Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

and which have unfortunately disturbed the harmony of the relations between the United States and the Brazilian governments. At their last session, Congress were informed that some of the naval officers of that empire had advanced and practised upon principles in relation to blockades, and to neutral navigation, which we could not sanction, and which our commanders found it necessary to resist. It appears that they have not been sustained by the govern. ment of Brazil itself. Some of the vessels captured under the as. sumed authority of these erroneous principles, have been restored; and we trust that our just expectations will be realized, that adequate indemnity will be made to all the citizens of the United States who have suffered by the unwarranted captures which the Brazilian tribunals themselves have pronounced unlawful.

In the diplomatic discussions at Rio de Janeiro, of these wrongs sustained by citizens of the United States, and of others which seemed as if emanating immediately from that government itself, the Chargé d'Affaires of the United States, under an impression that his representations in behalf of the rights and interests of his countrymen were totally disregarded, and use. less, deemed it his duty, without waiting for instructions, to terminate his official functions, to demand his passports, and to return to the United States. This movement, dictated by an honest zeal for the honour and interests of his country, motives which operated, exclusively upon the mind of the officer who resorted to it, has not been disapproved by me. The Brazilian government, however,

complained of it as a measure for which no adequate intentional cause had been gived by them; and upon an explicit assurance, through their Chargé d'Affaires, residing here, that a successor to the late representative of the United States near that government, the appointment of whom they desired, should be received and treated with the respect due to his character, and that indemnity should be promptly made for all injuries inflicted on citizens of the United States, or their property, contrary to the laws of nations, a temporary commission as Chargé d'Affaires to that country has been issued, which it is hoped will entirely restore the ordinary diplomatic intercourse between the two governments, and the friendly relations between their respective nations.

Turning from the momentous concerns of our Union in its intercourse with foreign nations to those of the deepest interest in the administration of our internal affairs, we find the revenues of the present year corresponding as nearly as might be expected with the anticipations of the last, and presenting an aspect still more favourable in the promise of the next. The balance in the Treasury on the first of January last was six millions three hundred and fifty-eight thousand six hundred and eighty-six dollars and eighteen cents. The receipts from that day to the 30th of Sep. tember last, as near as the returns of them yet received can show, amount to sixteen millions eight hundred and eighty-six thousand five hundred and eighty-one dollars and thirty-two cents. The receipts of the present quarter, estimated at four millions five hundred and fifteen thousand, added to

the above, form an aggregate of twenty-one millions four hundred thousand dollars of receipts. The expenditures of the year may perhaps amount to twenty-two millions three hundred thousand dollars, presenting a small excess over the receipts. But of these twenty-two millions, upwards of six have been applied to the discharge of the principal of the public debt; the whole amount of which, approaching seventy-four millions on the first of January last, will on the first day of next year fall short of sixty-seven millions and a half. The balance in the treasury on the first of January next, it is expected, will ex. ceed five millions four hundred and fifty thousand dollars; a sum exceeding that of the first of Janu. ary, 1825, though falling short of that exhibited on the first of January last.

It was foreseen that the revenue of the present year would not equal that of the last, which had itself been less than that of the next preceding year. But the hope has been realized which was entertain. ed, that these deficiencies would in nowise interrupt the steady operation of the discharge of the pub. lic debt by the annual ten millions devoted to that object by the act of 3d March, 1817.

The amount of duties secured on merchandise imported from the commencement of the year until the 30th of September, last, is twenty-one millions two hundred and twenty-six thousand, and the probable amount of that which will be secured during the remainder of the year, is five millions seven hundred and seventy-four thousand dollars; forming a sum total of twenty-seven millions. With the allowances for drawbacks and con.

tingent deficiencies which may occur, though not specifically foreseen, we may safely estimate the receipts of the ensuing year at twenty-two millions three hundred thousand dollars; a revenue for the next equal to the expenditure of the present year.

The deep solicitude felt by our citizens of all classes throughout the Union, for the total discharge of the public debt, will apologize for the earnestness with which I deem it my duty to urge this topic upon the consideration of Congress

of recommending to them again the observance of the strictest economy in the application of the public funds. The depression upon the receipts of the revenue which had commenced with the year 1826, continued with increased severity during the two first quarters of the present year. The returning tide began to flow with the third quarter, and so far as we can judge from experience, may be expected to continue through the course of the ensuing year. In the mean time, an alleviation from the burden of the public debt will, in three years, have been effected to the amount of nearly sixteen millions, and the charge of annual interest will have been reduced upwards of one million. But among the maxims of political economy which the stewards of the public moneys should never suffer without urgent necessity to be transcended, is that of keeping the expenditures of the year within the limits of its receipts. The appropriations of the two last years, including the yearly ten millions of the sinking fund, have each equalled the promised revenue of the ensuing year. While we foresee with confidence that the public

coffers will be replenished from the receipts, as fast as they will be drained by the expenditures, equal in amount to those of the current year, it should not be forgotten that they could ill suffer the exhaustion of larger disbursements.

The condition of the army, and of all the branches of the public service under the superintendence of the secretary of war, will be seen by the report from that officer, and the documents with which it is accompanied.

During the course of the last summer, a detachment of the army has been usefully and successfully called to perform their appropriate duties. At the moment when the commissioners appointed for carrying into execution certain provi. sions of the treaty of August 19th, 1825, with various tribes of the northwestern Indians, were about to arrive at the appointed place of meeting, the unprovoked murder of several citizens, and other acts of unequivoaal hostility committed by a party of the Winnebago tribe, one of those associated in the treaty, followed by indications of a menacing character, among other tribes of the same region, rendered necessary an immediate display of the defensive and protective force of the Union in that quarter. It was accordingly exhibited by the immediate and concerted movements of the governors of the state of Illinois, and of the territory of Michigan, and competent levies of mili tia under their authority; with a corps of seven hundred men of United States troops under the command of General Atkinson, who, at the call of Governor Cass, immediately repaired to the scene of danger from their station at St. Louis. Their presence dispelled

the alarms of our fellow citizens on those borders, and overawed the hostile purposes of the Indians. The perpetrators of the murders were surrendered to the authority and operation of our laws; and every appearance of purposed hostility from those Indian tribes has subsided.

Although the present organization of the army, and the adminis tration of its various branches of service, are, upon the whole, satisfactory, they are yet susceptible of much improvement in particulars, some of which have been heretofore submitted to the consideration of Congress, and others are now first presented in the report of the secretary of war.

The expediency of providing for additional numbers of officers in the two corps of engineers will, in some degree, depend upon the number and extent of the objects of national importance upon which Congress may think it proper that surveys should be made, conformably to the act of the 30th of April, 1824. Of the surveys which, before the last session of Congress, had been made under the authority of that act, reports were made :

1. Of the Board of Internal Improvement, on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

2. On the continuance of the National Road from Cumberland to the tide waters within the Dis trict of Columbia.

3. On the continuation of the National Road from Canton to Zanesville.

4. On the location of the National Road from Zanesville to Columbus.

5. On the continuation of the same road to the seat of government in Missouri.

[ocr errors]

6. On a Post Road from Baltimore to Philadelphia.

7. Of a survey of Kennebec River, (in part.)

8. On a National Road from Washington to Buffalo.

9. On the survey of Saugatuck Harbour and River.

10. On a Canal from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River.

11. On surveys at Edgartown, Newburyport, and Hyannis Har

bour.

12. On survey of La Plaisance Bay, in the territory of Michigan. And reports are now prepared, and will be submitted to Congress, On surveys of the peninsula of Florida, to ascertain the practicability of a canal to connect the waters of the Atlantic with the gulf of Mexico, across that peninsula; and also of the country between the bays of Mobile and of Pensacola, with the view of connecting them together by a canal,:

On surveys of a route for a canal to connect the waters of James and Great Kenhawa rivers:

On the survey of the Swash in Pamlico Sound, and that of Cape Fear, below the town of Wilming ton, in North Carolina :

On the survey of the Muscle Shoals, in the Tennessee river, and for a route for a contemplated communication between the Hi. wassee and Coosa rivers, in the state of Alabama.

Other reports of surveys upon objects pointed out by the several acts of Congress of the last and preceding sessions, are in the progress of preparation, and most of them may be completed before the close of this session. All the officers of both corps of engineers, with several other persons duly

qualified, have been constantly employed upon these services, from the passage of the act of 30th of April, 1824, to this time. Were no other advantage to accrue to the country from their labours, than the fund of topographical know. ledge which they have collected and communicated, that alone would have been a profit to the Union more than adequate to all the expenditures which have been devoted to the object; but the appropriations for the repair and continuation of the Cumberland road, for the construction of various other roads, for the removal of obstructions from the rivers and harbours, for the erection of light-houses, beacons, piers, and buoys, and for the completion of canals undertaken by individual associations, but needing the assistance of means and resources more comprehensive than individual enterprise can com. mand, may be considered rather as treasures laid up from the contributions of the present age, for the benefit of posterity, than as unrequited applications of the accruing revenues of the nation. To such objects of permanent improvement to the condition of the country, of real addition to the wealth, as well as to the comfort of the people by whose authority and resources they have been effected, from three to four millions of the annual income of the nation have, by laws enact. ed at the three most recent sessions of Congress, been applied, without intrenching upon the necessities of the treasury; without adding a dollar to the taxes or debts of the community; without suspending even the steady and regular discharge of the debts contracted in former days, which, within the same three years, have been diminished by the

amount of nearly sixteen millions of dollars.

The same observations are, in a great degree, applicable to the appropriations made for fortifications upon the coasts and harbours of the United States, for the maintenance of the Military Academy at West Point, and for the various ob. jects under the superintendence of the department of the navy. The report of the secretary of the navy, and those from the subordi. nate branches of both the military departments, exhibit to Congress, in minute detail, the present condition of the public establishments dependent upon them; the execution of the acts of Congress relating to them, and the views of the officers engaged in the several branches of the service, concerning the improvements which may tend to their perfection. The for-, tification of the coasts, and the gradual increase and improvement of the navy, are parts of a great system of national defence, which has been upwards of ten years in progress, and which, for a series of years to come, will continue to claim the constant and persevering protection and superintendence of the legislative authority. Among the measures which have emanated from these principles, the act of the last session of Congress, for the gradual improvement of the navy, holds a conspicuous place. The collection of timber for the future construction of vessels of war; the preservation and reproduction of the species of timber peculiarly adapted to that purpose; the construction of dry docks for the use of the navy; the erection of a marine railway for the repair of the public ships, and the im. provement of the navy yards for

the preservation of the public property deposited in them, have all received from the executive the attention required by that act, and will continue to receive it, steadily proceeding towards the execution of all its purposes. The establishment of a naval academy, furnishing the means of theoretic instruction to the youths who devote their lives to the service of their country upon the ocean, still solicits the sanction of the legislature. Practical seamanship, and the art of navigation, may be acquired upon the cruises of the squadrons, which, from time to time, are despatched to distant seas; but a competent knowledge even of the art of ship building, the higher mathematics, and astronomy; the literature which can place our officers on a level of polished education with the officers of other maritime nations; the knowledge of the laws, municipal and national, which, in their intercourse with foreign states, and their governments, are continually called into operation; and, above all, that acquaintance with the principles of honour and justice, with the higher obligations of morals, and of general laws, human and divine, which constitute the great distinction between the warrior patriot and the licensed robber and pirate; these can be systematically taught, and eminently acquired, only in a permanent school, stationed upon the shore, and provided with the teachers, the instruments, and the books, conversant with, and adapted to, the communication of the principles of these respective sciences to the youthful and inquiring mind.

The report from the post master general exhibits the condition of that department as highly satisfac

1

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »