The Constitution of the United States provides that Congress shall assemble annually on the first Monday of December, and it has been usual for the President to make no communication of a public character to the Senate and House of Representatives until advised of their readiness to receive it. I have deferred to this usage until the close of the first month of the session, but my convictions of duty will not permit me longer to postpone the discharge of the obligation enjoined by the Constitution upon the President "to give to the Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." It is matter of congratulation that the Republic is tranquilly advancing in a career of prosperity and peace. Whilst relations of amity continue to exist between the United States and all foreign powers, with some of them grave questions are depending which may require the consideration of Congress. Of such questions, the most important is that which has arisen out of the negotiations with Great Britain in reference to Central America. By the convention concluded between the two Governments on the 19th of April, 1850, both parties covenanted that "neither will ever" "occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua. Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America." It was the undoubted understanding of the United States in making this treaty that all the present States of the former Republic of Central America and the entire territory of each would thenceforth enjoy complete independence, and that both contracting parties engaged equally and to the same extent, for the present and, for the future, that if either then had any claim of right in Central America such claim and all occupation or authority under it were unreservedly relinquished by the stipulations of the convention, and that no dominion was thereafter to be exercised or assumed in any part of Central America by Great Britain or the United States. This Government consented to restrictions in regard to a region of country wherein we had specific and peculiar interests only upon the conviction that the like restrictions were in the same sense obligatory on Great Britain. But for this understanding of the force and effect of the convention it would never have been concluded by us. So clear was this understanding on the part of the United States that in correspondence contemporaneous with the ratification of the convention it was distinctly expressed that the mutual covenants of nonoccupation were not intended to apply to the British establishment at the Balize. This qualification is to be ascribed to the fact that, in virtue of successive treaties with previous sovereigns of the country, Great Britain had obtained a concession of the right to cut mahogany or dyewoods at the Balize, but with positive exclusion of all domain or sovereignty; and thus it confirms the natural construction and understood import of the treaty as to all the rest of the region to which the stipulations applied. It, however, became apparent at an early day after entering upon the discharge of my present functions that Great Britain still continued in the exercise or assertion of large authority in all that part of Central America commonly called the Mosquito Coast, and covering the entire length of the State of Nicaragua and a part of Costa Rica; that she regarded the Balize as her absolute domain and was gradually extending its limits at the expense of the State of Honduras, and, that she had formally colonized a considerable insular group known as the Bay Islands, and belonging of right to that State. All these acts or pretensions of Great Britain, being contrary to the rights of the States of Central America and to the manifest tenor of her stipulations with the United States as understood by this Government, have been made the subject of negotiation through the American minister in London. I transmit herewith the instructions to him on the subject and the correspondence between him and the British secretary for foreign affairs, by which you will perceive that the two Governments differ widely and irreconcilably as to the construction of the convention and its effect on their respective relations to Central America. Great Britain so construes the convention as to maintain unchanged all her previous pretensions over the Mosquito Coast and in different parts of Central America. These pretensions as to the Mosquito Coast are founded on the assumption of political relation between Great Britain and the remnant of a tribe of Indians on that coast, entered into at a time when the whole country was a colonial possession of Spain. It can not be successfully controverted that by the public law of Europe and America no possible act of such Indians or their predecessors could confer on Great Britain any political rights. Great Britain does not allege the assent of Spain as the origin of her claims on the Mosquito Coast. She has, on the contrary, by repeated and successive treaties renounced and relinquished all pretensions of her own and recognized the full and sovereign rights of Spain in the most unequivocal terms. Yet these pretensions, so without solid foundation in the beginning and thus repeatedly abjured, were at a recent period revived by Great Britain against the Central American States, the legitimate successors to all the ancient jurisdiction of Spain in that region. They were first applied only to a defined part of the coast of Nicaragua, afterwards to the whole of its Atlantic coast, and lastly to a part of the coast of Costa Rica, and they are now reasserted to this extent notwithstanding engagements to the United States. On the eastern coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica the interference of Great Britain, though exerted at one time in the form of military occupation of the port of San Juan del Norte, then in the peaceful possession of the appropriate authorities of the Central American States, is now presented by her as the rightful exercise of a protectorship over the Mosqttito tribe of Indians. But the establishment at the Balize, now reaching far beyond its treaty limits into the State of Honduras, and that of the Bay Islands, appertaining of right to the same State, are as distinctly colonial governments as those of Jamaica or Canada, and therefore contrary to the very letter, as well as the spirit, of the convention with the United States as it was at the time of ratification and now is understood by this Government. The interpretation which the British Government thus, in assertion and act, persists in ascribing to the convention entirely changes its character. While it holds us to all our obligations, it in a great measure releases Great Britain from those which constituted the consideration of this Government for entering into the convention. It is impossible, in my judgment, for the United States to acquiesce in such a construction of the respective relations of the two Governments to Central America. To a renewed call by this Government upon Great Britain to abide by and Carry into effect the stipulations of the convention according to its obvious import by withdrawing from the possession or colonization of portions of the Central American States of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, the British Government has at length replied, affirming that the operation of the treaty is prospective only and did not require Great Britain to abandon or contract any possessions held by her in Central America at the date of its conclusion. This reply substitutes a partial issue in the place of the general one presented by the United States. The British Government passes over the question of the rights of Great Britain, real or supposed, in Central America, and assumes that she had such rights at the date of the treaty and that those rights comprehended the protectorship of the Mosquito Indians, the extended jurisdiction and limits of the Balize, and the colony of the Bay Islands, and thereupon proceeds by implication to infer that if the stipulations of the treaty be merely future in effect Great Britain may still continue to hold the contested portions of Central America. The United States can not admit either the inference or the premises. We steadily deny that at the date of the treaty Great Britain had any possessions there other than the limited and peculiar establishment at the Balize, and maintain that if she had any they were surrendered by the convention. This Government, recognizing the obligations of the treaty, has, of course, desired to see it executed in good faith by both parties, and in the discussion, therefore, has not looked to rights which we might assert independently of the treaty in consideration of our geographical position and of other circumstances which create for us relations to the Central American States different from those of any government of Europe. The British Government, in its last communication, although well knowing the views of the United States, still declares that it sees no reason why a conciliatory spirit may not enable the two Governments to overcome all obstacles to a satisfactory adjustment of the subject. Assured of the correctness of the construction of the treaty constantly adhered to by this Government and resolved to insist on the rights of the United States, yet actuated also by the same desire which is avowed by the British Government, to remove all causes of serious misunderstanding between two nations associated by so many ties of interest and kindred, it has appeared to me proper not to consider an amicable solution of the controversy hopeless. There is, however, reason to apprehend that with Great Britain in the actual occupation of the disputed territories, and the treaty therefore practically null so far as regards our rights, this international difficulty can not long remain undetermined without involving in serious danger the friendly relations which it is the interest as well as the duty of both countries to cherish and preserve. It will afford me sincere gratification if future efforts shall result in the success anticipated heretofore with more confidence than the aspect of the case permits me now to entertain. One other subject of discussion between the United States and Great Britain has grown out of the attempt, which the exigencies of the war in which she is engaged with Russia induced her to make, to draw recruits from the United States. It is the traditional and settled policy of the United States to maintain impartial neutrality during the wars which from time to time occur among the great powers of the world. Performing all the duties of neutrality toward the respective belligerent states, we may reasonably expect them not to interfere with our lawful enjoyment of its benefits. Notwithstanding the existence of such hostilities, our citizens retained the individual right to continue all their accustomed pursuits, by land or by sea, at home or abroad, subject only to such restrictions in this relation as the laws of war, the usage of nations, or special treaties may impose; and it is our sovereign right that our territory and jurisdiction shall not be invaded by either of the belligerent parties for the transit of their armies, the operations of their fleets, the levy of troops for their service, the fitting out of cruisers by or against either, or any other act or incident of war. And these undeniable rights of neutrality, individual and national, the United States will under no circumstances surrender. In pursuance of this policy, the laws of the United States do not forbid their citizens to sell to either of the belligerent powers articles contraband of war or take munitions of war or soldiers on board their private ships for transportation; and although in so doing the individual citizen exposes his property or person to some of the hazards of war, his acts do not involve any breach of national neutrality nor of themselves implicate the Government. Thus, during the progress of the present war in Europe, our citizens have, without national responsibility therefor, sold gunpowder and arms to all buyers, regardless of the destination of those articles. Our merchantmen have been, and still continue to be, largely employed by Great Britain and by France in transporting troops, provisions, and munitions of war to the principal seat of military operations and in bringing home their sick and wounded soldiers; but such use of our mercantile marine is not interdicted either by the international or by our municipal law, and therefore does not compromise our neutral relations with Russia. But our municipal law, in accordance with the law of nations, peremptorily forbids not only foreigners, but our own citizens, to fit out within the United States a vessel to commit hostilities against any state with which the United States are at peace, or to increase the force of any foreign armed vessel intended for such hostilities against a friendly state. Whatever concern may have been felt by either of the belligerent powers lest private armed cruisers or other vessels in the service of one might be fitted out in the ports of this country to depredate on the property of the other, all such fears have proved to be utterly groundless. Our citizens have been withheld from any such act or purpose by good faith and by respect for the law. While the laws of the Union are thus peremptory in their prohibition of the equipment or armament of belligerent cruisers in our ports, they provide not less absolutely that no person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, enlist or enter himself, or hire or retain another person to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered, in the service of any foreign state, either as a soldier or as a marine or seaman on board of any vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer. And these enactments are also in strict conformity with the law of nations, which declares that no state has the right to raise troops for land or sea service in another state without its consent, and that, whether forbidden by the municipal law or not, the very attempt to do it without such consent is an attack on the national sovereignty. Such being the public rights and the municipal law of the United States, no solicitude on the subject was entertained by this Government when, a year since, the British Parliament passed an act to provide for the enlistment of foreigners in the military service of Great Britain. Nothing on the face of the act or in its public history indicated that the British Government proposed to attempt recruitment in the United States, nor did it ever give intimation of such intention to this Government. It was matter of surprise, therefore, to find subsequently that the engagement of persons within the United States to proceed to Halifax, in the British Province of Nova Scotia, and there enlist in the service of Great Britain, was going on extensively, with little or no disguise. Ordinary legal steps were immediately taken to arrest and punish parties concerned, and so put an end to acts infringing the municipal law and derogatory to our sovereignty. Meanwhile suitable representations on the subject were addressed to the British Government. Thereupon it became known, by the admission of the British Government itself, that the attempt to draw recruits from this country originated with it, or at least had its approval and sanction; but it also appeared that the public agents engaged in it had "stringent instructions" not to violate the municipal law of the United States. It is difficult to understand how it should have been supposed that troops could be raised here by Great Britain without violation of the municipal law. The unmistakable object of the law was to prevent every such act which if performed must be either in violation of the law or in studied evasion of it, and in either alternative the act done would be alike injurious to the sovereignty of the United States. In the meantime the matter acquired additional importance by the recruitments in the United States not being discontinued, and the disclosure of the fact that they were prosecuted upon a systematic plan devised by official authority; that recruiting rendezvous had been opened in our principal cities and depots for the reception of recruits established on our frontier, and the whole business conducted under the supervision and by the regular cooperation of British officers, civil and military, some in the North American Provinces and some in the United States. The complicity of those officers in an undertaking which could only be accomplished by defying our laws, throwing suspicion over our attitude of neutrality, and disregarding our territorial rights is conclusively proved by the evidence elicited on the trial of such of their agents as have been apprehended and convicted. Some of the officers thus implicated are of high official position, and many of them beyond our jurisdiction, so that legal proceedings could not reach the source of the mischief. These considerations, and the fact that the cause of complaint was not a mere casual occurrence, trot a deliberate design, entered upon with full knowledge of our laws and national policy and conducted by responsible public functionaries, impelled me to present the case to the British Government, in order to secure not only a cessation of the, wrong, but its reparation. The subject is still under discussion, the result of which will be communicated to you in due time. I repeat the recommendation submitted to the last Congress, that provision be made for the appointment of a commissioner, in connection with Great Britain, to survey and establish the boundary line which divides the Territory of Washington from the contiguous British possessions. By reason of the extent and importance of the country in dispute, there has been imminent danger of collision between the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States, including their respective authorities, in that quarter. The prospect of a speedy arrangement has contributed hitherto to induce on both sides forbearance to assert by force what each claims as a right. Continuance of delay on the part of the two Governments to act in the matter will increase the dangers and difficulties of the controversy. Misunderstanding exists as to the extent, character, and value of the possessory rights of the Hudsons Bay Company and the property of the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company reserved in our treaty with Great Britain relative to the Territory of Oregon. I have reason to believe that a cession of the rights of both companies to the United States, which would be the readiest means of terminating all questions, can be obtained on reasonable terms, and with a view to this end I present the subject to the attention of Congress. The colony of Newfoundland, having enacted the laws required by the treaty of the 5th of June, 1854, is now placed on the same footing in respect to commercial intercourse with the United States as the other British North American Provinces. The commission which that treaty contemplated, for determining the rights of fishery in rivers and mouths of rivers on the coasts of the United States and the British North American Provinces, has been organized, and has commenced its labors, to complete which there are needed further appropriations for the service of another season. In pursuance of the authority conferred by a resolution of the Senate of the United States passed on the 3d of March last, notice was given to Denmark on the 14th day of April of the intention of this Government to avail itself of the stipulation of the subsisting convention of friendship, commerce, and navigation between that Kingdom and the United States whereby either party might after ten years terminate the same at the expiration of one year from the date of notice for that purpose. The considerations which led me to call the attention of Congress to that convention and induced the Senate to adopt the resolution referred to still continue in full force. The convention contains an article which, although it does not directly engage the United States to submit to the imposition of tolls on the vessels and cargoes of Americans passing into or from the Baltic Sea during the continuance of the treaty, yet may by possibility be construed as implying such submission. The exaction of those tolls not being justified by any principle of international law, it became the right and duty of the United States to relieve themselves from the implication of engagement on the subject, so as to be perfectly free to act in the premises in such way as their public interests and honor shall demand. I remain of the opinion that the United States ought not to submit to the payment of the Sound dues, not so much because of their amount, which is a secondary matter, but because it is in effect the recognition of the right of Denmark to treat one of the great maritime highways of nations as a close sea, and prevent the navigation of it as a privilege, for which tribute may be imposed upon those who have occasion to use it. This Government on a former occasion, not unlike the present, signalized its determination to maintain the freedom of the seas and of the great natural channels of navigation. The Barbary States had for a long time coerced the payment of tribute from all nations whose ships frequented the Mediterranean. To the last demand of such payment made by them the United States, although suffering less by their depredations than many other nations, returned the explicit answer that we preferred war to tribute, and thus opened the way to the relief of the commerce of the world from an ignominious tax, so long submitted to by the more powerful nations of Europe. If the manner of payment of the Sound dues differ from that of the tribute formerly conceded to the Barbary States, still their exaction by Denmark has no better foundation in right. Each was in its origin nothing but a tax on a common natural right, extorted by those who were at that time able to obstruct the free and secure enjoyment of it, but who no longer possess that power. Denmark, while resisting our assertion of the freedom of the Baltic Sound and Belts, has indicated a readiness to make some new arrangement on the subject, and has invited the governments interested, including the United States, to be represented in a convention to assemble for the purpose of receiving and considering a proposition which she intends to submit for the capitalization of the Sound dues and the distribution of the sum to be paid as commutation among the governments according to the respective proportions of their maritime commerce to and from the Baltic. I have declined, in behalf of the United States, to accept this invitation, for the most cogent reasons. One is that Denmark does not offer to submit to the convention the question of her right to levy the Sound dues. The second is that if the convention were allowed to take cognizance of that particular question, still it would not be competent to deal with the great international principle involved, which affects the right in other cases of navigation and commercial freedom, as well as that of access to the Baltic. Above all, by the express terms of the proposition it is contemplated that the consideration of the Sound dues shall be commingled with and made subordinate to a matter wholly extraneous--the balance of power among the Governments of Europe. While, however, rejecting this proposition and insisting on the right of free transit into and from the Baltic, I have expressed to Denmark a willingness on the part of the United States to share liberally with other powers in compensating her for any advantages which commerce shall hereafter derive from expenditures made by her for the improvement and safety of the navigation of the Sound or Belts. I lay before you herewith sundry documents on the subject, in which my views are more fully disclosed. Should no satisfactory arrangement be soon concluded, I shall again call your attention to the subject, with recommendation of such measures as may appear to be required in order to assert and secure the rights of the United States, so far as they are affected by the pretensions of Denmark. I announce with much gratification that since the adjournment of the last Congress the question then existing between this Government and that of France respecting the French consul at San Francisco has been satisfactorily determined, and that the relations of the two Governments continue to be of the most friendly nature. A question, also, which has been pending for several years between the United States and the Kingdom of Greece, growing out of the sequestration by public authorities of that country of property belonging to the present American consul at Athens, and which had been the subject of very earnest discussion heretofore, has recently been settled to the satisfaction of the party interested and of both Governments. With Spain peaceful relations are still maintained, and some progress has been made in securing the redress of wrongs complained of by this Government. Spain has not only disavowed and disapproved the conduct of the officers who illegally seized and detained the steamer Black Warrior at Havana, but has also paid the sum claimed as indemnity for the loss thereby inflicted on citizens of the United States. In consequence of a destructive hurricane which visited Cuba in 1844, the supreme authority of that island issued a decree permitting the importation for the period of six months of certain building materials and provisions free of duty, but revoked it when about half the period only had elapsed, to the injury of citizens of the United States who had proceeded to act on the faith of that decree. The Spanish Government refused indemnification to the parties aggrieved until recently, when it was assented to, payment being promised to be made so soon as the amount due can be ascertained. Satisfaction claimed for the arrest and search of the steamer El Dorado has not yet been accorded, but there is reason to believe that it will be; and that case, with others, continues to be urged on the attention of the Spanish Government. I do not abandon the hope of concluding with Spain some general arrangement which, if it do not wholly prevent the recurrence of difficulties in Cuba, will render them less frequent, and, whenever they shall occur, facilitate their more speedy settlement. The interposition of this Government has been invoked by many of its citizens on account of injuries done to their persons and property for which the Mexican Republic is responsible. The unhappy situation of that country for some time past has not allowed its Government to give due consideration to claims of private reparation, and has appeared to call for and justify some forbearance in such matters on the part of this Government. But if the revolutionary movements which have lately occurred in that Republic end in the organization of a stable government, urgent appeals to its justice will then be made, and, it may be hoped, with success, for the redress of all complaints of our citizens. In regard to the American Republics, which from their proximity and other considerations have peculiar relations to this Government, while it has been my constant aim strictly to observe all the obligations of political friendship and of good neighborhood, obstacles to this have arisen in some of them from their own insufficient power to cheek lawless irruptions, which in effect throws most of the task on the United States. Thus it is that the distracted internal condition of the State of Nicaragua has made it incumbent on me to appeal to the good faith of our citizens to abstain from unlawful intervention in its affairs and to adopt preventive measures to the same end, which on a similar occasion had the best results in reassuring the peace of the Mexican States of Sonora and Lower California. Since the last session of Congress a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation and for the surrender of fugitive criminals with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with Nicaragua, and a convention of commercial reciprocity with the Hawaiian Kingdom have been negotiated. The latter Kingdom and the State of Nicaragua have also acceded to a declaration recognizing as international rights the principles contained in the convention between the United States and Russia of July 22, 1854. These treaties and conventions will be laid before the Senate for ratification. The statements made in my last annual message respecting the anticipated receipts and expenditures of the Treasury have been substantially verified. It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury that the receipts during the last fiscal year, ending June 30, 1855, from all sources were $65,003,930, and that the public expenditures for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to $56,365,393. During the same period the payments made in redemption of the public debt, including interest and premium, amounted to $9,844,528. The balance in the Treasury at the beginning of the present fiscal year, July 1, 1855., was $18,931,976; the receipts for the first quarter and the estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters amount together to $67,918,734; thus affording in all, as the available resources of the current fiscal year, the sum of $86,856,710. If to the actual expenditures of the first quarter of the current fiscal year be added the probable expenditures for the remaining three quarters, as estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, the sum total will be $71,226,846, thereby leaving an estimated balance in the Treasury on July 1, 1856, of $15,623,863.41. In the above-estimated expenditures of the present fiscal year are included $3,000,000 to meet the last installment of the ten millions provided for in the late treaty with Mexico and $7,750,000 appropriated on account of the debt due to Texas, which two sums make an aggregate amount of $10,750,000 and reduce the expenditures, actual or estimated, for ordinary objects of the year to the sum of $60,476,000. The amount of the public debt at the commencement of the present fiscal year was $40,583,631, and, deduction being made of subsequent payments, the whole public debt of the Federal Government remaining at this time is less than $40,000,000. The remnant of certain other Government stocks, amounting to $243,000, referred to in my last message as outstanding, has since been paid. I am fully persuaded that it would be difficult to devise a system superior to that by which the fiscal business of the Government is now conducted. Notwithstanding the great number of public agents of collection and disbursement, it is believed that the checks and guards provided, including the requirement of monthly returns, render it scarcely possible for any considerable fraud on the part of those agents or neglect involving hazard of serious public loss to escape detection. I renew, however, the recommendation heretofore made by me of the enactment of a law declaring it felony on the part of public officers to insert false entries in their books of record or account or to make false returns, and also requiring them on the termination of their service to deliver to their successors all books, records, and other objects of a public nature in their custody. Derived, as our public revenue is, in chief part from duties on imports, its magnitude affords gratifying evidence of the prosperity, not only of our commerce, but of the other great interests upon which that depends. The principle that all moneys not required for the current expenses of the Government should remain for active employment in the hands of the people and the conspicuous fact that the annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a prudent and economical administration of public affairs can not fail to suggest the propriety of an early revision and reduction of the tariff of duties on imports. It is now so generally conceded that the purpose of revenue alone can justify the imposition of duties on imports that in readjusting the impost tables and schedules, which unquestionably require essential modifications, a departure from the principles of the present tariff is not anticipated. The Army during the past year has been actively engaged in defending the Indian frontier, the state of the service permitting but few and small garrisons in our permanent fortifications. The additional regiments authorized at the last session of Congress have been recruited and organized, and a large portion of the troops have already been sent to the field. All the duties which devolve on the military establishment have been satisfactorily performed, and the dangers and privations incident to the character of the service required of our troops have furnished additional evidence of their courage, zeal, and capacity to meet any requisition which their country may make upon them. For the details of the military operations, the distribution of the troops, and additional provisions required for the military service, I refer to the report of the Secretary of War and the accompanying documents. Experience gathered from events which have transpired since my last annual message has but served to confirm the opinion then expressed of the propriety of making provision by a retired list for disabled officers and for increased compensation to the officers retained on the list for active duty. All the reasons which existed when these measures were recommended on former occasions continue without modification, except so far as circumstances have given to some of them additional force. The recommendations heretofore made for a partial reorganization of the Army are also renewed. The thorough elementary education given to those officers who commenced their service with the grade of cadet qualifies them to a considerable extent to perform the duties of every arm of the service; but to give the highest efficiency to artillery requires the practice and special study of many years, and it is not, therefore, believed to be advisable to maintain in time of peace a larger force of that arm than can be usually employed in the duties appertaining to the service of field and siege artillery. The duties of the staff in all its various branches belong to the movements of troops, and the efficiency of an army in the field would materially depend upon the ability with which those duties are discharged. It is not, as in the case of the artillery, a specialty, but requires also an intimate knowledge of the duties of an officer of the line, and it is not doubted that to complete the education of an officer for either the line or the general staff it is desirable that he shall have served in both. With this view, it was recommended on a former occasion that the duties of the staff should be mainly performed by details from the line, and, with conviction of the advantages which would result from such a change, it is again presented for the consideration of Congress. The report of the Secretary of the Navy, herewith submitted, exhibits in full the naval operations of the past year, together with the present condition of the service, and it makes suggestions of further legislation, to which your attention is invited. The construction of the six steam frigates for which appropriations were made by the last Congress has proceeded in the most satisfactory manner and with such expedition as to warrant the belief that they will be ready for service early in the coming spring. Important as this addition to our naval force is, it still remains inadequate to the contingent exigencies of the protection of the extensive seacoast and vast commercial interests of the United States. In view of this fact and of the acknowledged wisdom of the policy of a gradual and systematic increase of the Navy an appropriation is recommended for the construction of six steam sloops of war. In regard to the steps taken in execution of the act of Congress to promote the efficiency of the Navy, it is unnecessary for me to say more than to express entire concurrence in the observations on that subject presented by the Secretary in his report. It will be perceived by the report of the postmaster-General that the gross expenditure of the Department for the last fiiscal year was $9,968,342 and the gross receipts $7,342,136, making an excess of expenditure over receipts of $2,626,206; and that the cost of mail transportation during that year was $674,952 greater than the previous year. Much of the heavy expenditures to which the Treasury is thus subjected is to be ascribed to the large quantity of printed matter conveyed by the mails, either franked or liable to no postage by law or to very low rates of postage compared with that charged on letters, and to the great cost of mail service on railroads and by ocean steamers. The suggestions of the Postmaster-General on the subject deserve the consideration of Congress. The report of the Secretary of the Interior will engage your attention as well for useful suggestions it contains as for the interest and importance of the subjects to which they refer. The aggregate amount of public land sold during the last fiscal year, located with military scrip or land warrants, taken up under grants for roads, and selected as swamp lands by States is 24,557,409 acres, of which the portion sold was 15,729,524 acres, yielding in receipts the sum of $11,485,380. In the same period of time 8,723,854 acres have been surveyed, but, in consideration of the quantity already subject to entry, no additional tracts have been brought into market. The peculiar relation of the General Government to the District of Columbia renders it proper to commend to your care not only its material but also its moral interests, including education, more especially in those parts of the District outside of the cities of Washington and Georgetown. The commissioners appointed to revise and codify the laws of the District have made such progress in the performance of their task as to insure its completion in the time prescribed by the act of Congress. Information has recently been received that the peace of the settlements in the Territories of Oregon and Washington is disturbed by hostilities on the part of the Indians, with indications of extensive combinations of a hostile character among the tribes in that quarter, the more serious in their possible effect by reason of the undetermined foreign interests existing in those Territories, to which your attention has already been especially invited. Efficient measures have been taken, which, it is believed, will restore quiet and afford protection to our citizens. In the Territory of Kansas there have been acts prejudicial to good order, but as yet none have occurred under circumstances to justify the interposition of the Federal Executive. That could only be in case of obstruction to Federal law or of organized resistance to Territorial law, assuming the character of insurrection, which, if it should occur, it would be my duty promptly to overcome and suppress. I cherish the hope, however, that the occurrence of any such untoward event will be prevented by the sound sense of the people of the Territory, who by its organic law, possessing the right to determine their own domestic institutions, are entitled while deporting themselves peacefully to the free exercise of that right, and must be protected in the enjoyment of it without interference on the part of the citizens of any of the States. The southern boundary line of this Territory has never been surveyed and established. The rapidly extending settlements in that region and the fact that the main route between Independence, in the State of Missouri, and New Mexico is contiguous in this line suggest the probability that embarrassing questions of jurisdiction may consequently arise. For these and other considerations I commend the subject to your early attention. I have thus passed in review the general state of the Union, including such particular concerns of the Federal Government, whether of domestic or foreign relation, as it appeared to me desirable and useful to bring to the special notice of Congress. Unlike the great States of Europe and Asia and many of those of America, these United States are wasting their strength neither in foreign war nor domestic strife. Whatever of discontent or public dissatisfaction exists is attributable to the imperfections of human nature or is incident to all governments, however perfect, which human wisdom can devise. Such subjects of political agitation as occupy the public mind consist to a great extent of exaggeration of inevitable evils, or over zeal in social improvement, or mere imagination of grievance, having but remote connection with any of the constitutional functions or duties of the Federal Government. To whatever extent these questions exhibit a tendency menacing to the stability of the Constitution or the integrity of the Union, and no further, they demand the consideration of the Executive and require to be presented by him to Congress. Before the thirteen colonies became a confederation of independent States they were associated only by community of transatlantic origin, by geographical position, and by the mutual tie of common dependence on Great Britain. When that tie was sundered they severally assumed the powers and rights of absolute self-government. The municipal and social institutions of each, its laws of property and of personal relation, even its political organization, were such only as each one chose to establish, wholly without interference from any other. In the language of the Declaration of Independence, each State had "full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do." The several colonies differed in climate, in soil, in natural productions, in religion, in systems of education, in legislation, and in the forms of political administration, and they continued to differ in these respects when they voluntarily allied themselves as States to carry on the War of the Revolution. The object of that war was to disenthrall the united colonies from foreign rule, which had proved to be oppressive, and to separate them permanently from the mother country. The political result was the foundation of a Federal Republic of the free white men of the colonies, constituted, as they were, in distinct and reciprocally independent State governments. As for the subject races, whether Indian or African, the wise and brave statesmen of that day, being engaged in no extravagant scheme of social change, left them as they were, and thus preserved themselves and their posterity from the anarchy and the ever-recurring civil wars which have prevailed in other revolutionized European colonies of America. When the confederated States found it convenient to modify the conditions of their association by giving to the General Government direct access in some respects to the people of the States, instead of confining it to action on the States as such, they proceeded to frame the existing Constitution, adhering steadily to one guiding thought, which was to delegate only such power as was necessary and proper to the execution of specific purposes, or, in other words, to retain as much as possible consistently with those purposes of the independent powers of the individual States. For objects of common defense and security, they intrusted to the General Government certain carefully defined functions, leaving all others as the undelegated rights of the separate independent sovereignties. Such is the constitutional theory of our Government, the practical observance of which has carried us, and us alone among modern republics, through nearly three generations of time without the cost of one drop of blood shed in civil war. With freedom and concert of action, it has enabled us to contend successfully on the battlefield against foreign foes, has elevated the feeble colonies into powerful States, and has raised our industrial productions and our commerce which transports them to the level of the richest and the greatest nations of Europe. And the admirable adaptation of our political institutions to their objects, combining local self-government with aggregate strength, has established the practicability of a government like ours to cover a continent with confederate states. The Congress of the United States is in effect that congress of sovereignties which good men in the Old World have sought for, but could never attain, and which imparts to America an exemption from the mutable leagues for common action, from the wars, the mutual invasions, and vague aspirations after the balance of power which convulse from time to time the Governments of Europe. Our cooperative action rests in the conditions of permanent confederation prescribed by the Constitution. Our balance of power is in the separate reserved rights of the States and their equal representation in the Senate. That independent sovereignty in every one of the States, with its reserved rights of local self-government assured to each by their coequal power in the Senate, was the fundamental condition of the Constitution. Without it the Union would never have existed. However desirous the larger States might be to reorganize the Government so as to give to their population its proportionate weight in the common counsels, they knew it was impossible unless they conceded to the smaller ones authority to exercise at least a negative influence on all the measures of the Government, whether legislative or executive, through their equal representation in the Senate. Indeed, the larger States themselves could not have failed to perceive that the same power was equally necessary to them for the security of their own domestic interests against the aggregate force of the General Government. In a word, the original States went into this permanent league on the agreed premises of exerting their common strength for the defense of the whole and of all its parts, but of utterly excluding all capability of reciprocal aggression. Each solemnly bound itself to all the others neither to undertake nor permit any encroachment upon or intermeddling with another's reserved rights. Where it was deemed expedient particular rights of the States were expressly guaranteed by the Constitution, but in all things besides these rights were guarded by the limitation of the powers granted and by express reservation of all powers not granted in the compact of union. Thus the great power of taxation was limited to purposes of common defense and general welfare, excluding objects appertaining to the local legislation of the several States; and those purposes of general welfare and common defense were afterwards defined by specific enumeration as being matters only of co-relation between the States themselves or between them and foreign governments, which, because of their common and general nature, could not be left to the separate control of each State. Of the circumstances of local condition, interest, and rights in which a portion of the States, constituting one great section of the Union, differed from the rest and from another section, the most important was the peculiarity of a larger relative colored population in the Southern than in the Northern States. A population of this class, held in subjection, existed in nearly all the States, but was more numerous and of more serious concernment in the South than in the North on account of natural differences of climate and production; and it was foreseen that, for the same reasons, while this population would diminish and sooner or later cease to exist in some States, it might increase in others. The peculiar character and magnitude of this question of local rights, not in material relations only, but still more in social ones, caused it to enter into the special stipulations of the Constitution. Hence, while the General Government, as well by the enumerated powers granted to it as by those not enumerated, and therefore refused to it, was forbidden to touch this matter in the sense of attack or offense, it was placed under the general safeguard of the Union in the sense of defense against either invasion or domestic violence, like all other local interests of the several States. Each State expressly stipulated, as well for itself as for each and all of its citizens, and every citizen of each State became solemnly bound by his allegiance to the Constitution that any person held to service or labor in one State, escaping into another, should not, in consequence of any law or regulation thereof, be discharged from such service or labor, but should be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor might be due by the laws of his State. Thus and thus only, by the reciprocal guaranty of all the rights of every State against interference on the part of another, was the present form of government established by our fathers and transmitted to us, and by no other means is it possible for it to exist. If one State ceases to respect the rights of another and obtrusively intermeddles with its local interests; if a portion of the States assume to impose their institutions on the others or refuse to fulfill their obligations to them, we are no longer united, friendly States, but distracted, hostile ones, with little capacity left of common advantage, but abundant means of reciprocal injury and mischief. Practically it is immaterial whether aggressive interference between the States or deliberate refusal on the part of any one of them to comply with constitutional obligations arise from erroneous conviction or blind prejudice, whether it be perpetrated by direction or indirection. In either case it is full of threat and of danger to the durability of the Union. Placed in the office of Chief Magistrate as the executive agent of the whole country, bound to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and specially enjoined by the Constitution to give information to Congress on the state of the Union, it would be palpable neglect of duty on my part to pass over a subject like this, which beyond all things at the present time vitally concerns individual and public security. It has been matter of painful regret to see States conspicuous for their services in rounding this Republic and equally sharing its advantages disregard their constitutional obligations to it. Although conscious of their inability to heal admitted and palpable social evils of their own, and which are completely within their jurisdiction, they engage in the offensive and hopeless undertaking of reforming the domestic institutions of other States, wholly beyond their control and authority. In the vain pursuit of ends by them entirely unattainable, and which they may not legally attempt to compass, they peril the very existence of the Constitution and all the countless benefits which it has conferred. While the people of the Southern States confine their attention to their own affairs, not presuming officiously to intermeddle with the social institutions of the Northern States, too many of the inhabitants of the latter are permanently organized in associations to inflict injury on the former by wrongful acts, which would be cause of war as between foreign powers and only fail to be such in our system because perpetrated under cover of the Union. Is it possible to present this subject as truth and the occasion require without noticing the reiterated but groundless allegation that the South has persistently asserted claims and obtained advantages in the practical administration of the General Government to the prejudice of the North, and in which the latter has acquiesced? That is, the States which either promote or tolerate attacks on the rights of persons and of property in other States, to disguise their own injustice, pretend or imagine, and constantly aver, that they, whose constitutional rights are thus systematically assailed, are themselves the aggressors. At the present time this imputed aggression, resting, as it does, only in the vague declamatory charges of political agitators, resolves itself into misapprehension, or misinterpretation, of the principles and facts of the political organization of the new Territories of the United States. What is the voice of history? When the ordinance which provided for the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio and for its eventual subdivision into new States was adopted in the Congress of the Confederation, it is not to be supposed that the question of future relative power as between the States which retained and those which did not retain a numerous colored population escaped notice or failed to be considered. And yet the concession of that vast territory to the interests and opinions of the Northern States, a territory now the seat of five among the largest members of the Union, was in great measure the act of the State of Virginia and of the South. When Louisiana was acquired by the United States, it was an acquisition not less to the North than to the South; for while it was important to the country at the mouth of the river Mississippi to become the emporium of the country above it, so also it was even more important to the whole Union to have that emporium; and although the new province, by reason of its imperfect settlement, was mainly regarded as on the Gulf of Mexico, yet in fact it extended to the opposite boundaries of the United States, with far greater breadth above than below, and was in territory, as in everything else, equally at least an accession to the Northern States. It is mere delusion and prejudice, therefore, to speak of Louisiana as acquisition in the special interest of the South. The patriotic and just men who participated in the act were influenced by motives far above all sectional jealousies. It was in truth the great event which, by completing for us the possession of the Valley of the Mississippi, with commercial access to the Gulf of Mexico, imparted unity and strength to the whole Confederation and attached together by indissoluble ties the East and the West, as well as the North and the South. As to Florida, that was but the transfer by Spain to the United States of territory on the east side of the river Mississippi in exchange for large territory which the United States transferred to Spain on the west side of that river, as the entire diplomatic history of the transaction serves to demonstrate. Moreover, it was an acquisition demanded by the commercial interests and the security of the whole Union. In the meantime the people of the United States had grown up to a proper consciousness of their strength, and in a brief contest with France and in a second serious war with Great Britain they had shaken off all which remained of undue reverence for Europe, and emerged from the atmosphere of those transatlantic influences which surrounded the infant Republic, and had begun to turn their attention to the full and systematic development of the internal resources of the Union. Among the evanescent controversies of that period the most conspicuous was the question of regulation by Congress of the social condition of the future States to be rounded in the territory of Louisiana. The ordinance for the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio had contained a provision which prohibited the use of servile labor therein, subject to the condition of the extraditions of fugitives from service due in any other part of the United States. Subsequently to the adoption of the Constitution this provision ceased to remain as a law, for its operation as such was absolutely superseded by the Constitution. But the recollection of the fact excited the zeal of social propagandism in some sections of the Confederation, and when a second State, that of Missouri, came to be formed in the territory of Louisiana proposition was made to extend to the latter territory the restriction originally applied to the country situated between the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. Most questionable as was this proposition in all its constitutional relations, nevertheless it received the sanction of Congress, with some slight modifications of line, to save the existing rights of the intended new State. It was reluctantly acquiesced in by Southern States as a sacrifice to the cause of peace and of the Union, not only of the rights stipulated by the treaty of Louisiana, but of the principle of equality among the States guaranteed by the Constitution. It was received by the Northern States with angry and resentful condemnation and complaint, because it did not concede all which they had exactingly demanded. Having passed through the forms of legislation, it took its place in the statute book, standing open to repeal, like any other act of doubtful constitutionality, subject to be pronounced null and void by the courts of law, and possessing no possible efficacy to control the rights of the States which might thereafter be organized out of any part of the original territory of Louisiana. In all this, if any aggression there were, any innovation upon preexisting rights, to which portion of the Union are they justly chargeable? This controversy passed away with the occasion, nothing surviving it save the dormant letter of the statute. But long afterwards, when by the proposed accession of the Republic of Texas the United States were to take their next step in territorial greatness, a similar contingency occurred and became the occasion for systematized attempts to intervene in the domestic affairs of one section of the Union, in defiance of their rights as States and of the stipulations of the Constitution. These attempts assumed a practical direction in the shape of persevering endeavors by some of the Representatives in both Houses of Congress to deprive the Southern States of the supposed benefit of the provisions of the act authorizing the organization of the State of Missouri. But the good sense of the people and the vital force of the Constitution triumphed over sectional prejudice and the political errors of the day, and the State of Texas returned to the Union as she was, with social institutions which her people had chosen for themselves and with express agreement by the reannexing act that she should be susceptible of subdivision into a plurality of States. Whatever advantage the interests of the Southern States, as such, gained by this were far inferior in results, as they unfolded in the progress of time, to those which sprang from previous concessions made by the South. To every thoughtful friend of the Union, to the true lovers of their country, to all who longed and labored for the full success of this great experiment of republican institutions, it was cause of gratulation that such an opportunity had occurred to illustrate our advancing power on this continent and to furnish to the world additional assurance of the strength and stability of the Constitution. Who would wish to see Florida still a European colony? Who would rejoice to hail Texas as a lone star instead of one in the galaxy of States? Who does not appreciate the incalculable benefits of the acquisition of Louisiana? And yet narrow views and sectional purposes would inevitably have excluded them all from the Union. But another struggle on the same point ensued when our victorious armies returned from Mexico and it devolved on Congress to provide for the territories acquired by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The great relations of the subject had now become distinct and clear to the perception of the public mind, which appreciated the evils of sectional controversy upon the question of the admission of new States. In that crisis intense solicitude pervaded the nation. But the patriotic impulses of the popular heart, guided by the admonitory advice of the Father of his Country, rose superior to all the difficulties of the incorporation of a new empire into the Union. In the counsels of Congress there was manifested extreme antagonism of opinion and action between some Representatives, who sought by the abusive and unconstitutional employment of the legislative powers of the Government to interfere in the condition of the inchoate States and to impose their own social theories upon the latter, and other Representatives, who repelled the interposition of the General Government in this respect and maintained the self-constituting rights of the States. In truth, the thing attempted was in form alone action of the General Government, while in reality it was the endeavor, by abuse of legislative power, to force the ideas of internal policy entertained in particular States upon allied independent States. Once more the Constitution and the Union triumphed signally. The new territories were organized without restrictions on the disputed point, and were thus left to judge in that particular for themselves; and the sense of constitutional faith proved vigorous enough in Congress not only to accomplish this primary object, but also the incidental and hardly less important one of so amending the provisions of the statute for the extradition of fugitives from service as to place that public duty under the safeguard of the General Government, and thus relieve it from obstacles raised up by the legislation of some of the States. Vain declamation regarding the provisions of law for the extradition of fugitives from service, with occasional episodes of frantic effort to obstruct their execution by riot and murder, continued for a brief time to agitate certain localities. But the true principle of leaving each State and Territory to regulate its own laws of labor according to its own sense of right and expediency had acquired fast hold of the public judgment, to such a degree that by common consent it was observed in the organization of the Territory of Washington. When, more recently, it became requisite to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, it was the natural and legitimate, if not the inevitable, consequence of previous events and legislation that the same great and sound principle which had already been applied to Utah and New Mexico should be applied to them--that they should stand exempt from the restrictions proposed in the act relative to the State of Missouri. These restrictions were, in the estimation of many thoughtful men, null from the beginning, unauthorized by the Constitution, contrary to the treaty stipulations for the cession of Louisiana, and inconsistent with the equality of these States. They had been stripped of all moral authority by persistent efforts to procure their indirect repeal through contradictory enactments. They had been practically abrogated by the legislation attending the organization of Utah, New Mexico, and Washington. If any vitality remained in them it would have been taken away, in effect, by the new Territorial acts in the form originally proposed to the Senate at the first session of the last Congress. It was manly and ingenuous, as well as patriotic and just, to do this directly and plainly, and thus relieve the statute book of an act which might be of possible future injury, but of no possible future benefit; and the measure of its repeal was the final consummation and complete recognition of the principle that no portion of the United States shall undertake through assumption of the powers of the General Government to dictate the social institutions of any other portion. The scope and effect of the language of repeal were not left in doubt. It was declared in terms to be "the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." The measure could not be withstood upon its merits alone. It was attacked with violence on the false or delusive pretext that it constituted a breach of faith. Never was objection more utterly destitute of substantial justification. When before was it imagined by sensible men that a regulative or declarative statute, whether enacted ten or forty years ago, is irrepealable; that an act of Congress is above the Constitution? If, indeed, there were in the facts any cause to impute bad faith, it would attach to those only who have never ceased, from the time of the enactment of the restrictive provision to the present day, to denounce and condemn it; who have constantly refused to complete it by needful supplementary legislation; who have spared no exertion to deprive it of moral force; who have themselves again and again attempted its repeal by the enactment of incompatible provisions, and who, by the inevitable reactionary effect of their own violence on the subject, awakened the country to perception of the true constitutional principle of leaving the matter involved to the discretion of the people of the respective existing or incipient States. It is not pretended that this principle or any other precludes the possibility of evils in practice, disturbed, as political action is liable to be, by human passions. No form of government is exempt from inconveniences; but in this case they are the result of the abuse, and not of the legitimate exercise, of the powers reserved or conferred in the organization of a Territory. They are not to be charged to the great principle of popular sovereignty. On the contrary, they disappear before the intelligence and patriotism of the people, exerting through the ballot box their peaceful and silent but irresistible power. If the friends of the Constitution are to have another struggle, its enemies could not present a more acceptable issue than that of a State whose constitution clearly embraces "a republican form of government" being excluded from the Union because its domestic institutions may not in all respects comport with the ideas of what is wise and expedient entertained in some other State. Fresh from groundless imputations of breach of faith against others, men will commence the agitation of this new question with indubitable violation of an express compact between the independent sovereign powers of the United States and of the Republic of Texas, as well as of the older and equally solemn compacts which assure the equality of all the States. But deplorable as would be such a violation of compact in itself and in all its direct consequences, that is the very least of the evils involved. When sectional agitators shall have succeeded in forcing on this issue, can their pretensions fail to be met by counter pretensions? Will not different States be compelled, respectively, to meet extremes with extremes? And if either extreme carry its point, what is that so far forth but dissolution of the Union? If a new State, formed from the territory of the United States, be absolutely excluded from admission therein, that fact of itself constitutes the disruption of union between it and the other States. But the process of dissolution could not stop there. Would not a sectional decision producing such result by a majority of votes, either Northern or Southern, of necessity drive out the oppressed and aggrieved minority and place in presence of each other two irreconcilably hostile confederations? It is necessary to speak thus plainly of projects the offspring of that sectional agitation now prevailing in some of the States, which are as impracticable as they are unconstitutional, and which if persevered in must and will end calamitously. It is either disunion and civil war or it is mere angry, idle, aimless disturbance of public peace and tranquillity. Disunion for what? If the passionate rage of fanaticism and partisan spirit did not force the fact upon our attention, it would be difficult to believe that any considerable portion of the people of this enlightened country could have so surrendered themselves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few Africans in the United States as totally to abandon and disregard the interests of the 25,000,000 Americans; to trample under foot the injunctions of moral and constitutional obligation, and to engage in plans of vindictive hostility against those who are associated with them in the enjoyment of the common heritage of our national institutions. Nor is it hostility against their fellow-citizens of one section of the Union alone. The interests, the honor, the duty, the peace, and the prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and imperiled in this question. And are patriotic men in any part of the Union prepared on such issue thus madly to invite all the consequences of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements? It is impossible. The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the Constitution. I shall never doubt it. I know that the Union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild and chimerical schemes of social change which are generated one after another in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested agitators. I rely confidently on the patriotism of the people, on the dignity and self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of Congress, and, above all, on the continued gracious favor of Almighty God to maintain against all enemies, whether at home or abroad, the sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the Union.
The Constitution of the United States provides that Congress shall assemble annually on the first Monday of December, and it has been usual for the President to make no communication of a public character to the Senate and House of Representatives until advised of their readiness to receive it. I have deferred to this usage until the close of the first month of the session, but my convictions of duty will not permit me longer to postpone the discharge of the obligation enjoined by the Constitution upon the President "to give to the Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." It is matter of congratulation that the Republic is tranquilly advancing in a career of prosperity and peace. Whilst relations of amity continue to exist between the United States and all foreign powers, with some of them grave questions are depending which may require the consideration of Congress. Of such questions, the most important is that which has arisen out of the negotiations with Great Britain in reference to Central America. By the convention concluded between the two Governments on the 19th of April, 1850, both parties covenanted that "neither will ever" "occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua. Costa Rica, the Mosquito Coast, or any part of Central America." It was the undoubted understanding of the United States in making this treaty that all the present States of the former Republic of Central America and the entire territory of each would thenceforth enjoy complete independence, and that both contracting parties engaged equally and to the same extent, for the present and, for the future, that if either then had any claim of right in Central America such claim and all occupation or authority under it were unreservedly relinquished by the stipulations of the convention, and that no dominion was thereafter to be exercised or assumed in any part of Central America by Great Britain or the United States. This Government consented to restrictions in regard to a region of country wherein we had specific and peculiar interests only upon the conviction that the like restrictions were in the same sense obligatory on Great Britain. But for this understanding of the force and effect of the convention it would never have been concluded by us. So clear was this understanding on the part of the United States that in correspondence contemporaneous with the ratification of the convention it was distinctly expressed that the mutual covenants of nonoccupation were not intended to apply to the British establishment at the Balize. This qualification is to be ascribed to the fact that, in virtue of successive treaties with previous sovereigns of the country, Great Britain had obtained a concession of the right to cut mahogany or dyewoods at the Balize, but with positive exclusion of all domain or sovereignty; and thus it confirms the natural construction and understood import of the treaty as to all the rest of the region to which the stipulations applied. It, however, became apparent at an early day after entering upon the discharge of my present functions that Great Britain still continued in the exercise or assertion of large authority in all that part of Central America commonly called the Mosquito Coast, and covering the entire length of the State of Nicaragua and a part of Costa Rica; that she regarded the Balize as her absolute domain and was gradually extending its limits at the expense of the State of Honduras, and, that she had formally colonized a considerable insular group known as the Bay Islands, and belonging of right to that State. All these acts or pretensions of Great Britain, being contrary to the rights of the States of Central America and to the manifest tenor of her stipulations with the United States as understood by this Government, have been made the subject of negotiation through the American minister in London. I transmit herewith the instructions to him on the subject and the correspondence between him and the British secretary for foreign affairs, by which you will perceive that the two Governments differ widely and irreconcilably as to the construction of the convention and its effect on their respective relations to Central America. Great Britain so construes the convention as to maintain unchanged all her previous pretensions over the Mosquito Coast and in different parts of Central America. These pretensions as to the Mosquito Coast are founded on the assumption of political relation between Great Britain and the remnant of a tribe of Indians on that coast, entered into at a time when the whole country was a colonial possession of Spain. It can not be successfully controverted that by the public law of Europe and America no possible act of such Indians or their predecessors could confer on Great Britain any political rights. Great Britain does not allege the assent of Spain as the origin of her claims on the Mosquito Coast. She has, on the contrary, by repeated and successive treaties renounced and relinquished all pretensions of her own and recognized the full and sovereign rights of Spain in the most unequivocal terms. Yet these pretensions, so without solid foundation in the beginning and thus repeatedly abjured, were at a recent period revived by Great Britain against the Central American States, the legitimate successors to all the ancient jurisdiction of Spain in that region. They were first applied only to a defined part of the coast of Nicaragua, afterwards to the whole of its Atlantic coast, and lastly to a part of the coast of Costa Rica, and they are now reasserted to this extent notwithstanding engagements to the United States. On the eastern coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica the interference of Great Britain, though exerted at one time in the form of military occupation of the port of San Juan del Norte, then in the peaceful possession of the appropriate authorities of the Central American States, is now presented by her as the rightful exercise of a protectorship over the Mosqttito tribe of Indians. But the establishment at the Balize, now reaching far beyond its treaty limits into the State of Honduras, and that of the Bay Islands, appertaining of right to the same State, are as distinctly colonial governments as those of Jamaica or Canada, and therefore contrary to the very letter, as well as the spirit, of the convention with the United States as it was at the time of ratification and now is understood by this Government. The interpretation which the British Government thus, in assertion and act, persists in ascribing to the convention entirely changes its character. While it holds us to all our obligations, it in a great measure releases Great Britain from those which constituted the consideration of this Government for entering into the convention. It is impossible, in my judgment, for the United States to acquiesce in such a construction of the respective relations of the two Governments to Central America. To a renewed call by this Government upon Great Britain to abide by and Carry into effect the stipulations of the convention according to its obvious import by withdrawing from the possession or colonization of portions of the Central American States of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, the British Government has at length replied, affirming that the operation of the treaty is prospective only and did not require Great Britain to abandon or contract any possessions held by her in Central America at the date of its conclusion. This reply substitutes a partial issue in the place of the general one presented by the United States. The British Government passes over the question of the rights of Great Britain, real or supposed, in Central America, and assumes that she had such rights at the date of the treaty and that those rights comprehended the protectorship of the Mosquito Indians, the extended jurisdiction and limits of the Balize, and the colony of the Bay Islands, and thereupon proceeds by implication to infer that if the stipulations of the treaty be merely future in effect Great Britain may still continue to hold the contested portions of Central America. The United States can not admit either the inference or the premises. We steadily deny that at the date of the treaty Great Britain had any possessions there other than the limited and peculiar establishment at the Balize, and maintain that if she had any they were surrendered by the convention. This Government, recognizing the obligations of the treaty, has, of course, desired to see it executed in good faith by both parties, and in the discussion, therefore, has not looked to rights which we might assert independently of the treaty in consideration of our geographical position and of other circumstances which create for us relations to the Central American States different from those of any government of Europe. The British Government, in its last communication, although well knowing the views of the United States, still declares that it sees no reason why a conciliatory spirit may not enable the two Governments to overcome all obstacles to a satisfactory adjustment of the subject. Assured of the correctness of the construction of the treaty constantly adhered to by this Government and resolved to insist on the rights of the United States, yet actuated also by the same desire which is avowed by the British Government, to remove all causes of serious misunderstanding between two nations associated by so many ties of interest and kindred, it has appeared to me proper not to consider an amicable solution of the controversy hopeless. There is, however, reason to apprehend that with Great Britain in the actual occupation of the disputed territories, and the treaty therefore practically null so far as regards our rights, this international difficulty can not long remain undetermined without involving in serious danger the friendly relations which it is the interest as well as the duty of both countries to cherish and preserve. It will afford me sincere gratification if future efforts shall result in the success anticipated heretofore with more confidence than the aspect of the case permits me now to entertain. One other subject of discussion between the United States and Great Britain has grown out of the attempt, which the exigencies of the war in which she is engaged with Russia induced her to make, to draw recruits from the United States. It is the traditional and settled policy of the United States to maintain impartial neutrality during the wars which from time to time occur among the great powers of the world. Performing all the duties of neutrality toward the respective belligerent states, we may reasonably expect them not to interfere with our lawful enjoyment of its benefits. Notwithstanding the existence of such hostilities, our citizens retained the individual right to continue all their accustomed pursuits, by land or by sea, at home or abroad, subject only to such restrictions in this relation as the laws of war, the usage of nations, or special treaties may impose; and it is our sovereign right that our territory and jurisdiction shall not be invaded by either of the belligerent parties for the transit of their armies, the operations of their fleets, the levy of troops for their service, the fitting out of cruisers by or against either, or any other act or incident of war. And these undeniable rights of neutrality, individual and national, the United States will under no circumstances surrender. In pursuance of this policy, the laws of the United States do not forbid their citizens to sell to either of the belligerent powers articles contraband of war or take munitions of war or soldiers on board their private ships for transportation; and although in so doing the individual citizen exposes his property or person to some of the hazards of war, his acts do not involve any breach of national neutrality nor of themselves implicate the Government. Thus, during the progress of the present war in Europe, our citizens have, without national responsibility therefor, sold gunpowder and arms to all buyers, regardless of the destination of those articles. Our merchantmen have been, and still continue to be, largely employed by Great Britain and by France in transporting troops, provisions, and munitions of war to the principal seat of military operations and in bringing home their sick and wounded soldiers; but such use of our mercantile marine is not interdicted either by the international or by our municipal law, and therefore does not compromise our neutral relations with Russia. But our municipal law, in accordance with the law of nations, peremptorily forbids not only foreigners, but our own citizens, to fit out within the United States a vessel to commit hostilities against any state with which the United States are at peace, or to increase the force of any foreign armed vessel intended for such hostilities against a friendly state. Whatever concern may have been felt by either of the belligerent powers lest private armed cruisers or other vessels in the service of one might be fitted out in the ports of this country to depredate on the property of the other, all such fears have proved to be utterly groundless. Our citizens have been withheld from any such act or purpose by good faith and by respect for the law. While the laws of the Union are thus peremptory in their prohibition of the equipment or armament of belligerent cruisers in our ports, they provide not less absolutely that no person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, enlist or enter himself, or hire or retain another person to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered, in the service of any foreign state, either as a soldier or as a marine or seaman on board of any vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer. And these enactments are also in strict conformity with the law of nations, which declares that no state has the right to raise troops for land or sea service in another state without its consent, and that, whether forbidden by the municipal law or not, the very attempt to do it without such consent is an attack on the national sovereignty. Such being the public rights and the municipal law of the United States, no solicitude on the subject was entertained by this Government when, a year since, the British Parliament passed an act to provide for the enlistment of foreigners in the military service of Great Britain. Nothing on the face of the act or in its public history indicated that the British Government proposed to attempt recruitment in the United States, nor did it ever give intimation of such intention to this Government. It was matter of surprise, therefore, to find subsequently that the engagement of persons within the United States to proceed to Halifax, in the British Province of Nova Scotia, and there enlist in the service of Great Britain, was going on extensively, with little or no disguise. Ordinary legal steps were immediately taken to arrest and punish parties concerned, and so put an end to acts infringing the municipal law and derogatory to our sovereignty. Meanwhile suitable representations on the subject were addressed to the British Government. Thereupon it became known, by the admission of the British Government itself, that the attempt to draw recruits from this country originated with it, or at least had its approval and sanction; but it also appeared that the public agents engaged in it had "stringent instructions" not to violate the municipal law of the United States. It is difficult to understand how it should have been supposed that troops could be raised here by Great Britain without violation of the municipal law. The unmistakable object of the law was to prevent every such act which if performed must be either in violation of the law or in studied evasion of it, and in either alternative the act done would be alike injurious to the sovereignty of the United States. In the meantime the matter acquired additional importance by the recruitments in the United States not being discontinued, and the disclosure of the fact that they were prosecuted upon a systematic plan devised by official authority; that recruiting rendezvous had been opened in our principal cities and depots for the reception of recruits established on our frontier, and the whole business conducted under the supervision and by the regular cooperation of British officers, civil and military, some in the North American Provinces and some in the United States. The complicity of those officers in an undertaking which could only be accomplished by defying our laws, throwing suspicion over our attitude of neutrality, and disregarding our territorial rights is conclusively proved by the evidence elicited on the trial of such of their agents as have been apprehended and convicted. Some of the officers thus implicated are of high official position, and many of them beyond our jurisdiction, so that legal proceedings could not reach the source of the mischief. These considerations, and the fact that the because of complaint was not a mere casual occurrence, trot a deliberate design, entered upon with full knowledge of our laws and national policy and conducted by responsible public functionaries, impelled me to present the case to the British Government, in order to secure not only a cessation of the, wrong, but its reparation. The subject is still under discussion, the result of which will be communicated to you in due time. I repeat the recommendation submitted to the last Congress, that provision be made for the appointment of a commissioner, in connection with Great Britain, to survey and establish the boundary line which divides the Territory of Washington from the contiguous British possessions. By reason of the extent and importance of the country in dispute, there has been imminent danger of collision between the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States, including their respective authorities, in that quarter. The prospect of a speedy arrangement has contributed hitherto to induce on both sides forbearance to assert by force what each claims as a right. Continuance of delay on the part of the two Governments to act in the matter will increase the dangers and difficulties of the controversy. Misunderstanding exists as to the extent, character, and value of the possessory rights of the Hudsons Bay Company and the property of the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company reserved in our treaty with Great Britain relative to the Territory of Oregon. I have reason to believe that a cession of the rights of both companies to the United States, which would be the readiest means of terminating all questions, can be obtained on reasonable terms, and with a view to this end I present the subject to the attention of Congress. The colony of Newfoundland, having enacted the laws required by the treaty of the 5th of June, 1854, is now placed on the same footing in respect to commercial intercourse with the United States as the other British North American Provinces. The commission which that treaty contemplated, for determining the rights of fishery in rivers and mouths of rivers on the coasts of the United States and the British North American Provinces, has been organized, and has commenced its labors, to complete which there are needed further appropriations for the service of another season. In pursuance of the authority conferred by a resolution of the Senate of the United States passed on the 3d of March last, notice was given to Denmark on the 14th day of April of the intention of this Government to avail itself of the stipulation of the subsisting convention of friendship, commerce, and navigation between that Kingdom and the United States whereby either party might after ten years terminate the same at the expiration of one year from the date of notice for that purpose. The considerations which led me to call the attention of Congress to that convention and induced the Senate to adopt the resolution referred to still continue in full force. The convention contains an article which, although it does not directly engage the United States to submit to the imposition of tolls on the vessels and cargoes of Americans passing into or from the Baltic Sea during the continuance of the treaty, yet may by possibility be construed as implying such submission. The exaction of those tolls not being justified by any principle of international law, it became the right and duty of the United States to relieve themselves from the implication of engagement on the subject, so as to be perfectly free to act in the premises in such way as their public interests and honor shall demand. I remain of the opinion that the United States ought not to submit to the payment of the Sound dues, not so much because of their amount, which is a secondary matter, but because it is in effect the recognition of the right of Denmark to treat one of the great maritime highways of nations as a close sea, and prevent the navigation of it as a privilege, for which tribute may be imposed upon those who have occasion to use it. This Government on a former occasion, not unlike the present, signalized its determination to maintain the freedom of the seas and of the great natural channels of navigation. The Barbary States had for a long time coerced the payment of tribute from all nations whose ships frequented the Mediterranean. To the last demand of such payment made by them the United States, although suffering less by their depredations than many other nations, returned the explicit answer that we preferred war to tribute, and thus opened the way to the relief of the commerce of the world from an ignominious tax, so long submitted to by the more powerful nations of Europe. If the manner of payment of the Sound dues differ from that of the tribute formerly conceded to the Barbary States, still their exaction by Denmark has no better foundation in right. Each was in its origin nothing but a tax on a common natural right, extorted by those who were at that time able to obstruct the free and secure enjoyment of it, but who no longer possess that power. Denmark, while resisting our assertion of the freedom of the Baltic Sound and Belts, has indicated a readiness to make some new arrangement on the subject, and has invited the governments interested, including the United States, to be represented in a convention to assemble for the purpose of receiving and considering a proposition which she intends to submit for the capitalization of the Sound dues and the distribution of the sum to be paid as commutation among the governments according to the respective proportions of their maritime commerce to and from the Baltic. I have declined, in behalf of the United States, to accept this invitation, for the most cogent reasons. One is that Denmark does not offer to submit to the convention the question of her right to levy the Sound dues. The second is that if the convention were allowed to take cognizance of that particular question, still it would not be competent to deal with the great international principle involved, which affects the right in other cases of navigation and commercial freedom, as well as that of access to the Baltic. Above all, by the express terms of the proposition it is contemplated that the consideration of the Sound dues shall be commingled with and made subordinate to a matter wholly extraneous--the balance of power among the Governments of Europe. While, however, rejecting this proposition and insisting on the right of free transit into and from the Baltic, I have expressed to Denmark a willingness on the part of the United States to share liberally with other powers in compensating her for any advantages which commerce shall hereafter derive from expenditures made by her for the improvement and safety of the navigation of the Sound or Belts. I lay before you herewith sundry documents on the subject, in which my views are more fully disclosed. Should no satisfactory arrangement be soon concluded, I shall again call your attention to the subject, with recommendation of such measures as may appear to be required in order to assert and secure the rights of the United States, so far as they are affected by the pretensions of Denmark. I announce with much gratification that since the adjournment of the last Congress the question then existing between this Government and that of France respecting the French consul at San Francisco has been satisfactorily determined, and that the relations of the two Governments continue to be of the most friendly nature. A question, also, which has been pending for several years between the United States and the Kingdom of Greece, growing out of the sequestration by public authorities of that country of property belonging to the present American consul at Athens, and which had been the subject of very earnest discussion heretofore, has recently been settled to the satisfaction of the party interested and of both Governments. With Spain peaceful relations are still maintained, and some progress has been made in securing the redress of wrongs complained of by this Government. Spain has not only disavowed and disapproved the conduct of the officers who illegally seized and detained the steamer Black Warrior at Havana, but has also paid the sum claimed as indemnity for the loss thereby inflicted on citizens of the United States. In consequence of a destructive hurricane which visited Cuba in 1844, the supreme authority of that island issued a decree permitting the importation for the period of six months of certain building materials and provisions free of duty, but revoked it when about half the period only had elapsed, to the injury of citizens of the United States who had proceeded to act on the faith of that decree. The Spanish Government refused indemnification to the parties aggrieved until recently, when it was assented to, payment being promised to be made so soon as the amount due can be ascertained. Satisfaction claimed for the arrest and search of the steamer El Dorado has not yet been accorded, but there is reason to believe that it will be; and that case, with others, continues to be urged on the attention of the Spanish Government. I do not abandon the hope of concluding with Spain some general arrangement which, if it do not wholly prevent the recurrence of difficulties in Cuba, will render them less frequent, and, whenever they shall occur, facilitate their more speedy settlement. The interposition of this Government has been invoked by many of its citizens on account of injuries done to their persons and property for which the Mexican Republic is responsible. The unhappy situation of that country for some time past has not allowed its Government to give due consideration to claims of private reparation, and has appeared to call for and justify some forbearance in such matters on the part of this Government. But if the revolutionary movements which have lately occurred in that Republic end in the organization of a stable government, urgent appeals to its justice will then be made, and, it may be hoped, with success, for the redress of all complaints of our citizens. In regard to the American Republics, which from their proximity and other considerations have peculiar relations to this Government, while it has been my constant aim strictly to observe all the obligations of political friendship and of good neighborhood, obstacles to this have arisen in some of them from their own insufficient power to cheek lawless irruptions, which in effect throws most of the task on the United States. Thus it is that the distracted internal condition of the State of Nicaragua has made it incumbent on me to appeal to the good faith of our citizens to abstain from unlawful intervention in its affairs and to adopt preventive measures to the same end, which on a similar occasion had the best results in reassuring the peace of the Mexican States of Sonora and Lower California. Since the last session of Congress a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation and for the surrender of fugitive criminals with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with Nicaragua, and a convention of commercial reciprocity with the Hawaiian Kingdom have been negotiated. The latter Kingdom and the State of Nicaragua have also acceded to a declaration recognizing as international rights the principles contained in the convention between the United States and Russia of July 22, 1854. These treaties and conventions will be laid before the Senate for ratification. The statements made in my last annual message respecting the anticipated receipts and expenditures of the Treasury have been substantially verified. It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury that the receipts during the last fiscal year, ending June 30, 1855, from all sources were $65,003,930, and that the public expenditures for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to $56,365,393. During the same period the payments made in redemption of the public debt, including interest and premium, amounted to $9,844,528. The balance in the Treasury at the beginning of the present fiscal year, July 1, 1855., was $18,931,976; the receipts for the first quarter and the estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters amount together to $67,918,734; thus affording in all, as the available resources of the current fiscal year, the sum of $86,856,710. If to the actual expenditures of the first quarter of the current fiscal year be added the probable expenditures for the remaining three quarters, as estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury, the sum total will be $71,226,846, thereby leaving an estimated balance in the Treasury on July 1, 1856, of $15,623,863.41. In the above-estimated expenditures of the present fiscal year are included $3,000,000 to meet the last installment of the ten millions provided for in the late treaty with Mexico and $7,750,000 appropriated on account of the debt due to Texas, which two sums make an aggregate amount of $10,750,000 and reduce the expenditures, actual or estimated, for ordinary objects of the year to the sum of $60,476,000. The amount of the public debt at the commencement of the present fiscal year was $40,583,631, and, deduction being made of subsequent payments, the whole public debt of the Federal Government remaining at this time is less than $40,000,000. The remnant of certain other Government stocks, amounting to $243,000, referred to in my last message as outstanding, has since been paid. I am fully persuaded that it would be difficult to devise a system superior to that by which the fiscal business of the Government is now conducted. Notwithstanding the great number of public agents of collection and disbursement, it is believed that the checks and guards provided, including the requirement of monthly returns, render it scarcely possible for any considerable fraud on the part of those agents or neglect involving hazard of serious public loss to escape detection. I renew, however, the recommendation heretofore made by me of the enactment of a law declaring it felony on the part of public officers to insert false entries in their books of record or account or to make false returns, and also requiring them on the termination of their service to deliver to their successors all books, records, and other objects of a public nature in their custody. Derived, as our public revenue is, in chief part from duties on imports, its magnitude affords gratifying evidence of the prosperity, not only of our commerce, but of the other great interests upon which that depends. The principle that all moneys not required for the current expenses of the Government should remain for active employment in the hands of the people and the conspicuous fact that the annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a prudent and economical administration of public affairs can not fail to suggest the propriety of an early revision and reduction of the tariff of duties on imports. It is now so generally conceded that the purpose of revenue alone can justify the imposition of duties on imports that in readjusting the impost tables and schedules, which unquestionably require essential modifications, a departure from the principles of the present tariff is not anticipated. The Army during the past year has been actively engaged in defending the Indian frontier, the state of the service permitting but few and small garrisons in our permanent fortifications. The additional regiments authorized at the last session of Congress have been recruited and organized, and a large portion of the troops have already been sent to the field. All the duties which devolve on the military establishment have been satisfactorily performed, and the dangers and privations incident to the character of the service required of our troops have furnished additional evidence of their courage, zeal, and capacity to meet any requisition which their country may make upon them. For the details of the military operations, the distribution of the troops, and additional provisions required for the military service, I refer to the report of the Secretary of War and the accompanying documents. Experience gathered from events which have transpired since my last annual message has but served to confirm the opinion then expressed of the propriety of making provision by a retired list for disabled officers and for increased compensation to the officers retained on the list for active duty. All the reasons which existed when these measures were recommended on former occasions continue without modification, except so far as circumstances have given to some of them additional force. The recommendations heretofore made for a partial reorganization of the Army are also renewed. The thorough elementary education given to those officers who commenced their service with the grade of cadet qualifies them to a considerable extent to perform the duties of every arm of the service; but to give the highest efficiency to artillery requires the practice and special study of many years, and it is not, therefore, believed to be advisable to maintain in time of peace a larger force of that arm than can be usually employed in the duties appertaining to the service of field and siege artillery. The duties of the staff in all its various branches belong to the movements of troops, and the efficiency of an army in the field would materially depend upon the ability with which those duties are discharged. It is not, as in the case of the artillery, a specialty, but requires also an intimate knowledge of the duties of an officer of the line, and it is not doubted that to complete the education of an officer for either the line or the general staff it is desirable that he shall have served in both. With this view, it was recommended on a former occasion that the duties of the staff should be mainly performed by details from the line, and, with conviction of the advantages which would result from such a change, it is again presented for the consideration of Congress. The report of the Secretary of the Navy, herewith submitted, exhibits in full the naval operations of the past year, together with the present condition of the service, and it makes suggestions of further legislation, to which your attention is invited. The construction of the six steam frigates for which appropriations were made by the last Congress has proceeded in the most satisfactory manner and with such expedition as to warrant the belief that they will be ready for service early in the coming spring. Important as this addition to our naval force is, it still remains inadequate to the contingent exigencies of the protection of the extensive seacoast and vast commercial interests of the United States. In view of this fact and of the acknowledged wisdom of the policy of a gradual and systematic increase of the Navy an appropriation is recommended for the construction of six steam sloops of war. In regard to the steps taken in execution of the act of Congress to promote the efficiency of the Navy, it is unnecessary for me to say more than to express entire concurrence in the observations on that subject presented by the Secretary in his report. It will be perceived by the report of the postmaster-General that the gross expenditure of the Department for the last fiiscal year was $9,968,342 and the gross receipts $7,342,136, making an excess of expenditure over receipts of $2,626,206; and that the cost of mail transportation during that year was $674,952 greater than the previous year. Much of the heavy expenditures to which the Treasury is thus subjected is to be ascribed to the large quantity of printed matter conveyed by the mails, either franked or liable to no postage by law or to very low rates of postage compared with that charged on letters, and to the great cost of mail service on railroads and by ocean steamers. The suggestions of the Postmaster-General on the subject deserve the consideration of Congress. The report of the Secretary of the Interior will engage your attention as well for useful suggestions it contains as for the interest and importance of the subjects to which they refer. The aggregate amount of public land sold during the last fiscal year, located with military scrip or land warrants, taken up under grants for roads, and selected as swamp lands by States is 24,557,409 acres, of which the portion sold was 15,729,524 acres, yielding in receipts the sum of $11,485,380. In the same period of time 8,723,854 acres have been surveyed, but, in consideration of the quantity already subject to entry, no additional tracts have been brought into market. The peculiar relation of the General Government to the District of Columbia renders it proper to commend to your care not only its material but also its moral interests, including education, more especially in those parts of the District outside of the cities of Washington and Georgetown. The commissioners appointed to revise and codify the laws of the District have made such progress in the performance of their task as to insure its completion in the time prescribed by the act of Congress. Information has recently been received that the peace of the settlements in the Territories of Oregon and Washington is disturbed by hostilities on the part of the Indians, with indications of extensive combinations of a hostile character among the tribes in that quarter, the more serious in their possible effect by reason of the undetermined foreign interests existing in those Territories, to which your attention has already been especially invited. Efficient measures have been taken, which, it is believed, will restore quiet and afford protection to our citizens. In the Territory of Kansas there have been acts prejudicial to good order, but as yet none have occurred under circumstances to justify the interposition of the Federal Executive. That could only be in case of obstruction to Federal law or of organized resistance to Territorial law, assuming the character of insurrection, which, if it should occur, it would be my duty promptly to overcome and suppress. I cherish the hope, however, that the occurrence of any such untoward event will be prevented by the sound sense of the people of the Territory, who by its organic law, possessing the right to determine their own domestic institutions, are entitled while deporting themselves peacefully to the free exercise of that right, and must be protected in the enjoyment of it without interference on the part of the citizens of any of the States. The southern boundary line of this Territory has never been surveyed and established. The rapidly extending settlements in that region and the fact that the main route between Independence, in the State of Missouri, and New Mexico is contiguous in this line suggest the probability that embarrassing questions of jurisdiction may consequently arise. For these and other considerations I commend the subject to your early attention. I have thus passed in review the general state of the Union, including such particular concerns of the Federal Government, whether of domestic or foreign relation, as it appeared to me desirable and useful to bring to the special notice of Congress. Unlike the great States of Europe and Asia and many of those of America, these United States are wasting their strength neither in foreign war nor domestic strife. Whatever of discontent or public dissatisfaction exists is attributable to the imperfections of human nature or is incident to all governments, however perfect, which human wisdom can devise. Such subjects of political agitation as occupy the public mind consist to a great extent of exaggeration of inevitable evils, or over zeal in social improvement, or mere imagination of grievance, having but remote connection with any of the constitutional functions or duties of the Federal Government. To whatever extent these questions exhibit a tendency menacing to the stability of the Constitution or the integrity of the Union, and no further, they demand the consideration of the Executive and require to be presented by him to Congress. Before the thirteen colonies became a confederation of independent States they were associated only by community of transatlantic origin, by geographical position, and by the mutual tie of common dependence on Great Britain. When that tie was sundered they severally assumed the powers and rights of absolute self-government. The municipal and social institutions of each, its laws of property and of personal relation, even its political organization, were such only as each one chose to establish, wholly without interference from any other. In the language of the Declaration of Independence, each State had "full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do." The several colonies differed in climate, in soil, in natural productions, in religion, in systems of education, in legislation, and in the forms of political administration, and they continued to differ in these respects when they voluntarily allied themselves as States to carry on the War of the Revolution. The object of that war was to disenthrall the united colonies from foreign rule, which had proved to be oppressive, and to separate them permanently from the mother country. The political result was the foundation of a Federal Republic of the free white men of the colonies, constituted, as they were, in distinct and reciprocally independent State governments. As for the subject races, whether Indian or African, the wise and brave statesmen of that day, being engaged in no extravagant scheme of social change, left them as they were, and thus preserved themselves and their posterity from the anarchy and the ever-recurring civil wars which have prevailed in other revolutionized European colonies of America. When the confederated States found it convenient to modify the conditions of their association by giving to the General Government direct access in some respects to the people of the States, instead of confining it to action on the States as such, they proceeded to frame the existing Constitution, adhering steadily to one guiding thought, which was to delegate only such power as was necessary and proper to the execution of specific purposes, or, in other words, to retain as much as possible consistently with those purposes of the independent powers of the individual States. For objects of common defense and security, they intrusted to the General Government certain carefully defined functions, leaving all others as the undelegated rights of the separate independent sovereignties. Such is the constitutional theory of our Government, the practical observance of which has carried us, and us alone among modern republics, through nearly three generations of time without the cost of one drop of blood she would in civil war. With freedom and concert of action, it has enabled us to contend successfully on the battlefield against foreign foes, has elevated the feeble colonies into powerful States, and has raised our industrial productions and our commerce which transports them to the level of the richest and the greatest nations of Europe. And the admirable adaptation of our political institutions to their objects, combining local self-government with aggregate strength, has established the practicability of a government like ours to cover a continent with confederate states. The Congress of the United States is in effect that congress of sovereignties which good men in the Old World have sought for, but could never attain, and which imparts to America an exemption from the mutable leagues for common action, from the wars, the mutual invasions, and vague aspirations after the balance of power which convulse from time to time the Governments of Europe. Our cooperative action rests in the conditions of permanent confederation prescribed by the Constitution. Our balance of power is in the separate reserved rights of the States and their equal representation in the Senate. That independent sovereignty in every one of the States, with its reserved rights of local self-government assured to each by their coequal power in the Senate, was the fundamental condition of the Constitution. Without it the Union would never have existed. However desirous the larger States might be to reorganize the Government so as to give to their population its proportionate weight in the common counsels, they knew it was impossible unless they conceded to the smaller ones authority to exercise at least a negative influence on all the measures of the Government, whether legislative or executive, through their equal representation in the Senate. Indeed, the larger States themselves could not have failed to perceive that the same power was equally necessary to them for the security of their own domestic interests against the aggregate force of the General Government. In a word, the original States went into this permanent league on the agreed premises of exerting their common strength for the defense of the whole and of all its parts, but of utterly excluding all capability of reciprocal aggression. Each solemnly bound itself to all the others neither to undertake nor permit any encroachment upon or intermeddling with another's reserved rights. Where it was deemed expedient particular rights of the States were expressly guaranteed by the Constitution, but in all things besides these rights were guarded by the limitation of the powers granted and by express reservation of all powers not granted in the compact of union. Thus the great power of taxation was limited to purposes of common defense and general welfare, excluding objects appertaining to the local legislation of the several States; and those purposes of general welfare and common defense were afterwards defined by specific enumeration as being matters only of co-relation between the States themselves or between them and foreign governments, which, because of their common and general nature, could not be left to the separate control of each State. Of the circumstances of local condition, interest, and rights in which a portion of the States, constituting one great section of the Union, differed from the rest and from another section, the most important was the peculiarity of a larger relative colored population in the Southern than in the Northern States. A population of this class, held in subjection, existed in nearly all the States, but was more numerous and of more serious concernment in the South than in the North on account of natural differences of climate and production; and it was foreseen that, for the same reasons, while this population would diminish and sooner or later cease to exist in some States, it might increase in others. The peculiar character and magnitude of this question of local rights, not in material relations only, but still more in social ones, caused it to enter into the special stipulations of the Constitution. Hence, while the General Government, as well by the enumerated powers granted to it as by those not enumerated, and therefore refused to it, was forbidden to touch this matter in the sense of attack or offense, it was placed under the general safeguard of the Union in the sense of defense against either invasion or domestic violence, like all other local interests of the several States. Each State expressly stipulated, as well for itself as for each and all of its citizens, and every citizen of each State became solemnly bound by his allegiance to the Constitution that any person held to service or labor in one State, escaping into another, should not, in consequence of any law or regulation thereof, be discharged from such service or labor, but should be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor might be due by the laws of his State. Thus and thus only, by the reciprocal guaranty of all the rights of every State against interference on the part of another, was the present form of government established by our fathers and transmitted to us, and by no other means is it possible for it to exist. If one State ceases to respect the rights of another and obtrusively intermeddles with its local interests; if a portion of the States assume to impose their institutions on the others or refuse to fulfill their obligations to them, we are no longer united, friendly States, but distracted, hostile ones, with little capacity left of common advantage, but abundant means of reciprocal injury and mischief. Practically it is immaterial whether aggressive interference between the States or deliberate refusal on the part of any one of them to comply with constitutional obligations arise from erroneous conviction or blind prejudice, whether it be perpetrated by direction or indirection. In either case it is full of threat and of danger to the durability of the Union. Placed in the office of Chief Magistrate as the executive agent of the whole country, bound to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and specially enjoined by the Constitution to give information to Congress on the state of the Union, it would be palpable neglect of duty on my part to pass over a subject like this, which beyond all things at the present time vitally concerns individual and public security. It has been matter of painful regret to see States conspicuous for their services in rounding this Republic and equally sharing its advantages disregard their constitutional obligations to it. Although conscious of their inability to heal admitted and palpable social evils of their own, and which are completely within their jurisdiction, they engage in the offensive and hopeless undertaking of reforming the domestic institutions of other States, wholly beyond their control and authority. In the vain pursuit of ends by them entirely unattainable, and which they may not legally attempt to compass, they peril the very existence of the Constitution and all the countless benefits which it has conferred. While the people of the Southern States confine their attention to their own affairs, not presuming officiously to intermeddle with the social institutions of the Northern States, too many of the inhabitants of the latter are permanently organized in associations to inflict injury on the former by wrongful acts, which would be because of war as between foreign powers and only fail to be such in our system because perpetrated under cover of the Union. Is it possible to present this subject as truth and the occasion require without noticing the reiterated but groundless allegation that the South has persistently asserted claims and obtained advantages in the practical administration of the General Government to the prejudice of the North, and in which the latter has acquiesced? That is, the States which either promote or tolerate attacks on the rights of persons and of property in other States, to disguise their own injustice, pretend or imagine, and constantly aver, that they, whose constitutional rights are thus systematically assailed, are themselves the aggressors. At the present time this imputed aggression, resting, as it does, only in the vague declamatory charges of political agitators, resolves itself into misapprehension, or misinterpretation, of the principles and facts of the political organization of the new Territories of the United States. What is the voice of history? When the ordinance which provided for the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio and for its eventual subdivision into new States was adopted in the Congress of the Confederation, it is not to be supposed that the question of future relative power as between the States which retained and those which did not retain a numerous colored population escaped notice or failed to be considered. And yet the concession of that vast territory to the interests and opinions of the Northern States, a territory now the seat of five among the largest members of the Union, was in great measure the act of the State of Virginia and of the South. When Louisiana was acquired by the United States, it was an acquisition not less to the North than to the South; for while it was important to the country at the mouth of the river Mississippi to become the emporium of the country above it, so also it was even more important to the whole Union to have that emporium; and although the new province, by reason of its imperfect settlement, was mainly regarded as on the Gulf of Mexico, yet in fact it extended to the opposite boundaries of the United States, with far greater breadth above than below, and was in territory, as in everything else, equally at least an accession to the Northern States. It is mere delusion and prejudice, therefore, to speak of Louisiana as acquisition in the special interest of the South. The patriotic and just men who participated in the act were influenced by motives far above all sectional jealousies. It was in truth the great event which, by completing for us the possession of the Valley of the Mississippi, with commercial access to the Gulf of Mexico, imparted unity and strength to the whole Confederation and attached together by indissoluble ties the East and the West, as well as the North and the South. As to Florida, that was but the transfer by Spain to the United States of territory on the east side of the river Mississippi in exchange for large territory which the United States transferred to Spain on the west side of that river, as the entire diplomatic history of the transaction serves to demonstrate. Moreover, it was an acquisition demanded by the commercial interests and the security of the whole Union. In the meantime the people of the United States had grown up to a proper consciousness of their strength, and in a brief contest with France and in a second serious war with Great Britain they had shaken off all which remained of undue reverence for Europe, and emerged from the atmosphere of those transatlantic influences which surrounded the infant Republic, and had begun to turn their attention to the full and systematic development of the internal resources of the Union. Among the evanescent controversies of that period the most conspicuous was the question of regulation by Congress of the social condition of the future States to be rounded in the territory of Louisiana. The ordinance for the government of the territory northwest of the river Ohio had contained a provision which prohibited the use of servile labor therein, subject to the condition of the extraditions of fugitives from service due in any other part of the United States. Subsequently to the adoption of the Constitution this provision ceased to remain as a law, for its operation as such was absolutely superseded by the Constitution. But the recollection of the fact excited the zeal of social propagandism in some sections of the Confederation, and when a second State, that of Missouri, came to be formed in the territory of Louisiana proposition was made to extend to the latter territory the restriction originally applied to the country situated between the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. Most questionable as was this proposition in all its constitutional relations, nevertheless it received the sanction of Congress, with some slight modifications of line, to save the existing rights of the intended new State. It was reluctantly acquiesced in by Southern States as a sacrifice to the because of peace and of the Union, not only of the rights stipulated by the treaty of Louisiana, but of the principle of equality among the States guaranteed by the Constitution. It was received by the Northern States with angry and resentful condemnation and complaint, because it did not concede all which they had exactingly demanded. Having passed through the forms of legislation, it took its place in the statute book, standing open to repeal, like any other act of doubtful constitutionality, subject to be pronounced null and void by the courts of law, and possessing no possible efficacy to control the rights of the States which might thereafter be organized out of any part of the original territory of Louisiana. In all this, if any aggression there were, any innovation upon preexisting rights, to which portion of the Union are they justly chargeable? This controversy passed away with the occasion, nothing surviving it save the dormant letter of the statute. But long afterwards, when by the proposed accession of the Republic of Texas the United States were to take their next step in territorial greatness, a similar contingency occurred and became the occasion for systematized attempts to intervene in the domestic affairs of one section of the Union, in defiance of their rights as States and of the stipulations of the Constitution. These attempts assumed a practical direction in the shape of persevering endeavors by some of the Representatives in both Houses of Congress to deprive the Southern States of the supposed benefit of the provisions of the act authorizing the organization of the State of Missouri. But the good sense of the people and the vital force of the Constitution triumphed over sectional prejudice and the political errors of the day, and the State of Texas returned to the Union as she was, with social institutions which her people had chosen for themselves and with express agreement by the reannexing act that she should be susceptible of subdivision into a plurality of States. Whatever advantage the interests of the Southern States, as such, gained by this were far inferior in results, as they unfolded in the progress of time, to those which sprang from previous concessions made by the South. To every thoughtful friend of the Union, to the true lovers of their country, to all who longed and labored for the full success of this great experiment of republican institutions, it was because of gratulation that such an opportunity had occurred to illustrate our advancing power on this continent and to furnish to the world additional assurance of the strength and stability of the Constitution. Who would wish to see Florida still a European colony? Who would rejoice to hail Texas as a lone star instead of one in the galaxy of States? Who does not appreciate the incalculable benefits of the acquisition of Louisiana? And yet narrow views and sectional purposes would inevitably have excluded them all from the Union. But another struggle on the same point ensued when our victorious armies returned from Mexico and it devolved on Congress to provide for the territories acquired by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The great relations of the subject had now become distinct and clear to the perception of the public mind, which appreciated the evils of sectional controversy upon the question of the admission of new States. In that crisis intense solicitude pervaded the nation. But the patriotic impulses of the popular heart, guided by the admonitory advice of the Father of his Country, rose superior to all the difficulties of the incorporation of a new empire into the Union. In the counsels of Congress there was manifested extreme antagonism of opinion and action between some Representatives, who sought by the abusive and unconstitutional employment of the legislative powers of the Government to interfere in the condition of the inchoate States and to impose their own social theories upon the latter, and other Representatives, who repelled the interposition of the General Government in this respect and maintained the self-constituting rights of the States. In truth, the thing attempted was in form alone action of the General Government, while in reality it was the endeavor, by abuse of legislative power, to force the ideas of internal policy entertained in particular States upon allied independent States. Once more the Constitution and the Union triumphed signally. The new territories were organized without restrictions on the disputed point, and were thus left to judge in that particular for themselves; and the sense of constitutional faith proved vigorous enough in Congress not only to accomplish this primary object, but also the incidental and hardly less important one of so amending the provisions of the statute for the extradition of fugitives from service as to place that public duty under the safeguard of the General Government, and thus relieve it from obstacles raised up by the legislation of some of the States. Vain declamation regarding the provisions of law for the extradition of fugitives from service, with occasional episodes of frantic effort to obstruct their execution by riot and murder, continued for a brief time to agitate certain localities. But the true principle of leaving each State and Territory to regulate its own laws of labor according to its own sense of right and expediency had acquired fast hold of the public judgment, to such a degree that by common consent it was observed in the organization of the Territory of Washington. When, more recently, it became requisite to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, it was the natural and legitimate, if not the inevitable, consequence of previous events and legislation that the same great and sound principle which had already been applied to Utah and New Mexico should be applied to them--that they should stand exempt from the restrictions proposed in the act relative to the State of Missouri. These restrictions were, in the estimation of many thoughtful men, null from the beginning, unauthorized by the Constitution, contrary to the treaty stipulations for the cession of Louisiana, and inconsistent with the equality of these States. They had been stripped of all moral authority by persistent efforts to procure their indirect repeal through contradictory enactments. They had been practically abrogated by the legislation attending the organization of Utah, New Mexico, and Washington. If any vitality remained in them it would have been taken away, in effect, by the new Territorial acts in the form originally proposed to the Senate at the first session of the last Congress. It was manly and ingenuous, as well as patriotic and just, to do this directly and plainly, and thus relieve the statute book of an act which might be of possible future injury, but of no possible future benefit; and the measure of its repeal was the final consummation and complete recognition of the principle that no portion of the United States shall undertake through assumption of the powers of the General Government to dictate the social institutions of any other portion. The scope and effect of the language of repeal were not left in doubt. It was declared in terms to be "the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." The measure could not be withstood upon its merits alone. It was attacked with violence on the false or delusive pretext that it constituted a breach of faith. Never was objection more utterly destitute of substantial justification. When before was it imagined by sensible men that a regulative or declarative statute, whether enacted ten or forty years ago, is irrepealable; that an act of Congress is above the Constitution? If, indeed, there were in the facts any because to impute bad faith, it would attach to those only who have never ceased, from the time of the enactment of the restrictive provision to the present day, to denounce and condemn it; who have constantly refused to complete it by needful supplementary legislation; who have spared no exertion to deprive it of moral force; who have themselves again and again attempted its repeal by the enactment of incompatible provisions, and who, by the inevitable reactionary effect of their own violence on the subject, awakened the country to perception of the true constitutional principle of leaving the matter involved to the discretion of the people of the respective existing or incipient States. It is not pretended that this principle or any other precludes the possibility of evils in practice, disturbed, as political action is liable to be, by human passions. No form of government is exempt from inconveniences; but in this case they are the result of the abuse, and not of the legitimate exercise, of the powers reserved or conferred in the organization of a Territory. They are not to be charged to the great principle of popular sovereignty. On the contrary, they disappear before the intelligence and patriotism of the people, exerting through the ballot box their peaceful and silent but irresistible power. If the friends of the Constitution are to have another struggle, its enemies could not present a more acceptable issue than that of a State whose constitution clearly embraces "a republican form of government" being excluded from the Union because its domestic institutions may not in all respects comport with the ideas of what is wise and expedient entertained in some other State. Fresh from groundless imputations of breach of faith against others, men will commence the agitation of this new question with indubitable violation of an express compact between the independent sovereign powers of the United States and of the Republic of Texas, as well as of the older and equally solemn compacts which assure the equality of all the States. But deplorable as would be such a violation of compact in itself and in all its direct consequences, that is the very least of the evils involved. When sectional agitators shall have succeeded in forcing on this issue, can their pretensions fail to be met by counter pretensions? Will not different States be compelled, respectively, to meet extremes with extremes? And if either extreme carry its point, what is that so far forth but dissolution of the Union? If a new State, formed from the territory of the United States, be absolutely excluded from admission therein, that fact of itself constitutes the disruption of union between it and the other States. But the process of dissolution could not stop there. Would not a sectional decision producing such result by a majority of votes, either Northern or Southern, of necessity drive out the oppressed and aggrieved minority and place in presence of each other two irreconcilably hostile confederations? It is necessary to speak thus plainly of projects the offspring of that sectional agitation now prevailing in some of the States, which are as impracticable as they are unconstitutional, and which if persevered in must and will end calamitously. It is either disunion and civil war or it is mere angry, idle, aimless disturbance of public peace and tranquillity. Disunion for what? If the passionate rage of fanaticism and partisan spirit did not force the fact upon our attention, it would be difficult to believe that any considerable portion of the people of this enlightened country could have so surrendered themselves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few Africans in the United States as totally to abandon and disregard the interests of the 25,000,000 Americans; to trample under foot the injunctions of moral and constitutional obligation, and to engage in plans of vindictive hostility against those who are associated with them in the enjoyment of the common heritage of our national institutions. Nor is it hostility against their fellow-citizens of one section of the Union alone. The interests, the honor, the duty, the peace, and the prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and imperiled in this question. And are patriotic men in any part of the Union prepared on such issue thus madly to invite all the consequences of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements? It is impossible. The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the Constitution. I shall never doubt it. I know that the Union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild and chimerical schemes of social change which are generated one after another in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested agitators. I rely confidently on the patriotism of the people, on the dignity and self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of Congress, and, above all, on the continued gracious favor of Almighty God to maintain against all enemies, whether at home or abroad, the sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the Union.
the constitution of the united states provides that congress shall assemble annually on the first monday of december and it has been usual for the president to make no communication of a public character to the senate and house of representatives until advised of their readiness to receive it i have deferred to this usage until the close of the first month of the session but my convictions of duty will not permit me longer to postpone the discharge of the obligation enjoined by the constitution upon the president to give to the congress information of the state of the union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient it is matter of congratulation that the republic is tranquilly advancing in a career of prosperity and peace whilst relations of amity continue to exist between the united states and all foreign powers with some of them grave questions are depending which may require the consideration of congress of such questions the most important is that which has arisen out of the negotiations with great britain in reference to central america by the convention concluded between the two governments on the 19th of april 1850 both parties covenanted that neither will ever occupy or fortify or colonize or assume or exercise any dominion over nicaragua costa rica the mosquito coast or any part of central america it was the undoubted understanding of the united states in making this treaty that all the present states of the former republic of central america and the entire territory of each would thenceforth enjoy complete independence and that both contracting parties engaged equally and to the same extent for the present and for the future that if either then had any claim of right in central america such claim and all occupation or authority under it were unreservedly relinquished by the stipulations of the convention and that no dominion was thereafter to be exercised or assumed in any part of central america by great britain or the united states this government consented to restrictions in regard to a region of country wherein we had specific and peculiar interests only upon the conviction that the like restrictions were in the same sense obligatory on great britain but for this understanding of the force and effect of the convention it would never have been concluded by us so clear was this understanding on the part of the united states that in correspondence contemporaneous with the ratification of the convention it was distinctly expressed that the mutual covenants of nonoccupation were not intended to apply to the british establishment at the balize this qualification is to be ascribed to the fact that in virtue of successive treaties with previous sovereigns of the country great britain had obtained a concession of the right to cut mahogany or dyewoods at the balize but with positive exclusion of all domain or sovereignty and thus it confirms the natural construction and understood import of the treaty as to all the rest of the region to which the stipulations applied it however became apparent at an early day after entering upon the discharge of my present functions that great britain still continued in the exercise or assertion of large authority in all that part of central america commonly called the mosquito coast and covering the entire length of the state of nicaragua and a part of costa rica that she regarded the balize as her absolute domain and was gradually extending its limits at the expense of the state of honduras and that she had formally colonized a considerable insular group known as the bay islands and belonging of right to that state all these acts or pretensions of great britain being contrary to the rights of the states of central america and to the manifest tenor of her stipulations with the united states as understood by this government have been made the subject of negotiation through the american minister in london i transmit herewith the instructions to him on the subject and the correspondence between him and the british secretary for foreign affairs by which you will perceive that the two governments differ widely and irreconcilably as to the construction of the convention and its effect on their respective relations to central america great britain so construes the convention as to maintain unchanged all her previous pretensions over the mosquito coast and in different parts of central america these pretensions as to the mosquito coast are founded on the assumption of political relation between great britain and the remnant of a tribe of indians on that coast entered into at a time when the whole country was a colonial possession of spain it can not be successfully controverted that by the public law of europe and america no possible act of such indians or their predecessors could confer on great britain any political rights great britain does not allege the assent of spain as the origin of her claims on the mosquito coast she has on the contrary by repeated and successive treaties renounced and relinquished all pretensions of her own and recognized the full and sovereign rights of spain in the most unequivocal terms yet these pretensions so without solid foundation in the beginning and thus repeatedly abjured were at a recent period revived by great britain against the central american states the legitimate successors to all the ancient jurisdiction of spain in that region they were first applied only to a defined part of the coast of nicaragua afterwards to the whole of its atlantic coast and lastly to a part of the coast of costa rica and they are now reasserted to this extent notwithstanding engagements to the united states on the eastern coast of nicaragua and costa rica the interference of great britain though exerted at one time in the form of military occupation of the port of san juan del norte then in the peaceful possession of the appropriate authorities of the central american states is now presented by her as the rightful exercise of a protectorship over the mosqttito tribe of indians but the establishment at the balize now reaching far beyond its treaty limits into the state of honduras and that of the bay islands appertaining of right to the same state are as distinctly colonial governments as those of jamaica or canada and therefore contrary to the very letter as well as the spirit of the convention with the united states as it was at the time of ratification and now is understood by this government the interpretation which the british government thus in assertion and act persists in ascribing to the convention entirely changes its character while it holds us to all our obligations it in a great measure releases great britain from those which constituted the consideration of this government for entering into the convention it is impossible in my judgment for the united states to acquiesce in such a construction of the respective relations of the two governments to central america to a renewed call by this government upon great britain to abide by and carry into effect the stipulations of the convention according to its obvious import by withdrawing from the possession or colonization of portions of the central american states of honduras nicaragua and costa rica the british government has at length replied affirming that the operation of the treaty is prospective only and did not require great britain to abandon or contract any possessions held by her in central america at the date of its conclusion this reply substitutes a partial issue in the place of the general one presented by the united states the british government passes over the question of the rights of great britain real or supposed in central america and assumes that she had such rights at the date of the treaty and that those rights comprehended the protectorship of the mosquito indians the extended jurisdiction and limits of the balize and the colony of the bay islands and thereupon proceeds by implication to infer that if the stipulations of the treaty be merely future in effect great britain may still continue to hold the contested portions of central america the united states can not admit either the inference or the premises we steadily deny that at the date of the treaty great britain had any possessions there other than the limited and peculiar establishment at the balize and maintain that if she had any they were surrendered by the convention this government recognizing the obligations of the treaty has of course desired to see it executed in good faith by both parties and in the discussion therefore has not looked to rights which we might assert independently of the treaty in consideration of our geographical position and of other circumstances which create for us relations to the central american states different from those of any government of europe the british government in its last communication although well knowing the views of the united states still declares that it sees no reason why a conciliatory spirit may not enable the two governments to overcome all obstacles to a satisfactory adjustment of the subject assured of the correctness of the construction of the treaty constantly adhered to by this government and resolved to insist on the rights of the united states yet actuated also by the same desire which is avowed by the british government to remove all causes of serious misunderstanding between two nations associated by so many ties of interest and kindred it has appeared to me proper not to consider an amicable solution of the controversy hopeless there is however reason to apprehend that with great britain in the actual occupation of the disputed territories and the treaty therefore practically null so far as regards our rights this international difficulty can not long remain undetermined without involving in serious danger the friendly relations which it is the interest as well as the duty of both countries to cherish and preserve it will afford me sincere gratification if future efforts shall result in the success anticipated heretofore with more confidence than the aspect of the case permits me now to entertain one other subject of discussion between the united states and great britain has grown out of the attempt which the exigencies of the war in which she is engaged with russia induced her to make to draw recruits from the united states it is the traditional and settled policy of the united states to maintain impartial neutrality during the wars which from time to time occur among the great powers of the world performing all the duties of neutrality toward the respective belligerent states we may reasonably expect them not to interfere with our lawful enjoyment of its benefits notwithstanding the existence of such hostilities our citizens retained the individual right to continue all their accustomed pursuits by land or by sea at home or abroad subject only to such restrictions in this relation as the laws of war the usage of nations or special treaties may impose and it is our sovereign right that our territory and jurisdiction shall not be invaded by either of the belligerent parties for the transit of their armies the operations of their fleets the levy of troops for their service the fitting out of cruisers by or against either or any other act or incident of war and these undeniable rights of neutrality individual and national the united states will under no circumstances surrender in pursuance of this policy the laws of the united states do not forbid their citizens to sell to either of the belligerent powers articles contraband of war or take munitions of war or soldiers on board their private ships for transportation and although in so doing the individual citizen exposes his property or person to some of the hazards of war his acts do not involve any breach of national neutrality nor of themselves implicate the government thus during the progress of the present war in europe our citizens have without national responsibility therefor sold gunpowder and arms to all buyers regardless of the destination of those articles our merchantmen have been and still continue to be largely employed by great britain and by france in transporting troops provisions and munitions of war to the principal seat of military operations and in bringing home their sick and wounded soldiers but such use of our mercantile marine is not interdicted either by the international or by our municipal law and therefore does not compromise our neutral relations with russia but our municipal law in accordance with the law of nations peremptorily forbids not only foreigners but our own citizens to fit out within the united states a vessel to commit hostilities against any state with which the united states are at peace or to increase the force of any foreign armed vessel intended for such hostilities against a friendly state whatever concern may have been felt by either of the belligerent powers lest private armed cruisers or other vessels in the service of one might be fitted out in the ports of this country to depredate on the property of the other all such fears have proved to be utterly groundless our citizens have been withheld from any such act or purpose by good faith and by respect for the law while the laws of the union are thus peremptory in their prohibition of the equipment or armament of belligerent cruisers in our ports they provide not less absolutely that no person shall within the territory or jurisdiction of the united states enlist or enter himself or hire or retain another person to enlist or enter himself or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the united states with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign state either as a soldier or as a marine or seaman on board of any vessel of war letter of marque or privateer and these enactments are also in strict conformity with the law of nations which declares that no state has the right to raise troops for land or sea service in another state without its consent and that whether forbidden by the municipal law or not the very attempt to do it without such consent is an attack on the national sovereignty such being the public rights and the municipal law of the united states no solicitude on the subject was entertained by this government when a year since the british parliament passed an act to provide for the enlistment of foreigners in the military service of great britain nothing on the face of the act or in its public history indicated that the british government proposed to attempt recruitment in the united states nor did it ever give intimation of such intention to this government it was matter of surprise therefore to find subsequently that the engagement of persons within the united states to proceed to halifax in the british province of nova scotia and there enlist in the service of great britain was going on extensively with little or no disguise ordinary legal steps were immediately taken to arrest and punish parties concerned and so put an end to acts infringing the municipal law and derogatory to our sovereignty meanwhile suitable representations on the subject were addressed to the british government thereupon it became known by the admission of the british government itself that the attempt to draw recruits from this country originated with it or at least had its approval and sanction but it also appeared that the public agents engaged in it had stringent instructions not to violate the municipal law of the united states it is difficult to understand how it should have been supposed that troops could be raised here by great britain without violation of the municipal law the unmistakable object of the law was to prevent every such act which if performed must be either in violation of the law or in studied evasion of it and in either alternative the act done would be alike injurious to the sovereignty of the united states in the meantime the matter acquired additional importance by the recruitments in the united states not being discontinued and the disclosure of the fact that they were prosecuted upon a systematic plan devised by official authority that recruiting rendezvous had been opened in our principal cities and depots for the reception of recruits established on our frontier and the whole business conducted under the supervision and by the regular cooperation of british officers civil and military some in the north american provinces and some in the united states the complicity of those officers in an undertaking which could only be accomplished by defying our laws throwing suspicion over our attitude of neutrality and disregarding our territorial rights is conclusively proved by the evidence elicited on the trial of such of their agents as have been apprehended and convicted some of the officers thus implicated are of high official position and many of them beyond our jurisdiction so that legal proceedings could not reach the source of the mischief these considerations and the fact that the because of complaint was not a mere casual occurrence trot a deliberate design entered upon with full knowledge of our laws and national policy and conducted by responsible public functionaries impelled me to present the case to the british government in order to secure not only a cessation of the wrong but its reparation the subject is still under discussion the result of which will be communicated to you in due time i repeat the recommendation submitted to the last congress that provision be made for the appointment of a commissioner in connection with great britain to survey and establish the boundary line which divides the territory of washington from the contiguous british possessions by reason of the extent and importance of the country in dispute there has been imminent danger of collision between the subjects of great britain and the citizens of the united states including their respective authorities in that quarter the prospect of a speedy arrangement has contributed hitherto to induce on both sides forbearance to assert by force what each claims as a right continuance of delay on the part of the two governments to act in the matter will increase the dangers and difficulties of the controversy misunderstanding exists as to the extent character and value of the possessory rights of the hudsons bay company and the property of the pugets sound agricultural company reserved in our treaty with great britain relative to the territory of oregon i have reason to believe that a cession of the rights of both companies to the united states which would be the readiest means of terminating all questions can be obtained on reasonable terms and with a view to this end i present the subject to the attention of congress the colony of newfoundland having enacted the laws required by the treaty of the 5th of june 1854 is now placed on the same footing in respect to commercial intercourse with the united states as the other british north american provinces the commission which that treaty contemplated for determining the rights of fishery in rivers and mouths of rivers on the coasts of the united states and the british north american provinces has been organized and has commenced its labors to complete which there are needed further appropriations for the service of another season in pursuance of the authority conferred by a resolution of the senate of the united states passed on the 3d of march last notice was given to denmark on the 14th day of april of the intention of this government to avail itself of the stipulation of the subsisting convention of friendship commerce and navigation between that kingdom and the united states whereby either party might after ten years terminate the same at the expiration of one year from the date of notice for that purpose the considerations which led me to call the attention of congress to that convention and induced the senate to adopt the resolution referred to still continue in full force the convention contains an article which although it does not directly engage the united states to submit to the imposition of tolls on the vessels and cargoes of americans passing into or from the baltic sea during the continuance of the treaty yet may by possibility be construed as implying such submission the exaction of those tolls not being justified by any principle of international law it became the right and duty of the united states to relieve themselves from the implication of engagement on the subject so as to be perfectly free to act in the premises in such way as their public interests and honor shall demand i remain of the opinion that the united states ought not to submit to the payment of the sound dues not so much because of their amount which is a secondary matter but because it is in effect the recognition of the right of denmark to treat one of the great maritime highways of nations as a close sea and prevent the navigation of it as a privilege for which tribute may be imposed upon those who have occasion to use it this government on a former occasion not unlike the present signalized its determination to maintain the freedom of the seas and of the great natural channels of navigation the barbary states had for a long time coerced the payment of tribute from all nations whose ships frequented the mediterranean to the last demand of such payment made by them the united states although suffering less by their depredations than many other nations returned the explicit answer that we preferred war to tribute and thus opened the way to the relief of the commerce of the world from an ignominious tax so long submitted to by the more powerful nations of europe if the manner of payment of the sound dues differ from that of the tribute formerly conceded to the barbary states still their exaction by denmark has no better foundation in right each was in its origin nothing but a tax on a common natural right extorted by those who were at that time able to obstruct the free and secure enjoyment of it but who no longer possess that power denmark while resisting our assertion of the freedom of the baltic sound and belts has indicated a readiness to make some new arrangement on the subject and has invited the governments interested including the united states to be represented in a convention to assemble for the purpose of receiving and considering a proposition which she intends to submit for the capitalization of the sound dues and the distribution of the sum to be paid as commutation among the governments according to the respective proportions of their maritime commerce to and from the baltic i have declined in behalf of the united states to accept this invitation for the most cogent reasons one is that denmark does not offer to submit to the convention the question of her right to levy the sound dues the second is that if the convention were allowed to take cognizance of that particular question still it would not be competent to deal with the great international principle involved which affects the right in other cases of navigation and commercial freedom as well as that of access to the baltic above all by the express terms of the proposition it is contemplated that the consideration of the sound dues shall be commingled with and made subordinate to a matter wholly extraneous the balance of power among the governments of europe while however rejecting this proposition and insisting on the right of free transit into and from the baltic i have expressed to denmark a willingness on the part of the united states to share liberally with other powers in compensating her for any advantages which commerce shall hereafter derive from expenditures made by her for the improvement and safety of the navigation of the sound or belts i lay before you herewith sundry documents on the subject in which my views are more fully disclosed should no satisfactory arrangement be soon concluded i shall again call your attention to the subject with recommendation of such measures as may appear to be required in order to assert and secure the rights of the united states so far as they are affected by the pretensions of denmark i announce with much gratification that since the adjournment of the last congress the question then existing between this government and that of france respecting the french consul at san francisco has been satisfactorily determined and that the relations of the two governments continue to be of the most friendly nature a question also which has been pending for several years between the united states and the kingdom of greece growing out of the sequestration by public authorities of that country of property belonging to the present american consul at athens and which had been the subject of very earnest discussion heretofore has recently been settled to the satisfaction of the party interested and of both governments with spain peaceful relations are still maintained and some progress has been made in securing the redress of wrongs complained of by this government spain has not only disavowed and disapproved the conduct of the officers who illegally seized and detained the steamer black warrior at havana but has also paid the sum claimed as indemnity for the loss thereby inflicted on citizens of the united states in consequence of a destructive hurricane which visited cuba in 1844 the supreme authority of that island issued a decree permitting the importation for the period of six months of certain building materials and provisions free of duty but revoked it when about half the period only had elapsed to the injury of citizens of the united states who had proceeded to act on the faith of that decree the spanish government refused indemnification to the parties aggrieved until recently when it was assented to payment being promised to be made so soon as the amount due can be ascertained satisfaction claimed for the arrest and search of the steamer el dorado has not yet been accorded but there is reason to believe that it will be and that case with others continues to be urged on the attention of the spanish government i do not abandon the hope of concluding with spain some general arrangement which if it do not wholly prevent the recurrence of difficulties in cuba will render them less frequent and whenever they shall occur facilitate their more speedy settlement the interposition of this government has been invoked by many of its citizens on account of injuries done to their persons and property for which the mexican republic is responsible the unhappy situation of that country for some time past has not allowed its government to give due consideration to claims of private reparation and has appeared to call for and justify some forbearance in such matters on the part of this government but if the revolutionary movements which have lately occurred in that republic end in the organization of a stable government urgent appeals to its justice will then be made and it may be hoped with success for the redress of all complaints of our citizens in regard to the american republics which from their proximity and other considerations have peculiar relations to this government while it has been my constant aim strictly to observe all the obligations of political friendship and of good neighborhood obstacles to this have arisen in some of them from their own insufficient power to cheek lawless irruptions which in effect throws most of the task on the united states thus it is that the distracted internal condition of the state of nicaragua has made it incumbent on me to appeal to the good faith of our citizens to abstain from unlawful intervention in its affairs and to adopt preventive measures to the same end which on a similar occasion had the best results in reassuring the peace of the mexican states of sonora and lower california since the last session of congress a treaty of amity commerce and navigation and for the surrender of fugitive criminals with the kingdom of the two sicilies a treaty of friendship commerce and navigation with nicaragua and a convention of commercial reciprocity with the hawaiian kingdom have been negotiated the latter kingdom and the state of nicaragua have also acceded to a declaration recognizing as international rights the principles contained in the convention between the united states and russia of july 22 1854 these treaties and conventions will be laid before the senate for ratification the statements made in my last annual message respecting the anticipated receipts and expenditures of the treasury have been substantially verified it appears from the report of the secretary of the treasury that the receipts during the last fiscal year ending june 30 1855 from all sources were and that the public expenditures for the same period exclusive of payments on account of the public debt amounted to during the same period the payments made in redemption of the public debt including interest and premium amounted to the balance in the treasury at the beginning of the present fiscal year july 1 was the receipts for the first quarter and the estimated receipts for the remaining three quarters amount together to thus affording in all as the available resources of the current fiscal year the sum of if to the actual expenditures of the first quarter of the current fiscal year be added the probable expenditures for the remaining three quarters as estimated by the secretary of the treasury the sum total will be thereby leaving an estimated balance in the treasury on july 1 1856 of in the expenditures of the present fiscal year are included to meet the last installment of the ten millions provided for in the late treaty with mexico and appropriated on account of the debt due to texas which two sums make an aggregate amount of and reduce the expenditures actual or estimated for ordinary objects of the year to the sum of the amount of the public debt at the commencement of the present fiscal year was and deduction being made of subsequent payments the whole public debt of the federal government remaining at this time is less than the remnant of certain other government stocks amounting to referred to in my last message as outstanding has since been paid i am fully persuaded that it would be difficult to devise a system superior to that by which the fiscal business of the government is now conducted notwithstanding the great number of public agents of collection and disbursement it is believed that the checks and guards provided including the requirement of monthly returns render it scarcely possible for any considerable fraud on the part of those agents or neglect involving hazard of serious public loss to escape detection i renew however the recommendation heretofore made by me of the enactment of a law declaring it felony on the part of public officers to insert false entries in their books of record or account or to make false returns and also requiring them on the termination of their service to deliver to their successors all books records and other objects of a public nature in their custody derived as our public revenue is in chief part from duties on imports its magnitude affords gratifying evidence of the prosperity not only of our commerce but of the other great interests upon which that depends the principle that all moneys not required for the current expenses of the government should remain for active employment in the hands of the people and the conspicuous fact that the annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a prudent and economical administration of public affairs can not fail to suggest the propriety of an early revision and reduction of the tariff of duties on imports it is now so generally conceded that the purpose of revenue alone can justify the imposition of duties on imports that in readjusting the impost tables and schedules which unquestionably require essential modifications a departure from the principles of the present tariff is not anticipated the army during the past year has been actively engaged in defending the indian frontier the state of the service permitting but few and small garrisons in our permanent fortifications the additional regiments authorized at the last session of congress have been recruited and organized and a large portion of the troops have already been sent to the field all the duties which devolve on the military establishment have been satisfactorily performed and the dangers and privations incident to the character of the service required of our troops have furnished additional evidence of their courage zeal and capacity to meet any requisition which their country may make upon them for the details of the military operations the distribution of the troops and additional provisions required for the military service i refer to the report of the secretary of war and the accompanying documents experience gathered from events which have transpired since my last annual message has but served to confirm the opinion then expressed of the propriety of making provision by a retired list for disabled officers and for increased compensation to the officers retained on the list for active duty all the reasons which existed when these measures were recommended on former occasions continue without modification except so far as circumstances have given to some of them additional force the recommendations heretofore made for a partial reorganization of the army are also renewed the thorough elementary education given to those officers who commenced their service with the grade of cadet qualifies them to a considerable extent to perform the duties of every arm of the service but to give the highest efficiency to artillery requires the practice and special study of many years and it is not therefore believed to be advisable to maintain in time of peace a larger force of that arm than can be usually employed in the duties appertaining to the service of field and siege artillery the duties of the staff in all its various branches belong to the movements of troops and the efficiency of an army in the field would materially depend upon the ability with which those duties are discharged it is not as in the case of the artillery a specialty but requires also an intimate knowledge of the duties of an officer of the line and it is not doubted that to complete the education of an officer for either the line or the general staff it is desirable that he shall have served in both with this view it was recommended on a former occasion that the duties of the staff should be mainly performed by details from the line and with conviction of the advantages which would result from such a change it is again presented for the consideration of congress the report of the secretary of the navy herewith submitted exhibits in full the naval operations of the past year together with the present condition of the service and it makes suggestions of further legislation to which your attention is invited the construction of the six steam frigates for which appropriations were made by the last congress has proceeded in the most satisfactory manner and with such expedition as to warrant the belief that they will be ready for service early in the coming spring important as this addition to our naval force is it still remains inadequate to the contingent exigencies of the protection of the extensive seacoast and vast commercial interests of the united states in view of this fact and of the acknowledged wisdom of the policy of a gradual and systematic increase of the navy an appropriation is recommended for the construction of six steam sloops of war in regard to the steps taken in execution of the act of congress to promote the efficiency of the navy it is unnecessary for me to say more than to express entire concurrence in the observations on that subject presented by the secretary in his report it will be perceived by the report of the that the gross expenditure of the department for the last fiiscal year was and the gross receipts making an excess of expenditure over receipts of and that the cost of mail transportation during that year was greater than the previous year much of the heavy expenditures to which the treasury is thus subjected is to be ascribed to the large quantity of printed matter conveyed by the mails either franked or liable to no postage by law or to very low rates of postage compared with that charged on letters and to the great cost of mail service on railroads and by ocean steamers the suggestions of the on the subject deserve the consideration of congress the report of the secretary of the interior will engage your attention as well for useful suggestions it contains as for the interest and importance of the subjects to which they refer the aggregate amount of public land sold during the last fiscal year located with military scrip or land warrants taken up under grants for roads and selected as swamp lands by states is acres of which the portion sold was acres yielding in receipts the sum of in the same period of time acres have been surveyed but in consideration of the quantity already subject to entry no additional tracts have been brought into market the peculiar relation of the general government to the district of columbia renders it proper to commend to your care not only its material but also its moral interests including education more especially in those parts of the district outside of the cities of washington and georgetown the commissioners appointed to revise and codify the laws of the district have made such progress in the performance of their task as to insure its completion in the time prescribed by the act of congress information has recently been received that the peace of the settlements in the territories of oregon and washington is disturbed by hostilities on the part of the indians with indications of extensive combinations of a hostile character among the tribes in that quarter the more serious in their possible effect by reason of the undetermined foreign interests existing in those territories to which your attention has already been especially invited efficient measures have been taken which it is believed will restore quiet and afford protection to our citizens in the territory of kansas there have been acts prejudicial to good order but as yet none have occurred under circumstances to justify the interposition of the federal executive that could only be in case of obstruction to federal law or of organized resistance to territorial law assuming the character of insurrection which if it should occur it would be my duty promptly to overcome and suppress i cherish the hope however that the occurrence of any such untoward event will be prevented by the sound sense of the people of the territory who by its organic law possessing the right to determine their own domestic institutions are entitled while deporting themselves peacefully to the free exercise of that right and must be protected in the enjoyment of it without interference on the part of the citizens of any of the states the southern boundary line of this territory has never been surveyed and established the rapidly extending settlements in that region and the fact that the main route between independence in the state of missouri and new mexico is contiguous in this line suggest the probability that embarrassing questions of jurisdiction may consequently arise for these and other considerations i commend the subject to your early attention i have thus passed in review the general state of the union including such particular concerns of the federal government whether of domestic or foreign relation as it appeared to me desirable and useful to bring to the special notice of congress unlike the great states of europe and asia and many of those of america these united states are wasting their strength neither in foreign war nor domestic strife whatever of discontent or public dissatisfaction exists is attributable to the imperfections of human nature or is incident to all governments however perfect which human wisdom can devise such subjects of political agitation as occupy the public mind consist to a great extent of exaggeration of inevitable evils or over zeal in social improvement or mere imagination of grievance having but remote connection with any of the constitutional functions or duties of the federal government to whatever extent these questions exhibit a tendency menacing to the stability of the constitution or the integrity of the union and no further they demand the consideration of the executive and require to be presented by him to congress before the thirteen colonies became a confederation of independent states they were associated only by community of transatlantic origin by geographical position and by the mutual tie of common dependence on great britain when that tie was sundered they severally assumed the powers and rights of absolute the municipal and social institutions of each its laws of property and of personal relation even its political organization were such only as each one chose to establish wholly without interference from any other in the language of the declaration of independence each state had full power to levy war conclude peace contract alliances establish commerce and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do the several colonies differed in climate in soil in natural productions in religion in systems of education in legislation and in the forms of political administration and they continued to differ in these respects when they voluntarily allied themselves as states to carry on the war of the revolution the object of that war was to disenthrall the united colonies from foreign rule which had proved to be oppressive and to separate them permanently from the mother country the political result was the foundation of a federal republic of the free white men of the colonies constituted as they were in distinct and reciprocally independent state governments as for the subject races whether indian or african the wise and brave statesmen of that day being engaged in no extravagant scheme of social change left them as they were and thus preserved themselves and their posterity from the anarchy and the civil wars which have prevailed in other revolutionized european colonies of america when the confederated states found it convenient to modify the conditions of their association by giving to the general government direct access in some respects to the people of the states instead of confining it to action on the states as such they proceeded to frame the existing constitution adhering steadily to one guiding thought which was to delegate only such power as was necessary and proper to the execution of specific purposes or in other words to retain as much as possible consistently with those purposes of the independent powers of the individual states for objects of common defense and security they intrusted to the general government certain carefully defined functions leaving all others as the undelegated rights of the separate independent sovereignties such is the constitutional theory of our government the practical observance of which has carried us and us alone among modern republics through nearly three generations of time without the cost of one drop of blood she would in civil war with freedom and concert of action it has enabled us to contend successfully on the battlefield against foreign foes has elevated the feeble colonies into powerful states and has raised our industrial productions and our commerce which transports them to the level of the richest and the greatest nations of europe and the admirable adaptation of our political institutions to their objects combining local with aggregate strength has established the practicability of a government like ours to cover a continent with confederate states the congress of the united states is in effect that congress of sovereignties which good men in the old world have sought for but could never attain and which imparts to america an exemption from the mutable leagues for common action from the wars the mutual invasions and vague aspirations after the balance of power which convulse from time to time the governments of europe our cooperative action rests in the conditions of permanent confederation prescribed by the constitution our balance of power is in the separate reserved rights of the states and their equal representation in the senate that independent sovereignty in every one of the states with its reserved rights of local assured to each by their coequal power in the senate was the fundamental condition of the constitution without it the union would never have existed however desirous the larger states might be to reorganize the government so as to give to their population its proportionate weight in the common counsels they knew it was impossible unless they conceded to the smaller ones authority to exercise at least a negative influence on all the measures of the government whether legislative or executive through their equal representation in the senate indeed the larger states themselves could not have failed to perceive that the same power was equally necessary to them for the security of their own domestic interests against the aggregate force of the general government in a word the original states went into this permanent league on the agreed premises of exerting their common strength for the defense of the whole and of all its parts but of utterly excluding all capability of reciprocal aggression each solemnly bound itself to all the others neither to undertake nor permit any encroachment upon or intermeddling with another reserved rights where it was deemed expedient particular rights of the states were expressly guaranteed by the constitution but in all things besides these rights were guarded by the limitation of the powers granted and by express reservation of all powers not granted in the compact of union thus the great power of taxation was limited to purposes of common defense and general welfare excluding objects appertaining to the local legislation of the several states and those purposes of general welfare and common defense were afterwards defined by specific enumeration as being matters only of between the states themselves or between them and foreign governments which because of their common and general nature could not be left to the separate control of each state of the circumstances of local condition interest and rights in which a portion of the states constituting one great section of the union differed from the rest and from another section the most important was the peculiarity of a larger relative colored population in the southern than in the northern states a population of this class held in subjection existed in nearly all the states but was more numerous and of more serious concernment in the south than in the north on account of natural differences of climate and production and it was foreseen that for the same reasons while this population would diminish and sooner or later cease to exist in some states it might increase in others the peculiar character and magnitude of this question of local rights not in material relations only but still more in social ones caused it to enter into the special stipulations of the constitution hence while the general government as well by the enumerated powers granted to it as by those not enumerated and therefore refused to it was forbidden to touch this matter in the sense of attack or offense it was placed under the general safeguard of the union in the sense of defense against either invasion or domestic violence like all other local interests of the several states each state expressly stipulated as well for itself as for each and all of its citizens and every citizen of each state became solemnly bound by his allegiance to the constitution that any person held to service or labor in one state escaping into another should not in consequence of any law or regulation thereof be discharged from such service or labor but should be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor might be due by the laws of his state thus and thus only by the reciprocal guaranty of all the rights of every state against interference on the part of another was the present form of government established by our fathers and transmitted to us and by no other means is it possible for it to exist if one state ceases to respect the rights of another and obtrusively intermeddles with its local interests if a portion of the states assume to impose their institutions on the others or refuse to fulfill their obligations to them we are no longer united friendly states but distracted hostile ones with little capacity left of common advantage but abundant means of reciprocal injury and mischief practically it is immaterial whether aggressive interference between the states or deliberate refusal on the part of any one of them to comply with constitutional obligations arise from erroneous conviction or blind prejudice whether it be perpetrated by direction or indirection in either case it is full of threat and of danger to the durability of the union placed in the office of chief magistrate as the executive agent of the whole country bound to take care that the laws be faithfully executed and specially enjoined by the constitution to give information to congress on the state of the union it would be palpable neglect of duty on my part to pass over a subject like this which beyond all things at the present time vitally concerns individual and public security it has been matter of painful regret to see states conspicuous for their services in rounding this republic and equally sharing its advantages disregard their constitutional obligations to it although conscious of their inability to heal admitted and palpable social evils of their own and which are completely within their jurisdiction they engage in the offensive and hopeless undertaking of reforming the domestic institutions of other states wholly beyond their control and authority in the vain pursuit of ends by them entirely unattainable and which they may not legally attempt to compass they peril the very existence of the constitution and all the countless benefits which it has conferred while the people of the southern states confine their attention to their own affairs not presuming officiously to intermeddle with the social institutions of the northern states too many of the inhabitants of the latter are permanently organized in associations to inflict injury on the former by wrongful acts which would be because of war as between foreign powers and only fail to be such in our system because perpetrated under cover of the union is it possible to present this subject as truth and the occasion require without noticing the reiterated but groundless allegation that the south has persistently asserted claims and obtained advantages in the practical administration of the general government to the prejudice of the north and in which the latter has acquiesced that is the states which either promote or tolerate attacks on the rights of persons and of property in other states to disguise their own injustice pretend or imagine and constantly aver that they whose constitutional rights are thus systematically assailed are themselves the aggressors at the present time this imputed aggression resting as it does only in the vague declamatory charges of political agitators resolves itself into misapprehension or misinterpretation of the principles and facts of the political organization of the new territories of the united states what is the voice of history when the ordinance which provided for the government of the territory northwest of the river ohio and for its eventual subdivision into new states was adopted in the congress of the confederation it is not to be supposed that the question of future relative power as between the states which retained and those which did not retain a numerous colored population escaped notice or failed to be considered and yet the concession of that vast territory to the interests and opinions of the northern states a territory now the seat of five among the largest members of the union was in great measure the act of the state of virginia and of the south when louisiana was acquired by the united states it was an acquisition not less to the north than to the south for while it was important to the country at the mouth of the river mississippi to become the emporium of the country above it so also it was even more important to the whole union to have that emporium and although the new province by reason of its imperfect settlement was mainly regarded as on the gulf of mexico yet in fact it extended to the opposite boundaries of the united states with far greater breadth above than below and was in territory as in everything else equally at least an accession to the northern states it is mere delusion and prejudice therefore to speak of louisiana as acquisition in the special interest of the south the patriotic and just men who participated in the act were influenced by motives far above all sectional jealousies it was in truth the great event which by completing for us the possession of the valley of the mississippi with commercial access to the gulf of mexico imparted unity and strength to the whole confederation and attached together by indissoluble ties the east and the west as well as the north and the south as to florida that was but the transfer by spain to the united states of territory on the east side of the river mississippi in exchange for large territory which the united states transferred to spain on the west side of that river as the entire diplomatic history of the transaction serves to demonstrate moreover it was an acquisition demanded by the commercial interests and the security of the whole union in the meantime the people of the united states had grown up to a proper consciousness of their strength and in a brief contest with france and in a second serious war with great britain they had shaken off all which remained of undue reverence for europe and emerged from the atmosphere of those transatlantic influences which surrounded the infant republic and had begun to turn their attention to the full and systematic development of the internal resources of the union among the evanescent controversies of that period the most conspicuous was the question of regulation by congress of the social condition of the future states to be rounded in the territory of louisiana the ordinance for the government of the territory northwest of the river ohio had contained a provision which prohibited the use of servile labor therein subject to the condition of the extraditions of fugitives from service due in any other part of the united states subsequently to the adoption of the constitution this provision ceased to remain as a law for its operation as such was absolutely superseded by the constitution but the recollection of the fact excited the zeal of social propagandism in some sections of the confederation and when a second state that of missouri came to be formed in the territory of louisiana proposition was made to extend to the latter territory the restriction originally applied to the country situated between the rivers ohio and mississippi most questionable as was this proposition in all its constitutional relations nevertheless it received the sanction of congress with some slight modifications of line to save the existing rights of the intended new state it was reluctantly acquiesced in by southern states as a sacrifice to the because of peace and of the union not only of the rights stipulated by the treaty of louisiana but of the principle of equality among the states guaranteed by the constitution it was received by the northern states with angry and resentful condemnation and complaint because it did not concede all which they had exactingly demanded having passed through the forms of legislation it took its place in the statute book standing open to repeal like any other act of doubtful constitutionality subject to be pronounced null and void by the courts of law and possessing no possible efficacy to control the rights of the states which might thereafter be organized out of any part of the original territory of louisiana in all this if any aggression there were any innovation upon preexisting rights to which portion of the union are they justly chargeable this controversy passed away with the occasion nothing surviving it save the dormant letter of the statute but long afterwards when by the proposed accession of the republic of texas the united states were to take their next step in territorial greatness a similar contingency occurred and became the occasion for systematized attempts to intervene in the domestic affairs of one section of the union in defiance of their rights as states and of the stipulations of the constitution these attempts assumed a practical direction in the shape of persevering endeavors by some of the representatives in both houses of congress to deprive the southern states of the supposed benefit of the provisions of the act authorizing the organization of the state of missouri but the good sense of the people and the vital force of the constitution triumphed over sectional prejudice and the political errors of the day and the state of texas returned to the union as she was with social institutions which her people had chosen for themselves and with express agreement by the reannexing act that she should be susceptible of subdivision into a plurality of states whatever advantage the interests of the southern states as such gained by this were far inferior in results as they unfolded in the progress of time to those which sprang from previous concessions made by the south to every thoughtful friend of the union to the true lovers of their country to all who longed and labored for the full success of this great experiment of republican institutions it was because of gratulation that such an opportunity had occurred to illustrate our advancing power on this continent and to furnish to the world additional assurance of the strength and stability of the constitution who would wish to see florida still a european colony who would rejoice to hail texas as a lone star instead of one in the galaxy of states who does not appreciate the incalculable benefits of the acquisition of louisiana and yet narrow views and sectional purposes would inevitably have excluded them all from the union but another struggle on the same point ensued when our victorious armies returned from mexico and it devolved on congress to provide for the territories acquired by the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo the great relations of the subject had now become distinct and clear to the perception of the public mind which appreciated the evils of sectional controversy upon the question of the admission of new states in that crisis intense solicitude pervaded the nation but the patriotic impulses of the popular heart guided by the admonitory advice of the father of his country rose superior to all the difficulties of the incorporation of a new empire into the union in the counsels of congress there was manifested extreme antagonism of opinion and action between some representatives who sought by the abusive and unconstitutional employment of the legislative powers of the government to interfere in the condition of the inchoate states and to impose their own social theories upon the latter and other representatives who repelled the interposition of the general government in this respect and maintained the rights of the states in truth the thing attempted was in form alone action of the general government while in reality it was the endeavor by abuse of legislative power to force the ideas of internal policy entertained in particular states upon allied independent states once more the constitution and the union triumphed signally the new territories were organized without restrictions on the disputed point and were thus left to judge in that particular for themselves and the sense of constitutional faith proved vigorous enough in congress not only to accomplish this primary object but also the incidental and hardly less important one of so amending the provisions of the statute for the extradition of fugitives from service as to place that public duty under the safeguard of the general government and thus relieve it from obstacles raised up by the legislation of some of the states vain declamation regarding the provisions of law for the extradition of fugitives from service with occasional episodes of frantic effort to obstruct their execution by riot and murder continued for a brief time to agitate certain localities but the true principle of leaving each state and territory to regulate its own laws of labor according to its own sense of right and expediency had acquired fast hold of the public judgment to such a degree that by common consent it was observed in the organization of the territory of washington when more recently it became requisite to organize the territories of nebraska and kansas it was the natural and legitimate if not the inevitable consequence of previous events and legislation that the same great and sound principle which had already been applied to utah and new mexico should be applied to them that they should stand exempt from the restrictions proposed in the act relative to the state of missouri these restrictions were in the estimation of many thoughtful men null from the beginning unauthorized by the constitution contrary to the treaty stipulations for the cession of louisiana and inconsistent with the equality of these states they had been stripped of all moral authority by persistent efforts to procure their indirect repeal through contradictory enactments they had been practically abrogated by the legislation attending the organization of utah new mexico and washington if any vitality remained in them it would have been taken away in effect by the new territorial acts in the form originally proposed to the senate at the first session of the last congress it was manly and ingenuous as well as patriotic and just to do this directly and plainly and thus relieve the statute book of an act which might be of possible future injury but of no possible future benefit and the measure of its repeal was the final consummation and complete recognition of the principle that no portion of the united states shall undertake through assumption of the powers of the general government to dictate the social institutions of any other portion the scope and effect of the language of repeal were not left in doubt it was declared in terms to be the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or state nor to exclude it therefrom but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way subject only to the constitution of the united states the measure could not be withstood upon its merits alone it was attacked with violence on the false or delusive pretext that it constituted a breach of faith never was objection more utterly destitute of substantial justification when before was it imagined by sensible men that a regulative or declarative statute whether enacted ten or forty years ago is irrepealable that an act of congress is above the constitution if indeed there were in the facts any because to impute bad faith it would attach to those only who have never ceased from the time of the enactment of the restrictive provision to the present day to denounce and condemn it who have constantly refused to complete it by needful supplementary legislation who have spared no exertion to deprive it of moral force who have themselves again and again attempted its repeal by the enactment of incompatible provisions and who by the inevitable reactionary effect of their own violence on the subject awakened the country to perception of the true constitutional principle of leaving the matter involved to the discretion of the people of the respective existing or incipient states it is not pretended that this principle or any other precludes the possibility of evils in practice disturbed as political action is liable to be by human passions no form of government is exempt from inconveniences but in this case they are the result of the abuse and not of the legitimate exercise of the powers reserved or conferred in the organization of a territory they are not to be charged to the great principle of popular sovereignty on the contrary they disappear before the intelligence and patriotism of the people exerting through the ballot box their peaceful and silent but irresistible power if the friends of the constitution are to have another struggle its enemies could not present a more acceptable issue than that of a state whose constitution clearly embraces a republican form of government being excluded from the union because its domestic institutions may not in all respects comport with the ideas of what is wise and expedient entertained in some other state fresh from groundless imputations of breach of faith against others men will commence the agitation of this new question with indubitable violation of an express compact between the independent sovereign powers of the united states and of the republic of texas as well as of the older and equally solemn compacts which assure the equality of all the states but deplorable as would be such a violation of compact in itself and in all its direct consequences that is the very least of the evils involved when sectional agitators shall have succeeded in forcing on this issue can their pretensions fail to be met by counter pretensions will not different states be compelled respectively to meet extremes with extremes and if either extreme carry its point what is that so far forth but dissolution of the union if a new state formed from the territory of the united states be absolutely excluded from admission therein that fact of itself constitutes the disruption of union between it and the other states but the process of dissolution could not stop there would not a sectional decision producing such result by a majority of votes either northern or southern of necessity drive out the oppressed and aggrieved minority and place in presence of each other two irreconcilably hostile confederations it is necessary to speak thus plainly of projects the offspring of that sectional agitation now prevailing in some of the states which are as impracticable as they are unconstitutional and which if persevered in must and will end calamitously it is either disunion and civil war or it is mere angry idle aimless disturbance of public peace and tranquillity disunion for what if the passionate rage of fanaticism and partisan spirit did not force the fact upon our attention it would be difficult to believe that any considerable portion of the people of this enlightened country could have so surrendered themselves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few africans in the united states as totally to abandon and disregard the interests of the americans to trample under foot the injunctions of moral and constitutional obligation and to engage in plans of vindictive hostility against those who are associated with them in the enjoyment of the common heritage of our national institutions nor is it hostility against their of one section of the union alone the interests the honor the duty the peace and the prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and imperiled in this question and are patriotic men in any part of the union prepared on such issue thus madly to invite all the consequences of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements it is impossible the storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the constitution i shall never doubt it i know that the union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild and chimerical schemes of social change which are generated one after another in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested agitators i rely confidently on the patriotism of the people on the dignity and of the states on the wisdom of congress and above all on the continued gracious favor of almighty god to maintain against all enemies whether at home or abroad the sanctity of the constitution and the integrity of the union
constitution united states provides congress shall assemble annually first monday december usual president make communication public character senate house representatives advised readiness receive deferred usage close first month session convictions duty permit longer postpone discharge obligation enjoined constitution upon president give congress information state union recommend consideration measures shall judge necessary expedient matter congratulation republic tranquilly advancing career prosperity peace whilst relations amity continue exist united states foreign powers grave questions depending may require consideration congress questions important arisen negotiations great britain reference central america convention concluded two governments 19th april 1850 parties covenanted neither ever occupy fortify colonize assume exercise dominion nicaragua costa rica mosquito coast part central america undoubted understanding united states making treaty present states former republic central america entire territory would thenceforth enjoy complete independence contracting parties engaged equally extent present future either claim right central america claim occupation authority unreservedly relinquished stipulations convention dominion thereafter exercised assumed part central america great britain united states government consented restrictions regard region country wherein specific peculiar interests upon conviction like restrictions sense obligatory great britain understanding force effect convention would never concluded us clear understanding part united states correspondence contemporaneous ratification convention distinctly expressed mutual covenants nonoccupation intended apply british establishment balize qualification ascribed fact virtue successive treaties previous sovereigns country great britain obtained concession right cut mahogany dyewoods balize positive exclusion domain sovereignty thus confirms natural construction understood import treaty rest region stipulations applied however became apparent early day entering upon discharge present functions great britain still continued exercise assertion large authority part central america commonly called mosquito coast covering entire length state nicaragua part costa rica regarded balize absolute domain gradually extending limits expense state honduras formally colonized considerable insular group known bay islands belonging right state acts pretensions great britain contrary rights states central america manifest tenor stipulations united states understood government made subject negotiation american minister london transmit herewith instructions subject correspondence british secretary foreign affairs perceive two governments differ widely irreconcilably construction convention effect respective relations central america great britain construes convention maintain unchanged previous pretensions mosquito coast different parts central america pretensions mosquito coast founded assumption political relation great britain remnant tribe indians coast entered time whole country colonial possession spain successfully controverted public law europe america possible act indians predecessors could confer great britain political rights great britain allege assent spain origin claims mosquito coast contrary repeated successive treaties renounced relinquished pretensions recognized full sovereign rights spain unequivocal terms yet pretensions without solid foundation beginning thus repeatedly abjured recent period revived great britain central american states legitimate successors ancient jurisdiction spain region first applied defined part coast nicaragua afterwards whole atlantic coast lastly part coast costa rica reasserted extent notwithstanding engagements united states eastern coast nicaragua costa rica interference great britain though exerted one time form military occupation port san juan del norte peaceful possession appropriate authorities central american states presented rightful exercise protectorship mosqttito tribe indians establishment balize reaching far beyond treaty limits state honduras bay islands appertaining right state distinctly colonial governments jamaica canada therefore contrary letter well spirit convention united states time ratification understood government interpretation british government thus assertion act persists ascribing convention entirely changes character holds us obligations great measure releases great britain constituted consideration government entering convention impossible judgment united states acquiesce construction respective relations two governments central america renewed call government upon great britain abide carry effect stipulations convention according obvious import withdrawing possession colonization portions central american states honduras nicaragua costa rica british government length replied affirming operation treaty prospective require great britain abandon contract possessions held central america date conclusion reply substitutes partial issue place general one presented united states british government passes question rights great britain real supposed central america assumes rights date treaty rights comprehended protectorship mosquito indians extended jurisdiction limits balize colony bay islands thereupon proceeds implication infer stipulations treaty merely future effect great britain may still continue hold contested portions central america united states admit either inference premises steadily deny date treaty great britain possessions limited peculiar establishment balize maintain surrendered convention government recognizing obligations treaty course desired see executed good faith parties discussion therefore looked rights might assert independently treaty consideration geographical position circumstances create us relations central american states different government europe british government last communication although well knowing views united states still declares sees reason conciliatory spirit may enable two governments overcome obstacles satisfactory adjustment subject assured correctness construction treaty constantly adhered government resolved insist rights united states yet actuated also desire avowed british government remove causes serious misunderstanding two nations associated many ties interest kindred appeared proper consider amicable solution controversy hopeless however reason apprehend great britain actual occupation disputed territories treaty therefore practically null far regards rights international difficulty long remain undetermined without involving serious danger friendly relations interest well duty countries cherish preserve afford sincere gratification future efforts shall result success anticipated heretofore confidence aspect case permits entertain one subject discussion united states great britain grown attempt exigencies war engaged russia induced make draw recruits united states traditional settled policy united states maintain impartial neutrality wars time time occur among great powers world performing duties neutrality toward respective belligerent states may reasonably expect interfere lawful enjoyment benefits notwithstanding existence hostilities citizens retained individual right continue accustomed pursuits land sea home abroad subject restrictions relation laws war usage nations special treaties may impose sovereign right territory jurisdiction shall invaded either belligerent parties transit armies operations fleets levy troops service fitting cruisers either act incident war undeniable rights neutrality individual national united states circumstances surrender pursuance policy laws united states forbid citizens sell either belligerent powers articles contraband war take munitions war soldiers board private ships transportation although individual citizen exposes property person hazards war acts involve breach national neutrality implicate government thus progress present war europe citizens without national responsibility therefor sold gunpowder arms buyers regardless destination articles merchantmen still continue largely employed great britain france transporting troops provisions munitions war principal seat military operations bringing home sick wounded soldiers use mercantile marine interdicted either international municipal law therefore compromise neutral relations russia municipal law accordance law nations peremptorily forbids foreigners citizens fit within united states vessel commit hostilities state united states peace increase force foreign armed vessel intended hostilities friendly state whatever concern may felt either belligerent powers lest private armed cruisers vessels service one might fitted ports country depredate property fears proved utterly groundless citizens withheld act purpose good faith respect law laws union thus peremptory prohibition equipment armament belligerent cruisers ports provide less absolutely person shall within territory jurisdiction united states enlist enter hire retain another person enlist enter go beyond limits jurisdiction united states intent enlisted entered service foreign state either soldier marine seaman board vessel war letter marque privateer enactments also strict conformity law nations declares state right raise troops land sea service another state without consent whether forbidden municipal law attempt without consent attack national sovereignty public rights municipal law united states solicitude subject entertained government year since british parliament passed act provide enlistment foreigners military service great britain nothing face act public history indicated british government proposed attempt recruitment united states ever give intimation intention government matter surprise therefore find subsequently engagement persons within united states proceed halifax british province nova scotia enlist service great britain going extensively little disguise ordinary legal steps immediately taken arrest punish parties concerned put end acts infringing municipal law derogatory sovereignty meanwhile suitable representations subject addressed british government thereupon became known admission british government attempt draw recruits country originated least approval sanction also appeared public agents engaged stringent instructions violate municipal law united states difficult understand supposed troops could raised great britain without violation municipal law unmistakable object law prevent every act performed must either violation law studied evasion either alternative act done would alike injurious sovereignty united states meantime matter acquired additional importance recruitments united states discontinued disclosure fact prosecuted upon systematic plan devised official authority recruiting rendezvous opened principal cities depots reception recruits established frontier whole business conducted supervision regular cooperation british officers civil military north american provinces united states complicity officers undertaking could accomplished defying laws throwing suspicion attitude neutrality disregarding territorial rights conclusively proved evidence elicited trial agents apprehended convicted officers thus implicated high official position many beyond jurisdiction legal proceedings could reach source mischief considerations fact complaint mere casual occurrence trot deliberate design entered upon full knowledge laws national policy conducted responsible public functionaries impelled present case british government order secure cessation wrong reparation subject still discussion result communicated due time repeat recommendation submitted last congress provision made appointment commissioner connection great britain survey establish boundary line divides territory washington contiguous british possessions reason extent importance country dispute imminent danger collision subjects great britain citizens united states including respective authorities quarter prospect speedy arrangement contributed hitherto induce sides forbearance assert force claims right continuance delay part two governments act matter increase dangers difficulties controversy misunderstanding exists extent character value possessory rights hudsons bay company property pugets sound agricultural company reserved treaty great britain relative territory oregon reason believe cession rights companies united states would readiest means terminating questions obtained reasonable terms view end present subject attention congress colony newfoundland enacted laws required treaty 5th june 1854 placed footing respect commercial intercourse united states british north american provinces commission treaty contemplated determining rights fishery rivers mouths rivers coasts united states british north american provinces organized commenced labors complete needed appropriations service another season pursuance authority conferred resolution senate united states passed 3d march last notice given denmark 14th day april intention government avail stipulation subsisting convention friendship commerce navigation kingdom united states whereby either party might ten years terminate expiration one year date notice purpose considerations led call attention congress convention induced senate adopt resolution referred still continue full force convention contains article although directly engage united states submit imposition tolls vessels cargoes americans passing baltic sea continuance treaty yet may possibility construed implying submission exaction tolls justified principle international law became right duty united states relieve implication engagement subject perfectly free act premises way public interests honor shall demand remain opinion united states ought submit payment sound dues much amount secondary matter effect recognition right denmark treat one great maritime highways nations close sea prevent navigation privilege tribute may imposed upon occasion use government former occasion unlike present signalized determination maintain freedom seas great natural channels navigation barbary states long time coerced payment tribute nations whose ships frequented mediterranean last demand payment made united states although suffering less depredations many nations returned explicit answer preferred war tribute thus opened way relief commerce world ignominious tax long submitted powerful nations europe manner payment sound dues differ tribute formerly conceded barbary states still exaction denmark better foundation right origin nothing tax common natural right extorted time able obstruct free secure enjoyment longer possess power denmark resisting assertion freedom baltic sound belts indicated readiness make new arrangement subject invited governments interested including united states represented convention assemble purpose receiving considering proposition intends submit capitalization sound dues distribution sum paid commutation among governments according respective proportions maritime commerce baltic declined behalf united states accept invitation cogent reasons one denmark offer submit convention question right levy sound dues second convention allowed take cognizance particular question still would competent deal great international principle involved affects right cases navigation commercial freedom well access baltic express terms proposition contemplated consideration sound dues shall commingled made subordinate matter wholly extraneous balance power among governments europe however rejecting proposition insisting right free transit baltic expressed denmark willingness part united states share liberally powers compensating advantages commerce shall hereafter derive expenditures made improvement safety navigation sound belts lay herewith sundry documents subject views fully disclosed satisfactory arrangement soon concluded shall call attention subject recommendation measures may appear required order assert secure rights united states far affected pretensions denmark announce much gratification since adjournment last congress question existing government france respecting french consul san francisco satisfactorily determined relations two governments continue friendly nature question also pending several years united states kingdom greece growing sequestration public authorities country property belonging present american consul athens subject earnest discussion heretofore recently settled satisfaction party interested governments spain peaceful relations still maintained progress made securing redress wrongs complained government spain disavowed disapproved conduct officers illegally seized detained steamer black warrior havana also paid sum claimed indemnity loss thereby inflicted citizens united states consequence destructive hurricane visited cuba 1844 supreme authority island issued decree permitting importation period six months certain building materials provisions free duty revoked half period elapsed injury citizens united states proceeded act faith decree spanish government refused indemnification parties aggrieved recently assented payment promised made soon amount due ascertained satisfaction claimed arrest search steamer el dorado yet accorded reason believe case others continues urged attention spanish government abandon hope concluding spain general arrangement wholly prevent recurrence difficulties cuba render less frequent whenever shall occur facilitate speedy settlement interposition government invoked many citizens account injuries done persons property mexican republic responsible unhappy situation country time past allowed government give due consideration claims private reparation appeared call justify forbearance matters part government revolutionary movements lately occurred republic end organization stable government urgent appeals justice made may hoped success redress complaints citizens regard american republics proximity considerations peculiar relations government constant aim strictly observe obligations political friendship good neighborhood obstacles arisen insufficient power cheek lawless irruptions effect throws task united states thus distracted internal condition state nicaragua made incumbent appeal good faith citizens abstain unlawful intervention affairs adopt preventive measures end similar occasion best results reassuring peace mexican states sonora lower california since last session congress treaty amity commerce navigation surrender fugitive criminals kingdom two sicilies treaty friendship commerce navigation nicaragua convention commercial reciprocity hawaiian kingdom negotiated latter kingdom state nicaragua also acceded declaration recognizing international rights principles contained convention united states russia july 22 1854 treaties conventions laid senate ratification statements made last annual message respecting anticipated receipts expenditures treasury substantially verified appears report secretary treasury receipts last fiscal year ending june 30 1855 sources public expenditures period exclusive payments account public debt amounted period payments made redemption public debt including interest premium amounted balance treasury beginning present fiscal year july 1 receipts first quarter estimated receipts remaining three quarters amount together thus affording available resources current fiscal year sum actual expenditures first quarter current fiscal year added probable expenditures remaining three quarters estimated secretary treasury sum total thereby leaving estimated balance treasury july 1 1856 expenditures present fiscal year included meet last installment ten millions provided late treaty mexico appropriated account debt due texas two sums make aggregate amount reduce expenditures actual estimated ordinary objects year sum amount public debt commencement present fiscal year deduction made subsequent payments whole public debt federal government remaining time less remnant certain government stocks amounting referred last message outstanding since paid fully persuaded would difficult devise system superior fiscal business government conducted notwithstanding great number public agents collection disbursement believed checks guards provided including requirement monthly returns render scarcely possible considerable fraud part agents neglect involving hazard serious public loss escape detection renew however recommendation heretofore made enactment law declaring felony part public officers insert false entries books record account make false returns also requiring termination service deliver successors books records objects public nature custody derived public revenue chief part duties imports magnitude affords gratifying evidence prosperity commerce great interests upon depends principle moneys required current expenses government remain active employment hands people conspicuous fact annual revenue sources exceeds many millions dollars amount needed prudent economical administration public affairs fail suggest propriety early revision reduction tariff duties imports generally conceded purpose revenue alone justify imposition duties imports readjusting impost tables schedules unquestionably require essential modifications departure principles present tariff anticipated army past year actively engaged defending indian frontier state service permitting small garrisons permanent fortifications additional regiments authorized last session congress recruited organized large portion troops already sent field duties devolve military establishment satisfactorily performed dangers privations incident character service required troops furnished additional evidence courage zeal capacity meet requisition country may make upon details military operations distribution troops additional provisions required military service refer report secretary war accompanying documents experience gathered events transpired since last annual message served confirm opinion expressed propriety making provision retired list disabled officers increased compensation officers retained list active duty reasons existed measures recommended former occasions continue without modification except far circumstances given additional force recommendations heretofore made partial reorganization army also renewed thorough elementary education given officers commenced service grade cadet qualifies considerable extent perform duties every arm service give highest efficiency artillery requires practice special study many years therefore believed advisable maintain time peace larger force arm usually employed duties appertaining service field siege artillery duties staff various branches belong movements troops efficiency army field would materially depend upon ability duties discharged case artillery specialty requires also intimate knowledge duties officer line doubted complete education officer either line general staff desirable shall served view recommended former occasion duties staff mainly performed details line conviction advantages would result change presented consideration congress report secretary navy herewith submitted exhibits full naval operations past year together present condition service makes suggestions legislation attention invited construction six steam frigates appropriations made last congress proceeded satisfactory manner expedition warrant belief ready service early coming spring important addition naval force still remains inadequate contingent exigencies protection extensive seacoast vast commercial interests united states view fact acknowledged wisdom policy gradual systematic increase navy appropriation recommended construction six steam sloops war regard steps taken execution act congress promote efficiency navy unnecessary say express entire concurrence observations subject presented secretary report perceived report gross expenditure department last fiiscal year gross receipts making excess expenditure receipts cost mail transportation year greater previous year much heavy expenditures treasury thus subjected ascribed large quantity printed matter conveyed mails either franked liable postage law low rates postage compared charged letters great cost mail service railroads ocean steamers suggestions subject deserve consideration congress report secretary interior engage attention well useful suggestions contains interest importance subjects refer aggregate amount public land sold last fiscal year located military scrip land warrants taken grants roads selected swamp lands states acres portion sold acres yielding receipts sum period time acres surveyed consideration quantity already subject entry additional tracts brought market peculiar relation general government district columbia renders proper commend care material also moral interests including education especially parts district outside cities washington georgetown commissioners appointed revise codify laws district made progress performance task insure completion time prescribed act congress information recently received peace settlements territories oregon washington disturbed hostilities part indians indications extensive combinations hostile character among tribes quarter serious possible effect reason undetermined foreign interests existing territories attention already especially invited efficient measures taken believed restore quiet afford protection citizens territory kansas acts prejudicial good order yet none occurred circumstances justify interposition federal executive could case obstruction federal law organized resistance territorial law assuming character insurrection occur would duty promptly overcome suppress cherish hope however occurrence untoward event prevented sound sense people territory organic law possessing right determine domestic institutions entitled deporting peacefully free exercise right must protected enjoyment without interference part citizens states southern boundary line territory never surveyed established rapidly extending settlements region fact main route independence state missouri new mexico contiguous line suggest probability embarrassing questions jurisdiction may consequently arise considerations commend subject early attention thus passed review general state union including particular concerns federal government whether domestic foreign relation appeared desirable useful bring special notice congress unlike great states europe asia many america united states wasting strength neither foreign war domestic strife whatever discontent public dissatisfaction exists attributable imperfections human nature incident governments however perfect human wisdom devise subjects political agitation occupy public mind consist great extent exaggeration inevitable evils zeal social improvement mere imagination grievance remote connection constitutional functions duties federal government whatever extent questions exhibit tendency menacing stability constitution integrity union demand consideration executive require presented congress thirteen colonies became confederation independent states associated community transatlantic origin geographical position mutual tie common dependence great britain tie sundered severally assumed powers rights absolute municipal social institutions laws property personal relation even political organization one chose establish wholly without interference language declaration independence state full power levy war conclude peace contract alliances establish commerce acts things independent states may right several colonies differed climate soil natural productions religion systems education legislation forms political administration continued differ respects voluntarily allied states carry war revolution object war disenthrall united colonies foreign rule proved oppressive separate permanently mother country political result foundation federal republic free white men colonies constituted distinct reciprocally independent state governments subject races whether indian african wise brave statesmen day engaged extravagant scheme social change left thus preserved posterity anarchy civil wars prevailed revolutionized european colonies america confederated states found convenient modify conditions association giving general government direct access respects people states instead confining action states proceeded frame existing constitution adhering steadily one guiding thought delegate power necessary proper execution specific purposes words retain much possible consistently purposes independent powers individual states objects common defense security intrusted general government certain carefully defined functions leaving others undelegated rights separate independent sovereignties constitutional theory government practical observance carried us us alone among modern republics nearly three generations time without cost one drop blood would civil war freedom concert action enabled us contend successfully battlefield foreign foes elevated feeble colonies powerful states raised industrial productions commerce transports level richest greatest nations europe admirable adaptation political institutions objects combining local aggregate strength established practicability government like cover continent confederate states congress united states effect congress sovereignties good men old world sought could never attain imparts america exemption mutable leagues common action wars mutual invasions vague aspirations balance power convulse time time governments europe cooperative action rests conditions permanent confederation prescribed constitution balance power separate reserved rights states equal representation senate independent sovereignty every one states reserved rights local assured coequal power senate fundamental condition constitution without union would never existed however desirous larger states might reorganize government give population proportionate weight common counsels knew impossible unless conceded smaller ones authority exercise least negative influence measures government whether legislative executive equal representation senate indeed larger states could failed perceive power equally necessary security domestic interests aggregate force general government word original states went permanent league agreed premises exerting common strength defense whole parts utterly excluding capability reciprocal aggression solemnly bound others neither undertake permit encroachment upon intermeddling another reserved rights deemed expedient particular rights states expressly guaranteed constitution things besides rights guarded limitation powers granted express reservation powers granted compact union thus great power taxation limited purposes common defense general welfare excluding objects appertaining local legislation several states purposes general welfare common defense afterwards defined specific enumeration matters states foreign governments common general nature could left separate control state circumstances local condition interest rights portion states constituting one great section union differed rest another section important peculiarity larger relative colored population southern northern states population class held subjection existed nearly states numerous serious concernment south north account natural differences climate production foreseen reasons population would diminish sooner later cease exist states might increase others peculiar character magnitude question local rights material relations still social ones caused enter special stipulations constitution hence general government well enumerated powers granted enumerated therefore refused forbidden touch matter sense attack offense placed general safeguard union sense defense either invasion domestic violence like local interests several states state expressly stipulated well citizens every citizen state became solemnly bound allegiance constitution person held service labor one state escaping another consequence law regulation thereof discharged service labor delivered claim party service labor might due laws state thus thus reciprocal guaranty rights every state interference part another present form government established fathers transmitted us means possible exist one state ceases respect rights another obtrusively intermeddles local interests portion states assume impose institutions others refuse fulfill obligations longer united friendly states distracted hostile ones little capacity left common advantage abundant means reciprocal injury mischief practically immaterial whether aggressive interference states deliberate refusal part one comply constitutional obligations arise erroneous conviction blind prejudice whether perpetrated direction indirection either case full threat danger durability union placed office chief magistrate executive agent whole country bound take care laws faithfully executed specially enjoined constitution give information congress state union would palpable neglect duty part pass subject like beyond things present time vitally concerns individual public security matter painful regret see states conspicuous services rounding republic equally sharing advantages disregard constitutional obligations although conscious inability heal admitted palpable social evils completely within jurisdiction engage offensive hopeless undertaking reforming domestic institutions states wholly beyond control authority vain pursuit ends entirely unattainable may legally attempt compass peril existence constitution countless benefits conferred people southern states confine attention affairs presuming officiously intermeddle social institutions northern states many inhabitants latter permanently organized associations inflict injury former wrongful acts would war foreign powers fail system perpetrated cover union possible present subject truth occasion require without noticing reiterated groundless allegation south persistently asserted claims obtained advantages practical administration general government prejudice north latter acquiesced states either promote tolerate attacks rights persons property states disguise injustice pretend imagine constantly aver whose constitutional rights thus systematically assailed aggressors present time imputed aggression resting vague declamatory charges political agitators resolves misapprehension misinterpretation principles facts political organization new territories united states voice history ordinance provided government territory northwest river ohio eventual subdivision new states adopted congress confederation supposed question future relative power states retained retain numerous colored population escaped notice failed considered yet concession vast territory interests opinions northern states territory seat five among largest members union great measure act state virginia south louisiana acquired united states acquisition less north south important country mouth river mississippi become emporium country also even important whole union emporium although new province reason imperfect settlement mainly regarded gulf mexico yet fact extended opposite boundaries united states far greater breadth territory everything else equally least accession northern states mere delusion prejudice therefore speak louisiana acquisition special interest south patriotic men participated act influenced motives far sectional jealousies truth great event completing us possession valley mississippi commercial access gulf mexico imparted unity strength whole confederation attached together indissoluble ties east west well north south florida transfer spain united states territory east side river mississippi exchange large territory united states transferred spain west side river entire diplomatic history transaction serves demonstrate moreover acquisition demanded commercial interests security whole union meantime people united states grown proper consciousness strength brief contest france second serious war great britain shaken remained undue reverence europe emerged atmosphere transatlantic influences surrounded infant republic begun turn attention full systematic development internal resources union among evanescent controversies period conspicuous question regulation congress social condition future states rounded territory louisiana ordinance government territory northwest river ohio contained provision prohibited use servile labor therein subject condition extraditions fugitives service due part united states subsequently adoption constitution provision ceased remain law operation absolutely superseded constitution recollection fact excited zeal social propagandism sections confederation second state missouri came formed territory louisiana proposition made extend latter territory restriction originally applied country situated rivers ohio mississippi questionable proposition constitutional relations nevertheless received sanction congress slight modifications line save existing rights intended new state reluctantly acquiesced southern states sacrifice peace union rights stipulated treaty louisiana principle equality among states guaranteed constitution received northern states angry resentful condemnation complaint concede exactingly demanded passed forms legislation took place statute book standing open repeal like act doubtful constitutionality subject pronounced null void courts law possessing possible efficacy control rights states might thereafter organized part original territory louisiana aggression innovation upon preexisting rights portion union justly chargeable controversy passed away occasion nothing surviving save dormant letter statute long afterwards proposed accession republic texas united states take next step territorial greatness similar contingency occurred became occasion systematized attempts intervene domestic affairs one section union defiance rights states stipulations constitution attempts assumed practical direction shape persevering endeavors representatives houses congress deprive southern states supposed benefit provisions act authorizing organization state missouri good sense people vital force constitution triumphed sectional prejudice political errors day state texas returned union social institutions people chosen express agreement reannexing act susceptible subdivision plurality states whatever advantage interests southern states gained far inferior results unfolded progress time sprang previous concessions made south every thoughtful friend union true lovers country longed labored full success great experiment republican institutions gratulation opportunity occurred illustrate advancing power continent furnish world additional assurance strength stability constitution would wish see florida still european colony would rejoice hail texas lone star instead one galaxy states appreciate incalculable benefits acquisition louisiana yet narrow views sectional purposes would inevitably excluded union another struggle point ensued victorious armies returned mexico devolved congress provide territories acquired treaty guadalupe hidalgo great relations subject become distinct clear perception public mind appreciated evils sectional controversy upon question admission new states crisis intense solicitude pervaded nation patriotic impulses popular heart guided admonitory advice father country rose superior difficulties incorporation new empire union counsels congress manifested extreme antagonism opinion action representatives sought abusive unconstitutional employment legislative powers government interfere condition inchoate states impose social theories upon latter representatives repelled interposition general government respect maintained rights states truth thing attempted form alone action general government reality endeavor abuse legislative power force ideas internal policy entertained particular states upon allied independent states constitution union triumphed signally new territories organized without restrictions disputed point thus left judge particular sense constitutional faith proved vigorous enough congress accomplish primary object also incidental hardly less important one amending provisions statute extradition fugitives service place public duty safeguard general government thus relieve obstacles raised legislation states vain declamation regarding provisions law extradition fugitives service occasional episodes frantic effort obstruct execution riot murder continued brief time agitate certain localities true principle leaving state territory regulate laws labor according sense right expediency acquired fast hold public judgment degree common consent observed organization territory washington recently became requisite organize territories nebraska kansas natural legitimate inevitable consequence previous events legislation great sound principle already applied utah new mexico applied stand exempt restrictions proposed act relative state missouri restrictions estimation many thoughtful men null beginning unauthorized constitution contrary treaty stipulations cession louisiana inconsistent equality states stripped moral authority persistent efforts procure indirect repeal contradictory enactments practically abrogated legislation attending organization utah new mexico washington vitality remained would taken away effect new territorial acts form originally proposed senate first session last congress manly ingenuous well patriotic directly plainly thus relieve statute book act might possible future injury possible future benefit measure repeal final consummation complete recognition principle portion united states shall undertake assumption powers general government dictate social institutions portion scope effect language repeal left doubt declared terms true intent meaning act legislate slavery territory state exclude therefrom leave people thereof perfectly free form regulate domestic institutions way subject constitution united states measure could withstood upon merits alone attacked violence false delusive pretext constituted breach faith never objection utterly destitute substantial justification imagined sensible men regulative declarative statute whether enacted ten forty years ago irrepealable act congress constitution indeed facts impute bad faith would attach never ceased time enactment restrictive provision present day denounce condemn constantly refused complete needful supplementary legislation spared exertion deprive moral force attempted repeal enactment incompatible provisions inevitable reactionary effect violence subject awakened country perception true constitutional principle leaving matter involved discretion people respective existing incipient states pretended principle precludes possibility evils practice disturbed political action liable human passions form government exempt inconveniences case result abuse legitimate exercise powers reserved conferred organization territory charged great principle popular sovereignty contrary disappear intelligence patriotism people exerting ballot box peaceful silent irresistible power friends constitution another struggle enemies could present acceptable issue state whose constitution clearly embraces republican form government excluded union domestic institutions may respects comport ideas wise expedient entertained state fresh groundless imputations breach faith others men commence agitation new question indubitable violation express compact independent sovereign powers united states republic texas well older equally solemn compacts assure equality states deplorable would violation compact direct consequences least evils involved sectional agitators shall succeeded forcing issue pretensions fail met counter pretensions different states compelled respectively meet extremes extremes either extreme carry point far forth dissolution union new state formed territory united states absolutely excluded admission therein fact constitutes disruption union states process dissolution could stop would sectional decision producing result majority votes either northern southern necessity drive oppressed aggrieved minority place presence two irreconcilably hostile confederations necessary speak thus plainly projects offspring sectional agitation prevailing states impracticable unconstitutional persevered must end calamitously either disunion civil war mere angry idle aimless disturbance public peace tranquillity disunion passionate rage fanaticism partisan spirit force fact upon attention would difficult believe considerable portion people enlightened country could surrendered fanatical devotion supposed interests relatively africans united states totally abandon disregard interests americans trample foot injunctions moral constitutional obligation engage plans vindictive hostility associated enjoyment common heritage national institutions hostility one section union alone interests honor duty peace prosperity people sections equally involved imperiled question patriotic men part union prepared issue thus madly invite consequences forfeiture constitutional engagements impossible storm frenzy faction must inevitably dash vain unshaken rock constitution shall never doubt know union stronger thousand times wild chimerical schemes social change generated one another unstable minds visionary sophists interested agitators rely confidently patriotism people dignity states wisdom congress continued gracious favor almighty god maintain enemies whether home abroad sanctity constitution integrity union
constitution united state provide congress shall assemble annually first monday december usual president make communication public character senate house representative advise readiness receive defer usage close first month session conviction duty permit long postpone discharge obligation enjoin constitution upon president give congress information state union recommend consideration measure shall judge necessary expedient matter congratulation republic tranquilly advance career prosperity peace whilst relation amity continue exist united state foreign power grave question depend may require consideration congress question important arisen negotiation great britain reference central america convention conclude two government 19th april 1850 party covenant neither ever occupy fortify colonize assume exercise dominion nicaragua costa rica mosquito coast part central america undoubted understanding united state make treaty present state former republic central america entire territory would thenceforth enjoy complete independence contract party engage equally extent present future either claim right central america claim occupation authority unreservedly relinquish stipulation convention dominion thereafter exercise assume part central america great britain united states government consent restriction regard region country wherein specific peculiar interest upon conviction like restriction sense obligatory great britain understanding force effect convention would never conclude u clear understanding part united state correspondence contemporaneous ratification convention distinctly express mutual covenant nonoccupation intend apply british establishment balize qualification ascribe fact virtue successive treaty previous sovereign country great britain obtain concession right cut mahogany dyewood balize positive exclusion domain sovereignty thus confirm natural construction understood import treaty rest region stipulation apply however become apparent early day enter upon discharge present function great britain still continue exercise assertion large authority part central america commonly call mosquito coast cover entire length state nicaragua part costa rica regard balize absolute domain gradually extend limit expense state honduras formally colonize considerable insular group know bay island belong right state act pretension great britain contrary right state central america manifest tenor stipulation united state understood government make subject negotiation american minister london transmit herewith instruction subject correspondence british secretary foreign affair perceive two government differ widely irreconcilably construction convention effect respective relation central america great britain construes convention maintain unchanged previous pretension mosquito coast different part central america pretension mosquito coast founded assumption political relation great britain remnant tribe indian coast entered time whole country colonial possession spain successfully controvert public law europe america possible act indian predecessor could confer great britain political right great britain allege assent spain origin claim mosquito coast contrary repeat successive treaty renounce relinquished pretension recognize full sovereign right spain unequivocal term yet pretension without solid foundation begin thus repeatedly abjured recent period revive great britain central american state legitimate successor ancient jurisdiction spain region first apply define part coast nicaragua afterwards whole atlantic coast lastly part coast costa rica reassert extent notwithstanding engagement united state eastern coast nicaragua costa rica interference great britain though exerted one time form military occupation port san juan del norte peaceful possession appropriate authority central american state present rightful exercise protectorship mosqttito tribe indian establishment balize reach far beyond treaty limit state honduras bay island appertain right state distinctly colonial government jamaica canada therefore contrary letter well spirit convention united state time ratification understood government interpretation british government thus assertion act persist ascribe convention entirely change character hold u obligation great measure release great britain constitute consideration government enter convention impossible judgment united state acquiesce construction respective relation two government central america renew call government upon great britain abide carry effect stipulation convention accord obvious import withdraw possession colonization portion central american state honduras nicaragua costa rica british government length reply affirm operation treaty prospective require great britain abandon contract possession hold central america date conclusion reply substitute partial issue place general one present united state british government pass question right great britain real supposed central america assume right date treaty right comprehend protectorship mosquito indian extend jurisdiction limit balize colony bay islands thereupon proceeds implication infer stipulation treaty merely future effect great britain may still continue hold contested portion central america united state admit either inference premise steadily deny date treaty great britain possession limit peculiar establishment balize maintain surrender convention government recognize obligation treaty course desire see execute good faith party discussion therefore look right might assert independently treaty consideration geographical position circumstance create u relation central american state different government europe british government last communication although well know view unite state still declare see reason conciliatory spirit may enable two government overcome obstacle satisfactory adjustment subject assure correctness construction treaty constantly adhered government resolve insist right unite state yet actuate also desire avow british government remove cause serious misunderstand two nation associate many tie interest kindred appear proper consider amicable solution controversy hopeless however reason apprehend great britain actual occupation dispute territory treaty therefore practically null far regard right international difficulty long remain undetermined without involve serious danger friendly relation interest well duty country cherish preserve afford sincere gratification future effort shall result success anticipate heretofore confidence aspect case permit entertain one subject discussion united state great britain grown attempt exigency war engage russia induced make draw recruit unite state traditional settled policy unite state maintain impartial neutrality war time time occur among great power world perform duty neutrality toward respective belligerent state may reasonably expect interfere lawful enjoyment benefit notwithstanding existence hostility citizen retain individual right continue accustom pursuit land sea home abroad subject restriction relation law war usage nation special treaty may impose sovereign right territory jurisdiction shall invade either belligerent party transit army operation fleet levy troops service fit cruiser either act incident war undeniable right neutrality individual national united state circumstance surrender pursuance policy law united state forbid citizen sell either belligerent power article contraband war take munition war soldier board private ship transportation although individual citizen expose property person hazard war act involve breach national neutrality implicate government thus progress present war europe citizen without national responsibility therefor sell gunpowder arm buyer regardless destination article merchantman still continue largely employ great britain france transport troops provision munition war principal seat military operation bring home sick wound soldier use mercantile marine interdict either international municipal law therefore compromise neutral relation russia municipal law accordance law nation peremptorily forbid foreigner citizen fit within united state vessel commit hostility state united state peace increase force foreign armed vessel intend hostility friendly state whatever concern may felt either belligerent power l private arm cruiser vessel service one might fit port country depredate property fear prove utterly groundless citizen withhold act purpose good faith respect law law union thus peremptory prohibition equipment armament belligerent cruiser port provide less absolutely person shall within territory jurisdiction united state enlist enter hire retain another person enlist enter go beyond limit jurisdiction united state intent enlist entered service foreign state either soldier marine seaman board vessel war letter marque privateer enactment also strict conformity law nation declare state right raise troop land sea service another state without consent whether forbidden municipal law attempt without consent attack national sovereignty public right municipal law united state solicitude subject entertained government year since british parliament pass act provide enlistment foreigner military service great britain nothing face act public history indicate british government propose attempt recruitment united state ever give intimation intention government matter surprise therefore find subsequently engagement person within united state proceed halifax british province nova scotia enlist service great britain go extensively little disguise ordinary legal step immediately take arrest punish party concern put end act infringe municipal law derogatory sovereignty meanwhile suitable representation subject address british government thereupon become known admission british government attempt draw recruit country originate least approval sanction also appear public agent engage stringent instruction violate municipal law united state difficult understand suppose troop could raise great britain without violation municipal law unmistakable object law prevent every act perform must either violation law study evasion either alternative act do would alike injurious sovereignty united state meantime matter acquire additional importance recruitment united state discontinue disclosure fact prosecute upon systematic plan devise official authority recruit rendezvous open principal city depots reception recruit establish frontier whole business conduct supervision regular cooperation british officer civil military north american province united state complicity officer undertake could accomplish defy law throw suspicion attitude neutrality disregard territorial right conclusively prove evidence elicit trial agent apprehend convicted officer thus implicate high official position many beyond jurisdiction legal proceeding could reach source mischief consideration fact complaint mere casual occurrence trot deliberate design enter upon full knowledge law national policy conduct responsible public functionary impel present case british government order secure cessation wrong reparation subject still discussion result communicate due time repeat recommendation submit last congress provision make appointment commissioner connection great britain survey establish boundary line divide territory washington contiguous british possession reason extent importance country dispute imminent danger collision subject great britain citizen united state include respective authority quarter prospect speedy arrangement contribute hitherto induce side forbearance assert force claim right continuance delay part two government act matter increase danger difficulty controversy misunderstand exists extent character value possessory right hudson bay company property pugets sound agricultural company reserve treaty great britain relative territory oregon reason believe cession right company united state would readiest mean terminate question obtain reasonable term view end present subject attention congress colony newfoundland enact law require treaty 5th june 1854 place foot respect commercial intercourse united state british north american province commission treaty contemplate determine right fishery river mouths river coast unite state british north american province organize commenced labor complete need appropriation service another season pursuance authority confer resolution senate united state pass 3d march last notice give denmark 14th day april intention government avail stipulation subsist convention friendship commerce navigation kingdom united state whereby either party might ten year terminate expiration one year date notice purpose consideration lead call attention congress convention induce senate adopt resolution refer still continue full force convention contain article although directly engage united state submit imposition toll vessel cargo american pass baltic sea continuance treaty yet may possibility construe imply submission exaction toll justify principle international law become right duty united state relieve implication engagement subject perfectly free act premise way public interest honor shall demand remain opinion united state ought submit payment sound dues much amount secondary matter effect recognition right denmark treat one great maritime highway nation close sea prevent navigation privilege tribute may impose upon occasion use government former occasion unlike present signalize determination maintain freedom seas great natural channel navigation barbary state long time coerce payment tribute nation whose ship frequent mediterranean last demand payment make united state although suffer less depredation many nation return explicit answer prefer war tribute thus open way relief commerce world ignominious tax long submit powerful nation europe manner payment sound due differ tribute formerly concede barbary state still exaction denmark good foundation right origin nothing tax common natural right extorted time able obstruct free secure enjoyment longer possess power denmark resist assertion freedom baltic sound belt indicate readiness make new arrangement subject invite government interested include united state represent convention assemble purpose receive consider proposition intend submit capitalization sound dues distribution sum pay commutation among government accord respective proportion maritime commerce baltic decline behalf united state accept invitation cogent reason one denmark offer submit convention question right levy sound due second convention allow take cognizance particular question still would competent deal great international principle involve affect right case navigation commercial freedom well access baltic express term proposition contemplate consideration sound dues shall commingle make subordinate matter wholly extraneous balance power among government europe however reject proposition insist right free transit baltic express denmark willingness part unite state share liberally power compensate advantage commerce shall hereafter derive expenditure make improvement safety navigation sound belt lay herewith sundry document subject view fully disclose satisfactory arrangement soon conclude shall call attention subject recommendation measure may appear require order assert secure right unite state far affect pretension denmark announce much gratification since adjournment last congress question exist government france respect french consul san francisco satisfactorily determine relation two government continue friendly nature question also pending several year united state kingdom greece grow sequestration public authority country property belong present american consul athens subject earnest discussion heretofore recently settle satisfaction party interested government spain peaceful relation still maintain progress make secure redress wrong complain government spain disavow disapproved conduct officer illegally seize detained steamer black warrior havana also pay sum claim indemnity loss thereby inflicted citizen united state consequence destructive hurricane visit cuba 1844 supreme authority island issue decree permit importation period six month certain building material provision free duty revoke half period elapse injury citizen united state proceed act faith decree spanish government refuse indemnification party aggrieve recently assent payment promise make soon amount due ascertain satisfaction claim arrest search steamer el dorado yet accord reason believe case others continue urged attention spanish government abandon hope conclude spain general arrangement wholly prevent recurrence difficulty cuba render less frequent whenever shall occur facilitate speedy settlement interposition government invoke many citizen account injury do person property mexican republic responsible unhappy situation country time past allowed government give due consideration claim private reparation appear call justify forbearance matter part government revolutionary movement lately occur republic end organization stable government urgent appeal justice make may hop success redress complaint citizens regard american republic proximity consideration peculiar relation government constant aim strictly observe obligation political friendship good neighborhood obstacle arise insufficient power cheek lawless irruption effect throw task united state thus distract internal condition state nicaragua make incumbent appeal good faith citizen abstain unlawful intervention affair adopt preventive measure end similar occasion best result reassure peace mexican state sonora low california since last session congress treaty amity commerce navigation surrender fugitive criminal kingdom two sicily treaty friendship commerce navigation nicaragua convention commercial reciprocity hawaiian kingdom negotiate latter kingdom state nicaragua also accede declaration recognize international right principle contain convention united state russia july 22 1854 treaty convention lay senate ratification statement make last annual message respect anticipated receipt expenditures treasury substantially verify appear report secretary treasury receipt last fiscal year end june 30 1855 source public expenditure period exclusive payment account public debt amount period payment make redemption public debt include interest premium amount balance treasury begin present fiscal year july 1 receipt first quarter estimate receipt remain three quarter amount together thus afford available resource current fiscal year sum actual expenditure first quarter current fiscal year add probable expenditure remain three quarter estimate secretary treasury sum total thereby leave estimate balance treasury july 1 1856 expenditure present fiscal year include meet last installment ten million provide late treaty mexico appropriate account debt due texas two sum make aggregate amount reduce expenditure actual estimate ordinary object year sum amount public debt commencement present fiscal year deduction make subsequent payment whole public debt federal government remain time less remnant certain government stock amount refer last message outstanding since pay fully persuade would difficult devise system superior fiscal business government conduct notwithstanding great number public agent collection disbursement believe check guard provide include requirement monthly return render scarcely possible considerable fraud part agent neglect involve hazard serious public loss escape detection renew however recommendation heretofore make enactment law declare felony part public officer insert false entry book record account make false return also require termination service deliver successor book record object public nature custody derive public revenue chief part duty import magnitude affords gratify evidence prosperity commerce great interest upon depends principle money require current expense government remain active employment hand people conspicuous fact annual revenue source exceed many million dollar amount need prudent economical administration public affair fail suggest propriety early revision reduction tariff duty import generally concede purpose revenue alone justify imposition duty import readjust impost table schedule unquestionably require essential modification departure principles present tariff anticipate army past year actively engage defend indian frontier state service permit small garrison permanent fortification additional regiment authorize last session congress recruit organize large portion troop already send field duty devolve military establishment satisfactorily perform danger privation incident character service require troops furnished additional evidence courage zeal capacity meet requisition country may make upon detail military operation distribution troop additional provision require military service refer report secretary war accompany document experience gather event transpire since last annual message serve confirm opinion express propriety make provision retire list disabled officer increase compensation officer retain list active duty reason exist measure recommend former occasion continue without modification except far circumstance give additional force recommendation heretofore make partial reorganization army also renew thorough elementary education give officer commence service grade cadet qualify considerable extent perform duty every arm service give high efficiency artillery require practice special study many year therefore believe advisable maintain time peace large force arm usually employed duty appertain service field siege artillery duty staff various branch belong movement troops efficiency army field would materially depend upon ability duty discharge case artillery specialty require also intimate knowledge duty officer line doubt complete education officer either line general staff desirable shall serve view recommend former occasion duty staff mainly perform detail line conviction advantage would result change present consideration congress report secretary navy herewith submit exhibit full naval operation past year together present condition service make suggestion legislation attention invite construction six steam frigate appropriation make last congress proceed satisfactory manner expedition warrant belief ready service early come spring important addition naval force still remain inadequate contingent exigency protection extensive seacoast vast commercial interest united state view fact acknowledge wisdom policy gradual systematic increase navy appropriation recommend construction six steam sloop war regard step take execution act congress promote efficiency navy unnecessary say express entire concurrence observation subject present secretary report perceive report gross expenditure department last fiiscal year gross receipt make excess expenditure receipt cost mail transportation year great previous year much heavy expenditure treasury thus subject ascribed large quantity print matter convey mail either franked liable postage law low rate postage compare charged letter great cost mail service railroad ocean steamer suggestion subject deserve consideration congress report secretary interior engage attention well useful suggestion contain interest importance subject refer aggregate amount public land sell last fiscal year locate military scrip land warrant take grant road select swamp land state acre portion sell acre yield receipt sum period time acres survey consideration quantity already subject entry additional tract bring market peculiar relation general government district columbia render proper commend care material also moral interest include education especially part district outside city washington georgetown commissioner appoint revise codify law district make progress performance task insure completion time prescribe act congress information recently receive peace settlement territory oregon washington disturb hostility part indians indication extensive combination hostile character among tribes quarter serious possible effect reason undetermined foreign interest exist territory attention already especially invited efficient measure take believe restore quiet afford protection citizens territory kansas act prejudicial good order yet none occur circumstance justify interposition federal executive could case obstruction federal law organize resistance territorial law assume character insurrection occur would duty promptly overcome suppress cherish hope however occurrence untoward event prevent sound sense people territory organic law possess right determine domestic institution entitle deport peacefully free exercise right must protect enjoyment without interference part citizens state southern boundary line territory never survey establish rapidly extend settlement region fact main route independence state missouri new mexico contiguous line suggest probability embarrass question jurisdiction may consequently arise consideration commend subject early attention thus pass review general state union include particular concern federal government whether domestic foreign relation appear desirable useful bring special notice congress unlike great state europe asia many america united state waste strength neither foreign war domestic strife whatever discontent public dissatisfaction exist attributable imperfection human nature incident government however perfect human wisdom devise subject political agitation occupy public mind consist great extent exaggeration inevitable evil zeal social improvement mere imagination grievance remote connection constitutional function duty federal government whatever extent question exhibit tendency menace stability constitution integrity union demand consideration executive require present congress thirteen colony become confederation independent state associate community transatlantic origin geographical position mutual tie common dependence great britain tie sunder severally assume power right absolute municipal social institution law property personal relation even political organization one chose establish wholly without interference language declaration independence state full power levy war conclude peace contract alliance establish commerce act thing independent state may right several colony differ climate soil natural production religion system education legislation form political administration continue differ respect voluntarily ally state carry war revolution object war disenthrall united colony foreign rule prove oppressive separate permanently mother country political result foundation federal republic free white men colony constitute distinct reciprocally independent state government subject race whether indian african wise brave statesman day engage extravagant scheme social change leave thus preserve posterity anarchy civil war prevail revolutionized european colony america confederate state find convenient modify condition association give general government direct access respect people state instead confine action state proceed frame exist constitution adhere steadily one guide thought delegate power necessary proper execution specific purpose word retain much possible consistently purpose independent power individual state object common defense security intrust general government certain carefully define function leave others undelegated right separate independent sovereignty constitutional theory government practical observance carry u u alone among modern republic nearly three generation time without cost one drop blood would civil war freedom concert action enable u contend successfully battlefield foreign foe elevate feeble colony powerful state raise industrial production commerce transport level richest great nation europe admirable adaptation political institution object combine local aggregate strength establish practicability government like cover continent confederate state congress united state effect congress sovereignty good men old world sought could never attain imparts america exemption mutable league common action war mutual invasion vague aspiration balance power convulse time time government europe cooperative action rest condition permanent confederation prescribe constitution balance power separate reserve right state equal representation senate independent sovereignty every one state reserve right local assure coequal power senate fundamental condition constitution without union would never exist however desirous large state might reorganize government give population proportionate weight common counsel know impossible unless concede small one authority exercise least negative influence measure government whether legislative executive equal representation senate indeed large state could fail perceive power equally necessary security domestic interest aggregate force general government word original state go permanent league agree premise exert common strength defense whole part utterly exclude capability reciprocal aggression solemnly bind others neither undertake permit encroachment upon intermeddling another reserve right deem expedient particular right state expressly guarantee constitution thing besides right guard limitation power grant express reservation power grant compact union thus great power taxation limited purpose common defense general welfare exclude object appertain local legislation several state purpose general welfare common defense afterwards define specific enumeration matter state foreign government common general nature could leave separate control state circumstance local condition interest right portion state constitute one great section union differ rest another section important peculiarity large relative color population southern northern state population class hold subjection exist nearly state numerous serious concernment south north account natural difference climate production foreseen reason population would diminish sooner late cease exist state might increase others peculiar character magnitude question local right material relation still social one cause enter special stipulation constitution hence general government well enumerate power grant enumerate therefore refused forbidden touch matter sense attack offense place general safeguard union sense defense either invasion domestic violence like local interest several state state expressly stipulate well citizen every citizen state become solemnly bind allegiance constitution person hold service labor one state escape another consequence law regulation thereof discharge service labor deliver claim party service labor might due law state thus thus reciprocal guaranty right every state interference part another present form government establish father transmit u mean possible exist one state cease respect right another obtrusively intermeddles local interest portion state assume impose institution others refuse fulfill obligation longer united friendly state distract hostile one little capacity leave common advantage abundant mean reciprocal injury mischief practically immaterial whether aggressive interference state deliberate refusal part one comply constitutional obligation arise erroneous conviction blind prejudice whether perpetrated direction indirection either case full threat danger durability union place office chief magistrate executive agent whole country bind take care law faithfully execute specially enjoin constitution give information congress state union would palpable neglect duty part pas subject like beyond thing present time vitally concern individual public security matter painful regret see state conspicuous service round republic equally share advantage disregard constitutional obligation although conscious inability heal admit palpable social evil completely within jurisdiction engage offensive hopeless undertake reform domestic institution state wholly beyond control authority vain pursuit end entirely unattainable may legally attempt compass peril existence constitution countless benefit confer people southern state confine attention affair presume officiously intermeddle social institution northern state many inhabitant latter permanently organize association inflict injury former wrongful act would war foreign power fail system perpetrate cover union possible present subject truth occasion require without notice reiterated groundless allegation south persistently assert claim obtain advantage practical administration general government prejudice north latter acquiesced state either promote tolerate attack right person property state disguise injustice pretend imagine constantly aver whose constitutional right thus systematically assailed aggressor present time imputed aggression rest vague declamatory charge political agitator resolve misapprehension misinterpretation principle facts political organization new territory unite state voice history ordinance provide government territory northwest river ohio eventual subdivision new state adopt congress confederation suppose question future relative power state retain retain numerous color population escape notice fail consider yet concession vast territory interest opinion northern state territory seat five among large member union great measure act state virginia south louisiana acquire united state acquisition less north south important country mouth river mississippi become emporium country also even important whole union emporium although new province reason imperfect settlement mainly regard gulf mexico yet fact extend opposite boundary unite state far great breadth territory everything else equally least accession northern state mere delusion prejudice therefore speak louisiana acquisition special interest south patriotic men participate act influenced motif far sectional jealousy truth great event complete u possession valley mississippi commercial access gulf mexico impart unity strength whole confederation attach together indissoluble tie east west well north south florida transfer spain united state territory east side river mississippi exchange large territory united state transfer spain west side river entire diplomatic history transaction serve demonstrate moreover acquisition demand commercial interest security whole union meantime people united state grow proper consciousness strength brief contest france second serious war great britain shaken remain undue reverence europe emerge atmosphere transatlantic influence surround infant republic begin turn attention full systematic development internal resource union among evanescent controversy period conspicuous question regulation congress social condition future state round territory louisiana ordinance government territory northwest river ohio contain provision prohibit use servile labor therein subject condition extradition fugitives service due part united state subsequently adoption constitution provision cease remain law operation absolutely supersede constitution recollection fact excite zeal social propagandism section confederation second state missouri come formed territory louisiana proposition make extend latter territory restriction originally apply country situate river ohio mississippi questionable proposition constitutional relation nevertheless receive sanction congress slight modification line save exist right intend new state reluctantly acquiesce southern state sacrifice peace union right stipulate treaty louisiana principle equality among state guarantee constitution receive northern state angry resentful condemnation complaint concede exactingly demand pass form legislation take place statute book stand open repeal like act doubtful constitutionality subject pronounce null void court law possess possible efficacy control right state might thereafter organize part original territory louisiana aggression innovation upon preexist right portion union justly chargeable controversy pass away occasion nothing survive save dormant letter statute long afterwards propose accession republic texas united state take next step territorial greatness similar contingency occur become occasion systematize attempt intervene domestic affair one section union defiance right state stipulation constitution attempt assume practical direction shape persevere endeavor representative house congress deprive southern state suppose benefit provision act authorize organization state missouri good sense people vital force constitution triumph sectional prejudice political error day state texas return union social institution people choose express agreement reannexing act susceptible subdivision plurality state whatever advantage interest southern state gain far inferior result unfold progress time sprang previous concession make south every thoughtful friend union true lover country long labor full success great experiment republican institution gratulation opportunity occur illustrate advance power continent furnish world additional assurance strength stability constitution would wish see florida still european colony would rejoice hail texas lone star instead one galaxy state appreciate incalculable benefit acquisition louisiana yet narrow view sectional purpose would inevitably exclude union another struggle point ensue victorious army return mexico devolve congress provide territory acquire treaty guadalupe hidalgo great relation subject become distinct clear perception public mind appreciate evils sectional controversy upon question admission new state crisis intense solicitude pervade nation patriotic impulse popular heart guide admonitory advice father country rise superior difficulty incorporation new empire union counsel congress manifest extreme antagonism opinion action representative seek abusive unconstitutional employment legislative power government interfere condition inchoate state impose social theory upon latter representative repel interposition general government respect maintain right state truth thing attempted form alone action general government reality endeavor abuse legislative power force idea internal policy entertain particular state upon allied independent state constitution union triumph signally new territory organize without restriction dispute point thus leave judge particular sense constitutional faith prove vigorous enough congress accomplish primary object also incidental hardly less important one amending provision statute extradition fugitive service place public duty safeguard general government thus relieve obstacle raise legislation state vain declamation regard provision law extradition fugitives service occasional episode frantic effort obstruct execution riot murder continue brief time agitate certain locality true principle leave state territory regulate law labor accord sense right expediency acquire fast hold public judgment degree common consent observed organization territory washington recently become requisite organize territory nebraska kansas natural legitimate inevitable consequence previous event legislation great sound principle already apply utah new mexico apply stand exempt restriction propose act relative state missouri restriction estimation many thoughtful men null begin unauthorized constitution contrary treaty stipulation cession louisiana inconsistent equality state strip moral authority persistent effort procure indirect repeal contradictory enactment practically abrogated legislation attend organization utah new mexico washington vitality remain would take away effect new territorial act form originally propose senate first session last congress manly ingenuous well patriotic directly plainly thus relieve statute book act might possible future injury possible future benefit measure repeal final consummation complete recognition principle portion united state shall undertake assumption power general government dictate social institution portion scope effect language repeal leave doubt declare term true intent meaning act legislate slavery territory state exclude therefrom leave people thereof perfectly free form regulate domestic institution way subject constitution unite state measure could withstand upon merit alone attack violence false delusive pretext constitute breach faith never objection utterly destitute substantial justification imagine sensible men regulative declarative statute whether enact ten forty year ago irrepealable act congress constitution indeed facts impute bad faith would attach never cease time enactment restrictive provision present day denounce condemn constantly refuse complete needful supplementary legislation spar exertion deprive moral force attempt repeal enactment incompatible provision inevitable reactionary effect violence subject awaken country perception true constitutional principle leave matter involve discretion people respective exist incipient state pretend principle precludes possibility evils practice disturb political action liable human passion form government exempt inconvenience case result abuse legitimate exercise power reserve conferred organization territory charge great principle popular sovereignty contrary disappear intelligence patriotism people exert ballot box peaceful silent irresistible power friend constitution another struggle enemy could present acceptable issue state whose constitution clearly embrace republican form government exclude union domestic institution may respect comport idea wise expedient entertain state fresh groundless imputation breach faith others men commence agitation new question indubitable violation express compact independent sovereign power united state republic texas well old equally solemn compact assure equality state deplorable would violation compact direct consequence least evil involve sectional agitator shall succeed force issue pretension fail meet counter pretension different state compel respectively meet extreme extremes either extreme carry point far forth dissolution union new state form territory united state absolutely exclude admission therein fact constitute disruption union state process dissolution could stop would sectional decision produce result majority vote either northern southern necessity drive oppress aggrieved minority place presence two irreconcilably hostile confederation necessary speak thus plainly project offspring sectional agitation prevail state impracticable unconstitutional persevere must end calamitously either disunion civil war mere angry idle aimless disturbance public peace tranquillity disunion passionate rage fanaticism partisan spirit force fact upon attention would difficult believe considerable portion people enlighten country could surrender fanatical devotion suppose interest relatively african united state totally abandon disregard interest americans trample foot injunction moral constitutional obligation engage plan vindictive hostility associate enjoyment common heritage national institution hostility one section union alone interest honor duty peace prosperity people section equally involve imperiled question patriotic men part union prepared issue thus madly invite consequence forfeiture constitutional engagement impossible storm frenzy faction must inevitably dash vain unshaken rock constitution shall never doubt know union strong thousand time wild chimerical scheme social change generate one another unstable mind visionary sophist interested agitator rely confidently patriotism people dignity state wisdom congress continue gracious favor almighty god maintain enemy whether home abroad sanctity constitution integrity union