A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - James D. Richardson
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Happy as our situation is, it does not exempt us from solicitude and
care for the future. On the contrary, as the blessings which we enjoy
are great, proportionably great should be our vigilance, zeal, and
activity to preserve them. Foreign wars may again expose us to new
wrongs, which would impose on us new duties for which we ought to be
prepared. The state of Europe is unsettled, and how long peace may
be preserved is altogether uncertain; in addition to which we have
interests of our own to adjust which will require particular attention.
A correct view of our relations with each power will enable you to form
a just idea of existing difficulties, and of the measures of precaution
best adapted to them.
Respecting our relations with Spain nothing explicit can now be
communicated. On the adjournment of Congress in May last the minister
plenipotentiary of the United States at Madrid was instructed to inform
the Government of Spain that if His Catholic Majesty should then ratify
the treaty this Government would accept the ratification so far as
to submit to the decision of the Senate the question whether such
ratification should be received in exchange for that of the United
States heretofore given. By letters from the minister of the United
States to the Secretary of State it appears that a communication in
conformity with his instructions had been made to the Government of
Spain, and that the Cortes had the subject under consideration. The
result of the deliberations of that body, which is daily expected,
will be made known to Congress as soon as it is received. The friendly
sentiment which was expressed on the part of the United States in the
message of the 9th of May last is still entertained for Spain. Among
the causes of regret, however, which are inseparable from the delay
attending this transaction it is proper to state that satisfactory
information has been received that measures have been recently adopted
by designing persons to convert certain parts of the Province of East
Florida into depots for the reception of foreign goods, from whence
to smuggle them into the United States. By opening a port within the
limits of Florida, immediately on our boundary where there was no
settlement, the object could not be misunderstood. An early accommodation
of differences will, it is hoped, prevent all such fraudulent and
pernicious practices, and place the relations of the two countries
on a very amicable and permanent basis.
The commercial relations between the United States and the British
colonies in the West Indies and on this continent have undergone no
change, the British Government still preferring to leave that commerce
under the restriction heretofore imposed on it on each side. It is
satisfactory to recollect that the restraints resorted to by the United
States were defensive only, intended to prevent a monopoly under British
regulations in favor of Great Britain, as it likewise is to know that
the experiment is advancing in a spirit of amity between the parties.
The question depending between the United States and Great Britain
respecting the construction of the first article of the treaty of Ghent
has been referred by both Governments to the decision of the Emperor of
Russia, who has accepted the umpirage.
An attempt has been made with the Government of France to regulate by
treaty the commerce between the two countries on the principle of
reciprocity and equality. By the last communication from the minister
plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris, to whom full power had
been given, we learn that the negotiation had been commenced there; but
serious difficulties having occurred, the French Government had resolved
to transfer it to the United States, for which purpose the minister
plenipotentiary of France had been ordered to repair to this city, and
whose arrival might soon be expected. It is hoped that this important
interest may be arranged on just conditions and in a manner equally
satisfactory to both parties. It is submitted to Congress to decide,
until such arrangement is made, how far it may be proper, on the
principle of the act of the last session which augmented the tonnage
duty on French vessels, to adopt other measures for carrying more
completely into effect the policy of that act.
The act referred to, which imposed new tonnage on French vessels, having
been in force from and after the 1st day of July, it has happened that
several vessels of that nation which had been dispatched from France
before its existence was known have entered the ports of the United
States, and been subject to its operation, without that previous notice
which the general spirit of our laws gives to individuals in similar
cases. The object of that law having been merely to countervail the
inequalities which existed to the disadvantage of the United States
in their commercial intercourse with France, it is submitted also to
the consideration of Congress whether, in the spirit of amity and
conciliation which it is no less the inclination than the policy of the
United States to preserve in their intercourse with other powers, it may
not be proper to extend relief to the individuals interested in those
cases by exempting from the operation of the law all those vessels which
have entered our ports without having had the means of previously
knowing the existence of the additional duty.
The contest between Spain and the colonies, according to the most
authentic information, is maintained by the latter with improved
success. The unfortunate divisions which were known to exist some time
since at Buenos Ayres it is understood still prevail. In no part of
South America has Spain made any impression on the colonies, while in
many parts, and particularly in Venezuela and New Grenada, the colonies
have gained strength and acquired reputation, both for the management
of the war in which they have been successful and for the order of the
internal administration. The late change in the Government of Spain,
by the reestablishment of the constitution of 1812, is an event which
promises to be favorable to the revolution. Under the authority of the
Cortes the Congress of Angostura was invited to open a negotiation
for the settlement of differences between the parties, to which it
was replied that they would willingly open the negotiation provided
the acknowledgment of their independence was made its basis, but not
otherwise. Of further proceedings between them we are uninformed. No
facts are known to this Government to warrant the belief that any of
the powers of Europe will take part in the contest, whence it may be
inferred, considering all circumstances which must have weight in
producing the result, that an adjustment will finally take place on
the basis proposed by the colonies. To promote that result by friendly
counsels with other powers, including Spain herself, has been the
uniform policy of this Government.
In looking to the internal concerns of our country you will, I am
persuaded, derive much satisfaction from a view of the several objects
to which, in the discharge of your official duties, your attention will
be drawn. Among these none holds a more important place than the public
revenue, from the direct operation of the power by which it is raised on
the people, and by its influence in giving effect to every other power
of the Government. The revenue depends on the resources of the country,
and the facility by which the amount required is raised is a strong
proof of the extent of the resources and of the efficiency of the
Government. A few prominent facts will place this great interest in a
just light before you. On the 30th of September, 1815, the funded and
floating debt of the United States was estimated at $119,635,558. If to
this sum be added the amount of 5 per cent stock subscribed to the Bank
of the United States, the amount of Mississippi stock and of the stock
which was issued subsequently to that date, the balances ascertained to
be due to certain States for military services and to individuals for
supplies furnished and services rendered during the late war, the public
debt may be estimated as amounting at that date, and as afterwards
liquidated, to $158,713,049. On the 30th of September, 1820, it amounted
to $91,993,883, having been reduced in that interval by payments
$66,879,165. During this term the expenses of the Government of the
United States were likewise defrayed in every branch of the civil,
military, and naval establishments; the public edifices in this city
have been rebuilt with considerable additions; extensive fortifications
have been commenced, and are in a train of execution; permanent arsenals
and magazines have been erected in various parts of the Union; our Navy
has been considerably augmented, and the ordnance, munitions of war, and
stores of the Army and Navy, which were much exhausted during the war,
have been replenished.
By the discharge of so large a proportion of the public debt and the
execution of such extensive and important operations in so short a
time a just estimate may be formed of the great extent of our national
resources. The demonstration is the more complete and gratifying when it
is recollected that the direct tax and excise were repealed soon after
the termination of the late war, and that the revenue applied to these
purposes has been derived almost wholly from other sources.
The receipts into the Treasury from every source to the 30th of
September last have amounted to $16,794,107.66, whilst the public
expenditures to the same period amounted to $16,871,534.72, leaving in
the Treasury on that day a sum estimated at $1,950,000. For the probable
receipts of the following year I refer you to the statement which will
be transmitted from the Treasury.
The sum of $3,000,000 authorized to be raised by loan by an act of the
last session of Congress has been obtained upon terms advantageous to
the Government, indicating not only an increased confidence in the faith
of the nation, but the existence of a large amount of capital seeking
that mode of investment at a rate of interest not exceeding 5 per cent
per annum.
It is proper to add that there is now due to the Treasury for the sale
of public lands $22,996,545. In bringing this subject to view I consider
it my duty to submit to Congress whether it may not be advisable to
extend to the purchasers of these lands, in consideration of the
unfavorable change which has occurred since the sales, a reasonable
indulgence. It is known that the purchases were made when the price
of every article had risen to its greatest height, and that the
installments are becoming due at a period of great depression. It
is presumed that some plan may be devised by the wisdom of Congress,
compatible with the public interest, which would afford great relief
to these purchasers.
Considerable progress has been made during the present season in
examining the coast and its various bays and other inlets, in the
collection of materials, and in the construction of fortifications for
the defense of the Union at several of the positions at which it has
been decided to erect such works. At Mobile Point and Dauphin Island,
and at the Rigolets, leading to Lake Pontchartrain, materials to
a considerable amount have been collected, and all the necessary
preparations made for the commencement of the works. At Old Point
Comfort, at the mouth of James River, and at the Rip-Rap, on the
opposite shore in the Chesapeake Bay, materials to a vast amount have
been collected; and at the Old Point some progress has been made in the
construction of the fortification, which is on a very extensive scale.
The work at Fort Washington, on this river, will be completed early in
the next spring, and that on the Pea Patch, in the Delaware, in the
course of the next season. Fort Diamond, at the Narrows, in the harbor
of New York, will be finished this year. The works at Boston, New York,
Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, and Niagara have been in part repaired,
and the coast of North Carolina, extending south to Cape Fear, has been
examined, as have likewise other parts of the coast eastward of Boston.
Great exertions have been made to push forward these works with the
utmost dispatch possible; but when their extent is considered, with the
important purposes for which they are intended--the defense of the whole
coast, and, in consequence, of the whole interior--and that they are to
last for ages, it will be manifest that a well-digested plan, founded on
military principles, connecting the whole together, combining security
with economy, could not be prepared without repeated examinations
of the most exposed and difficult parts, and that it would also take
considerable time to collect the materials at the several points where
they would be required. From all the light that has been shed on this
subject I am satisfied that every favorable anticipation which has
been formed of this great undertaking will be verified, and that when
completed it will afford very great if not complete protection to our
Atlantic frontier in the event of another war--a protection sufficient
to counterbalance in a single campaign with an enemy powerful at sea the
expense of all these works, without taking into the estimate the saving
of the lives of so many of our citizens, the protection of our towns
and other property, or the tendency of such works to prevent war.
Our military positions have been maintained at Belle Point, on the
Arkansas, at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, at St. Peters, on the
Mississippi, and at Green Bay, on the upper Lakes. Commodious barracks
have already been erected at most of these posts, with such works as
were necessary for their defense. Progress has also been made in opening
communications between them and in raising supplies at each for the
support of the troops by their own labor, particularly those most
remote.
With the Indians peace has been preserved and a progress made in
carrying into effect the act of Congress making an appropriation for
their civilization, with the prospect of favorable results. As connected
equally with both these objects, our trade with those tribes is thought
to merit the attention of Congress. In their original state game
is their sustenance and war their occupation, and if they find no
employment from civilized powers they destroy each other. Left to
themselves their extirpation is inevitable. By a judicious regulation of
our trade with them we supply their wants, administer to their comforts,
and gradually, as the game retires, draw them to us. By maintaining
posts far in the interior we acquire a more thorough and direct control
over them, without which it is confidently believed that a complete
change in their manners can never be accomplished. By such posts, aided
by a proper regulation of our trade with them and a judicious civil
administration over them, to be provided for by law, we shall, it is
presumed, be enabled not only to protect our own settlements from their
savage incursions and preserve peace among the several tribes, but
accomplish also the great purpose of their civilization.
Considerable progress has also been made in the construction of ships of
war, some of which have been launched in the course of the present year.
Our peace with the powers on the coast of Barbary has been preserved,
but we owe it altogether to the presence of our squadron in the
Mediterranean. It has been found equally necessary to employ some of
our vessels for the protection of our commerce in the Indian Sea, the
Pacific, and along the Atlantic coast. The interests which we have
depending in those quarters, which have been much improved of late, are
of great extent and of high importance to the nation as well as to the
parties concerned, and would undoubtedly suffer if such protection was
not extended to them. In execution of the law of the last session for
the suppression of the slave trade some of our public ships have also
been employed on the coast of Africa, where several captures have
already been made of vessels engaged in that disgraceful traffic.
JAMES MONROE.
SPECIAL MESSAGES.
DECEMBER 12, 1820.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 6th of December,
requesting that the agent employed under the act entitled "An act
authorizing the purchase of fire engines and building houses for the
safekeeping of the same" should report in the manner stated in the said
resolution his conduct in execution of the said act, I now transmit
to the Senate a report from the agent, which communicates all the
information which has been desired.
JAMES MONROE.
DECEMBER 14, 1820.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I submit to the consideration of the Senate, for their advice and
consent as to the ratification, the following treaties, concluded with
the several Indian tribes therein mentioned since the last session
of Congress, with their documents, viz: With the Weas, Kickapoos,
Chippeways, Ottawas, Choctaws, and Mahas; and also a treaty with the
Kickapoos amended as proposed by a resolution of the Senate at their
last session.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _December 14, 1820_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of
the 21st November last, requesting the President to lay before the
House information relating to the progress and expenditures of the
commissioners under the fifth, sixth, and seventh articles of the treaty
of Ghent, I now transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with
documents containing all the information in the possession of that
Department requested by the resolution.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 1, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
22d of November last, requesting the President to inform that House what
naval force has been stationed for the protection of the commerce of
our citizens in the West India Islands and parts adjacent during the
present year, and whether any depredations by pirates or others upon the
property of citizens of the United States engaged in such commerce have
been reported to our Government, I now submit for the information of
the House a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with accompanying
documents, which contains all the information in the possession of the
Government required by that resolution.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
I communicate to the House of Representatives a report from the
Secretary of State, which, with the papers accompanying it, contains
all the information in the possession of the Executive requested by a
resolution of the House of the 4th December last, on the subject of the
African slave trade.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 4, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives of the
15th of December last, requesting the President of the United States
to cause to be laid before that House a statement of expenditures and
receipts in the Indian Department; also the nature and extent of the
contracts entered into, and with whom, from the 2d of March, 1811, to
the present period, I now transmit a letter from the Secretary of War,
with a report of the superintendent of Indian trade, which contains the
information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 12, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives of the United States_:
I transmit to the House of Representatives a report from the Secretary
of State, with the inclosed documents, relating to the negotiation for
the suppression of the slave trade, which should have accompanied a
message on that subject communicated to the House some time since, but
which were accidentally omitted.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1821_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 4th instant,
"requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the
Senate any information he may have as to the power or authority which
belonged to Don John Bonaventure Morales and to the Baron Carondelet
to grant and dispose of the lands of Spain in Louisiana previously to
the year 1803," I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury,
submitting a letter of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, with
the document to which it refers.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 18, 1821_.
_To the House of Representatives_:
In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives
requesting the President to inform the House, if in his opinion proper,
whether any, and, if any, what, negotiations since the 1st of January,
1816, have been had with the Six Nations of Indians, or any portion
of them, who the commissioners or agents were, the objects of the
negotiation, the expenses of the same, the compensation of each
commissioner, secretary, or agent, and to whom the moneys were paid,
I now transmit a report from the Secretary of War communicating the
information desired.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _January 31, 1821_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives_:
I transmit to Congress a report from the Secretary of the Treasury
submitting copies of the instructions given to the commissioners
appointed under the act of the 15th of May, 1820, authorizing the
location of a road from Wheeling, in the State of Virginia, to a point
on the left bank of the Mississippi River between St. Louis and the
mouth of the Illinois River, and copies of the report made by the said
commissioners to the Treasury Department of the progress they have made
in the execution of the duties prescribed by the said act, together
with maps of the country through which the location is to be made.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 5, 1821.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
I herewith transmit, in confidence, to the Senate reports from the
Secretary of State and of the Treasury, with the papers containing the
correspondence and the information in possession of the Government the
communication of which was requested by the resolution of the Senate of
the 23d of last month. It is desired that the original letters may, when
the Senate shall have no further use for them, be returned.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 8, 1821.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 1st instant,
requesting the President of the United States "to cause to be laid
before the Senate any information he may have in relation to the claims
of citizens of Georgia against the Creek Nation of Indians, and why
these claims, if any exist, have not been heretofore adjusted and
settled under the provisions of the treaties of 1790 and 1796," I
now transmit a report from the Secretary of War, with accompanying
documents, which contains all the information on this subject in the
possession of the Executive.
JAMES MONROE.
FEBRUARY 13, 1821.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
The ratification by the Spanish Government of the treaty of amity,
settlement, and limits between the United States and Spain, signed on
the 22d of February, 1819, and on the 24th of that month ratified on the
part of the United States, has been received by the envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary of that power at this place, who has given
notice that he is ready to exchange the ratifications.
By the sixteenth article of that treaty it was stipulated that the
ratifications should be exchanged within six months from the day of its
signature, which time having elapsed before the ratification of Spain
was given, a copy and translation thereof are now transmitted to the
Senate for their advice and consent to receive it in exchange for the
ratification of the United. States heretofore executed.
The treaty was submitted to the consideration of the Cortes of that
Kingdom before its ratification, which was finally given with their
assent and sanction. The correspondence between the Spanish minister of
foreign affairs and the minister of the United States at Madrid on that
occasion is also herewith communicated to the Senate, together with a
memorandum by the Secretary of State of his conference with the Spanish
envoy here yesterday, when that minister gave notice of his readiness
to exchange the ratifications.
The return of the original papers now transmitted, to avoid the delay
necessary to the making of copies, is requested.
JAMES MONROE.
WASHINGTON, _February 22, 1821_.
_To the Senate of the United States_:
In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 16th instant,
requesting "the President of the United States to cause to be laid
before the Senate the original order for building the barracks at
Sacketts Harbor, together with all communications between the War
Department and Major-General Brown relative thereto, and the amount
of public moneys expended thereon," I now transmit a report from
the Secretary of War, with the papers inclosed, which contains the
information desired.