The interest with which the people of the Republic anticipate the assembling of Congress and the fulfillment on that occasion of the duty imposed upon a new President is one of the best evidences of their capacity to realize the hopes of the founders of a political system at once complex and symmetrical. While the different branches of the Government are to a certain extent independent of each other, the duties of all alike have direct reference to the source of power. Fortunately, under this system no man is so high and none so humble in the scale of public station as to escape from the scrutiny or to be exempt from the responsibility which all official functions imply. Upon the justice and intelligence of the masses, in a government thus organized, is the sole reliance of the confederacy and the only security for honest and earnest devotion to its interests against the usurpations and encroachment of power on the one hand and the assaults of personal ambition on the other. The interest of which I have spoken is inseparable from an inquiring, self-governing community, but stimulated, doubtless, at the present time by the unsettled condition of our relations with several foreign powers, by the new obligations resulting from a sudden extension of the field of enterprise, by the spirit with which that field has been entered and the amazing energy with which its resources for meeting the demands of humanity have been developed. Although disease, assuming at one time the characteristics of a widespread and devastating pestilence, has left its sad traces upon some portions of our country, we have still the most abundant cause for reverent thankfulness to God for an accumulation of signal mercies showered upon us as a nation. It is well that a consciousness of rapid advancement and increasing strength be habitually associated with an abiding sense of dependence upon Him who holds in His hands the destiny of men and of nations. Recognizing the wisdom of the broad principle of absolute religious toleration proclaimed in our fundamental law, and rejoicing in the benign influence which it has exerted upon our social and political condition, I should shrink from a clear duty did I fail to express my deepest conviction that we can place no secure reliance upon any apparent progress if it be not sustained by national integrity, resting upon the great truths affirmed and illustrated by divine revelation. In the midst of our sorrow for the afflicted and suffering, it has been consoling to see how promptly disaster made true neighbors of districts and cities separated widely from each other, and cheering to watch the strength of that common bond of brotherhood which unites all hearts, in all parts of this Union, when danger threatens from abroad or calamity impends over us at home. Our diplomatic relations with foreign powers have undergone no essential changesince the adjournment of the last Congress. With some of them questions of a disturbing character are still pending, but there are good reasons to believe that these may all be amicably adjusted. For some years past Great Britain has so construed the first article of the convention of the 20th of April, 1818, in regard to the fisheries on the northeastern coast, as to exclude our citizens from some of the fishing grounds to which they freely resorted for nearly a quarter of a century subsequent to the date of that treaty. The United States have never acquiesced in this construction, but have always claimed for their fishermen all the rights which they had so long enjoyed without molestation. With a view to remove all difficulties on the subject, to extend the rights of our fishermen beyond the limits fixed by the convention of 1818, and to regulate trade between the United States and the British North American Provinces, a negotiation has been opened with a fair prospect of a favorable result. To protect our fishermen in the enjoyment of their rights and prevent collision between them and British fishermen, I deemed it expedient to station a naval force in that quarter during the fishing season. Embarrassing questions have also arisen between the two Governments in regard to Central America. Great Britain has proposed to settle them by an amicable arrangement, and our minister at London is instructed to enter into negotiations on that subject. A commission for adjusting the claims of our citizens against Great Britain and those of British subjects against the United States, organized under the convention of the 8th of February last, is now sitting in London for the transaction of business. It is in many respects desirable that the boundary line between the United States and the British Provinces in the northwest, as designated in the convention of the 15th of June, 1846, and especially that part which separates the Territory of Washington from the British possessions on the north, should be traced and marked. I therefore present the subject to your notice. With France our relations continue on the most friendly footing. The extensive commerce between the United States and that country might, it is conceived, be released from some unnecessary restrictions to the mutual advantage of both parties. With a view to this object, some progress has been made in negotiating a treaty of commerce and navigation. Independently of our valuable trade with Spain, we have important political relations with her growing out of our neighborhood to the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. I am happy to announce that since the last Congress no attempts have been made by unauthorized expeditions within the United States against either of those colonies. Should any movement be manifested within our limits, all the means at my command will be vigorously exerted to repress it. Several annoying occurrences have taken place at Havana, or in the vicinity of the island of Cuba, between our citizens and the Spanish authorities. Considering the proximity of that island to our shores, lying, as it does, in the track of trade between some of our principal cities, and the suspicious vigilance with which foreign intercourse, particularly that with the United States, is there guarded, a repetition of such occurrences may well be apprehended. As no diplomatic intercourse is allowed between our consul at Havana and the Captain-General of Cuba, ready explanations can not be made or prompt redress afforded where injury has resulted. All complaint on the part of our citizens under the present arrangement must be, in the first place, presented to this Government and then referred to Spain. Spain again refers it to her local authorities in Cuba for investigation, and postpones an answer till she has heard from those authorities. To avoid these irritating and vexatious delays, a proposition has been made to provide for a direct appeal for redress to the Captain-General by our consul in behalf of our injured fellow-citizens. Hitherto the Government of Spain has declined to enter into any such arrangement. This course on her part is deeply regretted, for without some arrangement of this kind the good understanding between the two countries may be exposed to occasional interruption. Our minister at Madrid is instructed to renew the proposition and to press it again upon the consideration of Her Catholic Majesty's Government. For several years Spain has been calling the attention of this Government to a claim for losses by some of her subjects in the case of the schooner Amistad. This claim is believed to rest on the obligations imposed by our existing treaty with that country. Its justice was admitted in our diplomatic correspondence with the Spanish Government as early as March, 1847, and one of my predecessors, in his annual message of that year, recommended that provision should be made for its payment. In January last it was again submitted to Congress by the Executive. It has received a favorable consideration by committees of both branches, but as yet there has been no final action upon it. I conceive that good faith requires its prompt adjustment, and I present it to your early and favorable consideration. Martin Koszta, a Hungarian by birth, came to this country in 1850, and declared his intention in due form of law to become a citizen of the United States. After remaining here nearly two years he visited Turkey. While at Smyrna he was forcibly seized, taken on board an Austrian brig of war then lying in the harbor of that place, and there confined in irons, with the avowed design to take him into the dominions of Austria. Our consul at Smyrna and legation at Constantinople interposed for his release, but their efforts were ineffectual. While thus in prison Commander Ingraham, with the United States ship of war St. Louis, arrived at Smyrna, and after inquiring into the circumstances of the case came to the conclusion that Koszta was entitled to the protection of this Government, and took energetic and prompt measures for his release. Under an arrangement between the agents of the United States and of Austria, he was transferred to the custody of the French consul-general at Smyrna, there to remain until he should be disposed of by the mutual agreement of the consuls of the respective Governments at that place. Pursuant to that agreement, he has been released, and is now in the United States. The Emperor of Austria has made the conduct of our officers who took part in this transaction a subject of grave complaint. Regarding Koszta as still his subject, and claiming a right to seize him within the limits of the Turkish Empire, he has demanded of this Government its consent to the surrender of the prisoner, a disavowal of the acts of its agents, and satisfaction for the alleged outrage. After a careful consideration of the case I came to the conclusion that Koszta was seized without legal authority at Smyrna; that he was wrongfully detained on board of the Austrian brig of war; that at the time of his seizure he was clothed with the nationality of the United States, and that the acts of our officers, under the circumstances of the case, were justifiable, and their conduct has been fully approved by me, and a compliance with the several demands of the Emperor of Austria has been declined. For a more full account of this transaction and my views in regard to it I refer to the correspondence between the charge d'affaires of Austria and the Secretary of State, which is herewith transmitted. The principles and policy therein maintained on the part of the United States will, whenever a proper occasion occurs, be applied and enforced. The condition of China at this time renders it probable that some important changes will occur in that vast Empire which will lead to a more unrestricted intercourse with it. The commissioner to that country who has been recently appointed is instructed to avail himself of all occasions to open and extend our commercial relations, not only with the Empire of China, but with other Asiatic nations. In 1852 an expedition was sent to Japan, under the command of Commodore Perry, for the purpose of opening commercial intercourse with that Empire. Intelligence has been received of his arrival there and of his having made known to the Emperor of Japan the object of his visit. But it is not yet ascertained how far the Emperor will be disposed to abandon his restrictive policy and open that populous country to a commercial intercourse with the United States. It has been my earnest desire to maintain friendly intercourse with the Governments upon this continent and to aid them in preserving good understanding among themselves. With Mexico a dispute has arisen as to the true boundary line between our Territory of New Mexico and the Mexican State of Chihuahua. A former commissioner of the United States, employed in running that line pursuant to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, made a serious mistake in determining the initial point on the Rio Grande; but inasmuch as his decision was clearly a departure from the directions for tracing the boundary contained in that treaty, and was not concurred in by the surveyor appointed on the part of the United States, whose concurrence was necessary to give validity to that decision, this Government is not concluded thereby; but that of Mexico takes a different view of the subject. There are also other questions of considerable magnitude pending between the two Republics. Our minister in Mexico has ample instructions to adjust them. Negotiations have been opened, but sufficient progress has not been made therein to enable me to speak of the probable result. Impressed with the importance of maintaining amicable relations with that Republic and of yielding with liberality to all her just claims, it is reasonable to expect that an arrangement mutually satisfactory to both countries may be concluded and a lasting friendship between them confirmed and perpetuated. Congress having provided for a full mission to the States of Central America, a minister was sent thither in July last. As yet he has had time to visit only one of these States (Nicaragua), where he was received in the most friendly manner. It is hoped that his presence and good offices will have a benign effect in composing the dissensions which prevail among them, and in establishing still more intimate and friendly relations between them respectively and between each of them and the United States. Considering the vast regions of this continent and the number of states which would be made accessible by the free navigation of the river Amazon, particular attention has been given to this subject. Brazil, through whose territories it passes into the ocean, has hitherto persisted in a policy so restricted in regard to the use of this river as to obstruct and nearly exclude foreign commercial intercourse with the States which lie upon its tributaries and upper branches. Our minister to that country is instructed to obtain a relaxation of that policy and to use his efforts to induce the Brazilian Government to open to common use, under proper safeguards, this great natural highway for international trade. Several of the South American States are deeply interested in this attempt to secure the free navigation of the Amazon, and it is reasonable to expect their cooperation in the measure. As the advantages of free commercial intercourse among nations are better understood, more liberal views are generally entertained as to the common rights of all to the free use of those means which nature has provided for international communication. To these more liberal and enlightened views it is hoped that Brazil will conform her policy and remove all unnecessary restrictions upon the free use of a river which traverses so many states and so large a part of the continent. I am happy to inform you that the Republic of Paraguay and the Argentine Confederation have yielded to the liberal policy still resisted by Brazil in regard to the navigable rivers within their respective territories. Treaties embracing this subject, among others, have been negotiated with these Governments, which will be submitted to the Senate at the present session. A new branch of commerce, important to the agricultural interests of the United States, has within a few years past been opened with Peru. Notwithstanding the inexhaustible deposits of guano upon the islands of that country, considerable difficulties are experienced in obtaining the requisite supply. Measures have been taken to remove these difficulties and to secure a more abundant importation of the article. Unfortunately, there has been a serious collision between our citizens who have resorted to the Chincha Islands for it and the Peruvian authorities stationed there. Redress for the outrages committed by the latter was promptly demanded by our minister at Lima. This subject is now under consideration, and there is reason to believe that Peru is disposed to offer adequate indemnity to the aggrieved parties. We are thus not only at peace with all foreign countries, but, in regard to political affairs, are exempt from any cause of serious disquietude in our domestic relations. The controversies which have agitated the country heretofore are passing away with the causes which produced them and the passions which they had awakened; or, if any trace of them remains, it may be reasonably hoped that it will only be perceived in the zealous rivalry of all good citizens to testify their respect for the rights of the States, their devotion to the Union, and their common determination that each one of the States, its institutions, its welfare, and its domestic peace, shall be held alike secure under the sacred aegis of the Constitution. This new league of amity and of mutual confidence and support into which the people of the Republic have entered happily affords inducement and opportunity for the adoption of a more comprehensive and unembarrassed line of policy and action as to the great material interests of the country, whether regarded in themselves or in connection with the powers of the civilized world. The United States have continued gradually and steadily to expand through acquisitions of territory, which, how much soever some of them may have been questioned, are now universally seen and admitted to have been wise in policy, just in character, and a great element in the advancement of our country, and with it of the human race, in freedom, in prosperity, and in happiness. The thirteen States have grown to be thirty-one, with relations reaching to Europe on the one side and on the other to the distant realms of Asia. I am deeply sensible of the immense responsibility which the present magnitude of the Republic and the diversity and multiplicity of its interests devolves upon me, the alleviation of which so far as relates to the immediate conduct of the public business, is, first, in my reliance on the wisdom and patriotism of the two Houses of Congress, and, secondly, in the directions afforded me by the principles of public polity affirmed by our fathers of the epoch of 1798, sanctioned by long experience, and consecrated anew by the overwhelming voice of the people of the United States. Recurring to these principles, which constitute the organic basis of union, we perceive that vast as are the functions and the duties of the Federal Government, vested in or intrusted to its three great departments--the legislative, executive, and judicial--yet the substantive power, the popular force, and the large capacities for social and material development exist in the respective States, which, all being of themselves well-constituted republics, as they preceded so they alone are capable of maintaining and perpetuating the American Union. The Federal Government has its appropriate line of action in the specific and limited powers conferred on it by the Constitution, chiefly as to those things in which the States have a common interest in their relations to one another and to foreign governments, while the great mass of interests which belong to cultivated men--the ordinary business of life, the springs of industry, all the diversified personal and domestic affairs of society--rest securely upon the general reserved powers of the people of the several States. There is the effective democracy of the nation, and there the vital essence of its being and its greatness. Of the practical consequences which flow from the nature of the Federal Government, the primary one is the duty of administering with integrity and fidelity the high trust reposed in it by the Constitution, especially in the application of the public funds as drawn by taxation from the people and appropriated to specific objects by Congress. Happily, I have no occasion to suggest any radical changes in the financial policy of the Government. Ours is almost, if not absolutely, the solitary power of Christendom having a surplus revenue drawn immediately from imposts on commerce, and therefore measured by the spontaneous enterprise and national prosperity of the country, with such indirect relation to agriculture, manufactures, and the products of the earth and sea as to violate no constitutional doctrine and yet vigorously promote the general welfare. Neither as to the sources of the public treasure nor as to the manner of keeping and managing it does any grave controversy now prevail, there being a general acquiescence in the wisdom of the present system. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will exhibit in detail the state of the public finances and the condition of the various branches of the public service administered by that Department of the Government. The revenue of the country, levied almost insensibly to the taxpayer, goes on from year to year, increasing beyond either the interests or the prospective wants of the Government. At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1852, there remained in the Treasury a balance of $14,632,136. The public revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1853, amounted to $58,931,865 from customs and to $2,405,708 from public lands and other miscellaneous sources, amounting together to $61,337,574, while the public expenditures for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to $43,554,262, leaving a balance of $32,425,447 of receipts above expenditures. This fact of increasing surplus in the Treasury became the subject of anxious consideration at a very early period of my Administration, and the path of duty in regard to it seemed to me obvious and clear, namely: First, to apply the surplus revenue to the discharge of the public debt so far as it could judiciously be done, and, secondly, to devise means for the gradual reduction of the revenue to the standard of the public exigencies. Of these objects the first has been in the course of accomplishment in a manner and to a degree highly satisfactory. The amount of the public debt of all classes was on the 4th of March, 1853, $69,190,037, payments on account of which have been made since that period to the amount of $12,703,329, leaving unpaid and in continuous course of liquidation the sum of $56,486,708. These payments, although made at the market price of the respective classes of stocks, have been effected readily and to the general advantage of the Treasury, and have at the same time proved of signal utility in the relief they have incidentally afforded to the money market and to the industrial and commercial pursuits of the country. The second of the above-mentioned objects, that of the reduction of the tariff, is of great importance, and the plan suggested by the Secretary of the Treasury, which is to reduce the duties on certain articles and to add to the free list many articles now taxed, and especially such as enter into manufactures and are not largely, or at all, produced in the country, is commended to your candid and careful consideration. You will find in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, also, abundant proof of the entire adequacy of the present fiscal system to meet all the requirements of the public service, and that, while properly administered, it operates to the advantage of the community in ordinary business relations. I respectfully ask your attention to sundry suggestions of improvements in the settlement of accounts, especially as regards the large sums of outstanding arrears due to the Government, and of other reforms in the administrative action of his Department which are indicated by the Secretary; as also to the progress made in the construction of marine hospitals, custom-houses, and of a new mint in California and assay office in the city of New York, heretofore provided for by Congress, and also to the eminently successful progress of the Coast Survey and of the Light House Board. Among the objects meriting your attention will be important recommendations from the Secretaries of War and Navy. I am fully satisfied that the Navy of the United States is not in a condition of strength and efficiency commensurate with the magnitude of our commercial and other interests, and commend to your especial attention the suggestions on this subject made by the Secretary of the Navy. I respectfully submit that the Army, which under our system must always be regarded with the highest interest as a nucleus around which the volunteer forces of the nation gather in the hour of danger, requires augmentation, or modification, to adapt it to the present extended limits and frontier relations of the country and the condition of the Indian tribes in the interior of the continent, the necessity of which will appear in the communications of the Secretaries of War and the Interior. In the administration of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1853, the gross expenditure was $7,982,756, and the gross receipts during the same period $5,942,734, showing that the current revenue failed to meet the current expenses of the Department by the sum of $2,042,032. The causes which, under the present postal system and laws, led inevitably to this result are fully explained by the report of the Postmaster-General, one great cause being the enormous rates the Department has been compelled to pay for mail service rendered by railroad companies. The exhibit in the report of the Postmaster-General of the income and expenditures by mail steamers will be found peculiarly interesting and of a character to demand the immediate action of Congress. Numerous and flagrant frauds upon the Pension Bureau have been brought to light within the last year, and in some instances merited punishments inflicted; but, unfortunately, in others guilty parties have escaped, not through the want of sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, but in consequence of the provisions of limitation in the existing laws. From the nature of these claims, the remoteness of the tribunals to pass upon them, and the mode in which the proof is of necessity furnished, temptations to crime have been greatly stimulated by the obvious difficulties of detection. The defects in the law upon this subject are so apparent and so fatal to the ends of justice that your early action relating to it is most desirable. During the last fiscal year 9,819,411 acres of the public lands have been surveyed and 10,363,891 acres brought into market. Within the same period the sales by public purchase and private entry amounted to 1,083,495 acres; located under military bountys and warrants, 6,142,360 acres; located under other certificates, 9,427 acres; ceded to the States as swamp lands, 16,684,253 acres; selected for railroad and other objects under acts of Congress, 1,427,457 acres: total amount of lands disposed of within the fiscal year, 25,346,992 acres, which is an increase in quantity sold and located under land warrants and grants of 12,231, 818 acres over the fiscal year immediately preceding. The quantity of land sold during the second and third quarters of 1852 was 334,451 acres; the amount received therefor was $623,687. The quantity sold the second and third quarters of the year 1853 was 1,609,919 acres, and the amount received therefor $2,226,876. The whole number of land warrants issued under existing laws prior to the 30th of September last was 266,042, of which there were outstanding at that date 66,947. The quantity of land required to satisfy these outstanding warrants is 4,778,120 acres. Warrants have been issued to 30th of September last under the act of 11th February, 1847, calling for 12,879,280 acres, under acts of September 28, 1850, and March 22, 1852, calling for 12,505,360 acres, making a total of 25,384,640 acres. It is believed that experience has verified the wisdom and justice of the present system with regard to the public domain in most essential particulars. You will perceive from the report of the Secretary of the Interior that opinions which have often been expressed in relation to the operation of the land system as not being a source of revenue to the Federal Treasury were erroneous. The net profits from the sale of the public lands to June 30, 1853, amounted to the sum of $53,289,465. I recommend the extension of the land system over the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, with such modifications as their peculiarities may require. Regarding our public domain as chiefly valuable to provide homes for the industrious and enterprising, I am not prepared to recommend any essential change in the land system, except by modifications in favor of the actual settler and an extension of the preemption principle in certain cases, for reasons and on grounds which will be fully developed in the reports to be laid before you. Congress, representing the proprietors of the territorial domain and charged especially with power to dispose of territory belonging to the United States, has for a long course of years, beginning with the Administration of Mr. Jefferson, exercised the power to construct roads within the Territories, and there are so many and obvious distinctions between this exercise of power and that of making roads within the States that the former has never been considered subject to such objections as apply to the latter; and such may now be considered the settled construction of the power of the Federal Government upon the subject. Numerous applications have been and no doubt will continue to be made for grants of land in aid of the construction of railways. It is not believed to be within the intent and meaning of the Constitution that the power to dispose of the public domain should be used otherwise than might be expected from a prudent proprietor and therefore that grants of land to aid in the construction of roads should be restricted to cases where it would be for the interest of a proprietor under like circumstances thus to contribute to the construction of these works. For the practical operation of such grants thus far in advancing the interests ot the States in which the works are located, and at the same time the substantial interests of all the other States, by enhancing the value and promoting the rapid sale of the public domain, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Interior. A careful examination, however, will show that this experience is the result of a just discrimination and will be far from affording encouragement to a reckless or indiscriminate extension of the principle. I commend to your favorable consideration the men of genius of our country who by their inventions and discoveries in science and arts have contributed largely to the improvements of the age without, in many instances, securing for themselves anything like an adequate reward. For many interesting details upon this subject I refer you to the appropriate reports, and especially urge upon your early attention the apparently slight, but really important, modifications of existing laws therein suggested. The liberal spirit which has so long marked the action of Congress in relation to the District of Columbia will, I have no doubt, continue to be manifested. The erection of an asylum for the insane of the District of Columbia and of the Army and Navy of the United States has been somewhat retarded by the great demand for materials and labor during the past summer, but full preparation for the reception of patients before the return of another winter is anticipated; and there is the best reason to believe, from the plan and contemplated arrangements which have been devised, with the large experience furnished within the last few years in relation to the nature and treatment of the disease, that it will prove an asylum indeed to this most helpless and afflicted class of sufferers and stand as a noble monument of wisdom and mercy. Under the acts of Congress of August 31, 1852, and of March 3, 1853, designed to secure for the cities of Washington and Georgetown an abundant supply of good and wholesome water, it became my duty to examine the report and plans of the engineer who had charge of the surveys under the act first named. The best, if not the only, plan calculated to secure permanently the object sought was that which contemplates taking the water from the Great Falls of the Potomac, and consequently I gave to it my approval. For the progress and present condition of this important work and for its demands so far as appropriations are concerned I refer you to the report of the Secretary of War. The present judicial system of the United States has now been in operation for so long a period of time and has in its general theory and much of its details become so familiar to the country and acquired so entirely the public confidence that if modified in any respect it should only be in those particulars which may adapt it to the increased extent, population, and legal business of the United States. In this relation the organization of the courts is now confessedly inadequate to the duties to be performed by them, in consequence of which the States of Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, and California, and districts of other States, are in effect excluded from the full benefits of the general system by the functions of the circuit court being devolved on the district judges in all those States or parts of States. The spirit of the Constitution and a due regard to justice require that all the States of the Union should be placed on the same footing in regard to the judicial tribunals. I therefore commend to your consideration this important subject, which in my judgment demands the speedy action of Congress. I will present to you, if deemed desirable, a plan which I am prepared to recommend for the enlargement and modification of the present judicial system. The act of Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution provided that the President of the United States and other persons therein designated should constitute an "establishment" by that name, and that the members should hold stated and special meetings for the supervision of the affairs of the Institution. The organization not having taken place, it seemed to me proper that it should be effected without delay. This has been done; and an occasion was thereby presented for inspecting the condition of the Institution and appreciating its successful progress thus far and its high promise of great and general usefulness. I have omitted to ask your favorable consideration for the estimates of works of a local character in twenty-seven of the thirty-one States, amounting to $1,754,500, because, independently of the grounds which have so often been urged against the application of the Federal revenue for works of this character, inequality, with consequent injustice, is inherent in the nature of the proposition, and because the plan has proved entirely inadequate to the accomplishment of the objects sought. The subject of internal improvements, claiming alike the interest and good will of all, has, nevertheless, been the basis of much political discussion and has stood as a deep-graven line of division between statesmen of eminent ability and patriotism. The rule of strict construction of all powers delegated by the States to the General Government has arrayed itself from time to time against the rapid progress of expenditures from the National Treasury on works of a local character within the States. Memorable as an epoch in the history of this subject is the message of President Jackson of the 27th of May, 1830, which met the system of internal improvements in its comparative infancy; but so rapid had been its growth that the projected appropriations in that year for works of this character had risen to the alarming amount of more than $100,000,000 In that message the President admitted the difficulty of bringing back the operations of the Government to the construction of the Constitution set up in 1798, and marked it as an admonitory proof of the necessity of guarding that instrument with sleepless vigilance against the authority of precedents which had not the sanction of its most plainly defined powers. Our Government exists under a written compact between sovereign States, uniting for specific objects and with specific grants to their general agent. If, then, in the progress of its administration there have been departures from the terms and intent of the compact, it is and will ever be proper to refer back to the fixed standard which our fathers left us and to make a stern effort to conform our action to it. It would seem that the fact of a principle having been resisted from the first by many of the wisest and most patriotic men of the Republic, and a policy having provoked constant strife without arriving at a conclusion which can be regarded as satisfactory to its most earnest advocates, should suggest the inquiry whether there may not be a plan likely to be crowned by happier results. Without perceiving any sound distinction or intending to assert any principle as opposed to improvements needed for the protection of internal commerce which does not equally apply to improvements upon the seaboard for the protection of foreign commerce, I submit to you whether it may not be safely anticipated that if the policy were once settled against appropriations by the General Government for local improvements for the benefit of commerce, localities requiring expenditures would not, by modes and means clearly legitimate and proper, raise the fund necessary for such constructions as the safety or other interests of their commerce might require. If that can be regarded as a system which in the experience of mere than thirty years has at no time so commanded the public judgment as to give it the character of a settled policy; which, though it has produced some works of conceded importance, has been attended with an expenditure quite disproportionate to their value and has resulted in squandering large sums upon objects which have answered no valuable purpose, the interests of all the States require it to be abandoned unless hopes may be indulged for the future which find no warrant in the past. With an anxious desire for the completion of the works which are regarded by all good citizens with sincere interest, I have deemed it my duty to ask at your hands a deliberate reconsideration of the question, with a hope that, animated by a desire to promote the permanent and substantial interests of the country, your wisdom may prove equal to the task of devising and maturing a plan which, applied to this subject, may promise something better than constant strife, the suspension of the powers of local enterprise, the exciting of vain hopes, and the disappointment of cherished expectations. In expending the appropriations made by the last Congress several cases have arisen in relation to works for the improvement of harbors which involve questions as to the right of soil and jurisdiction, and have threatened conflict between the authority of the State and General Governments. The right to construct a breakwater, jetty, or dam would seem necessarily to carry with it the power to protect and preserve such constructions. This can only be effectually done by having jurisdiction over the soil. But no clause of the Constitution is found on which to rest the claim of the United States to exercise jurisdiction over the soil of a State except that conferred by the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution. It is, then, submitted whether, in all cases where constructions are to be erected by the General Government, the right of soil should not first be obtained and legislative provision be made to cover all such cases. For the progress made in the construction of roads within the Territories, as provided for in the appropriations of the last Congress, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of War. There is one subject of a domestic nature which, from its intrinsic importance and the many interesting questions of future policy which it involves, can not fail to receive your early attention. I allude to the means of communication by which different parts of the wide expanse of our country are to be placed in closer connection for purposes both of defense and commercial intercourse, and more especially such as appertain to the communication of those great divisions of the Union which lie on the opposite sides of the Rocky Mountains. That the Government has not been unmindful of this heretofore is apparent from the aid it has afforded through appropriations for mail facilities and other purposes. But the general subject will now present itself under aspects more imposing and more purely national by reason of the surveys ordered by Congress, and now in the process of completion, for communication by railway across the continent, and wholly within the limits of the United States. The power to declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, and to call forth the militia to execute the laws, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions was conferred upon Congress as means to provide for the common defense and to protect a territory and a population now widespread and vastly multiplied. As incidental to and indispensable for the exercise of this power, it must sometimes be necessary to construct military roads and protect harbors of refuge. To appropriations by Congress for such objects no sound objection can be raised. Happily for our country, its peaceful policy and rapidly increasing population impose upon us no urgent necessity for preparation, and leave but few trackless deserts between assailable points and a patriotic people ever ready and generally able to protect them. These necessary links the enterprise and energy of our people are steadily and boldly struggling to supply. All experience affirms that wherever private enterprise will avail it is most wise for the General Government to leave to that and individual watchfulness the location and execution of all means of communication. The surveys before alluded to were designed to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the river Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Parties are now in the field making explorations, where previous examinations had not supplied sufficient data and where there was the best reason to hope the object sought might be found. The means and time being both limited, it is not to be expected that all the accurate knowledge desired will be obtained, but it is hoped that much and important information will be added to the stock previously possessed, and that partial, if not full, reports of the surveys ordered will be received in time for transmission to the two Houses of Congress on or before the first Monday in February next, as required by the act of appropriation. The magnitude of the enterprise contemplated has aroused and will doubtless continue to excite a very general interest throughout the country. In its political, its commercial, and its military bearings it has varied, great, and increasing claims to consideration. The heavy expense, the great delay, and, at times, fatality attending travel by either of the Isthmus routes have demonstrated the advantage which would result from interterritorial communication by such safe and rapid means as a railroad would supply. These difficulties, which have been encountered in a period of peace, would be magnified and still further increased in time of war. But whilst the embarrassments already encountered and others under new contingencies to be anticipated may serve strikingly to exhibit the importance of such a work, neither these nor all considerations combined can have an appreciable value when weighed against the obligation strictly to adhere to the Constitution and faithfully to execute the powers it confers. Within this limit and to the extent of the interest of the Government involved it would seem both expedient and proper if an economical and practicable route shall be found to aid by all constitutional means in the construction of a road which will unite by speedy transit the populations of the Pacific and Atlantic States. To guard against misconception, it should be remarked that although the power to construct or aid in the construction of a road within the limits of a Territory is not embarrassed by that question of jurisdiction which would arise within the limits of a State, it is, nevertheless, held to be of doubtful power and more than doubtful propriety, even within the limits of a Territory, for the General Government to undertake to administer the affairs of a railroad, a canal, or other similar construction, and therefore that its connection with a work of this character should be incidental rather than primary. I will only add at present that, fully appreciating the magnitude of the subject and solicitous that the Atlantic and Pacific shores of the Republic may be bound together by inseparable ties of common interest, as well as of common fealty and attachment to the Union, I shall be disposed, so far as my own action is concerned, to follow the lights of the Constitution as expounded and illustrated by those whose opinions and expositions constitute the standard of my political faith in regard to the powers of the Federal Government. It is, I trust, not necessary to say that no grandeur of enterprise and no present urgent inducement promising popular favor will lead me to disregard those lights or to depart from that path which experience has proved to be safe, and which is now radiant with the glow of prosperity and legitimate constitutional progress. We can afford to wait, but we can not afford to overlook the ark of our security. It is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any subject which may properly be regarded as set at rest by the deliberate judgment of the people. But while the present is bright with promise and the future full of demand and inducement for the exercise of active intelligence, the past can never be without useful lessons of admonition and instruction. If its dangers serve not as beacons, they will evidently fail to fulfill the object of a wise design. When the grave shall have closed over all who are now endeavoring to meet the obligations of duty, the year 1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with anxious apprehension. A successful war had just terminated. Peace brought with it a vast augmentation of territory. Disturbing questions arose bearing upon the domestic institutions of one portion of the Confederacy and involving the constitutional rights of the States. But notwithstanding differences of opinion and sentiment which then existed in relation to details and specific provisions, the acquiescence of distinguished citizens, whose devotion to the Union can never be doubted, has given renewed vigor to our institutions and restored a sense of repose and security to the public mind throughout the Confederacy. That this repose is to suffer no shock during my official term, if I have power to avert it, those who placed me here may be assured. The wisdom of men who knew what independence cost, who had put all at stake upon the issue of the Revolutionary struggle, disposed of the subject to which I refer in the only way consistent with the Union of these States and with the march of power and prosperity which has made us what we are. It is a significant fact that from the adoption of the Constitution until the officers and soldiers of the Revolution had passed to their graves, or, through the infirmities of age and wounds, had ceased to participate actively in public affairs, there was not merely a quiet acquiescence in, but a prompt vindication of, the constitutional rights of the States. The reserved powers were scrupulously respected. No statesman put forth the narrow views of casuists to justify interference and agitation, but the spirit of the compact was regarded as sacred in the eye of honor and indispensable for the great experiment of civil liberty, which, environed by inherent difficulties, was yet borne forward in apparent weakness by a power superior to all obstacles. There is no condemnation which the voice of freedom will not pronounce upon us should we prove faithless to this great trust. While men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent can no more be expected to hold the same opinions or entertain the same sentiments than every variety of climate or soil can be expected to furnish the same agricultural products, they can unite in a common object and sustain common principles essential to the maintenance of that object. The gallant men of the South and the North could stand together during the struggle of the Revolution; they could stand together in the more trying period which succeeded the clangor of arms. As their united valor was adequate to all the trials of the camp and dangers of the field, so their united wisdom proved equal to the greater task of founding upon a deep and broad basis institutions which it has been our privilege to enjoy and will ever be our most sacred duty to sustain. It is but the feeble expression of a faith strong and universal to say that their sons, whose blood mingled so often upon the same field during the War of 1812 and who have more recently borne in triumph the flag of the country upon a foreign soil, will never permit alienation of feeling to weaken the power of their united efforts nor internal dissensions to paralyze the great arm of freedom, uplifted for the vindication of self-government. I have thus briefly presented such suggestions as seem to me especially worthy of your consideration. In providing for the present you can hardly fail to avail yourselves of the light which the experience of the past casts upon the future. The growth of our population has now brought us, in the destined career of our national history, to a point at which it well behooves us to expand our vision over the vast prospective. The successive decennial returns of the census since the adoption of the Constitution have revealed a law of steady, progressive development, which may be stated in general terms as a duplication every quarter century. Carried forward from the point already reached for only a short period of time, as applicable to the existence of a nation, this law of progress, if unchecked, will bring us to almost incredible results. A large allowance for a diminished proportional effect of emigration would not very materially reduce the estimate, while the increased average duration of human life known to have already resulted from the scientific and hygienic improvements of the past fifty years will tend to keep up through the next fifty, or perhaps hundred, the same ratio of growth which has been thus revealed in our past progress; and to the influence of these causes may be added the influx of laboring masses from eastern Asia to the Pacific side of our possessions, together with the probable accession of the populations already existing in other parts of our hemisphere, which within the period in question will feel with yearly increasing force the natural attraction of so vast, powerful, and prosperous a confederation of self-governing republics and will seek the privilege of being admitted within its safe and happy bosom, transferring with themselves, by a peaceful and healthy process of incorporation, spacious regions of virgin and exuberant soil, which are destined to swarm with the fast growing and fast-spreading millions of our race. These considerations seem fully to justify the presumption that the law of population above stated will continue to act with undiminished effect through at least the next half century, and that thousands of persons who have already arrived at maturity and are now exercising the rights of freemen will close their eyes on the spectacle of more than 100,000,000 of population embraced within the majestic proportions of the American Union. It is not merely as an interesting topic of speculation that I present these views for your consideration. They have important practical bearings upon all the political duties we are called upon to perform. Heretofore our system of government has worked on what may be termed a miniature scale in comparison with the development which it must thus assume within a future so near at hand as scarcely to be beyond the present of the existing generation. It is evident that a confederation so vast and so varied, both in numbers and in territorial extent, in habits and in interests, could only be kept in national cohesion by the strictest fidelity to the principles of the Constitution as understood by those who have adhered to the most restricted construction of the powers granted by the people and the States. Interpreted and applied according to those principles, the great compact adapts itself with healthy ease and freedom to an unlimited extension of that benign system of federative self-government of which it is our glorious and, I trust, immortal charter. Let us, then, with redoubled vigilance, be on our guard against yielding to the temptation of the exercise of doubtful powers, even under the pressure of the motives of conceded temporary advantage and apparent temporary expediency. The minimum of Federal government compatible with the maintenance of national unity and efficient action in our relations with the rest of the world should afford the rule and measure of construction of our powers under the general clauses of the Constitution. A spirit of strict deference to the sovereign rights and dignity of every State, rather than a disposition to subordinate the States into a provincial relation to the central authority, should characterize all our exercise of the respective powers temporarily vested in us as a sacred trust from the generous confidence of our constituents. In like manner, as a manifestly indispensable condition of the perpetuation of the Union and of the realization of that magnificent national future adverted to, does the duty become yearly stronger and clearer upon us, as citizens of the several States, to cultivate a fraternal and affectionate spirit, language, and conduct in regard to other States and in relation to the varied interests, institutions, and habits of sentiment and opinion which may respectively characterize them. Mutual forbearance, respect, and noninterference in our personal action as citizens and an enlarged exercise of the most liberal principles of comity in the public dealings of State with State, whether in legislation or in the execution of laws, are the means to perpetuate that confidence and fraternity the decay of which a mere political union, on so vast a scale, could not long survive. In still another point of view is an important practical duty suggested by this consideration of the magnitude of dimensions to which our political system, with its corresponding machinery of government, is so rapidly expanding. With increased vigilance does it require us to cultivate the cardinal virtues of public frugality and official integrity and purity. Public affairs ought to be so conducted that a settled conviction shall pervade the entire Union that nothing short of the highest tone and standard of public morality marks every part of the administration and legislation of the General Government. Thus will the federal system, whatever expansion time and progress may give it, continue more and more deeply rooted in the love and confidence of the people. That wise economy which is as far removed from parsimony as from corrupt and corrupting extravagance; that single regard for the public good which will frown upon all attempts to approach the Treasury with insidious projects of private interest cloaked under public pretexts; that sound fiscal administration which, in the legislative department, guards against the dangerous temptations incident to overflowing revenue, and, in the executive, maintains an unsleeping watchfulness against the tendency of all national expenditure to extravagance, while they are admitted elementary political duties, may, I trust, be deemed as properly adverted to and urged in view of the more impressive sense of that necessity which is directly suggested by the considerations now presented. Since the adjournment of Congress the Vice-President of the United States has passed from the scenes of earth, without having entered upon the duties of the station to which he had been called by the voice of his countrymen. Having occupied almost continuously for more than thirty years a seat in one or the other of the two Houses of Congress, and having by his singular purity and wisdom secured unbounded confidence and universal respect, his failing health was watched by the nation with painful solicitude. His loss to the country, under all the circumstances, has been justly regarded as irreparable. In compliance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1853, the oath of office was administered to him on the 24th of that month at Ariadne estate, near Matanzas, in the island of Cuba; but his strength gradually declined, and was hardly sufficient to enable him to return to his home in Alabama, where, on the 18th day of April, in the most calm and peaceful way, his long and eminently useful career was terminated. Entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the public interest, and being conscious of no motives on my part which are not inseparable from the honor and advancement of my country, I hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure not only your cordial cooperation in great public measures, but also those relations of mutual confidence and regard which it is always so desirable to cultivate between members of coordinate branches of the Government.
The interest with which the people of the Republic anticipate the assembling of Congress and the fulfillment on that occasion of the duty imposed upon a new President is one of the best evidences of their capacity to realize the hopes of the founders of a political system at once complex and symmetrical. While the different branches of the Government are to a certain extent independent of each other, the duties of all alike have direct reference to the source of power. Fortunately, under this system no man is so high and none so humble in the scale of public station as to escape from the scrutiny or to be exempt from the responsibility which all official functions imply. Upon the justice and intelligence of the masses, in a government thus organized, is the sole reliance of the confederacy and the only security for honest and earnest devotion to its interests against the usurpations and encroachment of power on the one hand and the assaults of personal ambition on the other. The interest of which I have spoken is inseparable from an inquiring, self-governing community, but stimulated, doubtless, at the present time by the unsettled condition of our relations with several foreign powers, by the new obligations resulting from a sudden extension of the field of enterprise, by the spirit with which that field has been entered and the amazing energy with which its resources for meeting the demands of humanity have been developed. Although disease, assuming at one time the characteristics of a widespread and devastating pestilence, has left its sad traces upon some portions of our country, we have still the most abundant because for reverent thankfulness to God for an accumulation of signal mercies showered upon us as a nation. It is well that a consciousness of rapid advancement and increasing strength be habitually associated with an abiding sense of dependence upon Him who holds in His hands the destiny of men and of nations. Recognizing the wisdom of the broad principle of absolute religious toleration proclaimed in our fundamental law, and rejoicing in the benign influence which it has exerted upon our social and political condition, I should shrink from a clear duty did I fail to express my deepest conviction that we can place no secure reliance upon any apparent progress if it be not sustained by national integrity, resting upon the great truths affirmed and illustrated by divine revelation. In the midst of our sorrow for the afflicted and suffering, it has been consoling to see how promptly disaster made true neighbors of districts and cities separated widely from each other, and cheering to watch the strength of that common bond of brotherhood which unites all hearts, in all parts of this Union, when danger threatens from abroad or calamity impends over us at home. Our diplomatic relations with foreign powers have undergone no essential changesince the adjournment of the last Congress. With some of them questions of a disturbing character are still pending, but there are good reasons to believe that these may all be amicably adjusted. For some years past Great Britain has so construed the first article of the convention of the 20th of April, 1818, in regard to the fisheries on the northeastern coast, as to exclude our citizens from some of the fishing grounds to which they freely resorted for nearly a quarter of a century subsequent to the date of that treaty. The United States have never acquiesced in this construction, but have always claimed for their fishermen all the rights which they had so long enjoyed without molestation. With a view to remove all difficulties on the subject, to extend the rights of our fishermen beyond the limits fixed by the convention of 1818, and to regulate trade between the United States and the British North American Provinces, a negotiation has been opened with a fair prospect of a favorable result. To protect our fishermen in the enjoyment of their rights and prevent collision between them and British fishermen, I deemed it expedient to station a naval force in that quarter during the fishing season. Embarrassing questions have also arisen between the two Governments in regard to Central America. Great Britain has proposed to settle them by an amicable arrangement, and our minister at London is instructed to enter into negotiations on that subject. A commission for adjusting the claims of our citizens against Great Britain and those of British subjects against the United States, organized under the convention of the 8th of February last, is now sitting in London for the transaction of business. It is in many respects desirable that the boundary line between the United States and the British Provinces in the northwest, as designated in the convention of the 15th of June, 1846, and especially that part which separates the Territory of Washington from the British possessions on the north, should be traced and marked. I therefore present the subject to your notice. With France our relations continue on the most friendly footing. The extensive commerce between the United States and that country might, it is conceived, be released from some unnecessary restrictions to the mutual advantage of both parties. With a view to this object, some progress has been made in negotiating a treaty of commerce and navigation. Independently of our valuable trade with Spain, we have important political relations with her growing out of our neighborhood to the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. I am happy to announce that since the last Congress no attempts have been made by unauthorized expeditions within the United States against either of those colonies. Should any movement be manifested within our limits, all the means at my command will be vigorously exerted to repress it. Several annoying occurrences have taken place at Havana, or in the vicinity of the island of Cuba, between our citizens and the Spanish authorities. Considering the proximity of that island to our shores, lying, as it does, in the track of trade between some of our principal cities, and the suspicious vigilance with which foreign intercourse, particularly that with the United States, is there guarded, a repetition of such occurrences may well be apprehended. As no diplomatic intercourse is allowed between our consul at Havana and the Captain-General of Cuba, ready explanations can not be made or prompt redress afforded where injury has resulted. All complaint on the part of our citizens under the present arrangement must be, in the first place, presented to this Government and then referred to Spain. Spain again refers it to her local authorities in Cuba for investigation, and postpones an answer till she has heard from those authorities. To avoid these irritating and vexatious delays, a proposition has been made to provide for a direct appeal for redress to the Captain-General by our consul in behalf of our injured fellow-citizens. Hitherto the Government of Spain has declined to enter into any such arrangement. This course on her part is deeply regretted, for without some arrangement of this kind the good understanding between the two countries may be exposed to occasional interruption. Our minister at Madrid is instructed to renew the proposition and to press it again upon the consideration of Her Catholic Majesty's Government. For several years Spain has been calling the attention of this Government to a claim for losses by some of her subjects in the case of the schooner Amistad. This claim is believed to rest on the obligations imposed by our existing treaty with that country. Its justice was admitted in our diplomatic correspondence with the Spanish Government as early as March, 1847, and one of my predecessors, in his annual message of that year, recommended that provision should be made for its payment. In January last it was again submitted to Congress by the Executive. It has received a favorable consideration by committees of both branches, but as yet there has been no final action upon it. I conceive that good faith requires its prompt adjustment, and I present it to your early and favorable consideration. Martin Koszta, a Hungarian by birth, came to this country in 1850, and declared his intention in due form of law to become a citizen of the United States. After remaining here nearly two years he visited Turkey. While at Smyrna he was forcibly seized, taken on board an Austrian brig of war then lying in the harbor of that place, and there confined in irons, with the avowed design to take him into the dominions of Austria. Our consul at Smyrna and legation at Constantinople interposed for his release, but their efforts were ineffectual. While thus in prison Commander Ingraham, with the United States ship of war St. Louis, arrived at Smyrna, and after inquiring into the circumstances of the case came to the conclusion that Koszta was entitled to the protection of this Government, and took energetic and prompt measures for his release. Under an arrangement between the agents of the United States and of Austria, he was transferred to the custody of the French consul-general at Smyrna, there to remain until he should be disposed of by the mutual agreement of the consuls of the respective Governments at that place. Pursuant to that agreement, he has been released, and is now in the United States. The Emperor of Austria has made the conduct of our officers who took part in this transaction a subject of grave complaint. Regarding Koszta as still his subject, and claiming a right to seize him within the limits of the Turkish Empire, he has demanded of this Government its consent to the surrender of the prisoner, a disavowal of the acts of its agents, and satisfaction for the alleged outrage. After a careful consideration of the case I came to the conclusion that Koszta was seized without legal authority at Smyrna; that he was wrongfully detained on board of the Austrian brig of war; that at the time of his seizure he was clothed with the nationality of the United States, and that the acts of our officers, under the circumstances of the case, were justifiable, and their conduct has been fully approved by me, and a compliance with the several demands of the Emperor of Austria has been declined. For a more full account of this transaction and my views in regard to it I refer to the correspondence between the charge d'affaires of Austria and the Secretary of State, which is herewith transmitted. The principles and policy therein maintained on the part of the United States will, whenever a proper occasion occurs, be applied and enforced. The condition of China at this time renders it probable that some important changes will occur in that vast Empire which will lead to a more unrestricted intercourse with it. The commissioner to that country who has been recently appointed is instructed to avail himself of all occasions to open and extend our commercial relations, not only with the Empire of China, but with other Asiatic nations. In 1852 an expedition was sent to Japan, under the command of Commodore Perry, for the purpose of opening commercial intercourse with that Empire. Intelligence has been received of his arrival there and of his having made known to the Emperor of Japan the object of his visit. But it is not yet ascertained how far the Emperor will be disposed to abandon his restrictive policy and open that populous country to a commercial intercourse with the United States. It has been my earnest desire to maintain friendly intercourse with the Governments upon this continent and to aid them in preserving good understanding among themselves. With Mexico a dispute has arisen as to the true boundary line between our Territory of New Mexico and the Mexican State of Chihuahua. A former commissioner of the United States, employed in running that line pursuant to the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, made a serious mistake in determining the initial point on the Rio Grande; but inasmuch as his decision was clearly a departure from the directions for tracing the boundary contained in that treaty, and was not concurred in by the surveyor appointed on the part of the United States, whose concurrence was necessary to give validity to that decision, this Government is not concluded thereby; but that of Mexico takes a different view of the subject. There are also other questions of considerable magnitude pending between the two Republics. Our minister in Mexico has ample instructions to adjust them. Negotiations have been opened, but sufficient progress has not been made therein to enable me to speak of the probable result. Impressed with the importance of maintaining amicable relations with that Republic and of yielding with liberality to all her just claims, it is reasonable to expect that an arrangement mutually satisfactory to both countries may be concluded and a lasting friendship between them confirmed and perpetuated. Congress having provided for a full mission to the States of Central America, a minister was sent thither in July last. As yet he has had time to visit only one of these States (Nicaragua), where he was received in the most friendly manner. It is hoped that his presence and good offices will have a benign effect in composing the dissensions which prevail among them, and in establishing still more intimate and friendly relations between them respectively and between each of them and the United States. Considering the vast regions of this continent and the number of states which would be made accessible by the free navigation of the river Amazon, particular attention has been given to this subject. Brazil, through whose territories it passes into the ocean, has hitherto persisted in a policy so restricted in regard to the use of this river as to obstruct and nearly exclude foreign commercial intercourse with the States which lie upon its tributaries and upper branches. Our minister to that country is instructed to obtain a relaxation of that policy and to use his efforts to induce the Brazilian Government to open to common use, under proper safeguards, this great natural highway for international trade. Several of the South American States are deeply interested in this attempt to secure the free navigation of the Amazon, and it is reasonable to expect their cooperation in the measure. As the advantages of free commercial intercourse among nations are better understood, more liberal views are generally entertained as to the common rights of all to the free use of those means which nature has provided for international communication. To these more liberal and enlightened views it is hoped that Brazil will conform her policy and remove all unnecessary restrictions upon the free use of a river which traverses so many states and so large a part of the continent. I am happy to inform you that the Republic of Paraguay and the Argentine Confederation have yielded to the liberal policy still resisted by Brazil in regard to the navigable rivers within their respective territories. Treaties embracing this subject, among others, have been negotiated with these Governments, which will be submitted to the Senate at the present session. A new branch of commerce, important to the agricultural interests of the United States, has within a few years past been opened with Peru. Notwithstanding the inexhaustible deposits of guano upon the islands of that country, considerable difficulties are experienced in obtaining the requisite supply. Measures have been taken to remove these difficulties and to secure a more abundant importation of the article. Unfortunately, there has been a serious collision between our citizens who have resorted to the Chincha Islands for it and the Peruvian authorities stationed there. Redress for the outrages committed by the latter was promptly demanded by our minister at Lima. This subject is now under consideration, and there is reason to believe that Peru is disposed to offer adequate indemnity to the aggrieved parties. We are thus not only at peace with all foreign countries, but, in regard to political affairs, are exempt from any because of serious disquietude in our domestic relations. The controversies which have agitated the country heretofore are passing away with the causes which produced them and the passions which they had awakened; or, if any trace of them remains, it may be reasonably hoped that it will only be perceived in the zealous rivalry of all good citizens to testify their respect for the rights of the States, their devotion to the Union, and their common determination that each one of the States, its institutions, its welfare, and its domestic peace, shall be held alike secure under the sacred aegis of the Constitution. This new league of amity and of mutual confidence and support into which the people of the Republic have entered happily affords inducement and opportunity for the adoption of a more comprehensive and unembarrassed line of policy and action as to the great material interests of the country, whether regarded in themselves or in connection with the powers of the civilized world. The United States have continued gradually and steadily to expand through acquisitions of territory, which, how much soever some of them may have been questioned, are now universally seen and admitted to have been wise in policy, just in character, and a great element in the advancement of our country, and with it of the human race, in freedom, in prosperity, and in happiness. The thirteen States have grown to be thirty-one, with relations reaching to Europe on the one side and on the other to the distant realms of Asia. I am deeply sensible of the immense responsibility which the present magnitude of the Republic and the diversity and multiplicity of its interests devolves upon me, the alleviation of which so far as relates to the immediate conduct of the public business, is, first, in my reliance on the wisdom and patriotism of the two Houses of Congress, and, secondly, in the directions afforded me by the principles of public polity affirmed by our fathers of the epoch of 1798, sanctioned by long experience, and consecrated anew by the overwhelming voice of the people of the United States. Recurring to these principles, which constitute the organic basis of union, we perceive that vast as are the functions and the duties of the Federal Government, vested in or intrusted to its three great departments--the legislative, executive, and judicial--yet the substantive power, the popular force, and the large capacities for social and material development exist in the respective States, which, all being of themselves well-constituted republics, as they preceded so they alone are capable of maintaining and perpetuating the American Union. The Federal Government has its appropriate line of action in the specific and limited powers conferred on it by the Constitution, chiefly as to those things in which the States have a common interest in their relations to one another and to foreign governments, while the great mass of interests which belong to cultivated men--the ordinary business of life, the springs of industry, all the diversified personal and domestic affairs of society--rest securely upon the general reserved powers of the people of the several States. There is the effective democracy of the nation, and there the vital essence of its being and its greatness. Of the practical consequences which flow from the nature of the Federal Government, the primary one is the duty of administering with integrity and fidelity the high trust reposed in it by the Constitution, especially in the application of the public funds as drawn by taxation from the people and appropriated to specific objects by Congress. Happily, I have no occasion to suggest any radical changes in the financial policy of the Government. Ours is almost, if not absolutely, the solitary power of Christendom having a surplus revenue drawn immediately from imposts on commerce, and therefore measured by the spontaneous enterprise and national prosperity of the country, with such indirect relation to agriculture, manufactures, and the products of the earth and sea as to violate no constitutional doctrine and yet vigorously promote the general welfare. Neither as to the sources of the public treasure nor as to the manner of keeping and managing it does any grave controversy now prevail, there being a general acquiescence in the wisdom of the present system. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will exhibit in detail the state of the public finances and the condition of the various branches of the public service administered by that Department of the Government. The revenue of the country, levied almost insensibly to the taxpayer, goes on from year to year, increasing beyond either the interests or the prospective wants of the Government. At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1852, there remained in the Treasury a balance of $14,632,136. The public revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1853, amounted to $58,931,865 from customs and to $2,405,708 from public lands and other miscellaneous sources, amounting together to $61,337,574, while the public expenditures for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to $43,554,262, leaving a balance of $32,425,447 of receipts above expenditures. This fact of increasing surplus in the Treasury became the subject of anxious consideration at a very early period of my Administration, and the path of duty in regard to it seemed to me obvious and clear, namely: First, to apply the surplus revenue to the discharge of the public debt so far as it could judiciously be done, and, secondly, to devise means for the gradual reduction of the revenue to the standard of the public exigencies. Of these objects the first has been in the course of accomplishment in a manner and to a degree highly satisfactory. The amount of the public debt of all classes was on the 4th of March, 1853, $69,190,037, payments on account of which have been made since that period to the amount of $12,703,329, leaving unpaid and in continuous course of liquidation the sum of $56,486,708. These payments, although made at the market price of the respective classes of stocks, have been effected readily and to the general advantage of the Treasury, and have at the same time proved of signal utility in the relief they have incidentally afforded to the money market and to the industrial and commercial pursuits of the country. The second of the above-mentioned objects, that of the reduction of the tariff, is of great importance, and the plan suggested by the Secretary of the Treasury, which is to reduce the duties on certain articles and to add to the free list many articles now taxed, and especially such as enter into manufactures and are not largely, or at all, produced in the country, is commended to your candid and careful consideration. You will find in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, also, abundant proof of the entire adequacy of the present fiscal system to meet all the requirements of the public service, and that, while properly administered, it operates to the advantage of the community in ordinary business relations. I respectfully ask your attention to sundry suggestions of improvements in the settlement of accounts, especially as regards the large sums of outstanding arrears due to the Government, and of other reforms in the administrative action of his Department which are indicated by the Secretary; as also to the progress made in the construction of marine hospitals, custom-houses, and of a new mint in California and assay office in the city of New York, heretofore provided for by Congress, and also to the eminently successful progress of the Coast Survey and of the Light House Board. Among the objects meriting your attention will be important recommendations from the Secretaries of War and Navy. I am fully satisfied that the Navy of the United States is not in a condition of strength and efficiency commensurate with the magnitude of our commercial and other interests, and commend to your especial attention the suggestions on this subject made by the Secretary of the Navy. I respectfully submit that the Army, which under our system must always be regarded with the highest interest as a nucleus around which the volunteer forces of the nation gather in the hour of danger, requires augmentation, or modification, to adapt it to the present extended limits and frontier relations of the country and the condition of the Indian tribes in the interior of the continent, the necessity of which will appear in the communications of the Secretaries of War and the Interior. In the administration of the Post-Office Department for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1853, the gross expenditure was $7,982,756, and the gross receipts during the same period $5,942,734, showing that the current revenue failed to meet the current expenses of the Department by the sum of $2,042,032. The causes which, under the present postal system and laws, led inevitably to this result are fully explained by the report of the Postmaster-General, one great because being the enormous rates the Department has been compelled to pay for mail service rendered by railroad companies. The exhibit in the report of the Postmaster-General of the income and expenditures by mail steamers will be found peculiarly interesting and of a character to demand the immediate action of Congress. Numerous and flagrant frauds upon the Pension Bureau have been brought to light within the last year, and in some instances merited punishments inflicted; but, unfortunately, in others guilty parties have escaped, not through the want of sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, but in consequence of the provisions of limitation in the existing laws. From the nature of these claims, the remoteness of the tribunals to pass upon them, and the mode in which the proof is of necessity furnished, temptations to crime have been greatly stimulated by the obvious difficulties of detection. The defects in the law upon this subject are so apparent and so fatal to the ends of justice that your early action relating to it is most desirable. During the last fiscal year 9,819,411 acres of the public lands have been surveyed and 10,363,891 acres brought into market. Within the same period the sales by public purchase and private entry amounted to 1,083,495 acres; located under military bountys and warrants, 6,142,360 acres; located under other certificates, 9,427 acres; ceded to the States as swamp lands, 16,684,253 acres; selected for railroad and other objects under acts of Congress, 1,427,457 acres: total amount of lands disposed of within the fiscal year, 25,346,992 acres, which is an increase in quantity sold and located under land warrants and grants of 12,231, 818 acres over the fiscal year immediately preceding. The quantity of land sold during the second and third quarters of 1852 was 334,451 acres; the amount received therefor was $623,687. The quantity sold the second and third quarters of the year 1853 was 1,609,919 acres, and the amount received therefor $2,226,876. The whole number of land warrants issued under existing laws prior to the 30th of September last was 266,042, of which there were outstanding at that date 66,947. The quantity of land required to satisfy these outstanding warrants is 4,778,120 acres. Warrants have been issued to 30th of September last under the act of 11th February, 1847, calling for 12,879,280 acres, under acts of September 28, 1850, and March 22, 1852, calling for 12,505,360 acres, making a total of 25,384,640 acres. It is believed that experience has verified the wisdom and justice of the present system with regard to the public domain in most essential particulars. You will perceive from the report of the Secretary of the Interior that opinions which have often been expressed in relation to the operation of the land system as not being a source of revenue to the Federal Treasury were erroneous. The net profits from the sale of the public lands to June 30, 1853, amounted to the sum of $53,289,465. I recommend the extension of the land system over the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, with such modifications as their peculiarities may require. Regarding our public domain as chiefly valuable to provide homes for the industrious and enterprising, I am not prepared to recommend any essential change in the land system, except by modifications in favor of the actual settler and an extension of the preemption principle in certain cases, for reasons and on grounds which will be fully developed in the reports to be laid before you. Congress, representing the proprietors of the territorial domain and charged especially with power to dispose of territory belonging to the United States, has for a long course of years, beginning with the Administration of Mr. Jefferson, exercised the power to construct roads within the Territories, and there are so many and obvious distinctions between this exercise of power and that of making roads within the States that the former has never been considered subject to such objections as apply to the latter; and such may now be considered the settled construction of the power of the Federal Government upon the subject. Numerous applications have been and no doubt will continue to be made for grants of land in aid of the construction of railways. It is not believed to be within the intent and meaning of the Constitution that the power to dispose of the public domain should be used otherwise than might be expected from a prudent proprietor and therefore that grants of land to aid in the construction of roads should be restricted to cases where it would be for the interest of a proprietor under like circumstances thus to contribute to the construction of these works. For the practical operation of such grants thus far in advancing the interests ot the States in which the works are located, and at the same time the substantial interests of all the other States, by enhancing the value and promoting the rapid sale of the public domain, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Interior. A careful examination, however, will show that this experience is the result of a just discrimination and will be far from affording encouragement to a reckless or indiscriminate extension of the principle. I commend to your favorable consideration the men of genius of our country who by their inventions and discoveries in science and arts have contributed largely to the improvements of the age without, in many instances, securing for themselves anything like an adequate reward. For many interesting details upon this subject I refer you to the appropriate reports, and especially urge upon your early attention the apparently slight, but really important, modifications of existing laws therein suggested. The liberal spirit which has so long marked the action of Congress in relation to the District of Columbia will, I have no doubt, continue to be manifested. The erection of an asylum for the insane of the District of Columbia and of the Army and Navy of the United States has been somewhat retarded by the great demand for materials and labor during the past summer, but full preparation for the reception of patients before the return of another winter is anticipated; and there is the best reason to believe, from the plan and contemplated arrangements which have been devised, with the large experience furnished within the last few years in relation to the nature and treatment of the disease, that it will prove an asylum indeed to this most helpless and afflicted class of sufferers and stand as a noble monument of wisdom and mercy. Under the acts of Congress of August 31, 1852, and of March 3, 1853, designed to secure for the cities of Washington and Georgetown an abundant supply of good and wholesome water, it became my duty to examine the report and plans of the engineer who had charge of the surveys under the act first named. The best, if not the only, plan calculated to secure permanently the object sought was that which contemplates taking the water from the Great Falls of the Potomac, and consequently I gave to it my approval. For the progress and present condition of this important work and for its demands so far as appropriations are concerned I refer you to the report of the Secretary of War. The present judicial system of the United States has now been in operation for so long a period of time and has in its general theory and much of its details become so familiar to the country and acquired so entirely the public confidence that if modified in any respect it should only be in those particulars which may adapt it to the increased extent, population, and legal business of the United States. In this relation the organization of the courts is now confessedly inadequate to the duties to be performed by them, in consequence of which the States of Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas, and California, and districts of other States, are in effect excluded from the full benefits of the general system by the functions of the circuit court being devolved on the district judges in all those States or parts of States. The spirit of the Constitution and a due regard to justice require that all the States of the Union should be placed on the same footing in regard to the judicial tribunals. I therefore commend to your consideration this important subject, which in my judgment demands the speedy action of Congress. I will present to you, if deemed desirable, a plan which I am prepared to recommend for the enlargement and modification of the present judicial system. The act of Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution provided that the President of the United States and other persons therein designated should constitute an "establishment" by that name, and that the members should hold stated and special meetings for the supervision of the affairs of the Institution. The organization not having taken place, it seemed to me proper that it should be effected without delay. This has been done; and an occasion was thereby presented for inspecting the condition of the Institution and appreciating its successful progress thus far and its high promise of great and general usefulness. I have omitted to ask your favorable consideration for the estimates of works of a local character in twenty-seven of the thirty-one States, amounting to $1,754,500, because, independently of the grounds which have so often been urged against the application of the Federal revenue for works of this character, inequality, with consequent injustice, is inherent in the nature of the proposition, and because the plan has proved entirely inadequate to the accomplishment of the objects sought. The subject of internal improvements, claiming alike the interest and good will of all, has, nevertheless, been the basis of much political discussion and has stood as a deep-graven line of division between statesmen of eminent ability and patriotism. The rule of strict construction of all powers delegated by the States to the General Government has arrayed itself from time to time against the rapid progress of expenditures from the National Treasury on works of a local character within the States. Memorable as an epoch in the history of this subject is the message of President Jackson of the 27th of May, 1830, which met the system of internal improvements in its comparative infancy; but so rapid had been its growth that the projected appropriations in that year for works of this character had risen to the alarming amount of more than $100,000,000 In that message the President admitted the difficulty of bringing back the operations of the Government to the construction of the Constitution set up in 1798, and marked it as an admonitory proof of the necessity of guarding that instrument with sleepless vigilance against the authority of precedents which had not the sanction of its most plainly defined powers. Our Government exists under a written compact between sovereign States, uniting for specific objects and with specific grants to their general agent. If, then, in the progress of its administration there have been departures from the terms and intent of the compact, it is and will ever be proper to refer back to the fixed standard which our fathers left us and to make a stern effort to conform our action to it. It would seem that the fact of a principle having been resisted from the first by many of the wisest and most patriotic men of the Republic, and a policy having provoked constant strife without arriving at a conclusion which can be regarded as satisfactory to its most earnest advocates, should suggest the inquiry whether there may not be a plan likely to be crowned by happier results. Without perceiving any sound distinction or intending to assert any principle as opposed to improvements needed for the protection of internal commerce which does not equally apply to improvements upon the seaboard for the protection of foreign commerce, I submit to you whether it may not be safely anticipated that if the policy were once settled against appropriations by the General Government for local improvements for the benefit of commerce, localities requiring expenditures would not, by modes and means clearly legitimate and proper, raise the fund necessary for such constructions as the safety or other interests of their commerce might require. If that can be regarded as a system which in the experience of mere than thirty years has at no time so commanded the public judgment as to give it the character of a settled policy; which, though it has produced some works of conceded importance, has been attended with an expenditure quite disproportionate to their value and has resulted in squandering large sums upon objects which have answered no valuable purpose, the interests of all the States require it to be abandoned unless hopes may be indulged for the future which find no warrant in the past. With an anxious desire for the completion of the works which are regarded by all good citizens with sincere interest, I have deemed it my duty to ask at your hands a deliberate reconsideration of the question, with a hope that, animated by a desire to promote the permanent and substantial interests of the country, your wisdom may prove equal to the task of devising and maturing a plan which, applied to this subject, may promise something better than constant strife, the suspension of the powers of local enterprise, the exciting of vain hopes, and the disappointment of cherished expectations. In expending the appropriations made by the last Congress several cases have arisen in relation to works for the improvement of harbors which involve questions as to the right of soil and jurisdiction, and have threatened conflict between the authority of the State and General Governments. The right to construct a breakwater, jetty, or dam would seem necessarily to carry with it the power to protect and preserve such constructions. This can only be effectually done by having jurisdiction over the soil. But no clause of the Constitution is found on which to rest the claim of the United States to exercise jurisdiction over the soil of a State except that conferred by the eighth section of the first article of the Constitution. It is, then, submitted whether, in all cases where constructions are to be erected by the General Government, the right of soil should not first be obtained and legislative provision be made to cover all such cases. For the progress made in the construction of roads within the Territories, as provided for in the appropriations of the last Congress, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of War. There is one subject of a domestic nature which, from its intrinsic importance and the many interesting questions of future policy which it involves, can not fail to receive your early attention. I allude to the means of communication by which different parts of the wide expanse of our country are to be placed in closer connection for purposes both of defense and commercial intercourse, and more especially such as appertain to the communication of those great divisions of the Union which lie on the opposite sides of the Rocky Mountains. That the Government has not been unmindful of this heretofore is apparent from the aid it has afforded through appropriations for mail facilities and other purposes. But the general subject will now present itself under aspects more imposing and more purely national by reason of the surveys ordered by Congress, and now in the process of completion, for communication by railway across the continent, and wholly within the limits of the United States. The power to declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, and to call forth the militia to execute the laws, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions was conferred upon Congress as means to provide for the common defense and to protect a territory and a population now widespread and vastly multiplied. As incidental to and indispensable for the exercise of this power, it must sometimes be necessary to construct military roads and protect harbors of refuge. To appropriations by Congress for such objects no sound objection can be raised. Happily for our country, its peaceful policy and rapidly increasing population impose upon us no urgent necessity for preparation, and leave but few trackless deserts between assailable points and a patriotic people ever ready and generally able to protect them. These necessary links the enterprise and energy of our people are steadily and boldly struggling to supply. All experience affirms that wherever private enterprise will avail it is most wise for the General Government to leave to that and individual watchfulness the location and execution of all means of communication. The surveys before alluded to were designed to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the river Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Parties are now in the field making explorations, where previous examinations had not supplied sufficient data and where there was the best reason to hope the object sought might be found. The means and time being both limited, it is not to be expected that all the accurate knowledge desired will be obtained, but it is hoped that much and important information will be added to the stock previously possessed, and that partial, if not full, reports of the surveys ordered will be received in time for transmission to the two Houses of Congress on or before the first Monday in February next, as required by the act of appropriation. The magnitude of the enterprise contemplated has aroused and will doubtless continue to excite a very general interest throughout the country. In its political, its commercial, and its military bearings it has varied, great, and increasing claims to consideration. The heavy expense, the great delay, and, at times, fatality attending travel by either of the Isthmus routes have demonstrated the advantage which would result from interterritorial communication by such safe and rapid means as a railroad would supply. These difficulties, which have been encountered in a period of peace, would be magnified and still further increased in time of war. But whilst the embarrassments already encountered and others under new contingencies to be anticipated may serve strikingly to exhibit the importance of such a work, neither these nor all considerations combined can have an appreciable value when weighed against the obligation strictly to adhere to the Constitution and faithfully to execute the powers it confers. Within this limit and to the extent of the interest of the Government involved it would seem both expedient and proper if an economical and practicable route shall be found to aid by all constitutional means in the construction of a road which will unite by speedy transit the populations of the Pacific and Atlantic States. To guard against misconception, it should be remarked that although the power to construct or aid in the construction of a road within the limits of a Territory is not embarrassed by that question of jurisdiction which would arise within the limits of a State, it is, nevertheless, held to be of doubtful power and more than doubtful propriety, even within the limits of a Territory, for the General Government to undertake to administer the affairs of a railroad, a canal, or other similar construction, and therefore that its connection with a work of this character should be incidental rather than primary. I will only add at present that, fully appreciating the magnitude of the subject and solicitous that the Atlantic and Pacific shores of the Republic may be bound together by inseparable ties of common interest, as well as of common fealty and attachment to the Union, I shall be disposed, so far as my own action is concerned, to follow the lights of the Constitution as expounded and illustrated by those whose opinions and expositions constitute the standard of my political faith in regard to the powers of the Federal Government. It is, I trust, not necessary to say that no grandeur of enterprise and no present urgent inducement promising popular favor will lead me to disregard those lights or to depart from that path which experience has proved to be safe, and which is now radiant with the glow of prosperity and legitimate constitutional progress. We can afford to wait, but we can not afford to overlook the ark of our security. It is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any subject which may properly be regarded as set at rest by the deliberate judgment of the people. But while the present is bright with promise and the future full of demand and inducement for the exercise of active intelligence, the past can never be without useful lessons of admonition and instruction. If its dangers serve not as beacons, they will evidently fail to fulfill the object of a wise design. When the grave shall have closed over all who are now endeavoring to meet the obligations of duty, the year 1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with anxious apprehension. A successful war had just terminated. Peace brought with it a vast augmentation of territory. Disturbing questions arose bearing upon the domestic institutions of one portion of the Confederacy and involving the constitutional rights of the States. But notwithstanding differences of opinion and sentiment which then existed in relation to details and specific provisions, the acquiescence of distinguished citizens, whose devotion to the Union can never be doubted, has given renewed vigor to our institutions and restored a sense of repose and security to the public mind throughout the Confederacy. That this repose is to suffer no shock during my official term, if I have power to avert it, those who placed me here may be assured. The wisdom of men who knew what independence cost, who had put all at stake upon the issue of the Revolutionary struggle, disposed of the subject to which I refer in the only way consistent with the Union of these States and with the march of power and prosperity which has made us what we are. It is a significant fact that from the adoption of the Constitution until the officers and soldiers of the Revolution had passed to their graves, or, through the infirmities of age and wounds, had ceased to participate actively in public affairs, there was not merely a quiet acquiescence in, but a prompt vindication of, the constitutional rights of the States. The reserved powers were scrupulously respected. No statesman put forth the narrow views of casuists to justify interference and agitation, but the spirit of the compact was regarded as sacred in the eye of honor and indispensable for the great experiment of civil liberty, which, environed by inherent difficulties, was yet borne forward in apparent weakness by a power superior to all obstacles. There is no condemnation which the voice of freedom will not pronounce upon us should we prove faithless to this great trust. While men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent can no more be expected to hold the same opinions or entertain the same sentiments than every variety of climate or soil can be expected to furnish the same agricultural products, they can unite in a common object and sustain common principles essential to the maintenance of that object. The gallant men of the South and the North could stand together during the struggle of the Revolution; they could stand together in the more trying period which succeeded the clangor of arms. As their united valor was adequate to all the trials of the camp and dangers of the field, so their united wisdom proved equal to the greater task of founding upon a deep and broad basis institutions which it has been our privilege to enjoy and will ever be our most sacred duty to sustain. It is but the feeble expression of a faith strong and universal to say that their sons, whose blood mingled so often upon the same field during the War of 1812 and who have more recently borne in triumph the flag of the country upon a foreign soil, will never permit alienation of feeling to weaken the power of their united efforts nor internal dissensions to paralyze the great arm of freedom, uplifted for the vindication of self-government. I have thus briefly presented such suggestions as seem to me especially worthy of your consideration. In providing for the present you can hardly fail to avail yourselves of the light which the experience of the past casts upon the future. The growth of our population has now brought us, in the destined career of our national history, to a point at which it well behooves us to expand our vision over the vast prospective. The successive decennial returns of the census since the adoption of the Constitution have revealed a law of steady, progressive development, which may be stated in general terms as a duplication every quarter century. Carried forward from the point already reached for only a short period of time, as applicable to the existence of a nation, this law of progress, if unchecked, will bring us to almost incredible results. A large allowance for a diminished proportional effect of emigration would not very materially reduce the estimate, while the increased average duration of human life known to have already resulted from the scientific and hygienic improvements of the past fifty years will tend to keep up through the next fifty, or perhaps hundred, the same ratio of growth which has been thus revealed in our past progress; and to the influence of these causes may be added the influx of laboring masses from eastern Asia to the Pacific side of our possessions, together with the probable accession of the populations already existing in other parts of our hemisphere, which within the period in question will feel with yearly increasing force the natural attraction of so vast, powerful, and prosperous a confederation of self-governing republics and will seek the privilege of being admitted within its safe and happy bosom, transferring with themselves, by a peaceful and healthy process of incorporation, spacious regions of virgin and exuberant soil, which are destined to swarm with the fast growing and fast-spreading millions of our race. These considerations seem fully to justify the presumption that the law of population above stated will continue to act with undiminished effect through at least the next half century, and that thousands of persons who have already arrived at maturity and are now exercising the rights of freemen will close their eyes on the spectacle of more than 100,000,000 of population embraced within the majestic proportions of the American Union. It is not merely as an interesting topic of speculation that I present these views for your consideration. They have important practical bearings upon all the political duties we are called upon to perform. Heretofore our system of government has worked on what may be termed a miniature scale in comparison with the development which it must thus assume within a future so near at hand as scarcely to be beyond the present of the existing generation. It is evident that a confederation so vast and so varied, both in numbers and in territorial extent, in habits and in interests, could only be kept in national cohesion by the strictest fidelity to the principles of the Constitution as understood by those who have adhered to the most restricted construction of the powers granted by the people and the States. Interpreted and applied according to those principles, the great compact adapts itself with healthy ease and freedom to an unlimited extension of that benign system of federative self-government of which it is our glorious and, I trust, immortal charter. Let us, then, with redoubled vigilance, be on our guard against yielding to the temptation of the exercise of doubtful powers, even under the pressure of the motives of conceded temporary advantage and apparent temporary expediency. The minimum of Federal government compatible with the maintenance of national unity and efficient action in our relations with the rest of the world should afford the rule and measure of construction of our powers under the general clauses of the Constitution. A spirit of strict deference to the sovereign rights and dignity of every State, rather than a disposition to subordinate the States into a provincial relation to the central authority, should characterize all our exercise of the respective powers temporarily vested in us as a sacred trust from the generous confidence of our constituents. In like manner, as a manifestly indispensable condition of the perpetuation of the Union and of the realization of that magnificent national future adverted to, does the duty become yearly stronger and clearer upon us, as citizens of the several States, to cultivate a fraternal and affectionate spirit, language, and conduct in regard to other States and in relation to the varied interests, institutions, and habits of sentiment and opinion which may respectively characterize them. Mutual forbearance, respect, and noninterference in our personal action as citizens and an enlarged exercise of the most liberal principles of comity in the public dealings of State with State, whether in legislation or in the execution of laws, are the means to perpetuate that confidence and fraternity the decay of which a mere political union, on so vast a scale, could not long survive. In still another point of view is an important practical duty suggested by this consideration of the magnitude of dimensions to which our political system, with its corresponding machinery of government, is so rapidly expanding. With increased vigilance does it require us to cultivate the cardinal virtues of public frugality and official integrity and purity. Public affairs ought to be so conducted that a settled conviction shall pervade the entire Union that nothing short of the highest tone and standard of public morality marks every part of the administration and legislation of the General Government. Thus will the federal system, whatever expansion time and progress may give it, continue more and more deeply rooted in the love and confidence of the people. That wise economy which is as far removed from parsimony as from corrupt and corrupting extravagance; that single regard for the public good which will frown upon all attempts to approach the Treasury with insidious projects of private interest cloaked under public pretexts; that sound fiscal administration which, in the legislative department, guards against the dangerous temptations incident to overflowing revenue, and, in the executive, maintains an unsleeping watchfulness against the tendency of all national expenditure to extravagance, while they are admitted elementary political duties, may, I trust, be deemed as properly adverted to and urged in view of the more impressive sense of that necessity which is directly suggested by the considerations now presented. Since the adjournment of Congress the Vice-President of the United States has passed from the scenes of earth, without having entered upon the duties of the station to which he had been called by the voice of his countrymen. Having occupied almost continuously for more than thirty years a seat in one or the other of the two Houses of Congress, and having by his singular purity and wisdom secured unbounded confidence and universal respect, his failing health was watched by the nation with painful solicitude. His loss to the country, under all the circumstances, has been justly regarded as irreparable. In compliance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1853, the oath of office was administered to him on the 24th of that month at Ariadne estate, near Matanzas, in the island of Cuba; but his strength gradually declined, and was hardly sufficient to enable him to return to his home in Alabama, where, on the 18th day of April, in the most calm and peaceful way, his long and eminently useful career was terminated. Entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the public interest, and being conscious of no motives on my part which are not inseparable from the honor and advancement of my country, I hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure not only your cordial cooperation in great public measures, but also those relations of mutual confidence and regard which it is always so desirable to cultivate between members of coordinate branches of the Government.
the interest with which the people of the republic anticipate the assembling of congress and the fulfillment on that occasion of the duty imposed upon a new president is one of the best evidences of their capacity to realize the hopes of the founders of a political system at once complex and symmetrical while the different branches of the government are to a certain extent independent of each other the duties of all alike have direct reference to the source of power fortunately under this system no man is so high and none so humble in the scale of public station as to escape from the scrutiny or to be exempt from the responsibility which all official functions imply upon the justice and intelligence of the masses in a government thus organized is the sole reliance of the confederacy and the only security for honest and earnest devotion to its interests against the usurpations and encroachment of power on the one hand and the assaults of personal ambition on the other the interest of which i have spoken is inseparable from an inquiring community but stimulated doubtless at the present time by the unsettled condition of our relations with several foreign powers by the new obligations resulting from a sudden extension of the field of enterprise by the spirit with which that field has been entered and the amazing energy with which its resources for meeting the demands of humanity have been developed although disease assuming at one time the characteristics of a widespread and devastating pestilence has left its sad traces upon some portions of our country we have still the most abundant because for reverent thankfulness to god for an accumulation of signal mercies showered upon us as a nation it is well that a consciousness of rapid advancement and increasing strength be habitually associated with an abiding sense of dependence upon him who holds in his hands the destiny of men and of nations recognizing the wisdom of the broad principle of absolute religious toleration proclaimed in our fundamental law and rejoicing in the benign influence which it has exerted upon our social and political condition i should shrink from a clear duty did i fail to express my deepest conviction that we can place no secure reliance upon any apparent progress if it be not sustained by national integrity resting upon the great truths affirmed and illustrated by divine revelation in the midst of our sorrow for the afflicted and suffering it has been consoling to see how promptly disaster made true neighbors of districts and cities separated widely from each other and cheering to watch the strength of that common bond of brotherhood which unites all hearts in all parts of this union when danger threatens from abroad or calamity impends over us at home our diplomatic relations with foreign powers have undergone no essential changesince the adjournment of the last congress with some of them questions of a disturbing character are still pending but there are good reasons to believe that these may all be amicably adjusted for some years past great britain has so construed the first article of the convention of the 20th of april 1818 in regard to the fisheries on the northeastern coast as to exclude our citizens from some of the fishing grounds to which they freely resorted for nearly a quarter of a century subsequent to the date of that treaty the united states have never acquiesced in this construction but have always claimed for their fishermen all the rights which they had so long enjoyed without molestation with a view to remove all difficulties on the subject to extend the rights of our fishermen beyond the limits fixed by the convention of 1818 and to regulate trade between the united states and the british north american provinces a negotiation has been opened with a fair prospect of a favorable result to protect our fishermen in the enjoyment of their rights and prevent collision between them and british fishermen i deemed it expedient to station a naval force in that quarter during the fishing season embarrassing questions have also arisen between the two governments in regard to central america great britain has proposed to settle them by an amicable arrangement and our minister at london is instructed to enter into negotiations on that subject a commission for adjusting the claims of our citizens against great britain and those of british subjects against the united states organized under the convention of the 8th of february last is now sitting in london for the transaction of business it is in many respects desirable that the boundary line between the united states and the british provinces in the northwest as designated in the convention of the 15th of june 1846 and especially that part which separates the territory of washington from the british possessions on the north should be traced and marked i therefore present the subject to your notice with france our relations continue on the most friendly footing the extensive commerce between the united states and that country might it is conceived be released from some unnecessary restrictions to the mutual advantage of both parties with a view to this object some progress has been made in negotiating a treaty of commerce and navigation independently of our valuable trade with spain we have important political relations with her growing out of our neighborhood to the islands of cuba and porto rico i am happy to announce that since the last congress no attempts have been made by unauthorized expeditions within the united states against either of those colonies should any movement be manifested within our limits all the means at my command will be vigorously exerted to repress it several annoying occurrences have taken place at havana or in the vicinity of the island of cuba between our citizens and the spanish authorities considering the proximity of that island to our shores lying as it does in the track of trade between some of our principal cities and the suspicious vigilance with which foreign intercourse particularly that with the united states is there guarded a repetition of such occurrences may well be apprehended as no diplomatic intercourse is allowed between our consul at havana and the of cuba ready explanations can not be made or prompt redress afforded where injury has resulted all complaint on the part of our citizens under the present arrangement must be in the first place presented to this government and then referred to spain spain again refers it to her local authorities in cuba for investigation and postpones an answer till she has heard from those authorities to avoid these irritating and vexatious delays a proposition has been made to provide for a direct appeal for redress to the by our consul in behalf of our injured hitherto the government of spain has declined to enter into any such arrangement this course on her part is deeply regretted for without some arrangement of this kind the good understanding between the two countries may be exposed to occasional interruption our minister at madrid is instructed to renew the proposition and to press it again upon the consideration of her catholic majesty government for several years spain has been calling the attention of this government to a claim for losses by some of her subjects in the case of the schooner amistad this claim is believed to rest on the obligations imposed by our existing treaty with that country its justice was admitted in our diplomatic correspondence with the spanish government as early as march 1847 and one of my predecessors in his annual message of that year recommended that provision should be made for its payment in january last it was again submitted to congress by the executive it has received a favorable consideration by committees of both branches but as yet there has been no final action upon it i conceive that good faith requires its prompt adjustment and i present it to your early and favorable consideration martin koszta a hungarian by birth came to this country in 1850 and declared his intention in due form of law to become a citizen of the united states after remaining here nearly two years he visited turkey while at smyrna he was forcibly seized taken on board an austrian brig of war then lying in the harbor of that place and there confined in irons with the avowed design to take him into the dominions of austria our consul at smyrna and legation at constantinople interposed for his release but their efforts were ineffectual while thus in prison commander ingraham with the united states ship of war louis arrived at smyrna and after inquiring into the circumstances of the case came to the conclusion that koszta was entitled to the protection of this government and took energetic and prompt measures for his release under an arrangement between the agents of the united states and of austria he was transferred to the custody of the french at smyrna there to remain until he should be disposed of by the mutual agreement of the consuls of the respective governments at that place pursuant to that agreement he has been released and is now in the united states the emperor of austria has made the conduct of our officers who took part in this transaction a subject of grave complaint regarding koszta as still his subject and claiming a right to seize him within the limits of the turkish empire he has demanded of this government its consent to the surrender of the prisoner a disavowal of the acts of its agents and satisfaction for the alleged outrage after a careful consideration of the case i came to the conclusion that koszta was seized without legal authority at smyrna that he was wrongfully detained on board of the austrian brig of war that at the time of his seizure he was clothed with the nationality of the united states and that the acts of our officers under the circumstances of the case were justifiable and their conduct has been fully approved by me and a compliance with the several demands of the emperor of austria has been declined for a more full account of this transaction and my views in regard to it i refer to the correspondence between the charge of austria and the secretary of state which is herewith transmitted the principles and policy therein maintained on the part of the united states will whenever a proper occasion occurs be applied and enforced the condition of china at this time renders it probable that some important changes will occur in that vast empire which will lead to a more unrestricted intercourse with it the commissioner to that country who has been recently appointed is instructed to avail himself of all occasions to open and extend our commercial relations not only with the empire of china but with other asiatic nations in 1852 an expedition was sent to japan under the command of commodore perry for the purpose of opening commercial intercourse with that empire intelligence has been received of his arrival there and of his having made known to the emperor of japan the object of his visit but it is not yet ascertained how far the emperor will be disposed to abandon his restrictive policy and open that populous country to a commercial intercourse with the united states it has been my earnest desire to maintain friendly intercourse with the governments upon this continent and to aid them in preserving good understanding among themselves with mexico a dispute has arisen as to the true boundary line between our territory of new mexico and the mexican state of chihuahua a former commissioner of the united states employed in running that line pursuant to the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo made a serious mistake in determining the initial point on the rio grande but inasmuch as his decision was clearly a departure from the directions for tracing the boundary contained in that treaty and was not concurred in by the surveyor appointed on the part of the united states whose concurrence was necessary to give validity to that decision this government is not concluded thereby but that of mexico takes a different view of the subject there are also other questions of considerable magnitude pending between the two republics our minister in mexico has ample instructions to adjust them negotiations have been opened but sufficient progress has not been made therein to enable me to speak of the probable result impressed with the importance of maintaining amicable relations with that republic and of yielding with liberality to all her just claims it is reasonable to expect that an arrangement mutually satisfactory to both countries may be concluded and a lasting friendship between them confirmed and perpetuated congress having provided for a full mission to the states of central america a minister was sent thither in july last as yet he has had time to visit only one of these states nicaragua where he was received in the most friendly manner it is hoped that his presence and good offices will have a benign effect in composing the dissensions which prevail among them and in establishing still more intimate and friendly relations between them respectively and between each of them and the united states considering the vast regions of this continent and the number of states which would be made accessible by the free navigation of the river amazon particular attention has been given to this subject brazil through whose territories it passes into the ocean has hitherto persisted in a policy so restricted in regard to the use of this river as to obstruct and nearly exclude foreign commercial intercourse with the states which lie upon its tributaries and upper branches our minister to that country is instructed to obtain a relaxation of that policy and to use his efforts to induce the brazilian government to open to common use under proper safeguards this great natural highway for international trade several of the south american states are deeply interested in this attempt to secure the free navigation of the amazon and it is reasonable to expect their cooperation in the measure as the advantages of free commercial intercourse among nations are better understood more liberal views are generally entertained as to the common rights of all to the free use of those means which nature has provided for international communication to these more liberal and enlightened views it is hoped that brazil will conform her policy and remove all unnecessary restrictions upon the free use of a river which traverses so many states and so large a part of the continent i am happy to inform you that the republic of paraguay and the argentine confederation have yielded to the liberal policy still resisted by brazil in regard to the navigable rivers within their respective territories treaties embracing this subject among others have been negotiated with these governments which will be submitted to the senate at the present session a new branch of commerce important to the agricultural interests of the united states has within a few years past been opened with peru notwithstanding the inexhaustible deposits of guano upon the islands of that country considerable difficulties are experienced in obtaining the requisite supply measures have been taken to remove these difficulties and to secure a more abundant importation of the article unfortunately there has been a serious collision between our citizens who have resorted to the chincha islands for it and the peruvian authorities stationed there redress for the outrages committed by the latter was promptly demanded by our minister at lima this subject is now under consideration and there is reason to believe that peru is disposed to offer adequate indemnity to the aggrieved parties we are thus not only at peace with all foreign countries but in regard to political affairs are exempt from any because of serious disquietude in our domestic relations the controversies which have agitated the country heretofore are passing away with the causes which produced them and the passions which they had awakened or if any trace of them remains it may be reasonably hoped that it will only be perceived in the zealous rivalry of all good citizens to testify their respect for the rights of the states their devotion to the union and their common determination that each one of the states its institutions its welfare and its domestic peace shall be held alike secure under the sacred aegis of the constitution this new league of amity and of mutual confidence and support into which the people of the republic have entered happily affords inducement and opportunity for the adoption of a more comprehensive and unembarrassed line of policy and action as to the great material interests of the country whether regarded in themselves or in connection with the powers of the civilized world the united states have continued gradually and steadily to expand through acquisitions of territory which how much soever some of them may have been questioned are now universally seen and admitted to have been wise in policy just in character and a great element in the advancement of our country and with it of the human race in freedom in prosperity and in happiness the thirteen states have grown to be with relations reaching to europe on the one side and on the other to the distant realms of asia i am deeply sensible of the immense responsibility which the present magnitude of the republic and the diversity and multiplicity of its interests devolves upon me the alleviation of which so far as relates to the immediate conduct of the public business is first in my reliance on the wisdom and patriotism of the two houses of congress and secondly in the directions afforded me by the principles of public polity affirmed by our fathers of the epoch of 1798 sanctioned by long experience and consecrated anew by the overwhelming voice of the people of the united states recurring to these principles which constitute the organic basis of union we perceive that vast as are the functions and the duties of the federal government vested in or intrusted to its three great departments the legislative executive and judicial yet the substantive power the popular force and the large capacities for social and material development exist in the respective states which all being of themselves republics as they preceded so they alone are capable of maintaining and perpetuating the american union the federal government has its appropriate line of action in the specific and limited powers conferred on it by the constitution chiefly as to those things in which the states have a common interest in their relations to one another and to foreign governments while the great mass of interests which belong to cultivated men the ordinary business of life the springs of industry all the diversified personal and domestic affairs of society rest securely upon the general reserved powers of the people of the several states there is the effective democracy of the nation and there the vital essence of its being and its greatness of the practical consequences which flow from the nature of the federal government the primary one is the duty of administering with integrity and fidelity the high trust reposed in it by the constitution especially in the application of the public funds as drawn by taxation from the people and appropriated to specific objects by congress happily i have no occasion to suggest any radical changes in the financial policy of the government ours is almost if not absolutely the solitary power of christendom having a surplus revenue drawn immediately from imposts on commerce and therefore measured by the spontaneous enterprise and national prosperity of the country with such indirect relation to agriculture manufactures and the products of the earth and sea as to violate no constitutional doctrine and yet vigorously promote the general welfare neither as to the sources of the public treasure nor as to the manner of keeping and managing it does any grave controversy now prevail there being a general acquiescence in the wisdom of the present system the report of the secretary of the treasury will exhibit in detail the state of the public finances and the condition of the various branches of the public service administered by that department of the government the revenue of the country levied almost insensibly to the taxpayer goes on from year to year increasing beyond either the interests or the prospective wants of the government at the close of the fiscal year ending june 30 1852 there remained in the treasury a balance of the public revenue for the fiscal year ending june 30 1853 amounted to from customs and to from public lands and other miscellaneous sources amounting together to while the public expenditures for the same period exclusive of payments on account of the public debt amounted to leaving a balance of of receipts above expenditures this fact of increasing surplus in the treasury became the subject of anxious consideration at a very early period of my administration and the path of duty in regard to it seemed to me obvious and clear namely first to apply the surplus revenue to the discharge of the public debt so far as it could judiciously be done and secondly to devise means for the gradual reduction of the revenue to the standard of the public exigencies of these objects the first has been in the course of accomplishment in a manner and to a degree highly satisfactory the amount of the public debt of all classes was on the 4th of march 1853 payments on account of which have been made since that period to the amount of leaving unpaid and in continuous course of liquidation the sum of these payments although made at the market price of the respective classes of stocks have been effected readily and to the general advantage of the treasury and have at the same time proved of signal utility in the relief they have incidentally afforded to the money market and to the industrial and commercial pursuits of the country the second of the objects that of the reduction of the tariff is of great importance and the plan suggested by the secretary of the treasury which is to reduce the duties on certain articles and to add to the free list many articles now taxed and especially such as enter into manufactures and are not largely or at all produced in the country is commended to your candid and careful consideration you will find in the report of the secretary of the treasury also abundant proof of the entire adequacy of the present fiscal system to meet all the requirements of the public service and that while properly administered it operates to the advantage of the community in ordinary business relations i respectfully ask your attention to sundry suggestions of improvements in the settlement of accounts especially as regards the large sums of outstanding arrears due to the government and of other reforms in the administrative action of his department which are indicated by the secretary as also to the progress made in the construction of marine hospitals and of a new mint in california and assay office in the city of new york heretofore provided for by congress and also to the eminently successful progress of the coast survey and of the light house board among the objects meriting your attention will be important recommendations from the secretaries of war and navy i am fully satisfied that the navy of the united states is not in a condition of strength and efficiency commensurate with the magnitude of our commercial and other interests and commend to your especial attention the suggestions on this subject made by the secretary of the navy i respectfully submit that the army which under our system must always be regarded with the highest interest as a nucleus around which the volunteer forces of the nation gather in the hour of danger requires augmentation or modification to adapt it to the present extended limits and frontier relations of the country and the condition of the indian tribes in the interior of the continent the necessity of which will appear in the communications of the secretaries of war and the interior in the administration of the department for the fiscal year ending june 30 1853 the gross expenditure was and the gross receipts during the same period showing that the current revenue failed to meet the current expenses of the department by the sum of the causes which under the present postal system and laws led inevitably to this result are fully explained by the report of the one great because being the enormous rates the department has been compelled to pay for mail service rendered by railroad companies the exhibit in the report of the of the income and expenditures by mail steamers will be found peculiarly interesting and of a character to demand the immediate action of congress numerous and flagrant frauds upon the pension bureau have been brought to light within the last year and in some instances merited punishments inflicted but unfortunately in others guilty parties have escaped not through the want of sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction but in consequence of the provisions of limitation in the existing laws from the nature of these claims the remoteness of the tribunals to pass upon them and the mode in which the proof is of necessity furnished temptations to crime have been greatly stimulated by the obvious difficulties of detection the defects in the law upon this subject are so apparent and so fatal to the ends of justice that your early action relating to it is most desirable during the last fiscal year acres of the public lands have been surveyed and acres brought into market within the same period the sales by public purchase and private entry amounted to acres located under military bountys and warrants acres located under other certificates acres ceded to the states as swamp lands acres selected for railroad and other objects under acts of congress acres total amount of lands disposed of within the fiscal year acres which is an increase in quantity sold and located under land warrants and grants of 818 acres over the fiscal year immediately preceding the quantity of land sold during the second and third quarters of 1852 was acres the amount received therefor was the quantity sold the second and third quarters of the year 1853 was acres and the amount received therefor the whole number of land warrants issued under existing laws prior to the 30th of september last was of which there were outstanding at that date the quantity of land required to satisfy these outstanding warrants is acres warrants have been issued to 30th of september last under the act of 11th february 1847 calling for acres under acts of september 28 1850 and march 22 1852 calling for acres making a total of acres it is believed that experience has verified the wisdom and justice of the present system with regard to the public domain in most essential particulars you will perceive from the report of the secretary of the interior that opinions which have often been expressed in relation to the operation of the land system as not being a source of revenue to the federal treasury were erroneous the net profits from the sale of the public lands to june 30 1853 amounted to the sum of i recommend the extension of the land system over the territories of utah and new mexico with such modifications as their peculiarities may require regarding our public domain as chiefly valuable to provide homes for the industrious and enterprising i am not prepared to recommend any essential change in the land system except by modifications in favor of the actual settler and an extension of the preemption principle in certain cases for reasons and on grounds which will be fully developed in the reports to be laid before you congress representing the proprietors of the territorial domain and charged especially with power to dispose of territory belonging to the united states has for a long course of years beginning with the administration of jefferson exercised the power to construct roads within the territories and there are so many and obvious distinctions between this exercise of power and that of making roads within the states that the former has never been considered subject to such objections as apply to the latter and such may now be considered the settled construction of the power of the federal government upon the subject numerous applications have been and no doubt will continue to be made for grants of land in aid of the construction of railways it is not believed to be within the intent and meaning of the constitution that the power to dispose of the public domain should be used otherwise than might be expected from a prudent proprietor and therefore that grants of land to aid in the construction of roads should be restricted to cases where it would be for the interest of a proprietor under like circumstances thus to contribute to the construction of these works for the practical operation of such grants thus far in advancing the interests ot the states in which the works are located and at the same time the substantial interests of all the other states by enhancing the value and promoting the rapid sale of the public domain i refer you to the report of the secretary of the interior a careful examination however will show that this experience is the result of a just discrimination and will be far from affording encouragement to a reckless or indiscriminate extension of the principle i commend to your favorable consideration the men of genius of our country who by their inventions and discoveries in science and arts have contributed largely to the improvements of the age without in many instances securing for themselves anything like an adequate reward for many interesting details upon this subject i refer you to the appropriate reports and especially urge upon your early attention the apparently slight but really important modifications of existing laws therein suggested the liberal spirit which has so long marked the action of congress in relation to the district of columbia will i have no doubt continue to be manifested the erection of an asylum for the insane of the district of columbia and of the army and navy of the united states has been somewhat retarded by the great demand for materials and labor during the past summer but full preparation for the reception of patients before the return of another winter is anticipated and there is the best reason to believe from the plan and contemplated arrangements which have been devised with the large experience furnished within the last few years in relation to the nature and treatment of the disease that it will prove an asylum indeed to this most helpless and afflicted class of sufferers and stand as a noble monument of wisdom and mercy under the acts of congress of august 31 1852 and of march 3 1853 designed to secure for the cities of washington and georgetown an abundant supply of good and wholesome water it became my duty to examine the report and plans of the engineer who had charge of the surveys under the act first named the best if not the only plan calculated to secure permanently the object sought was that which contemplates taking the water from the great falls of the potomac and consequently i gave to it my approval for the progress and present condition of this important work and for its demands so far as appropriations are concerned i refer you to the report of the secretary of war the present judicial system of the united states has now been in operation for so long a period of time and has in its general theory and much of its details become so familiar to the country and acquired so entirely the public confidence that if modified in any respect it should only be in those particulars which may adapt it to the increased extent population and legal business of the united states in this relation the organization of the courts is now confessedly inadequate to the duties to be performed by them in consequence of which the states of florida wisconsin iowa texas and california and districts of other states are in effect excluded from the full benefits of the general system by the functions of the circuit court being devolved on the district judges in all those states or parts of states the spirit of the constitution and a due regard to justice require that all the states of the union should be placed on the same footing in regard to the judicial tribunals i therefore commend to your consideration this important subject which in my judgment demands the speedy action of congress i will present to you if deemed desirable a plan which i am prepared to recommend for the enlargement and modification of the present judicial system the act of congress establishing the smithsonian institution provided that the president of the united states and other persons therein designated should constitute an establishment by that name and that the members should hold stated and special meetings for the supervision of the affairs of the institution the organization not having taken place it seemed to me proper that it should be effected without delay this has been done and an occasion was thereby presented for inspecting the condition of the institution and appreciating its successful progress thus far and its high promise of great and general usefulness i have omitted to ask your favorable consideration for the estimates of works of a local character in of the states amounting to because independently of the grounds which have so often been urged against the application of the federal revenue for works of this character inequality with consequent injustice is inherent in the nature of the proposition and because the plan has proved entirely inadequate to the accomplishment of the objects sought the subject of internal improvements claiming alike the interest and good will of all has nevertheless been the basis of much political discussion and has stood as a line of division between statesmen of eminent ability and patriotism the rule of strict construction of all powers delegated by the states to the general government has arrayed itself from time to time against the rapid progress of expenditures from the national treasury on works of a local character within the states memorable as an epoch in the history of this subject is the message of president jackson of the 27th of may 1830 which met the system of internal improvements in its comparative infancy but so rapid had been its growth that the projected appropriations in that year for works of this character had risen to the alarming amount of more than in that message the president admitted the difficulty of bringing back the operations of the government to the construction of the constitution set up in 1798 and marked it as an admonitory proof of the necessity of guarding that instrument with sleepless vigilance against the authority of precedents which had not the sanction of its most plainly defined powers our government exists under a written compact between sovereign states uniting for specific objects and with specific grants to their general agent if then in the progress of its administration there have been departures from the terms and intent of the compact it is and will ever be proper to refer back to the fixed standard which our fathers left us and to make a stern effort to conform our action to it it would seem that the fact of a principle having been resisted from the first by many of the wisest and most patriotic men of the republic and a policy having provoked constant strife without arriving at a conclusion which can be regarded as satisfactory to its most earnest advocates should suggest the inquiry whether there may not be a plan likely to be crowned by happier results without perceiving any sound distinction or intending to assert any principle as opposed to improvements needed for the protection of internal commerce which does not equally apply to improvements upon the seaboard for the protection of foreign commerce i submit to you whether it may not be safely anticipated that if the policy were once settled against appropriations by the general government for local improvements for the benefit of commerce localities requiring expenditures would not by modes and means clearly legitimate and proper raise the fund necessary for such constructions as the safety or other interests of their commerce might require if that can be regarded as a system which in the experience of mere than thirty years has at no time so commanded the public judgment as to give it the character of a settled policy which though it has produced some works of conceded importance has been attended with an expenditure quite disproportionate to their value and has resulted in squandering large sums upon objects which have answered no valuable purpose the interests of all the states require it to be abandoned unless hopes may be indulged for the future which find no warrant in the past with an anxious desire for the completion of the works which are regarded by all good citizens with sincere interest i have deemed it my duty to ask at your hands a deliberate reconsideration of the question with a hope that animated by a desire to promote the permanent and substantial interests of the country your wisdom may prove equal to the task of devising and maturing a plan which applied to this subject may promise something better than constant strife the suspension of the powers of local enterprise the exciting of vain hopes and the disappointment of cherished expectations in expending the appropriations made by the last congress several cases have arisen in relation to works for the improvement of harbors which involve questions as to the right of soil and jurisdiction and have threatened conflict between the authority of the state and general governments the right to construct a breakwater jetty or dam would seem necessarily to carry with it the power to protect and preserve such constructions this can only be effectually done by having jurisdiction over the soil but no clause of the constitution is found on which to rest the claim of the united states to exercise jurisdiction over the soil of a state except that conferred by the eighth section of the first article of the constitution it is then submitted whether in all cases where constructions are to be erected by the general government the right of soil should not first be obtained and legislative provision be made to cover all such cases for the progress made in the construction of roads within the territories as provided for in the appropriations of the last congress i refer you to the report of the secretary of war there is one subject of a domestic nature which from its intrinsic importance and the many interesting questions of future policy which it involves can not fail to receive your early attention i allude to the means of communication by which different parts of the wide expanse of our country are to be placed in closer connection for purposes both of defense and commercial intercourse and more especially such as appertain to the communication of those great divisions of the union which lie on the opposite sides of the rocky mountains that the government has not been unmindful of this heretofore is apparent from the aid it has afforded through appropriations for mail facilities and other purposes but the general subject will now present itself under aspects more imposing and more purely national by reason of the surveys ordered by congress and now in the process of completion for communication by railway across the continent and wholly within the limits of the united states the power to declare war to raise and support armies to provide and maintain a navy and to call forth the militia to execute the laws suppress insurrections and repel invasions was conferred upon congress as means to provide for the common defense and to protect a territory and a population now widespread and vastly multiplied as incidental to and indispensable for the exercise of this power it must sometimes be necessary to construct military roads and protect harbors of refuge to appropriations by congress for such objects no sound objection can be raised happily for our country its peaceful policy and rapidly increasing population impose upon us no urgent necessity for preparation and leave but few trackless deserts between assailable points and a patriotic people ever ready and generally able to protect them these necessary links the enterprise and energy of our people are steadily and boldly struggling to supply all experience affirms that wherever private enterprise will avail it is most wise for the general government to leave to that and individual watchfulness the location and execution of all means of communication the surveys before alluded to were designed to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the river mississippi to the pacific ocean parties are now in the field making explorations where previous examinations had not supplied sufficient data and where there was the best reason to hope the object sought might be found the means and time being both limited it is not to be expected that all the accurate knowledge desired will be obtained but it is hoped that much and important information will be added to the stock previously possessed and that partial if not full reports of the surveys ordered will be received in time for transmission to the two houses of congress on or before the first monday in february next as required by the act of appropriation the magnitude of the enterprise contemplated has aroused and will doubtless continue to excite a very general interest throughout the country in its political its commercial and its military bearings it has varied great and increasing claims to consideration the heavy expense the great delay and at times fatality attending travel by either of the isthmus routes have demonstrated the advantage which would result from interterritorial communication by such safe and rapid means as a railroad would supply these difficulties which have been encountered in a period of peace would be magnified and still further increased in time of war but whilst the embarrassments already encountered and others under new contingencies to be anticipated may serve strikingly to exhibit the importance of such a work neither these nor all considerations combined can have an appreciable value when weighed against the obligation strictly to adhere to the constitution and faithfully to execute the powers it confers within this limit and to the extent of the interest of the government involved it would seem both expedient and proper if an economical and practicable route shall be found to aid by all constitutional means in the construction of a road which will unite by speedy transit the populations of the pacific and atlantic states to guard against misconception it should be remarked that although the power to construct or aid in the construction of a road within the limits of a territory is not embarrassed by that question of jurisdiction which would arise within the limits of a state it is nevertheless held to be of doubtful power and more than doubtful propriety even within the limits of a territory for the general government to undertake to administer the affairs of a railroad a canal or other similar construction and therefore that its connection with a work of this character should be incidental rather than primary i will only add at present that fully appreciating the magnitude of the subject and solicitous that the atlantic and pacific shores of the republic may be bound together by inseparable ties of common interest as well as of common fealty and attachment to the union i shall be disposed so far as my own action is concerned to follow the lights of the constitution as expounded and illustrated by those whose opinions and expositions constitute the standard of my political faith in regard to the powers of the federal government it is i trust not necessary to say that no grandeur of enterprise and no present urgent inducement promising popular favor will lead me to disregard those lights or to depart from that path which experience has proved to be safe and which is now radiant with the glow of prosperity and legitimate constitutional progress we can afford to wait but we can not afford to overlook the ark of our security it is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any subject which may properly be regarded as set at rest by the deliberate judgment of the people but while the present is bright with promise and the future full of demand and inducement for the exercise of active intelligence the past can never be without useful lessons of admonition and instruction if its dangers serve not as beacons they will evidently fail to fulfill the object of a wise design when the grave shall have closed over all who are now endeavoring to meet the obligations of duty the year 1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with anxious apprehension a successful war had just terminated peace brought with it a vast augmentation of territory disturbing questions arose bearing upon the domestic institutions of one portion of the confederacy and involving the constitutional rights of the states but notwithstanding differences of opinion and sentiment which then existed in relation to details and specific provisions the acquiescence of distinguished citizens whose devotion to the union can never be doubted has given renewed vigor to our institutions and restored a sense of repose and security to the public mind throughout the confederacy that this repose is to suffer no shock during my official term if i have power to avert it those who placed me here may be assured the wisdom of men who knew what independence cost who had put all at stake upon the issue of the revolutionary struggle disposed of the subject to which i refer in the only way consistent with the union of these states and with the march of power and prosperity which has made us what we are it is a significant fact that from the adoption of the constitution until the officers and soldiers of the revolution had passed to their graves or through the infirmities of age and wounds had ceased to participate actively in public affairs there was not merely a quiet acquiescence in but a prompt vindication of the constitutional rights of the states the reserved powers were scrupulously respected no statesman put forth the narrow views of casuists to justify interference and agitation but the spirit of the compact was regarded as sacred in the eye of honor and indispensable for the great experiment of civil liberty which environed by inherent difficulties was yet borne forward in apparent weakness by a power superior to all obstacles there is no condemnation which the voice of freedom will not pronounce upon us should we prove faithless to this great trust while men inhabiting different parts of this vast continent can no more be expected to hold the same opinions or entertain the same sentiments than every variety of climate or soil can be expected to furnish the same agricultural products they can unite in a common object and sustain common principles essential to the maintenance of that object the gallant men of the south and the north could stand together during the struggle of the revolution they could stand together in the more trying period which succeeded the clangor of arms as their united valor was adequate to all the trials of the camp and dangers of the field so their united wisdom proved equal to the greater task of founding upon a deep and broad basis institutions which it has been our privilege to enjoy and will ever be our most sacred duty to sustain it is but the feeble expression of a faith strong and universal to say that their sons whose blood mingled so often upon the same field during the war of 1812 and who have more recently borne in triumph the flag of the country upon a foreign soil will never permit alienation of feeling to weaken the power of their united efforts nor internal dissensions to paralyze the great arm of freedom uplifted for the vindication of i have thus briefly presented such suggestions as seem to me especially worthy of your consideration in providing for the present you can hardly fail to avail yourselves of the light which the experience of the past casts upon the future the growth of our population has now brought us in the destined career of our national history to a point at which it well behooves us to expand our vision over the vast prospective the successive decennial returns of the census since the adoption of the constitution have revealed a law of steady progressive development which may be stated in general terms as a duplication every quarter century carried forward from the point already reached for only a short period of time as applicable to the existence of a nation this law of progress if unchecked will bring us to almost incredible results a large allowance for a diminished proportional effect of emigration would not very materially reduce the estimate while the increased average duration of human life known to have already resulted from the scientific and hygienic improvements of the past fifty years will tend to keep up through the next fifty or perhaps hundred the same ratio of growth which has been thus revealed in our past progress and to the influence of these causes may be added the influx of laboring masses from eastern asia to the pacific side of our possessions together with the probable accession of the populations already existing in other parts of our hemisphere which within the period in question will feel with yearly increasing force the natural attraction of so vast powerful and prosperous a confederation of republics and will seek the privilege of being admitted within its safe and happy bosom transferring with themselves by a peaceful and healthy process of incorporation spacious regions of virgin and exuberant soil which are destined to swarm with the fast growing and millions of our race these considerations seem fully to justify the presumption that the law of population above stated will continue to act with undiminished effect through at least the next half century and that thousands of persons who have already arrived at maturity and are now exercising the rights of freemen will close their eyes on the spectacle of more than of population embraced within the majestic proportions of the american union it is not merely as an interesting topic of speculation that i present these views for your consideration they have important practical bearings upon all the political duties we are called upon to perform heretofore our system of government has worked on what may be termed a miniature scale in comparison with the development which it must thus assume within a future so near at hand as scarcely to be beyond the present of the existing generation it is evident that a confederation so vast and so varied both in numbers and in territorial extent in habits and in interests could only be kept in national cohesion by the strictest fidelity to the principles of the constitution as understood by those who have adhered to the most restricted construction of the powers granted by the people and the states interpreted and applied according to those principles the great compact adapts itself with healthy ease and freedom to an unlimited extension of that benign system of federative of which it is our glorious and i trust immortal charter let us then with redoubled vigilance be on our guard against yielding to the temptation of the exercise of doubtful powers even under the pressure of the motives of conceded temporary advantage and apparent temporary expediency the minimum of federal government compatible with the maintenance of national unity and efficient action in our relations with the rest of the world should afford the rule and measure of construction of our powers under the general clauses of the constitution a spirit of strict deference to the sovereign rights and dignity of every state rather than a disposition to subordinate the states into a provincial relation to the central authority should characterize all our exercise of the respective powers temporarily vested in us as a sacred trust from the generous confidence of our constituents in like manner as a manifestly indispensable condition of the perpetuation of the union and of the realization of that magnificent national future adverted to does the duty become yearly stronger and clearer upon us as citizens of the several states to cultivate a fraternal and affectionate spirit language and conduct in regard to other states and in relation to the varied interests institutions and habits of sentiment and opinion which may respectively characterize them mutual forbearance respect and noninterference in our personal action as citizens and an enlarged exercise of the most liberal principles of comity in the public dealings of state with state whether in legislation or in the execution of laws are the means to perpetuate that confidence and fraternity the decay of which a mere political union on so vast a scale could not long survive in still another point of view is an important practical duty suggested by this consideration of the magnitude of dimensions to which our political system with its corresponding machinery of government is so rapidly expanding with increased vigilance does it require us to cultivate the cardinal virtues of public frugality and official integrity and purity public affairs ought to be so conducted that a settled conviction shall pervade the entire union that nothing short of the highest tone and standard of public morality marks every part of the administration and legislation of the general government thus will the federal system whatever expansion time and progress may give it continue more and more deeply rooted in the love and confidence of the people that wise economy which is as far removed from parsimony as from corrupt and corrupting extravagance that single regard for the public good which will frown upon all attempts to approach the treasury with insidious projects of private interest cloaked under public pretexts that sound fiscal administration which in the legislative department guards against the dangerous temptations incident to overflowing revenue and in the executive maintains an unsleeping watchfulness against the tendency of all national expenditure to extravagance while they are admitted elementary political duties may i trust be deemed as properly adverted to and urged in view of the more impressive sense of that necessity which is directly suggested by the considerations now presented since the adjournment of congress the of the united states has passed from the scenes of earth without having entered upon the duties of the station to which he had been called by the voice of his countrymen having occupied almost continuously for more than thirty years a seat in one or the other of the two houses of congress and having by his singular purity and wisdom secured unbounded confidence and universal respect his failing health was watched by the nation with painful solicitude his loss to the country under all the circumstances has been justly regarded as irreparable in compliance with the act of congress of march 2 1853 the oath of office was administered to him on the 24th of that month at ariadne estate near matanzas in the island of cuba but his strength gradually declined and was hardly sufficient to enable him to return to his home in alabama where on the 18th day of april in the most calm and peaceful way his long and eminently useful career was terminated entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the public interest and being conscious of no motives on my part which are not inseparable from the honor and advancement of my country i hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure not only your cordial cooperation in great public measures but also those relations of mutual confidence and regard which it is always so desirable to cultivate between members of coordinate branches of the government
interest people republic anticipate assembling congress fulfillment occasion duty imposed upon new president one best evidences capacity realize hopes founders political system complex symmetrical different branches government certain extent independent duties alike direct reference source power fortunately system man high none humble scale public station escape scrutiny exempt responsibility official functions imply upon justice intelligence masses government thus organized sole reliance confederacy security honest earnest devotion interests usurpations encroachment power one hand assaults personal ambition interest spoken inseparable inquiring community stimulated doubtless present time unsettled condition relations several foreign powers new obligations resulting sudden extension field enterprise spirit field entered amazing energy resources meeting demands humanity developed although disease assuming one time characteristics widespread devastating pestilence left sad traces upon portions country still abundant reverent thankfulness god accumulation signal mercies showered upon us nation well consciousness rapid advancement increasing strength habitually associated abiding sense dependence upon holds hands destiny men nations recognizing wisdom broad principle absolute religious toleration proclaimed fundamental law rejoicing benign influence exerted upon social political condition shrink clear duty fail express deepest conviction place secure reliance upon apparent progress sustained national integrity resting upon great truths affirmed illustrated divine revelation midst sorrow afflicted suffering consoling see promptly disaster made true neighbors districts cities separated widely cheering watch strength common bond brotherhood unites hearts parts union danger threatens abroad calamity impends us home diplomatic relations foreign powers undergone essential changesince adjournment last congress questions disturbing character still pending good reasons believe may amicably adjusted years past great britain construed first article convention 20th april 1818 regard fisheries northeastern coast exclude citizens fishing grounds freely resorted nearly quarter century subsequent date treaty united states never acquiesced construction always claimed fishermen rights long enjoyed without molestation view remove difficulties subject extend rights fishermen beyond limits fixed convention 1818 regulate trade united states british north american provinces negotiation opened fair prospect favorable result protect fishermen enjoyment rights prevent collision british fishermen deemed expedient station naval force quarter fishing season embarrassing questions also arisen two governments regard central america great britain proposed settle amicable arrangement minister london instructed enter negotiations subject commission adjusting claims citizens great britain british subjects united states organized convention 8th february last sitting london transaction business many respects desirable boundary line united states british provinces northwest designated convention 15th june 1846 especially part separates territory washington british possessions north traced marked therefore present subject notice france relations continue friendly footing extensive commerce united states country might conceived released unnecessary restrictions mutual advantage parties view object progress made negotiating treaty commerce navigation independently valuable trade spain important political relations growing neighborhood islands cuba porto rico happy announce since last congress attempts made unauthorized expeditions within united states either colonies movement manifested within limits means command vigorously exerted repress several annoying occurrences taken place havana vicinity island cuba citizens spanish authorities considering proximity island shores lying track trade principal cities suspicious vigilance foreign intercourse particularly united states guarded repetition occurrences may well apprehended diplomatic intercourse allowed consul havana cuba ready explanations made prompt redress afforded injury resulted complaint part citizens present arrangement must first place presented government referred spain spain refers local authorities cuba investigation postpones answer till heard authorities avoid irritating vexatious delays proposition made provide direct appeal redress consul behalf injured hitherto government spain declined enter arrangement course part deeply regretted without arrangement kind good understanding two countries may exposed occasional interruption minister madrid instructed renew proposition press upon consideration catholic majesty government several years spain calling attention government claim losses subjects case schooner amistad claim believed rest obligations imposed existing treaty country justice admitted diplomatic correspondence spanish government early march 1847 one predecessors annual message year recommended provision made payment january last submitted congress executive received favorable consideration committees branches yet final action upon conceive good faith requires prompt adjustment present early favorable consideration martin koszta hungarian birth came country 1850 declared intention due form law become citizen united states remaining nearly two years visited turkey smyrna forcibly seized taken board austrian brig war lying harbor place confined irons avowed design take dominions austria consul smyrna legation constantinople interposed release efforts ineffectual thus prison commander ingraham united states ship war louis arrived smyrna inquiring circumstances case came conclusion koszta entitled protection government took energetic prompt measures release arrangement agents united states austria transferred custody french smyrna remain disposed mutual agreement consuls respective governments place pursuant agreement released united states emperor austria made conduct officers took part transaction subject grave complaint regarding koszta still subject claiming right seize within limits turkish empire demanded government consent surrender prisoner disavowal acts agents satisfaction alleged outrage careful consideration case came conclusion koszta seized without legal authority smyrna wrongfully detained board austrian brig war time seizure clothed nationality united states acts officers circumstances case justifiable conduct fully approved compliance several demands emperor austria declined full account transaction views regard refer correspondence charge austria secretary state herewith transmitted principles policy therein maintained part united states whenever proper occasion occurs applied enforced condition china time renders probable important changes occur vast empire lead unrestricted intercourse commissioner country recently appointed instructed avail occasions open extend commercial relations empire china asiatic nations 1852 expedition sent japan command commodore perry purpose opening commercial intercourse empire intelligence received arrival made known emperor japan object visit yet ascertained far emperor disposed abandon restrictive policy open populous country commercial intercourse united states earnest desire maintain friendly intercourse governments upon continent aid preserving good understanding among mexico dispute arisen true boundary line territory new mexico mexican state chihuahua former commissioner united states employed running line pursuant treaty guadalupe hidalgo made serious mistake determining initial point rio grande inasmuch decision clearly departure directions tracing boundary contained treaty concurred surveyor appointed part united states whose concurrence necessary give validity decision government concluded thereby mexico takes different view subject also questions considerable magnitude pending two republics minister mexico ample instructions adjust negotiations opened sufficient progress made therein enable speak probable result impressed importance maintaining amicable relations republic yielding liberality claims reasonable expect arrangement mutually satisfactory countries may concluded lasting friendship confirmed perpetuated congress provided full mission states central america minister sent thither july last yet time visit one states nicaragua received friendly manner hoped presence good offices benign effect composing dissensions prevail among establishing still intimate friendly relations respectively united states considering vast regions continent number states would made accessible free navigation river amazon particular attention given subject brazil whose territories passes ocean hitherto persisted policy restricted regard use river obstruct nearly exclude foreign commercial intercourse states lie upon tributaries upper branches minister country instructed obtain relaxation policy use efforts induce brazilian government open common use proper safeguards great natural highway international trade several south american states deeply interested attempt secure free navigation amazon reasonable expect cooperation measure advantages free commercial intercourse among nations better understood liberal views generally entertained common rights free use means nature provided international communication liberal enlightened views hoped brazil conform policy remove unnecessary restrictions upon free use river traverses many states large part continent happy inform republic paraguay argentine confederation yielded liberal policy still resisted brazil regard navigable rivers within respective territories treaties embracing subject among others negotiated governments submitted senate present session new branch commerce important agricultural interests united states within years past opened peru notwithstanding inexhaustible deposits guano upon islands country considerable difficulties experienced obtaining requisite supply measures taken remove difficulties secure abundant importation article unfortunately serious collision citizens resorted chincha islands peruvian authorities stationed redress outrages committed latter promptly demanded minister lima subject consideration reason believe peru disposed offer adequate indemnity aggrieved parties thus peace foreign countries regard political affairs exempt serious disquietude domestic relations controversies agitated country heretofore passing away causes produced passions awakened trace remains may reasonably hoped perceived zealous rivalry good citizens testify respect rights states devotion union common determination one states institutions welfare domestic peace shall held alike secure sacred aegis constitution new league amity mutual confidence support people republic entered happily affords inducement opportunity adoption comprehensive unembarrassed line policy action great material interests country whether regarded connection powers civilized world united states continued gradually steadily expand acquisitions territory much soever may questioned universally seen admitted wise policy character great element advancement country human race freedom prosperity happiness thirteen states grown relations reaching europe one side distant realms asia deeply sensible immense responsibility present magnitude republic diversity multiplicity interests devolves upon alleviation far relates immediate conduct public business first reliance wisdom patriotism two houses congress secondly directions afforded principles public polity affirmed fathers epoch 1798 sanctioned long experience consecrated anew overwhelming voice people united states recurring principles constitute organic basis union perceive vast functions duties federal government vested intrusted three great departments legislative executive judicial yet substantive power popular force large capacities social material development exist respective states republics preceded alone capable maintaining perpetuating american union federal government appropriate line action specific limited powers conferred constitution chiefly things states common interest relations one another foreign governments great mass interests belong cultivated men ordinary business life springs industry diversified personal domestic affairs society rest securely upon general reserved powers people several states effective democracy nation vital essence greatness practical consequences flow nature federal government primary one duty administering integrity fidelity high trust reposed constitution especially application public funds drawn taxation people appropriated specific objects congress happily occasion suggest radical changes financial policy government almost absolutely solitary power christendom surplus revenue drawn immediately imposts commerce therefore measured spontaneous enterprise national prosperity country indirect relation agriculture manufactures products earth sea violate constitutional doctrine yet vigorously promote general welfare neither sources public treasure manner keeping managing grave controversy prevail general acquiescence wisdom present system report secretary treasury exhibit detail state public finances condition various branches public service administered department government revenue country levied almost insensibly taxpayer goes year year increasing beyond either interests prospective wants government close fiscal year ending june 30 1852 remained treasury balance public revenue fiscal year ending june 30 1853 amounted customs public lands miscellaneous sources amounting together public expenditures period exclusive payments account public debt amounted leaving balance receipts expenditures fact increasing surplus treasury became subject anxious consideration early period administration path duty regard seemed obvious clear namely first apply surplus revenue discharge public debt far could judiciously done secondly devise means gradual reduction revenue standard public exigencies objects first course accomplishment manner degree highly satisfactory amount public debt classes 4th march 1853 payments account made since period amount leaving unpaid continuous course liquidation sum payments although made market price respective classes stocks effected readily general advantage treasury time proved signal utility relief incidentally afforded money market industrial commercial pursuits country second objects reduction tariff great importance plan suggested secretary treasury reduce duties certain articles add free list many articles taxed especially enter manufactures largely produced country commended candid careful consideration find report secretary treasury also abundant proof entire adequacy present fiscal system meet requirements public service properly administered operates advantage community ordinary business relations respectfully ask attention sundry suggestions improvements settlement accounts especially regards large sums outstanding arrears due government reforms administrative action department indicated secretary also progress made construction marine hospitals new mint california assay office city new york heretofore provided congress also eminently successful progress coast survey light house board among objects meriting attention important recommendations secretaries war navy fully satisfied navy united states condition strength efficiency commensurate magnitude commercial interests commend especial attention suggestions subject made secretary navy respectfully submit army system must always regarded highest interest nucleus around volunteer forces nation gather hour danger requires augmentation modification adapt present extended limits frontier relations country condition indian tribes interior continent necessity appear communications secretaries war interior administration department fiscal year ending june 30 1853 gross expenditure gross receipts period showing current revenue failed meet current expenses department sum causes present postal system laws led inevitably result fully explained report one great enormous rates department compelled pay mail service rendered railroad companies exhibit report income expenditures mail steamers found peculiarly interesting character demand immediate action congress numerous flagrant frauds upon pension bureau brought light within last year instances merited punishments inflicted unfortunately others guilty parties escaped want sufficient evidence warrant conviction consequence provisions limitation existing laws nature claims remoteness tribunals pass upon mode proof necessity furnished temptations crime greatly stimulated obvious difficulties detection defects law upon subject apparent fatal ends justice early action relating desirable last fiscal year acres public lands surveyed acres brought market within period sales public purchase private entry amounted acres located military bountys warrants acres located certificates acres ceded states swamp lands acres selected railroad objects acts congress acres total amount lands disposed within fiscal year acres increase quantity sold located land warrants grants 818 acres fiscal year immediately preceding quantity land sold second third quarters 1852 acres amount received therefor quantity sold second third quarters year 1853 acres amount received therefor whole number land warrants issued existing laws prior 30th september last outstanding date quantity land required satisfy outstanding warrants acres warrants issued 30th september last act 11th february 1847 calling acres acts september 28 1850 march 22 1852 calling acres making total acres believed experience verified wisdom justice present system regard public domain essential particulars perceive report secretary interior opinions often expressed relation operation land system source revenue federal treasury erroneous net profits sale public lands june 30 1853 amounted sum recommend extension land system territories utah new mexico modifications peculiarities may require regarding public domain chiefly valuable provide homes industrious enterprising prepared recommend essential change land system except modifications favor actual settler extension preemption principle certain cases reasons grounds fully developed reports laid congress representing proprietors territorial domain charged especially power dispose territory belonging united states long course years beginning administration jefferson exercised power construct roads within territories many obvious distinctions exercise power making roads within states former never considered subject objections apply latter may considered settled construction power federal government upon subject numerous applications doubt continue made grants land aid construction railways believed within intent meaning constitution power dispose public domain used otherwise might expected prudent proprietor therefore grants land aid construction roads restricted cases would interest proprietor like circumstances thus contribute construction works practical operation grants thus far advancing interests ot states works located time substantial interests states enhancing value promoting rapid sale public domain refer report secretary interior careful examination however show experience result discrimination far affording encouragement reckless indiscriminate extension principle commend favorable consideration men genius country inventions discoveries science arts contributed largely improvements age without many instances securing anything like adequate reward many interesting details upon subject refer appropriate reports especially urge upon early attention apparently slight really important modifications existing laws therein suggested liberal spirit long marked action congress relation district columbia doubt continue manifested erection asylum insane district columbia army navy united states somewhat retarded great demand materials labor past summer full preparation reception patients return another winter anticipated best reason believe plan contemplated arrangements devised large experience furnished within last years relation nature treatment disease prove asylum indeed helpless afflicted class sufferers stand noble monument wisdom mercy acts congress august 31 1852 march 3 1853 designed secure cities washington georgetown abundant supply good wholesome water became duty examine report plans engineer charge surveys act first named best plan calculated secure permanently object sought contemplates taking water great falls potomac consequently gave approval progress present condition important work demands far appropriations concerned refer report secretary war present judicial system united states operation long period time general theory much details become familiar country acquired entirely public confidence modified respect particulars may adapt increased extent population legal business united states relation organization courts confessedly inadequate duties performed consequence states florida wisconsin iowa texas california districts states effect excluded full benefits general system functions circuit court devolved district judges states parts states spirit constitution due regard justice require states union placed footing regard judicial tribunals therefore commend consideration important subject judgment demands speedy action congress present deemed desirable plan prepared recommend enlargement modification present judicial system act congress establishing smithsonian institution provided president united states persons therein designated constitute establishment name members hold stated special meetings supervision affairs institution organization taken place seemed proper effected without delay done occasion thereby presented inspecting condition institution appreciating successful progress thus far high promise great general usefulness omitted ask favorable consideration estimates works local character states amounting independently grounds often urged application federal revenue works character inequality consequent injustice inherent nature proposition plan proved entirely inadequate accomplishment objects sought subject internal improvements claiming alike interest good nevertheless basis much political discussion stood line division statesmen eminent ability patriotism rule strict construction powers delegated states general government arrayed time time rapid progress expenditures national treasury works local character within states memorable epoch history subject message president jackson 27th may 1830 met system internal improvements comparative infancy rapid growth projected appropriations year works character risen alarming amount message president admitted difficulty bringing back operations government construction constitution set 1798 marked admonitory proof necessity guarding instrument sleepless vigilance authority precedents sanction plainly defined powers government exists written compact sovereign states uniting specific objects specific grants general agent progress administration departures terms intent compact ever proper refer back fixed standard fathers left us make stern effort conform action would seem fact principle resisted first many wisest patriotic men republic policy provoked constant strife without arriving conclusion regarded satisfactory earnest advocates suggest inquiry whether may plan likely crowned happier results without perceiving sound distinction intending assert principle opposed improvements needed protection internal commerce equally apply improvements upon seaboard protection foreign commerce submit whether may safely anticipated policy settled appropriations general government local improvements benefit commerce localities requiring expenditures would modes means clearly legitimate proper raise fund necessary constructions safety interests commerce might require regarded system experience mere thirty years time commanded public judgment give character settled policy though produced works conceded importance attended expenditure quite disproportionate value resulted squandering large sums upon objects answered valuable purpose interests states require abandoned unless hopes may indulged future find warrant past anxious desire completion works regarded good citizens sincere interest deemed duty ask hands deliberate reconsideration question hope animated desire promote permanent substantial interests country wisdom may prove equal task devising maturing plan applied subject may promise something better constant strife suspension powers local enterprise exciting vain hopes disappointment cherished expectations expending appropriations made last congress several cases arisen relation works improvement harbors involve questions right soil jurisdiction threatened conflict authority state general governments right construct breakwater jetty dam would seem necessarily carry power protect preserve constructions effectually done jurisdiction soil clause constitution found rest claim united states exercise jurisdiction soil state except conferred eighth section first article constitution submitted whether cases constructions erected general government right soil first obtained legislative provision made cover cases progress made construction roads within territories provided appropriations last congress refer report secretary war one subject domestic nature intrinsic importance many interesting questions future policy involves fail receive early attention allude means communication different parts wide expanse country placed closer connection purposes defense commercial intercourse especially appertain communication great divisions union lie opposite sides rocky mountains government unmindful heretofore apparent aid afforded appropriations mail facilities purposes general subject present aspects imposing purely national reason surveys ordered congress process completion communication railway across continent wholly within limits united states power declare war raise support armies provide maintain navy call forth militia execute laws suppress insurrections repel invasions conferred upon congress means provide common defense protect territory population widespread vastly multiplied incidental indispensable exercise power must sometimes necessary construct military roads protect harbors refuge appropriations congress objects sound objection raised happily country peaceful policy rapidly increasing population impose upon us urgent necessity preparation leave trackless deserts assailable points patriotic people ever ready generally able protect necessary links enterprise energy people steadily boldly struggling supply experience affirms wherever private enterprise avail wise general government leave individual watchfulness location execution means communication surveys alluded designed ascertain practicable economical route railroad river mississippi pacific ocean parties field making explorations previous examinations supplied sufficient data best reason hope object sought might found means time limited expected accurate knowledge desired obtained hoped much important information added stock previously possessed partial full reports surveys ordered received time transmission two houses congress first monday february next required act appropriation magnitude enterprise contemplated aroused doubtless continue excite general interest throughout country political commercial military bearings varied great increasing claims consideration heavy expense great delay times fatality attending travel either isthmus routes demonstrated advantage would result interterritorial communication safe rapid means railroad would supply difficulties encountered period peace would magnified still increased time war whilst embarrassments already encountered others new contingencies anticipated may serve strikingly exhibit importance work neither considerations combined appreciable value weighed obligation strictly adhere constitution faithfully execute powers confers within limit extent interest government involved would seem expedient proper economical practicable route shall found aid constitutional means construction road unite speedy transit populations pacific atlantic states guard misconception remarked although power construct aid construction road within limits territory embarrassed question jurisdiction would arise within limits state nevertheless held doubtful power doubtful propriety even within limits territory general government undertake administer affairs railroad canal similar construction therefore connection work character incidental rather primary add present fully appreciating magnitude subject solicitous atlantic pacific shores republic may bound together inseparable ties common interest well common fealty attachment union shall disposed far action concerned follow lights constitution expounded illustrated whose opinions expositions constitute standard political faith regard powers federal government trust necessary say grandeur enterprise present urgent inducement promising popular favor lead disregard lights depart path experience proved safe radiant glow prosperity legitimate constitutional progress afford wait afford overlook ark security part purpose give prominence subject may properly regarded set rest deliberate judgment people present bright promise future full demand inducement exercise active intelligence past never without useful lessons admonition instruction dangers serve beacons evidently fail fulfill object wise design grave shall closed endeavoring meet obligations duty year 1850 recurred period filled anxious apprehension successful war terminated peace brought vast augmentation territory disturbing questions arose bearing upon domestic institutions one portion confederacy involving constitutional rights states notwithstanding differences opinion sentiment existed relation details specific provisions acquiescence distinguished citizens whose devotion union never doubted given renewed vigor institutions restored sense repose security public mind throughout confederacy repose suffer shock official term power avert placed may assured wisdom men knew independence cost put stake upon issue revolutionary struggle disposed subject refer way consistent union states march power prosperity made us significant fact adoption constitution officers soldiers revolution passed graves infirmities age wounds ceased participate actively public affairs merely quiet acquiescence prompt vindication constitutional rights states reserved powers scrupulously respected statesman put forth narrow views casuists justify interference agitation spirit compact regarded sacred eye honor indispensable great experiment civil liberty environed inherent difficulties yet borne forward apparent weakness power superior obstacles condemnation voice freedom pronounce upon us prove faithless great trust men inhabiting different parts vast continent expected hold opinions entertain sentiments every variety climate soil expected furnish agricultural products unite common object sustain common principles essential maintenance object gallant men south north could stand together struggle revolution could stand together trying period succeeded clangor arms united valor adequate trials camp dangers field united wisdom proved equal greater task founding upon deep broad basis institutions privilege enjoy ever sacred duty sustain feeble expression faith strong universal say sons whose blood mingled often upon field war 1812 recently borne triumph flag country upon foreign soil never permit alienation feeling weaken power united efforts internal dissensions paralyze great arm freedom uplifted vindication thus briefly presented suggestions seem especially worthy consideration providing present hardly fail avail light experience past casts upon future growth population brought us destined career national history point well behooves us expand vision vast prospective successive decennial returns census since adoption constitution revealed law steady progressive development may stated general terms duplication every quarter century carried forward point already reached short period time applicable existence nation law progress unchecked bring us almost incredible results large allowance diminished proportional effect emigration would materially reduce estimate increased average duration human life known already resulted scientific hygienic improvements past fifty years tend keep next fifty perhaps hundred ratio growth thus revealed past progress influence causes may added influx laboring masses eastern asia pacific side possessions together probable accession populations already existing parts hemisphere within period question feel yearly increasing force natural attraction vast powerful prosperous confederation republics seek privilege admitted within safe happy bosom transferring peaceful healthy process incorporation spacious regions virgin exuberant soil destined swarm fast growing millions race considerations seem fully justify presumption law population stated continue act undiminished effect least next half century thousands persons already arrived maturity exercising rights freemen close eyes spectacle population embraced within majestic proportions american union merely interesting topic speculation present views consideration important practical bearings upon political duties called upon perform heretofore system government worked may termed miniature scale comparison development must thus assume within future near hand scarcely beyond present existing generation evident confederation vast varied numbers territorial extent habits interests could kept national cohesion strictest fidelity principles constitution understood adhered restricted construction powers granted people states interpreted applied according principles great compact adapts healthy ease freedom unlimited extension benign system federative glorious trust immortal charter let us redoubled vigilance guard yielding temptation exercise doubtful powers even pressure motives conceded temporary advantage apparent temporary expediency minimum federal government compatible maintenance national unity efficient action relations rest world afford rule measure construction powers general clauses constitution spirit strict deference sovereign rights dignity every state rather disposition subordinate states provincial relation central authority characterize exercise respective powers temporarily vested us sacred trust generous confidence constituents like manner manifestly indispensable condition perpetuation union realization magnificent national future adverted duty become yearly stronger clearer upon us citizens several states cultivate fraternal affectionate spirit language conduct regard states relation varied interests institutions habits sentiment opinion may respectively characterize mutual forbearance respect noninterference personal action citizens enlarged exercise liberal principles comity public dealings state state whether legislation execution laws means perpetuate confidence fraternity decay mere political union vast scale could long survive still another point view important practical duty suggested consideration magnitude dimensions political system corresponding machinery government rapidly expanding increased vigilance require us cultivate cardinal virtues public frugality official integrity purity public affairs ought conducted settled conviction shall pervade entire union nothing short highest tone standard public morality marks every part administration legislation general government thus federal system whatever expansion time progress may give continue deeply rooted love confidence people wise economy far removed parsimony corrupt corrupting extravagance single regard public good frown upon attempts approach treasury insidious projects private interest cloaked public pretexts sound fiscal administration legislative department guards dangerous temptations incident overflowing revenue executive maintains unsleeping watchfulness tendency national expenditure extravagance admitted elementary political duties may trust deemed properly adverted urged view impressive sense necessity directly suggested considerations presented since adjournment congress united states passed scenes earth without entered upon duties station called voice countrymen occupied almost continuously thirty years seat one two houses congress singular purity wisdom secured unbounded confidence universal respect failing health watched nation painful solicitude loss country circumstances justly regarded irreparable compliance act congress march 2 1853 oath office administered 24th month ariadne estate near matanzas island cuba strength gradually declined hardly sufficient enable return home alabama 18th day april calm peaceful way long eminently useful career terminated entertaining unlimited confidence intelligent patriotic devotion public interest conscious motives part inseparable honor advancement country hope may privilege deserve secure cordial cooperation great public measures also relations mutual confidence regard always desirable cultivate members coordinate branches government
interest people republic anticipate assemble congress fulfillment occasion duty impose upon new president one best evidence capacity realize hop founder political system complex symmetrical different branch government certain extent independent duty alike direct reference source power fortunately system man high none humble scale public station escape scrutiny exempt responsibility official function imply upon justice intelligence mass government thus organize sole reliance confederacy security honest earnest devotion interest usurpation encroachment power one hand assault personal ambition interest speak inseparable inquire community stimulate doubtless present time unsettled condition relation several foreign power new obligation result sudden extension field enterprise spirit field enter amazing energy resource meet demand humanity develop although disease assume one time characteristic widespread devastate pestilence leave sad trace upon portion country still abundant reverent thankfulness god accumulation signal mercy shower upon u nation well consciousness rapid advancement increase strength habitually associate abide sense dependence upon hold hand destiny men nation recognize wisdom broad principle absolute religious toleration proclaim fundamental law rejoice benign influence exert upon social political condition shrink clear duty fail express deep conviction place secure reliance upon apparent progress sustain national integrity rest upon great truth affirm illustrated divine revelation midst sorrow afflict suffer console see promptly disaster make true neighbor district city separate widely cheer watch strength common bond brotherhood unites heart part union danger threaten abroad calamity impend u home diplomatic relation foreign power undergo essential changesince adjournment last congress question disturb character still pending good reason believe may amicably adjust year past great britain construe first article convention 20th april 1818 regard fishery northeastern coast exclude citizen fish ground freely resort nearly quarter century subsequent date treaty united state never acquiesce construction always claim fisherman right long enjoy without molestation view remove difficulty subject extend right fisherman beyond limit fix convention 1818 regulate trade unite state british north american province negotiation open fair prospect favorable result protect fisherman enjoyment right prevent collision british fisherman deem expedient station naval force quarter fish season embarrass question also arise two government regard central america great britain propose settle amicable arrangement minister london instruct enter negotiation subject commission adjust claim citizen great britain british subject united state organize convention 8th february last sit london transaction business many respect desirable boundary line unite state british province northwest designate convention 15th june 1846 especially part separate territory washington british possession north trace mark therefore present subject notice france relation continue friendly footing extensive commerce united state country might conceive release unnecessary restriction mutual advantage party view object progress make negotiate treaty commerce navigation independently valuable trade spain important political relation grow neighborhood island cuba porto rico happy announce since last congress attempt make unauthorized expedition within united state either colony movement manifest within limit mean command vigorously exert repress several annoy occurrence take place havana vicinity island cuba citizen spanish authority consider proximity island shore lie track trade principal city suspicious vigilance foreign intercourse particularly united state guard repetition occurrence may well apprehend diplomatic intercourse allow consul havana cuba ready explanation make prompt redress afford injury result complaint part citizen present arrangement must first place presented government refer spain spain refers local authority cuba investigation postpones answer till heard authority avoid irritate vexatious delay proposition make provide direct appeal redress consul behalf injure hitherto government spain decline enter arrangement course part deeply regret without arrangement kind good understanding two country may expose occasional interruption minister madrid instruct renew proposition press upon consideration catholic majesty government several year spain call attention government claim loss subject case schooner amistad claim believe rest obligation impose exist treaty country justice admit diplomatic correspondence spanish government early march 1847 one predecessor annual message year recommend provision make payment january last submit congress executive receive favorable consideration committee branch yet final action upon conceive good faith require prompt adjustment present early favorable consideration martin koszta hungarian birth come country 1850 declared intention due form law become citizen united state remain nearly two year visit turkey smyrna forcibly seize take board austrian brig war lie harbor place confine iron avow design take dominion austria consul smyrna legation constantinople interposed release effort ineffectual thus prison commander ingraham united state ship war louis arrive smyrna inquiring circumstance case come conclusion koszta entitle protection government take energetic prompt measure release arrangement agent united state austria transfer custody french smyrna remain disposed mutual agreement consul respective government place pursuant agreement release united state emperor austria make conduct officer take part transaction subject grave complaint regard koszta still subject claim right seize within limit turkish empire demand government consent surrender prisoner disavowal act agent satisfaction allege outrage careful consideration case come conclusion koszta seize without legal authority smyrna wrongfully detain board austrian brig war time seizure clothe nationality united state act officer circumstance case justifiable conduct fully approve compliance several demand emperor austria decline full account transaction view regard refer correspondence charge austria secretary state herewith transmit principle policy therein maintain part united state whenever proper occasion occur apply enforced condition china time render probable important change occur vast empire lead unrestricted intercourse commissioner country recently appoint instructed avail occasion open extend commercial relation empire china asiatic nation 1852 expedition send japan command commodore perry purpose open commercial intercourse empire intelligence receive arrival make know emperor japan object visit yet ascertain far emperor disposed abandon restrictive policy open populous country commercial intercourse united state earnest desire maintain friendly intercourse government upon continent aid preserve good understanding among mexico dispute arise true boundary line territory new mexico mexican state chihuahua former commissioner united state employ run line pursuant treaty guadalupe hidalgo make serious mistake determine initial point rio grande inasmuch decision clearly departure direction trace boundary contain treaty concur surveyor appoint part united state whose concurrence necessary give validity decision government conclude thereby mexico take different view subject also question considerable magnitude pending two republic minister mexico ample instruction adjust negotiation open sufficient progress make therein enable speak probable result impressed importance maintain amicable relation republic yield liberality claim reasonable expect arrangement mutually satisfactory country may conclude last friendship confirm perpetuated congress provide full mission state central america minister send thither july last yet time visit one state nicaragua receive friendly manner hop presence good office benign effect compose dissension prevail among establish still intimate friendly relation respectively united state consider vast region continent number state would make accessible free navigation river amazon particular attention give subject brazil whose territory pass ocean hitherto persist policy restrict regard use river obstruct nearly exclude foreign commercial intercourse state lie upon tributary upper branch minister country instruct obtain relaxation policy use effort induce brazilian government open common use proper safeguard great natural highway international trade several south american state deeply interested attempt secure free navigation amazon reasonable expect cooperation measure advantage free commercial intercourse among nation well understood liberal view generally entertain common right free use mean nature provide international communication liberal enlighten view hop brazil conform policy remove unnecessary restriction upon free use river traverse many state large part continent happy inform republic paraguay argentine confederation yield liberal policy still resist brazil regard navigable river within respective territory treaty embrace subject among others negotiate government submit senate present session new branch commerce important agricultural interest unite state within year past open peru notwithstanding inexhaustible deposit guano upon island country considerable difficulty experience obtain requisite supply measure take remove difficulty secure abundant importation article unfortunately serious collision citizen resort chincha island peruvian authority station redress outrage commit latter promptly demand minister lima subject consideration reason believe peru dispose offer adequate indemnity aggrieve party thus peace foreign country regard political affair exempt serious disquietude domestic relation controversy agitate country heretofore pass away cause produce passion awaken trace remains may reasonably hop perceive zealous rivalry good citizen testify respect right state devotion union common determination one state institution welfare domestic peace shall hold alike secure sacred aegis constitution new league amity mutual confidence support people republic enter happily affords inducement opportunity adoption comprehensive unembarrassed line policy action great material interest country whether regarded connection power civilize world united state continue gradually steadily expand acquisition territory much soever may question universally see admit wise policy character great element advancement country human race freedom prosperity happiness thirteen state grown relation reach europe one side distant realm asia deeply sensible immense responsibility present magnitude republic diversity multiplicity interest devolve upon alleviation far relate immediate conduct public business first reliance wisdom patriotism two house congress secondly direction afford principle public polity affirm father epoch 1798 sanction long experience consecrate anew overwhelming voice people united state recur principle constitute organic basis union perceive vast function duty federal government vest intrusted three great department legislative executive judicial yet substantive power popular force large capacity social material development exist respective state republic precede alone capable maintain perpetuate american union federal government appropriate line action specific limit power confer constitution chiefly thing state common interest relation one another foreign government great mass interest belong cultivate men ordinary business life spring industry diversify personal domestic affair society rest securely upon general reserve power people several state effective democracy nation vital essence greatness practical consequence flow nature federal government primary one duty administer integrity fidelity high trust repose constitution especially application public fund draw taxation people appropriate specific object congress happily occasion suggest radical change financial policy government almost absolutely solitary power christendom surplus revenue drawn immediately imposts commerce therefore measure spontaneous enterprise national prosperity country indirect relation agriculture manufacture product earth sea violate constitutional doctrine yet vigorously promote general welfare neither source public treasure manner keep manage grave controversy prevail general acquiescence wisdom present system report secretary treasury exhibit detail state public finance condition various branch public service administer department government revenue country levy almost insensibly taxpayer go year year increase beyond either interest prospective want government close fiscal year end june 30 1852 remain treasury balance public revenue fiscal year end june 30 1853 amount custom public land miscellaneous source amount together public expenditure period exclusive payment account public debt amount leave balance receipt expenditures fact increase surplus treasury become subject anxious consideration early period administration path duty regard seem obvious clear namely first apply surplus revenue discharge public debt far could judiciously do secondly devise mean gradual reduction revenue standard public exigency object first course accomplishment manner degree highly satisfactory amount public debt class 4th march 1853 payment account make since period amount leave unpaid continuous course liquidation sum payment although make market price respective class stock effect readily general advantage treasury time prove signal utility relief incidentally afford money market industrial commercial pursuit country second object reduction tariff great importance plan suggest secretary treasury reduce duty certain article add free list many article tax especially enter manufacture largely produce country commend candid careful consideration find report secretary treasury also abundant proof entire adequacy present fiscal system meet requirement public service properly administer operate advantage community ordinary business relation respectfully ask attention sundry suggestion improvement settlement account especially regard large sum outstanding arrears due government reform administrative action department indicate secretary also progress make construction marine hospital new mint california assay office city new york heretofore provide congress also eminently successful progress coast survey light house board among object merit attention important recommendation secretary war navy fully satisfied navy united state condition strength efficiency commensurate magnitude commercial interest commend especial attention suggestion subject make secretary navy respectfully submit army system must always regard high interest nucleus around volunteer force nation gather hour danger require augmentation modification adapt present extend limit frontier relation country condition indian tribe interior continent necessity appear communication secretary war interior administration department fiscal year end june 30 1853 gross expenditure gross receipt period show current revenue fail meet current expense department sum cause present postal system law lead inevitably result fully explain report one great enormous rate department compel pay mail service render railroad company exhibit report income expenditure mail steamer find peculiarly interesting character demand immediate action congress numerous flagrant fraud upon pension bureau bring light within last year instance merit punishment inflict unfortunately others guilty party escape want sufficient evidence warrant conviction consequence provision limitation exist law nature claim remoteness tribunal pass upon mode proof necessity furnish temptation crime greatly stimulate obvious difficulty detection defect law upon subject apparent fatal end justice early action relate desirable last fiscal year acres public land survey acre bring market within period sale public purchase private entry amount acre locate military bounty warrant acre locate certificate acre cede state swamp land acre select railroad object act congress acre total amount land dispose within fiscal year acres increase quantity sell locate land warrant grant 818 acre fiscal year immediately precede quantity land sell second third quarter 1852 acre amount receive therefor quantity sell second third quarter year 1853 acres amount receive therefor whole number land warrant issue exist law prior 30th september last outstanding date quantity land require satisfy outstanding warrant acres warrant issue 30th september last act 11th february 1847 call acre act september 28 1850 march 22 1852 call acre make total acre believe experience verified wisdom justice present system regard public domain essential particular perceive report secretary interior opinion often express relation operation land system source revenue federal treasury erroneous net profit sale public land june 30 1853 amount sum recommend extension land system territories utah new mexico modification peculiarity may require regard public domain chiefly valuable provide home industrious enterprising prepared recommend essential change land system except modification favor actual settler extension preemption principle certain case reason ground fully develop report lay congress represent proprietor territorial domain charge especially power dispose territory belonging united state long course year begin administration jefferson exercise power construct road within territory many obvious distinction exercise power making road within state former never consider subject objection apply latter may consider settle construction power federal government upon subject numerous application doubt continue make grant land aid construction railways believe within intent mean constitution power dispose public domain use otherwise might expect prudent proprietor therefore grant land aid construction road restrict case would interest proprietor like circumstance thus contribute construction work practical operation grant thus far advance interest ot state work locate time substantial interest state enhance value promote rapid sale public domain refer report secretary interior careful examination however show experience result discrimination far afford encouragement reckless indiscriminate extension principle commend favorable consideration men genius country invention discovery science art contribute largely improvements age without many instance secure anything like adequate reward many interest detail upon subject refer appropriate report especially urge upon early attention apparently slight really important modification exist law therein suggest liberal spirit long mark action congress relation district columbia doubt continue manifest erection asylum insane district columbia army navy united state somewhat retard great demand material labor past summer full preparation reception patient return another winter anticipate best reason believe plan contemplate arrangement devise large experience furnish within last year relation nature treatment disease prove asylum indeed helpless afflicted class sufferer stand noble monument wisdom mercy act congress august 31 1852 march 3 1853 design secure city washington georgetown abundant supply good wholesome water become duty examine report plan engineer charge survey act first name best plan calculate secure permanently object seek contemplates take water great fall potomac consequently give approval progress present condition important work demand far appropriation concerned refer report secretary war present judicial system united state operation long period time general theory much detail become familiar country acquire entirely public confidence modify respect particular may adapt increase extent population legal business unite state relation organization court confessedly inadequate duty perform consequence state florida wisconsin iowa texas california district state effect exclude full benefit general system function circuit court devolve district judge state part state spirit constitution due regard justice require state union place foot regard judicial tribunal therefore commend consideration important subject judgment demand speedy action congress present deem desirable plan prepare recommend enlargement modification present judicial system act congress establish smithsonian institution provide president united state person therein designate constitute establishment name member hold state special meeting supervision affair institution organization take place seem proper effect without delay do occasion thereby present inspect condition institution appreciate successful progress thus far high promise great general usefulness omit ask favorable consideration estimate work local character state amount independently ground often urge application federal revenue work character inequality consequent injustice inherent nature proposition plan prove entirely inadequate accomplishment object seek subject internal improvement claim alike interest good nevertheless basis much political discussion stand line division statesman eminent ability patriotism rule strict construction power delegate state general government array time time rapid progress expenditures national treasury work local character within state memorable epoch history subject message president jackson 27th may 1830 met system internal improvement comparative infancy rapid growth project appropriation year work character rise alarm amount message president admit difficulty bring back operation government construction constitution set 1798 mark admonitory proof necessity guard instrument sleepless vigilance authority precedent sanction plainly define power government exist write compact sovereign state unite specific object specific grant general agent progress administration departures term intent compact ever proper refer back fixed standard father leave u make stern effort conform action would seem fact principle resist first many wise patriotic men republic policy provoke constant strife without arrive conclusion regard satisfactory earnest advocate suggest inquiry whether may plan likely crown happy result without perceive sound distinction intend assert principle oppose improvement need protection internal commerce equally apply improvement upon seaboard protection foreign commerce submit whether may safely anticipated policy settle appropriation general government local improvement benefit commerce locality require expenditure would modes mean clearly legitimate proper raise fund necessary construction safety interest commerce might require regarded system experience mere thirty year time command public judgment give character settle policy though produce work concede importance attend expenditure quite disproportionate value result squander large sum upon object answer valuable purpose interest state require abandon unless hope may indulge future find warrant past anxious desire completion work regard good citizen sincere interest deem duty ask hand deliberate reconsideration question hope animate desire promote permanent substantial interest country wisdom may prove equal task devise mature plan apply subject may promise something well constant strife suspension power local enterprise excite vain hope disappointment cherish expectation expend appropriation make last congress several case arise relation work improvement harbor involve question right soil jurisdiction threaten conflict authority state general government right construct breakwater jetty dam would seem necessarily carry power protect preserve construction effectually do jurisdiction soil clause constitution find rest claim united state exercise jurisdiction soil state except conferred eighth section first article constitution submit whether case construction erect general government right soil first obtain legislative provision make cover case progress make construction road within territory provide appropriation last congress refer report secretary war one subject domestic nature intrinsic importance many interesting question future policy involve fail receive early attention allude mean communication different part wide expanse country place close connection purpose defense commercial intercourse especially appertain communication great division union lie opposite side rocky mountain government unmindful heretofore apparent aid afford appropriation mail facility purpose general subject present aspect impose purely national reason survey order congress process completion communication railway across continent wholly within limit united state power declare war raise support army provide maintain navy call forth militia execute law suppress insurrection repel invasion confer upon congress mean provide common defense protect territory population widespread vastly multiply incidental indispensable exercise power must sometimes necessary construct military road protect harbor refuge appropriation congress object sound objection raise happily country peaceful policy rapidly increase population impose upon u urgent necessity preparation leave trackless desert assailable point patriotic people ever ready generally able protect necessary link enterprise energy people steadily boldly struggle supply experience affirms wherever private enterprise avail wise general government leave individual watchfulness location execution mean communication survey allude design ascertain practicable economical route railroad river mississippi pacific ocean party field make exploration previous examination supply sufficient data best reason hope object seek might find mean time limit expected accurate knowledge desire obtain hop much important information add stock previously possess partial full report survey order received time transmission two house congress first monday february next require act appropriation magnitude enterprise contemplate aroused doubtless continue excite general interest throughout country political commercial military bearing vary great increase claim consideration heavy expense great delay time fatality attend travel either isthmus route demonstrate advantage would result interterritorial communication safe rapid mean railroad would supply difficulty encounter period peace would magnify still increased time war whilst embarrassment already encounter others new contingency anticipate may serve strikingly exhibit importance work neither consideration combine appreciable value weigh obligation strictly adhere constitution faithfully execute power confers within limit extent interest government involve would seem expedient proper economical practicable route shall find aid constitutional mean construction road unite speedy transit population pacific atlantic state guard misconception remark although power construct aid construction road within limit territory embarrass question jurisdiction would arise within limit state nevertheless hold doubtful power doubtful propriety even within limit territory general government undertake administer affair railroad canal similar construction therefore connection work character incidental rather primary add present fully appreciate magnitude subject solicitous atlantic pacific shore republic may bind together inseparable tie common interest well common fealty attachment union shall dispose far action concern follow light constitution expound illustrate whose opinion expositions constitute standard political faith regard power federal government trust necessary say grandeur enterprise present urgent inducement promise popular favor lead disregard light depart path experience prove safe radiant glow prosperity legitimate constitutional progress afford wait afford overlook ark security part purpose give prominence subject may properly regard set rest deliberate judgment people present bright promise future full demand inducement exercise active intelligence past never without useful lesson admonition instruction danger serve beacon evidently fail fulfill object wise design grave shall close endeavor meet obligation duty year 1850 recur period fill anxious apprehension successful war terminate peace bring vast augmentation territory disturb question arise bear upon domestic institution one portion confederacy involve constitutional right state notwithstanding difference opinion sentiment exist relation detail specific provision acquiescence distinguish citizen whose devotion union never doubt give renew vigor institution restore sense repose security public mind throughout confederacy repose suffer shock official term power avert place may assure wisdom men know independence cost put stake upon issue revolutionary struggle dispose subject refer way consistent union state march power prosperity make u significant fact adoption constitution officer soldier revolution pass graf infirmity age wound ceased participate actively public affair merely quiet acquiescence prompt vindication constitutional right state reserve power scrupulously respect statesman put forth narrow view casuist justify interference agitation spirit compact regard sacred eye honor indispensable great experiment civil liberty environ inherent difficulty yet borne forward apparent weakness power superior obstacle condemnation voice freedom pronounce upon u prove faithless great trust men inhabit different part vast continent expect hold opinion entertain sentiment every variety climate soil expect furnish agricultural product unite common object sustain common principle essential maintenance object gallant men south north could stand together struggle revolution could stand together try period succeed clangor arm united valor adequate trial camp danger field united wisdom prove equal great task found upon deep broad basis institution privilege enjoy ever sacred duty sustain feeble expression faith strong universal say son whose blood mingle often upon field war 1812 recently borne triumph flag country upon foreign soil never permit alienation feeling weaken power unite effort internal dissension paralyze great arm freedom uplifted vindication thus briefly presented suggestion seem especially worthy consideration provide present hardly fail avail light experience past cast upon future growth population bring u destine career national history point well behoove u expand vision vast prospective successive decennial return census since adoption constitution reveal law steady progressive development may state general term duplication every quarter century carry forward point already reach short period time applicable existence nation law progress unchecked bring u almost incredible result large allowance diminish proportional effect emigration would materially reduce estimate increase average duration human life know already result scientific hygienic improvement past fifty year tend keep next fifty perhaps hundred ratio growth thus reveal past progress influence cause may add influx labor mass eastern asia pacific side possession together probable accession population already exist part hemisphere within period question feel yearly increase force natural attraction vast powerful prosperous confederation republic seek privilege admit within safe happy bosom transfer peaceful healthy process incorporation spacious region virgin exuberant soil destine swarm fast grow million race consideration seem fully justify presumption law population state continue act undiminished effect least next half century thousand person already arrive maturity exercise right freeman close eye spectacle population embrace within majestic proportion american union merely interesting topic speculation present view consideration important practical bearing upon political duty call upon perform heretofore system government work may term miniature scale comparison development must thus assume within future near hand scarcely beyond present exist generation evident confederation vast varied number territorial extent habit interest could keep national cohesion strict fidelity principle constitution understood adhere restrict construction power grant people state interpret applied accord principle great compact adapts healthy ease freedom unlimited extension benign system federative glorious trust immortal charter let u redouble vigilance guard yield temptation exercise doubtful power even pressure motif concede temporary advantage apparent temporary expediency minimum federal government compatible maintenance national unity efficient action relation rest world afford rule measure construction power general clause constitution spirit strict deference sovereign right dignity every state rather disposition subordinate state provincial relation central authority characterize exercise respective power temporarily vest u sacred trust generous confidence constituent like manner manifestly indispensable condition perpetuation union realization magnificent national future advert duty become yearly strong clearer upon u citizens several state cultivate fraternal affectionate spirit language conduct regard state relation vary interest institution habit sentiment opinion may respectively characterize mutual forbearance respect noninterference personal action citizen enlarge exercise liberal principle comity public dealing state state whether legislation execution law mean perpetuate confidence fraternity decay mere political union vast scale could long survive still another point view important practical duty suggest consideration magnitude dimension political system correspond machinery government rapidly expand increase vigilance require u cultivate cardinal virtue public frugality official integrity purity public affair ought conduct settled conviction shall pervade entire union nothing short high tone standard public morality mark every part administration legislation general government thus federal system whatever expansion time progress may give continue deeply root love confidence people wise economy far remove parsimony corrupt corrupt extravagance single regard public good frown upon attempt approach treasury insidious project private interest cloak public pretext sound fiscal administration legislative department guard dangerous temptation incident overflow revenue executive maintain unsleeping watchfulness tendency national expenditure extravagance admit elementary political duty may trust deem properly advert urged view impressive sense necessity directly suggest consideration present since adjournment congress united state pass scene earth without enter upon duty station call voice countryman occupy almost continuously thirty year seat one two house congress singular purity wisdom secure unbounded confidence universal respect fail health watch nation painful solicitude loss country circumstance justly regard irreparable compliance act congress march 2 1853 oath office administer 24th month ariadne estate near matanzas island cuba strength gradually decline hardly sufficient enable return home alabama 18th day april calm peaceful way long eminently useful career terminate entertain unlimited confidence intelligent patriotic devotion public interest conscious motif part inseparable honor advancement country hope may privilege deserve secure cordial cooperation great public measure also relation mutual confidence regard always desirable cultivate member coordinate branch government