act for this purpose the suggestions contained in the report of the secretary of the interior especially those in regard to the disposition of the public domain the pension and system the policy toward the indians and the amendment of our patent laws are worthy of the serious consideration of congress the department occupies a position very different from that of the other departments for many years it was the policy of the government to render this a department and if this can not now be accomplished in the present condition of the country we ought to make as near an approach to it as may be practicable the is placed in a most embarrassing position by the existing laws he is obliged to carry these into effect he has no other alternative he finds however that this can not be done without heavy demands upon the treasury over and above what is received for postage and these have been progressively increasing from year to year until they amounted for the last fiscal year ending on the 30th of june 1858 to more than whilst it is estimated that for the present fiscal year they will amount to these sums are exclusive of the annual appropriation of for compensation for the mail service performed for the two houses of congress and the other departments and officers of the government in the transmission of free matter the because of these large deficits is mainly attributable to the increased expense of transporting the mails in 1852 the sum paid for this service was but a fraction above four millions and a quarter since that year it has annually increased until in 1858 it has reached more than eight millions and a quarter and for the service of 1859 it is estimated that it will amount to more than the receipts of the department can be made to approach or to equal its expenditure only by means of the legislation of congress in applying any remedy care should be taken that the people shall not be deprived of the advantages which they are fairly entitled to enjoy from the department the principal remedies recommended to the consideration of congress by the are to restore the former rate of postage upon single letters to 5 cents to substitute for the franking privilege the delivery to those now entitled to enjoy it of stamps for their correspondence and to direct the department in making contracts for the transportation of the mail to confine itself to the payment of the sum necessary for this single purpose without requiring it to be transported in post coaches or carriages of any particular description under the present system the expense to the government is greatly increased by requiring that the mail shall be carried in such vehicles as will accommodate passengers this will be done without pay from the department over all roads where the travel will remunerate the contractors these recommendations deserve the grave consideration of congress i would again call your attention to the construction of a pacific railroad time and reflection have but served to confirm me in the truth and justice of the observations which i made on this subject in my last annual message to which i beg leave respectfully to refer it is freely admitted that it would be inexpedient for this government to exercise the power of constructing the pacific railroad by its own immediate agents such a policy would increase the patronage of the executive to a dangerous extent and introduce a system of jobbing and corruption which no vigilance on the part of federal officials could either prevent or detect this can only be done by the keen eye and active and careful supervision of individual and private interest the construction of this road ought therefore to be committed to companies incorporated by the states or other agencies whose pecuniary interests would be directly involved congress might then assist them in the work by grants of land or of money or both under such conditions and restrictions as would secure the transportation of troops and munitions of war free from any charge and that of the united states mail at a fair and reasonable price the progress of events since the commencement of your last session has shown how soon difficulties disappear before a firm and determined resolution at that time such a road was deemed by wise and patriotic men to be a visionary project the great distance to be overcome and the intervening mountains and deserts in the way were obstacles which in the opinion of many could not be surmounted now after the lapse of but a single year these obstacles it has been discovered are far less formidable than they were supposed to be and mail stages with passengers now pass and repass regularly twice in each week by a common wagon road between san francisco and louis and memphis in less than days the service has been as regularly performed as it was in former years between new york and this city whilst disclaiming all authority to appropriate money for the construction of this road except that derived from the power of the constitution there are important collateral considerations urging us to undertake the work as speedily as possible the first and most momentous of these is that such a road would be a powerful bond of union between the states east and west of the rocky mountains this is so as to require no illustration but again in a commercial point of view i consider this the great question of the day with the eastern front of our republic stretching along the atlantic and its western front along the pacific if all the parts should be united by a safe easy and rapid intercommunication we must necessarily command a very large proportion of the trade both of europe and asia our recent treaties with china and japan will open these rich and populous empires to our commerce and the history of the world proves that the nation which has gained possession of the trade with eastern asia has always become wealthy and powerful the peculiar geographical position of california and our pacific possessions invites american capital and enterprise into this fruitful field to reap the rich harvest however it is an indispensable prerequisite that we shall first have a railroad to convey and circulate its products throughout every portion of the union besides such a railroad through our temperate latitude which would not be impeded by the frosts and snows of winter nor by the tropical heats of summer would attract to itself much of the travel and the trade of all nations passing between europe and asia on the 21st of august last lieutenant maffit of the united states brig dolphin captured the slaver echo formerly the putnam of new orleans near kay verde on the coast of cuba with more than 300 african negroes on board the prize under the command of lieutenant bradford of the united states navy arrived at charleston on the 27th august when the negroes 306 in number were delivered into the custody of the united states marshal for the district of south carolina they were first placed in castle pinckney and afterwards in fort sumter for and were detained there until the 19th september when the survivors 271 in number were delivered on board the united states steamer niagara to be transported to the coast of africa under the charge of the agent of the united states pursuant to the provisions of the act of the 3d march 1819 in addition to the acts prohibiting the slave trade under the second section of this act the president is authorized to make such regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient for the support and removal beyond the limits of the united states of all such negroes mulattoes or persons of color captured by vessels of the united states as may be delivered to the marshal of the district into which they are brought and to appoint a proper person or persons residing upon the coast of africa as agent or agents for receiving the negroes mulattoes or persons of color delivered from on board vessels seized in the prosecution of the slave trade by commanders of united states armed vessels a doubt immediately arose as to the true construction of this act it is quite clear from its terms that the president was authorized to provide for the support and removal of these negroes up till the time of their delivery to the agent on the coast of africa but no express provision was made for their protection and support after they had reached the place of their destination still an agent was to be pointed to receive them in africa and it could not have been supposed that congress intended he should desert them at the moment they were received and turn them loose on that inhospitable coast to perish for want of food or to become again the victims of the slave trade had this been the intention of congress the employment of an agent to receive them who is required to reside on the coast was unnecessary and they might have been landed by our vessels anywhere in africa and left exposed to the sufferings and the fate which would certainly await them monroe in his special message of december 17 1819 at the first session after the act was passed announced to congress what in his opinion was its true construction he believed it to be his duty under it to follow these unfortunates into africa and make provision for them there until they should be able to provide for themselves in communicating this interpretation of the act to congress he stated that some doubt had been entertained as to its true intent and meaning and he submitted the question to them so that they might should it be deemed advisable amend the same before further proceedings are had under it nothing was done by congress to explain the act and monroe proceeded to carry it into execution according to his own interpretation this then became the practical construction when the africans from on board the echo were delivered to the marshal at charleston it became my duty to consider what disposition ought to be made of them under the law for many reasons it was expedient to remove them from that locality as speedily as possible although the conduct of the authorities and citizens of charleston in giving countenance to the execution of the law was just what might have been expected from their high character yet a prolonged continuance of 300 africans in the immediate vicinity of that city could not have failed to become a source of inconvenience and anxiety to its inhabitants where to send them was the question there was no portion of the coast of africa to which they could be removed with any regard to humanity except to liberia under these circumstances an agreement was entered into with the colonization society on the 7th of september last a copy of which is herewith transmitted under which the society engaged for the consideration of to receive these africans in liberia from the agent of the united states and furnish them during the period of one year thereafter with comfortable shelter clothing provisions and medical attendance causing the children to receive schooling and all whether children or adults to be instructed in the arts of civilized life suitable to their condition this aggregate of was based upon an allowance of 150 for each individual and as there has been considerable mortality among them and may be more before they reach africa the society have agreed in an equitable spirit to make such a deduction from the amount as under the circumstances may appear just and reasonable this can not be fixed until we shall ascertain the actual number which may become a charge to the society it was also distinctly agreed that under no circumstances shall this government be called upon for any additional expenses the agents of the society manifested a laudable desire to conform to the wishes of the government throughout the transaction they assured me that after a careful calculation they would be required to expend the sum of 150 on each individual in complying with the agreement and they would have nothing left to remunerate them for their care trouble and responsibility at all events i could make no better arrangement and there was no other alternative during the period when the government itself through its own agents undertook the task of providing for captured negroes in africa the cost per head was very much greater there having been no outstanding appropriation applicable to this purpose i could not advance any money on the agreement i therefore recommend that an appropriation may be made of the amount necessary to carry it into effect other captures of a similar character may and probably will be made by our naval forces and i earnestly recommend that congress may amend the second section of the act of march 3 1819 so as to free its construction from the ambiguity which has so long existed and render the duty of the president plain in executing its provisions i recommend to your favorable regard the local interests of the district of columbia as the residence of congress and the executive departments of the government we can not fail to feel a deep concern in its welfare this is heightened by the high character and the peaceful and orderly conduct of its resident inhabitants i can not conclude without performing the agreeable duty of expressing my gratification that congress so kindly responded to the recommendation of my last annual message by affording me sufficient time before the close of their late session for the examination of all the bills presented to me for approval this change in the practice of congress has proved to be a wholesome reform it exerted a beneficial influence on the transaction of legislative business and elicited the general approbation of the country it enabled congress to adjourn with that dignity and deliberation so becoming to the representatives of this great republic without having crowded into general appropriation bills provisions foreign to their nature and of doubtful constitutionality and expediency let me warmly and strongly commend this precedent established by themselves as a guide to their proceedings during the present session
compare condition country present day one year ago meeting congress much reason gratitude almighty providence never failed interpose relief critical periods history one year ago sectional strife north south dangerous subject slavery become intense threaten peace perpetuity confederacy application admission kansas state union fostered unhappy agitation brought whole subject congress desire every patriot measures legislation might adopted would remove excitement states confine territory legitimately belonged much done happy say toward accomplishment object last session congress supreme court united states previously decided american citizens equal right take territories whatever held property laws states hold property guardianship federal constitution long territorial condition shall remain position proceedings last session alone wanting give practical effect principle recognized form almost unanimous vote houses congress territory right come union either free slave state according majority people equality states thus vindicated fruitful source dangerous dissension among removed whilst beneficial tendency legislative proceedings outside kansas influence nowhere happy within territory left manage control affairs way without pressure external influence revolutionary topeka organization resistance territorial government established congress finally abandoned natural consequence fine territory appears tranquil prosperous attracting increasing thousands immigrants make happy home past unfortunate experience kansas enforced lesson often already taught resistance lawful authority form government fail end prove disastrous authors people territory yielded obedience laws enacted legislature would present moment contained large additional population industrious enterprising citizens deterred entering borders existence civil strife organized rebellion resistance rightful authority persevering attempts establish revolutionary government topeka constitution caused people kansas commit grave error refusing vote delegates convention frame constitution law denied fair provisions refusal vote prolific source evils followed hostility territorial government disregarded principle absolutely essential working form government majority vote majority may remain home whatever must decide result election reason seeking take advantage error denied authority convention thus elected frame constitution convention notwithstanding proceeded adopt constitution unexceptionable general features providing submission slavery question vote people opinion bound kansas nebraska act question alone convulsed territory yet opponents lawful government persisting first error refrained exercising right vote preferred slavery continue rather surrender revolutionary topeka organization wiser better spirit seemed prevail first monday january last election held constitution majority people voted governor state officers member congress members state legislature election warmly contested two political parties kansas greater vote polled previous election large majority members legislature elect belonged party previously refused vote antislavery party thus placed ascendant political power state hands congress admitted kansas union lecompton constitution legislature might first session submitted question vote people whether would would convention amend constitution either slavery question adopted necessary means giving speedy effect majority thus kansas question would immediately finally settled circumstances submitted congress constitution thus framed officers already elected necessary put state government operation accompanied strong recommendation favor admission kansas state course long public life never performed official act retrospect afforded heartfelt satisfaction admission could inflicted possible injury human whilst would within brief period restored peace kansas harmony union event slavery question would ere finally settled according legally expressed majority voters popular sovereignty would thus vindicated constitutional manner deep convictions duty could pursued course true individual expressed opinion session convention favor submitting remaining clauses constitution well concerning slavery people acting official character neither human authority power rejudge proceedings convention declare constitution framed nullity done would violation kansas nebraska act left people territory perfectly free form regulate domestic institutions way subject constitution united states would equally violated great principle popular sovereignty foundation institutions deprive people power thought proper exercise confiding delegates elected trust framing constitution without requiring subject constituents trouble expense delay second election would opposition many precedents history commencing best age republic admission territories states union without previous vote people approving constitution lamented question insignificant viewed practical effects people kansas whether decided one way kindled flame excitement throughout country reflection may prove lesson wisdom warning future guidance practically considered question simply whether people territory first come union change provision constitution agreeable accomplish object remaining union framing another constitution accordance either case result would precisely difference point fact object would much sooner attained pacification kansas speedily effected admitted state last session congress recommendation however immediate admission kansas failed meet approbation congress deemed wiser adopt different measure settlement question part willing yield assent almost constitutional measure accomplish object therefore cordially acquiesced called english compromise approved act admission state kansas union upon terms therein prescribed ordinance accompanied lecompton constitution people kansas claimed double quantity public lands support common schools ever previously granted state upon entering union also alternate sections land 12 miles side two railroads proposed constructed northern southern boundary eastern western boundary state congress deeming claims unreasonable provided act may 4 1858 referred admission state equal footing original states upon fundamental condition precedent majority people thereof election held purpose place large grants public lands demanded ordinance accept grants made minnesota new states act majority reject proposition offered shall deemed held people kansas desire admission union said constitution conditions set forth said proposition event act authorizes people territory elect delegates form constitution state government whenever ascertained census duly legally taken population said territory equals exceeds ratio representation required member house representatives congress united states delegates thus assembled shall first determine vote whether wish people proposed state admitted union time shall proceed form constitution take necessary steps establishment state government conformity federal constitution constitution shall formed congress carrying principles popular sovereignty nonintervention left mode manner approval ratification people proposed state prescribed law shall admitted union state constitution thus fairly legally made without slavery said constitution may prescribe election held throughout kansas pursuance provisions act 2d day august last resulted rejection large majority proposition submitted people congress case authorized form another constitution preparatory admission union number ascertained census shall equal exceed ratio required elect member house representatives probable present state case third constitution lawfully framed presented congress kansas population shall reached designated number presumed sad experience resisting territorial laws attempt adopt constitution express violation provisions act congress session 1856 much time congress occupied question admitting kansas topeka constitution nearly whole last session devoted question admission lecompton constitution surely unreasonable require people kansas wait making third attempt number inhabitants shall amount brief period harmony states well great business interests country demand people union shall third time convulsed another agitation kansas question waiting short time acting obedience law kansas glide union without slightest impediment excellent provision congress applied kansas ought extended rendered applicable territories may hereafter seek admission union whilst congress possess undoubted power admitting new state union however small may number inhabitants yet power ought opinion exercised population shall amount ratio required act admission kansas previously rule country would escaped evils misfortunes exposed kansas question course would unjust give rule retrospective application exclude state acting upon past practice government already formed constitution elected legislature officers prepared enter union rule ought adopted whether consider bearing people territories upon people existing states many serious dissentions prevailed congress throughout country would avoided rule established earlier period government immediately upon formation new territory people different states foreign countries rush laudable purpose improving condition first duty open cultivate farms construct roads establish schools erect places religious worship devote energies generally reclaim wilderness lay foundations flourishing prosperous commonwealth incipient condition population thousand prematurely enter union oppressed burden state taxation means necessary improvement territory advancement interests thus diverted different purposes federal government ever liberal parent territories generous contributor useful enterprises early settlers paid expenses governments legislative assemblies common treasury thus relieved heavy charge circumstances nothing better calculated retard material progress divert useful employments prematurely exciting angry political contests among benefit aspiring leaders surely hardship embryo governors senators members congress wait number inhabitants shall equal single congressional district surely ought permitted rush union population less several large counties interior states condition kansas made application admitted topeka constitution besides requires time render mass population collected new territory homogeneous unite anything like fixed policy establish rule look forward govern accordingly justice people several states requires rule established congress state entitled two senators least one representative congress people states fail elect power devolves upon senate select officer two highest candidates list case death president thus elected senate becomes president united states questions legislation senators smallest states union equal vote largest may said regard ratification treaties executive appointments worked admirably practice whilst conforms principle character government instituted sovereign states presume american citizen would desire slightest change arrangement still unjust unequal existing states invest people collected territory attributes sovereignty place equal footing virginia new york senate united states reasons earnestly recommend passage general act shall provide upon application territorial legislature declaring belief territory contains number inhabitants state would entitle elect member congress shall duty president census inhabitants taken found sufficient terms act authorize proceed way frame state constitution preparatory admission union also recommend appropriation may made enable president take census people kansas present condition territory utah contrasted one year ago subject congratulation state open rebellion cost might character government required rebellion suppressed mormons compelled yield obedience constitution laws order accomplish object informed last annual message appointed new governor instead brigham young federal officers take place consulting personal safety found necessary withdraw territory protect civil officers aid posse comitatus execution laws case need ordered detachment army accompany utah necessity adopting measures demonstrated 15th september 1857 governor young issued proclamation style independent sovereign announcing purpose resist force arms entry united states troops territory utah required forces territory hold readiness march moment notice repel invasion established martial law date throughout territory proved idle threats forts bridger supply vacated burnt mormons deprive troops shelter long fatiguing march orders issued daniel wells styling lieutenant general nauvoo legion stampede animals united states troops march set fire trains burn grass whole country flanks keep sleeping night surprises blockade road felling trees destroying fords rivers etc orders promptly effectually obeyed 4th october 1857 mormons captured burned green river three supply trains consisting wagons loaded provisions tents army carried away several hundred animals diminished supply provisions materially general johnston obliged reduce ration even precaution sufficient left subsist troops 1st june little army behaved admirably encampment fort bridger trying privations midst mountains dreary unsettled inhospitable region thousand miles home passed severe inclement winter without murmur looked forward confidence relief country due season disappointed secretary war employed energies forward necessary supplies muster send military force utah would render resistance part mormons hopeless thus terminate war without effusion blood efforts efficiently sustained congress granted appropriations sufficient cover deficiency thus necessarily created also provided raising two regiments volunteers purpose quelling disturbances territory utah protection supply emigrant trains suppression indian hostilities frontiers happily occasion call regiments service felt serious embarrassment selecting great number brave patriotic citizens anxious serve country distant apparently dangerous expedition thus ever thus may ever wisdom economy sending sufficient reenforcements utah established event opinion position opportunities capable forming correct judgment general johnston commander forces addressing secretary war fort bridger date october 18 1857 expresses opinion unless large force sent nature country protracted war mormons part inevitable considered necessary terminate war speedily economically attempted insufficient means meantime anxious desire mormons yield obedience constitution laws without rendering necessary resort military force aid accomplishing object deemed advisable april last dispatch two distinguished citizens united states powell mcculloch utah bore proclamation addressed inhabitants utah dated 6th day month warning true condition hopeless part persist rebellion united states offering submit laws full pardon past seditions treasons time assured persist rebellion united states must expect lenity look rigorously dealt according deserts instructions agents well copy proclamation reports herewith submitted seen report 3d july last fully confirmed opinion expressed general johnston previous october necessity sending reenforcements utah state firmly impressed belief presence army large additional force ordered territory chief inducements caused mormons abandon idea resisting authority united states less decisive policy would probably resulted long bloody expensive war gentlemen conducted entire satisfaction rendered useful services executing humane intentions government also affords great satisfaction state governor cumming performed duty able conciliatory manner happiest effect connection refrain mentioning valuable services colonel thomas kane motives pure benevolence without official character pecuniary compensation visited utah last inclement winter purpose contributing pacification territory happy inform governor civil officers utah performing appropriate functions without resistance authority constitution laws fully restored peace prevails throughout territory portion troops sent utah encamped cedar valley 44 miles southwest salt lake city remainder ordered oregon suppress indian hostilities march army salt lake city indianterritory powerful effect restraining hostile feelings united states existed among indians region securing emigrants far west depredations also means establishing military posts promoting settlements along route recommend benefits land laws preemption system extended people utah establishment land office territory occasion also congratulate result negotiations china informed last annual message minister instructed occupy neutral position hostilities conducted great britain france canton however time directed cooperate cordially british french ministers peaceful measures secure treaty concessions foreign commerce nations world right demand impossible proceed authority without usurping power constitution belongs exclusively congress besides careful examination nature extent grievances believe pressing aggravated character would justified congress declaring war chinese empire without first making another earnest attempt adjust peaceful negotiation inclined opinion severe chastisement recently inflicted upon chinese squadron capture destruction barrier forts avenge alleged insult flag event proved wisdom neutrality minister executed instructions eminent skill ability conjunction russian plenipotentiary peacefully effectually cooperated english french plenipotentiaries four powers concluded separate treaty china highly satisfactory character treaty concluded plenipotentiary immediately submitted senate happy announce energetic yet conciliatory efforts japan new treaty concluded empire may expected materially augment trade intercourse quarter remove countrymen disabilities heretofore imposed upon exercise religion treaty shall submitted senate approval without delay earnest desire every misunderstanding government great britain amicably speedily adjusted misfortune countries almost ever since period revolution annoyed succession irritating dangerous questions threatening friendly relations partially prevented full development feelings mutual friendship people two countries natural conducive common interest serious interruption commerce united states great britain would equally injurious fact two nations ever existed face earth could much good much harm entertaining sentiments gratified inform controversy two governments relation question visitation search amicably adjusted claim part great britain forcibly visit american vessels high seas time peace could sustained law nations overruled eminent jurists question recently brought issue repeated acts british cruisers boarding searching merchant vessels gulf mexico adjacent seas acts injurious annoying waters traversed large portion commerce navigation united states free unrestricted use essential security coastwise trade different states union vexatious interruptions could fail excite feelings country require interposition government remonstrances addressed british government violations rights sovereignty naval force time ordered cuban waters directions protect vessels united states high seas search detention vessels war nation measures received unqualified even enthusiastic approbation american people fortunately however collision took place british government promptly avowed recognition principles international law upon subject laid government united states note secretary state british minister washington april 10 1858 secure vessels united states upon high seas visitation search time peace circumstances whatever claim abandoned manner reflecting honor british government evincing regard law nations fail strengthen amicable relations two countries british government time proposed united states mode adopted mutual arrangement two countries character may found effective without offensive verifying nationality vessels suspected good grounds carrying false colors also invited united states take initiative propose measures purpose whilst declining assume grave responsibility secretary state informed british government ready receive proposals may feel disposed offer object view consider amicable spirit strong opinion however expressed occasional abuse flag nation evil far less deprecated would establishment regulations might incompatible freedom seas government yet received communication specifying manner british government would propose carry suggestion inclined believe plan devised free grave embarrassments still shall form decided opinion subject shall carefully best spirit examined proposals may think proper make truly sorry also inform complications great britain united states arising clayton bulwer treaty april 1850 finally adjusted commencement last session reason hope emancipating unavailing discussions two governments would proceed settle central american questions practical manner alike honorable satisfactory hope yet abandoned last annual message stated overtures made british government purpose friendly spirit cordially reciprocated proposal withdraw questions direct negotiation two governments accomplish object negotiation british government central american republics whose territorial interests immediately involved settlement made accordance general tenor interpretation placed upon clayton bulwer treaty united states certain modifications negotiations still pending upon basis would proper communicate present condition final settlement questions greatly desired would wipe last remaining subject dispute two countries relations great empires france russia well governments continent europe except spain continue friendly character spain relations remain unsatisfactory condition message december last informed envoy extraordinary minister plenipotentiary madrid asked recall purpose send new minister court special instructions questions pending two governments determination speedily amicably adjusted possible purpose hitherto defeated causes need enumerate mission spain intrusted distinguished citizen kentucky proceed madrid without delay make another final attempt obtain justice government spanish officials direct control cuba insulted national flag repeated instances time time inflicted injuries persons property citizens given birth numerous claims spanish government merits ably discussed series years successive diplomatic representatives notwithstanding arrived practical result single instance unless may except case black warrior late administration presented outrage character would justified immediate resort war attempts obtain redress baffled defeated frequent changes spanish ministry employed reasons delay compelled wait new minister shall time investigate justice demands even denominated cuban claims 100 citizens directly interested furnished exception claims refunding duties unjustly exacted american vessels different cuba long ago year 1844 principles upon rest manifestly equitable period nearly ten years 1854 recognized spanish government proceedings afterwards instituted ascertain amount finally fixed according statement satisfied sum moment delay fourteen years reason expect sum would repaid interest received proposal offering refund amount without interest would accept full satisfaction offer also accompanied declaration indemnification founded reason strict justice made special favor one alleged procrastination examination adjustment claims arises obstacle duty spanish government remove whilst cuba invested general despotic authority government island power withheld examine redress wrongs committed officials control citizens united states instead making complaints directly havana obliged present minister madrid referred back information much time thus consumed preliminary investigations correspondence madrid cuba spanish government consent proceed negotiation many difficulties two governments would obviated long train negotiation avoided invested authority settle questions easy solution spot facts fresh could promptly satisfactorily ascertained hitherto vain urged upon spanish government confer power upon minister spain instructed urge subject notice respect occupy different position powers europe cuba almost within sight shores commerce far greater nation including spain citizens habits daily extended personal intercourse every part island therefore great grievance difficulty occurs matter unimportant might readily settled moment obliged resort madrid especially first step taken refer back cuba truth cuba existing colonial condition constant source injury annoyance american people spot civilized world african slave trade tolerated bound treaty great britain maintain naval force coast africa much expense life treasure solely purpose arresting slavers bound island late serious difficulties united states great britain respecting right search happily terminated could never arisen cuba afforded market slaves long market shall remain open hope civilization benighted africa whilst demand slaves continues cuba wars waged among petty barbarous chiefs africa purpose seizing subjects supply trade condition affairs impossible light civilization religion ever penetrate dark abodes made known world predecessors united states several occasions endeavored acquire cuba spain honorable negotiation accomplished last relic african slave trade would instantly disappear would could acquire cuba manner due national character territory acquired since origin government fair purchase france spain mexico free voluntary act independent state texas blending destinies course shall ever pursue unless circumstances occur anticipate rendering departure clearly justifiable imperative overruling law island cuba geographical position commands mouth mississippi immense annually increasing trade foreign coastwise valley noble river embracing half sovereign states union island dominion distant foreign power trade vital importance states exposed danger destroyed time war hitherto subjected perpetual injury annoyance time peace relations spain ought friendly character must always placed jeopardy whilst existing colonial government island shall remain present condition whilst possession island would vast importance united states value spain comparatively unimportant relative situation parties great napoleon transferred louisiana united states jealous ever national honor interests france person throughout world imputed blame accepting pecuniary equivalent cession publicity given former negotiations upon subject large appropriation may required effect purpose render expedient making another attempt renew negotiation lay whole subject congress especially necessary may become indispensable success intrusted means making advance spanish government immediately signing treaty without awaiting ratification senate encouraged make suggestion example jefferson previous purchase louisiana france polk view acquisition territory mexico refer whole subject congress commend careful consideration repeat recommendation made message december last favor appropriation paid spanish government purpose distribution among claimants amistad case president polk first made similar recommendation december 1847 repeated immediate predecessor december 1853 entertain doubt indemnity fairly due claimants treaty spain october 27 1795 whilst demanding justice ought justice appropriation promptly made purpose could fail exert favorable influence negotiations spain position relation independent states south us continent especially within limits north america peculiar character northern boundary mexico coincident southern boundary ocean ocean must necessarily feel deep interest concerns fate near neighbor always cherished kindest wishes success republic indulged hope might last trials enjoy peace prosperity free stable government never hitherto interfered directly indirectly internal affairs duty owe protect integrity territory hostile interference power geographical position direct interest concerns mexico policy regard north american continent render indispensable duty mexico state constant revolution almost ever since achieved independence one military leader another usurped government rapid succession various constitutions time time adopted set naught almost soon proclaimed successive governments afforded adequate protection either mexican citizens foreign residents lawless violence heretofore seizure capital military chieftain generally followed least nominal submission country rule brief period present crisis mexican affairs civil war raging time throughout republic central government city mexico endeavored subvert constitution last framed military power maintain authority constitution antagonist parties hold possession different states republic fortunes war constantly changing meanwhile reprehensible means employed parties extort money foreigners well natives carry ruinous contest truth fine country blessed productive soil benign climate reduced civil dissension condition almost hopeless anarchy imbecility would vain government attempt enforce payment money claims american citizens amounting mexico destitute pecuniary means satisfy demands late minister furnished ample powers instructions adjustment pending questions central government mexico performed duty zeal ability claims citizens arising violation express provision treaty guadalupe hidalgo others gross injuries persons well property remained unredressed even unnoticed remonstrances grievances addressed without effect government meantime various parts republic instances numerous murder imprisonment plunder citizens different parties claiming exercising local jurisdiction central government although repeatedly urged thereto made effort either punish authors outrages prevent recurrence american citizen visit mexico lawful business without imminent danger person property adequate protection either respect treaty republic almost dead letter state affairs brought crisis may last promulgation decree levying contribution pro rata upon capital republic certain specified amounts whether held mexicans foreigners forsyth regarding decree light forced loan formally protested application countrymen advised pay contribution suffer forcibly exacted acting upon advice american citizen refused pay contribution property seized armed men satisfy amount content government proceeded still issued decree banishing country minister immediately notified decree carried execution would feel duty adopt decided measures belong powers obligations representative office notwithstanding warning banishment enforced forsyth promptly announced government suspension political relations legation pleasure government ascertained government regard contribution imposed decree 15th may last strictness forced loan prohibited tenth article treaty 1826 great britain mexico benefits american citizens entitled treaty yet imposition contribution upon foreigners considered unjust oppressive measure besides internal factions parts republic time levying similar exactions upon property citizens interrupting commerce entire failure part minister secure redress wrongs citizens endured notwithstanding persevering efforts temper manifested mexican government repeatedly assured us favorable change could expected united states give striking evidence power protect citizens severe chastening earthly remedy grievances statement facts would worse idle direct forsyth retrace steps resume diplomatic relations government therefore deemed proper sanction withdrawal legation city mexico abundant undoubtedly exists resort hostilities government still holding possession capital succeed subduing constitutional forces reasonable hope expired peaceful settlement difficulties hand constitutional party prevail authority established republic reason hope animated less unfriendly spirit may grant redress american citizens justice requires far may possess means expectation recommended congress grant necessary power president take possession sufficient portion remote unsettled territory mexico held pledge injuries shall redressed demands satisfied already exhausted every milder means obtaining justice case remedy reprisals recognized law nations means preventing actual war another view relations mexico arising unhappy condition affairs along southwestern frontier demands immediate action remote region white inhabitants large bands hostile predatory indians roam promiscuously mexican states chihuahua sonora adjoining territories local governments states perfectly helpless kept state constant alarm indians power possessed even restrain lawless mexicans passing border committing depredations remote settlers state anarchy violence prevails throughout distant frontier laws dead letter life property wholly insecure reason settlement arizona arrested whilst great importance chain inhabitants extend along southern border sufficient protection united states mail passing california apprehensions entertained indians wandering mexicans equally lawless may break important stage postal communication recently established atlantic pacific possessions passes near mexican boundary throughout whole length arizona imagine possible remedy evils mode restoring law order remote unsettled frontier government united states assume temporary protectorate northern portions chihuahua sonora establish military posts within earnestly recommend congress protection may withdrawn soon local governments shall established mexican states capable performing duties united states restraining lawless preserving peace along border doubt measure viewed friendly spirit governments people chihuahua sonora prove equally effectual protection citizens remote lawless frontier citizens united states connection permit recall attention condition arizona population territory numbering alleged souls practically without government without laws without regular administration justice murder crimes committed impunity state things calls loudly redress therefore repeat recommendation establishment territorial government arizona political condition narrow isthmus central america transit routes pass atlantic pacific oceans presents subject deep interest commercial nations transits large proportion trade travel european asiatic continents destined pass united states routes incalculable importance means communication atlantic pacific possessions latter extend throughout seventeen degrees latitude pacific coast embracing important state california flourishing territories oregon washington commercial nations therefore deep direct interest communications shall rendered secure interruption arm sea connecting two oceans penetrated nicaragua costa rica could pretended states would right arrest retard navigation injury nations transit land narrow isthmus occupies nearly position highway little interest compared vast interests rest world whilst rights sovereignty ought respected duty nations require important passage shall interrupted civil wars revolutionary outbreaks frequently occurred region stake important left mercy rival companies claiming hold conflicting contracts nicaragua commerce nations stand still await adjustment petty controversies government united states expect satisfied less would could derive advantage nicaragua transit common rest world neutrality protection common use nations object objection nicaragua shall demand receive fair compensation companies individuals may traverse route insist shall never hereafter closed arbitrary decree government disputes arise may entered contracts must adjusted fair tribunal provided purpose route must closed pending controversy whole policy fail acceptable nations difficulties might avoided consistently good faith nicaragua use transit could thrown open general competition providing time payment reasonable rate nicaraguan government passengers freight august 1852 accessory transit company made first interoceanic trip nicaraguan route continued successful operation great advantage public 18th february 1856 closed grant company well charter summarily arbitrarily revoked government president rivas previous date however 1854 serious disputes concerning settlement accounts arisen company government threatening interruption route moment united states vain endeavored compose would useless narrate various proceedings took place parties till time transit discontinued suffice say since february 1856 remained closed greatly prejudice citizens united states since time competition ceased rival routes panama nicaragua consequence thereof unjust unreasonable amount exacted citizens passage california treaty signed 16th day november 1857 secretary state minister nicaragua stipulations use protection transit route would secured united states equally nations pretext treaty failed receive ratification nicaraguan government appear papers herewith communicated state department principal objection seems provision authorizing united states employ force keep route open case nicaragua fail perform duty respect feebleness republic frequent changes government constant internal dissensions become important stipulation one essentially necessary security route safety american citizens passing repassing pacific possessions stipulation embraced treaty united states nicaragua knowledge fact would probably prevent hostile parties committing aggressions route render actual interference protection unnecessary executive government country intercourse foreign nations limited employment diplomacy alone fails proceed legitimately resort force without direct authority congress except resisting repelling hostile attacks would authority enter territories nicaragua even prevent destruction transit protect lives property citizens passage true sudden emergency character president would direct armed force vicinity march relief would act upon responsibility circumstances earnestly recommend congress passage act authorizing president restrictions may deem proper employ land naval forces united states preventing transit obstructed closed lawless violence protecting lives property american citizens traveling thereupon requiring time forces shall withdrawn moment danger shall passed away without provision citizens constantly exposed interruption progress lawless violence similar necessity exists passage act protection panama tehuantepec routes reference panama route united states existing treaty new granada expressly guarantee neutrality isthmus view free transit one sea may interrupted embarrassed future time treaty exists regard tehuantepec route recently opened favorable auspices treaty mexico 30th december 1853 secures citizens united states right transit persons merchandise stipulates neither government shall interpose obstacle thereto also concedes united states right transport across isthmus closed bags mails united states intended distribution along line communication also effects united states government citizens may intended transit distribution isthmus free charges mexican government treaty stipulations new granada mexico addition considerations applicable nicaragua route seem require legislation purpose carrying effect injuries inflicted upon citizens costa rica nicaragua last two three years received prompt attention government injuries aggravated character transaction virgin bay april 1856 company unarmed americans way connected belligerent conduct party fired upon troops costa rica numbers killed wounded brought knowledge congress predecessor soon occurrence also presented government costa rica immediate investigation redress nature case demanded similar course pursued reference outrages countries hardly less aggravated character transaction virgin bay time however present minister nicaragua appointed december 1857 redress obtained wrongs reply even received demands made government upon costa rica year minister instructed therefore lose time expressing governments deep regret president witnessed inattention claims united states demanding prompt satisfactory adjustment unless demand shall complied early day remain government adopt measures may necessary order obtain justice vain attempted secure peaceful means governments nicaragua costa rica shown continue show sincere regard rights honor republics permit regard met utter neglect part due government citizens united states new granada causes complaint arising unsatisfied claims citizens upon republic recently added outrages committed upon citizens panama april 1856 treaty adjustment difficulties concluded secretary state minister new granada september 1857 contained acceptable provisions purpose treaty transmitted bogota ratified government new granada certain amendments however returned city close last session senate immediately transmitted body advice consent obtained remove existing causes complaint new granada subject claims questions arisen two governments right new granada levy tonnage duty upon vessels united states ports isthmus levy passenger tax upon citizens arriving country whether design remain pass ocean ocean transit route also tax upon mail united states transported panama railroad government new granada informed united states would consider collection either taxes act violation treaty two countries would resisted united states time prepared discuss questions spirit amity justice sincere desire adjust satisfactory manner negotiation purpose already commenced effort recently made collect taxes anticipated present circumstances empire brazil relations friendly character productions two countries especially agricultural nature invite extensive mutual exchanges large quantity american flour consumed brazil whilst treble amount value brazilian coffee consumed united states whilst case heavy duty levied recently upon importation american flour brazil gratified however able inform september last reduced 49 cents per barrel duties articles production diminished nearly proportion regret state government brazil still continues levy export duty 11 per cent coffee notwithstanding article admitted free duty united states heavy charge upon consumers coffee country purchase half entire surplus crop article raised brazil minister instructions reiterate efforts export duty removed hoped enlightened government emperor adopt wise equal policy event good reason believe commerce two countries greatly increase much advantage claims citizens government brazil aggregate large amount rest upon plain principles justice settlement ought longer delayed renewed earnest trust successful effort made minister procure final adjustment 2d june last congress passed joint resolution authorizing president adopt measures use force judgment may necessary advisable purpose differences united states republic paraguay connection attack united states steamer water witch measures referred annual message 12th july following made appropriation defray expenses compensation commissioner republic president deem proper make appointment compliance enactments appointed commissioner proceeded paraguay full powers instructions settle differences amicable peaceful manner practicable experience discretion justify hope may prove successful convincing paraguayan government due honor justice voluntarily promptly make atonement wrongs committed united states indemnify injured citizens forcibly despoiled property commissioner prove unsuccessful sincere earnest effort accomplish object mission alternative remain employment force obtain satisfaction paraguay view contingency secretary navy direction fitted dispatched naval force rendezvous near buenos ayres believed prove sufficient occasion earnest desire however may found necessary resort last alternative congress met december last business country crushed one periodical revulsions inevitable consequence unsound extravagant system bank credits inflated currency elements national wealth abundance manufactures suspended useful public private enterprises arrested thousands laborers deprived employment reduced want universal distress prevailed among commercial manufacturing mechanical classes revulsion felt severely united states similar causes produced like deplorable effects throughout commercial nations europe experiencing sad reverses moment manufacturers everywhere suffered severely recent reduction tariff duties imports demand price productions people obliged restrict purchases articles prime necessity general prostration business iron manufacturers different states probably suffered class much destitution inevitable consequence among great number workmen employed useful branch industry could supply demand present example could demand railroad iron magnificent system railroads extending benefits every portion union brought dead pause consequences resulted similar causes many branches useful manufactures ability purchase manufactured articles sold consequently must cease produced government especially government limited powers united states could prevented late revulsion whole commercial world seemed years rushing catastrophe ruinous consequences would followed united states whether duties upon foreign imports remained tariff 1846 raised much higher standard tariff 1857 agency result general causes existing throughout world could controlled legislation particular country periodical revulsions existed past history must continue return intervals long present unbounded system bank credits shall prevail however probably less severe future expected least many years come commercial nations europe whose interests materially involved expose similar calamities subject treated much large last annual message shall pursue still respectfully renew recommendation favor passage uniform bankrupt law applicable banking institutions direct power subject believe federal government possesses law would mitigate though might prevent evil instinct might produce wholesome restraint upon banking business knew advance suspension specie payments would inevitably produce civil death effects revulsion slowly surely passing away energy enterprise citizens unbounded resources within period another year restore state wholesome industry trade capital accumulated large cities rate interest low confidence gradually reviving soon discovered capital profitably employed commercial manufacturing enterprises construction railroads works public private improvement prosperity smile throughout land vain however disguise fact speculative inflation currency without corresponding inflation countries whose manufactures come competition must ever produce disastrous results domestic manufactures tariff short absolute prohibition prevent evil consequences connection subject proper refer financial condition causes produced pecuniary distress throughout country reduced amount imports foreign countries revenue proved inadequate meet necessary expenses government supply deficiency congress act december 23 1857 authorized issue treasury notes proving inadequate authorized act june 14 1858 loan applied payment appropriations made law statesman would advise go increasing national debt meet ordinary expenses government would ruinous policy case war credit must chief resource least first year would greatly impaired contracted large debt time peace true policy increase revenue equal expenditures would ruinous continue borrow besides may proper observe incidental protection thus afforded revenue tariff would present moment extent increase confidence manufacturing interests give fresh impulse reviving business surely person object regard mode assessing collecting duties strictly revenue tariff long entertained often expressed opinion sound policy requires done specific duties cases properly applied well adapted commodities usually sold weight measure nature equal nearly equal value example articles iron different classes raw sugar foreign wines spirits deliberate judgment specific duties best means securing revenue false fraudulent invoices practice adopted purpose commercial nations besides specific duties would afford american manufacturer incidental advantages fairly entitled revenue tariff present system sliding scale disadvantage prices high business prosperous duties rise amount least requires aid contrary prices fall struggling adversity duties diminished proportion greatly injury neither would danger higher rate duty intended congress could levied form specific duties would easy ascertain average value imported article series years instead subjecting ad valorem duty certain rate per centum substitute place equivalent specific duty arrangement consumer would injured true might pay little duty given article one year would pay little less another series years would counterbalance amount thing far interest concerned inconvenience would trifling contrasted additional security thus afforded frauds upon revenue every consumer directly interested thrown suggestions fruit observation congress better judgment give weight may justly deserve report secretary treasury explain detail operations department government receipts treasury sources fiscal year ending june 30 1858 including treasury notes authorized act december 23 1857 amount balance remaining treasury commencement year made aggregate service year public expenditures fiscal year ending june 30 1858 amounted applied payment public debt redemption treasury notes interest thereon leaving treasury july 1 1858 commencement present fiscal year receipts treasury first quarter present fiscal year commencing 1st july 1858 including loan premium upon authorized act june 14 1858 estimated receipts remaining three quarters 30th june 1859 ordinary sources making balance stated aggregate expenditures first quarter present fiscal year applied payment public debt redemption treasury notes interest thereon estimated expenditures remaining three quarters june 30 1859 making aggregate excess expenditure beyond estimated receipts treasury ordinary sources fiscal year 30th june 1859 extraordinary means placed law within command secretary treasury reissue treasury notes redeemed negotiating balance loan authorized act june 14 1858 extent realized present fiscal year leave balance treasury 1st day july 1859 estimated receipts next fiscal year ending june 30 1860 balance make aggregate service next fiscal year estimated expenditures next fiscal year ending june 30 1860 leaves deficit estimated means compared estimated expenditures year commencing july 1 1859 addition sum require treasury service department explained report secretary treasury increase estimated deficit june 30 1860 provide payment estimated deficiency increased appropriations may made congress estimated report treasury department well provide gradual redemption year year outstanding treasury notes secretary treasury recommends revision present tariff raise required amount already said need scarcely add concur opinion expressed report public debt increased additional loan would therefore strongly urge upon congress duty making present session necessary provision meeting liabilities public debt july 1 1858 commencement present fiscal year first quarter present year sum negotiated loan authorized act june 14 1858 making present outstanding public debt exclusive treasury notes 1st july 1858 treasury notes issued authority act december 23 1857 unredeemed sum making amount actual indebtedness date added present fiscal year remaining half loan yet negotiated rapid increase public debt necessity exists modification tariff meet even ordinary expenses government ought admonish us respective spheres duty practice rigid economy objects expenditure limited number far may practicable appropriations necessary carry effect ought disbursed strictest accountability enlightened economy consist refusal appropriate money constitutional purposes essential defense progress prosperity republic taking care none money shall wasted mismanagement application objects designated law comparisons annual expenditure present time ten twenty years ago altogether fallacious rapid increase country extent population renders corresponding increase expenditure extent unavoidable constantly creating new objects expenditure augmenting amount required old true questions objects unnecessarily multiplied amount expended upon larger comports due economy accordance principles heads different executive departments government instructed reduce estimates next fiscal year lowest standard consistent efficiency service duty performed spirit economy estimates treasury war navy interior departments degree reduced unless sudden unforeseen emergency arise anticipated deficiency exist either within present next fiscal year department placed peculiar position different departments shall hereafter refer invite congress institute rigid scrutiny ascertain whether expenses departments still reduced promise aid power pursuing investigation transmit herewith reports made secretaries war navy interior contain valuable information important recommendations invite attention congress last annual message took occasion recommend immediate construction ten small steamers light draft purpose increasing efficiency navy congress responded recommendation authorizing construction eight progress made executing authority stated report secretary navy concur opinion greater number class vessels necessary purpose protecting efficient manner persons property american citizens high seas foreign countries well guarding effectually coasts accordingly recommend passage act purpose suggestions contained report secretary interior especially regard disposition public domain pension system policy toward indians amendment patent laws worthy serious consideration congress department occupies position different departments many years policy government render department accomplished present condition country ought make near approach may practicable placed embarrassing position existing laws obliged carry effect alternative finds however done without heavy demands upon treasury received postage progressively increasing year year amounted last fiscal year ending 30th june 1858 whilst estimated present fiscal year amount sums exclusive annual appropriation compensation mail service performed two houses congress departments officers government transmission free matter large deficits mainly attributable increased expense transporting mails 1852 sum paid service fraction four millions quarter since year annually increased 1858 reached eight millions quarter service 1859 estimated amount receipts department made approach equal expenditure means legislation congress applying remedy care taken people shall deprived advantages fairly entitled enjoy department principal remedies recommended consideration congress restore former rate postage upon single letters 5 cents substitute franking privilege delivery entitled enjoy stamps correspondence direct department making contracts transportation mail confine payment sum necessary single purpose without requiring transported post coaches carriages particular description present system expense government greatly increased requiring mail shall carried vehicles accommodate passengers done without pay department roads travel remunerate contractors recommendations deserve grave consideration congress would call attention construction pacific railroad time reflection served confirm truth justice observations made subject last annual message beg leave respectfully refer freely admitted would inexpedient government exercise power constructing pacific railroad immediate agents policy would increase patronage executive dangerous extent introduce system jobbing corruption vigilance part federal officials could either prevent detect done keen eye active careful supervision individual private interest construction road ought therefore committed companies incorporated states agencies whose pecuniary interests would directly involved congress might assist work grants land money conditions restrictions would secure transportation troops munitions war free charge united states mail fair reasonable price progress events since commencement last session shown soon difficulties disappear firm determined resolution time road deemed wise patriotic men visionary project great distance overcome intervening mountains deserts way obstacles opinion many could surmounted lapse single year obstacles discovered far less formidable supposed mail stages passengers pass repass regularly twice week common wagon road san francisco louis memphis less days service regularly performed former years new york city whilst disclaiming authority appropriate money construction road except derived power constitution important collateral considerations urging us undertake work speedily possible first momentous road would powerful bond union states east west rocky mountains require illustration commercial point view consider great question day eastern front republic stretching along atlantic western front along pacific parts united safe easy rapid intercommunication must necessarily command large proportion trade europe asia recent treaties china japan open rich populous empires commerce history world proves nation gained possession trade eastern asia always become wealthy powerful peculiar geographical position california pacific possessions invites american capital enterprise fruitful field reap rich harvest however indispensable prerequisite shall first railroad convey circulate products throughout every portion union besides railroad temperate latitude would impeded frosts snows winter tropical heats summer would attract much travel trade nations passing europe asia 21st august last lieutenant maffit united states brig dolphin captured slaver echo formerly putnam new orleans near kay verde coast cuba 300 african negroes board prize command lieutenant bradford united states navy arrived charleston 27th august negroes 306 number delivered custody united states marshal district south carolina first placed castle pinckney afterwards fort sumter detained 19th september survivors 271 number delivered board united states steamer niagara transported coast africa charge agent united states pursuant provisions act 3d march 1819 addition acts prohibiting slave trade second section act president authorized make regulations arrangements may deem expedient support removal beyond limits united states negroes mulattoes persons color captured vessels united states may delivered marshal district brought appoint proper person persons residing upon coast africa agent agents receiving negroes mulattoes persons color delivered board vessels seized prosecution slave trade commanders united states armed vessels doubt immediately arose true construction act quite clear terms president authorized provide support removal negroes till time delivery agent coast africa express provision made protection support reached place destination still agent pointed receive africa could supposed congress intended desert moment received turn loose inhospitable coast perish want food become victims slave trade intention congress employment agent receive required reside coast unnecessary might landed vessels anywhere africa left exposed sufferings fate would certainly await monroe special message december 17 1819 first session act passed announced congress opinion true construction believed duty follow unfortunates africa make provision able provide communicating interpretation act congress stated doubt entertained true intent meaning submitted question might deemed advisable amend proceedings nothing done congress explain act monroe proceeded carry execution according interpretation became practical construction africans board echo delivered marshal charleston became duty consider disposition ought made law many reasons expedient remove locality speedily possible although conduct authorities citizens charleston giving countenance execution law might expected high character yet prolonged continuance 300 africans immediate vicinity city could failed become source inconvenience anxiety inhabitants send question portion coast africa could removed regard humanity except liberia circumstances agreement entered colonization society 7th september last copy herewith transmitted society engaged consideration receive africans liberia agent united states furnish period one year thereafter comfortable shelter clothing provisions medical attendance causing children receive schooling whether children adults instructed arts civilized life suitable condition aggregate based upon allowance 150 individual considerable mortality among may reach africa society agreed equitable spirit make deduction amount circumstances may appear reasonable fixed shall ascertain actual number may become charge society also distinctly agreed circumstances shall government called upon additional expenses agents society manifested laudable desire conform wishes government throughout transaction assured careful calculation would required expend sum 150 individual complying agreement would nothing left remunerate care trouble responsibility events could make better arrangement alternative period government agents undertook task providing captured negroes africa cost per head much greater outstanding appropriation applicable purpose could advance money agreement therefore recommend appropriation may made amount necessary carry effect captures similar character may probably made naval forces earnestly recommend congress may amend second section act march 3 1819 free construction ambiguity long existed render duty president plain executing provisions recommend favorable regard local interests district columbia residence congress executive departments government fail feel deep concern welfare heightened high character peaceful orderly conduct resident inhabitants conclude without performing agreeable duty expressing gratification congress kindly responded recommendation last annual message affording sufficient time close late session examination bills presented approval change practice congress proved wholesome reform exerted beneficial influence transaction legislative business elicited general approbation country enabled congress adjourn dignity deliberation becoming representatives great republic without crowded general appropriation bills provisions foreign nature doubtful constitutionality expediency let warmly strongly commend precedent established guide proceedings present session
compare condition country present day one year ago meet congress much reason gratitude almighty providence never fail interpose relief critical period history one year ago sectional strife north south dangerous subject slavery become intense threaten peace perpetuity confederacy application admission kansa state union foster unhappy agitation bring whole subject congress desire every patriot measure legislation might adopt would remove excitement state confine territory legitimately belong much do happy say toward accomplishment object last session congress supreme court united state previously decide american citizen equal right take territory whatever hold property law state hold property guardianship federal constitution long territorial condition shall remain position proceeding last session alone want give practical effect principle recognize form almost unanimous vote house congress territory right come union either free slave state accord majority people equality state thus vindicate fruitful source dangerous dissension among removed whilst beneficial tendency legislative proceeding outside kansa influence nowhere happy within territory left manage control affair way without pressure external influence revolutionary topeka organization resistance territorial government establish congress finally abandon natural consequence fine territory appear tranquil prosperous attract increase thousand immigrant make happy home past unfortunate experience kansa enforce lesson often already taught resistance lawful authority form government fail end prove disastrous author people territory yield obedience law enact legislature would present moment contain large additional population industrious enterprising citizen deter enter border existence civil strife organize rebellion resistance rightful authority persevere attempt establish revolutionary government topeka constitution cause people kansas commit grave error refuse vote delegate convention frame constitution law deny fair provision refusal vote prolific source evils follow hostility territorial government disregard principle absolutely essential work form government majority vote majority may remain home whatever must decide result election reason seek take advantage error deny authority convention thus elect frame constitution convention notwithstanding proceed adopt constitution unexceptionable general feature provide submission slavery question vote people opinion bound kansa nebraska act question alone convulse territory yet opponent lawful government persist first error refrain exercise right vote prefer slavery continue rather surrender revolutionary topeka organization wiser well spirit seem prevail first monday january last election hold constitution majority people vote governor state officer member congress member state legislature election warmly contest two political party kansas great vote poll previous election large majority member legislature elect belong party previously refuse vote antislavery party thus place ascendant political power state hand congress admit kansa union lecompton constitution legislature might first session submit question vote people whether would would convention amend constitution either slavery question adopt necessary mean give speedy effect majority thus kansas question would immediately finally settle circumstance submit congress constitution thus frame officer already elect necessary put state government operation accompany strong recommendation favor admission kansa state course long public life never perform official act retrospect afford heartfelt satisfaction admission could inflict possible injury human whilst would within brief period restore peace kansa harmony union event slavery question would ere finally settle accord legally express majority voter popular sovereignty would thus vindicate constitutional manner deep conviction duty could pursue course true individual express opinion session convention favor submit remain clause constitution well concern slavery people act official character neither human authority power rejudge proceeding convention declare constitution frame nullity do would violation kansas nebraska act leave people territory perfectly free form regulate domestic institution way subject constitution united state would equally violated great principle popular sovereignty foundation institution deprive people power think proper exercise confide delegate elect trust frame constitution without require subject constituent trouble expense delay second election would opposition many precedent history commence best age republic admission territory state union without previous vote people approve constitution lament question insignificant view practical effect people kansas whether decide one way kindle flame excitement throughout country reflection may prove lesson wisdom warn future guidance practically consider question simply whether people territory first come union change provision constitution agreeable accomplish object remain union frame another constitution accordance either case result would precisely difference point fact object would much sooner attained pacification kansas speedily effect admit state last session congress recommendation however immediate admission kansa fail meet approbation congress deem wise adopt different measure settlement question part willing yield assent almost constitutional measure accomplish object therefore cordially acquiesce call english compromise approve act admission state kansa union upon term therein prescribe ordinance accompany lecompton constitution people kansas claim double quantity public land support common school ever previously grant state upon enter union also alternate section land 12 mile side two railroad propose constructed northern southern boundary eastern western boundary state congress deem claim unreasonable provide act may 4 1858 refer admission state equal footing original state upon fundamental condition precedent majority people thereof election hold purpose place large grant public land demand ordinance accept grant make minnesota new state act majority reject proposition offer shall deem held people kansas desire admission union say constitution condition set forth say proposition event act authorize people territory elect delegate form constitution state government whenever ascertain census duly legally take population say territory equal exceeds ratio representation require member house representative congress united state delegate thus assemble shall first determine vote whether wish people propose state admit union time shall proceed form constitution take necessary step establishment state government conformity federal constitution constitution shall form congress carry principle popular sovereignty nonintervention leave mode manner approval ratification people propose state prescribed law shall admit union state constitution thus fairly legally make without slavery say constitution may prescribe election hold throughout kansas pursuance provision act 2d day august last resulted rejection large majority proposition submit people congress case authorize form another constitution preparatory admission union number ascertain census shall equal exceed ratio require elect member house representative probable present state case third constitution lawfully frame presented congress kansas population shall reach designated number presume sad experience resist territorial law attempt adopt constitution express violation provision act congress session 1856 much time congress occupy question admit kansa topeka constitution nearly whole last session devote question admission lecompton constitution surely unreasonable require people kansas wait make third attempt number inhabitant shall amount brief period harmony state well great business interest country demand people union shall third time convulse another agitation kansa question wait short time act obedience law kansa glide union without slight impediment excellent provision congress apply kansa ought extend render applicable territory may hereafter seek admission union whilst congress possess undoubted power admit new state union however small may number inhabitant yet power ought opinion exercise population shall amount ratio require act admission kansas previously rule country would escape evils misfortune expose kansas question course would unjust give rule retrospective application exclude state act upon past practice government already form constitution elect legislature officer prepare enter union rule ought adopt whether consider bear people territory upon people exist state many serious dissentions prevail congress throughout country would avoid rule establish earlier period government immediately upon formation new territory people different state foreign country rush laudable purpose improve condition first duty open cultivate farm construct road establish school erect place religious worship devote energy generally reclaim wilderness lay foundation flourish prosperous commonwealth incipient condition population thousand prematurely enter union oppress burden state taxation mean necessary improvement territory advancement interest thus divert different purpose federal government ever liberal parent territory generous contributor useful enterprise early settler pay expense government legislative assembly common treasury thus relieve heavy charge circumstance nothing well calculate retard material progress divert useful employment prematurely excite angry political contest among benefit aspire leader surely hardship embryo governor senator member congress wait number inhabitant shall equal single congressional district surely ought permit rush union population less several large county interior state condition kansa make application admit topeka constitution besides require time render mass population collect new territory homogeneous unite anything like fixed policy establish rule look forward govern accordingly justice people several state require rule establish congress state entitle two senator least one representative congress people state fail elect power devolves upon senate select officer two high candidate list case death president thus elect senate become president united state question legislation senator smallest state union equal vote large may say regard ratification treaty executive appointment work admirably practice whilst conforms principle character government institute sovereign state presume american citizen would desire slight change arrangement still unjust unequal exist state invest people collect territory attribute sovereignty place equal footing virginia new york senate united state reason earnestly recommend passage general act shall provide upon application territorial legislature declare belief territory contains number inhabitant state would entitle elect member congress shall duty president census inhabitant take found sufficient term act authorize proceed way frame state constitution preparatory admission union also recommend appropriation may make enable president take census people kansas present condition territory utah contrast one year ago subject congratulation state open rebellion cost might character government required rebellion suppress mormon compel yield obedience constitution law order accomplish object inform last annual message appoint new governor instead brigham young federal officer take place consult personal safety find necessary withdraw territory protect civil officer aid posse comitatus execution law case need order detachment army accompany utah necessity adopt measure demonstrate 15th september 1857 governor young issue proclamation style independent sovereign announce purpose resist force arm entry united state troop territory utah require force territory hold readiness march moment notice repel invasion establish martial law date throughout territory prove idle threat fort bridger supply vacate burnt mormon deprive troop shelter long fatigue march order issue daniel well style lieutenant general nauvoo legion stampede animal united state troop march set fire train burn grass whole country flank keep sleep night surprise blockade road felling tree destroy ford river etc order promptly effectually obeyed 4th october 1857 mormon capture burn green river three supply train consist wagon load provision tent army carry away several hundred animal diminish supply provision materially general johnston oblige reduce ration even precaution sufficient leave subsist troop 1st june little army behave admirably encampment fort bridger try privation midst mountain dreary unsettle inhospitable region thousand mile home pass severe inclement winter without murmur look forward confidence relief country due season disappoint secretary war employ energy forward necessary supply muster send military force utah would render resistance part mormon hopeless thus terminate war without effusion blood effort efficiently sustain congress grant appropriation sufficient cover deficiency thus necessarily create also provide raise two regiment volunteer purpose quell disturbance territory utah protection supply emigrant train suppression indian hostility frontier happily occasion call regiment service felt serious embarrassment select great number brave patriotic citizen anxious serve country distant apparently dangerous expedition thus ever thus may ever wisdom economy send sufficient reenforcement utah establish event opinion position opportunity capable form correct judgment general johnston commander force address secretary war fort bridger date october 18 1857 express opinion unless large force send nature country protract war mormon part inevitable consider necessary terminate war speedily economically attempted insufficient mean meantime anxious desire mormon yield obedience constitution law without render necessary resort military force aid accomplish object deem advisable april last dispatch two distinguish citizen united state powell mcculloch utah bore proclamation address inhabitant utah date 6th day month warn true condition hopeless part persist rebellion united state offer submit law full pardon past sedition treason time assure persist rebellion united state must expect lenity look rigorously deal accord desert instruction agent well copy proclamation report herewith submit see report 3d july last fully confirm opinion express general johnston previous october necessity send reenforcement utah state firmly impressed belief presence army large additional force order territory chief inducement cause mormon abandon idea resist authority united state less decisive policy would probably result long bloody expensive war gentleman conduct entire satisfaction render useful service execute humane intention government also affords great satisfaction state governor cumming perform duty able conciliatory manner happy effect connection refrain mention valuable service colonel thomas kane motif pure benevolence without official character pecuniary compensation visit utah last inclement winter purpose contribute pacification territory happy inform governor civil officer utah perform appropriate function without resistance authority constitution law fully restore peace prevails throughout territory portion troop send utah encamp cedar valley 44 mile southwest salt lake city remainder order oregon suppress indian hostility march army salt lake city indianterritory powerful effect restrain hostile feeling united state exist among indians region secure emigrant far west depredation also mean establish military post promote settlement along route recommend benefit land law preemption system extend people utah establishment land office territory occasion also congratulate result negotiation china inform last annual message minister instruct occupy neutral position hostility conduct great britain france canton however time directed cooperate cordially british french minister peaceful measure secure treaty concession foreign commerce nation world right demand impossible proceed authority without usurp power constitution belongs exclusively congress besides careful examination nature extent grievance believe press aggravate character would justify congress declare war chinese empire without first make another earnest attempt adjust peaceful negotiation inclined opinion severe chastisement recently inflict upon chinese squadron capture destruction barrier fort avenge allege insult flag event prove wisdom neutrality minister execute instruction eminent skill ability conjunction russian plenipotentiary peacefully effectually cooperate english french plenipotentiary four power conclude separate treaty china highly satisfactory character treaty conclude plenipotentiary immediately submit senate happy announce energetic yet conciliatory effort japan new treaty conclude empire may expect materially augment trade intercourse quarter remove countryman disability heretofore impose upon exercise religion treaty shall submit senate approval without delay earnest desire every misunderstanding government great britain amicably speedily adjust misfortune country almost ever since period revolution annoy succession irritate dangerous question threaten friendly relation partially prevent full development feeling mutual friendship people two country natural conducive common interest serious interruption commerce united state great britain would equally injurious fact two nation ever exist face earth could much good much harm entertain sentiment gratify inform controversy two government relation question visitation search amicably adjust claim part great britain forcibly visit american vessel high seas time peace could sustain law nation overrule eminent jurist question recently bring issue repeat act british cruiser board search merchant vessel gulf mexico adjacent sea act injurious annoy water traverse large portion commerce navigation unite state free unrestricted use essential security coastwise trade different state union vexatious interruption could fail excite feeling country require interposition government remonstrance address british government violation right sovereignty naval force time order cuban water direction protect vessel unite state high sea search detention vessel war nation measure receive unqualified even enthusiastic approbation american people fortunately however collision take place british government promptly avow recognition principle international law upon subject laid government united state note secretary state british minister washington april 10 1858 secure vessel united state upon high sea visitation search time peace circumstance whatever claim abandon manner reflect honor british government evince regard law nation fail strengthen amicable relation two country british government time propose united state mode adopt mutual arrangement two country character may find effective without offensive verifying nationality vessel suspect good ground carry false color also invite united state take initiative propose measure purpose whilst decline assume grave responsibility secretary state inform british government ready receive proposal may feel disposed offer object view consider amicable spirit strong opinion however express occasional abuse flag nation evil far less deprecated would establishment regulation might incompatible freedom seas government yet receive communication specify manner british government would propose carry suggestion incline believe plan devise free grave embarrassment still shall form decided opinion subject shall carefully best spirit examine proposal may think proper make truly sorry also inform complication great britain united state arise clayton bulwer treaty april 1850 finally adjust commencement last session reason hope emancipate unavailing discussion two government would proceed settle central american question practical manner alike honorable satisfactory hope yet abandon last annual message state overture make british government purpose friendly spirit cordially reciprocate proposal withdraw question direct negotiation two government accomplish object negotiation british government central american republic whose territorial interest immediately involve settlement make accordance general tenor interpretation place upon clayton bulwer treaty united state certain modification negotiation still pending upon basis would proper communicate present condition final settlement question greatly desire would wipe last remain subject dispute two country relation great empire france russia well government continent europe except spain continue friendly character spain relation remain unsatisfactory condition message december last informed envoy extraordinary minister plenipotentiary madrid ask recall purpose send new minister court special instruction question pending two government determination speedily amicably adjust possible purpose hitherto defeat cause need enumerate mission spain intrust distinguished citizen kentucky proceed madrid without delay make another final attempt obtain justice government spanish official direct control cuba insult national flag repeat instance time time inflicted injury person property citizen give birth numerous claim spanish government merit ably discuss series year successive diplomatic representative notwithstanding arrived practical result single instance unless may except case black warrior late administration present outrage character would justify immediate resort war attempt obtain redress baffle defeat frequent change spanish ministry employ reason delay compel wait new minister shall time investigate justice demand even denominate cuban claim 100 citizen directly interested furnished exception claim refund duty unjustly exact american vessel different cuba long ago year 1844 principle upon rest manifestly equitable period nearly ten year 1854 recognize spanish government proceeding afterwards institute ascertain amount finally fix accord statement satisfy sum moment delay fourteen year reason expect sum would repay interest receive proposal offer refund amount without interest would accept full satisfaction offer also accompany declaration indemnification found reason strict justice make special favor one allege procrastination examination adjustment claim arises obstacle duty spanish government remove whilst cuba invest general despotic authority government island power withhold examine redress wrong commit official control citizen united state instead make complaint directly havana oblige present minister madrid refer back information much time thus consume preliminary investigation correspondence madrid cuba spanish government consent proceed negotiation many difficulty two government would obviate long train negotiation avoid invested authority settle question easy solution spot fact fresh could promptly satisfactorily ascertain hitherto vain urge upon spanish government confer power upon minister spain instruct urge subject notice respect occupy different position power europe cuba almost within sight shore commerce far great nation include spain citizen habit daily extend personal intercourse every part island therefore great grievance difficulty occur matter unimportant might readily settle moment oblige resort madrid especially first step take refer back cuba truth cuba exist colonial condition constant source injury annoyance american people spot civilize world african slave trade tolerate bound treaty great britain maintain naval force coast africa much expense life treasure solely purpose arrest slaver bound island late serious difficulty united state great britain respect right search happily terminate could never arise cuba afforded market slave long market shall remain open hope civilization benight africa whilst demand slave continue cuba war wag among petty barbarous chief africa purpose seize subject supply trade condition affair impossible light civilization religion ever penetrate dark abode make know world predecessor united state several occasion endeavor acquire cuba spain honorable negotiation accomplish last relic african slave trade would instantly disappear would could acquire cuba manner due national character territory acquire since origin government fair purchase france spain mexico free voluntary act independent state texas blend destiny course shall ever pursue unless circumstance occur anticipate rendering departure clearly justifiable imperative overrule law island cuba geographical position command mouth mississippi immense annually increase trade foreign coastwise valley noble river embrace half sovereign state union island dominion distant foreign power trade vital importance state expose danger destroyed time war hitherto subject perpetual injury annoyance time peace relation spain ought friendly character must always place jeopardy whilst exist colonial government island shall remain present condition whilst possession island would vast importance united state value spain comparatively unimportant relative situation party great napoleon transfer louisiana united state jealous ever national honor interest france person throughout world impute blame accept pecuniary equivalent cession publicity give former negotiation upon subject large appropriation may require effect purpose render expedient make another attempt renew negotiation lay whole subject congress especially necessary may become indispensable success intrust mean make advance spanish government immediately sign treaty without await ratification senate encourage make suggestion example jefferson previous purchase louisiana france polk view acquisition territory mexico refer whole subject congress commend careful consideration repeat recommendation make message december last favor appropriation pay spanish government purpose distribution among claimant amistad case president polk first make similar recommendation december 1847 repeat immediate predecessor december 1853 entertain doubt indemnity fairly due claimant treaty spain october 27 1795 whilst demand justice ought justice appropriation promptly make purpose could fail exert favorable influence negotiation spain position relation independent state south u continent especially within limit north america peculiar character northern boundary mexico coincident southern boundary ocean ocean must necessarily feel deep interest concern fate near neighbor always cherish kind wish success republic indulge hope might last trial enjoy peace prosperity free stable government never hitherto interfere directly indirectly internal affair duty owe protect integrity territory hostile interference power geographical position direct interest concern mexico policy regard north american continent render indispensable duty mexico state constant revolution almost ever since achieve independence one military leader another usurped government rapid succession various constitution time time adopt set naught almost soon proclaimed successive government afford adequate protection either mexican citizen foreign resident lawless violence heretofore seizure capital military chieftain generally follow least nominal submission country rule brief period present crisis mexican affair civil war rag time throughout republic central government city mexico endeavor subvert constitution last frame military power maintain authority constitution antagonist party hold possession different state republic fortune war constantly change meanwhile reprehensible mean employ party extort money foreigner well native carry ruinous contest truth fine country bless productive soil benign climate reduce civil dissension condition almost hopeless anarchy imbecility would vain government attempt enforce payment money claim american citizen amount mexico destitute pecuniary mean satisfy demand late minister furnish ample power instruction adjustment pending question central government mexico perform duty zeal ability claim citizen arise violation express provision treaty guadalupe hidalgo others gross injury person well property remain unredressed even unnoticed remonstrance grievance address without effect government meantime various part republic instance numerous murder imprisonment plunder citizen different party claim exercise local jurisdiction central government although repeatedly urge thereto make effort either punish author outrage prevent recurrence american citizen visit mexico lawful business without imminent danger person property adequate protection either respect treaty republic almost dead letter state affair bring crisis may last promulgation decree levy contribution pro rata upon capital republic certain specified amount whether held mexican foreigner forsyth regard decree light force loan formally protest application countryman advise pay contribution suffer forcibly exact act upon advice american citizen refuse pay contribution property seize arm men satisfy amount content government proceed still issue decree banish country minister immediately notify decree carried execution would feel duty adopt decide measure belong power obligation representative office notwithstanding warn banishment enforce forsyth promptly announced government suspension political relation legation pleasure government ascertain government regard contribution impose decree 15th may last strictness force loan prohibit tenth article treaty 1826 great britain mexico benefit american citizen entitle treaty yet imposition contribution upon foreigner consider unjust oppressive measure besides internal faction part republic time levy similar exaction upon property citizen interrupt commerce entire failure part minister secure redress wrong citizen endure notwithstanding persevere effort temper manifest mexican government repeatedly assure u favorable change could expect united state give strike evidence power protect citizen severe chasten earthly remedy grievance statement fact would worse idle direct forsyth retrace step resume diplomatic relation government therefore deem proper sanction withdrawal legation city mexico abundant undoubtedly exist resort hostility government still hold possession capital succeed subdue constitutional force reasonable hope expire peaceful settlement difficulty hand constitutional party prevail authority establish republic reason hope animate less unfriendly spirit may grant redress american citizen justice require far may possess mean expectation recommend congress grant necessary power president take possession sufficient portion remote unsettle territory mexico hold pledge injury shall redress demand satisfied already exhaust every milder mean obtain justice case remedy reprisal recognize law nation mean prevent actual war another view relation mexico arise unhappy condition affair along southwestern frontier demand immediate action remote region white inhabitant large band hostile predatory indian roam promiscuously mexican state chihuahua sonora adjoin territory local government state perfectly helpless keep state constant alarm indian power possess even restrain lawless mexican pass border commit depredation remote settler state anarchy violence prevail throughout distant frontier law dead letter life property wholly insecure reason settlement arizona arrest whilst great importance chain inhabitant extend along southern border sufficient protection unite state mail pass california apprehension entertain indian wander mexican equally lawless may break important stage postal communication recently establish atlantic pacific possession pass near mexican boundary throughout whole length arizona imagine possible remedy evil mode restore law order remote unsettle frontier government unite state assume temporary protectorate northern portion chihuahua sonora establish military post within earnestly recommend congress protection may withdraw soon local government shall establish mexican state capable perform duty united state restrain lawless preserve peace along border doubt measure view friendly spirit government people chihuahua sonora prove equally effectual protection citizen remote lawless frontier citizen united state connection permit recall attention condition arizona population territory number allege soul practically without government without law without regular administration justice murder crime commit impunity state thing call loudly redress therefore repeat recommendation establishment territorial government arizona political condition narrow isthmus central america transit route pass atlantic pacific oceans present subject deep interest commercial nation transit large proportion trade travel european asiatic continent destine pas united state route incalculable importance mean communication atlantic pacific possession latter extend throughout seventeen degree latitude pacific coast embrace important state california flourish territory oregon washington commercial nation therefore deep direct interest communication shall render secure interruption arm sea connect two ocean penetrate nicaragua costa rica could pretend state would right arrest retard navigation injury nation transit land narrow isthmus occupies nearly position highway little interest compare vast interest rest world whilst right sovereignty ought respect duty nation require important passage shall interrupt civil war revolutionary outbreak frequently occur region stake important leave mercy rival company claim hold conflict contract nicaragua commerce nation stand still await adjustment petty controversy government united state expect satisfied less would could derive advantage nicaragua transit common rest world neutrality protection common use nation object objection nicaragua shall demand receive fair compensation company individual may traverse route insist shall never hereafter close arbitrary decree government dispute arise may enter contract must adjust fair tribunal provide purpose route must close pending controversy whole policy fail acceptable nation difficulty might avoid consistently good faith nicaragua use transit could throw open general competition providing time payment reasonable rate nicaraguan government passenger freight august 1852 accessory transit company make first interoceanic trip nicaraguan route continue successful operation great advantage public 18th february 1856 close grant company well charter summarily arbitrarily revoked government president rivas previous date however 1854 serious dispute concern settlement account arise company government threaten interruption route moment united state vain endeavored compose would useless narrate various proceeding take place party till time transit discontinue suffice say since february 1856 remain close greatly prejudice citizen united state since time competition cease rival route panama nicaragua consequence thereof unjust unreasonable amount exact citizen passage california treaty sign 16th day november 1857 secretary state minister nicaragua stipulation use protection transit route would secure united state equally nation pretext treaty fail receive ratification nicaraguan government appear paper herewith communicated state department principal objection seem provision authorize united state employ force keep route open case nicaragua fail perform duty respect feebleness republic frequent change government constant internal dissension become important stipulation one essentially necessary security route safety american citizen pass repassing pacific possession stipulation embrace treaty united state nicaragua knowledge fact would probably prevent hostile party commit aggression route render actual interference protection unnecessary executive government country intercourse foreign nation limit employment diplomacy alone fail proceed legitimately resort force without direct authority congress except resist repel hostile attack would authority enter territory nicaragua even prevent destruction transit protect live property citizen passage true sudden emergency character president would direct arm force vicinity march relief would act upon responsibility circumstance earnestly recommend congress passage act authorize president restriction may deem proper employ land naval force united state prevent transit obstruct closed lawless violence protect life property american citizen travel thereupon require time force shall withdraw moment danger shall pass away without provision citizen constantly expose interruption progress lawless violence similar necessity exist passage act protection panama tehuantepec route reference panama route united state exist treaty new granada expressly guarantee neutrality isthmus view free transit one sea may interrupt embarrassed future time treaty exist regard tehuantepec route recently open favorable auspex treaty mexico 30th december 1853 secure citizen united state right transit person merchandise stipulate neither government shall interpose obstacle thereto also concede united state right transport across isthmus close bag mail united state intend distribution along line communication also effect united state government citizen may intend transit distribution isthmus free charge mexican government treaty stipulation new granada mexico addition consideration applicable nicaragua route seem require legislation purpose carry effect injury inflict upon citizen costa rica nicaragua last two three year receive prompt attention government injury aggravate character transaction virgin bay april 1856 company unarm american way connect belligerent conduct party fire upon troop costa rica number kill wound brought knowledge congress predecessor soon occurrence also present government costa rica immediate investigation redress nature case demand similar course pursue reference outrage country hardly less aggravated character transaction virgin bay time however present minister nicaragua appoint december 1857 redress obtain wrong reply even receive demand make government upon costa rica year minister instruct therefore lose time express government deep regret president witness inattention claim unite state demand prompt satisfactory adjustment unless demand shall comply early day remain government adopt measure may necessary order obtain justice vain attempted secure peaceful mean government nicaragua costa rica show continue show sincere regard right honor republic permit regard meet utter neglect part due government citizen unite state new granada cause complaint arise unsatisfied claim citizen upon republic recently add outrage commit upon citizen panama april 1856 treaty adjustment difficulty conclude secretary state minister new granada september 1857 contain acceptable provision purpose treaty transmit bogota ratified government new granada certain amendment however return city close last session senate immediately transmit body advice consent obtain remove exist cause complaint new granada subject claim question arise two government right new granada levy tonnage duty upon vessel unite state port isthmus levy passenger tax upon citizen arrive country whether design remain pass ocean ocean transit route also tax upon mail unite state transport panama railroad government new granada inform united state would consider collection either tax act violation treaty two country would resist united state time prepare discuss question spirit amity justice sincere desire adjust satisfactory manner negotiation purpose already commence effort recently make collect tax anticipate present circumstance empire brazil relation friendly character production two country especially agricultural nature invite extensive mutual exchange large quantity american flour consume brazil whilst treble amount value brazilian coffee consume united state whilst case heavy duty levy recently upon importation american flour brazil gratify however able inform september last reduce 49 cent per barrel duty article production diminish nearly proportion regret state government brazil still continue levy export duty 11 per cent coffee notwithstanding article admit free duty united state heavy charge upon consumer coffee country purchase half entire surplus crop article raise brazil minister instruction reiterate effort export duty remove hop enlightened government emperor adopt wise equal policy event good reason believe commerce two country greatly increase much advantage claim citizens government brazil aggregate large amount rest upon plain principle justice settlement ought longer delay renew earnest trust successful effort make minister procure final adjustment 2d june last congress pass joint resolution authorize president adopt measure use force judgment may necessary advisable purpose difference united state republic paraguay connection attack united state steamer water witch measure refer annual message 12th july follow make appropriation defray expense compensation commissioner republic president deem proper make appointment compliance enactment appoint commissioner proceed paraguay full power instruction settle difference amicable peaceful manner practicable experience discretion justify hope may prove successful convincing paraguayan government due honor justice voluntarily promptly make atonement wrong commit united state indemnify injured citizen forcibly despoil property commissioner prove unsuccessful sincere earnest effort accomplish object mission alternative remain employment force obtain satisfaction paraguay view contingency secretary navy direction fit dispatched naval force rendezvous near buenos ayres believe prove sufficient occasion earnest desire however may find necessary resort last alternative congress meet december last business country crush one periodical revulsion inevitable consequence unsound extravagant system bank credit inflated currency element national wealth abundance manufacture suspend useful public private enterprise arrest thousand laborer deprive employment reduce want universal distress prevail among commercial manufacture mechanical class revulsion felt severely united state similar cause produce like deplorable effect throughout commercial nation europe experience sad revers moment manufacturer everywhere suffer severely recent reduction tariff duty import demand price production people oblige restrict purchase article prime necessity general prostration business iron manufacturer different state probably suffer class much destitution inevitable consequence among great number workman employ useful branch industry could supply demand present example could demand railroad iron magnificent system railroad extend benefit every portion union bring dead pause consequence result similar cause many branch useful manufacture ability purchase manufacture article sell consequently must cease produced government especially government limited power united state could prevent late revulsion whole commercial world seem year rush catastrophe ruinous consequence would follow united state whether duty upon foreign import remain tariff 1846 raise much high standard tariff 1857 agency result general cause exist throughout world could control legislation particular country periodical revulsion exist past history must continue return interval long present unbounded system bank credit shall prevail however probably less severe future expect least many year come commercial nation europe whose interest materially involve expose similar calamity subject treat much large last annual message shall pursue still respectfully renew recommendation favor passage uniform bankrupt law applicable banking institution direct power subject believe federal government possesses law would mitigate though might prevent evil instinct might produce wholesome restraint upon banking business know advance suspension specie payment would inevitably produce civil death effect revulsion slowly surely pass away energy enterprise citizen unbounded resource within period another year restore state wholesome industry trade capital accumulate large city rate interest low confidence gradually revive soon discover capital profitably employ commercial manufacturing enterprise construction railroad work public private improvement prosperity smile throughout land vain however disguise fact speculative inflation currency without correspond inflation country whose manufacture come competition must ever produce disastrous result domestic manufacture tariff short absolute prohibition prevent evil consequence connection subject proper refer financial condition cause produce pecuniary distress throughout country reduce amount import foreign country revenue prove inadequate meet necessary expense government supply deficiency congress act december 23 1857 authorized issue treasury note prove inadequate authorize act june 14 1858 loan apply payment appropriation make law statesman would advise go increase national debt meet ordinary expense government would ruinous policy case war credit must chief resource least first year would greatly impair contract large debt time peace true policy increase revenue equal expenditure would ruinous continue borrow besides may proper observe incidental protection thus afford revenue tariff would present moment extent increase confidence manufacturing interest give fresh impulse reviving business surely person object regard mode assess collect duty strictly revenue tariff long entertain often express opinion sound policy require do specific duty case properly apply well adapted commodity usually sell weight measure nature equal nearly equal value example article iron different class raw sugar foreign wine spirit deliberate judgment specific duty best mean secure revenue false fraudulent invoice practice adopt purpose commercial nation besides specific duty would afford american manufacturer incidental advantage fairly entitle revenue tariff present system slide scale disadvantage price high business prosperous duty rise amount least require aid contrary price fall struggle adversity duty diminish proportion greatly injury neither would danger high rate duty intend congress could levy form specific duty would easy ascertain average value import article series year instead subject ad valorem duty certain rate per centum substitute place equivalent specific duty arrangement consumer would injure true might pay little duty give article one year would pay little less another series year would counterbalance amount thing far interest concerned inconvenience would trifle contrasted additional security thus afford fraud upon revenue every consumer directly interested thrown suggestion fruit observation congress well judgment give weight may justly deserve report secretary treasury explain detail operation department government receipt treasury source fiscal year end june 30 1858 include treasury note authorize act december 23 1857 amount balance remain treasury commencement year make aggregate service year public expenditures fiscal year end june 30 1858 amount applied payment public debt redemption treasury note interest thereon leave treasury july 1 1858 commencement present fiscal year receipt treasury first quarter present fiscal year commence 1st july 1858 include loan premium upon authorize act june 14 1858 estimate receipt remain three quarter 30th june 1859 ordinary source make balance state aggregate expenditure first quarter present fiscal year apply payment public debt redemption treasury note interest thereon estimate expenditure remain three quarter june 30 1859 make aggregate excess expenditure beyond estimate receipt treasury ordinary source fiscal year 30th june 1859 extraordinary mean place law within command secretary treasury reissue treasury note redeem negotiate balance loan authorize act june 14 1858 extent realize present fiscal year leave balance treasury 1st day july 1859 estimate receipt next fiscal year end june 30 1860 balance make aggregate service next fiscal year estimate expenditure next fiscal year end june 30 1860 leaf deficit estimate mean compare estimate expenditure year commence july 1 1859 addition sum require treasury service department explain report secretary treasury increase estimate deficit june 30 1860 provide payment estimate deficiency increase appropriation may make congress estimate report treasury department well provide gradual redemption year year outstanding treasury note secretary treasury recommend revision present tariff raise require amount already say need scarcely add concur opinion express report public debt increase additional loan would therefore strongly urge upon congress duty make present session necessary provision meeting liability public debt july 1 1858 commencement present fiscal year first quarter present year sum negotiate loan authorize act june 14 1858 make present outstanding public debt exclusive treasury note 1st july 1858 treasury note issue authority act december 23 1857 unredeemed sum make amount actual indebtedness date add present fiscal year remain half loan yet negotiate rapid increase public debt necessity exist modification tariff meet even ordinary expense government ought admonish u respective sphere duty practice rigid economy object expenditure limited number far may practicable appropriation necessary carry effect ought disburse strict accountability enlighten economy consist refusal appropriate money constitutional purpose essential defense progress prosperity republic take care none money shall waste mismanagement application object designate law comparison annual expenditure present time ten twenty year ago altogether fallacious rapid increase country extent population render correspond increase expenditure extent unavoidable constantly create new object expenditure augment amount require old true question object unnecessarily multiply amount expend upon large comports due economy accordance principle head different executive department government instruct reduce estimate next fiscal year low standard consistent efficiency service duty perform spirit economy estimate treasury war navy interior department degree reduce unless sudden unforeseen emergency arise anticipated deficiency exist either within present next fiscal year department place peculiar position different department shall hereafter refer invite congress institute rigid scrutiny ascertain whether expense department still reduce promise aid power pursue investigation transmit herewith report make secretary war navy interior contain valuable information important recommendation invite attention congress last annual message take occasion recommend immediate construction ten small steamer light draft purpose increase efficiency navy congress respond recommendation authorize construction eight progress make execute authority state report secretary navy concur opinion great number class vessel necessary purpose protect efficient manner person property american citizen high seas foreign country well guard effectually coast accordingly recommend passage act purpose suggestion contain report secretary interior especially regard disposition public domain pension system policy toward indian amendment patent law worthy serious consideration congress department occupy position different department many year policy government render department accomplish present condition country ought make near approach may practicable place embarrass position exist law oblige carry effect alternative find however do without heavy demand upon treasury receive postage progressively increase year year amount last fiscal year end 30th june 1858 whilst estimate present fiscal year amount sum exclusive annual appropriation compensation mail service perform two house congress department officer government transmission free matter large deficit mainly attributable increase expense transport mail 1852 sum pay service fraction four million quarter since year annually increase 1858 reach eight million quarter service 1859 estimated amount receipt department make approach equal expenditure mean legislation congress apply remedy care take people shall deprive advantage fairly entitle enjoy department principal remedy recommend consideration congress restore former rate postage upon single letter 5 cent substitute frank privilege delivery entitle enjoy stamp correspondence direct department making contract transportation mail confine payment sum necessary single purpose without require transport post coach carriages particular description present system expense government greatly increase require mail shall carry vehicle accommodate passenger do without pay department road travel remunerate contractor recommendation deserve grave consideration congress would call attention construction pacific railroad time reflection serve confirm truth justice observation make subject last annual message beg leave respectfully refer freely admit would inexpedient government exercise power construct pacific railroad immediate agent policy would increase patronage executive dangerous extent introduce system job corruption vigilance part federal official could either prevent detect do keen eye active careful supervision individual private interest construction road ought therefore committed company incorporate state agency whose pecuniary interest would directly involve congress might assist work grant land money condition restriction would secure transportation troop munition war free charge united state mail fair reasonable price progress event since commencement last session show soon difficulty disappear firm determine resolution time road deem wise patriotic men visionary project great distance overcome intervening mountain desert way obstacle opinion many could surmount lapse single year obstacle discover far less formidable supposed mail stage passenger pass repass regularly twice week common wagon road san francisco louis memphis less day service regularly perform former year new york city whilst disclaim authority appropriate money construction road except derived power constitution important collateral consideration urge u undertake work speedily possible first momentous road would powerful bond union state east west rocky mountain require illustration commercial point view consider great question day eastern front republic stretch along atlantic western front along pacific part unite safe easy rapid intercommunication must necessarily command large proportion trade europe asia recent treaty china japan open rich populous empire commerce history world prove nation gain possession trade eastern asia always become wealthy powerful peculiar geographical position california pacific possession invite american capital enterprise fruitful field reap rich harvest however indispensable prerequisite shall first railroad convey circulate product throughout every portion union besides railroad temperate latitude would impede frost snow winter tropical heat summer would attract much travel trade nation pass europe asia 21st august last lieutenant maffit united state brig dolphin capture slaver echo formerly putnam new orleans near kay verde coast cuba 300 african negro board prize command lieutenant bradford united state navy arrive charleston 27th august negro 306 number deliver custody united state marshal district south carolina first place castle pinckney afterwards fort sumter detain 19th september survivor 271 number deliver board united state steamer niagara transport coast africa charge agent united state pursuant provision act 3d march 1819 addition act prohibit slave trade second section act president authorize make regulation arrangement may deem expedient support removal beyond limit united state negro mulatto person color capture vessel unite state may deliver marshal district bring appoint proper person person reside upon coast africa agent agent receive negro mulatto person color deliver board vessel seize prosecution slave trade commander unite state arm vessel doubt immediately arise true construction act quite clear term president authorize provide support removal negro till time delivery agent coast africa express provision make protection support reach place destination still agent point receive africa could suppose congress intend desert moment receive turn loose inhospitable coast perish want food become victim slave trade intention congress employment agent receive require reside coast unnecessary might land vessel anywhere africa left expose suffering fate would certainly await monroe special message december 17 1819 first session act pass announced congress opinion true construction believe duty follow unfortunates africa make provision able provide communicate interpretation act congress state doubt entertain true intent meaning submit question might deem advisable amend proceeding nothing do congress explain act monroe proceed carry execution accord interpretation become practical construction africans board echo deliver marshal charleston become duty consider disposition ought make law many reason expedient remove locality speedily possible although conduct authority citizens charleston give countenance execution law might expect high character yet prolong continuance 300 african immediate vicinity city could fail become source inconvenience anxiety inhabitant send question portion coast africa could remove regard humanity except liberia circumstance agreement enter colonization society 7th september last copy herewith transmit society engage consideration receive african liberia agent united state furnish period one year thereafter comfortable shelter clothing provision medical attendance cause child receive school whether child adult instruct art civilize life suitable condition aggregate base upon allowance 150 individual considerable mortality among may reach africa society agree equitable spirit make deduction amount circumstance may appear reasonable fix shall ascertain actual number may become charge society also distinctly agree circumstance shall government call upon additional expense agent society manifest laudable desire conform wish government throughout transaction assure careful calculation would require expend sum 150 individual complying agreement would nothing leave remunerate care trouble responsibility event could make good arrangement alternative period government agent undertook task provide capture negro africa cost per head much great outstanding appropriation applicable purpose could advance money agreement therefore recommend appropriation may make amount necessary carry effect capture similar character may probably make naval force earnestly recommend congress may amend second section act march 3 1819 free construction ambiguity long exist render duty president plain execute provision recommend favorable regard local interest district columbia residence congress executive department government fail feel deep concern welfare heighten high character peaceful orderly conduct resident inhabitant conclude without perform agreeable duty express gratification congress kindly respond recommendation last annual message afford sufficient time close late session examination bill present approval change practice congress prove wholesome reform exert beneficial influence transaction legislative business elicit general approbation country enable congress adjourn dignity deliberation become representative great republic without crowded general appropriation bill provision foreign nature doubtful constitutionality expediency let warmly strongly commend precedent establish guide proceeding present session