The past has been an eventful year, and will be hereafter referred to as a marked epoch in the history of the world. While we have been happily preserved from the calamities of war, our domestic prosperity has not been entirely uninterrupted. The crops in portions of the country have been nearly cut off. Disease has prevailed to a greater extent than usual, and the sacrifice of human life through casualties by sea and land is without parallel. But the pestilence has swept by, and restored salubrity invites the absent to their homes and the return of business to its ordinary channels. If the earth has rewarded the labor of the husbandman less bountifully than in preceding seasons, it has left him with abundance for domestic wants and a large surplus for exportation. In the present, therefore, as in the past, we find ample grounds for reverent thankfulness to the God of grace and providence for His protecting care and merciful dealings with us as a people. Although our attention has been arrested by painful interest in passing events, yet our country feels no more than the slight vibrations of the convulsions which have shaken Europe. As individuals we can not repress sympathy with human suffering nor regret for the causes which produce it; as a nation we are reminded that whatever interrupts the peace or checks the prosperity of any part of Christendom tends more or less to involve our own. The condition of States is not unlike that of individuals; they are mutually dependent upon each other. Amicable relations between them and reciprocal good will are essential for the promotion of whatever is desirable in their moral, social, and political condition. Hence it has been my earnest endeavor to maintain peace and friendly intercourse with all nations. The wise theory of this Government, so early adopted and steadily pursued, of avoiding all entangling alliances has hitherto exempted it from many complications in which it would otherwise have become involved. Notwithstanding this our clearly defined and well-sustained course of action and our geographical position, so remote from Europe, increasing disposition has been manifested by some of its Governments to supervise and in certain respects to direct our foreign policy. In plans for adjusting the balance of power among themselves they have assumed to take us into account, and would constrain us to conform our conduct to their views. One or another of the powers of Europe has from time to time undertaken to enforce arbitrary regulations contrary in many respects to established principles of international law. That law the United States have in their foreign intercourse uniformly respected and observed, and they can not recognize any such interpolations therein as the temporary interests of others may suggest. They do not admit that the sovereigns of one continent or of a particular community of states can legislate for all others. Leaving the transatlantic nations to adjust their political system in the way they may think best for their common welfare, the independent powers of this continent may well assert the right to be exempt from all annoying interference on their part. Systematic abstinence from intimate political connection with distant foreign nations does not conflict with giving the widest range to our foreign commerce. This distinction, so clearly marked in history, seems to have been overlooked or disregarded by some leading foreign states. Our refusal to be brought within and subjected to their peculiar system has, I fear, created a jealous distrust of our conduct and induced on their part occasional acts of disturbing effect upon our foreign relations. Our present attitude and past course give assurances, which should not be questioned, that our purposes are not aggressive nor threatening to the safety and welfare of other nations. Our military establishment in time of peace is adapted to maintain exterior defenses and to preserve order among the aboriginal tribes within the limits of the Union. Our naval force is intended only for the protection of our citizens abroad and of our commerce, diffused, as it is, over all the seas of the globe. The Government of the United States, being essentially pacific in policy, stands prepared to repel invasion by the voluntary service of a patriotic people, and provides no permanent means of foreign aggression. These considerations should allay all apprehension that we are disposed to encroach on the rights or endanger the security of other states. Some European powers have regarded with disquieting concern the territorial expansion of the United States. This rapid growth has resulted from the legitimate exercise of sovereign rights belonging alike to all nations, and by many liberally exercised. Under such circumstances it could hardly have been expected that those among them which have within a comparatively recent period subdued and absorbed ancient kingdoms, planted their standards on every continent, and now possess or claim the control of the islands of every ocean as their appropriate domain would look with unfriendly sentiments upon the acquisitions of this country, in every instance honorably obtained, or would feel themselves justified in imputing our advancement to a spirit of aggression or to a passion for political predominance. Our foreign commerce has reached a magnitude and extent nearly equal to that of the first maritime power of the earth, and exceeding that of any other. Over this great interest, in which not only our merchants, but all classes of citizens, at least indirectly, are concerned, it is the duty of the executive and legislative branches of the Government to exercise a careful supervision and adopt proper measures for its protection. The policy which I had in view in regard to this interest embraces its future as well as its present security. Long experience has shown that, in general, when the principal powers of Europe are engaged in war the rights of neutral nations are endangered. This consideration led, in the progress of the War of our Independence, to the formation of the celebrated confederacy of armed neutrality, a primary object of which was to assert the doctrine that free ships make free goods, except in the case of articles contraband of war--a doctrine which from the very commencement of our national being has been a cherished idea of the statesmen of this country. At one period or another every maritime power has by some solemn treaty stipulation recognized that principle, and it might have been hoped that it would come to be universally received and respected as a rule of international law. But the refusal of one power prevented this, and in the next great war which ensued--that of the French Revolution--it failed to be respected among the belligerent States of Europe. Notwithstanding this, the principle is generally admitted to be a sound and salutary one, so much so that at the commencement of the existing war in Europe Great Britain and France announced their purpose to observe it for the present; not, however, as a recognized international fight, but as a mere concession for the time being. The cooperation, however, of these two powerful maritime nations in the interest of neutral rights appeared to me to afford an occasion inviting and justifying on the part of the United States a renewed effort to make the doctrine in question a principle of international law, by means of special conventions between the several powers of Europe and America. Accordingly, a proposition embracing not only the rule that free ships make free goods, except contraband articles, but also the less contested one that neutral property other than contraband, though on board enemy's ships, shall be exempt from confiscation, has been submitted by this Government to those of Europe and America. Russia acted promptly in this matter, and a convention was concluded between that country and the United States providing for the observance of the principles announced, not only as between themselves, but also as between them and all other nations which shall enter into like stipulations. None of the other powers have as yet taken final action on the subject. I am not aware, however, that any objection to the proposed stipulations has been made, but, on the contrary, they are acknowledged to be essential to the security of neutral commerce, and the only apparent obstacle to their general adoption is in the possibility that it may be encumbered by inadmissible conditions. The King of the Two Sicilies has expressed to our minister at Naples his readiness to concur in our proposition relative to neutral rights and to enter into a convention on that subject. The King of Prussia entirely approves of the project of a treaty to the same effect submitted to him, but proposes an additional article providing for the renunciation of privateering. Such an article, for most obvious reasons, is much desired by nations having naval establishments large in proportion to their foreign commerce. If it were adopted as an international rule, the commerce of a nation having comparatively a small naval force would be very much at the mercy of its enemy in case of war with a power of decided naval superiority. The bare statement of the condition in which the United States would be placed, after having surrendered the right to resort to privateers, in the event of war with a belligerent of naval supremacy will show that this Government could never listen to such a proposition. The navy of the first maritime power in Europe is at least ten times as large as that of the United States. The foreign commerce of the two countries is nearly equal, and about equally exposed to hostile depredations. In war between that power and the United States, without resort on our part to our mercantile marine the means of our enemy to inflict injury upon our commerce would be tenfold greater than ours to retaliate. We could not extricate our country from this unequal condition, with such an enemy, unless we at once departed from our present peaceful policy and became a great naval power. Nor would this country be better situated in war with one of the secondary naval powers. Though the naval disparity would be less, the greater extent and more exposed condition of our widespread commerce would give any of them a like advantage over us. The proposition to enter into engagements to forego a resort to privateers in case this country should be forced into war with a great naval power is not entitled to more favorable consideration than would be a proposition to agree not to accept the services of volunteers for operations on land. When the honor or the rights of our country require it to assume a hostile attitude, it confidently relies upon the patriotism of its citizens, not ordinarily devoted to the military profession, to augment the Army and the Navy so as to make them fully adequate to the emergency which calls them into action. The proposal to surrender the right to employ privateers is professedly founded upon the principle that private property of unoffending noncombatants, though enemies, should be exempt from the ravages of war; but the proposed surrender goes but little way in carrying out that principle, which equally requires that such private property should not be seized or molested by national ships of war. Should the leading powers of Europe concur in proposing as a rule of international law to exempt private property upon the ocean from seizure by public armed cruisers as well as by privateers, the United States will readily meet them upon that broad ground. Since the adjournment of Congress the ratifications of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain relative to coast fisheries and to reciprocal trade with the British North American Provinces have been exchanged, and some of its anticipated advantages are already enjoyed by us, although its full execution was to abide certain acts of legislation not yet fully performed. So soon as it was ratified Great Britain opened to our commerce the free navigation of the river St. Lawrence and to our fishermen unmolested access to the shores and bays, from which they had been previously excluded, on the coasts of her North American Provinces; in return for which she asked for the introduction free of duty into the ports of the United States of the fish caught on the same coast by British fishermen. This being the compensation stipulated in the treaty for privileges of the highest importance and value to the United States, which were thus voluntarily yielded before it became effective, the request seemed to me to be a reasonable one; but it could not be acceded to from want of authority to suspend our laws imposing duties upon all foreign fish. In the meantime the Treasury Department issued a regulation for ascertaining the duties paid or secured by bonds on fish caught on the coasts of the British Provinces and brought to our markets by British subjects after the fishing grounds had been made fully accessible to the citizens of the United States. I recommend to your favorable consideration a proposition, which will be submitted to you, for authority to refund the duties and cancel the bonds thus received. The Provinces of Canada and New Brunswick have also anticipated the full operation of the treaty by legislative arrangements, respectively, to admit free of duty the products of the United States mentioned in the free list of the treaty; and an arrangement similar to that regarding British fish has been made for duties now chargeable on the products of those Provinces enumerated in the same free list and introduced therefrom into the United States, a proposition for refunding which will, in my judgment, be in like manner entitled to your favorable consideration. There is difference of opinion between the United States and Great Britain as to the boundary line of the Territory of Washington adjoining the British possessions on the Pacific, which has already led to difficulties on the part of the citizens and local authorities of the two Governments I recommend that provision he made for a commission, to be joined by one on the part of Her Britannic Majesty, for the purpose of running and establishing the line in controversy. Certain stipulations of the third and fourth articles of the treaty concluded by the United States and Great Britain in 1846, regarding possessory rights of the Hudsons Bay Company and property of the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company, have given rise to serious disputes, and it is important to all concerned that summary means of settling them amicably should be devised. I have reason to believe that an arrangement can be made on just terms for the extinguishment of the rights in question, embracing also the right of the Hudsons Bay Company to the navigation of the river Columbia; and I therefore suggest to your consideration the expediency of making a contingent appropriation for that purpose. France was the early and efficient ally of the United States in their struggle for independence. From that time to the present, with occasional slight interruptions, cordial relations of friendship have existed between the Governments and people of the two countries. The kindly sentiments cherished alike by both nations have led to extensive social and commercial intercourse, which I trust will not be interrupted or checked by any casual event of an apparently unsatisfactory character. The French consul at San Francisco was not long since brought into the United States district court at that place by compulsory process as a witness in favor of another foreign consul, in violation, as the French Government conceives, of his privileges under our consular convention with France. There being nothing in the transaction which could imply any disrespect to France or its consul, such explanation has been made as, I hope, will be satisfactory. Subsequently misunderstanding arose on the subject of the French Government having, as it appeared, abruptly excluded the American minister to Spain from passing through France on his way from London to Madrid. But that Government has unequivocally disavowed any design to deny the right of transit to the minister of the United States, and after explanations to this effect he has resumed his journey and actually returned through France to Spain. I herewith lay before Congress the correspondence on this subject between our envoy at Paris and the minister of foreign relations of the French Government. The position of our affairs with Spain remains as at the close of the last session. Internal agitation, assuming very nearly the character of political revolution, has recently convulsed that country. The late ministers were violently expelled from power, and men of very different views in relation to its internal affairs have succeeded. Since this change there has been no propitious opportunity to resume and press on negotiations for the adjustment of serious questions of difficulty between the Spanish Government and the United States. There is reason to believe that our minister will find the present Government more favorably inclined than the preceding to comply with our just demands and to make suitable arrangements for restoring harmony and preserving peace between the two countries. Negotiations are pending with Denmark to discontinue the practice of levying tolls on our vessels and their cargoes passing through the Sound. I do not doubt that we can claim exemption therefrom as a matter of right. It is admitted on all hands that this exaction is sanctioned, not by the general principles of the law of nations, but only by special conventions which most of the commercial nations have entered into with Denmark. The fifth article of our treaty of 1826 with Denmark provides that there shall not be paid on the vessels of the United States and their cargoes when passing through the Sound higher duties than those of the most favored nations. This may be regarded as an implied agreement to submit to the tolls during the continuance of the treaty, and consequently may embarrass the assertion of our right to be released therefrom. There are also other provisions in the treaty which ought to be modified. It was to remain in force for ten years and until one year after either party should give notice to the other of intention to terminate it. I deem it expedient that the contemplated notice should be given to the Government of Denmark. The naval expedition dispatched about two years since for the purpose of establishing relations with the Empire of Japan has been ably and skillfully conducted to a successful termination by the officer to whom it was intrusted. A treaty opening certain of the ports of that populous country has been negotiated, and in order to give full effect thereto it only remains to exchange ratifications and adopt requisite commercial regulations. The treaty lately concluded between the United States and Mexico settled some of our most embarrassing difficulties with that country, but numerous claims upon it for wrongs and injuries to our citizens remained unadjusted, and many new eases have been recently added to the former list of grievances. Our legation has been earnest in its endeavors to obtain from the Mexican Government a favorable consideration of these claims, but hitherto without success. This failure is probably in some measure to be ascribed to the disturbed condition of that country. It has been my anxious desire to maintain friendly relations with the Mexican Republic and to cause its rights and territories to be respected, not only by our citizens, but by foreigners who have resorted to the United States for the purpose of organizing hostile expeditions against some of the States of that Republic. The defenseless condition in which its frontiers have been left has stimulated lawless adventurers to embark in these enterprises and greatly increased the difficulty of enforcing our obligations of neutrality. Regarding it as my solemn duty to fulfill efficiently these obligations not only toward Mexico, but other foreign nations, I have exerted all the powers with which I am invested to defeat such proceedings and bring to punishment those who by taking a part therein violated our laws. The energy and activity of our civil and military authorities have frustrated the designs of those who meditated expeditions of this character except in two instances. One of these, composed of foreigners, was at first countenanced and aided by the Mexican Government itself, it having been deceived as to their real object. The other, small in number, eluded the vigilance of the magistrates at San Francisco and succeeded in reaching the Mexican territories; but the effective measures taken by this Government compelled the abandonment of the undertaking. The commission to establish the new line between the United States and Mexico, according to the provisions of the treaty of the 30th of December last, has been organized, and the work is already commenced. Our treaties with the Argentine Confederation and with the Republics of Uruguay and Paraguay secure to us the free navigation of the river La Plata and some of its larger tributaries, but the same success has not attended our endeavors to open the Amazon. The reasons in favor of the free use of that river I had occasion to present fully in a former message, and, considering the cordial relations which have long existed between this Government and Brazil, it may be expected that pending negotiations will eventually reach a favorable result. Convenient means of transit between the several parts of a country are not only desirable for the objects of commercial and personal communication, but essential to its existence under one government. Separated, as are the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, by the whole breadth of the continent, still the inhabitants of each are closely bound together by community of origin and institutions and by strong attachment to the Union. Hence the constant and increasing intercourse and vast interchange of commercial productions between these remote divisions of the Republic. At the present time the most practicable and only, commodious routes for communication between them are by the way of the isthmus of Central America. It is the duty of the Government to secure these avenues against all danger of interruption. In relation to Central America, perplexing questions existed between the United States and Great Britain at the time of the cession of California. These, as well as questions which subsequently arose concerning interoceanic communication across the Isthmus, were, as it was supposed, adjusted by the treaty of April 19, 1850, but, unfortunately, they have been reopened by serious misunderstanding as to the import of some or its provisions, a readjustment of which is now under consideration. Our minister at London has made strenuous efforts to accomplish this desirable object, but has not yet found it possible to bring the negotiations to a termination. As incidental to these questions, I deem it proper to notice an occurrence which happened in Central America near the close of the last session of Congress. So soon as the necessity was perceived of establishing interoceanic communications across the Isthmus a company was organized, under the authority of the State of Nicaragua, but composed for the most part of citizens of the United States, for the purpose of opening such a transit way by the river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua, which soon became an eligible and much used route in the transportation of our citizens and their property between the Atlantic and Pacific. Meanwhile, and in anticipation of the completion and importance of this transit way, a number of adventurers had taken possession of the old Spanish port at the mouth of the river San Juan in open defiance of the State or States of Central America, which upon their becoming independent had rightfully succeeded to the local sovereignty and jurisdiction of Spain. These adventurers undertook to change the name of the place from San Juan del Norte to Greytown, and though at first pretending to act as the subjects of the fictitious sovereign of the Mosquito Indians, they subsequently repudiated the control of any power whatever, assumed to adopt a distinct political organization, and declared themselves an independent sovereign state. If at some time a faint hope was entertained that they might become a stable and respectable community, that hope soon vanished. They proceeded to assert unfounded claims to civil jurisdiction over Punta Arenas, a position on the opposite side of the river San Juan, which was in possession, under a title wholly independent of them, of citizens of the United States interested in the Nicaragua Transit Company, and which was indispensably necessary to the prosperous operation of that route across the Isthmus. The company resisted their groundless claims, whereupon they proceeded to destroy some of its buildings and attempted violently to dispossess it. At a later period they organized a strong force for the purpose of demolishing the establishment at Punta Arenas, but this mischievous design was defeated by the interposition of one of our ships of war at that time in the harbor of San Juan. Subsequently to this, in May last, a body of men from Greytown crossed over to Punta Arenas, arrogating authority to arrest on the charge of murder a captain of one of the steamboats of the Transit Company. Being well aware that the claim to exercise jurisdiction there would be resisted then, as it had been on previous occasions, they went prepared to assert it by force of arms. Our minister to Central America happened to be present on that occasion. Believing that the captain of the steamboat was innocent (for he witnessed the transaction on which the charge was founder), and believing also that the intruding party, having no jurisdiction over the place where they proposed to make the arrest, would encounter desperate resistance if they persisted in their purpose, he interposed, effectually, to prevent violence and bloodshed. The American minister afterwards visited Greytown, and whilst he was there a mob, including certain of the so-called public functionaries of the place, surrounded the house in which he was, avowing that they had come to arrest him by order of some person exercising the chief authority. While parleying with them he was wounded by a missile from the crowd. A boat dispatched from the American steamer Northern Light to release him from the perilous situation in which he was understood to be was fired into by the town guard and compelled to return. These incidents, together with the known character of the population of Greytown and their excited state, induced just apprehensions that the lives and property of our citizens at Punta Arenas would be in imminent danger after the departure of the steamer, with her passengers, for New York, unless a guard was left for their protection. For this purpose, and in order to insure the safety of passengers and property passing over the route, a temporary force was organized, at considerable expense to the United States, for which provision was made at the last session of Congress. This pretended community, a heterogeneous assemblage gathered from various countries, and composed for the most part of blacks and persons of mixed blood, had previously given other indications of mischievous and dangerous propensities. Early in the same month property was clandestinely abstracted from the depot of the Transit Company and taken to Greytown. The plunderers obtained shelter there and their pursuers were driven back by its people, who not only protected the wrongdoers and shared the plunder, but treated with rudeness and violence those who sought to recover their property. Such, in substance, are the facts submitted to my consideration, and proved by trustworthy evidence. I could not doubt that the case demanded the interposition of this Government. Justice required that reparation should be made for so many and such gross wrongs, and that a course of insolence and plunder, tending directly to the insecurity of the lives of numerous travelers and of the rich treasure belonging to our citizens passing over this transit way, should be peremptorily arrested. Whatever it might be in other respects, the community in question, in power to do mischief, was not despicable. It was well provided with ordnance, small arms, and ammunition, and might easily seize on the unarmed boats, freighted with millions of property, which passed almost daily within its reach. It did not profess to belong to any regular government, and had, in fact, no recognized dependence on or connection with anyone to which the United States or their injured citizens might apply for redress or which could be held responsible in any way for the outrages committed. Not standing before the world in the attitude of an organized political society, being neither competent to exercise the rights nor to discharge the obligations of a government, it was, in fact, a marauding establishment too dangerous to be disregarded and too guilty to pass unpunished, and yet incapable of being treated in any other way than as a piratical resort of outlaws or a camp of savages depredating on emigrant trains or caravans and the frontier settlements of civilized states. Seasonable notice was given to the people of Greytown that this Government required them to repair the injuries they had done to our citizens and to make suitable apology for their insult of our minister, and that a ship of war would be dispatched thither to enforce compliance with these demands. But the notice passed unheeded. Thereupon a commander of the Navy, in charge of the sloop of war Cyane, was ordered to repeat the demands and to insist upon a compliance therewith. Finding that neither the populace nor those assuming to have authority over them manifested any disposition to make the required reparation, or even to offer excuse for their conduct, he warned them by a public proclamation that if they did not give satisfaction within a time specified he would bombard the town. By this procedure he afforded them opportunity to provide for their personal safety. To those also who desired to avoid loss of property in the punishment about to be inflicted on the offending town he furnished the means of removing their effects by the boats of his own ship and of a steamer which he procured and tendered to them for that purpose. At length, perceiving no disposition on the part of the town to comply with his requisitions, he appealed to the commander of Her Britannic Majesty's schooner Bermuda, who was seen to have intercourse and apparently much influence with the leaders among them, to interpose and persuade them to take some course calculated to save the necessity of resorting to the extreme measure indicated in his proclamation; but that officer, instead of acceding to the request, did nothing more than to protest against the contemplated bombardment. No steps of any sort were taken by the people to give the satisfaction required. No individuals, if any there were, who regarded themselves as not responsible for the misconduct of the community adopted any means to separate themselves from the fate of the guilty. The several charges on which the demands for redress were founded had been publicly known to all for some time, and were again announced to them. They did not deny any of these charges; they offered no explanation, nothing in extenuation of their conduct, but contumaciously refused to hold any intercourse with the commander of the Cyane. By their obstinate silence they seemed rather desirous to provoke chastisement than to escape it. There is ample reason to believe that this conduct of wanton defiance on their part is imputable chiefly to the delusive idea that the American Government would be deterred from punishing them through fear of displeasing a formidable foreign power, which they presumed to think looked with complacency upon their aggressive and insulting deportment toward the United States. The Cyane at length fired upon the town. Before much injury had been done the fire was twice suspended in order to afford opportunity for an arrangement, but this was declined. Most of the buildings of the place, of little value generally, were in the sequel destroyed, but, owing to the considerate precautions taken by our naval commander, there was no destruction of life. When the Cyane was ordered to Central America, it was confidently hoped and expected that no occasion would arise for "a resort to violence and destruction of property and loss of life." Instructions to that effect were given to her commander; and no extreme act would have been requisite had not the people themselves, by their extraordinary conduct in the affair, frustrated all the possible mild measures for obtaining satisfaction. A withdrawal from the place, the object of his visit entirely defeated, would under the circumstances in which the commander of the Cyane found himself have been absolute abandonment of all claim of our citizens for indemnification and submissive acquiescence in national indignity. It would have encouraged in these lawless men a spirit of insolence and rapine most dangerous to the lives and property of our citizens at Punta Arenas, and probably emboldened them to grasp at the treasures and valuable merchandise continually passing over the Nicaragua route. It certainly would have been most satisfactory to me if the objects of the Cyane's mission could have been consummated without any act of public force, but the arrogant contumacy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the alternative either to break up their establishment or to leave them impressed with the idea that they might persevere with impunity in a career of insolence and plunder. This transaction has been the subject of complaint on the part of some foreign powers, and has been characterized with more of harshness than of justice. If comparisons were to be instituted, it would not be difficult to present repeated instances in the history of states standing in the very front of modern civilization where communities far less offending and more defenseless than Greytown have been chastised with much greater severity, and where not cities only have been laid in ruins, but human life has been recklessly sacrificed and the blood of the innocent made profusely to mingle with that of the guilty. Passing from foreign to domestic affairs, your attention is naturally directed to the financial condition of the country, always a subject of general interest. For complete and exact information regarding the finances and the various branches of the public service connected therewith I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, from which it will appear that the amount of revenue during the last fiscal year from all sources was $73,549,705, and that the public expenditures for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to $51, 018,249. During the same period the payments made in redemption of the public debt, including interest and premium, amounted to $24,336,380. To the sum total of the receipts of that year is to be added a balance remaining in the Treasury at the commencement thereof, amounting to $21,942,892; and at the close of the same year a corresponding balance, amounting to $20,137,967, of receipts above expenditures also remained in the Treasury. Although, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, the receipts of the current fiscal year are not likely to equal in amount those of the last, yet they will undoubtedly exceed the amount of expenditures by at least $15,000,000. I shall therefore continue to direct that the surplus revenue be applied, so far as it can be judiciously and economically done, to the reduction of the public debt, the amount of which at the commencement of the last fiscal year was $67,340,628; of which there had been paid on the 20th day of November, 1854, the sum of $22,365,172, leaving a balance of outstanding public debt of only $44,975,456, redeemable at different periods within fourteen years. There are also remnants of other Government stocks, most of which are already due, and on which the interest has ceased, but which have not yet been presented for payment, amounting to $233,179. This statement exhibits the fact that the annual income of the Government greatly exceeds the amount of its public debt, which latter remains unpaid only because the time of payment has not yet matured, and it can not be discharged at once except at the option of public creditors, who prefer to retain the securities of the United States; and the other fact, not less striking, that the annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a prudent and economical administration of the Government. The estimates presented to Congress from the different Executive Departments at the last session amounted to $38,406,581 and the appropriations made to the sum of $58,116,958. Of this excess of appropriations over estimates, however, more than twenty millions was applicable to extraordinary objects, having no reference to the usual annual expenditures. Among these objects was embraced ten millions to meet the third article of the treaty between the United States and Mexico; so that, in fact, for objects of ordinary expenditure the appropriations were limited to considerably less than $40,000,000. I therefore renew my recommendation for a reduction of the duties on imports. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury presents a series of tables showing the operation of the revenue system for several successive years; and as the general principle of reduction of duties with a view to revenue, and not protection, may now be regarded as the settled policy of the country, I trust that little difficulty will be encountered in settling the details of a measure to that effect. In connection with this subject I recommend a change in the laws, which recent experience has shown to be essential to the protection of the Government. There is no express provision of law requiring the records and papers of a public character of the several officers of the Government to be left in their offices for the use of their successors, nor any provision declaring it felony on their part to make false entries in the books or return false accounts. In the absence of such express provision by law, the outgoing officers in many instances have claimed and exercised the right to take into their own possession important books and papers, on the ground that these were their private property, and have placed them beyond the reach of the Government. Conduct of this character, brought in several instances to the notice of the present Secretary of the Treasury, naturally awakened his suspicion, and resulted in the disclosure that at four ports--namely, Oswego, Toledo, Sandusky, and Milwaukee--the Treasury had, by false entries, been defrauded within the four years next preceding March, 1853, of the sum of $198,000. The great difficulty with which the detection of these frauds has been attended, in consequence of the abstraction of books and papers by the retiring officers, and the facility with which similar frauds in the public service may be perpetrated render the necessity of new legal enactments in the respects above referred to quite obvious. For other material modifications of the revenue laws which seem to me desirable, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. That report and the tables which accompany it furnish ample proofs of the solid foundation on which the financial security of the country rests and of the salutary influence of the independent-treasury system upon commerce and all monetary operations. The experience of the last year furnishes additional reasons, I regret to say, of a painful character, for the recommendation heretofore made to provide for increasing the military force employed in the Territory inhabited by the Indians. The settlers-on the frontier have suffered much from the incursions of predatory bands, and large parties of emigrants to our Pacific possessions have been massacred with impunity. The recurrence of such scenes can only be prevented by teaching these wild tribes the power of and their responsibility to the United States. From the garrisons of our frontier posts it is only possible to detach troops in small bodies; and though these have on all occasions displayed a gallantry and a stern devotion to duty which on a larger field would have commanded universal admiration, they have usually suffered severely in these conflicts with superior numbers, and have sometimes been entirely sacrificed. All the disposable force of the Army is already employed on this service, and is known to be wholly inadequate to the protection which should be afforded. The public mind of the country has been recently shocked by savage atrocities committed upon defenseless emigrants and border settlements, and hardly less by the unnecessary destruction of valuable lives where inadequate detachments of troops have undertaken to furnish the needed aid. Without increase of the military force these scenes will be repeated, it is to be feared, on a larger scale and with more disastrous consequences. Congress, I am sure, will perceive that the plainest duties and responsibilities of Government are involved in this question, and I doubt not that prompt action may be confidently anticipated when delay must be attended by such fearful hazards. The bill of the last session providing for an increase of the pay of the rank and file of the Army has had beneficial results, not only in facilitating enlistments, but in obvious improvement in the class of men who enter the service. I regret that corresponding consideration was not bestowed on the officers, who, in view of their character and services and the expenses to which they are necessarily subject, receive at present what is, in my judgment, inadequate compensation. The valuable services constantly rendered by the Army and its inestimable importance as the nucleus around which the volunteer forces of the nation can promptly gather in the hour of danger, sufficiently attest the wisdom of maintaining a military peace establishment; but the theory of our system and the wise practice under it require that any proposed augmentation in time of peace be only commensurate with our extended limits and frontier relations. While scrupulously adhering to this principle, I find in existing circumstances a necessity for increase of our military force, and it is believed that four new regiments, two of infantry and two of mounted men, will be sufficient to meet the present exigency. If it were necessary carefully to weigh the cost in a case of such urgency, it would be shown that the additional expense would be comparatively light. With the increase of the numerical force of the Army should, I think, be combined certain measures of reform in its organic arrangement and administration. The present organization is the result of partial legislation often directed to special objects and interests; and the laws regulating rank and command, having been adopted many years ago from the British code, are not always applicable to our service. It is not surprising, therefore, that the system should be deficient in the symmetry and simplicity essential to the harmonious working of its several parts, and require a careful revision. The present organization, by maintaining large staff corps or departments, separates many officers from that close connection with troops and those active duties in the field which are deemed requisite to qualify them for the varied responsibilities of high command. Were the duties of the Army staff mainly discharged by officers detached from their regiments, it is believed that the special service would be equally well performed and the discipline and instruction of the Army be improved. While due regard to the security of the rights of officers and to the nice sense of honor which should be cultivated among them would seem to exact compliance with the established rule of promotion in ordinary cases, still it can hardly be doubted that the range of promotion by selection, which is now practically confined to the grade of general officers, might be somewhat extended with benefit to the public service. Observance of the rule of seniority sometimes leads, especially in time of peace, to the promotion of officers who, after meritorious and even distinguished service, may have been rendered by age or infirmity incapable of performing active duty, and whose advancement, therefore, would tend to impair the efficiency of the Army. Suitable provision for this class of officers, by the creation of a retired list, would remedy the evil without wounding the just pride of men who by past services have established a claim to high consideration. In again commending this measure to the favorable consideration of Congress I would suggest that the power of placing officers on the retired list be limited to one year. The practical operation of the measure would thus be tested, and if after the lapse of years there should be occasion to renew the provision it can be reproduced with any improvements which experience may indicate. The present organization of the artillery into regiments is liable to obvious objections. The service of artillery is that of batteries, and an organization of batteries into a corps of artillery would be more consistent with the nature of their duties. A large part of the troops now called artillery are, and have been, on duty as infantry, the distinction between the two arms being merely nominal. This nominal artillery in our service is disproportionate to the whole force and greater than the wants of the country demand. I therefore commend the discontinuance of a distinction which has no foundation in either the arms used or the character of the service expected to be performed. In connection with the proposition for the increase of the Army, I have presented these suggestions with regard to certain measures of reform as the complement of a system which would produce the happiest results from a given expenditure, and which, I hope, may attract the early attention and be deemed worthy of the approval of Congress. The recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy having reference to more ample provisions for the discipline and general improvement in the character of seamen and for the reorganization and gradual increase of the Navy I deem eminently worthy of your favorable consideration. The principles which have controlled our policy in relation to the permanent military force by sea and land are sound, consistent with the theory of our system, and should by no means be disregarded. But, limiting the force to the objects particularly set forth in the preceding part of this message, we should not overlook the present magnitude and prospective extension of our commercial marine, nor fail to give due weight to the fact that besides the 2,000 miles of Atlantic seaboard we have now a Pacific coast stretching from Mexico to the British possessions in the north, teeming with wealth and enterprise and demanding the constant presence of ships of war. The augmentation of the Navy has not kept pace with the duties properly and profitably assigned to it in time of peace, and it is inadequate for the large field of its operations, not merely in the present, but still more in the progressively increasing exigencies of the commerce of the United States. I cordially approve of the proposed apprentice system for our national vessels recommended by the Secretary of the Navy. The occurrence during the last few months of marine disasters of the most tragic nature, involving great loss of human life, has produced intense emotions of sympathy and sorrow throughout the country. It may well be doubted whether all these calamitous events are wholly attributable to the necessary and inevitable dangers of the sea. The merchants, mariners, and shipbuilders of the United States are, it is true, unsurpassed in far-reaching enterprise, skill, intelligence, and courage by any others in the world. But with the increasing amount of our commercial tonnage in the aggregate and the larger size and improved equipment of the ships now constructed a deficiency in the supply of reliable seamen begins to be very seriously felt. The inconvenience may perhaps be met in part by due regulation for the introduction into our merchant ships of indented apprentices, which, while it would afford useful and eligible occupation to numerous young men, would have a tendency to raise the character of seamen as a class. And it is deserving of serious reflection whether it may not be desirable to revise the existing laws for the maintenance of discipline at sea, upon which the security of life and property on the ocean must to so great an extent depend. Although much attention has already been given by Congress to the proper construction and arrangement of steam vessels and all passenger ships, still it is believed that the resources of science and mechanical skill in this direction have not been exhausted. No good reason exists for the marked distinction which appears upon our statutes between the laws for protecting life and property at sea and those for protecting them on land. In most of the States severe penalties are provided to punish conductors of trains, engineers, and others employed in the transportation of persons by railway or by steamboats on rivers. Why should not the same principle be applied to acts of insubordination, cowardice, or other misconduct on the part of masters and mariners producing injury or death to passengers on the high seas, beyond the jurisdiction of any of the States, and where such delinquencies can be reached only by the power of Congress? The whole subject is earnestly commended to your consideration. The report of the Postmaster-General, to which you are referred for many interesting details in relation to this important and rapidly extending branch of the public service, shows that the expenditure of the year ending June 30, 1854, including $133,483 of balance due to foreign offices, amounted to $8,710,907. The gross receipts during the same period amounted to $6,955,586, exhibiting an expenditure over income of $1,755,321 and a diminution of deficiency as compared with the last year of $361,756. The increase of the revenue of the Department for the year ending June 30, 1854, over the preceding year was $970,399. No proportionate increase, however, can be anticipated for the current year, in consequence of the act of Congress of June 23, 1854, providing for increased compensation to all postmasters. From these statements it is apparent that the Post-Office Department, instead of defraying its expenses according to the design at the time of its creation, is now, and under existing laws must continue to be, to no small extent a charge upon the general Treasury. The cost of mail transportation during the year ending June 30, 1854, exceeds the cost of the preceding year by $495,074. I again call your attention to the subject of mail transportation by ocean steamers, and commend the suggestions of the Postmaster General to your early attention. During the last fiscal year 11,070,935 acres of the public lands have been surveyed and 8,190,017 acres brought into market. The number of acres sold is 7,035,735 and the amount received therefor $9,285,533. The aggregate amount of lands sold, located under military scrip and land warrants, selected as swamp lands by States, and by locating under grants for roads is upward of 23,000,000 acres. The increase of lands sold over the previous year is about 6,000,000 acres, and the sales during the first two quarters of the current year present the extraordinary result of five and a half millions sold, exceeding by nearly 4,000,000 acres the sales of the corresponding quarters of the last year. The commendable policy of the Government in relation to setting apart public domain for those who have served their country in time of war is illustrated by the fact that since 1790 no less than 30,000,000 acres have been applied to this object. The suggestions which I submitted in my annual message of last year in reference to grants of land in aid of the construction of railways were less full and explicit than the magnitude of the subject and subsequent developments would seem to render proper and desirable. Of the soundness of the principle then asserted with regard to the limitation of the power of Congress I entertain no doubt, but in its application it is not enough that the value of lands in a particular locality may be enhanced; that, in fact, a larger amount of money may probably be received in a given time for alternate sections than could have been realized for all the sections without the impulse and influence of the proposed improvements. A prudent proprietor looks beyond limited sections of his domain, beyond present results to the ultimate effect which a particular line of policy is likely to produce upon all his possessions and interests. The Government, which is trustee in this matter for the people of the States, is bound to take the same wise and comprehensive view. Prior to and during the last session of Congress upward of 30,000,000 acres of land were withdrawn from public sale with a view to applications for grants of this character pending before Congress. A careful review of the whole subject led me to direct that all such orders be abrogated and the lands restored to market, and instructions were immediately given to that effect. The applications at the last session contemplated the construction of more than 5,000 miles of road and grants to the amount of nearly 20,000,000 acres of the public domain. Even admitting the right on the part of Congress to be unquestionable, is it quite clear that the proposed grants would be productive of good, and not evil? The different projects are confined for the present to eleven States of this Union and one Territory. The reasons assigned for the grants show that it is proposed to put the works speedily in process of construction. When we reflect that since the commencement of the construction of railways in the United States, stimulated, as they have been, by the large dividends realized from the earlier works over the great thoroughfares and between the most important points of commerce and population, encouraged by State legislation, and pressed forward by the amazing energy of private enterprise, only 17,000 miles have been completed in all the States in a quarter of a century; when we see the crippled condition of many works commenced and prosecuted upon what were deemed to be sound principles and safe calculations; when we contemplate the enormous absorption of capital withdrawn from the ordinary channels of business, the extravagant rates of interest at this moment paid to continue operations, the bankruptcies, not merely in money but in character, and the inevitable effect upon finances generally, can it be doubted that the tendency is to run to excess in this matter? Is it wise to augment this excess by encouraging hopes of sudden wealth expected to flow from magnificent schemes dependent upon the action of Congress? Does the spirit which has produced such results need to be stimulated or checked? Is it not the better rule to leave all these works to private enterprise, regulated and, when expedient, aided by the cooperation of States? If constructed by private capital the stimulant and the check go together and furnish a salutary restraint against speculative schemes and extravagance. But it is manifest that with the most effective guards there is danger of going too fast and too far. We may well pause before a proposition contemplating a simultaneous movement for the construction of railroads which in extent will equal, exclusive of the great Pacific road and all its branches, nearly one-third of the entire length of such works now completed in the United States, and which can not cost with equipments less than $150,000,000. The dangers likely to result from combinations of interests of this character can hardly be overestimated. But independently of these considerations, where is the accurate knowledge, the comprehensive intelligence, which shall discriminate between the relative claims of these twenty eight proposed roads in eleven States and one Territory? Where will you begin and where end? If to enable these companies to execute their proposed works it is necessary that the aid of the General Government be primarily given, the policy will present a problem so comprehensive in its bearings and so important to our political and social well-being as to claim in anticipation the severest analysis. Entertaining these views, I recur with satisfaction to the experience and action of the last session of Congress as furnishing assurance that the subject will not fail to elicit a careful reexamination and rigid scrutiny. It was my intention to present on this occasion some suggestions regarding internal improvements by the General Government, which want of time at the close of the last session prevented my submitting on the return to the House of Representatives with objections of the bill entitled "An act making appropriations for the repair, preservation, and completion of certain public works heretofore commenced under the authority of law;" but the space in this communication already occupied with other matter of immediate public exigency constrains me to reserve that subject for a special message, which will be transmitted to the two Houses of Congress at an early day. The judicial establishment of the United States requires modification, and certain reforms in the manner of conducting the legal business of the Government are also much needed; but as I have addressed you upon both of these subjects at length before, I have only to call your attention to the suggestions then made. My former recommendations in relation to suitable provision for various objects of deep interest to the inhabitants of the District of Columbia are renewed. Many of these objects partake largely of a national character, and are important independently of their relation to the prosperity of the only considerable organized community in the Union entirely unrepresented in Congress. I have thus presented suggestions on such subjects as appear to me to be of particular interest or importance, and therefore most worthy of consideration during the short remaining period allotted to the labors of the present Congress. Our forefathers of the thirteen united colonies, in acquiring their independence and in rounding this Republic of the United States of America, have devolved upon us, their descendants, the greatest and the most noble trust ever committed to the hands of man, imposing upon all, and especially such as the public will may have invested for the time being with political functions, the most sacred obligations. We have to maintain inviolate the great doctrine of the inherent right of popular self-government; to reconcile the largest liberty of the individual citizen with complete security of the public order; to render cheerful obedience to the laws of the land, to unite in enforcing their execution, and to frown indignantly on all combinations to resist them; to harmonize a sincere and ardent devotion to the institutions of religions faith with the most universal religious toleration; to preserve the rights of all by causing each to respect those of the other; to carry forward every social improvement to the uttermost limit of human perfectibility, by the free action of mind upon mind, not by the obtrusive intervention of misapplied force; to uphold the integrity and guard the limitations of our organic law; to preserve sacred from all touch of usurpation, as the very palladium of our political salvation, the reserved rights and powers of the several States and of the people; to cherish with loyal fealty and devoted affection this Union, as the only sure foundation on which the hopes of civil liberty rest; to administer government with vigilant integrity and rigid economy; to cultivate peace and friendship with foreign nations, and to demand and exact equal justice from all, but to do wrong to none; to eschew intermeddling with the national policy and the domestic repose of other governments, and to repel it from our own; never to shrink from war when the rights and the honor of the country call us to arms, but to cultivate in preference the arts of peace, seek enlargement of the rights of neutrality, and elevate and liberalize the intercourse of nations; and by such just and honorable means, and such only, whilst exalting the condition of the Republic, to assure to it the legitimate influence and the benign authority of a great example amongst all the powers of Christendom. Under the solemnity of these convictions the blessing of Almighty God is earnestly invoked to attend upon your deliberations and upon all the counsels and acts of the Government, to the end that, with common zeal and common efforts, we may, in humble submission to the divine will, cooperate for the promotion of the supreme good of these United States.
The past has been an eventful year, and will be hereafter referred to as a marked epoch in the history of the world. While we have been happily preserved from the calamities of war, our domestic prosperity has not been entirely uninterrupted. The crops in portions of the country have been nearly cut off. Disease has prevailed to a greater extent than usual, and the sacrifice of human life through casualties by sea and land is without parallel. But the pestilence has swept by, and restored salubrity invites the absent to their homes and the return of business to its ordinary channels. If the earth has rewarded the labor of the husbandman less bountifully than in preceding seasons, it has left him with abundance for domestic wants and a large surplus for exportation. In the present, therefore, as in the past, we find ample grounds for reverent thankfulness to the God of grace and providence for His protecting care and merciful dealings with us as a people. Although our attention has been arrested by painful interest in passing events, yet our country feels no more than the slight vibrations of the convulsions which have shaken Europe. As individuals we can not repress sympathy with human suffering nor regret for the causes which produce it; as a nation we are reminded that whatever interrupts the peace or checks the prosperity of any part of Christendom tends more or less to involve our own. The condition of States is not unlike that of individuals; they are mutually dependent upon each other. Amicable relations between them and reciprocal good will are essential for the promotion of whatever is desirable in their moral, social, and political condition. Hence it has been my earnest endeavor to maintain peace and friendly intercourse with all nations. The wise theory of this Government, so early adopted and steadily pursued, of avoiding all entangling alliances has hitherto exempted it from many complications in which it would otherwise have become involved. Notwithstanding this our clearly defined and well-sustained course of action and our geographical position, so remote from Europe, increasing disposition has been manifested by some of its Governments to supervise and in certain respects to direct our foreign policy. In plans for adjusting the balance of power among themselves they have assumed to take us into account, and would constrain us to conform our conduct to their views. One or another of the powers of Europe has from time to time undertaken to enforce arbitrary regulations contrary in many respects to established principles of international law. That law the United States have in their foreign intercourse uniformly respected and observed, and they can not recognize any such interpolations therein as the temporary interests of others may suggest. They do not admit that the sovereigns of one continent or of a particular community of states can legislate for all others. Leaving the transatlantic nations to adjust their political system in the way they may think best for their common welfare, the independent powers of this continent may well assert the right to be exempt from all annoying interference on their part. Systematic abstinence from intimate political connection with distant foreign nations does not conflict with giving the widest range to our foreign commerce. This distinction, so clearly marked in history, seems to have been overlooked or disregarded by some leading foreign states. Our refusal to be brought within and subjected to their peculiar system has, I fear, created a jealous distrust of our conduct and induced on their part occasional acts of disturbing effect upon our foreign relations. Our present attitude and past course give assurances, which should not be questioned, that our purposes are not aggressive nor threatening to the safety and welfare of other nations. Our military establishment in time of peace is adapted to maintain exterior defenses and to preserve order among the aboriginal tribes within the limits of the Union. Our naval force is intended only for the protection of our citizens abroad and of our commerce, diffused, as it is, over all the seas of the globe. The Government of the United States, being essentially pacific in policy, stands prepared to repel invasion by the voluntary service of a patriotic people, and provides no permanent means of foreign aggression. These considerations should allay all apprehension that we are disposed to encroach on the rights or endanger the security of other states. Some European powers have regarded with disquieting concern the territorial expansion of the United States. This rapid growth has resulted from the legitimate exercise of sovereign rights belonging alike to all nations, and by many liberally exercised. Under such circumstances it could hardly have been expected that those among them which have within a comparatively recent period subdued and absorbed ancient kingdoms, planted their standards on every continent, and now possess or claim the control of the islands of every ocean as their appropriate domain would look with unfriendly sentiments upon the acquisitions of this country, in every instance honorably obtained, or would feel themselves justified in imputing our advancement to a spirit of aggression or to a passion for political predominance. Our foreign commerce has reached a magnitude and extent nearly equal to that of the first maritime power of the earth, and exceeding that of any other. Over this great interest, in which not only our merchants, but all classes of citizens, at least indirectly, are concerned, it is the duty of the executive and legislative branches of the Government to exercise a careful supervision and adopt proper measures for its protection. The policy which I had in view in regard to this interest embraces its future as well as its present security. Long experience has shown that, in general, when the principal powers of Europe are engaged in war the rights of neutral nations are endangered. This consideration led, in the progress of the War of our Independence, to the formation of the celebrated confederacy of armed neutrality, a primary object of which was to assert the doctrine that free ships make free goods, except in the case of articles contraband of war--a doctrine which from the very commencement of our national being has been a cherished idea of the statesmen of this country. At one period or another every maritime power has by some solemn treaty stipulation recognized that principle, and it might have been hoped that it would come to be universally received and respected as a rule of international law. But the refusal of one power prevented this, and in the next great war which ensued--that of the French Revolution--it failed to be respected among the belligerent States of Europe. Notwithstanding this, the principle is generally admitted to be a sound and salutary one, so much so that at the commencement of the existing war in Europe Great Britain and France announced their purpose to observe it for the present; not, however, as a recognized international fight, but as a mere concession for the time being. The cooperation, however, of these two powerful maritime nations in the interest of neutral rights appeared to me to afford an occasion inviting and justifying on the part of the United States a renewed effort to make the doctrine in question a principle of international law, by means of special conventions between the several powers of Europe and America. Accordingly, a proposition embracing not only the rule that free ships make free goods, except contraband articles, but also the less contested one that neutral property other than contraband, though on board enemy's ships, shall be exempt from confiscation, has been submitted by this Government to those of Europe and America. Russia acted promptly in this matter, and a convention was concluded between that country and the United States providing for the observance of the principles announced, not only as between themselves, but also as between them and all other nations which shall enter into like stipulations. None of the other powers have as yet taken final action on the subject. I am not aware, however, that any objection to the proposed stipulations has been made, but, on the contrary, they are acknowledged to be essential to the security of neutral commerce, and the only apparent obstacle to their general adoption is in the possibility that it may be encumbered by inadmissible conditions. The King of the Two Sicilies has expressed to our minister at Naples his readiness to concur in our proposition relative to neutral rights and to enter into a convention on that subject. The King of Prussia entirely approves of the project of a treaty to the same effect submitted to him, but proposes an additional article providing for the renunciation of privateering. Such an article, for most obvious reasons, is much desired by nations having naval establishments large in proportion to their foreign commerce. If it were adopted as an international rule, the commerce of a nation having comparatively a small naval force would be very much at the mercy of its enemy in case of war with a power of decided naval superiority. The bare statement of the condition in which the United States would be placed, after having surrendered the right to resort to privateers, in the event of war with a belligerent of naval supremacy will show that this Government could never listen to such a proposition. The navy of the first maritime power in Europe is at least ten times as large as that of the United States. The foreign commerce of the two countries is nearly equal, and about equally exposed to hostile depredations. In war between that power and the United States, without resort on our part to our mercantile marine the means of our enemy to inflict injury upon our commerce would be tenfold greater than ours to retaliate. We could not extricate our country from this unequal condition, with such an enemy, unless we at once departed from our present peaceful policy and became a great naval power. Nor would this country be better situated in war with one of the secondary naval powers. Though the naval disparity would be less, the greater extent and more exposed condition of our widespread commerce would give any of them a like advantage over us. The proposition to enter into engagements to forego a resort to privateers in case this country should be forced into war with a great naval power is not entitled to more favorable consideration than would be a proposition to agree not to accept the services of volunteers for operations on land. When the honor or the rights of our country require it to assume a hostile attitude, it confidently relies upon the patriotism of its citizens, not ordinarily devoted to the military profession, to augment the Army and the Navy so as to make them fully adequate to the emergency which calls them into action. The proposal to surrender the right to employ privateers is professedly founded upon the principle that private property of unoffending noncombatants, though enemies, should be exempt from the ravages of war; but the proposed surrender goes but little way in carrying out that principle, which equally requires that such private property should not be seized or molested by national ships of war. Should the leading powers of Europe concur in proposing as a rule of international law to exempt private property upon the ocean from seizure by public armed cruisers as well as by privateers, the United States will readily meet them upon that broad ground. Since the adjournment of Congress the ratifications of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain relative to coast fisheries and to reciprocal trade with the British North American Provinces have been exchanged, and some of its anticipated advantages are already enjoyed by us, although its full execution was to abide certain acts of legislation not yet fully performed. So soon as it was ratified Great Britain opened to our commerce the free navigation of the river St. Lawrence and to our fishermen unmolested access to the shores and bays, from which they had been previously excluded, on the coasts of her North American Provinces; in return for which she asked for the introduction free of duty into the ports of the United States of the fish caught on the same coast by British fishermen. This being the compensation stipulated in the treaty for privileges of the highest importance and value to the United States, which were thus voluntarily yielded before it became effective, the request seemed to me to be a reasonable one; but it could not be acceded to from want of authority to suspend our laws imposing duties upon all foreign fish. In the meantime the Treasury Department issued a regulation for ascertaining the duties paid or secured by bonds on fish caught on the coasts of the British Provinces and brought to our markets by British subjects after the fishing grounds had been made fully accessible to the citizens of the United States. I recommend to your favorable consideration a proposition, which will be submitted to you, for authority to refund the duties and cancel the bonds thus received. The Provinces of Canada and New Brunswick have also anticipated the full operation of the treaty by legislative arrangements, respectively, to admit free of duty the products of the United States mentioned in the free list of the treaty; and an arrangement similar to that regarding British fish has been made for duties now chargeable on the products of those Provinces enumerated in the same free list and introduced therefrom into the United States, a proposition for refunding which will, in my judgment, be in like manner entitled to your favorable consideration. There is difference of opinion between the United States and Great Britain as to the boundary line of the Territory of Washington adjoining the British possessions on the Pacific, which has already led to difficulties on the part of the citizens and local authorities of the two Governments I recommend that provision he made for a commission, to be joined by one on the part of Her Britannic Majesty, for the purpose of running and establishing the line in controversy. Certain stipulations of the third and fourth articles of the treaty concluded by the United States and Great Britain in 1846, regarding possessory rights of the Hudsons Bay Company and property of the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company, have given rise to serious disputes, and it is important to all concerned that summary means of settling them amicably should be devised. I have reason to believe that an arrangement can be made on just terms for the extinguishment of the rights in question, embracing also the right of the Hudsons Bay Company to the navigation of the river Columbia; and I therefore suggest to your consideration the expediency of making a contingent appropriation for that purpose. France was the early and efficient ally of the United States in their struggle for independence. From that time to the present, with occasional slight interruptions, cordial relations of friendship have existed between the Governments and people of the two countries. The kindly sentiments cherished alike by both nations have led to extensive social and commercial intercourse, which I trust will not be interrupted or checked by any casual event of an apparently unsatisfactory character. The French consul at San Francisco was not long since brought into the United States district court at that place by compulsory process as a witness in favor of another foreign consul, in violation, as the French Government conceives, of his privileges under our consular convention with France. There being nothing in the transaction which could imply any disrespect to France or its consul, such explanation has been made as, I hope, will be satisfactory. Subsequently misunderstanding arose on the subject of the French Government having, as it appeared, abruptly excluded the American minister to Spain from passing through France on his way from London to Madrid. But that Government has unequivocally disavowed any design to deny the right of transit to the minister of the United States, and after explanations to this effect he has resumed his journey and actually returned through France to Spain. I herewith lay before Congress the correspondence on this subject between our envoy at Paris and the minister of foreign relations of the French Government. The position of our affairs with Spain remains as at the close of the last session. Internal agitation, assuming very nearly the character of political revolution, has recently convulsed that country. The late ministers were violently expelled from power, and men of very different views in relation to its internal affairs have succeeded. Since this change there has been no propitious opportunity to resume and press on negotiations for the adjustment of serious questions of difficulty between the Spanish Government and the United States. There is reason to believe that our minister will find the present Government more favorably inclined than the preceding to comply with our just demands and to make suitable arrangements for restoring harmony and preserving peace between the two countries. Negotiations are pending with Denmark to discontinue the practice of levying tolls on our vessels and their cargoes passing through the Sound. I do not doubt that we can claim exemption therefrom as a matter of right. It is admitted on all hands that this exaction is sanctioned, not by the general principles of the law of nations, but only by special conventions which most of the commercial nations have entered into with Denmark. The fifth article of our treaty of 1826 with Denmark provides that there shall not be paid on the vessels of the United States and their cargoes when passing through the Sound higher duties than those of the most favored nations. This may be regarded as an implied agreement to submit to the tolls during the continuance of the treaty, and consequently may embarrass the assertion of our right to be released therefrom. There are also other provisions in the treaty which ought to be modified. It was to remain in force for ten years and until one year after either party should give notice to the other of intention to terminate it. I deem it expedient that the contemplated notice should be given to the Government of Denmark. The naval expedition dispatched about two years since for the purpose of establishing relations with the Empire of Japan has been ably and skillfully conducted to a successful termination by the officer to whom it was intrusted. A treaty opening certain of the ports of that populous country has been negotiated, and in order to give full effect thereto it only remains to exchange ratifications and adopt requisite commercial regulations. The treaty lately concluded between the United States and Mexico settled some of our most embarrassing difficulties with that country, but numerous claims upon it for wrongs and injuries to our citizens remained unadjusted, and many new eases have been recently added to the former list of grievances. Our legation has been earnest in its endeavors to obtain from the Mexican Government a favorable consideration of these claims, but hitherto without success. This failure is probably in some measure to be ascribed to the disturbed condition of that country. It has been my anxious desire to maintain friendly relations with the Mexican Republic and to because its rights and territories to be respected, not only by our citizens, but by foreigners who have resorted to the United States for the purpose of organizing hostile expeditions against some of the States of that Republic. The defenseless condition in which its frontiers have been left has stimulated lawless adventurers to embark in these enterprises and greatly increased the difficulty of enforcing our obligations of neutrality. Regarding it as my solemn duty to fulfill efficiently these obligations not only toward Mexico, but other foreign nations, I have exerted all the powers with which I am invested to defeat such proceedings and bring to punishment those who by taking a part therein violated our laws. The energy and activity of our civil and military authorities have frustrated the designs of those who meditated expeditions of this character except in two instances. One of these, composed of foreigners, was at first countenanced and aided by the Mexican Government itself, it having been deceived as to their real object. The other, small in number, eluded the vigilance of the magistrates at San Francisco and succeeded in reaching the Mexican territories; but the effective measures taken by this Government compelled the abandonment of the undertaking. The commission to establish the new line between the United States and Mexico, according to the provisions of the treaty of the 30th of December last, has been organized, and the work is already commenced. Our treaties with the Argentine Confederation and with the Republics of Uruguay and Paraguay secure to us the free navigation of the river La Plata and some of its larger tributaries, but the same success has not attended our endeavors to open the Amazon. The reasons in favor of the free use of that river I had occasion to present fully in a former message, and, considering the cordial relations which have long existed between this Government and Brazil, it may be expected that pending negotiations will eventually reach a favorable result. Convenient means of transit between the several parts of a country are not only desirable for the objects of commercial and personal communication, but essential to its existence under one government. Separated, as are the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, by the whole breadth of the continent, still the inhabitants of each are closely bound together by community of origin and institutions and by strong attachment to the Union. Hence the constant and increasing intercourse and vast interchange of commercial productions between these remote divisions of the Republic. At the present time the most practicable and only, commodious routes for communication between them are by the way of the isthmus of Central America. It is the duty of the Government to secure these avenues against all danger of interruption. In relation to Central America, perplexing questions existed between the United States and Great Britain at the time of the cession of California. These, as well as questions which subsequently arose concerning interoceanic communication across the Isthmus, were, as it was supposed, adjusted by the treaty of April 19, 1850, but, unfortunately, they have been reopened by serious misunderstanding as to the import of some or its provisions, a readjustment of which is now under consideration. Our minister at London has made strenuous efforts to accomplish this desirable object, but has not yet found it possible to bring the negotiations to a termination. As incidental to these questions, I deem it proper to notice an occurrence which happened in Central America near the close of the last session of Congress. So soon as the necessity was perceived of establishing interoceanic communications across the Isthmus a company was organized, under the authority of the State of Nicaragua, but composed for the most part of citizens of the United States, for the purpose of opening such a transit way by the river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua, which soon became an eligible and much used route in the transportation of our citizens and their property between the Atlantic and Pacific. Meanwhile, and in anticipation of the completion and importance of this transit way, a number of adventurers had taken possession of the old Spanish port at the mouth of the river San Juan in open defiance of the State or States of Central America, which upon their becoming independent had rightfully succeeded to the local sovereignty and jurisdiction of Spain. These adventurers undertook to change the name of the place from San Juan del Norte to Greytown, and though at first pretending to act as the subjects of the fictitious sovereign of the Mosquito Indians, they subsequently repudiated the control of any power whatever, assumed to adopt a distinct political organization, and declared themselves an independent sovereign state. If at some time a faint hope was entertained that they might become a stable and respectable community, that hope soon vanished. They proceeded to assert unfounded claims to civil jurisdiction over Punta Arenas, a position on the opposite side of the river San Juan, which was in possession, under a title wholly independent of them, of citizens of the United States interested in the Nicaragua Transit Company, and which was indispensably necessary to the prosperous operation of that route across the Isthmus. The company resisted their groundless claims, whereupon they proceeded to destroy some of its buildings and attempted violently to dispossess it. At a later period they organized a strong force for the purpose of demolishing the establishment at Punta Arenas, but this mischievous design was defeated by the interposition of one of our ships of war at that time in the harbor of San Juan. Subsequently to this, in May last, a body of men from Greytown crossed over to Punta Arenas, arrogating authority to arrest on the charge of murder a captain of one of the steamboats of the Transit Company. Being well aware that the claim to exercise jurisdiction there would be resisted then, as it had been on previous occasions, they went prepared to assert it by force of arms. Our minister to Central America happened to be present on that occasion. Believing that the captain of the steamboat was innocent (for he witnessed the transaction on which the charge was founder), and believing also that the intruding party, having no jurisdiction over the place where they proposed to make the arrest, would encounter desperate resistance if they persisted in their purpose, he interposed, effectually, to prevent violence and bloodshed. The American minister afterwards visited Greytown, and whilst he was there a mob, including certain of the so-called public functionaries of the place, surrounded the house in which he was, avowing that they had come to arrest him by order of some person exercising the chief authority. While parleying with them he was wounded by a missile from the crowd. A boat dispatched from the American steamer Northern Light to release him from the perilous situation in which he was understood to be was fired into by the town guard and compelled to return. These incidents, together with the known character of the population of Greytown and their excited state, induced just apprehensions that the lives and property of our citizens at Punta Arenas would be in imminent danger after the departure of the steamer, with her passengers, for New York, unless a guard was left for their protection. For this purpose, and in order to insure the safety of passengers and property passing over the route, a temporary force was organized, at considerable expense to the United States, for which provision was made at the last session of Congress. This pretended community, a heterogeneous assemblage gathered from various countries, and composed for the most part of blacks and persons of mixed blood, had previously given other indications of mischievous and dangerous propensities. Early in the same month property was clandestinely abstracted from the depot of the Transit Company and taken to Greytown. The plunderers obtained shelter there and their pursuers were driven back by its people, who not only protected the wrongdoers and shared the plunder, but treated with rudeness and violence those who sought to recover their property. Such, in substance, are the facts submitted to my consideration, and proved by trustworthy evidence. I could not doubt that the case demanded the interposition of this Government. Justice required that reparation should be made for so many and such gross wrongs, and that a course of insolence and plunder, tending directly to the insecurity of the lives of numerous travelers and of the rich treasure belonging to our citizens passing over this transit way, should be peremptorily arrested. Whatever it might be in other respects, the community in question, in power to do mischief, was not despicable. It was well provided with ordnance, small arms, and ammunition, and might easily seize on the unarmed boats, freighted with millions of property, which passed almost daily within its reach. It did not profess to belong to any regular government, and had, in fact, no recognized dependence on or connection with anyone to which the United States or their injured citizens might apply for redress or which could be held responsible in any way for the outrages committed. Not standing before the world in the attitude of an organized political society, being neither competent to exercise the rights nor to discharge the obligations of a government, it was, in fact, a marauding establishment too dangerous to be disregarded and too guilty to pass unpunished, and yet incapable of being treated in any other way than as a piratical resort of outlaws or a camp of savages depredating on emigrant trains or caravans and the frontier settlements of civilized states. Seasonable notice was given to the people of Greytown that this Government required them to repair the injuries they had done to our citizens and to make suitable apology for their insult of our minister, and that a ship of war would be dispatched thither to enforce compliance with these demands. But the notice passed unheeded. Thereupon a commander of the Navy, in charge of the sloop of war Cyane, was ordered to repeat the demands and to insist upon a compliance therewith. Finding that neither the populace nor those assuming to have authority over them manifested any disposition to make the required reparation, or even to offer excuse for their conduct, he warned them by a public proclamation that if they did not give satisfaction within a time specified he would bombard the town. By this procedure he afforded them opportunity to provide for their personal safety. To those also who desired to avoid loss of property in the punishment about to be inflicted on the offending town he furnished the means of removing their effects by the boats of his own ship and of a steamer which he procured and tendered to them for that purpose. At length, perceiving no disposition on the part of the town to comply with his requisitions, he appealed to the commander of Her Britannic Majesty's schooner Bermuda, who was seen to have intercourse and apparently much influence with the leaders among them, to interpose and persuade them to take some course calculated to save the necessity of resorting to the extreme measure indicated in his proclamation; but that officer, instead of acceding to the request, did nothing more than to protest against the contemplated bombardment. No steps of any sort were taken by the people to give the satisfaction required. No individuals, if any there were, who regarded themselves as not responsible for the misconduct of the community adopted any means to separate themselves from the fate of the guilty. The several charges on which the demands for redress were founded had been publicly known to all for some time, and were again announced to them. They did not deny any of these charges; they offered no explanation, nothing in extenuation of their conduct, but contumaciously refused to hold any intercourse with the commander of the Cyane. By their obstinate silence they seemed rather desirous to provoke chastisement than to escape it. There is ample reason to believe that this conduct of wanton defiance on their part is imputable chiefly to the delusive idea that the American Government would be deterred from punishing them through fear of displeasing a formidable foreign power, which they presumed to think looked with complacency upon their aggressive and insulting deportment toward the United States. The Cyane at length fired upon the town. Before much injury had been done the fire was twice suspended in order to afford opportunity for an arrangement, but this was declined. Most of the buildings of the place, of little value generally, were in the sequel destroyed, but, owing to the considerate precautions taken by our naval commander, there was no destruction of life. When the Cyane was ordered to Central America, it was confidently hoped and expected that no occasion would arise for "a resort to violence and destruction of property and loss of life." Instructions to that effect were given to her commander; and no extreme act would have been requisite had not the people themselves, by their extraordinary conduct in the affair, frustrated all the possible mild measures for obtaining satisfaction. A withdrawal from the place, the object of his visit entirely defeated, would under the circumstances in which the commander of the Cyane found himself have been absolute abandonment of all claim of our citizens for indemnification and submissive acquiescence in national indignity. It would have encouraged in these lawless men a spirit of insolence and rapine most dangerous to the lives and property of our citizens at Punta Arenas, and probably emboldened them to grasp at the treasures and valuable merchandise continually passing over the Nicaragua route. It certainly would have been most satisfactory to me if the objects of the Cyane's mission could have been consummated without any act of public force, but the arrogant contumacy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the alternative either to break up their establishment or to leave them impressed with the idea that they might persevere with impunity in a career of insolence and plunder. This transaction has been the subject of complaint on the part of some foreign powers, and has been characterized with more of harshness than of justice. If comparisons were to be instituted, it would not be difficult to present repeated instances in the history of states standing in the very front of modern civilization where communities far less offending and more defenseless than Greytown have been chastised with much greater severity, and where not cities only have been laid in ruins, but human life has been recklessly sacrificed and the blood of the innocent made profusely to mingle with that of the guilty. Passing from foreign to domestic affairs, your attention is naturally directed to the financial condition of the country, always a subject of general interest. For complete and exact information regarding the finances and the various branches of the public service connected therewith I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, from which it will appear that the amount of revenue during the last fiscal year from all sources was $73,549,705, and that the public expenditures for the same period, exclusive of payments on account of the public debt, amounted to $51, 018,249. During the same period the payments made in redemption of the public debt, including interest and premium, amounted to $24,336,380. To the sum total of the receipts of that year is to be added a balance remaining in the Treasury at the commencement thereof, amounting to $21,942,892; and at the close of the same year a corresponding balance, amounting to $20,137,967, of receipts above expenditures also remained in the Treasury. Although, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, the receipts of the current fiscal year are not likely to equal in amount those of the last, yet they will undoubtedly exceed the amount of expenditures by at least $15,000,000. I shall therefore continue to direct that the surplus revenue be applied, so far as it can be judiciously and economically done, to the reduction of the public debt, the amount of which at the commencement of the last fiscal year was $67,340,628; of which there had been paid on the 20th day of November, 1854, the sum of $22,365,172, leaving a balance of outstanding public debt of only $44,975,456, redeemable at different periods within fourteen years. There are also remnants of other Government stocks, most of which are already due, and on which the interest has ceased, but which have not yet been presented for payment, amounting to $233,179. This statement exhibits the fact that the annual income of the Government greatly exceeds the amount of its public debt, which latter remains unpaid only because the time of payment has not yet matured, and it can not be discharged at once except at the option of public creditors, who prefer to retain the securities of the United States; and the other fact, not less striking, that the annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a prudent and economical administration of the Government. The estimates presented to Congress from the different Executive Departments at the last session amounted to $38,406,581 and the appropriations made to the sum of $58,116,958. Of this excess of appropriations over estimates, however, more than twenty millions was applicable to extraordinary objects, having no reference to the usual annual expenditures. Among these objects was embraced ten millions to meet the third article of the treaty between the United States and Mexico; so that, in fact, for objects of ordinary expenditure the appropriations were limited to considerably less than $40,000,000. I therefore renew my recommendation for a reduction of the duties on imports. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury presents a series of tables showing the operation of the revenue system for several successive years; and as the general principle of reduction of duties with a view to revenue, and not protection, may now be regarded as the settled policy of the country, I trust that little difficulty will be encountered in settling the details of a measure to that effect. In connection with this subject I recommend a change in the laws, which recent experience has shown to be essential to the protection of the Government. There is no express provision of law requiring the records and papers of a public character of the several officers of the Government to be left in their offices for the use of their successors, nor any provision declaring it felony on their part to make false entries in the books or return false accounts. In the absence of such express provision by law, the outgoing officers in many instances have claimed and exercised the right to take into their own possession important books and papers, on the ground that these were their private property, and have placed them beyond the reach of the Government. Conduct of this character, brought in several instances to the notice of the present Secretary of the Treasury, naturally awakened his suspicion, and resulted in the disclosure that at four ports--namely, Oswego, Toledo, Sandusky, and Milwaukee--the Treasury had, by false entries, been defrauded within the four years next preceding March, 1853, of the sum of $198,000. The great difficulty with which the detection of these frauds has been attended, in consequence of the abstraction of books and papers by the retiring officers, and the facility with which similar frauds in the public service may be perpetrated render the necessity of new legal enactments in the respects above referred to quite obvious. For other material modifications of the revenue laws which seem to me desirable, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. That report and the tables which accompany it furnish ample proofs of the solid foundation on which the financial security of the country rests and of the salutary influence of the independent-treasury system upon commerce and all monetary operations. The experience of the last year furnishes additional reasons, I regret to say, of a painful character, for the recommendation heretofore made to provide for increasing the military force employed in the Territory inhabited by the Indians. The settlers-on the frontier have suffered much from the incursions of predatory bands, and large parties of emigrants to our Pacific possessions have been massacred with impunity. The recurrence of such scenes can only be prevented by teaching these wild tribes the power of and their responsibility to the United States. From the garrisons of our frontier posts it is only possible to detach troops in small bodies; and though these have on all occasions displayed a gallantry and a stern devotion to duty which on a larger field would have commanded universal admiration, they have usually suffered severely in these conflicts with superior numbers, and have sometimes been entirely sacrificed. All the disposable force of the Army is already employed on this service, and is known to be wholly inadequate to the protection which should be afforded. The public mind of the country has been recently shocked by savage atrocities committed upon defenseless emigrants and border settlements, and hardly less by the unnecessary destruction of valuable lives where inadequate detachments of troops have undertaken to furnish the needed aid. Without increase of the military force these scenes will be repeated, it is to be feared, on a larger scale and with more disastrous consequences. Congress, I am sure, will perceive that the plainest duties and responsibilities of Government are involved in this question, and I doubt not that prompt action may be confidently anticipated when delay must be attended by such fearful hazards. The bill of the last session providing for an increase of the pay of the rank and file of the Army has had beneficial results, not only in facilitating enlistments, but in obvious improvement in the class of men who enter the service. I regret that corresponding consideration was not bestowed on the officers, who, in view of their character and services and the expenses to which they are necessarily subject, receive at present what is, in my judgment, inadequate compensation. The valuable services constantly rendered by the Army and its inestimable importance as the nucleus around which the volunteer forces of the nation can promptly gather in the hour of danger, sufficiently attest the wisdom of maintaining a military peace establishment; but the theory of our system and the wise practice under it require that any proposed augmentation in time of peace be only commensurate with our extended limits and frontier relations. While scrupulously adhering to this principle, I find in existing circumstances a necessity for increase of our military force, and it is believed that four new regiments, two of infantry and two of mounted men, will be sufficient to meet the present exigency. If it were necessary carefully to weigh the cost in a case of such urgency, it would be shown that the additional expense would be comparatively light. With the increase of the numerical force of the Army should, I think, be combined certain measures of reform in its organic arrangement and administration. The present organization is the result of partial legislation often directed to special objects and interests; and the laws regulating rank and command, having been adopted many years ago from the British code, are not always applicable to our service. It is not surprising, therefore, that the system should be deficient in the symmetry and simplicity essential to the harmonious working of its several parts, and require a careful revision. The present organization, by maintaining large staff corps or departments, separates many officers from that close connection with troops and those active duties in the field which are deemed requisite to qualify them for the varied responsibilities of high command. Were the duties of the Army staff mainly discharged by officers detached from their regiments, it is believed that the special service would be equally well performed and the discipline and instruction of the Army be improved. While due regard to the security of the rights of officers and to the nice sense of honor which should be cultivated among them would seem to exact compliance with the established rule of promotion in ordinary cases, still it can hardly be doubted that the range of promotion by selection, which is now practically confined to the grade of general officers, might be somewhat extended with benefit to the public service. Observance of the rule of seniority sometimes leads, especially in time of peace, to the promotion of officers who, after meritorious and even distinguished service, may have been rendered by age or infirmity incapable of performing active duty, and whose advancement, therefore, would tend to impair the efficiency of the Army. Suitable provision for this class of officers, by the creation of a retired list, would remedy the evil without wounding the just pride of men who by past services have established a claim to high consideration. In again commending this measure to the favorable consideration of Congress I would suggest that the power of placing officers on the retired list be limited to one year. The practical operation of the measure would thus be tested, and if after the lapse of years there should be occasion to renew the provision it can be reproduced with any improvements which experience may indicate. The present organization of the artillery into regiments is liable to obvious objections. The service of artillery is that of batteries, and an organization of batteries into a corps of artillery would be more consistent with the nature of their duties. A large part of the troops now called artillery are, and have been, on duty as infantry, the distinction between the two arms being merely nominal. This nominal artillery in our service is disproportionate to the whole force and greater than the wants of the country demand. I therefore commend the discontinuance of a distinction which has no foundation in either the arms used or the character of the service expected to be performed. In connection with the proposition for the increase of the Army, I have presented these suggestions with regard to certain measures of reform as the complement of a system which would produce the happiest results from a given expenditure, and which, I hope, may attract the early attention and be deemed worthy of the approval of Congress. The recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy having reference to more ample provisions for the discipline and general improvement in the character of seamen and for the reorganization and gradual increase of the Navy I deem eminently worthy of your favorable consideration. The principles which have controlled our policy in relation to the permanent military force by sea and land are sound, consistent with the theory of our system, and should by no means be disregarded. But, limiting the force to the objects particularly set forth in the preceding part of this message, we should not overlook the present magnitude and prospective extension of our commercial marine, nor fail to give due weight to the fact that besides the 2,000 miles of Atlantic seaboard we have now a Pacific coast stretching from Mexico to the British possessions in the north, teeming with wealth and enterprise and demanding the constant presence of ships of war. The augmentation of the Navy has not kept pace with the duties properly and profitably assigned to it in time of peace, and it is inadequate for the large field of its operations, not merely in the present, but still more in the progressively increasing exigencies of the commerce of the United States. I cordially approve of the proposed apprentice system for our national vessels recommended by the Secretary of the Navy. The occurrence during the last few months of marine disasters of the most tragic nature, involving great loss of human life, has produced intense emotions of sympathy and sorrow throughout the country. It may well be doubted whether all these calamitous events are wholly attributable to the necessary and inevitable dangers of the sea. The merchants, mariners, and shipbuilders of the United States are, it is true, unsurpassed in far-reaching enterprise, skill, intelligence, and courage by any others in the world. But with the increasing amount of our commercial tonnage in the aggregate and the larger size and improved equipment of the ships now constructed a deficiency in the supply of reliable seamen begins to be very seriously felt. The inconvenience may perhaps be met in part by due regulation for the introduction into our merchant ships of indented apprentices, which, while it would afford useful and eligible occupation to numerous young men, would have a tendency to raise the character of seamen as a class. And it is deserving of serious reflection whether it may not be desirable to revise the existing laws for the maintenance of discipline at sea, upon which the security of life and property on the ocean must to so great an extent depend. Although much attention has already been given by Congress to the proper construction and arrangement of steam vessels and all passenger ships, still it is believed that the resources of science and mechanical skill in this direction have not been exhausted. No good reason exists for the marked distinction which appears upon our statutes between the laws for protecting life and property at sea and those for protecting them on land. In most of the States severe penalties are provided to punish conductors of trains, engineers, and others employed in the transportation of persons by railway or by steamboats on rivers. Why should not the same principle be applied to acts of insubordination, cowardice, or other misconduct on the part of masters and mariners producing injury or death to passengers on the high seas, beyond the jurisdiction of any of the States, and where such delinquencies can be reached only by the power of Congress? The whole subject is earnestly commended to your consideration. The report of the Postmaster-General, to which you are referred for many interesting details in relation to this important and rapidly extending branch of the public service, shows that the expenditure of the year ending June 30, 1854, including $133,483 of balance due to foreign offices, amounted to $8,710,907. The gross receipts during the same period amounted to $6,955,586, exhibiting an expenditure over income of $1,755,321 and a diminution of deficiency as compared with the last year of $361,756. The increase of the revenue of the Department for the year ending June 30, 1854, over the preceding year was $970,399. No proportionate increase, however, can be anticipated for the current year, in consequence of the act of Congress of June 23, 1854, providing for increased compensation to all postmasters. From these statements it is apparent that the Post-Office Department, instead of defraying its expenses according to the design at the time of its creation, is now, and under existing laws must continue to be, to no small extent a charge upon the general Treasury. The cost of mail transportation during the year ending June 30, 1854, exceeds the cost of the preceding year by $495,074. I again call your attention to the subject of mail transportation by ocean steamers, and commend the suggestions of the Postmaster General to your early attention. During the last fiscal year 11,070,935 acres of the public lands have been surveyed and 8,190,017 acres brought into market. The number of acres sold is 7,035,735 and the amount received therefor $9,285,533. The aggregate amount of lands sold, located under military scrip and land warrants, selected as swamp lands by States, and by locating under grants for roads is upward of 23,000,000 acres. The increase of lands sold over the previous year is about 6,000,000 acres, and the sales during the first two quarters of the current year present the extraordinary result of five and a half millions sold, exceeding by nearly 4,000,000 acres the sales of the corresponding quarters of the last year. The commendable policy of the Government in relation to setting apart public domain for those who have served their country in time of war is illustrated by the fact that since 1790 no less than 30,000,000 acres have been applied to this object. The suggestions which I submitted in my annual message of last year in reference to grants of land in aid of the construction of railways were less full and explicit than the magnitude of the subject and subsequent developments would seem to render proper and desirable. Of the soundness of the principle then asserted with regard to the limitation of the power of Congress I entertain no doubt, but in its application it is not enough that the value of lands in a particular locality may be enhanced; that, in fact, a larger amount of money may probably be received in a given time for alternate sections than could have been realized for all the sections without the impulse and influence of the proposed improvements. A prudent proprietor looks beyond limited sections of his domain, beyond present results to the ultimate effect which a particular line of policy is likely to produce upon all his possessions and interests. The Government, which is trustee in this matter for the people of the States, is bound to take the same wise and comprehensive view. Prior to and during the last session of Congress upward of 30,000,000 acres of land were withdrawn from public sale with a view to applications for grants of this character pending before Congress. A careful review of the whole subject led me to direct that all such orders be abrogated and the lands restored to market, and instructions were immediately given to that effect. The applications at the last session contemplated the construction of more than 5,000 miles of road and grants to the amount of nearly 20,000,000 acres of the public domain. Even admitting the right on the part of Congress to be unquestionable, is it quite clear that the proposed grants would be productive of good, and not evil? The different projects are confined for the present to eleven States of this Union and one Territory. The reasons assigned for the grants show that it is proposed to put the works speedily in process of construction. When we reflect that since the commencement of the construction of railways in the United States, stimulated, as they have been, by the large dividends realized from the earlier works over the great thoroughfares and between the most important points of commerce and population, encouraged by State legislation, and pressed forward by the amazing energy of private enterprise, only 17,000 miles have been completed in all the States in a quarter of a century; when we see the crippled condition of many works commenced and prosecuted upon what were deemed to be sound principles and safe calculations; when we contemplate the enormous absorption of capital withdrawn from the ordinary channels of business, the extravagant rates of interest at this moment paid to continue operations, the bankruptcies, not merely in money but in character, and the inevitable effect upon finances generally, can it be doubted that the tendency is to run to excess in this matter? Is it wise to augment this excess by encouraging hopes of sudden wealth expected to flow from magnificent schemes dependent upon the action of Congress? Does the spirit which has produced such results need to be stimulated or checked? Is it not the better rule to leave all these works to private enterprise, regulated and, when expedient, aided by the cooperation of States? If constructed by private capital the stimulant and the check go together and furnish a salutary restraint against speculative schemes and extravagance. But it is manifest that with the most effective guards there is danger of going too fast and too far. We may well pause before a proposition contemplating a simultaneous movement for the construction of railroads which in extent will equal, exclusive of the great Pacific road and all its branches, nearly one-third of the entire length of such works now completed in the United States, and which can not cost with equipments less than $150,000,000. The dangers likely to result from combinations of interests of this character can hardly be overestimated. But independently of these considerations, where is the accurate knowledge, the comprehensive intelligence, which shall discriminate between the relative claims of these twenty eight proposed roads in eleven States and one Territory? Where will you begin and where end? If to enable these companies to execute their proposed works it is necessary that the aid of the General Government be primarily given, the policy will present a problem so comprehensive in its bearings and so important to our political and social well-being as to claim in anticipation the severest analysis. Entertaining these views, I recur with satisfaction to the experience and action of the last session of Congress as furnishing assurance that the subject will not fail to elicit a careful reexamination and rigid scrutiny. It was my intention to present on this occasion some suggestions regarding internal improvements by the General Government, which want of time at the close of the last session prevented my submitting on the return to the House of Representatives with objections of the bill entitled "An act making appropriations for the repair, preservation, and completion of certain public works heretofore commenced under the authority of law;" but the space in this communication already occupied with other matter of immediate public exigency constrains me to reserve that subject for a special message, which will be transmitted to the two Houses of Congress at an early day. The judicial establishment of the United States requires modification, and certain reforms in the manner of conducting the legal business of the Government are also much needed; but as I have addressed you upon both of these subjects at length before, I have only to call your attention to the suggestions then made. My former recommendations in relation to suitable provision for various objects of deep interest to the inhabitants of the District of Columbia are renewed. Many of these objects partake largely of a national character, and are important independently of their relation to the prosperity of the only considerable organized community in the Union entirely unrepresented in Congress. I have thus presented suggestions on such subjects as appear to me to be of particular interest or importance, and therefore most worthy of consideration during the short remaining period allotted to the labors of the present Congress. Our forefathers of the thirteen united colonies, in acquiring their independence and in rounding this Republic of the United States of America, have devolved upon us, their descendants, the greatest and the most noble trust ever committed to the hands of man, imposing upon all, and especially such as the public will may have invested for the time being with political functions, the most sacred obligations. We have to maintain inviolate the great doctrine of the inherent right of popular self-government; to reconcile the largest liberty of the individual citizen with complete security of the public order; to render cheerful obedience to the laws of the land, to unite in enforcing their execution, and to frown indignantly on all combinations to resist them; to harmonize a sincere and ardent devotion to the institutions of religions faith with the most universal religious toleration; to preserve the rights of all by causing each to respect those of the other; to carry forward every social improvement to the uttermost limit of human perfectibility, by the free action of mind upon mind, not by the obtrusive intervention of misapplied force; to uphold the integrity and guard the limitations of our organic law; to preserve sacred from all touch of usurpation, as the very palladium of our political salvation, the reserved rights and powers of the several States and of the people; to cherish with loyal fealty and devoted affection this Union, as the only sure foundation on which the hopes of civil liberty rest; to administer government with vigilant integrity and rigid economy; to cultivate peace and friendship with foreign nations, and to demand and exact equal justice from all, but to do wrong to none; to eschew intermeddling with the national policy and the domestic repose of other governments, and to repel it from our own; never to shrink from war when the rights and the honor of the country call us to arms, but to cultivate in preference the arts of peace, seek enlargement of the rights of neutrality, and elevate and liberalize the intercourse of nations; and by such just and honorable means, and such only, whilst exalting the condition of the Republic, to assure to it the legitimate influence and the benign authority of a great example amongst all the powers of Christendom. Under the solemnity of these convictions the blessing of Almighty God is earnestly invoked to attend upon your deliberations and upon all the counsels and acts of the Government, to the end that, with common zeal and common efforts, we may, in humble submission to the divine will, cooperate for the promotion of the supreme good of these United States.
the past has been an eventful year and will be hereafter referred to as a marked epoch in the history of the world while we have been happily preserved from the calamities of war our domestic prosperity has not been entirely uninterrupted the crops in portions of the country have been nearly cut off disease has prevailed to a greater extent than usual and the sacrifice of human life through casualties by sea and land is without parallel but the pestilence has swept by and restored salubrity invites the absent to their homes and the return of business to its ordinary channels if the earth has rewarded the labor of the husbandman less bountifully than in preceding seasons it has left him with abundance for domestic wants and a large surplus for exportation in the present therefore as in the past we find ample grounds for reverent thankfulness to the god of grace and providence for his protecting care and merciful dealings with us as a people although our attention has been arrested by painful interest in passing events yet our country feels no more than the slight vibrations of the convulsions which have shaken europe as individuals we can not repress sympathy with human suffering nor regret for the causes which produce it as a nation we are reminded that whatever interrupts the peace or checks the prosperity of any part of christendom tends more or less to involve our own the condition of states is not unlike that of individuals they are mutually dependent upon each other amicable relations between them and reciprocal good will are essential for the promotion of whatever is desirable in their moral social and political condition hence it has been my earnest endeavor to maintain peace and friendly intercourse with all nations the wise theory of this government so early adopted and steadily pursued of avoiding all entangling alliances has hitherto exempted it from many complications in which it would otherwise have become involved notwithstanding this our clearly defined and course of action and our geographical position so remote from europe increasing disposition has been manifested by some of its governments to supervise and in certain respects to direct our foreign policy in plans for adjusting the balance of power among themselves they have assumed to take us into account and would constrain us to conform our conduct to their views one or another of the powers of europe has from time to time undertaken to enforce arbitrary regulations contrary in many respects to established principles of international law that law the united states have in their foreign intercourse uniformly respected and observed and they can not recognize any such interpolations therein as the temporary interests of others may suggest they do not admit that the sovereigns of one continent or of a particular community of states can legislate for all others leaving the transatlantic nations to adjust their political system in the way they may think best for their common welfare the independent powers of this continent may well assert the right to be exempt from all annoying interference on their part systematic abstinence from intimate political connection with distant foreign nations does not conflict with giving the widest range to our foreign commerce this distinction so clearly marked in history seems to have been overlooked or disregarded by some leading foreign states our refusal to be brought within and subjected to their peculiar system has i fear created a jealous distrust of our conduct and induced on their part occasional acts of disturbing effect upon our foreign relations our present attitude and past course give assurances which should not be questioned that our purposes are not aggressive nor threatening to the safety and welfare of other nations our military establishment in time of peace is adapted to maintain exterior defenses and to preserve order among the aboriginal tribes within the limits of the union our naval force is intended only for the protection of our citizens abroad and of our commerce diffused as it is over all the seas of the globe the government of the united states being essentially pacific in policy stands prepared to repel invasion by the voluntary service of a patriotic people and provides no permanent means of foreign aggression these considerations should allay all apprehension that we are disposed to encroach on the rights or endanger the security of other states some european powers have regarded with disquieting concern the territorial expansion of the united states this rapid growth has resulted from the legitimate exercise of sovereign rights belonging alike to all nations and by many liberally exercised under such circumstances it could hardly have been expected that those among them which have within a comparatively recent period subdued and absorbed ancient kingdoms planted their standards on every continent and now possess or claim the control of the islands of every ocean as their appropriate domain would look with unfriendly sentiments upon the acquisitions of this country in every instance honorably obtained or would feel themselves justified in imputing our advancement to a spirit of aggression or to a passion for political predominance our foreign commerce has reached a magnitude and extent nearly equal to that of the first maritime power of the earth and exceeding that of any other over this great interest in which not only our merchants but all classes of citizens at least indirectly are concerned it is the duty of the executive and legislative branches of the government to exercise a careful supervision and adopt proper measures for its protection the policy which i had in view in regard to this interest embraces its future as well as its present security long experience has shown that in general when the principal powers of europe are engaged in war the rights of neutral nations are endangered this consideration led in the progress of the war of our independence to the formation of the celebrated confederacy of armed neutrality a primary object of which was to assert the doctrine that free ships make free goods except in the case of articles contraband of war a doctrine which from the very commencement of our national being has been a cherished idea of the statesmen of this country at one period or another every maritime power has by some solemn treaty stipulation recognized that principle and it might have been hoped that it would come to be universally received and respected as a rule of international law but the refusal of one power prevented this and in the next great war which ensued that of the french revolution it failed to be respected among the belligerent states of europe notwithstanding this the principle is generally admitted to be a sound and salutary one so much so that at the commencement of the existing war in europe great britain and france announced their purpose to observe it for the present not however as a recognized international fight but as a mere concession for the time being the cooperation however of these two powerful maritime nations in the interest of neutral rights appeared to me to afford an occasion inviting and justifying on the part of the united states a renewed effort to make the doctrine in question a principle of international law by means of special conventions between the several powers of europe and america accordingly a proposition embracing not only the rule that free ships make free goods except contraband articles but also the less contested one that neutral property other than contraband though on board enemy ships shall be exempt from confiscation has been submitted by this government to those of europe and america russia acted promptly in this matter and a convention was concluded between that country and the united states providing for the observance of the principles announced not only as between themselves but also as between them and all other nations which shall enter into like stipulations none of the other powers have as yet taken final action on the subject i am not aware however that any objection to the proposed stipulations has been made but on the contrary they are acknowledged to be essential to the security of neutral commerce and the only apparent obstacle to their general adoption is in the possibility that it may be encumbered by inadmissible conditions the king of the two sicilies has expressed to our minister at naples his readiness to concur in our proposition relative to neutral rights and to enter into a convention on that subject the king of prussia entirely approves of the project of a treaty to the same effect submitted to him but proposes an additional article providing for the renunciation of privateering such an article for most obvious reasons is much desired by nations having naval establishments large in proportion to their foreign commerce if it were adopted as an international rule the commerce of a nation having comparatively a small naval force would be very much at the mercy of its enemy in case of war with a power of decided naval superiority the bare statement of the condition in which the united states would be placed after having surrendered the right to resort to privateers in the event of war with a belligerent of naval supremacy will show that this government could never listen to such a proposition the navy of the first maritime power in europe is at least ten times as large as that of the united states the foreign commerce of the two countries is nearly equal and about equally exposed to hostile depredations in war between that power and the united states without resort on our part to our mercantile marine the means of our enemy to inflict injury upon our commerce would be tenfold greater than ours to retaliate we could not extricate our country from this unequal condition with such an enemy unless we at once departed from our present peaceful policy and became a great naval power nor would this country be better situated in war with one of the secondary naval powers though the naval disparity would be less the greater extent and more exposed condition of our widespread commerce would give any of them a like advantage over us the proposition to enter into engagements to forego a resort to privateers in case this country should be forced into war with a great naval power is not entitled to more favorable consideration than would be a proposition to agree not to accept the services of volunteers for operations on land when the honor or the rights of our country require it to assume a hostile attitude it confidently relies upon the patriotism of its citizens not ordinarily devoted to the military profession to augment the army and the navy so as to make them fully adequate to the emergency which calls them into action the proposal to surrender the right to employ privateers is professedly founded upon the principle that private property of unoffending noncombatants though enemies should be exempt from the ravages of war but the proposed surrender goes but little way in carrying out that principle which equally requires that such private property should not be seized or molested by national ships of war should the leading powers of europe concur in proposing as a rule of international law to exempt private property upon the ocean from seizure by public armed cruisers as well as by privateers the united states will readily meet them upon that broad ground since the adjournment of congress the ratifications of the treaty between the united states and great britain relative to coast fisheries and to reciprocal trade with the british north american provinces have been exchanged and some of its anticipated advantages are already enjoyed by us although its full execution was to abide certain acts of legislation not yet fully performed so soon as it was ratified great britain opened to our commerce the free navigation of the river lawrence and to our fishermen unmolested access to the shores and bays from which they had been previously excluded on the coasts of her north american provinces in return for which she asked for the introduction free of duty into the ports of the united states of the fish caught on the same coast by british fishermen this being the compensation stipulated in the treaty for privileges of the highest importance and value to the united states which were thus voluntarily yielded before it became effective the request seemed to me to be a reasonable one but it could not be acceded to from want of authority to suspend our laws imposing duties upon all foreign fish in the meantime the treasury department issued a regulation for ascertaining the duties paid or secured by bonds on fish caught on the coasts of the british provinces and brought to our markets by british subjects after the fishing grounds had been made fully accessible to the citizens of the united states i recommend to your favorable consideration a proposition which will be submitted to you for authority to refund the duties and cancel the bonds thus received the provinces of canada and new brunswick have also anticipated the full operation of the treaty by legislative arrangements respectively to admit free of duty the products of the united states mentioned in the free list of the treaty and an arrangement similar to that regarding british fish has been made for duties now chargeable on the products of those provinces enumerated in the same free list and introduced therefrom into the united states a proposition for refunding which will in my judgment be in like manner entitled to your favorable consideration there is difference of opinion between the united states and great britain as to the boundary line of the territory of washington adjoining the british possessions on the pacific which has already led to difficulties on the part of the citizens and local authorities of the two governments i recommend that provision he made for a commission to be joined by one on the part of her britannic majesty for the purpose of running and establishing the line in controversy certain stipulations of the third and fourth articles of the treaty concluded by the united states and great britain in 1846 regarding possessory rights of the hudsons bay company and property of the pugets sound agricultural company have given rise to serious disputes and it is important to all concerned that summary means of settling them amicably should be devised i have reason to believe that an arrangement can be made on just terms for the extinguishment of the rights in question embracing also the right of the hudsons bay company to the navigation of the river columbia and i therefore suggest to your consideration the expediency of making a contingent appropriation for that purpose france was the early and efficient ally of the united states in their struggle for independence from that time to the present with occasional slight interruptions cordial relations of friendship have existed between the governments and people of the two countries the kindly sentiments cherished alike by both nations have led to extensive social and commercial intercourse which i trust will not be interrupted or checked by any casual event of an apparently unsatisfactory character the french consul at san francisco was not long since brought into the united states district court at that place by compulsory process as a witness in favor of another foreign consul in violation as the french government conceives of his privileges under our consular convention with france there being nothing in the transaction which could imply any disrespect to france or its consul such explanation has been made as i hope will be satisfactory subsequently misunderstanding arose on the subject of the french government having as it appeared abruptly excluded the american minister to spain from passing through france on his way from london to madrid but that government has unequivocally disavowed any design to deny the right of transit to the minister of the united states and after explanations to this effect he has resumed his journey and actually returned through france to spain i herewith lay before congress the correspondence on this subject between our envoy at paris and the minister of foreign relations of the french government the position of our affairs with spain remains as at the close of the last session internal agitation assuming very nearly the character of political revolution has recently convulsed that country the late ministers were violently expelled from power and men of very different views in relation to its internal affairs have succeeded since this change there has been no propitious opportunity to resume and press on negotiations for the adjustment of serious questions of difficulty between the spanish government and the united states there is reason to believe that our minister will find the present government more favorably inclined than the preceding to comply with our just demands and to make suitable arrangements for restoring harmony and preserving peace between the two countries negotiations are pending with denmark to discontinue the practice of levying tolls on our vessels and their cargoes passing through the sound i do not doubt that we can claim exemption therefrom as a matter of right it is admitted on all hands that this exaction is sanctioned not by the general principles of the law of nations but only by special conventions which most of the commercial nations have entered into with denmark the fifth article of our treaty of 1826 with denmark provides that there shall not be paid on the vessels of the united states and their cargoes when passing through the sound higher duties than those of the most favored nations this may be regarded as an implied agreement to submit to the tolls during the continuance of the treaty and consequently may embarrass the assertion of our right to be released therefrom there are also other provisions in the treaty which ought to be modified it was to remain in force for ten years and until one year after either party should give notice to the other of intention to terminate it i deem it expedient that the contemplated notice should be given to the government of denmark the naval expedition dispatched about two years since for the purpose of establishing relations with the empire of japan has been ably and skillfully conducted to a successful termination by the officer to whom it was intrusted a treaty opening certain of the ports of that populous country has been negotiated and in order to give full effect thereto it only remains to exchange ratifications and adopt requisite commercial regulations the treaty lately concluded between the united states and mexico settled some of our most embarrassing difficulties with that country but numerous claims upon it for wrongs and injuries to our citizens remained unadjusted and many new eases have been recently added to the former list of grievances our legation has been earnest in its endeavors to obtain from the mexican government a favorable consideration of these claims but hitherto without success this failure is probably in some measure to be ascribed to the disturbed condition of that country it has been my anxious desire to maintain friendly relations with the mexican republic and to because its rights and territories to be respected not only by our citizens but by foreigners who have resorted to the united states for the purpose of organizing hostile expeditions against some of the states of that republic the defenseless condition in which its frontiers have been left has stimulated lawless adventurers to embark in these enterprises and greatly increased the difficulty of enforcing our obligations of neutrality regarding it as my solemn duty to fulfill efficiently these obligations not only toward mexico but other foreign nations i have exerted all the powers with which i am invested to defeat such proceedings and bring to punishment those who by taking a part therein violated our laws the energy and activity of our civil and military authorities have frustrated the designs of those who meditated expeditions of this character except in two instances one of these composed of foreigners was at first countenanced and aided by the mexican government itself it having been deceived as to their real object the other small in number eluded the vigilance of the magistrates at san francisco and succeeded in reaching the mexican territories but the effective measures taken by this government compelled the abandonment of the undertaking the commission to establish the new line between the united states and mexico according to the provisions of the treaty of the 30th of december last has been organized and the work is already commenced our treaties with the argentine confederation and with the republics of uruguay and paraguay secure to us the free navigation of the river la plata and some of its larger tributaries but the same success has not attended our endeavors to open the amazon the reasons in favor of the free use of that river i had occasion to present fully in a former message and considering the cordial relations which have long existed between this government and brazil it may be expected that pending negotiations will eventually reach a favorable result convenient means of transit between the several parts of a country are not only desirable for the objects of commercial and personal communication but essential to its existence under one government separated as are the atlantic and pacific coasts of the united states by the whole breadth of the continent still the inhabitants of each are closely bound together by community of origin and institutions and by strong attachment to the union hence the constant and increasing intercourse and vast interchange of commercial productions between these remote divisions of the republic at the present time the most practicable and only commodious routes for communication between them are by the way of the isthmus of central america it is the duty of the government to secure these avenues against all danger of interruption in relation to central america perplexing questions existed between the united states and great britain at the time of the cession of california these as well as questions which subsequently arose concerning interoceanic communication across the isthmus were as it was supposed adjusted by the treaty of april 19 1850 but unfortunately they have been reopened by serious misunderstanding as to the import of some or its provisions a readjustment of which is now under consideration our minister at london has made strenuous efforts to accomplish this desirable object but has not yet found it possible to bring the negotiations to a termination as incidental to these questions i deem it proper to notice an occurrence which happened in central america near the close of the last session of congress so soon as the necessity was perceived of establishing interoceanic communications across the isthmus a company was organized under the authority of the state of nicaragua but composed for the most part of citizens of the united states for the purpose of opening such a transit way by the river san juan and lake nicaragua which soon became an eligible and much used route in the transportation of our citizens and their property between the atlantic and pacific meanwhile and in anticipation of the completion and importance of this transit way a number of adventurers had taken possession of the old spanish port at the mouth of the river san juan in open defiance of the state or states of central america which upon their becoming independent had rightfully succeeded to the local sovereignty and jurisdiction of spain these adventurers undertook to change the name of the place from san juan del norte to greytown and though at first pretending to act as the subjects of the fictitious sovereign of the mosquito indians they subsequently repudiated the control of any power whatever assumed to adopt a distinct political organization and declared themselves an independent sovereign state if at some time a faint hope was entertained that they might become a stable and respectable community that hope soon vanished they proceeded to assert unfounded claims to civil jurisdiction over punta arenas a position on the opposite side of the river san juan which was in possession under a title wholly independent of them of citizens of the united states interested in the nicaragua transit company and which was indispensably necessary to the prosperous operation of that route across the isthmus the company resisted their groundless claims whereupon they proceeded to destroy some of its buildings and attempted violently to dispossess it at a later period they organized a strong force for the purpose of demolishing the establishment at punta arenas but this mischievous design was defeated by the interposition of one of our ships of war at that time in the harbor of san juan subsequently to this in may last a body of men from greytown crossed over to punta arenas arrogating authority to arrest on the charge of murder a captain of one of the steamboats of the transit company being well aware that the claim to exercise jurisdiction there would be resisted then as it had been on previous occasions they went prepared to assert it by force of arms our minister to central america happened to be present on that occasion believing that the captain of the steamboat was innocent for he witnessed the transaction on which the charge was founder and believing also that the intruding party having no jurisdiction over the place where they proposed to make the arrest would encounter desperate resistance if they persisted in their purpose he interposed effectually to prevent violence and bloodshed the american minister afterwards visited greytown and whilst he was there a mob including certain of the public functionaries of the place surrounded the house in which he was avowing that they had come to arrest him by order of some person exercising the chief authority while parleying with them he was wounded by a missile from the crowd a boat dispatched from the american steamer northern light to release him from the perilous situation in which he was understood to be was fired into by the town guard and compelled to return these incidents together with the known character of the population of greytown and their excited state induced just apprehensions that the lives and property of our citizens at punta arenas would be in imminent danger after the departure of the steamer with her passengers for new york unless a guard was left for their protection for this purpose and in order to insure the safety of passengers and property passing over the route a temporary force was organized at considerable expense to the united states for which provision was made at the last session of congress this pretended community a heterogeneous assemblage gathered from various countries and composed for the most part of blacks and persons of mixed blood had previously given other indications of mischievous and dangerous propensities early in the same month property was clandestinely abstracted from the depot of the transit company and taken to greytown the plunderers obtained shelter there and their pursuers were driven back by its people who not only protected the wrongdoers and shared the plunder but treated with rudeness and violence those who sought to recover their property such in substance are the facts submitted to my consideration and proved by trustworthy evidence i could not doubt that the case demanded the interposition of this government justice required that reparation should be made for so many and such gross wrongs and that a course of insolence and plunder tending directly to the insecurity of the lives of numerous travelers and of the rich treasure belonging to our citizens passing over this transit way should be peremptorily arrested whatever it might be in other respects the community in question in power to do mischief was not despicable it was well provided with ordnance small arms and ammunition and might easily seize on the unarmed boats freighted with millions of property which passed almost daily within its reach it did not profess to belong to any regular government and had in fact no recognized dependence on or connection with anyone to which the united states or their injured citizens might apply for redress or which could be held responsible in any way for the outrages committed not standing before the world in the attitude of an organized political society being neither competent to exercise the rights nor to discharge the obligations of a government it was in fact a marauding establishment too dangerous to be disregarded and too guilty to pass unpunished and yet incapable of being treated in any other way than as a piratical resort of outlaws or a camp of savages depredating on emigrant trains or caravans and the frontier settlements of civilized states seasonable notice was given to the people of greytown that this government required them to repair the injuries they had done to our citizens and to make suitable apology for their insult of our minister and that a ship of war would be dispatched thither to enforce compliance with these demands but the notice passed unheeded thereupon a commander of the navy in charge of the sloop of war cyane was ordered to repeat the demands and to insist upon a compliance therewith finding that neither the populace nor those assuming to have authority over them manifested any disposition to make the required reparation or even to offer excuse for their conduct he warned them by a public proclamation that if they did not give satisfaction within a time specified he would bombard the town by this procedure he afforded them opportunity to provide for their personal safety to those also who desired to avoid loss of property in the punishment about to be inflicted on the offending town he furnished the means of removing their effects by the boats of his own ship and of a steamer which he procured and tendered to them for that purpose at length perceiving no disposition on the part of the town to comply with his requisitions he appealed to the commander of her britannic majesty schooner bermuda who was seen to have intercourse and apparently much influence with the leaders among them to interpose and persuade them to take some course calculated to save the necessity of resorting to the extreme measure indicated in his proclamation but that officer instead of acceding to the request did nothing more than to protest against the contemplated bombardment no steps of any sort were taken by the people to give the satisfaction required no individuals if any there were who regarded themselves as not responsible for the misconduct of the community adopted any means to separate themselves from the fate of the guilty the several charges on which the demands for redress were founded had been publicly known to all for some time and were again announced to them they did not deny any of these charges they offered no explanation nothing in extenuation of their conduct but contumaciously refused to hold any intercourse with the commander of the cyane by their obstinate silence they seemed rather desirous to provoke chastisement than to escape it there is ample reason to believe that this conduct of wanton defiance on their part is imputable chiefly to the delusive idea that the american government would be deterred from punishing them through fear of displeasing a formidable foreign power which they presumed to think looked with complacency upon their aggressive and insulting deportment toward the united states the cyane at length fired upon the town before much injury had been done the fire was twice suspended in order to afford opportunity for an arrangement but this was declined most of the buildings of the place of little value generally were in the sequel destroyed but owing to the considerate precautions taken by our naval commander there was no destruction of life when the cyane was ordered to central america it was confidently hoped and expected that no occasion would arise for a resort to violence and destruction of property and loss of life instructions to that effect were given to her commander and no extreme act would have been requisite had not the people themselves by their extraordinary conduct in the affair frustrated all the possible mild measures for obtaining satisfaction a withdrawal from the place the object of his visit entirely defeated would under the circumstances in which the commander of the cyane found himself have been absolute abandonment of all claim of our citizens for indemnification and submissive acquiescence in national indignity it would have encouraged in these lawless men a spirit of insolence and rapine most dangerous to the lives and property of our citizens at punta arenas and probably emboldened them to grasp at the treasures and valuable merchandise continually passing over the nicaragua route it certainly would have been most satisfactory to me if the objects of the cyane mission could have been consummated without any act of public force but the arrogant contumacy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the alternative either to break up their establishment or to leave them impressed with the idea that they might persevere with impunity in a career of insolence and plunder this transaction has been the subject of complaint on the part of some foreign powers and has been characterized with more of harshness than of justice if comparisons were to be instituted it would not be difficult to present repeated instances in the history of states standing in the very front of modern civilization where communities far less offending and more defenseless than greytown have been chastised with much greater severity and where not cities only have been laid in ruins but human life has been recklessly sacrificed and the blood of the innocent made profusely to mingle with that of the guilty passing from foreign to domestic affairs your attention is naturally directed to the financial condition of the country always a subject of general interest for complete and exact information regarding the finances and the various branches of the public service connected therewith i refer you to the report of the secretary of the treasury from which it will appear that the amount of revenue during the last fiscal year from all sources was and that the public expenditures for the same period exclusive of payments on account of the public debt amounted to 51 during the same period the payments made in redemption of the public debt including interest and premium amounted to to the sum total of the receipts of that year is to be added a balance remaining in the treasury at the commencement thereof amounting to and at the close of the same year a corresponding balance amounting to of receipts above expenditures also remained in the treasury although in the opinion of the secretary of the treasury the receipts of the current fiscal year are not likely to equal in amount those of the last yet they will undoubtedly exceed the amount of expenditures by at least i shall therefore continue to direct that the surplus revenue be applied so far as it can be judiciously and economically done to the reduction of the public debt the amount of which at the commencement of the last fiscal year was of which there had been paid on the 20th day of november 1854 the sum of leaving a balance of outstanding public debt of only redeemable at different periods within fourteen years there are also remnants of other government stocks most of which are already due and on which the interest has ceased but which have not yet been presented for payment amounting to this statement exhibits the fact that the annual income of the government greatly exceeds the amount of its public debt which latter remains unpaid only because the time of payment has not yet matured and it can not be discharged at once except at the option of public creditors who prefer to retain the securities of the united states and the other fact not less striking that the annual revenue from all sources exceeds by many millions of dollars the amount needed for a prudent and economical administration of the government the estimates presented to congress from the different executive departments at the last session amounted to and the appropriations made to the sum of of this excess of appropriations over estimates however more than twenty millions was applicable to extraordinary objects having no reference to the usual annual expenditures among these objects was embraced ten millions to meet the third article of the treaty between the united states and mexico so that in fact for objects of ordinary expenditure the appropriations were limited to considerably less than i therefore renew my recommendation for a reduction of the duties on imports the report of the secretary of the treasury presents a series of tables showing the operation of the revenue system for several successive years and as the general principle of reduction of duties with a view to revenue and not protection may now be regarded as the settled policy of the country i trust that little difficulty will be encountered in settling the details of a measure to that effect in connection with this subject i recommend a change in the laws which recent experience has shown to be essential to the protection of the government there is no express provision of law requiring the records and papers of a public character of the several officers of the government to be left in their offices for the use of their successors nor any provision declaring it felony on their part to make false entries in the books or return false accounts in the absence of such express provision by law the outgoing officers in many instances have claimed and exercised the right to take into their own possession important books and papers on the ground that these were their private property and have placed them beyond the reach of the government conduct of this character brought in several instances to the notice of the present secretary of the treasury naturally awakened his suspicion and resulted in the disclosure that at four ports namely oswego toledo sandusky and milwaukee the treasury had by false entries been defrauded within the four years next preceding march 1853 of the sum of the great difficulty with which the detection of these frauds has been attended in consequence of the abstraction of books and papers by the retiring officers and the facility with which similar frauds in the public service may be perpetrated render the necessity of new legal enactments in the respects above referred to quite obvious for other material modifications of the revenue laws which seem to me desirable i refer you to the report of the secretary of the treasury that report and the tables which accompany it furnish ample proofs of the solid foundation on which the financial security of the country rests and of the salutary influence of the system upon commerce and all monetary operations the experience of the last year furnishes additional reasons i regret to say of a painful character for the recommendation heretofore made to provide for increasing the military force employed in the territory inhabited by the indians the the frontier have suffered much from the incursions of predatory bands and large parties of emigrants to our pacific possessions have been massacred with impunity the recurrence of such scenes can only be prevented by teaching these wild tribes the power of and their responsibility to the united states from the garrisons of our frontier posts it is only possible to detach troops in small bodies and though these have on all occasions displayed a gallantry and a stern devotion to duty which on a larger field would have commanded universal admiration they have usually suffered severely in these conflicts with superior numbers and have sometimes been entirely sacrificed all the disposable force of the army is already employed on this service and is known to be wholly inadequate to the protection which should be afforded the public mind of the country has been recently shocked by savage atrocities committed upon defenseless emigrants and border settlements and hardly less by the unnecessary destruction of valuable lives where inadequate detachments of troops have undertaken to furnish the needed aid without increase of the military force these scenes will be repeated it is to be feared on a larger scale and with more disastrous consequences congress i am sure will perceive that the plainest duties and responsibilities of government are involved in this question and i doubt not that prompt action may be confidently anticipated when delay must be attended by such fearful hazards the bill of the last session providing for an increase of the pay of the rank and file of the army has had beneficial results not only in facilitating enlistments but in obvious improvement in the class of men who enter the service i regret that corresponding consideration was not bestowed on the officers who in view of their character and services and the expenses to which they are necessarily subject receive at present what is in my judgment inadequate compensation the valuable services constantly rendered by the army and its inestimable importance as the nucleus around which the volunteer forces of the nation can promptly gather in the hour of danger sufficiently attest the wisdom of maintaining a military peace establishment but the theory of our system and the wise practice under it require that any proposed augmentation in time of peace be only commensurate with our extended limits and frontier relations while scrupulously adhering to this principle i find in existing circumstances a necessity for increase of our military force and it is believed that four new regiments two of infantry and two of mounted men will be sufficient to meet the present exigency if it were necessary carefully to weigh the cost in a case of such urgency it would be shown that the additional expense would be comparatively light with the increase of the numerical force of the army should i think be combined certain measures of reform in its organic arrangement and administration the present organization is the result of partial legislation often directed to special objects and interests and the laws regulating rank and command having been adopted many years ago from the british code are not always applicable to our service it is not surprising therefore that the system should be deficient in the symmetry and simplicity essential to the harmonious working of its several parts and require a careful revision the present organization by maintaining large staff corps or departments separates many officers from that close connection with troops and those active duties in the field which are deemed requisite to qualify them for the varied responsibilities of high command were the duties of the army staff mainly discharged by officers detached from their regiments it is believed that the special service would be equally well performed and the discipline and instruction of the army be improved while due regard to the security of the rights of officers and to the nice sense of honor which should be cultivated among them would seem to exact compliance with the established rule of promotion in ordinary cases still it can hardly be doubted that the range of promotion by selection which is now practically confined to the grade of general officers might be somewhat extended with benefit to the public service observance of the rule of seniority sometimes leads especially in time of peace to the promotion of officers who after meritorious and even distinguished service may have been rendered by age or infirmity incapable of performing active duty and whose advancement therefore would tend to impair the efficiency of the army suitable provision for this class of officers by the creation of a retired list would remedy the evil without wounding the just pride of men who by past services have established a claim to high consideration in again commending this measure to the favorable consideration of congress i would suggest that the power of placing officers on the retired list be limited to one year the practical operation of the measure would thus be tested and if after the lapse of years there should be occasion to renew the provision it can be reproduced with any improvements which experience may indicate the present organization of the artillery into regiments is liable to obvious objections the service of artillery is that of batteries and an organization of batteries into a corps of artillery would be more consistent with the nature of their duties a large part of the troops now called artillery are and have been on duty as infantry the distinction between the two arms being merely nominal this nominal artillery in our service is disproportionate to the whole force and greater than the wants of the country demand i therefore commend the discontinuance of a distinction which has no foundation in either the arms used or the character of the service expected to be performed in connection with the proposition for the increase of the army i have presented these suggestions with regard to certain measures of reform as the complement of a system which would produce the happiest results from a given expenditure and which i hope may attract the early attention and be deemed worthy of the approval of congress the recommendation of the secretary of the navy having reference to more ample provisions for the discipline and general improvement in the character of seamen and for the reorganization and gradual increase of the navy i deem eminently worthy of your favorable consideration the principles which have controlled our policy in relation to the permanent military force by sea and land are sound consistent with the theory of our system and should by no means be disregarded but limiting the force to the objects particularly set forth in the preceding part of this message we should not overlook the present magnitude and prospective extension of our commercial marine nor fail to give due weight to the fact that besides the miles of atlantic seaboard we have now a pacific coast stretching from mexico to the british possessions in the north teeming with wealth and enterprise and demanding the constant presence of ships of war the augmentation of the navy has not kept pace with the duties properly and profitably assigned to it in time of peace and it is inadequate for the large field of its operations not merely in the present but still more in the progressively increasing exigencies of the commerce of the united states i cordially approve of the proposed apprentice system for our national vessels recommended by the secretary of the navy the occurrence during the last few months of marine disasters of the most tragic nature involving great loss of human life has produced intense emotions of sympathy and sorrow throughout the country it may well be doubted whether all these calamitous events are wholly attributable to the necessary and inevitable dangers of the sea the merchants mariners and shipbuilders of the united states are it is true unsurpassed in enterprise skill intelligence and courage by any others in the world but with the increasing amount of our commercial tonnage in the aggregate and the larger size and improved equipment of the ships now constructed a deficiency in the supply of reliable seamen begins to be very seriously felt the inconvenience may perhaps be met in part by due regulation for the introduction into our merchant ships of indented apprentices which while it would afford useful and eligible occupation to numerous young men would have a tendency to raise the character of seamen as a class and it is deserving of serious reflection whether it may not be desirable to revise the existing laws for the maintenance of discipline at sea upon which the security of life and property on the ocean must to so great an extent depend although much attention has already been given by congress to the proper construction and arrangement of steam vessels and all passenger ships still it is believed that the resources of science and mechanical skill in this direction have not been exhausted no good reason exists for the marked distinction which appears upon our statutes between the laws for protecting life and property at sea and those for protecting them on land in most of the states severe penalties are provided to punish conductors of trains engineers and others employed in the transportation of persons by railway or by steamboats on rivers why should not the same principle be applied to acts of insubordination cowardice or other misconduct on the part of masters and mariners producing injury or death to passengers on the high seas beyond the jurisdiction of any of the states and where such delinquencies can be reached only by the power of congress the whole subject is earnestly commended to your consideration the report of the to which you are referred for many interesting details in relation to this important and rapidly extending branch of the public service shows that the expenditure of the year ending june 30 1854 including of balance due to foreign offices amounted to the gross receipts during the same period amounted to exhibiting an expenditure over income of and a diminution of deficiency as compared with the last year of the increase of the revenue of the department for the year ending june 30 1854 over the preceding year was no proportionate increase however can be anticipated for the current year in consequence of the act of congress of june 23 1854 providing for increased compensation to all postmasters from these statements it is apparent that the department instead of defraying its expenses according to the design at the time of its creation is now and under existing laws must continue to be to no small extent a charge upon the general treasury the cost of mail transportation during the year ending june 30 1854 exceeds the cost of the preceding year by i again call your attention to the subject of mail transportation by ocean steamers and commend the suggestions of the postmaster general to your early attention during the last fiscal year acres of the public lands have been surveyed and acres brought into market the number of acres sold is and the amount received therefor the aggregate amount of lands sold located under military scrip and land warrants selected as swamp lands by states and by locating under grants for roads is upward of acres the increase of lands sold over the previous year is about acres and the sales during the first two quarters of the current year present the extraordinary result of five and a half millions sold exceeding by nearly acres the sales of the corresponding quarters of the last year the commendable policy of the government in relation to setting apart public domain for those who have served their country in time of war is illustrated by the fact that since 1790 no less than acres have been applied to this object the suggestions which i submitted in my annual message of last year in reference to grants of land in aid of the construction of railways were less full and explicit than the magnitude of the subject and subsequent developments would seem to render proper and desirable of the soundness of the principle then asserted with regard to the limitation of the power of congress i entertain no doubt but in its application it is not enough that the value of lands in a particular locality may be enhanced that in fact a larger amount of money may probably be received in a given time for alternate sections than could have been realized for all the sections without the impulse and influence of the proposed improvements a prudent proprietor looks beyond limited sections of his domain beyond present results to the ultimate effect which a particular line of policy is likely to produce upon all his possessions and interests the government which is trustee in this matter for the people of the states is bound to take the same wise and comprehensive view prior to and during the last session of congress upward of acres of land were withdrawn from public sale with a view to applications for grants of this character pending before congress a careful review of the whole subject led me to direct that all such orders be abrogated and the lands restored to market and instructions were immediately given to that effect the applications at the last session contemplated the construction of more than miles of road and grants to the amount of nearly acres of the public domain even admitting the right on the part of congress to be unquestionable is it quite clear that the proposed grants would be productive of good and not evil the different projects are confined for the present to eleven states of this union and one territory the reasons assigned for the grants show that it is proposed to put the works speedily in process of construction when we reflect that since the commencement of the construction of railways in the united states stimulated as they have been by the large dividends realized from the earlier works over the great thoroughfares and between the most important points of commerce and population encouraged by state legislation and pressed forward by the amazing energy of private enterprise only miles have been completed in all the states in a quarter of a century when we see the crippled condition of many works commenced and prosecuted upon what were deemed to be sound principles and safe calculations when we contemplate the enormous absorption of capital withdrawn from the ordinary channels of business the extravagant rates of interest at this moment paid to continue operations the bankruptcies not merely in money but in character and the inevitable effect upon finances generally can it be doubted that the tendency is to run to excess in this matter is it wise to augment this excess by encouraging hopes of sudden wealth expected to flow from magnificent schemes dependent upon the action of congress does the spirit which has produced such results need to be stimulated or checked is it not the better rule to leave all these works to private enterprise regulated and when expedient aided by the cooperation of states if constructed by private capital the stimulant and the check go together and furnish a salutary restraint against speculative schemes and extravagance but it is manifest that with the most effective guards there is danger of going too fast and too far we may well pause before a proposition contemplating a simultaneous movement for the construction of railroads which in extent will equal exclusive of the great pacific road and all its branches nearly of the entire length of such works now completed in the united states and which can not cost with equipments less than the dangers likely to result from combinations of interests of this character can hardly be overestimated but independently of these considerations where is the accurate knowledge the comprehensive intelligence which shall discriminate between the relative claims of these twenty eight proposed roads in eleven states and one territory where will you begin and where end if to enable these companies to execute their proposed works it is necessary that the aid of the general government be primarily given the policy will present a problem so comprehensive in its bearings and so important to our political and social as to claim in anticipation the severest analysis entertaining these views i recur with satisfaction to the experience and action of the last session of congress as furnishing assurance that the subject will not fail to elicit a careful reexamination and rigid scrutiny it was my intention to present on this occasion some suggestions regarding internal improvements by the general government which want of time at the close of the last session prevented my submitting on the return to the house of representatives with objections of the bill entitled an act making appropriations for the repair preservation and completion of certain public works heretofore commenced under the authority of law but the space in this communication already occupied with other matter of immediate public exigency constrains me to reserve that subject for a special message which will be transmitted to the two houses of congress at an early day the judicial establishment of the united states requires modification and certain reforms in the manner of conducting the legal business of the government are also much needed but as i have addressed you upon both of these subjects at length before i have only to call your attention to the suggestions then made my former recommendations in relation to suitable provision for various objects of deep interest to the inhabitants of the district of columbia are renewed many of these objects partake largely of a national character and are important independently of their relation to the prosperity of the only considerable organized community in the union entirely unrepresented in congress i have thus presented suggestions on such subjects as appear to me to be of particular interest or importance and therefore most worthy of consideration during the short remaining period allotted to the labors of the present congress our forefathers of the thirteen united colonies in acquiring their independence and in rounding this republic of the united states of america have devolved upon us their descendants the greatest and the most noble trust ever committed to the hands of man imposing upon all and especially such as the public will may have invested for the time being with political functions the most sacred obligations we have to maintain inviolate the great doctrine of the inherent right of popular to reconcile the largest liberty of the individual citizen with complete security of the public order to render cheerful obedience to the laws of the land to unite in enforcing their execution and to frown indignantly on all combinations to resist them to harmonize a sincere and ardent devotion to the institutions of religions faith with the most universal religious toleration to preserve the rights of all by causing each to respect those of the other to carry forward every social improvement to the uttermost limit of human perfectibility by the free action of mind upon mind not by the obtrusive intervention of misapplied force to uphold the integrity and guard the limitations of our organic law to preserve sacred from all touch of usurpation as the very palladium of our political salvation the reserved rights and powers of the several states and of the people to cherish with loyal fealty and devoted affection this union as the only sure foundation on which the hopes of civil liberty rest to administer government with vigilant integrity and rigid economy to cultivate peace and friendship with foreign nations and to demand and exact equal justice from all but to do wrong to none to eschew intermeddling with the national policy and the domestic repose of other governments and to repel it from our own never to shrink from war when the rights and the honor of the country call us to arms but to cultivate in preference the arts of peace seek enlargement of the rights of neutrality and elevate and liberalize the intercourse of nations and by such just and honorable means and such only whilst exalting the condition of the republic to assure to it the legitimate influence and the benign authority of a great example amongst all the powers of christendom under the solemnity of these convictions the blessing of almighty god is earnestly invoked to attend upon your deliberations and upon all the counsels and acts of the government to the end that with common zeal and common efforts we may in humble submission to the divine will cooperate for the promotion of the supreme good of these united states
past eventful year hereafter referred marked epoch history world happily preserved calamities war domestic prosperity entirely uninterrupted crops portions country nearly cut disease prevailed greater extent usual sacrifice human life casualties sea land without parallel pestilence swept restored salubrity invites absent homes return business ordinary channels earth rewarded labor husbandman less bountifully preceding seasons left abundance domestic wants large surplus exportation present therefore past find ample grounds reverent thankfulness god grace providence protecting care merciful dealings us people although attention arrested painful interest passing events yet country feels slight vibrations convulsions shaken europe individuals repress sympathy human suffering regret causes produce nation reminded whatever interrupts peace checks prosperity part christendom tends less involve condition states unlike individuals mutually dependent upon amicable relations reciprocal good essential promotion whatever desirable moral social political condition hence earnest endeavor maintain peace friendly intercourse nations wise theory government early adopted steadily pursued avoiding entangling alliances hitherto exempted many complications would otherwise become involved notwithstanding clearly defined course action geographical position remote europe increasing disposition manifested governments supervise certain respects direct foreign policy plans adjusting balance power among assumed take us account would constrain us conform conduct views one another powers europe time time undertaken enforce arbitrary regulations contrary many respects established principles international law law united states foreign intercourse uniformly respected observed recognize interpolations therein temporary interests others may suggest admit sovereigns one continent particular community states legislate others leaving transatlantic nations adjust political system way may think best common welfare independent powers continent may well assert right exempt annoying interference part systematic abstinence intimate political connection distant foreign nations conflict giving widest range foreign commerce distinction clearly marked history seems overlooked disregarded leading foreign states refusal brought within subjected peculiar system fear created jealous distrust conduct induced part occasional acts disturbing effect upon foreign relations present attitude past course give assurances questioned purposes aggressive threatening safety welfare nations military establishment time peace adapted maintain exterior defenses preserve order among aboriginal tribes within limits union naval force intended protection citizens abroad commerce diffused seas globe government united states essentially pacific policy stands prepared repel invasion voluntary service patriotic people provides permanent means foreign aggression considerations allay apprehension disposed encroach rights endanger security states european powers regarded disquieting concern territorial expansion united states rapid growth resulted legitimate exercise sovereign rights belonging alike nations many liberally exercised circumstances could hardly expected among within comparatively recent period subdued absorbed ancient kingdoms planted standards every continent possess claim control islands every ocean appropriate domain would look unfriendly sentiments upon acquisitions country every instance honorably obtained would feel justified imputing advancement spirit aggression passion political predominance foreign commerce reached magnitude extent nearly equal first maritime power earth exceeding great interest merchants classes citizens least indirectly concerned duty executive legislative branches government exercise careful supervision adopt proper measures protection policy view regard interest embraces future well present security long experience shown general principal powers europe engaged war rights neutral nations endangered consideration led progress war independence formation celebrated confederacy armed neutrality primary object assert doctrine free ships make free goods except case articles contraband war doctrine commencement national cherished idea statesmen country one period another every maritime power solemn treaty stipulation recognized principle might hoped would come universally received respected rule international law refusal one power prevented next great war ensued french revolution failed respected among belligerent states europe notwithstanding principle generally admitted sound salutary one much commencement existing war europe great britain france announced purpose observe present however recognized international fight mere concession time cooperation however two powerful maritime nations interest neutral rights appeared afford occasion inviting justifying part united states renewed effort make doctrine question principle international law means special conventions several powers europe america accordingly proposition embracing rule free ships make free goods except contraband articles also less contested one neutral property contraband though board enemy ships shall exempt confiscation submitted government europe america russia acted promptly matter convention concluded country united states providing observance principles announced also nations shall enter like stipulations none powers yet taken final action subject aware however objection proposed stipulations made contrary acknowledged essential security neutral commerce apparent obstacle general adoption possibility may encumbered inadmissible conditions king two sicilies expressed minister naples readiness concur proposition relative neutral rights enter convention subject king prussia entirely approves project treaty effect submitted proposes additional article providing renunciation privateering article obvious reasons much desired nations naval establishments large proportion foreign commerce adopted international rule commerce nation comparatively small naval force would much mercy enemy case war power decided naval superiority bare statement condition united states would placed surrendered right resort privateers event war belligerent naval supremacy show government could never listen proposition navy first maritime power europe least ten times large united states foreign commerce two countries nearly equal equally exposed hostile depredations war power united states without resort part mercantile marine means enemy inflict injury upon commerce would tenfold greater retaliate could extricate country unequal condition enemy unless departed present peaceful policy became great naval power would country better situated war one secondary naval powers though naval disparity would less greater extent exposed condition widespread commerce would give like advantage us proposition enter engagements forego resort privateers case country forced war great naval power entitled favorable consideration would proposition agree accept services volunteers operations land honor rights country require assume hostile attitude confidently relies upon patriotism citizens ordinarily devoted military profession augment army navy make fully adequate emergency calls action proposal surrender right employ privateers professedly founded upon principle private property unoffending noncombatants though enemies exempt ravages war proposed surrender goes little way carrying principle equally requires private property seized molested national ships war leading powers europe concur proposing rule international law exempt private property upon ocean seizure public armed cruisers well privateers united states readily meet upon broad ground since adjournment congress ratifications treaty united states great britain relative coast fisheries reciprocal trade british north american provinces exchanged anticipated advantages already enjoyed us although full execution abide certain acts legislation yet fully performed soon ratified great britain opened commerce free navigation river lawrence fishermen unmolested access shores bays previously excluded coasts north american provinces return asked introduction free duty ports united states fish caught coast british fishermen compensation stipulated treaty privileges highest importance value united states thus voluntarily yielded became effective request seemed reasonable one could acceded want authority suspend laws imposing duties upon foreign fish meantime treasury department issued regulation ascertaining duties paid secured bonds fish caught coasts british provinces brought markets british subjects fishing grounds made fully accessible citizens united states recommend favorable consideration proposition submitted authority refund duties cancel bonds thus received provinces canada new brunswick also anticipated full operation treaty legislative arrangements respectively admit free duty products united states mentioned free list treaty arrangement similar regarding british fish made duties chargeable products provinces enumerated free list introduced therefrom united states proposition refunding judgment like manner entitled favorable consideration difference opinion united states great britain boundary line territory washington adjoining british possessions pacific already led difficulties part citizens local authorities two governments recommend provision made commission joined one part britannic majesty purpose running establishing line controversy certain stipulations third fourth articles treaty concluded united states great britain 1846 regarding possessory rights hudsons bay company property pugets sound agricultural company given rise serious disputes important concerned summary means settling amicably devised reason believe arrangement made terms extinguishment rights question embracing also right hudsons bay company navigation river columbia therefore suggest consideration expediency making contingent appropriation purpose france early efficient ally united states struggle independence time present occasional slight interruptions cordial relations friendship existed governments people two countries kindly sentiments cherished alike nations led extensive social commercial intercourse trust interrupted checked casual event apparently unsatisfactory character french consul san francisco long since brought united states district court place compulsory process witness favor another foreign consul violation french government conceives privileges consular convention france nothing transaction could imply disrespect france consul explanation made hope satisfactory subsequently misunderstanding arose subject french government appeared abruptly excluded american minister spain passing france way london madrid government unequivocally disavowed design deny right transit minister united states explanations effect resumed journey actually returned france spain herewith lay congress correspondence subject envoy paris minister foreign relations french government position affairs spain remains close last session internal agitation assuming nearly character political revolution recently convulsed country late ministers violently expelled power men different views relation internal affairs succeeded since change propitious opportunity resume press negotiations adjustment serious questions difficulty spanish government united states reason believe minister find present government favorably inclined preceding comply demands make suitable arrangements restoring harmony preserving peace two countries negotiations pending denmark discontinue practice levying tolls vessels cargoes passing sound doubt claim exemption therefrom matter right admitted hands exaction sanctioned general principles law nations special conventions commercial nations entered denmark fifth article treaty 1826 denmark provides shall paid vessels united states cargoes passing sound higher duties favored nations may regarded implied agreement submit tolls continuance treaty consequently may embarrass assertion right released therefrom also provisions treaty ought modified remain force ten years one year either party give notice intention terminate deem expedient contemplated notice given government denmark naval expedition dispatched two years since purpose establishing relations empire japan ably skillfully conducted successful termination officer intrusted treaty opening certain ports populous country negotiated order give full effect thereto remains exchange ratifications adopt requisite commercial regulations treaty lately concluded united states mexico settled embarrassing difficulties country numerous claims upon wrongs injuries citizens remained unadjusted many new eases recently added former list grievances legation earnest endeavors obtain mexican government favorable consideration claims hitherto without success failure probably measure ascribed disturbed condition country anxious desire maintain friendly relations mexican republic rights territories respected citizens foreigners resorted united states purpose organizing hostile expeditions states republic defenseless condition frontiers left stimulated lawless adventurers embark enterprises greatly increased difficulty enforcing obligations neutrality regarding solemn duty fulfill efficiently obligations toward mexico foreign nations exerted powers invested defeat proceedings bring punishment taking part therein violated laws energy activity civil military authorities frustrated designs meditated expeditions character except two instances one composed foreigners first countenanced aided mexican government deceived real object small number eluded vigilance magistrates san francisco succeeded reaching mexican territories effective measures taken government compelled abandonment undertaking commission establish new line united states mexico according provisions treaty 30th december last organized work already commenced treaties argentine confederation republics uruguay paraguay secure us free navigation river la plata larger tributaries success attended endeavors open amazon reasons favor free use river occasion present fully former message considering cordial relations long existed government brazil may expected pending negotiations eventually reach favorable result convenient means transit several parts country desirable objects commercial personal communication essential existence one government separated atlantic pacific coasts united states whole breadth continent still inhabitants closely bound together community origin institutions strong attachment union hence constant increasing intercourse vast interchange commercial productions remote divisions republic present time practicable commodious routes communication way isthmus central america duty government secure avenues danger interruption relation central america perplexing questions existed united states great britain time cession california well questions subsequently arose concerning interoceanic communication across isthmus supposed adjusted treaty april 19 1850 unfortunately reopened serious misunderstanding import provisions readjustment consideration minister london made strenuous efforts accomplish desirable object yet found possible bring negotiations termination incidental questions deem proper notice occurrence happened central america near close last session congress soon necessity perceived establishing interoceanic communications across isthmus company organized authority state nicaragua composed part citizens united states purpose opening transit way river san juan lake nicaragua soon became eligible much used route transportation citizens property atlantic pacific meanwhile anticipation completion importance transit way number adventurers taken possession old spanish port mouth river san juan open defiance state states central america upon becoming independent rightfully succeeded local sovereignty jurisdiction spain adventurers undertook change name place san juan del norte greytown though first pretending act subjects fictitious sovereign mosquito indians subsequently repudiated control power whatever assumed adopt distinct political organization declared independent sovereign state time faint hope entertained might become stable respectable community hope soon vanished proceeded assert unfounded claims civil jurisdiction punta arenas position opposite side river san juan possession title wholly independent citizens united states interested nicaragua transit company indispensably necessary prosperous operation route across isthmus company resisted groundless claims whereupon proceeded destroy buildings attempted violently dispossess later period organized strong force purpose demolishing establishment punta arenas mischievous design defeated interposition one ships war time harbor san juan subsequently may last body men greytown crossed punta arenas arrogating authority arrest charge murder captain one steamboats transit company well aware claim exercise jurisdiction would resisted previous occasions went prepared assert force arms minister central america happened present occasion believing captain steamboat innocent witnessed transaction charge founder believing also intruding party jurisdiction place proposed make arrest would encounter desperate resistance persisted purpose interposed effectually prevent violence bloodshed american minister afterwards visited greytown whilst mob including certain public functionaries place surrounded house avowing come arrest order person exercising chief authority parleying wounded missile crowd boat dispatched american steamer northern light release perilous situation understood fired town guard compelled return incidents together known character population greytown excited state induced apprehensions lives property citizens punta arenas would imminent danger departure steamer passengers new york unless guard left protection purpose order insure safety passengers property passing route temporary force organized considerable expense united states provision made last session congress pretended community heterogeneous assemblage gathered various countries composed part blacks persons mixed blood previously given indications mischievous dangerous propensities early month property clandestinely abstracted depot transit company taken greytown plunderers obtained shelter pursuers driven back people protected wrongdoers shared plunder treated rudeness violence sought recover property substance facts submitted consideration proved trustworthy evidence could doubt case demanded interposition government justice required reparation made many gross wrongs course insolence plunder tending directly insecurity lives numerous travelers rich treasure belonging citizens passing transit way peremptorily arrested whatever might respects community question power mischief despicable well provided ordnance small arms ammunition might easily seize unarmed boats freighted millions property passed almost daily within reach profess belong regular government fact recognized dependence connection anyone united states injured citizens might apply redress could held responsible way outrages committed standing world attitude organized political society neither competent exercise rights discharge obligations government fact marauding establishment dangerous disregarded guilty pass unpunished yet incapable treated way piratical resort outlaws camp savages depredating emigrant trains caravans frontier settlements civilized states seasonable notice given people greytown government required repair injuries done citizens make suitable apology insult minister ship war would dispatched thither enforce compliance demands notice passed unheeded thereupon commander navy charge sloop war cyane ordered repeat demands insist upon compliance therewith finding neither populace assuming authority manifested disposition make required reparation even offer excuse conduct warned public proclamation give satisfaction within time specified would bombard town procedure afforded opportunity provide personal safety also desired avoid loss property punishment inflicted offending town furnished means removing effects boats ship steamer procured tendered purpose length perceiving disposition part town comply requisitions appealed commander britannic majesty schooner bermuda seen intercourse apparently much influence leaders among interpose persuade take course calculated save necessity resorting extreme measure indicated proclamation officer instead acceding request nothing protest contemplated bombardment steps sort taken people give satisfaction required individuals regarded responsible misconduct community adopted means separate fate guilty several charges demands redress founded publicly known time announced deny charges offered explanation nothing extenuation conduct contumaciously refused hold intercourse commander cyane obstinate silence seemed rather desirous provoke chastisement escape ample reason believe conduct wanton defiance part imputable chiefly delusive idea american government would deterred punishing fear displeasing formidable foreign power presumed think looked complacency upon aggressive insulting deportment toward united states cyane length fired upon town much injury done fire twice suspended order afford opportunity arrangement declined buildings place little value generally sequel destroyed owing considerate precautions taken naval commander destruction life cyane ordered central america confidently hoped expected occasion would arise resort violence destruction property loss life instructions effect given commander extreme act would requisite people extraordinary conduct affair frustrated possible mild measures obtaining satisfaction withdrawal place object visit entirely defeated would circumstances commander cyane found absolute abandonment claim citizens indemnification submissive acquiescence national indignity would encouraged lawless men spirit insolence rapine dangerous lives property citizens punta arenas probably emboldened grasp treasures valuable merchandise continually passing nicaragua route certainly would satisfactory objects cyane mission could consummated without act public force arrogant contumacy offenders rendered impossible avoid alternative either break establishment leave impressed idea might persevere impunity career insolence plunder transaction subject complaint part foreign powers characterized harshness justice comparisons instituted would difficult present repeated instances history states standing front modern civilization communities far less offending defenseless greytown chastised much greater severity cities laid ruins human life recklessly sacrificed blood innocent made profusely mingle guilty passing foreign domestic affairs attention naturally directed financial condition country always subject general interest complete exact information regarding finances various branches public service connected therewith refer report secretary treasury appear amount revenue last fiscal year sources public expenditures period exclusive payments account public debt amounted 51 period payments made redemption public debt including interest premium amounted sum total receipts year added balance remaining treasury commencement thereof amounting close year corresponding balance amounting receipts expenditures also remained treasury although opinion secretary treasury receipts current fiscal year likely equal amount last yet undoubtedly exceed amount expenditures least shall therefore continue direct surplus revenue applied far judiciously economically done reduction public debt amount commencement last fiscal year paid 20th day november 1854 sum leaving balance outstanding public debt redeemable different periods within fourteen years also remnants government stocks already due interest ceased yet presented payment amounting statement exhibits fact annual income government greatly exceeds amount public debt latter remains unpaid time payment yet matured discharged except option public creditors prefer retain securities united states fact less striking annual revenue sources exceeds many millions dollars amount needed prudent economical administration government estimates presented congress different executive departments last session amounted appropriations made sum excess appropriations estimates however twenty millions applicable extraordinary objects reference usual annual expenditures among objects embraced ten millions meet third article treaty united states mexico fact objects ordinary expenditure appropriations limited considerably less therefore renew recommendation reduction duties imports report secretary treasury presents series tables showing operation revenue system several successive years general principle reduction duties view revenue protection may regarded settled policy country trust little difficulty encountered settling details measure effect connection subject recommend change laws recent experience shown essential protection government express provision law requiring records papers public character several officers government left offices use successors provision declaring felony part make false entries books return false accounts absence express provision law outgoing officers many instances claimed exercised right take possession important books papers ground private property placed beyond reach government conduct character brought several instances notice present secretary treasury naturally awakened suspicion resulted disclosure four ports namely oswego toledo sandusky milwaukee treasury false entries defrauded within four years next preceding march 1853 sum great difficulty detection frauds attended consequence abstraction books papers retiring officers facility similar frauds public service may perpetrated render necessity new legal enactments respects referred quite obvious material modifications revenue laws seem desirable refer report secretary treasury report tables accompany furnish ample proofs solid foundation financial security country rests salutary influence system upon commerce monetary operations experience last year furnishes additional reasons regret say painful character recommendation heretofore made provide increasing military force employed territory inhabited indians frontier suffered much incursions predatory bands large parties emigrants pacific possessions massacred impunity recurrence scenes prevented teaching wild tribes power responsibility united states garrisons frontier posts possible detach troops small bodies though occasions displayed gallantry stern devotion duty larger field would commanded universal admiration usually suffered severely conflicts superior numbers sometimes entirely sacrificed disposable force army already employed service known wholly inadequate protection afforded public mind country recently shocked savage atrocities committed upon defenseless emigrants border settlements hardly less unnecessary destruction valuable lives inadequate detachments troops undertaken furnish needed aid without increase military force scenes repeated feared larger scale disastrous consequences congress sure perceive plainest duties responsibilities government involved question doubt prompt action may confidently anticipated delay must attended fearful hazards bill last session providing increase pay rank file army beneficial results facilitating enlistments obvious improvement class men enter service regret corresponding consideration bestowed officers view character services expenses necessarily subject receive present judgment inadequate compensation valuable services constantly rendered army inestimable importance nucleus around volunteer forces nation promptly gather hour danger sufficiently attest wisdom maintaining military peace establishment theory system wise practice require proposed augmentation time peace commensurate extended limits frontier relations scrupulously adhering principle find existing circumstances necessity increase military force believed four new regiments two infantry two mounted men sufficient meet present exigency necessary carefully weigh cost case urgency would shown additional expense would comparatively light increase numerical force army think combined certain measures reform organic arrangement administration present organization result partial legislation often directed special objects interests laws regulating rank command adopted many years ago british code always applicable service surprising therefore system deficient symmetry simplicity essential harmonious working several parts require careful revision present organization maintaining large staff corps departments separates many officers close connection troops active duties field deemed requisite qualify varied responsibilities high command duties army staff mainly discharged officers detached regiments believed special service would equally well performed discipline instruction army improved due regard security rights officers nice sense honor cultivated among would seem exact compliance established rule promotion ordinary cases still hardly doubted range promotion selection practically confined grade general officers might somewhat extended benefit public service observance rule seniority sometimes leads especially time peace promotion officers meritorious even distinguished service may rendered age infirmity incapable performing active duty whose advancement therefore would tend impair efficiency army suitable provision class officers creation retired list would remedy evil without wounding pride men past services established claim high consideration commending measure favorable consideration congress would suggest power placing officers retired list limited one year practical operation measure would thus tested lapse years occasion renew provision reproduced improvements experience may indicate present organization artillery regiments liable obvious objections service artillery batteries organization batteries corps artillery would consistent nature duties large part troops called artillery duty infantry distinction two arms merely nominal nominal artillery service disproportionate whole force greater wants country demand therefore commend discontinuance distinction foundation either arms used character service expected performed connection proposition increase army presented suggestions regard certain measures reform complement system would produce happiest results given expenditure hope may attract early attention deemed worthy approval congress recommendation secretary navy reference ample provisions discipline general improvement character seamen reorganization gradual increase navy deem eminently worthy favorable consideration principles controlled policy relation permanent military force sea land sound consistent theory system means disregarded limiting force objects particularly set forth preceding part message overlook present magnitude prospective extension commercial marine fail give due weight fact besides miles atlantic seaboard pacific coast stretching mexico british possessions north teeming wealth enterprise demanding constant presence ships war augmentation navy kept pace duties properly profitably assigned time peace inadequate large field operations merely present still progressively increasing exigencies commerce united states cordially approve proposed apprentice system national vessels recommended secretary navy occurrence last months marine disasters tragic nature involving great loss human life produced intense emotions sympathy sorrow throughout country may well doubted whether calamitous events wholly attributable necessary inevitable dangers sea merchants mariners shipbuilders united states true unsurpassed enterprise skill intelligence courage others world increasing amount commercial tonnage aggregate larger size improved equipment ships constructed deficiency supply reliable seamen begins seriously felt inconvenience may perhaps met part due regulation introduction merchant ships indented apprentices would afford useful eligible occupation numerous young men would tendency raise character seamen class deserving serious reflection whether may desirable revise existing laws maintenance discipline sea upon security life property ocean must great extent depend although much attention already given congress proper construction arrangement steam vessels passenger ships still believed resources science mechanical skill direction exhausted good reason exists marked distinction appears upon statutes laws protecting life property sea protecting land states severe penalties provided punish conductors trains engineers others employed transportation persons railway steamboats rivers principle applied acts insubordination cowardice misconduct part masters mariners producing injury death passengers high seas beyond jurisdiction states delinquencies reached power congress whole subject earnestly commended consideration report referred many interesting details relation important rapidly extending branch public service shows expenditure year ending june 30 1854 including balance due foreign offices amounted gross receipts period amounted exhibiting expenditure income diminution deficiency compared last year increase revenue department year ending june 30 1854 preceding year proportionate increase however anticipated current year consequence act congress june 23 1854 providing increased compensation postmasters statements apparent department instead defraying expenses according design time creation existing laws must continue small extent charge upon general treasury cost mail transportation year ending june 30 1854 exceeds cost preceding year call attention subject mail transportation ocean steamers commend suggestions postmaster general early attention last fiscal year acres public lands surveyed acres brought market number acres sold amount received therefor aggregate amount lands sold located military scrip land warrants selected swamp lands states locating grants roads upward acres increase lands sold previous year acres sales first two quarters current year present extraordinary result five half millions sold exceeding nearly acres sales corresponding quarters last year commendable policy government relation setting apart public domain served country time war illustrated fact since 1790 less acres applied object suggestions submitted annual message last year reference grants land aid construction railways less full explicit magnitude subject subsequent developments would seem render proper desirable soundness principle asserted regard limitation power congress entertain doubt application enough value lands particular locality may enhanced fact larger amount money may probably received given time alternate sections could realized sections without impulse influence proposed improvements prudent proprietor looks beyond limited sections domain beyond present results ultimate effect particular line policy likely produce upon possessions interests government trustee matter people states bound take wise comprehensive view prior last session congress upward acres land withdrawn public sale view applications grants character pending congress careful review whole subject led direct orders abrogated lands restored market instructions immediately given effect applications last session contemplated construction miles road grants amount nearly acres public domain even admitting right part congress unquestionable quite clear proposed grants would productive good evil different projects confined present eleven states union one territory reasons assigned grants show proposed put works speedily process construction reflect since commencement construction railways united states stimulated large dividends realized earlier works great thoroughfares important points commerce population encouraged state legislation pressed forward amazing energy private enterprise miles completed states quarter century see crippled condition many works commenced prosecuted upon deemed sound principles safe calculations contemplate enormous absorption capital withdrawn ordinary channels business extravagant rates interest moment paid continue operations bankruptcies merely money character inevitable effect upon finances generally doubted tendency run excess matter wise augment excess encouraging hopes sudden wealth expected flow magnificent schemes dependent upon action congress spirit produced results need stimulated checked better rule leave works private enterprise regulated expedient aided cooperation states constructed private capital stimulant check go together furnish salutary restraint speculative schemes extravagance manifest effective guards danger going fast far may well pause proposition contemplating simultaneous movement construction railroads extent equal exclusive great pacific road branches nearly entire length works completed united states cost equipments less dangers likely result combinations interests character hardly overestimated independently considerations accurate knowledge comprehensive intelligence shall discriminate relative claims twenty eight proposed roads eleven states one territory begin end enable companies execute proposed works necessary aid general government primarily given policy present problem comprehensive bearings important political social claim anticipation severest analysis entertaining views recur satisfaction experience action last session congress furnishing assurance subject fail elicit careful reexamination rigid scrutiny intention present occasion suggestions regarding internal improvements general government want time close last session prevented submitting return house representatives objections bill entitled act making appropriations repair preservation completion certain public works heretofore commenced authority law space communication already occupied matter immediate public exigency constrains reserve subject special message transmitted two houses congress early day judicial establishment united states requires modification certain reforms manner conducting legal business government also much needed addressed upon subjects length call attention suggestions made former recommendations relation suitable provision various objects deep interest inhabitants district columbia renewed many objects partake largely national character important independently relation prosperity considerable organized community union entirely unrepresented congress thus presented suggestions subjects appear particular interest importance therefore worthy consideration short remaining period allotted labors present congress forefathers thirteen united colonies acquiring independence rounding republic united states america devolved upon us descendants greatest noble trust ever committed hands man imposing upon especially public may invested time political functions sacred obligations maintain inviolate great doctrine inherent right popular reconcile largest liberty individual citizen complete security public order render cheerful obedience laws land unite enforcing execution frown indignantly combinations resist harmonize sincere ardent devotion institutions religions faith universal religious toleration preserve rights causing respect carry forward every social improvement uttermost limit human perfectibility free action mind upon mind obtrusive intervention misapplied force uphold integrity guard limitations organic law preserve sacred touch usurpation palladium political salvation reserved rights powers several states people cherish loyal fealty devoted affection union sure foundation hopes civil liberty rest administer government vigilant integrity rigid economy cultivate peace friendship foreign nations demand exact equal justice wrong none eschew intermeddling national policy domestic repose governments repel never shrink war rights honor country call us arms cultivate preference arts peace seek enlargement rights neutrality elevate liberalize intercourse nations honorable means whilst exalting condition republic assure legitimate influence benign authority great example amongst powers christendom solemnity convictions blessing almighty god earnestly invoked attend upon deliberations upon counsels acts government end common zeal common efforts may humble submission divine cooperate promotion supreme good united states
past eventful year hereafter refer marked epoch history world happily preserve calamity war domestic prosperity entirely uninterrupted crop portion country nearly cut disease prevail great extent usual sacrifice human life casualty sea land without parallel pestilence sweep restored salubrity invite absent home return business ordinary channel earth reward labor husbandman less bountifully precede season leave abundance domestic want large surplus exportation present therefore past find ample ground reverent thankfulness god grace providence protect care merciful dealing u people although attention arrest painful interest passing event yet country feel slight vibration convulsion shake europe individual repress sympathy human suffer regret cause produce nation remind whatever interrupts peace check prosperity part christendom tend less involve condition state unlike individual mutually dependent upon amicable relation reciprocal good essential promotion whatever desirable moral social political condition hence earnest endeavor maintain peace friendly intercourse nation wise theory government early adopt steadily pursue avoid entangle alliance hitherto exempt many complication would otherwise become involved notwithstanding clearly defined course action geographical position remote europe increase disposition manifest government supervise certain respect direct foreign policy plan adjust balance power among assumed take u account would constrain u conform conduct view one another power europe time time undertaken enforce arbitrary regulation contrary many respect establish principle international law law united state foreign intercourse uniformly respect observed recognize interpolation therein temporary interest others may suggest admit sovereigns one continent particular community state legislate others leave transatlantic nation adjust political system way may think best common welfare independent power continent may well assert right exempt annoy interference part systematic abstinence intimate political connection distant foreign nation conflict give wide range foreign commerce distinction clearly mark history seem overlook disregard lead foreign state refusal bring within subject peculiar system fear create jealous distrust conduct induce part occasional act disturb effect upon foreign relation present attitude past course give assurance question purpose aggressive threaten safety welfare nation military establishment time peace adapt maintain exterior defense preserve order among aboriginal tribe within limit union naval force intend protection citizen abroad commerce diffused sea globe government unite state essentially pacific policy stand prepare repel invasion voluntary service patriotic people provide permanent mean foreign aggression consideration allay apprehension dispose encroach right endanger security state european power regard disquiet concern territorial expansion unite state rapid growth result legitimate exercise sovereign right belong alike nation many liberally exercised circumstance could hardly expect among within comparatively recent period subdue absorbed ancient kingdom plant standard every continent possess claim control islands every ocean appropriate domain would look unfriendly sentiment upon acquisition country every instance honorably obtain would feel justified impute advancement spirit aggression passion political predominance foreign commerce reach magnitude extent nearly equal first maritime power earth exceed great interest merchant class citizen least indirectly concern duty executive legislative branch government exercise careful supervision adopt proper measure protection policy view regard interest embrace future well present security long experience show general principal power europe engage war right neutral nation endanger consideration lead progress war independence formation celebrate confederacy arm neutrality primary object assert doctrine free ship make free good except case article contraband war doctrine commencement national cherish idea statesman country one period another every maritime power solemn treaty stipulation recognize principle might hop would come universally receive respected rule international law refusal one power prevent next great war ensue french revolution fail respect among belligerent state europe notwithstanding principle generally admit sound salutary one much commencement exist war europe great britain france announce purpose observe present however recognize international fight mere concession time cooperation however two powerful maritime nation interest neutral right appear afford occasion invite justify part united state renew effort make doctrine question principle international law mean special convention several power europe america accordingly proposition embrace rule free ship make free good except contraband article also less contested one neutral property contraband though board enemy ship shall exempt confiscation submit government europe america russia act promptly matter convention conclude country united state provide observance principle announce also nation shall enter like stipulation none power yet take final action subject aware however objection propose stipulation make contrary acknowledge essential security neutral commerce apparent obstacle general adoption possibility may encumber inadmissible condition king two sicily express minister naples readiness concur proposition relative neutral right enter convention subject king prussia entirely approve project treaty effect submit propose additional article provide renunciation privateering article obvious reason much desire nation naval establishment large proportion foreign commerce adopt international rule commerce nation comparatively small naval force would much mercy enemy case war power decide naval superiority bare statement condition united state would place surrendered right resort privateer event war belligerent naval supremacy show government could never listen proposition navy first maritime power europe least ten time large united state foreign commerce two country nearly equal equally expose hostile depredation war power united state without resort part mercantile marine mean enemy inflict injury upon commerce would tenfold great retaliate could extricate country unequal condition enemy unless depart present peaceful policy become great naval power would country well situate war one secondary naval power though naval disparity would less great extent expose condition widespread commerce would give like advantage u proposition enter engagement forego resort privateer case country force war great naval power entitle favorable consideration would proposition agree accept service volunteer operation land honor right country require assume hostile attitude confidently rely upon patriotism citizen ordinarily devote military profession augment army navy make fully adequate emergency call action proposal surrender right employ privateer professedly found upon principle private property unoffending noncombatant though enemy exempt ravage war propose surrender go little way carry principle equally require private property seize molested national ship war lead power europe concur propose rule international law exempt private property upon ocean seizure public arm cruiser well privateer unite state readily meet upon broad ground since adjournment congress ratification treaty united state great britain relative coast fishery reciprocal trade british north american province exchange anticipated advantage already enjoy u although full execution abide certain act legislation yet fully perform soon ratified great britain open commerce free navigation river lawrence fisherman unmolested access shore bay previously exclude coast north american province return ask introduction free duty port unite state fish catch coast british fisherman compensation stipulate treaty privilege high importance value united state thus voluntarily yield become effective request seem reasonable one could accede want authority suspend law impose duty upon foreign fish meantime treasury department issue regulation ascertain duty pay secured bond fish caught coast british province bring market british subject fish ground make fully accessible citizen united state recommend favorable consideration proposition submit authority refund duty cancel bond thus receive province canada new brunswick also anticipate full operation treaty legislative arrangement respectively admit free duty product united state mention free list treaty arrangement similar regard british fish make duty chargeable product province enumerate free list introduce therefrom united state proposition refund judgment like manner entitle favorable consideration difference opinion united state great britain boundary line territory washington adjoin british possession pacific already lead difficulty part citizens local authority two government recommend provision make commission join one part britannic majesty purpose run establish line controversy certain stipulation third fourth article treaty conclude united state great britain 1846 regard possessory right hudson bay company property pugets sound agricultural company give rise serious dispute important concerned summary mean settle amicably devise reason believe arrangement make term extinguishment right question embrace also right hudson bay company navigation river columbia therefore suggest consideration expediency make contingent appropriation purpose france early efficient ally united state struggle independence time present occasional slight interruption cordial relation friendship exist government people two country kindly sentiment cherish alike nation lead extensive social commercial intercourse trust interrupt check casual event apparently unsatisfactory character french consul san francisco long since bring united state district court place compulsory process witness favor another foreign consul violation french government conceives privilege consular convention france nothing transaction could imply disrespect france consul explanation make hope satisfactory subsequently misunderstand arose subject french government appear abruptly exclude american minister spain pass france way london madrid government unequivocally disavow design deny right transit minister united state explanation effect resume journey actually return france spain herewith lay congress correspondence subject envoy paris minister foreign relation french government position affair spain remain close last session internal agitation assume nearly character political revolution recently convulse country late minister violently expel power men different view relation internal affair succeed since change propitious opportunity resume press negotiation adjustment serious question difficulty spanish government unite state reason believe minister find present government favorably incline precede comply demand make suitable arrangement restore harmony preserve peace two country negotiation pending denmark discontinue practice levy toll vessel cargo pass sound doubt claim exemption therefrom matter right admit hand exaction sanction general principle law nation special convention commercial nation enter denmark fifth article treaty 1826 denmark provide shall pay vessel united state cargo pass sound high duty favor nation may regard implied agreement submit toll continuance treaty consequently may embarrass assertion right release therefrom also provision treaty ought modify remain force ten year one year either party give notice intention terminate deem expedient contemplate notice give government denmark naval expedition dispatch two year since purpose establish relation empire japan ably skillfully conduct successful termination officer intrust treaty open certain port populous country negotiate order give full effect thereto remain exchange ratification adopt requisite commercial regulation treaty lately conclude united state mexico settle embarrassing difficulty country numerous claim upon wrong injury citizen remain unadjusted many new eas recently add former list grievance legation earnest endeavor obtain mexican government favorable consideration claim hitherto without success failure probably measure ascribe disturbed condition country anxious desire maintain friendly relation mexican republic right territory respect citizen foreigner resort united state purpose organize hostile expedition state republic defenseless condition frontier leave stimulated lawless adventurer embark enterprise greatly increase difficulty enforce obligation neutrality regard solemn duty fulfill efficiently obligation toward mexico foreign nation exert power invest defeat proceeding bring punishment take part therein violate law energy activity civil military authority frustrate design meditate expedition character except two instance one compose foreigner first countenance aided mexican government deceive real object small number elude vigilance magistrates san francisco succeed reach mexican territory effective measure take government compel abandonment undertaking commission establish new line unite state mexico accord provision treaty 30th december last organized work already commenced treaty argentine confederation republic uruguay paraguay secure u free navigation river la plata large tributary success attend endeavor open amazon reason favor free use river occasion present fully former message consider cordial relation long existed government brazil may expect pending negotiation eventually reach favorable result convenient mean transit several part country desirable object commercial personal communication essential existence one government separate atlantic pacific coast unite state whole breadth continent still inhabitants closely bind together community origin institution strong attachment union hence constant increase intercourse vast interchange commercial production remote division republic present time practicable commodious route communication way isthmus central america duty government secure avenues danger interruption relation central america perplex question exist united state great britain time cession california well question subsequently arise concern interoceanic communication across isthmus suppose adjust treaty april 19 1850 unfortunately reopen serious misunderstand import provision readjustment consideration minister london make strenuous effort accomplish desirable object yet find possible bring negotiation termination incidental question deem proper notice occurrence happen central america near close last session congress soon necessity perceive establish interoceanic communication across isthmus company organize authority state nicaragua compose part citizen united state purpose open transit way river san juan lake nicaragua soon become eligible much use route transportation citizens property atlantic pacific meanwhile anticipation completion importance transit way number adventurer take possession old spanish port mouth river san juan open defiance state state central america upon become independent rightfully succeed local sovereignty jurisdiction spain adventurer undertake change name place san juan del norte greytown though first pretend act subject fictitious sovereign mosquito indian subsequently repudiate control power whatever assume adopt distinct political organization declare independent sovereign state time faint hope entertain might become stable respectable community hope soon vanish proceed assert unfounded claim civil jurisdiction punta arenas position opposite side river san juan possession title wholly independent citizen united state interested nicaragua transit company indispensably necessary prosperous operation route across isthmus company resist groundless claim whereupon proceeded destroy building attempt violently dispossess later period organize strong force purpose demolish establishment punta arena mischievous design defeat interposition one ship war time harbor san juan subsequently may last body men greytown cross punta arena arrogate authority arrest charge murder captain one steamboat transit company well aware claim exercise jurisdiction would resist previous occasion go prepared assert force arm minister central america happen present occasion believe captain steamboat innocent witness transaction charge founder believe also intrude party jurisdiction place propose make arrest would encounter desperate resistance persist purpose interpose effectually prevent violence bloodshed american minister afterwards visit greytown whilst mob include certain public functionary place surround house avow come arrest order person exercise chief authority parley wound missile crowd boat dispatch american steamer northern light release perilous situation understood fire town guard compel return incident together know character population greytown excite state induced apprehension live property citizen punta arena would imminent danger departure steamer passenger new york unless guard leave protection purpose order insure safety passenger property pass route temporary force organize considerable expense united state provision make last session congress pretend community heterogeneous assemblage gather various country compose part black person mixed blood previously give indication mischievous dangerous propensity early month property clandestinely abstract depot transit company take greytown plunderer obtain shelter pursuer drive back people protect wrongdoer share plunder treat rudeness violence seek recover property substance fact submit consideration prove trustworthy evidence could doubt case demand interposition government justice require reparation make many gross wrong course insolence plunder tend directly insecurity live numerous traveler rich treasure belong citizen pass transit way peremptorily arrest whatever might respect community question power mischief despicable well provide ordnance small arm ammunition might easily seize unarmed boat freight million property pass almost daily within reach profess belong regular government fact recognize dependence connection anyone united state injure citizen might apply redress could hold responsible way outrage commit stand world attitude organize political society neither competent exercise right discharge obligation government fact maraud establishment dangerous disregard guilty pas unpunished yet incapable treated way piratical resort outlaw camp savage depredating emigrant train caravan frontier settlement civilize state seasonable notice give people greytown government require repair injury do citizen make suitable apology insult minister ship war would dispatch thither enforce compliance demand notice pass unheeded thereupon commander navy charge sloop war cyane order repeat demand insist upon compliance therewith find neither populace assume authority manifest disposition make require reparation even offer excuse conduct warn public proclamation give satisfaction within time specify would bombard town procedure afford opportunity provide personal safety also desire avoid loss property punishment inflict offend town furnish mean remove effect boat ship steamer procure tender purpose length perceive disposition part town comply requisition appeal commander britannic majesty schooner bermuda see intercourse apparently much influence leader among interpose persuade take course calculate save necessity resort extreme measure indicate proclamation officer instead accede request nothing protest contemplate bombardment step sort take people give satisfaction require individual regard responsible misconduct community adopt mean separate fate guilty several charge demand redress found publicly know time announce deny charge offer explanation nothing extenuation conduct contumaciously refuse hold intercourse commander cyane obstinate silence seem rather desirous provoke chastisement escape ample reason believe conduct wanton defiance part imputable chiefly delusive idea american government would deter punish fear displease formidable foreign power presume think look complacency upon aggressive insulting deportment toward united state cyane length fire upon town much injury do fire twice suspend order afford opportunity arrangement decline building place little value generally sequel destroy owe considerate precaution take naval commander destruction life cyane order central america confidently hop expect occasion would arise resort violence destruction property loss life instruction effect give commander extreme act would requisite people extraordinary conduct affair frustrate possible mild measure obtain satisfaction withdrawal place object visit entirely defeat would circumstance commander cyane find absolute abandonment claim citizen indemnification submissive acquiescence national indignity would encourage lawless men spirit insolence rapine dangerous live property citizen punta arena probably embolden grasp treasure valuable merchandise continually pass nicaragua route certainly would satisfactory object cyane mission could consummate without act public force arrogant contumacy offender render impossible avoid alternative either break establishment leave impress idea might persevere impunity career insolence plunder transaction subject complaint part foreign power characterize harshness justice comparison institute would difficult present repeat instance history state stand front modern civilization community far less offending defenseless greytown chastise much great severity city lay ruin human life recklessly sacrifice blood innocent make profusely mingle guilty pass foreign domestic affair attention naturally direct financial condition country always subject general interest complete exact information regard finance various branch public service connect therewith refer report secretary treasury appear amount revenue last fiscal year source public expenditure period exclusive payment account public debt amount 51 period payment make redemption public debt include interest premium amount sum total receipt year add balance remain treasury commencement thereof amount close year correspond balance amount receipt expenditure also remain treasury although opinion secretary treasury receipt current fiscal year likely equal amount last yet undoubtedly exceed amount expenditure least shall therefore continue direct surplus revenue apply far judiciously economically do reduction public debt amount commencement last fiscal year pay 20th day november 1854 sum leave balance outstanding public debt redeemable different period within fourteen year also remnants government stock already due interest cease yet present payment amount statement exhibit fact annual income government greatly exceed amount public debt latter remain unpaid time payment yet mature discharge except option public creditor prefer retain security unite state fact less strike annual revenue source exceed many million dollar amount need prudent economical administration government estimate present congress different executive department last session amount appropriation make sum excess appropriation estimate however twenty million applicable extraordinary object reference usual annual expenditure among object embrace ten million meet third article treaty united state mexico fact object ordinary expenditure appropriation limit considerably less therefore renew recommendation reduction duty import report secretary treasury present series table show operation revenue system several successive year general principle reduction duty view revenue protection may regard settled policy country trust little difficulty encounter settle detail measure effect connection subject recommend change law recent experience show essential protection government express provision law requiring record paper public character several officer government leave office use successor provision declare felony part make false entry book return false account absence express provision law outgo officer many instance claim exercised right take possession important book paper grind private property place beyond reach government conduct character bring several instance notice present secretary treasury naturally awaken suspicion result disclosure four port namely oswego toledo sandusky milwaukee treasury false entry defraud within four year next precede march 1853 sum great difficulty detection fraud attend consequence abstraction book paper retire officer facility similar fraud public service may perpetrate render necessity new legal enactment respect refer quite obvious material modification revenue law seem desirable refer report secretary treasury report table accompany furnish ample proof solid foundation financial security country rest salutary influence system upon commerce monetary operation experience last year furnish additional reason regret say painful character recommendation heretofore make provide increase military force employ territory inhabit indian frontier suffer much incursion predatory band large party emigrant pacific possession massacre impunity recurrence scene prevent teach wild tribe power responsibility united state garrison frontier post possible detach troop small body though occasion display gallantry stern devotion duty large field would command universal admiration usually suffer severely conflict superior number sometimes entirely sacrifice disposable force army already employed service know wholly inadequate protection afford public mind country recently shock savage atrocity commit upon defenseless emigrant border settlement hardly less unnecessary destruction valuable life inadequate detachment troop undertaken furnish need aid without increase military force scene repeat feared large scale disastrous consequence congress sure perceive plainest duty responsibilities government involved question doubt prompt action may confidently anticipate delay must attend fearful hazard bill last session provide increase pay rank file army beneficial result facilitate enlistment obvious improvement class men enter service regret correspond consideration bestow officer view character service expense necessarily subject receive present judgment inadequate compensation valuable service constantly render army inestimable importance nucleus around volunteer force nation promptly gather hour danger sufficiently attest wisdom maintain military peace establishment theory system wise practice require propose augmentation time peace commensurate extend limit frontier relation scrupulously adhere principle find exist circumstance necessity increase military force believe four new regiment two infantry two mount men sufficient meet present exigency necessary carefully weigh cost case urgency would show additional expense would comparatively light increase numerical force army think combine certain measure reform organic arrangement administration present organization result partial legislation often direct special object interest law regulate rank command adopt many year ago british code always applicable service surprise therefore system deficient symmetry simplicity essential harmonious work several part require careful revision present organization maintain large staff corp department separate many officer close connection troop active duty field deem requisite qualify varied responsibility high command duty army staff mainly discharge officer detach regiment believe special service would equally well perform discipline instruction army improve due regard security right officer nice sense honor cultivate among would seem exact compliance establish rule promotion ordinary case still hardly doubted range promotion selection practically confine grade general officer might somewhat extended benefit public service observance rule seniority sometimes lead especially time peace promotion officer meritorious even distinguish service may render age infirmity incapable perform active duty whose advancement therefore would tend impair efficiency army suitable provision class officer creation retired list would remedy evil without wound pride men past service establish claim high consideration commend measure favorable consideration congress would suggest power place officer retire list limit one year practical operation measure would thus test lapse year occasion renew provision reproduce improvement experience may indicate present organization artillery regiment liable obvious objection service artillery battery organization battery corps artillery would consistent nature duty large part troop call artillery duty infantry distinction two arm merely nominal nominal artillery service disproportionate whole force great want country demand therefore commend discontinuance distinction foundation either arm use character service expect performed connection proposition increase army present suggestion regard certain measure reform complement system would produce happy result give expenditure hope may attract early attention deem worthy approval congress recommendation secretary navy reference ample provision discipline general improvement character seaman reorganization gradual increase navy deem eminently worthy favorable consideration principle control policy relation permanent military force sea land sound consistent theory system mean disregard limit force object particularly set forth precede part message overlook present magnitude prospective extension commercial marine fail give due weight fact besides mile atlantic seaboard pacific coast stretch mexico british possession north teem wealth enterprise demand constant presence ship war augmentation navy keep pace duty properly profitably assigned time peace inadequate large field operation merely present still progressively increase exigency commerce united state cordially approve propose apprentice system national vessel recommend secretary navy occurrence last month marine disaster tragic nature involve great loss human life produce intense emotion sympathy sorrow throughout country may well doubt whether calamitous event wholly attributable necessary inevitable danger sea merchant mariner shipbuilder united state true unsurpassed enterprise skill intelligence courage others world increase amount commercial tonnage aggregate large size improve equipment ship construct deficiency supply reliable seaman begin seriously felt inconvenience may perhaps meet part due regulation introduction merchant ship indent apprentice would afford useful eligible occupation numerous young men would tendency raise character seaman class deserve serious reflection whether may desirable revise exist law maintenance discipline sea upon security life property ocean must great extent depend although much attention already give congress proper construction arrangement steam vessel passenger ship still believe resource science mechanical skill direction exhaust good reason exists mark distinction appear upon statute law protect life property sea protect land state severe penalty provide punish conductor train engineer others employ transportation person railway steamboats river principle applied act insubordination cowardice misconduct part master mariner produce injury death passenger high sea beyond jurisdiction state delinquency reach power congress whole subject earnestly commend consideration report refer many interesting detail relation important rapidly extend branch public service show expenditure year end june 30 1854 include balance due foreign office amount gross receipt period amount exhibiting expenditure income diminution deficiency compare last year increase revenue department year end june 30 1854 precede year proportionate increase however anticipate current year consequence act congress june 23 1854 providing increase compensation postmaster statement apparent department instead defray expense accord design time creation exist law must continue small extent charge upon general treasury cost mail transportation year end june 30 1854 exceeds cost precede year call attention subject mail transportation ocean steamer commend suggestion postmaster general early attention last fiscal year acres public land survey acre bring market number acre sell amount receive therefor aggregate amount land sell locate military scrip land warrant select swamp land state locate grant roads upward acre increase land sell previous year acre sale first two quarter current year present extraordinary result five half million sell exceed nearly acre sale correspond quarter last year commendable policy government relation set apart public domain serve country time war illustrate fact since 1790 less acre apply object suggestion submit annual message last year reference grant land aid construction railways less full explicit magnitude subject subsequent development would seem render proper desirable soundness principle assert regard limitation power congress entertain doubt application enough value land particular locality may enhance fact large amount money may probably receive give time alternate section could realize section without impulse influence propose improvement prudent proprietor look beyond limited section domain beyond present result ultimate effect particular line policy likely produce upon possession interest government trustee matter people state bound take wise comprehensive view prior last session congress upward acre land withdraw public sale view application grant character pending congress careful review whole subject lead direct order abrogate land restored market instruction immediately give effect application last session contemplate construction mile road grant amount nearly acre public domain even admit right part congress unquestionable quite clear propose grant would productive good evil different project confine present eleven state union one territory reason assign grant show propose put work speedily process construction reflect since commencement construction railway unite state stimulate large dividend realize earlier work great thoroughfare important point commerce population encourage state legislation press forward amaze energy private enterprise mile complete state quarter century see cripple condition many work commence prosecute upon deem sound principle safe calculation contemplate enormous absorption capital withdrawn ordinary channel business extravagant rate interest moment pay continue operation bankruptcy merely money character inevitable effect upon finance generally doubt tendency run excess matter wise augment excess encouraging hope sudden wealth expect flow magnificent scheme dependent upon action congress spirit produce result need stimulate checked well rule leave work private enterprise regulate expedient aid cooperation state construct private capital stimulant check go together furnish salutary restraint speculative scheme extravagance manifest effective guard danger go fast far may well pause proposition contemplate simultaneous movement construction railroad extent equal exclusive great pacific road branch nearly entire length work complete united state cost equipment less danger likely result combination interest character hardly overestimate independently consideration accurate knowledge comprehensive intelligence shall discriminate relative claim twenty eight propose road eleven state one territory begin end enable company execute propose work necessary aid general government primarily give policy present problem comprehensive bearing important political social claim anticipation severe analysis entertain view recur satisfaction experience action last session congress furnish assurance subject fail elicit careful reexamination rigid scrutiny intention present occasion suggestion regard internal improvement general government want time close last session prevent submit return house representative objection bill entitle act make appropriation repair preservation completion certain public work heretofore commenced authority law space communication already occupied matter immediate public exigency constrains reserve subject special message transmit two house congress early day judicial establishment united state require modification certain reform manner conducting legal business government also much need address upon subject length call attention suggestion make former recommendation relation suitable provision various object deep interest inhabitant district columbia renew many object partake largely national character important independently relation prosperity considerable organize community union entirely unrepresented congress thus present suggestion subject appear particular interest importance therefore worthy consideration short remain period allot labor present congress forefather thirteen united colony acquire independence round republic united state america devolve upon u descendants great noble trust ever commit hand man impose upon especially public may invest time political function sacred obligation maintain inviolate great doctrine inherent right popular reconcile large liberty individual citizen complete security public order render cheerful obedience law land unite enforce execution frown indignantly combination resist harmonize sincere ardent devotion institution religion faith universal religious toleration preserve right cause respect carry forward every social improvement uttermost limit human perfectibility free action mind upon mind obtrusive intervention misapply force uphold integrity guard limitations organic law preserve sacred touch usurpation palladium political salvation reserve right power several state people cherish loyal fealty devote affection union sure foundation hop civil liberty rest administer government vigilant integrity rigid economy cultivate peace friendship foreign nation demand exact equal justice wrong none eschew intermeddling national policy domestic repose government repel never shrink war right honor country call u arm cultivate preference art peace seek enlargement right neutrality elevate liberalize intercourse nation honorable mean whilst exalt condition republic assure legitimate influence benign authority great example amongst power christendom solemnity conviction bless almighty god earnestly invoke attend upon deliberation upon counsel act government end common zeal common effort may humble submission divine cooperate promotion supreme good united state