railroad companies. The present laws providing for the making of contracts are based upon the presumption that competition among bidders will secure the service at a fair price. But on most of the railroad lines, there is no competition in that kind of transportation, and advertising is therefore useless. No contract can now be made with them, except such as shall be negotiated before the time of offering or afterward, and the power of the postmaster-general to pay them high prices is practically without limitation. It would be a relief to him, and no doubt would conduce to the public interest, to prescribe by law some equitable basis upon which such contracts shall rest, and restrict him by a fixed rule of allowance. Under a liberal act of that sort, he would undoubtedly be able to secure the services of most of the railroad companies, and the interest of the department would be thus advanced.

The correspondence between the people of the United States and the European nations, and particularly with the British islands, has become very extensive, and requires the interposition of Congress to give it security. No obstacle is perceived to an interchange of mails between New York and Liverpool, or other foreign ports, as proposed by the postmastergeneral. On the contrary it promises, by the security it will afford, to facilitate commercial transactions, and give rise to an enlarged intercourse among the people of different nations, which can not but have a happy effect. Through the city of New York most of the correspondence between the Canadas and Europe is now carried on, and urgent representations have been received from the head of the provincial postoffice, asking the interposition of the United States to guard it from the accidents and losses to which it is now subjected. Some legislation appears to be called for, as well by our own interest, as by comity to the adjoining British provinces.

The expediency of providing a fireproof building for the important books and papers of the postoffice department is worthy of consideration. In the present condition of our treasury it is neither necessary nor wise to leave essential public interests exposed to so much danger, when they can so readily be made secure. There are weighty considerations in the location of a new building for that department, in favor of placing it near the other executive buildings.

The important subjects of a survey of the coast, and the manufacture of a standard of weights and measures for the different customhouses, have been in progress for some years, under the general direction of the execu tive, and the immediate superintendence of a gentleman possessing high scientific attainments. At the last session of Congress, the making of a set of weights and measures for each state in the Union was added to the others by a joint resolution.

The care and correspondence as to all these subjects have been devolved on the treasury department during the last year. A special report from the secretary of the treasury will soon be communicated to Congress, which will show what has been accomplished as to the whole-the number and compensation of the persons now employed in these duties, and the progress expected to be made during the ensuing year-with a copy of the various correspondence deemed necessary to throw light on the subjects which seem to require additional legislation. Claims have been made for retrospective allowances in behalf of the superintendent and some of his assistants, which I did not feel justified in granting; other claims have been made for large increases in compensation, which, under

all the circumstances of the several cases, I declined making without the express sanction of Congress. In order to obtain that sanction, the subject was, at the last session, on my suggestion, and by request of the immediate superintendent, submitted by the treasury department to the committee of commerce of the house of representatives. But no legislative action having taken place, the early attention of Congress is now invited to the enactment of some express and detailed provisions in relation to the various claims made for the past, and to the compensation and allowances deemed proper for the future.

It is further respectfully recommended that, such being the inconvenience of attention to these duties by the chief magistrate, and such the great pressure of business on the treasury department, the general supervision of the coast survey, and the completion of the weights and measures, if the works are kept united, should be devolved on a board of officers, organized especially for that purpose, or on the navy board attached to the navy department.

All my experience and reflection confirm the conviction I have so often expressed to Congress in favor of an amendment of the constitution which will prevent, in any event, the election of the president and vice-president of the United States devolving on the house of representatives and the senate; and I therefore beg leave again to solicit your attention to the subject. There were various other suggestions in my last annual message not acted upon, particularly that relating to the want of uniformity in the laws of the District of Columbia, that are deemed worthy of your favorable consideration.

Before concluding this paper, I think it due to the various executive departments to bear testimony to their prosperous condition, and to the ability and integrity with which they have been conducted. It has been my aim to enforce in all of them a vigilant and faithful discharge of the public business, and it is gratifying to me to believe that there is no just cause of complaint from any quarter at the manner in which they have fulfilled the objects of their creation.

Having now finished the observations deemed proper on this, the last occasion I shall have of communicating with the two houses of Congress at their meeting, I can not omit an expression of the gratitude which is due to the great body of my fellow-citizens, in whose partiality and indulgence I have found encouragement and support in the many difficult and trying scenes through which it has been my lot to pass during my public career. Though deeply sensible that my exertions have not been crowned with a success corresponding to the degree of favor bestowed upon me, I am sure that they will be considered as having been directed by an earnest desire to promote the good of my country; and I am consoled by the persuasion, that whatever errors have been committed, will find a corrective in the intelligence and patriotism of those who will succeed us. All that has occurred during my administration is calculated to inspire me with increased confidence in the stability of our institutions; and should I be spared to enter upon that retirement which is so suitable to my age and infirm health, and so much desired by me in other respects, I shall not cease to invoke that beneficent Being, to whose providence we are already so signally indebted, for the continuance of his blessings on our beloved country.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 6, 1836.

To the Senate and House of Representatives :

I TRANSMIT herewith to Congress copies of my correspondence with Mrs. Madison, produced by the resolution adopted at the last session by the senate and house of representatives on the decease of her venerated husband. The occasion seems to be appropriate to present a letter from her on the subject of the publication of a work of great political interest and ability, carefully prepared by Mr. Madison's own hand, under circumstances that give it claims to be considered as little less than official.

Congress has already, at considerable expense, published, in a variety of forms, the naked journals of the revolutionary Congress, and of the convention that formed the constitution of the United States. I am persuaded that the work of Mr. Madison, considering the author, the subjectmatter of it, and the circumstances under which it was prepared-long withheld from the public, as it has been by those motives of personal kindness and delicacy that gave tone to his intercourse with his fellowmen, until he and all who had been participators with him in the scenes he describes have passed away-well deserves to become the property of the nation, and can not fail, if published and disseminated at the public charge, to confer the most important of all benefits on the present and all succeeding generations, accurate knowledge of the principles of their government, and the circumstances under which they were recommended and embodied in the constitution for adoption.

MESSAGE IN RELATION TO TEXAS.

DECEMBER 21, 1836.

To the Senate of the United States :—

DURING the last session, information was given to Congress by the executive, that measures had been taken to ascertain "the political, military, and civil condition of Texas." I now submit for your consideration, extracts from the report of the agent who had been appointed to collect it, relative to the condition of that country.

No steps have been taken by the executive toward the acknowledgment of the independence of Texas; and the whole subject would have been left without further remark on the information now given to Congress, were it not that the two houses at their last session, acting separately, passed resolutions" that the independence of Texas ought to be acknowledged by the United States, whenever satisfactory information should be received that it had in successful operation a civil government, capable of performing the duties, and fulfilling the obligations of an independent power." This mark of interest in the question of the independence of Texas, and indication of the views of Congress, make it proper that I should, somewhat in detail, present the considerations that have governed the executive in con

tinuing to occupy the ground previously taken in the contest between Mexico and Texas.

The acknowledgment of a new state as independent, and entitled to a place in the family of nations, is at all times an act of great delicacy and responsibility; but more especially so when such state has forcibly separated itself from another, of which it had formed an integral part, and which still claims dominion over it. A premature recognition under these circumstances, if not looked upon as justifiable cause of war, is always liable to be regarded as a proof of an unfriendly spirit to one of the contending parties. All questions relative to the government of foreign nations, whether of the old or new world, have been treated by the United States as questions of fact only, and our predecessors have cautiously abstained from deciding upon them until the clearest evidence was in their possession, to enable them, not only to decide correctly, but to shield their decisions from every unworthy imputation. In all the contests that have arisen out of the revolutions of France, out of the disputes relating to the crowns of Portugal and Spain, out of the separation of the American possessions of both from the European governments, and out of the numerous and constantly-occurring struggles for dominion in Spanish America, so wisely consistent with our just principles has been the action of our government, that we have, under the most critical circumstances, avoided all censure, and encountered no other evil than that produced by a transient estrangement of good-will in those against whom we have been by force of evidence compelled to decide.

It has thus made known to the world, that the uniform policy and practice of the United States is to avoid all interference in disputes which merely relate to the internal government of other nations, and eventually to recognise the authority of the prevailing party without reference to our particular interests and views, or to the merits of the original controversy. Public opinion here is so firmly established and well understood in favor of this policy, that no serious disagreement has ever risen among ourselves in relation to it, although brought under view in a variety of forms, and at periods when the minds of the people were greatly excited by the agitation of topics purely domestic in their character. Nor has any deliberate inquiry ever been instituted in Congress, or in any of our legislative bodies, as to whom belonged the power of originally recognising a new state-a power, the exercise of which is equivalent, under some circumstances, to a declaration of war-a power nowhere expressly delegated, and only granted in the constitution, as it is necessarily involved in some of the great powers given to Congress; in that given to the president and senate to form treaties with foreign powers, and to appoint ambassadors and other public ministers; and in that conferred upon the president to receive ministers from foreign nations.

In the preamble to the resolution of the house of representatives, it is distinctly intimated that the expediency of recognising the independence of Texas should be left to the decision of Congress. In this view, on the ground of expediency, I am disposed to concur; and do not, therefore, consider it necessary to express any opinion as to the strict constitutional right of the executive, either apart from, or in conjunction with the senate, over the subject. It is to be presumed that on no future occasion will a dispute arise, as none has heretofore occurred, between the executive and the legislature in the exercise of the power of recognition. It will always be considered consistent with the spirit of the constitution, and most safe, that it

should be exercised, when probably leading to war, with a previous understanding with that body by whom war can alone be declared, and by whom all the provisions for sustaining its perils must be furnished. Its submission to Congress, which represents in one of its branches the states of this Union, and, in the other, the people of the United States, where there may be reasonable ground to apprehend so grave a consequence, would certainly afford the fullest satisfaction to our own country, and a perfect guarantee to all other nations, of the justice and prudence of the measures which might be adopted.

In making these suggestions, it is not my purpose to relieve myself from the responsibility of expressing my own opinions of the course the interests of our country prescribe, and its honor permits us to follow.

It is scarcely to be imagined that a question of this character could be presented, in relation to which it would be more difficult for the United States to avoid exciting the suspicion and jealousy of other powers, and maintain their established character for fair and impartial dealing. But on this, as on every other trying occasion, safety is to be found in a rigid adherence to principle.

In the contest between Spain and her revolted colonies we stood aloof, and waited not only until the ability of the new states to protect themselves was fully established, but until the danger of their being again subjugated had entirely passed away. Then, and not until then, were they recognised. Such was our course in regard to Mexico herself. The same policy was observed in all the disputes growing out of the separation into distinct gov ernments of those Spanish American states, who began, or carried on the contest with the parent country, united under one form of government. We acknowledged the separate independence of New Grenada, of Venezuela, and of Ecuador, only after their independent existence was no longer a subject of dispute, or was actually acquiesced in by those with whom they had been previously united. It is true that, with regard to Texas, the civil authority of Mexico has been expelled, its invading army defeated, the chief of the republic himself captured, and all present power to control the newly-organized government of Texas annihilated within its confines. But, on the other hand, there is, in appearance at least, an immense disparity of physical force on the side of Texas. The Mexican republic, under another executive, is rallying its forces under a new leader, and menacing a fresh invasion to recover its lost dominion. Upon the issue of this threatened invasion, the independence of Texas may be considered as suspended; and were there nothing peculiar in the relative situation of the United States and Texas, our acknowledgment of its independence at such a crisis could scarcely be regarded as consistent with that prudent reserve with which we have heretofore held ourselves bound to treat all similar questions. But there are circumstances in the relations of the two countries, which require us to act on this occasion, with even more than our wonted caution. Texas was once claimed as a part of our property, and there are those among our citizens who, always reluctant to abandon that claim, can not but regard with solicitude the prospect of the reunion of the territory to this country. A large portion of its civilized inhabitants are emigrants from the United States; speak the same language with ourselves; cherish the same principles, political and religious, and are bound to many of our citizens by ties of friendship and kindred blood; and more than all, it is known that the people of that country have instituted the same form of government with our own; and