(7 TRUE AMERICAN; <; CONTAINING THE TOGETHER WITH THE FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESSES AND MESSAGES F ALL THE PRESIDENTS OP THE UNITED STATES, FROM 1789 TO 1839; THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AND CONSTITUTIO OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH THE SIGNERS' NAMES ; ALSO. THE FAREWELL ADDRESSES OF WASHINGTON AND JACKSON j AN ADDRESS TO THE YOUNG MEN OF THE COUNTRY, AND A VARIETY OF OTHER MATTER USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING^ BY JOSEPH COE. , CONCORD, N. H. PUBLISHED BY I. S. BOYD. 1840. *h. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1340, By JOSEPH COE, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of New Hampshire. STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BT MORR1LL, SILSBY, & Co. CONCORD, 1C. PREFACE. - JB^^^^^^Hitfe _ THE Editor of this volume deems it proper to say a few words to his readers in explanation of the reasons which led him, after calm and mature deliberation, to give it to the world. Its publication is principally intended for the benefit of the young men of our common country. They will soon wield the destinies and control the interests of this great nation, and it is very important that their minds should take a right direction, and be governed by right views, right principles, and right feel- ings concerning our great political interests. The Messages of our Presidents, and the other papers embodied in this book, are thought to be eminently calculated to produce this effect. Our political institutions were founded by wise men, and are the best, freest, and safest the world has ever seen. Their dura- bility depends upon the watchful care of the people. If they shall ever have to mourn their overthrow, the primary cause will be found in a want of patriotic vigilance. The people must con- stantly remember that the great foe of American liberty is a wealthy aristocracy. It has been and ever will be, from time to time, the duty of the state and national governments to check, by legal enactments, the influence and power of overgrown moneyed corporations ; and it is the solemn duty of the people to protect and sustain them in such enactments. The great contest that has been waged for many years past, and now divides the people of this country, is a controversy be- tween the real democracy on the one hand, and an aristocracy of wealth on the other. That greatest of reformers, Jesus Christ, once said, " By their fruits ye shall know them." He was a true prophet ; and acting by the spirit of the future that rested upon him, he selected his followers from the common people, denouncing, with great and just severity, the overbearing propensities of the rich scribes and pharisees. His party was then, is now, and ever will be a perfect party, so far as it follows his precepts, and adheres to his equalizing doctrines. All other parties are imperfect, and tend to decay. The de- mocratic party, by adhering with a firm and unwavering faith, to its glorious creed, approaches nearly to political perfection, because that creed is identified with universal humanity. The great cause of freedom, and the necessity of handing down to posterity, unimpaired, the principles and institutions of this mighty Union, should be looked after with the utmost watchfulness by every true American. And in the present poli- tical contest, we should look to the great interests involved, in- terests which reach far beyond any thing merely local or tern porary. And in thus doing, they should look beyond the strife and noise of party conflict, to the great end which it is the work of the American people to accomplish. Durham, Aug. 15, 1840. CONTENTS. Page. Drclnration of Independence 5 Constitution of the United States 10 iH tin Mils to the Constitution 23 ^Washington's Inaugural Address 26 Washington's First Annual Address 30 Adams's Inaugural Address 3 Adams's First Annual Add: 39 Jefferson's Inaugural Address 45 Jefferson's First Annual Message 51 Madison's Inaugural Addwss 60 M:idiMin's First Annual Message 63 Monroe's Inaugural Address t 63 Monroe's First Annual Message 77 J. Q. Adams's Inaugural Address 00 J. Q. Adams's First Annual Message 98 Jacksou's Inaugural Address 123 Jackson's First Annual Message 126 Maysville Road Veto 155 Bank Veto I t Annual Message 270 Washington s Farewell Address 302 Jackson's Farewell Address 319 Address to the Young Men and to the People of America.. ..341 The Currency 385 Opinions of Alexander Hamilton 410 The Perfection of Government, by GOT. Morton 414 Democracy and Reform 4 416 Prospects of the Democracy 424 Washington's Opinion of Paper Money 426 U9F THE TRUE AMERICAN.' DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENC WHEN, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assujne, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's Qod entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deri- ving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; and that, whenever any form of government becomes de- structive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundations on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments, long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while *evils are sufferable, than to right them- selves by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- tomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpa- tions, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a de- sign to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their 6 THE TRIE AMERICAN. right, it is their duty, to throw o(Y such government, and t., pi-mi..;.: new guards l' r >r their future security. Such lie p.'itu nt sufferance of the colonies, and such is now the nece^-ity which constrains them to alter their form, -overnment. The history of the pre- of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries ^P usurpations, all having, in direct object, the establish- ent of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : He has refused his assent to laws -the most wholesome nece,.rv tor the public good, j forbidden his governors to pass laws of imme- _ ind pressing imogj^uice, unless suspended in their qpJCtions till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to there. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people-, unless those people would re- !::iij:u-!i tii- i j!u of representation in tiie legislature: a riu'lit inestimableto them, and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places un^ usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository or their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative pow- ers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the peo- ple at large for their exercise ; the state remaining, in the :i time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from withobt, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states ; for that purpose, obstructing the laws of naturali- zation of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration thither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re- fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 7 He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in time of peace, standing ar- mies, without the consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the military independent and superior to, the civil power. He has combined, with others, to subject us to a juris- diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretend- ed legislation. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish- ment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world. For imposing taxes on us without our consent. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury. For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- tended offences : For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies : For taking away our charters, abolishing our most va- luable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments : For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cru- elty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. g THE TRUE AMERICAN. Hi- Ins constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to :h<- executioners of their friends and brethren, !I themselves by their hands. 3 excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our fron- _, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated IJRitjons have been answered only by repeated injury. A prim-e, whose characters thus marked by every act which miy define a tyrant, iitanfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British bvthr. ii. We havojfvarned them, from time to time, of the attempts, by Iheir legislature, to extend an unwar- rantable jurisdiction o\y u* *We have reminded them of the circumstances of o>ir emigration and settlement here. We h:\ve appealed to their native justice and magr nanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitablv interrupt our connections and corre- spondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of ju-tice and of consanguinity. We must, jherefore, ac- quiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as,\\i- hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. iu rei'.ire, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress as'sembled, appealing to the Supreme Jud^e of the world /or the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of ri^ht ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absol- ved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free an "~ 1 ; T he Prcsident , Vice-President, and all il officers of the United States, shall be removed from Jffieeon impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other lugh crimes and misdemeanors CONSTITUTION. 19 * ARTICLE III. SEC. I. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time, ordain .and esta- blish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compen- sation which shall not be diminished during their contin- uance in office. SEC. II. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to contro- versies to which the United States shall be a party : to controversies between two or more states ; between a state and citizens of another state ; between citizens of different states ; between citizens of the same state, claim- ing lands under grants of different states, and between a state, of the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citi- zens or subjects. 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public mi- nisters and consuls, and those in which a state shall be a party, the supreme court shall have original jurisdiction. In all other cases before mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- ment, shall be by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed. SEC. III. 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No per- son shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confessions in open court. 20 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ^ft 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the pun- ishment of treason ; but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. ARTICLE IV. SEC. I. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to'the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. And the Congress may, by general Jaws, prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. SEC. II. 1. The citizens of each state shall be enti- tled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states. 2. A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, shall, on demand of the executive au- thority of the state from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime. 3. No person held to service or labor in one state, un- der the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in con- sequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. SEC. III. 1. New states maybe admitted by the Con- gress into this union ; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state ; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legis- lature of the states concerned, as well as of the Congress. 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular state. SEC. IV. 1. The United States shall guarantee to every state hi this union, a republican form of govern- ment, and shall protect each of them against invasion ;, CONSTITUTION. 21 and, on application of the legislature, or of the execu- tive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) against domestic violence. ARTICLE V. 1. The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitu- tion, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification. may be proposed by the Congress; provided, that no amend- ment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect, the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, -..without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. ARTICLE VI. 1. All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this constitution, as under the confederation. 2. This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all trea- ties made, or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby ; any thing in the constitution or laws of any state to the con- trary notwithstanding. 3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affir- mation to support this constitution ; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. THE TRUE AMERICAN. ARTICLE VII. 1. The ratification of the conventions of nine states shall be sufficient for the establishment of this constitution between the states so ratifying the same. Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the states present, the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the twelfth. In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. GEORGE WASHINGTON, President, and J)tj>nty from Virginia. ffew Hampshire. JOHN LANGDON, NICHOLAS OILMAN. Massachusetts. NATHANIEL GORHAM, RUFUS KING. Connecticut. WM. SAMUEL JOHNSON, ROGER SHERMAN. A*e70 York. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. JWw Jersey. WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, DAVID BREARLEY, WILLIAM PATTERSON, JONATHAN DAYTON. Pennsylvania. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THOMAS MIFFLIN, ROBERT MORRIS, GEORGE CLYMER, THOMAS FITZSIMONS, JARED INGERSOLL, JAMES WILSON, GOVERNEUR MORRIS. Delaware. GEORGE REED, <; IN \I.\G J5KDFORD, JR. JOHN DICKKRSON, RICHARD BASSETT, JACOB BROOM. -. Maryland. JAMES M'HENRY, DANIEL of ST. THO. JENIFER, DANIEL CARROLL, Virginia. JOHN BLAIR, JAMES MADISON, JR. J\"orth Carolina. WILLIAM BLOUNT, RICH. DOBBS SPAIGHT, HUGH WILLIAMSON. South Carolina. JOHN RUTLEDGE, CHARLES C. PINCKNEY, CHARLES PINCKNEY, PIERCE BUTLER. Georgia. WILLIAM FEW, ABRAHAM BALDWIN. Attest, WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. AMENDMENTS. 23 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. ART. I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exer- cise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to as- semble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ART. II. A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. ART. III. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quar- tered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. ART. IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unrea- sonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, support- ed by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ART. V. No person shall be held to answer for a capi- tal, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the" militia when in actual service, in time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be witness against himself, nor be de- prived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation. ART. VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory pro- 24 THE TRUE AMERICAN. cess for obtaining witnesses in liis favor ; and to have the assistance of counsel for his deli-nee. ART. VII. In suits of common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved ; and no fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the com- mon law. ART. VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punish- ments inflicted. ART. IX. The enumeration in the constitution, . of certain rights, shall not b'e construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. ART. X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited to it by the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. ART. XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. ART. XII. 1. The electors shall meet in their respec- tive states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice- President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabi- tant of the same state with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the persons voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President ; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-Presi- dent, and of the number of votes for each ; which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Re- presentatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; the person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, then from the per- AMENDMENTS. 25 sons having the highest number, not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Re- presentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the Pre- sident. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. 2. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have a majority, then from the two high- est numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice- President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of Senators, and - a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President, shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. ART. XIII. If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or honor, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept or retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince, or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the Uni- ted States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them. 3 Og THE TRUE AMERICAN. WASHINGTON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS, APRIL 30, 1789. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and re- ceived on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years, a retreat which was ren- dered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health, to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with de- spondence, one, who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and unpractised in the duties of civil administra- tion, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own defi- ciences. In this conflict of emotions, all that I dare aver is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be effected. All I dare hope is, that if in execu- ting this task I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality with which they originated. WASHINGTON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 27 Such being the impressions under which I have, in obe- dience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almigh- ty Being who rules over the universe who presides in the councils of nations and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may con- secrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this ho- mage to the great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No people can be bound to acknow- ledge and adore the invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by gome token of providential agency ; and in the impor- tant revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which mont governments have been established, with- out some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seems to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in think- ing that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence. By the article establishing the executive department, it is made the duty of the President " to recommend to your consideration such measures as he* shall judge ne- cessary and expedient." The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject farther than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in 28 THE TRUE. AMERICAN. defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that, as on one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests : so, on another, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality : and the pre-eminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affec- tions of its 'citizens, and command the respect of the wurld. I dwell on "this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an in- dissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage ; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained, and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people. Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an ex- ercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth arti- cle of the constitution is rendered expedient at the pre- sent juncture by the nature of the objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of in- quietude which has given birth to them. Instead of un- dertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from offi- WASHINGTON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 29 cial opportunities, 1 shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good ; for I assure myself that while you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of a united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the cha- racteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the pub- lic harmony, will sufficiently influence, your deliberations on the question how far the former can be more impreg- nably fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted. To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the House of Repre- sentatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an ar- duous struggle for its liberties, the light in -which I con- templated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed ; and being still under the impres- sions which produced it, I must decline, as inapplicable to myself, any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed, may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave, but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the human race, in humble supplication that, since he has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility and dispositions for de- ciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of govern- ment for the security of their union and the advancement of their happiness, so his divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consul- tations, and the wise measures on which the success of this government must depend. o A 30 THE TRUE AMERICAN. WASHINGTON'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS, JAMAI'.V 8, 1790. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and Ilutifc of Representatives : I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity which now presents itself of congratulating you on the present favorable prospects of our public affairs. The recent ac- cession of the important state of North Carolina to the constitution of the United States, (of which official in- formation has been received,) the rising credit and re- spectability of our country, the general and increasing good will towards the government of the Union, and the concord, peace, aiid plenty, with which we are blessed, are cir- umst;mces auspicious, in an eminent degree, to our national prosperity. In resuming your consultations for the general good, you cannot but derive encouragement from the reflection that the measures of the last session have born ;is satisfac- tory to your constituents, as the novelty and difficulty of the work allowed you to hope. Still further to realize their expectations, and to secure the blessings which a gracious Providence has placed within our reach, will, in the course of the present important session, call for the cool and deliberate exertion of your patriotism, firmness, and wisdom. Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention, that of providing for the common defence will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is ouc of the most effectual means of preserving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed, but disci- plined ; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite : and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactures as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military supplies. The proper establishment of the troops which may be deemed indispensable, will be entitled to mature conside- ration. In the arrangements which may be made re- specting it, it will be of importance to conciliate the com- WASHINGTON'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 31 fortable support of the officers and soldiers, with a due regard to economy. There was reason to hope that the pacific measures adopted with regard to certain hostile tribes of Indians would have relieved the inhabitants of our southern and western frontiers from their depredations ; but you will perceive from the information contained in the papers which I shall direct to be laid before you, (comprehend- ing a communication from the commonwealth of Vir- ginia,) that we ought to be prepared to afford protection to those parts of the Union, and, if necessary, to punish aggressors. The interests of the United States require that our in- tercourse with other nations should be facilitated by such provisions as will enable me to fulfil my duty in that re- spect, in the manner which circumstances may render most conducive to the public good, and, to this end, that the compensations to be made to the persons who may be employed should, according to the nature of thejr appointments, be defined by law ; and a competent fund designated for defraying the expenses incident to the conduct of our foreign affairs. Various considerations also render it expedient that the terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights of citizens, should be speedily ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization. Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to. The advancement of agriculture, commerce and manu- factures, by all proper means, will not, I trust, need re- commendation ; but I cannot forbear intimating to you the expediency of giving effectual encouragement, as well to the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad, as to the exertions of skill and genius in produ- cing them at home ; and of facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our country by a due atten- tion to the post-office and post-roads. Nor am I less persuaded that you will agree with me in opinion, that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of science and litera- 32 THE TRUE AMERICAN. turc. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of go- vernment receive their impressions so immediately from the sense of the community as in ours, it is proportiona- bly essential. To the security of a free constitution it contributes in various ways : by convincing those who are intrusted with tire public administration, that every valuable end of government is best answered by the en- lightened confidence of the people ; and by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights ; to discern and provide against invasions of them ; to dis- tinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority ; between burdens proceeding from a disregard to their convenience, and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of society ; to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness, .cherishing the first, avoiding the last, and uniting a speedy but tem- perate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviola- ble respect to the laws. Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by affording aids to seminaries of learning already establish- ed ; by the institution of a national university ; or by any other expedients, will be well worthy of a place in the deliberations of the legislature. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : I saw with peculiar pleasure, at the close of the last session, the resolution entered into by you, expressive of your opinion that an adequate provision for the support of the public credit, is a matter of high importance to the national honor and prosperity. In this sentiment I en- tirely concur. And, to a perfect confidence in your best endeavors to devise such a provision as will be truly con- sistent with the end, I add an equal reliance on the cheer- ful co-operation of the other branch of the legislature. It would be superfluous to specify inducements to a mea- sure in which the character and permanent interest of the United States are so obviously and so deeply concerned, and which has received so explicit a sanction from your declaration. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 33 Gentlemen of the Senate, and House of Representatives : I have directed the proper officers to lay before you, respectively, such papers and estimates as regard the af- fairs particularly recommended to your consideration, and necessary to convey to you that information of the state of the Union which it is my duty to afford. The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed. Arid I shall derive great satisfaction from a co-operation with you, in the pleasing, though arduous task of insuring to our fel- low-citizens the blessings which they have a right to ex pect from a free, efficient, and equal government. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1797. When it was first perceived, in early times, that no middle course for America remained, between unlimited submission to a foreign legislature, and a total indepen- dence of its claims, men of reflection were less appre- hensive of danger from the formidable power of fleets and armies they must determine to resist, than from those contests and dissensions which would certainly arise con- cerning the forms of government to be instituted over the whole and over the parts of this extensive country. Rely- ing, however, on the purity of their intentions, the justice of their cause, and the integrity and intelligence of the people, under an overruling Providence which had so sig- nally protected this country from the first, the represen- tatives of this nation, then consisting of little more than half its present number, not only broke to pieces the chains which were forging, and the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder the ties which had bound them, and launched into an ocean of uncertainty. The zeal and ardor of the people, during the revolu- ^tionary war, supplying the place of government, com- 34 THE TRUE AMERICAN. manded a degree of order, sufficient at least for the tem- porary preservation of society. The confederation which was early felt to be necessary was prepared from the mo- dels of the Batavian and Helvetic confederacies : the only examples which remain, with any detail and precision in history, and certainly the only ones which the people at large had ever considered. But, reflecting on the striking difference in so many particulars, between this country and those, where a courier may go from the seat of go- vernment to the frontier in a single day, it was then cer- tainly foreseen by some who assisted in Congress at the formation of it, that it could not be durable. Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its recom- .mendations, if not disobedience to its authority, not only in individuals, but in states, soon appeared with their me- ancholy consequences ; universal languor ; jealousies and rivalries of states ; decline of navigation and commerce ; discouragement of necessary manufactures; universal fall in the value of lands and their produce; contempt of public and private faith ; loss of consideration and credit with foreign nations ; and, at length, in discontents, ani- mosities, combinations, partial conventions, and insurrec- tion, threatening some great national calamity. In this dangerous crisis, the people of America were not abandoned by their usual good sense, presence of mind, resolution, or integrity. Measures were pursued to concert a plan to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com- mon defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. The public disquisitions, dis- cussions, and deliberations, issued in the present happy constitution of government. Employed in the service of my country abroad during the whole course of these transactions, I first saw the constitution of the United States in a foreign country. Irritated by no literary altercation, animated by no public debate, heated by no party animosity, I read it with great satisfaction, as a result of good heads, prompted by good hearts ; as an experiment better adapted to the genius, character, situation, and relations of this nation and country, than any which had ever been proposed or sug- ADAMS S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. gested. In its general principles and great outlines, it was conformable to such a system of government as I had ever most esteemed, and some states, my own native state in particular, had contributed to establish. Claim- ing a right of suffrage, in common with my fellow-citi- zens, in the adoption or rejection of a constitution which was to rule me and my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did not hesitate to express my approbation of it, on all occasions, in public and in private. It was not then, nor has been since, any objection to it, in my mind, that the executive and senate were not more permanent. Nor have I ever entertained a thought of promoting any alteration in it, but such as the people themselves, in the course of their experience, should see and feel to be ne- cessary or expedient, and by their Representatives in Con- gress arid the state legislatures, according to the consti- tution itself, adopt and ordaii*. Returning to the bosom of my country, after a painful separation from it for ten years, I had the honor to be elected to a station under the new order of things, and I have repeatedly laid myself under the most serious obli- gations to support the constitution. The operation of it has equalled the most sanguine expectations of its friends ; and, from an habitual attention to it, satisfaction in its administration, and delight in its effects upon the peace, order, prosperity, and happiness of the nation, I have ac- quired an habitual attachment to it, and veneration for it. What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve our esteem and love ? There may be little solidity in an ancient idea, that congregations of men into cities and nations are the most pleasing objects in the sight of superior intelligences : but this is very certain, that, to a benevolent human mind, there can be no spectacle presented by any nation more pleasing, more noble, majestic, or august, than an as- sembly like that which has so often been seen in this j>nd the other chamber of Congress, of a government, in which the executive authority, as well as that of all the branches of the legislature, are exercised by citizens se- lected, at regular periods, by their neighbors, to make and execute laws for the general good. Can any thing 3f> THE TRUE AMERICAN. <-- Titial, any thing more than mere ornament and deco- ration, be added to this by robes and diamonds ? Can authority be more amiable and respectable, when it de- scends from accidents, or institutions established in re- mote antiquity, than when it springs fresh from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened people '? For it is the people only that are represented : it is their power and majesty that is reflected, and only for their good, in every legitimate government, under whatever form it may appear. The existence of such a govern- ment as ours, for any length of time, is a full proof of a general dissemination of knowledge and virtue through- out the whole body of the people. And what object or consideration more pleasing than this, can be presented to the human mind ? If national pride is ever justifiable, or excusable, it is when it springs, not from power or riches, grandeur or glory, but from conviction of national innocence, information and benevolence. In the midst of these pleasing ideas, we should be un- faithful to ourselves, if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties, if any thing partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and in- dependent elections. If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured by a party, through artifice or corruption, the government may be the choice of a party, for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good. If that solitary suffrage can be obtained by foreign nations by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the government may not be the choice of the American peo- ple, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern our- selves. And candid men will acknowledge, that in such cases, choice would have little ad, ant-ige to boast of, over lot or chance. Such is the amiable and interesting system of govern- ment (and such are some of the abuses to which it may be exposed) which the p ople of America have exhibited to the admiration and anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all nations for eight years, under the administration of a citizen who, by a long course of great actions, regulated ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 37 by prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, conduct- ing a people, inspired with the same virtues, and anima- ted with the same ardent patriotism and love of liberty, to independence and peace, to increasing wealth and un exampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude of his fel low-citizens, commanded the mghest praises of foreign nations, and secured immortal glory with posterity. In that retirement which is his voluntary choice, may he long live to enjoy the delicious recollection of his ser- vices, the gratitude of mankind, the happy fruits of them to himself and the world, which are daily increasing, and that splendid prospect of the future fortunes of this coun- try which is opening from year to year. His name may be still a rampart, and the knowledge that he lives, a bul- wark against all open or secret enemies of his country's peace. This example has been recommended to the imi- tation of his successors by both houses of Congress, and by the voice of the legislatures and the people throughout the nation. On this subject it might become iwe better to be silent, or to speak with diffidence ; but, as something may be expected, the occasion, I hope, will be admitted as an apology, if I venture to say, That, If a preference, upon principle, of a free republican government, formed upon long and serious reflection, after a diligent and impartial inquiry after truth ; if an attach- ment to the constitution of the United States, and a con- scientious determination to support it, until it shall be al- tered by the judgments and wishes of the people, express- ed in the mode prescribed in it ; if a respectful attention to the constitutions of the individual states, and a con- stant caution and delicacy towards the state governments ; if an equal and impartial regard to the rights, interest, honor, and happiness of all the states in the Union, with- out preference or regard to a northern or southern, an eastern or western position, their various political opin- ions on unessential points, or their personal attachments; if a love of virtuous men of all parties and denomina- tions ; if a love of science and letters, and a wish to pa- tronize every rational effort to encourage schools, col- leges, universities, academies, and every institution for pro- 4 33 THE TRUE AMERICA*. pagating knowledge, virtue, and religion, among all class- es of the people, not only for their benign influence on the happiness of life in all its stages and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as the only means of preserv- ing our constitution from its natural enemies, the spirit ofsophistry, the spirit of party, the spirit of intrigue, the profligacy of corruption, and the pestilence of foreign in- fluence, which is the angel of destruction to elective go- vernments ; if a love of equal laws, of justice, and hu- manity in the interior administration ; if an inclination to improve agriculture, commerce, and manufactures for ne- cessity, convenience, and defence ; if a spirit of equity and humanity towards the aboriginal nations of America, and a disposition to meliorate their condition by inclining them to be more friendly to us, and our citizens to be more friendly to them ; if an inflexible determination to maintain peace and inviolable faith with all nations, and that system of neutrality and impartiality among the bel- ligerent powers of Europe which has been adopted by this government, and so solemnly sanctioned by both houses of Congress, and applauded by the legislatures of the states and the public opinion, until it shall be other- wise ordained by Congress ; if a personal esteem for the French nation, formed in a residence of seven years, chiefly among them, and a sincere desire to preserve the friendship which has been so much for the honor and interest of both nations ; if, while the conscious honor and integrity of the people of America, and the internal senti- ment of their own power and energies must be preserved, an earnest endeavor to investigate every just cause, and remove every colorable pretence of complaint ; if an in- tention to pursue by amicable negotiation a reparation for the injuries that have been committed on the commerce of our fellow-citizens by whatever nation ; and if success cannot be obtained, to lay the facts before the legislature, that they may consider what further measures the honor and interest of the government and its constituents de- mand ; if a resolution to do justice, as far as may depend upon me, at all times and to all nations, and maintain peace, friendship, and benevolence with all the world ; if an unshaken confidence in the honor, spirit, and re- ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 30 sources of the American people, on which I have so often hazarded my all, and never been deceived ; if elevated ideas of the high destinies of this country and of my own duties towards it, founded on a knowledge of the moral principles and intellectual improvements of the people, deeply engraven on my mind in early life, and not obscu- red, but exalted by experience and age; and, with humble reverence, I feel it to be rny duty to add, if a veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians, and a fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service, can enable me, in any degree, to comply with your wishes, it shall be my strenuous endea- vor, that this sagacious injunction of the two houses shall not be without effect. With this great example before me, with the sense and spirit, the faith and honor, the duty and interest, of the same American people, pledged to support the constitu- tion of the United States, I entertain no doubt of its con- tinuance in all its energy, and my mind is prepared, with- out hesitation, to lay myself under the most solemn obli- gations to support it to the utmost of my power. And may that Being who is supreme over all, the Pa- tron of order, the Fountain of justice, and the Protector, in all ages of the world, of virtuous liberty, continue his blessing upon this nation and its government, and give it all possible success and duration consistent with the ends of his Providence. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS, NOVEMBER 23, 1797. Gentlemen of the Senate, and House of Representatives : I was for some time apprehensive that it would be ne- cessary, on account of the contagious sickness which af- flicted the city of Philadelphia, to convene the national legislature at some other place. This measure it was 40 THE TRCE AMERICAN. desirable to avoid, because it would occasion much public inconvenience, and a considerable public expense, and add to the calamities of the inhabitants of this city, whose sufferings must have excited the sympathy of all their fel- low-citizens ; therefore, after taking measures to ascer- tain the state and decline of the sickness, I postponed my determination, having hopes, now happily realized, that, without hazard to the lives of the members, Con- gress might assemble at this place, where it was by law next to meet. I submit, however, to your consideration, whether a power to postpone the meeting of Congress, without passing the time fixed by the constitution, upon such occasions, would not be a useful amendment to the law of one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. Although I cannot yet congratulate you on the re- establishment of peace in Europe, and the restoration of security to the persons and properties of our citizens from injustice and- violence at sea; we have, nevertheless, abundant cause of gratitude to the Source of benevo- lence and influence, for interior tranquillity and personal security, for propitious seasons, prosperous agriculture, productive fisheries, and general improvements, and, above all, for a rational spirit of civil and religious liber- ty, and a calm but steady determination to support our sovereignty, as well as our moral and religious principles, agairnl all open and secret attacks. Our envoys extraordinary to the French republic em- barked, one in July, the other early in August, to join their colleague in Holland. I have received intelligence of. the arrival of both of them in Holland, from whence they all proceeded on their journey to Paris, within a few days of the 19th of September. Whatever may be the result of this mission, I trust that nothing will have been omitted, on my part, to conduct the negotiation to a suc- cessful conclusion, on such equitable terms as may be compatible with the safety, honor, and interest of the Iniied States. Nothing, in the mean time, will contri- bute so much to the preservation of peace, and the at- tainment of justice, as a manifestation of that energy and unanimity, of which, on many former occasions, the people of the United States have given such memorable ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 41 proofs, and the exertion of those resources for national defence which a beneficent Providence has kindly placed within their power. It may be confidently asserted that nothing has occur- red, since the adjournment of Congress, which renders in- expedient those precautionary measures recommended by me to the consideration of the two houses, at the open- ing of your late extraordinary session. If that system was then prudent, it is more, so now, as increasing depre- dations strengthen the reasons for its adoption. Indeed, whatever may be the issue of the negotiation with France, and whether the war in Europe is, or is not, to continue, I hold it most certain, that permanent tran- quillity and order will not soon be obtained. The state of society has so long been disturbed, the sense of moral and religious obligations so much weakened, public faith and national honor have been so impaired, respect to trea- ties has been so diminished, and the law of nations has lost so much of its force ; while pride, ambition, avarice, and violence, have been so long unrestrained, there re- mains no reasonable ground on which to raise an expec- tation, that a commerce without protection or defence will not be plundered. The commerce of the United States is essential, if not to their existence, at least to their comfort, their growth, prosperity, and happiness. The genius, character, and habits of the people are highly commercial ; their cities have been formed and exist upon commerce ; our agri- culture, fisheries, arts, and manufactures, are connected with and depend upon it. In short, commerce has made this country what it is, and it cannot be destroyed or ne- glected without involving the people in poverty and dis- tress. Great numbers are directly and solely supported by navigation ; the faith of society is pledged for the pre- servation of the rights of commercial and seafaring, no less than of the other citizens. Under this view of our affairs, I should hold myself guilty of a neglect of duty, if I forbore to recommend that we should make every ex- ertion to protect our commerce, and to place our country in a suitable posture of defence, as the only sure means- of preserving both. 4* 42 THE TRUE AMERICAN. I have entertained an expectation that it would have been in my power, at the opening of this session, to have communicated to you the agreeahle information of the due execution of our treaty with his Catholic majesty, respecting the withdrawing of his troops from our terri- tory, and the demarkation of the line of limits ; but, by the latest authentic intelligence, Spanish garrisons were still continued within our country, and the running of the boundary line had not been commenced ; these cir- cumstances are-the more to 'DC regretted, as they cannot fail to affect the Indians in a manner injurious to the Uni- ted States. Still, however, indulging the hope that the answers which have been given will remove the objec- tions offered by the Spanish officers to the immediate execution of the treaty, I have judged it proper that we should continue in readiness to receive the posts, and to run the line of limits,. Further information on this sub- ject will be communicated in the course of the session. In connection with this unpleasant state of things on our western frontier, it is proper for me to mention the attempts of foreign agents to alienate the affections of the Indian nations, and to excite them to actual hostili- ties against the United States; great activity has been exerted by those persons who have insinuated themselves amonjr the Indian tribes residing within the territory of the United States, to influence them to transfer their af- fections and force to a foreign nation, to form them into a confederacy, and prepare them for a war against the L uited States. Although measures have been taken to counteract these infractions of our rights, to prevent Indian hostilities, and to preserve entire their attachment to the United States, it is my duty to observe, that, to give a better effect to these measures, and to obviate the consequences of a repetition of such practices, a law providing adequate punishment for such offences may be necessary. The commissioners appointed under the fifth article of the treaty of amity, commerce and navigation between the United States and Great Britain, to ascertain the river which was truly intended under the name of the river St Croix, mentioned in the treaty of peace, met at Passa. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS. 43 maquoddy Bay, in October, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, and viewed the mouths of the rivers in, question, and adjacent shores on the islands; and being of opinion, that actual surveys of both rivers, to their sources, were necessary, gave to the agents of the two nations instructions for that purpose, and adjourned to meet at Boston, in August. They met ; but the surveys requiring more time than had been supposed, and not being then completed, the commissioners again adjourned to meet at Providence, in the state of Rhode Island, in June next, when we may expect a final examination and decision. The commissioners appointed in pursuance of the sixth article of the treaty, met at Philadelphia, in May last, to examine the claims of British subjects for debts contract- ed before the peace, and still remaining due to them from citizens or inhabitants of the United States. Various causes have hitherto prevented any determinations ; but the business is now resumed, and doubtless will be prose- cuted without interruption. Several decisions on the claims of the citizens of the United States for losses and damages sustained by reason of irregular and illegal captures or condemnations of their vessels or other property, have been made by the commissioners in London, conformably to the seventh article of the treaty. The sums awarded by the commis- sioners have been paid by the British government ; a con- siderable number of other claims, where costs and dama- ges, and not captured property, were the only objects in question, have been decided by arbitration, and the sums awarded to the citizens of the United States have also been paid. The commissioners appointed, agreeably to the twenty- first article of our treaty with Spain, met at Philadelphia, in the summer past, to examine and decide on the claims of our citizens for losses they have sustained in conse- quence of their vessels and cargoes having been taken by the subjects of his CathoKc majesty, during the late war between Spain and France. Their sittings have been interrupted, but are now resumed. The United States, being obligated to make compensa-* 44 THE TftUE AMERICAN. tion for the losses and damages sustained by British sub- jects, upon the award of the commissioners acting under the sixth article of the treaty with Great Britain, and for the losses and damages sustained by British subjects, by rea- son of the capture of their vessels and merchandise, taken within the limits and jurisdiction of the United State?, and brought into their ports, or taken by vessels origi- nally armed in ports of the United States, upon the awards of the commissioners, acting under the seventh article of the same treaty ; it is necessary that provision be made for fulfilling these obligations. The numerous captures of American vessels by the cruisers of the French republic, and of some of those of Spain, have occasioned considerable expenses in making and supporting the claims of our citizens before their tribunals. The sums required for this purpose have, in divers instances, been disbursed by the consuls of the United States. By means of the same captures, great numbers of our seamen have been thrown ashore in for- eign countries, destitute of all means of subsistence, and the sick, in particular, have been exposed to grievous suf- ferings. The consuls have, in these cases also, advanced money for their relief; for these advances they reasonably expect reimbursements from the United States. The consular act, relative to seamen, requires revision and amendment ; the provisions for their support in for- eign countries, and for their return, are found to be inad- equate and ineffectual. Another provision seems neces- sary to be added to the consular act; some foreign ves- sels have been discovered sailing under the flag of the United States, and with forged papers ; it seldom happens that the consuls can detect this deception, because they have no authority to demand an inspection of the regis- ters and sea-letters. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : It is my duty to recommend to your serious considera- tion those objects, which, by the constitution, are placed particularly within your sphere, the national debts and taxes. Since the decay of the feudal system, by which the JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 45 public defence was provided for chiefly at the expense of individuals, the system of loans has been introduced ; and as no nation can raise within the year, by taxes, sufficient sums for the defence and military operations in time of war, the sums loaned and debts contracted have necessa- rily become the subjects of what have been called fund- ing systems. The consequences arising from the contin- ual accumulation of public debts in other countries, ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in our own. The national defence must be provided for, as well as the support of government ; but both should be accomplished, as much as possible, by immediate taxes, and as little as possible by loans. The estimates for the service of the ensuing year will, by my direction, be laid before you. Gentlemen of the Senate, and House of Representatives : We are met together at a most interesting period. The situations of the principal powers of Europe are singular and portentous. Connected with some by treaties, and with all by commerce, no important event there can be indifferent to us. Such circumstances call with peculiar importunity, not less for a disposition to unite in all those measures on which the honor, safety, and prosperity of our country depend, than for all the exertions of wisdom and firmness. In all such measures, you may rely on my zealous and hearty concurrence. JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1801, Friends and Fellow-Citizens : Called upon to undertake the duties of the first execu- tive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here as- sembled, to express my grateful thanks for the favor with 46 THE TRUE AMERICAN. which they have been pleased to look towards roe, to de- clare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and aw- ful presentiments, which the greatness of the charge, and the weakness of my powers, so justly inspire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry, en- gaged in commerce with nations who feel power and for- get right, advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye ; when I contemplate these transcendent objects, and see the honor, the happiness, and the hopes of this beloved country committed to the issue and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the contemplation, and humble myself before the magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly indeed should I despair, did not the presence of many whom I here see remind me that, in the other high authorities provided by our constitution, I shall find re- sources of wisdom, of virtue, and of zeal, on which to rely under all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I look with encourage- ment for that guidance and support which may enable us to steer with safety the vessel in which we are all em- oarked, amid the conflicting elements of a troubled world. During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of discussion and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on stran- gers unused to think freely, and to speak and to write what they think ; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the constitution, all will of course arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All too will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reason- able ; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate, would be oppres- sion. Let us then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection, without which liberty, and even life itself, are but dreary things. And let us reflect, that, JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 47 having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little, if we countenance a political intole- rance, as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of in- furiated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore ; that this should be more felt and feared by some, and less by others; that this should divide opinions as to measures of safety ; but every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all repub- licans ; we are all federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monu- ments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it. I know indeed that some honest men fear that a republican gov- ernment cannot be strong ; that this government is not strong enough. But would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm, on the theoretic and vis- ionary fear that this government, the world's best hope, may, by possibility, want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the laws, would fly to the stan- dard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of him- self. Can he then be trusted with the government of others ; or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question. Let us then, with courage and confidence, pursue our own federal and republican principles, our attachment to our union and representative government. Kindly sepa- rated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe ; too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others ; possessing a 48 THE TRUE AMERICAN. chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation : entertain- ing a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, but from our actions and their sense of them ; en- lightened by a benign religion, professed indeed and practised in various forms, yet all of them including honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man, acknowledging and adoring an overruling Provi- dence, which, by all its dispensations, proves that it de- lights in the happiness of man here, nnd his greater hap- piness hereafter ; with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people ? Still one thing more, fellow-citizens a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is neces- sary to close the circle of our felicities. About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend every thing dear and valuable to you, it is proper that you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our government, and consequently those which ought to shape its administra- tion. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the 'general principles, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political : peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entan- gling alliances with none ; the support of the state govern- ments in all their rights, as the most competent adminis- trations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies ; the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad ; a jealous care of the right of election by the people; a mild and safe corrective of abuses, which are lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 49 decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism ; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them ; the supremacy ot the civil over the military authority ; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened; the honest payment of our debts, and sacred preservation of the public faith ; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information, and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason ; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press ; and freedom of person, under the protection of the habeas corpus ; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment : they should be the creed of our political faith ; the text of civil in- struction ; the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust ; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps, and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety. I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have assigned me. With experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this, the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it. With- out pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and great revolutionary character, whose pre- eminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country's love, and destined for him the fairest page in the volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal admin- istration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment. When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground. I ask your indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional ; and your sup 5 50 THE TRUE AMERICAN. port against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not, if seen in all its parts. The approbation implied by your suffrage is a consolation to me for the past ; and my future solicitude will be, to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power, and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all. Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choices it is in your power to make. And may that infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe, lead our coun- cils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity. DECEMBER 8, 1801. SIR : The circumstances under which we find our- selves at this place rendering inconvenient the mode heretofore practised, of making by personal address the first communication between the legislative and executive branches, I have adopted that by message, as used on all subsequent occasions through the session. In doing this, I have had principal regard to the inconvenience of the legislature, to the economy of their time, to their relief from the embarrassment of immediate answers on subjects not yet fully before them, and to the benefits thence re- sulting to the public affairs. Trusting that a procedure founded in these motives will meet their approbation, I beg leave, through you, sir, to communicate the enclosed message, with the documents accompanying it, to the honorable the Senate, and pray you to accept, for your- self and them, the homage of my high respect and con- sideration. THOMAS JEFFERSON. The Hon. the PRESIDENT or THE SENATE. JEFERSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 51 JEFFERSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 8, 1801. Fdlmo-Cltizr.ns of the Senate, and House of Representatives : It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that, on meeting the great council of our nation, I am able to announce to them, on grounds of reasonable certainty, that the wars and troubles which have for so many years afflicted our sister-nations, have at length come to an end, and that the communications of peace and commerce are once more opening among them. Whilst we devoutly return thanks to the beneficent Being who has been pleased to breathe into them the spirit of conciliation and forgiveness, we are bound, with peculiar gratitude, to be thankful to him that our own peace has been preserved through so perilous a season, and ourselves permitted quietly to cultivate the earth, and to practise and improve those arts which tend to increase our comforts. The assurances, indeed, of friendly disposition, received from all the powers with whom we have principal relations, had inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not have been disturbed. But a cessation of irregularities which had affected the commerce of neutral nations, and of the irritations and injuries produced by them, cannot but add to this confidence, and strengthens, at the same time, the hope that wrongs committed on unoffending friends, under a pressure of circumstances, will now be reviewed with candor, and will be considered as founding just claims of retribution for the past, and new assurances for the future. Among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace and friendship generally prevails ; and I am happy to inform you that the continued efforts to introduce among them the implements and the practice of husbandry and of the household arts, have not been without success ; that they are becoming more and more sensible of the superiority of this dependence for clothing and subsist- ence, over the precarious resources of hunting and fish- 62 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ing ; and already we are able to announce that, instead of that constant diminution of their numbers, produced by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to experience an increase of population. To this state of general peace with which we have been blessed, one only exception exists. Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary states, had come forward with demands unfounded either in right or in compact, and had permitted itself to denounce war, on our failure to comply before a given day. The style of the demand ad- mitted but one answer. I sent a small squadron of frigates into the Mediterranean, with assurances to that power of our sincere desire to remain in peace; but with orders to protect our commerce against the threatened attack. The measure was seasonable and salutary. The Bey had already declared war. His cruisers were out. Two had arrived at Gibraltar. Our commerce in the Mediterranean was blockaded, and that of the Atlantic in peril. The arrival of our squadron dispelled the danger. One of the Tripolitan cruisers, having fallen in with and engaged the small schooner Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant Sterret, which had gone as a tender to our larger vessels, was captured, after a heavy slaughter of her men, with- out the loss of a single one on our part. The bravery exhibited by our citizens on that element will, I trust, be a testimony to the world that it is not the want of that virtue which makes us seek their peace, but a conscien- tious desire to direct the energies of our nation to the multiplication of the human race, and not to its destruc- tion. Unauthorized by the constitution, without the tion of Congress, to go beyond the line of defence, the vessel, being disabled from committing further hosti- lities, was liberated with its crew. The legislature will doubtless consider whether, by authorizing measures of ortrnce also, they will place our force on an equal footing with that of its adversaries. I communicate all material information on this subject, that, in the exercise of this important function confided by the constitution to the It in-lature exclusively, their judgment may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every circumstance of weight. JEFFERSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 53 I wish I could say that our situation with all the other Barbary states was entirely satisfactory. Discovering that some delays had taken place in the performance of certain articles stipulated by us, I thought it my duty, by immediate measures for fulfilling them, to vindicate to ourselves the right of considering the effect of departure from stipulation on their side. From the papers which will be laid before you, you will be enabled to judge whe- ther our treaties are regarded by them as fixing at all the measure of their demands, or as guarding from the exer- cise of force our vessels within their power ; and to con- sider how far it will be safe and expedient to leave our affairs with them in their present posture. I lay before you the result of the census lately taken of our inhabitants, to a conformity with which we are now to reduce the ensuing ratio of representation and taxation. You will perceive that the increase of num- bers, during the last ten years, proceeding in geometrical ratio, promises a duplication in little more than twenty- two years. We contemplate this rapid growth, and the prospect it holds up to us, not with a view to the injuries it may enable us to do to others in some future day, but to the settlement of the extensive country still remaining vacant within our limits, to the multiplication of men susceptible of happiness, educated in the love of order, habituated to self-government, and valuing its blessings above all price. Other circumstances, combined with the increase of numbers, have produced an augmentation of revenue arising from consumption, in a ratio far beyond that of population alone ; and, though the changes of foreign relations now taking place, so desirable for the world, may for a season affect this branch of revenue, yet, weigh- ing all probabilities of expense, as well as of income, there is reasonable ground of confidence that we may now safely dispense with all the internal taxes compre- hending excise, stamps, auctions, licenses, carriages, and refined sugars ; to which the postage on newspapers may be added, to facilitate the progress of information ; and that the remaining sources of revenue will be sufficient to provide for the support of government, to pay the inte-> D 54 THE TRUE AMERICAN. rest of the public debts, and to discharge the principals within shorter periods than the laws of the general expect- ation had contemplated. War, indeed, and untoward events, may change this prospect of things, and call for expenses which the imposts could not meet. But sound principles will not justify our taxing the industry of our fellow-citizens to accumulate treasure for wars to happen we know not when, and which might not perhaps happen, but from the temptations offered by that treasure. These views, however, of reducing our burdens, are formed on the expectation that a sensible, and, at the same time, a salutary reduction may take place in our habitual expenditures. For this purpose, those of the civil government, the army, and navy, will need revisal. When we consider that this government is charged with the external arid mutual relations only of these states ; that the states themselves have principal care of our per- sons, our property, and our reputation, constituting the great field of human concerns, we may well doubt whe- ther our organization is not too complicated, too expen- sive ; whether offices and officers have not been multiplied unnecessarily, and sometimes injuriously to the service they were meant to promote. I will cause to be laid before you an essay towards a statement of those who, under public employment of various kinds, draw money from the treasury, or from our citizens. Time has not permitted a perfect enumeration, the ramifications of office being too multiplied and remote to be completely traced in a first trial. Among those who are dependent on executive discretion, I have begun the reduction of what was deemed necessary. The expenses of diplomatic agency have been considerably diminished. The inspect- ors of internal revenue, who were found to obstruct the accountability of the institution, have been discontinued. Several agencies, created by executive authority, on sala- ries fixed by that also, have been suppressed, and should suggest the expediency of regulating that power by law, so as to subject its exercises to legislative inspection and sanction. Other reformations of the same kind will be pursued with that caution which is requisite, in removing useless things, not to injure what is retained. But the JEFFERSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. So great mass of public offices is established by law, and therefore by law alone can be abolished. Should the le- gislature think it expedient to pass this roll in review, aoid try all its parts by the test of public utility, they may be assured of every aid and light which executive informa*- tion can yield. Considering the general tendency to multiply offices and dependencies, and to increase expense to the ultimate term of burden which the citizen can bear, it behoves us to avail ourselves of every occasion which presents itself for taking off the surcharge; that it never may be seen here that, after leaving to labor the smallest portion of its earnings on which it can subsist, government shall itself consume the whole residue of what it was instituted to guard. In our care, too, of the public contributions intrusted to our direction, it would be prudent to multiply barriers against their dissipation, by appropriating specific sums to every specific purpose susceptible of definition ; by disallowing all applications of money varying from the appropriation in object, or transcending it in amount ; by reducing the undefined field of contingencies, and thereby circumscribing discretionary powers over money ; and by bringing back to a single department all accountabili- ties for money, where the examinations may be prompt > efficacious, and uniform. An account of the receipts and expenditures of the last year, as prepared by the Secretary of the Treasury, will, as usual, be laid before you. The success which has at- tended the late sales of the public lands shows that, with attention, they may be made an important source of re- ceipt. Among the payments, those made in discharge of the principal and interest of the national debt, will show that the public faith has been exactly maintained. To these will be added an estimate of appropriations neces- sary for the ensuing year. This last will, of course, be effected by such modifications of the system of expense as you shall think proper to adopt. A statement has been formed by the Secretary of War, on mature consideration, of all the posts and stations where garrisons will be expedient, and of the number of men requisite for "each garrison. The whole amount i& 56 THE TRUE AMERICAN. considerably short of the present military establishment. For the surplus no particular use can be pointed out. For defence against invasion their number is as nothing ; nor is it conceived needful or safe that a standing army should be kept up in time of peace for that purpose. Uncertain as we must ever be of the particular point in our circumference where an enemy may choose to invade us, the only force which can be ready at every point, and competent to oppose them, is the body of neighboring citizens as formed into a militia. On these, collected from the parts most convenient, in numbers proportioned to the invading foe, it is best to rely, not only to meet the first attack, but, if it threatens to be permanent, to main- tain the defence until regulars may be engaged to relieve them. These considerations render it important that we should, at every session, continue to amend the defects which from time to time show themselves in the laws for regulating the militia, until they are sufficiently perfect ; nor should we now or at any time separate until we can say we have done every thing for the militia which we could do were an enemy at our door. The provision of military stores on hand will be laid before you, that you may judge of the additions still re- quisite. AVith respect to the extent to which our naval prepara- tions should be carried, some difference of opinion may be expected to appear ; but just attention to the circum- stances of every part of the Union will doubtless recon- cile all. A small force will probably continue to be want- ed for actual service in the Mediterranean. AVhatever annual sum beyond that you may think proper to appro- priate for naval preparations, would perhaps be better employed in providing those articles which may be kept without waste or consumption, and be in readiness when any exigency calls them into use. Progress has been made, as will appear by papers now communicated, in providing materials for seventy-four gun ships as directed by law. How far the authority given by the legislature for pro- curing and establishing sites for naval purposes has been perfectly understood and pursued in the execution, admits JEFFERSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 57 of some doubt. A statement of the expenses already in- curred on that subject is now laid before you. I have, in certain cases, suspended or slackened these expenditures, that the legislature might determine whether so many yards are necessary as have been contemplated. The works at this place are among those permitted to go on ; and five of the seven frigates directed to be laid up, have been brought and laid up here, where, besides the safety of their position, they are under the eye of the executive administration, as well as of its agents, and where your- selves also will be guided by your own view in the legis- lative provisions respecting them which may from time to time be necessary. They are preserved in such condi- tion, as well the vessels as whatever belongs to them, as to be at all times ready for sea on a short warning. Two others are yet to be laid up so soon as they shall have re- ceived the repairs requisite to put them also into sound condition. As a superintending officer will be necessary at each yard, his duties and emoluments, hitherto fixed by the executive, will be a more proper subject for legisla- tion. A communication will also be made of our pro- gress in the execution of the law respecting the vessels directed to be sold. The fortifications of our harbors, more or less ad- vanced, present considerations of great difficulty. While some of them are on a scale sufficiently proportioned to the advantages of their position, to the efficacy of their protection, and the importance of the points within it, others are so extensive, will cost so much in their first erection, so much in their maintenance, and require such a force to garrison them, as to make it questionable what is best now to be done. A statement of those commenced or projected, of the expenses already incurred, and esti- mates of their future cost, so far as can be foreseen, shall be laid before you, that you may be enabled to judge whether any attention is necessary in the laws respecting this subject. Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the four pillars of our prosperity, are then most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise. Protection from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be 58 THE TRUE AMERICAN. seasonably interposed. If, in the course of your observa- tions or inquiries, they should appear to need any aid within the limits of our constitutional powers, your sense of their importance is a sufficient assurance they will oc- cupy your attention. We cannot, indeed, but all feel an anxious solicitude for the difficulties under which our car- rying trade will soon be placed. How far it can be re- lieved, otherwise than by time, is a subject of important consideration. The judiciary system of the United States, and espe- cially that portion of it recently erected, will of course present itself to the contemplation of Congress ; and that they may be able to judge of the proportion which the institution bears to the business it has to perform, I have caused to be procured from the several states, and now lay before Congress, an exact statement of all the causes decided since the first establishment of the courts, and of those which were depending when additional courts and judges were brought in to their aid. And while on the judiciary organization, it will be worthy your consideration, whether the protection of the inestimable institution of juries has been extended to all the cases involving the security of our persons and pro- perty. Their impartial selection also being essential to their value, we ought further to consider whether that is sufficiently secured in those states where they are named by a marshal depending on executive will, or designated by the court, or by officers dependent on them. I cannot omit recommending a revisal of the laws on the subject of naturalization. Considering the ordinary chances of human life, a denial of citizenship under a residence of fourteen years, is a denial to a great propor- tion of those who ask it ; and controls a policy pursued, from their first settlement, by many of these states, and still believed of consequence to their prosperity. And shall we refuse the unhappy fugitives from distress that hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended to our fathers arriving in this land? Shall oppressed hu- manity find no asylum on this globe ? The constitution, indeed, has wisely provided that, for admission to certain offices of important trust, a residence shall be required JEFFERSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 50 sufficient to develop character and design. But might not the general character and capabilities of a citizen be safely communicated to every one manifesting a bona fide purpose of embarking his life and fortunes permanently with us 1 with restrictions, perhaps, to guard against frau- dulent usurpation of our flag ; an abuse which brings so much embarrassment and loss on the genuine citizen, and so much danger to the nation of being involved in war, that no endeavor should be spared to detect and suppress it. These, fellow-citizens, are the matters respecting the state of the nation which I have thought of importance to be submitted to your consideration at this time. Some others of less moment, or not yet ready for communica- tion, will be the subject of separate messages. I am hap- py in this opportunity of committing the arduous affairs of our government to the collected wisdom of the Union. Nothing shall be wanting on my part to inform, as far as in my power, the legislative judgment, nor to carry that judgment into faithful execution. The prudence and temperance of your discussions will promote, within your own walls, that conciliation which so much befriends rational conclusion ; and by its example will encourage among our constituents that progress of opinion which is tending to unite them in object and will. That all should be satisfied with any one order of things is not to be ex- pected ; but I indulge the pleasing persuasion that the great body of our citizens will cordially concur in honest and disinterested efforts, which have for their object to preserve the general and state governments in their con- stitutional form and equilibrium ; to maintain peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at home ; to establish principles and practices of administration favor- able to the security of liberty and property, and to reduce expenses to what is necessary for the useful purposes of government. 60 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ' MADISON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1809. UnwiUing to depart from examples of the most revered authority, I avail myself of the occasion now presented, to express the profound impression made on me by the call of my country to the station, to the duties of which I am about to pledge myself by the most solemn of sanc- tions. So distinguished a mark of confidence, proceed- ing from the deliberate and tranquil suffrage of a free and virtuous nation, would, under any circumstances, have commanded my gratitude and devotion, as well as filled me with an awful sense of the trust to be assumed. Un- der the various circumstances which give peculiar solem- nity to the existing period, I feel that both the honor and the responsibility allotted to me are inexpressibly en- hanced. The present situation of the world is indeed without a parallel ; and that of our own country full of difficulties. The pressure of these too is the more severely felt, be- cause they have fallen upon us at a moment when the na- tional prosperity being at a height not before attained, the contrast resulting from the change has been rendered the more striking. Under the benign influence of our republican institutions, and the maintenance of peace with all nations, whilst so many of them were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just policy were enjoyed in an unrivalled growth of our faculties and re- sources. Proofs of this were seen in the improvements of agriculture ; in the successful enterprises of commerce ; in the progress of manufactures and useful arts ; in the increase of the public revenue, and the use made of it in reducing the public debt; and in the valuable works and establishments every where multiplying over the face of our land. It is a precious reflection that the transition from this prosperous condition of our country, to the scene which has for some time been distressing us, is not chargeable on any unwarrantable views, nor, as I trust, on any invol- MADISON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 61 untary errors in the public councils. Indulging no pas- sions which trespass on the rights or repose of other na- tions, it has been the true glory of the United States to cultivate peace by observing justice ; and to entitle them- selves to the respect of the nations at war, by fulfilling their neutral obligations with the most scrupulous impar- tiality. If there be candor in the world, the truth of these assertions will not be questioned ; posterity, at least, will do justice to them. This unexceptionable course could not avail against the injustice and violence of the belligerent powers^ In their rage against each other, or impelled by more direct motives, principles of retaliation have been introduced, equally contrary to universal reason and acknowledged law. How long their arbitrary edicts will be continued, in spite of the demonstrations that not even a pretext for them has been given by the United States, and of the fair and liberal attempt to induce a revocation of them, can- not be anticipated. Assuring myself that, under every vicissitude, the determined spirit and united councils of the nation will be safeguards to its honor and its essential interests, I repair to the post assigned me with no other discouragement than what springs from my own inade- quacy to its high duties. If I do not sink under the weight of this deep conviction, it is because I find some support in a consciousness of the purposes, and a confi- dence in the principles, which I bring with me into this arduous service. To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all na- tions having correspondent dispositions ; to maintain sin- cere neutrality towards belligerent nations ; to prefer in all cases amicable discussion and reasonable accommoda- tion of differences to a decision of them by an appeal to arms ; to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partiali- ties, so degrading to all countries, and so baneful to free ones ; to foster a spirit of independence, too just to in- vade the rights of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves, and too elevated not to look down upon them in others ; to hold the union of the states as the basis of their peace and happiness ; to support the constitution, which is the 6 (V2 THE TRUE AMERICAN. cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities ; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the states and to the people, as equally incorporated with, and essential to the success of, the general system ; to avoid the slightest interference with the rights of con- science or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction ; to preserve, in their full energy, the other salutary provisions in behalf of private and per- sonal rights, and of the freedom of the press ; to observe economy in public expenditures ; to liberate the public resources by an honorable discharge of the public debts; to keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe ; to promote, by authorized means, improvements friendly to agriculture, to manufactures, and to external as well as internal commerce ; to favor, in like manner, the advancement of science and the diffu- sion of information as the best aliment to true liberty ; to carry on the benevolent plans which have been so merito- riously applied to the conversion of our aboriginal neigh- bors from the degradation and wretchedness of savage life, to a participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state : as far as sentiments and intentions such as these can aid the fulfilment of my duty, they will be a resource which cannot fail me. It is my good fortune, moreover, to have the path in which I am to tread, lighted by examples of illustrious services, successfully rendered in the most trying difficul- ties, by those who have marched before me. Of those of my immediate predecessor it might least become me here to speak. I may, however, be pardoned for not sup- pressing the sympathy with which my heart is full, in the rich reward he enjoys in the benedictions of a beloved country, gratefully bestowed for exalted talents, zealously devoted, through a long career, to the advancement of its highest interest and happiness. But the source to which I look for the aids which alone can supply my deficiencies, is in the well-tried intelligence MADISON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 63 and virtue of my fellow-citizens, and in the counsels of those representing them in the best other departments associated in the care of the national interests. In these my confidence will under every difficulty be placed, next to that in which we have all been encouraged to feel in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being whose power regulates the destiny of nations, whose bless- ings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising republic, and to whom we are bound to address our de- vout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent suppli- cations and best hopes for the future. MADISON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, NOVEMBER 29, 1809. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and House of Representatives : At the period of our last meeting, I had the satisfac- tion of communicating an adjustment with one of the principal belligerent nations, jsighly important in itself, and still more so, as presaging a more extended accom- modation. It is with deep concern I am now to inform you, that the favorable prospect has been overclouded by a refusal of the British government to abide by the act of its minister plenipotentiary, and by its ensuing policy towards the United States, as seen through the communi- cations of the minister sent to replace him. Whatever pleas may be urged for a disavowal of en- gagements formed by diplomatic functionaries, in cases where, by the terms of the engagements, a mutual ratifi- cation is reserved ; or where notice at the time may have been given of a departure from instructions ; or in extra- ordinary cases, essentially violating the principles of equi- ty : a disavowal could not have been apprehended in a case where no such notice or violation existed ; where no such ratification was reserved ; and, more especially, 64 THE TRUE AMERICAN. where, as is now in proof, an engagement, to be executed without sny such ratification, was contemplated by the instructions given, and where it had, with good faith, been carried into immediate execution on the part of the Uni- ted States. These considerations not having restrained the British government from disavowing the arrangement, by virtue of which ils orders in council were to be revoked, and the event authorizing the renewal of commercial inter- course having thus not taken place, it necessarily became a question of equal urgency and importance, whether the act prohibiting that intercourse was not to be considered as remaining in legal force. This question being, after due deliberation, determined in the affirmative, a procla- mation to that effect was issued. It could not but hap- pen, however, that a return to this state of things, from that which had followed an execution of the arrangement by the United States, would involve difficulties. With a view to diminish these as much as possible, the instruc- tions from the Secretary of the Treasury, now laid before you, were transmitted to the collectors of the several ports. If, in permitting British vessels to depart without giving bonds not to proceed to their own ports, it should appear that the tenor of legal authority has not been strictly pursued, it is to be ascribed to the anxious desire which was felt that no individuals should be injured by so unforeseen an occurrence : and I rely on the regard of Congress for the equitable interests of our own citizens, to adopt whatever further provisions may be found requi- site for a general remission of penalties involuntarily in- curred. ^The recall of the disavowed minister having been fol- lowed by the appointment of a successor, hopes were indulged that the new mission would contribute to allevi- ate tho disappointment which had been produced, and to remove the causes which had so long embarrassed the good understanding of the two nations. It could not be doubted, that it would at least be charged with concilia- tory explanations of the steps which had been taken, and with proposals to be substituted for the rejected arrange- ment. Reasonable and universal as this expectation was, MADISON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 65 it also has not been fulfilled. From the first official dis- closures of the new minister, it was found that he had re- ceived no authority to enter into explanations relative to either branch of the arrangement disavowed, nor any au- thority to substitute proposals, as to that branch which concerned the British orders in council. And finally, that his proposals with respect to the other branch, the attack on the frigate Chesapeake, were founded on a pre- sumption, repeatedly declared to be inadmissible by the United States, that the first step towards adjustment was due from them ; the proposals, at the same time, omitting even a reference to the officer answerable for the murder- ous aggression, and asserting a claim not less contrary to the British laws and British practice, than to the princi- ples and obligations of the United States. The correspondence between the Department of State and this minister will show how unessentially the features presented in its commencement have been varied in its progress. It will show, also, that, forgetting the respect due to all governments, he did not refrain from imputa- tions on this, which required that no further communica- tions should be received from him. The necessity of this step will be made known to his Britannic majesty, through the minister plenipotentiary of the United States in Lon- don. And it would indicate a want of the confidence due to a government which so well understands and ex- acts what becomes foreign ministers near it, not to infer that the misconduct of its own representative will be viewed in the same light in which it has been regarded here. The British government will learn, at the same time, that a ready attention will be given to communica- tions, through any channel which may be substituted. It will be happy, if the change in this respect should be accompanied by a favorable revision of the unfriendly policy which has been so long pursued towards the United States. With France, the other belligerent, whose trespasses on our commercial rights have long been the subject of our just remonstrances, the posture of our relations does not correspond with the measures taken on the part of the United States to effect a favorable change. The re* 6 66 THE TRUE AMERICAN. Mih of the several communications made to her govern- ment, in pursuance of the authorities vested by Congress in the executive, is contained in the correspondence of our minister at Paris now laid before you. By some of the other belligerents, although professing just and amicable dispositions, injuries materially affect- ing our commerce have not been duly controlled or re- pressed. In these cases, the interpositions deemed proper on our part have not been omitted. But it well deserves the consideration of the legislature, how far both the safe- ty and honor of the American flag may be consulted, by adequate provision against that collusive prostitution of it by individuals, unworthy of the American name, which has so much favored the real or pretended suspicions, un- der which the honest commerce of their fellow-citizens has suffered. In relation to the powers on the coast of Barbary, noth- ing has occurred which is not of a nature rather to in- spire confidence than distrust, as to the continuance of the existing amity. With our Indian neighbors, the just and benevolent system continued towards them, has also preserved peace, and is more and more advancing habits favorable to their civilization and happiness. From a statement which will be made by the Secretary of War, it will be seen that the fortifications on our mari- time frontier are in many of the ports completed, affording the defence which was contemplated ; and that a further time will be required to render complete the works in the harbor of New York, and in some other places. By the nlargement of the works, and the employment of a great- er number of hands at the public armories, the supply of Mil arms, of an improving quality, appears to be annu- ally increasing at a rate that, with those made on private contract, may be expected to go far towards providing for the public exigency. The act of Congress providing for the equipment of our vessels of war having been fully carried into execu- tion, I refer to the statement of the Secretary of the Navy for the information which may be proper on that subject. To that statement is added a view of the trans- fers of appropriations, authorized by the act of the sea- MADISON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 67 sion preceding the last, and of the grounds on which the- transfers were made. Whatever may be the course of your deliberations on the subject of our military establishments, I should fait in my duty in not recommending to your serious atten- tion the importance of giving to our militia, the great bulwark of our security and resource of our power, an. organization the best adapted to eventual situations, for which the United States ought to be prepared. The sums which had been previously accumulated in the treasury, together with the receipts during the year ending on the 30th of September last, (and amounting to more than nine millions of dollars,) have enabled us to fulfil all our engagements, and to defray the current expenses of government, without recurring to any loan. But the insecurity of our commerce, and the consequent diminution of the public revenue, will probably produce a deficiency in the receipts of the ensuing year, for which, and for other details, I refer to the statements which will be transmitted from the treasury. In the state which has been presented of our affairs with the great parties to a disastrous and protracted war, carried on in a mode equally injurious and unjust to the United States as a neutral nation, the wisdom of the na- tional legislature will be again summoned to the import- ant decision on the alternatives before them. That these will be met in a spirit worthy the councils of a nation- conscious both of its rectitude and of its rights, and careful as well of its honor as of its peace, I have an en- tire confidence. And that the result will be stamped by a unanimity becoming the occasion, and be supported by every portion of our citizens, with a patriotism enlight ened and invigorated by experience, ought as little to be doubted. In the midst of the wrongs and vexations experienced from external causes, there is much room for congratula- tion on the prosperity and happiness flowing from our sit- uation at home. The blessing of health has never been more universal. The fruits of the seasons, though in particular articles and districts short of their usual redun- dancy, are more than sufficient for our wants and our conv 68 THE TRUE AMERICAN. forts. The face of our country every where presents the evidence of laudable enterprise, of extensive capital, and of durable improvement. In the cultivation of the mate- rials, and the extension of useful manufactures, more espe- cially in^the general application to household fabrics, we behold a rapid diminution of our dependence on foreign supplies. Nor is it unworthy of reflection, that this revo- lution in our pursuits and habits is in no slight degree a consequence of those impolitic and arbitrary edicts, by which the contending nations, in endeavoring each of them to obstruct our trade with the other, have so far abridged our means of procuring the productions and manufactures, of which our own are now taking the place. Recollecting always, that, for every advantage which may contribute to distinguish our lot from that to which others are doomed by the unhappy spirit of the times, we are indebted to that Divine Providence whose goodness has been so remarkably extended to this rising nation, it becomes us to cherish a devout gratitude, and to implore from the same Omnipotent Source a blessing on the con- sultations and measures about to be undertaken for the welfare of our beloved country. MONROE'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 5, 1817. I SHOULD be destitute of feeling if I was not deeply af- fected by the strong proof which my fellow-citizens have given me of their confidence, in calling me to the high office, whose functions I am about to assume. As the expression of their good opinion of my conduct in the public service, I derive from it a gratification, which those who are conscious of having done all that they could do to merit it, can alone feel. My sensibility is increased by a just estimate of the importance of the trust, and of the nature and extent of its duties ; with the proper discharge of which the highest interests of a great and free people MONROE'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 69 are intimately connected. Conscious of my own deficiency, I cannot enter on these duties without great anxiety for the result. From a just responsibility I will never shrink ; cal- culating with confidence, that in my best efforts to promote the public welfare, my motives will always be duly appre- ciated, and my conduct be viewed with that candor and indulgence which I have experienced in other stations. In commencing the duties of the chief executive office, it has been the practice of the distinguished men who have gone before me, to explain the principles which would govern them in their respective administrations. In fol- lowing their venerated example, my attention is naturally drawn to the great causes which have contributed, in a prin- cipal degree, to produce the present happy condition of the United States. They will best explain the nature of our duties, and shed much light on the policy which ought to be pursued in future. From the commencement of our revolution to the pre- sent day, almost forty years have elapsed, and from the establishment of this constitution, twenty-eight. Through this whole term, the government has been what may em- phatically be called, self-government : and what has been the effect '? To whatever object we turn our attention, whether it relates to our foreign or domestic concerns, we find abundant cause to felicitate ourselves in the excellence of our institutions. During a period fraught with difficul- ties, and marked by very extraordinary events, the United States have flourished beyond example. Their citizens, individually, have been happy, and the nation prosperous. Under this constitution our commerce has been wisely regulated with foreign nations, and between the states ; new states have been admitted into our Union ; our terri- tory has been enlarged by fair and honorable treaty, and with great advantage to the original states ; the states re- spectively protected by the national government, under a mild paternal system, against foreign dangers, and enjoy- ing within their separate spheres, by a wise partition of power, a just proportion of the sovereignty, have improv- ed their police, extended their settlements, and attained a strength and maturity which are the best proofs of whole- some laws well administered. And if we look to the 70 THE TRUE AMERICAN. condition of individuals, what a proud spectacle does it exhibit? On whom has oppression fallen in any quarter of our Union ? Who has been deprived of any right of person or property ? Who restrained from offering his vows, in the mode which he prefers, to the Divine Author of his being? It is well known that all these blessings have been enjoyed in their fullest extent; and I add, with peculiar satisfaction, that there has been no example of a capital punishment being inflicted on any one for the crime of high treason. Some who might admit the competency of our govern- ment to these beneficent duties, might doubt it in trials which put to the test its strength and efficiency as a mem- ber of the great community of nations. Here, too, ex- perience has afforded us the most satisfactory proof in its favor. Just as this constitution was put into action, sev- eral of the principal states of Europe had become much agitated, and some of them seriously convulsed. Destruc- tive wars ensued, which have of late only been termina- ted. In the course of these conflicts, the United States received great injury from several of the parties. It was their interest to stand aloof from the contest, to demand justice irom the party committing the injury, and to cul- tivate by a fair and honorable conduct, the friendship of all. War became at length inevitable, and the result has shown that our government is equal to that, the greatest of trials under the most unfavorable circumstances. Of the virtue of the people, and of the heroic exploits of the army, the navy, and the militia, I need not speak. Such, then, is the happy government under which we live; a government adequate to every purpose for which the social compact is formed ; a government elective in all its branches, under which every citizen may, by his merit, obtain the highest trust recognized by the con- stitution ; which contains within it no cause of discord ; none to put at variance one portion of the community with another ; a government which protects every citizen in the full enjoyment of his rights, and is able to protect the nation against injustice from foreign powers. Other considerations of the highest importance admo- nish us to cherish our union, and to cling to the govern- MONROE'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 71 ment which supports it. Fortunate as we are in our po- litical institutions, we have not been less st> in other cir- cumstances on which our prosperity and happiness essen- tially depend. Situated within the temperate zone, and extending through many degrees of latitude along the Atlantic, the United States enjoy all the varieties of cli- mate, and every production incident to that portion of the globe. Penetrating, internally, to the great lakes and be- yond the resources of the great rivers which communicate through our whole interior, no country was ever happier with respect to its domain. Blessed too with a fertile soil, our produce has always been very abundant, leaving even in years the least favorable, a surplus for the wants of our fellow-men in other countries. Such is our peculiar felicity, that there is not a part of our Union that is not particularly interested in preserving it. The great agri- cultural interest of our nation prospers under its protec- tion. Local interests are not less fostered by it. Our fellow-citizens of the north, engaged in navigation, find great encouragement in being made the favored carriers of the vast productions of the other portions of the Uni- ted States, while the inhabitants of these are amply re- compensed, in their turn, by the nursery for seamen and naval force, thus formed arid reared up for the support of our common rights. Our manufacturers find a generous encouragement by the policy which patronizes domestic industry ; and the surplus of our produce, a steady and pro- fitable market by local wants in less favored parts at home. Such, then, being the highly favored condition of our country, it is the interest of every citizen to maintain it. What are the dangers which menace us 1 If any exist, they ought to be ascertained and guarded against. In explaining my sentiments on this subject, it may be asked, what raised us to the present happy state? How did we accomplish the revolution ? How remedy the defects of the first instrument of our Union, by infusing into the national government sufficient power for national purposes, without impairing the just rights of the states, or affecting those of individuals? How sustain and pass with glory through the late war ? The government has been in the hands of the people. To the 72 THE TRfE AMERICAN. people, therefore, and to the faithful and able depositaries of their trust, is the credit due. Had the people of the United States been educated in different principles, had they been less intelligent, less independent, or less virtu- ous, can it be believed that we should have maintained the same steady and consistent career, or been blessed with the same success ? While then the constituent body retains ils present sound and healthful state, every thing will be safe. They will choose competent and faithful represen- tatives for every department. It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising the sove- reignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing instruments of their own debasement and ruin. Let us then look to the great cause, and endeavor to pre- serve it in full force. Let us by all wise and constitu- tional measures, promote intelligence among the people, as the best means of preserving our liberties. Dangers from abroad are not less deserving of atten- tion. Experiencing the fortune of other nations, the United Stcites may again be involved in war, and it may in that event be the object of the adverse party to over- set our government, to break our union, and demolish us as a nation. Our distance from Europe, and the just, moderate, and pacific policy of our government may form some security against these dangers, but they ought to be anticipated and guarded against. Many of our citizens are engaged in commerce and navigation, and all of them are in a certain degree dependent on their prosperous state. Many are engaged in the fisheries. These inte- rests are exposed to invasion in the wars between other powers, and we should disregard the faithful admonitions of experience if we did not expect it. We must support our rights, or lose our character, and with it, perhaps, our liberties. A people who fail to do it, can scarcely be said to hold a place among independent nations. National honor is national property of the highest value. The sentiment in the mind of every citizen, is national strength. It ought therefore to be cherished. To secure us against these dangers, our coast and MONROE'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 73 inland frontiers should be fortified, our army and navy regulated upon just principles as to the force of each, be kept in perfect order, and our militia be placed on the best practicable footing. To put our extensive coast in such a state of defence as to secure our cities and inte- rior from invasion, will be attended with expense, but the work when finished will be permanent, and it is fair to presume that a single campaign of invasion, by a naval force, superior to our own, aided by a few thousand land troops, would expose us to a greater expense, without taking into the estimate the loss of property and distress of our citizens, than would be sufficient for this great work. Our land and naval forces should be moderate, but adequate to the necessary purposes. The former to garrison and preserve our fortifications, and to meet the first invasions of a foreign foe ; and while constituting the elements of a greater force, to preserve the science, as well as all the necessary implements of war, in a state to be brought into activity in the event of war. The latter, retained within the limits proper in state of peace, might aid in maintaining the neutrality of the United States with dignity, in the wars of other powers, and in saving the property of their citizens from spoliation. In time of war, with the enlargement of which the great naval resources of the country render it susceptible, and which should be duly fostered in time of peace, it would contri- bute essentially, both as an auxiliary of defence and as a powerful engine of annoyance, to diminish the calamities of war, and to bring the war to a speedy and honorable termination. But it ought always to be held prominently in view, that the safety of these states, and of every thing dear to a free people, must depend in an eminent degree on the militia. Invasions may be made too formidable to be re- sisted by any land and naval force, which it would com- port, either with the principles of our government, or the circumstances of the United States to maintain. In such cases, recourse must be had to the great body of the peo- ple, and in .a manner to produce the best effect. It is of the highest importance, therefore, that they be so orga- nized and trained as to be prepared for any emergency. 7 71 THE TRUE AMERICAN. The. arrangement should be such as to put at the com- mand of the government the ardent patriotism and youth- ful vigor of the country. If formed on equal and just principles, it cannot be oppressive. It is the crisis which makes the pressure, and not the laws which provide a remedy for it. This arrangement should be formed, too, in time of peace, to be the better prepared for war. With such an organization of such a people, the United States have nothing to dread from foreign invasion. At its approach, an overwhelming force of gallant men might always be put in motion. Other interests of high importance will claim attention ; among which, the improvement of our country by roads and canals, proceeding always with a constitutional sanc- tion, holds a distinguished place. By thus facilitating the intercourse between the states, we shall add much to the convenience and comfort of our fellow-citizens, much to the ornament of the country, and what is of greater importance, we shall shorten distances, and by making each part more accessible to and dependent on the other, we shall bind the union more closely together. Nature has done so much for us by intersecting the country with so many great rivers, bays, and lakes, approaching from distant points so near to each other, that the inducement to complete the work seems to be peculiarly strong. A more interesting spectacle was perhaps never seen than is exhibited within the limits of the United States a ter- ritory so vast, and advantageously situated, containing objects so grand, so useful, so happily connected in all their parts. Our manufactures will, likewise, require the systematic and fostering care of the government. Possessing, as we do, all the raw materials, the fruit of our own soil and industry, we ought not- to depend, in the degree we have done, on supplies from other countries. While we are thus dependent, the sudden event of war, unsought and unexpected, cannot fail to plunge us into the most serious difficulties. It is important, too, that the capital which nourishes our manufactures should be domestic, as its in- fluence iu that case, instead of exhausting, as it may do in foreign hands, would be felt advantageously on agri- 75 culture, and every other branch of industry. Equally important is it to provide at home a market for our raw materials, as by extending the competition, it will enhance the price, and protect the cultivator against the casualties incident to foreign markets. With the Indian tribes it is our duty to cultivate friendly relations, and to act with kindness and liberality in all our transactions. Equally proper is it to persevere in our efforts to extend to them the advantages of civilization. The great amount of our revenue, and the flourishing state of the treasury are a full proof of the competency of the national resources for any emergency, as they are of the willingness of our fellow-citizens to bear the burdens which the public necessities require. The vast amount of vacant lands, the value of which daily augments, forms an additional resource of great extent and duration. These resources, besides accomplishing every other ne- cessary purpose, puts it completely in the power of the United States to discharge the national debt at an early period. Peace is the best time for improvement and pre- parations of every kind : it is in peace that our commerce flourishes most, that taxes are most easily paid, and that the revenue is most productive. The executive is charged, officially, in the department? under it, with the disbursement of the public money, and is responsible for the faithful application of it to the pur- poses for which it is raised. The legislature is the watch- ful guardian over the public purse. It is its duty to see that the disbursement has been honestly made. To meet the requisite responsibility, every facility should be afford- ed to the executive, to enable it to bring the public agents intruded with the public money, strictly and promptly to account. Nothing should be presumed against them : but if, with the requisite facilities, the public money is suffered to lie long and uselessly in their hands, they will not be the only defaulters, nor will the demoralizing ef- fect be confined to them. It will evince a relaxation and want of tone in the administration, which will be felt by the whole community. I shall do all that I can to secure economy and fidelity in this important branch of the administration, and I doubt not that the legislature will 76 THE TRUE AMERICAN. perform its duty with equal z,eal. A thorough examina- tion should be regularly made, and I will promote it. It is particularly gratifying to me to enter on the dis- charge of these duties at a time when the United States are blessed with peace. It is a state most consistent with their prosperity and happiness. It will be my sincere desire to preserve it, so far as depends on the executive, on just principles with all nations, claiming nothing un- reasonable of any, and rendering to each what is its due. Equally gratifying is it to witness the increased harmo- ny of opinion which pervades our Union. Discord does not belong to our system. Union is recommended, as well by the free and benign principles of our government, extending its blessings to every individual, as by the other eminent advantages attending it. The American people have encountered together great dangers, and sustained severe trials with success. They constitute one great family with a common interest. Experience has enlight- ened us on some questions of essential importance to the country. The progress has been slow, dictated by a just reflection, aud a faithful regard to every interest connect- ed with it. To promote this harmony, in accordance with the principles of our republican government, and in a manner to give them the most complete effect, and to advance, in all other respects, the best interests of ouj country, will be the object of my constant and zealous, exertions. Never did a government commence under auspices so favorable, nor ever .was success so complete. If we look to the history of other nations, ancient or modern, we find no example of a growth so rapid, so gigantic ; of a people so prosperous and happy. In contemplating what we have still to perform, the heart of every citizen must expand with joy, when he reflects how near our go- vernment has approached to perfection ; that in respect to it we have no essential improvement to make ; that the great object is to preserve it in the essential principles and features which characterize it, and that that is to be done by preserving the virtue and enlightening the minds of the people ; and, as a security against foreign dangers, to adopt such arrangements as are indispensable to the MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 77 support of our independence, our rights and liberties. If we persevere in the career in which we have advanced so far, and in the path already traced, we cannot fail, under the favor of a gracious Providence, to attain the high des- tiny which seems to await us. In the administration of the illustrious men who have preceded me in this high station, with some of whom I have been connected by the closest ties from early life, examples are presented which will always be found highly instructive and useful to their successors. From these I shall endeavor to derive all the advantages which they may afford. Of my immediate predecessor, under whom so important a portion of this great and successful expe- riment has been made, I shall be pardoned for expressing my earnest wishes that he may long enjoy in his retire- ment the affections of a grateful country, the best reward of exalted talents and the most faithful and meritorious services. Relying on the aid to be derived from the other departments of government, I enter on the trust to which I have been called by the suffrages of my fellow-citizens, with my fervent prayers to the Almighty that he will be graciously pleased to continue to us that protection which he has already sa conspicuously displayed in our favor. DECEMBER 3, 1817. Fellow-Citizens of tlte Senate,. and House of Representatives : At no period of our political existence had we so much cause to felicitate ourselves at the prosperous and happy condition of our country. The abundant fruits of the earth have filled it with plenty. An extensive and profit- able commerce has greatly augmented our revenue. The public credit has attained an extraordinary elevation. Our preparations for defence, in case of future wars, from which, by the experience of all nations, we ought not ex- pect to be exempted, are advancing, under a well-digested 7* 78 THE TRUE AMERICAN. system, with all the despatch which so important a work will admit. Our free government, founded on the inte- rests and affections of the people, has gained, and is daily gaining strength. Local jealousies are rapidly yielding to more generous, enlarged, and enlightened views of na- tional policy. For advantages so numerous and highly important, it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledg- ments to that Omnipotent Being, from whom they are derived, and in unceasing prayer that he will endow us with virtue and strength to maintain and hand them down, in their utmost purity, to our latest posterity. I have the satisfaction to inform you, that an arrange- ment, which had heen commenced by my predecessor, with the British government, for the reduction of the naval force, by Great Britain and the United States, on the lakes, has been concluded ; by which it is provided, that neither party shall keep in service on lake Champlain more than one vessel ; on lake Ontario, more than one ; on lake Erie and the upper lakes, more than two ; to be armed, each with one cannon only, and that all the other armed vessels of both parties, of which an exact list is inter- changed, shall be dismantled. It is also agreed, that the force retained shall be restricted in its duty to the inter- nal purposes of each party ; and that the arrangement shall remain in force until six months shall have expired after notice having been given by one of the parties to the other of its desire that it should terminate. By this arrangement, useless expense on both sides, arid what is of greater importance, the danger of collision between armed vessels in those inland waters, which was great, is prevented. I have the satisfaction also to state, that the commis- sioners under the fourth article of the treaty of Ghent, to whom it was referred to decide to which party the several islands in the bay of Passamaquoddy belonged, under the treaty of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, have agreed in a report, by which all the islands in the pos- session of each party before the late war have been decreed to it. The commissioners acting under the other articles of the treaty of Ghent, for the settlement of the bounda- ries, have also been engaged in the discharge of their MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 79 respective duties, but have not yet completed them. The difference which arose between the two governments, under the treaty, respecting the right of the United States to take and cure fish on the coast of the British provin- ces, north of our limits, which had been secured by the treaty of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, is still in negotiation. The proposition made by this go- vernment, to extend to the colonies of Great Britain the principle of the convention of London, by which the com- merce between the ports of the United States and British ports of Europe had been placed on a footing of equali- ty, has been declined by the British government. This subject having been thus amicably discussed between the two governments, and it appearing that the British go- vernment is unwilling to depart from its present regula- tions, it remains for Congress to decide whether they will make any other regulations in consequence thereof, for the protection and improvement of our navigation. The negotiation with Spain, for spoliations on our com- merce, and the settlement of boundaries, remains essen- tially in the state it held in the communications that were made to Congress by my predecessor. It has been evi- dently the policy of the Spanish government to keep the negotiation suspended, and in this the United States have acquiesced, from an amicable disposition towards Spain, and in the expectation that her government would, from a sense of justice, finally accede to such an arrangement as would be equal between the parties. A disposition has been lately shown by the Spanish government to move in the negotiation, which has been met by this govern- ment, and should the conciliatory and friendly policy which has invariably guided our councils, be reciproca- ted, a just and satisfactory arrangement may be expected. Tt is proper, however, to remark that no proposition has yet been made from which such a result can be presumed. It was anticipated, at an early stage, that the contest between Spain and the colonies would become highly in- teresting to the United States. It was natural that our citizens should sympathize in events which affected their neighbors. It seemed probable, also, that the prosecution of the conflict, along our coast, and in contiguous co.un- 80 THE TRUE AMERICA!*. tries, would occasionally interrupt our commerce, and otherwise affect the persons and property of our citizens. These anticipations have been realized. Such injuries have been received from persons acting under the autho- rity of both the parties, and for which redress has, in some instances, been withheld. Through every stage of the conflict, the United States have maintained an impar- tial neutrality, giving aid to neither of the parties in men, money, ships, or munitions of war. They have regarded the contest not in the light of an ordinary insurrection or rebellion, but as a civil war between parties nearly equal, having, as to neutral powers, equal rights. Our ports have been open to both, and every article the fruit of our soil, or of the industry of our citizens, which ei- ther was permitted to take, has been equally free to the other. Should the colonies establish their independence, it is proper now to state that this government neither seeks nor would accept from them any advantage in commerce or otherwise, which will not be equally open to all other nations. The colonies will in that event become inde- pendent states,, free from any obligation to, or connection with us, which it may not then be their interest to form on a basis of fair reciprocity. In the summer of the present year, an expedition was set on foot against East Florida, by persons claiming to act under the authority of some of the colonies, who took possession of Amelia Island, at the mouth of St. Mary's river, near the boundary of the state of Georgia. As the province lies eastward of the Mississippi, and is bounded by the United States and the ocean on every side, and has been a subject of negotiation with the government of Spain, as an indemnity for losses by spoliation, or in oxclriniM' of territory of equal value, westward of the Mi.-si.-^ippi, a fact well known to the world, it excited surprise that any countenance should be given to this measure by any of the colonies. As it would be difficult to reconcile it with the friendly relations existing between the United States and the colonies, a doubt was enter- tained whether it had been authorized by them, or any of them. This doubt has gained strength, by the cir- cumstances which have unfolded themselves in the prose- MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 81 cution of the enterprise, which have marked it as a mere private unauthorized adventure. Projected and com- menced with an incompetent force, reliance seems to have been placed on what might be drawn, in defiance of our laws, from within our limits ; and of late, as their resources have failed, it has assumed a more marked cha- racter of unfriendliness to us, the island being made a channel for the illicit introduction of slaves from Africa into the United States, an asylum for fugitive slaves from the neighboring states, and a port for smuggling of every kind. A similar establishment was made, at an earlier period, by persons of the same description in the Gulf of Mexi- co, at a place called Galveston, within the limits of the United States, as we contend, under the cession of Louis- iana. This enterprise has been marked in a more sig- nal manner by all the objectionable circumstances which characterized the other, and more particularly by the equipment of privateers which have annoyed our com- merce, and by smuggling. These establishments, if ever sanctioned by any authority whatever, which is not be- lieved, have abused their trust and forfeited all claim to con- sideration. A just regard for the rights and interests of the United States required that they should be suppressed, and orders have accordingly been issued to that effect. The imperious considerations which produced this mea- sure will be explained to the parties whom it may in any degree concern. To obtain correct information on every subject in which the United States are interested ; to inspire just sentiments in all persons in authority, on either side, of our friendly disposition, so far as it may comport with an impartial neutrality, and to secure proper respect to our commerce iu every port, and from every flag, it has been thought proper to send a ship of war, with three distinguished citizens along the southern coast, with instructions to touch at such ports as they may find most expedient for these purposes. With the existing authorities, with those in the possession of, and exercising the sovereignty, must the communication be held ; from them alone can redress for past injuries, committed by persons acting under them 82 THE TRUE AMERICAN. be obtained ; by them alone can the commission of the like in future be prevented. Our relations with the other powers of Europe have experienced no essential change since the last session. In our intercourse with each, due attention continues to be paid to the protection of our commerce, and to every other object in which the United States are interested. A strong hope is entertained, that by adhering to the maxims of a just, candid, and friendly policy, we may long preserve amicable relations \vith all the powers of Europe, on conditions advantageous and honorable to our country. With the Barbary states and the Indian tribes, our pa- cific relations have been preserved. In calling your attention to the internal concerns of our country, the view which they exhibit is peculiarly gratifying. The payments which have been made into the treasury show the very productive state of the public revenue. After satisfying the appropriations made by law for the support of the civil government and of the mili- tary and naval establishments, embracing suitable provi- sion for fortificat'^" and for the Tadual increase of O the navy, paying the interest of the public debt, and ex- tinguishing more than eighteen millions of the principal, within the present year, it is estimated that a balance of more than six millions of dollars will remain in the trea- sury on the first day of January, applicable to the current service of the ensuing year. The payments into the treasury during the year one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, on account of im- ports and tonnage, resulting principally from duties which have accrued in the present year, may be fairly estimated at twenty millions of dollars ; internal revenues, at two millions five hundred thousand ; public lands, at one mil- lion five hundred thousand ; bank dividends and inciden- tal receipts, at five hundred thousand ; making, in the whole, twenty-four millions and five hundred thousand dollars. The annual permanent expenditure for the support of the civil government, and of the army and navy, as now established by law, amounts to eleven millions eight hun- MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 83 dred thousand dollars ; and for the sinking fund, to ten millions ; making, in the whole, twenty-one millions eight hundred thousand dollars; leaving an annual excess of revenue, beyond the expenditure, of two millions seven hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of the balance esti- mated to be in the treasury on the 1st day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen. In the present state of the treasury, the whole of the Louisiana debt may be redeemed in the year 1819; after which, if the public debt continues as it now is, above par, there will be annually about five millions of the sink- ing fund unexpended, until the year 1825, when the loan of 1812, and the stock created by funding treasury notes, will be redeemable. It is also estimated that the Mississippi stock will be discharged during the year 1819, from the proceeds of the public lands assigned to that object; after which the receipts from those lands will annually add to the public revenue the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars, making the permanent annual revenue amount to twenty-six millions of dollars, and leaving an annual ex- cess of revenue after the year 1819, beyond the perma- nent authorized expenditure, of more than four millions of dollars. By the last returns to the department of war, the mili- tia force of the several states may be estimated at eight hundred thousand men, infantry, artillery, and cavalry. Great part of this force is armed, and measures are taken to arm the whole. An improvement in the organization and discipline of the militia, is one of the great objects which claim the unremitted attention of Congress. The regular force amounts nearly to the number required by law, and is stationed along the Atlantic and inland frontiers. Of the naval force, it has been necessary to maintain strong squadrons in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Mexico. From several of the Indian tribes, inhabiting the coun- try bordering on Lake Erie, purchases have been made of lands, on conditions very favorable to the United States, and, it is presumed, not less so to the tribes themselves. 84 THE TRUE AMERICAN. By these purchases the Indian title, with moderate re- servations, has been extinguished to the whole of the land within the state of Ohio, and to a groat part of that in Michigan territory, and of the state of Indiana. From the Cherokee tribe a tract has been purchased in the state of Georgia, and an arrangement made, by which, in exchange for lands beyond the Mississippi, a great part, if not the whole of the land belonging to the tribe, eastward of that river, in the states of North Carolina, Georgia, and Ten- nessee, and in the Alabama territory, will soon be ac- quired. By these acquisitions, and others that may rea- sonably be expected soon to follow, we shall be enabled to extend our settlements from the inhabited parts of the state of Ohio, along Lake Erie, into the Michigan terri- tory, and to connect our settlements by degrees, through the state of Indiana and the Illinois territory, to that of Missouri. A similar and equally advantageous effect will soon be produced to the south, through the whole extent of the states and territory which border on the waters emptying into the Mississippi and the Mobile. In this progress, which the rights of nature demand, and nothing can prevent, marking a growth rapid and gigantic, it is our duty to make new efforts for the preservation, im- provement, and civilization of the native inhabitants. The hunter state can exist only in the vast uncultivated desert. It yields to the more dense and compact form and greater force of civilized population ; and of right it ought to yield, for the earth was given to mankind to sup- port the greatest number of which it is capable, and no tribe or people have a right to withhold from the wants of others more than is necessary for their own support and comfort. It is gratifying to know that the reserva- tion of land made by the treaties with the tribes on Lake Erie, were made with a view to individual ownership among them, and to the cultivation of the soil by all, and that an annual stipend has been pledged to supply their other wants. It will merit the consideration of Congress, whether other provisions, not stipulated by the treaty, ought to be made for these tribes, and for the advance- ment of the liberal and humane policy of the United States towards all the tribes within our limits, and more MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 85 particularly for their improvement in the arts of civilized life. Among the advantages incident to these purchases, and to those which have preceded, the security which may thereby be afforded to our inland frontier is peculiarly important. With a strong barrier, consisting of our own people thus planted on the lakes, the Mississippi and the Mobile, with the protection to be derived from the regu- lar force, Indian hostilities, if they do not altogether cease, will henceforth lose their terror. Fortifications in those quarters to any extent will not be necessary, and the expense attending them may be saved. A people accus- tomed to the use of fire-arms only, as the Indian tribes are, will shun even moderate works which are defended by cannon. Great fortifications will therefore be requi- site only in future along the coast, and at some points in the interior connected with it. On these will the safety of towns and the commerce of our rivers, from the bay of Fundy to the Mississippi, depend. On these, there- fore, should the utmost attention, skill and labor be be- stowed. A considerable and rapid augmentation in the value of all the public lands, proceeding from these and other obvious causes, may henceforward be expected. The dif- ficulties attending early emigrations will be dissipated even in the most remote parts. Several new states have been admitted into our Union to the west and south, and terri- torial governments, happily organized, established over every other portion in which there is vacant land for sale. In terminating Indian hostilities, as must soon be done, in a formidable shape at least, the emigration, which has heretofore been great, will probably increase, and the de- mand for land, and the augmentation in its value, be in like proportion. The great increase of our population throughout the Union will alone produce an important effect, and in no quarter will it be so sensibly felt as in those in contemplation. The public lands are a public stock, which ought to be disposed of to the best advan- tage for the nation. The nation should, therefore, derive the profit proceeding from the continual rise in their val- ue. Every encouragement should be given to the em- 8 86 THE TRUE AMERICAN. grants, consistent with a fair competition between them ; but that competition should operate in the first sale to the advantage of the nation rather than of individuals. Great capitalists will derive all the benefit incident to their su- perior wealth, under any mode of sale which may be adopted. But if, looking forward to the rise in the value of the public lands, they should have the opportunity of amassing, at a low price, vast bodies in their hands, the profit will accrue to them, and not to the public. They would also have the power, in that degree, to control the (migration and settlement in such a manner as their opin- ion of their respective interests might dictate. " I submit tin- subject to the consideration of Congress, that such further provision may be made of the sale of the public lands, with a view to the public interest, should any be deemed expedient, as in their judgment may be best adapt- ed to the object. When we consider the vast extent of territory within the United States, the great amount and value of its pro- ductions, the connection of its parts, and other circum- struicrs on which their prosperity and happiness depend, we cannot fail to entertain a high sense of the advantage to be derived from the facility which may be afforded in the intercourse between them, by means of good roads and canals. Never did a country of such vast extent offer equal inducements to improvements of this kind, nor ever were consequences of such magnitude involved in them. As this subject was acted on by Congress at the last session, and there may be a disposition to revive it at present, I have brought it into view for the purpose of communicating my sentiments on a very important cir- cumstance connected with it, with that freedom and can- dor which a regard for the public interest and a proper respect for Congress require. A difference of opinion has existed from the first formation of our constitution to the present time, among our most enlightened and virtu- ous citizens, respecting the right of Congress to establish such a system of improvement. Taking into view the trust with which lam now honored, it would be improper, nfter what has passed, that this discussion should be re- vived with an uncertainty of my opinion respecting the MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE 87 right. Disregarding early impressions, I have bestowed on the subject all the deliberation which its great impor- tance, and a just sense of my duty, required, and the re- sult is a settled conviction in my mind that Congress do not possess the right. It is not contained in any of the specified powers granted to Congress, nor can I consider it incidental to, or a necessary mean, viewed on the most liberal scale, for carrying into effect any of the powers which are specifically granted. In communicating this result, I cannot resist the obligation which I feel, to sug- gest to Congress the propriety of recommending to the states an adoption of an amendment to the constitution, which shall give to Congress the right in question. In cases of doubtful construction, especially of such vital interest, it comports with the nature and origin of our re- publican institutions, and will contribute much to pre- serve them, to apply to our constituents for an explicit grant of the power. We may confidently rely, that if it appears to their satisfaction that the power is necessary, it will be granted. In this case, I am happy to observe, that experience has afforded the most ample proof of its' utility, and that the benign spirit of conciliation and harmony, which now manifests itself throughout our Union, promises to such a recommendation the most prompt and favorable result. I think proper to suggest, also, in case this measure is adopted, that it be recommended to the states to include in the amendment sought, a right in Congress to insti- tute, likewise, seminaries of learning, for the all-impor- tant purpose of diffusing knowledge among our fellow- citizens throughout the United States. Our manufactures will require the continued atten- tion of Congress. The capital employed in them is con- siderable, and the knowledge required in the machinery and fabric of all the most useful manufactures is of great value. Their preservation, which depends on due en- couragement, is connected with the high interests of the nation. Although the progress of the public buildings has been as favorable as circumstances have permitted, it is to be regretted the capitol is not yet in a state to receive you. 88 THE TRUE AMERICAN. There is good cause to presume that the two wings, the only parts as yet commenced, will be prepared for that purpose the next session. The time seems now to have arrived, when this subject may be deemed worthy of the attention of Congress, on a scale adequate to national purposes. The completion of the middle building will be necessary to the convenient accommodation of Con- gress, of the committees, and various officers belonging to it. It is evident that the other public buildings are altogether insufficient for the accommodation of the seve- ral executive departments ; some of whom are much crowded, and even subject to the necessity of obtaining it in private buildings, at some distance from the head of the department, and with inconvenience to the manage- ment of the public business. Most nations have taken an interest and a pride in the improvement and ornament of their metropolis, and none were more conspicuous in that respect than the ancient republics. The policy which dictated the establishment of a permanent resi- dence for the national government, and the spirit in which it was commenced and has been prosecuted, show that such improvement was thought worthy the attention of this nation. Its central position, between the northern and southern extremes of our Union, and its approach to the west, at the head of a great navigable river, which interlocks with the western waters, prove the wisdom of the councils which established it. > Nothing appears to be more reasonable and proper, than that convenient accommodation should be provided, on a well-digested plan, for the heads of the several de- partments, and for the attorney-general ; and it is believed that the public ground in the city, applied to these objects, will be found amply sufficient. I submit this subject to the consideration of Congress, that such pro- vision may be made in it, as to them may seem proper. In contemplating the happy situation of the United States, our attention is drawn, with peculiar interest, to the surviving officers and soldiers of our revolutionary army, who so eminently contributed, by their services, to lay its foundation. Most of those very meritorious citi- zens have paid the debt of nature and gone to repose. It MONROE'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 89 is believed, that among the survivors there are some not provided for by existing laws, who are reduced to indi- gence, and even to real distress. These men have a claim on the gratitude of their country, and it will do honor to their country to provide for them. The lapse of a few years more, and the opportunity will be forever lost; indeed, so long already has been the interval, that the number to be benefitted by any provision which may be made, will not be great. It appearing in a satisfactory manner that the revenue arising from imposts and tonnage, and from the sale of public lands, will be fully adequate to the support of the civil government, of the present military and naval esta- blishments, including the annual augmentation of the lat- ter to the extent provided for, to the payment of the in- terest on the public debt, and to the extinguishment of it at the times authorized, without the aid of the internal taxes, I consider it my duty to recommend to Congress their repeal. To impose taxes when the public exigen- cies require them, is an obligation of the most sacred character, especially with a free people. The faithful fulfil- ment of it is among the highest proofs of their virtue and ca- pacity for self-government. To dispense with taxes, when it may be done with perfect safety, is equally the duty of their representatives. In this instance, we have the satis- faction to know that they were imposed when the demand was imperious, and have been sustained with exemplary fidelity. I have to add, that however gratifying it may be to me, regarding the prosperous and happy condition of our country, to recommend the repeal of these taxes at this time, I shall, nevertheless, be attentive to events, and should any future emergency occur, be not less prompt to suggest such measures and burdens as may then be requisite and proper. ' 8* THE TRUE AMERICAN. J. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS, WARCH 4, 1825. IN compliance with a usage coeval with the existence of our federal constitution, and sanctioned by the exam- ple of my predecessors in the career upon which I am about to enter, I appear, my fellow-citizens, in your pre- sence, and in that of Heaven, to bind myself, by the so- lemnities of a religious obligation, to the faithful perform- ance of the duties allotted to me, in the station to which 1 have been called. In unfolding to my countrymen the principles by which I >hall be governed in the fulfilment of those duties, my first resort will be to that constitution, which I shall swear, to the best of my ability, to preserve, protect, and defend. That revered instrument enumerates the ponrrs and prescribes the duties of the executive magis- trate; and, in its first words, declares the purposes to which these, and the whole action of the government, in- stituted by it, should be invariably and sacredly devoted to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to the people of this Union, in their successive generations. Since the adoption of this social compact, one of these generations has passed away. It is the work of our forefathers. Administered by some of the most eminent men who contributed to its formation, through a most eventful period in the annals of the world, and through all the vicissitudes of peace and war, incidental to the condition of associated man, it has not disappointed the hopes and aspirations of those illustrious benefactors of their age and nation. It has promoted the lasting welfare of that country, so dear to us all j it has, to an extent far beyond the ordinary lot of humanity, secured the freedom and happiness of this people. We now re- ceive it as a precious inheritance from those to whom we are indebted for its establishment, doubly bound by the examples they have left us, and by the blessings which j. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 91 we have enjoyed, as the fruits of their labors, to transmit the same, unimpaired, to the succeeding generations. In the compass of thirty-six years, since this great na- tional covenant was instituted, a body of laws enacted under its authority, and in conformity with its provisions, has unfolded its powers, and carried into practical opera- tion its effective energies. Subordinate departments have distributed the executive functions in their various rela- tions to foreign affairs, to the revenue and expenditures, and to the military force of the Union by land and sea. A co-ordinate department of the judiciary has expound- ed the constitution and the laws ; settling, in harmonious coincidence with the legislative will, numerous weighty questions of construction which the imperfection of hu- man language had rendered unavoidable. The year of jubilee since the first formation of our Union has just elapsed ; that of the declaration of independence is at hand. The consummation of both was effected by this constitution. Since that period, a population of four millions has multiplied to twelve. A territory, bounded by the Mississippi, has been extended from sea to sea. New states have been admitted to the Union, in numbers nearly equal to those of the first confederation. Treaties of peace, amity, and commerce, have been concluded with the principal dominions of the earth. The people of other nations, inhabitants of regions acquired, not by conquest but by compact, have been united with us in the participation of our rights and duties, of our burdens and blessings. The forest has fallen by the axe of our woodsman ; the soil has been made to teem by the tillage of our farmers; our commerce has whitened^ery ocean. The dominion of man over physical nature has been ex- tended by the invention of our artists. Liberty and law have marched hand in hand. All the purposes of human association have been accomplished as effectively as under any other government on the globe ; and at a cost, little exceeding, i-n a whole generation, the expenditures of other nations in a single year. Such is the unexaggerated picture of our condition under a constitution, founded upon the republican princi- ple of equal rights. To admit that this picture has its- 02 THE TRUE AMERICAN. shades, is but to say that it is still the condition of men upon earth. From evil, physical, moral and political, it is not our claim to be exempt. We have suffered some- times by the visitation of Heaven, through disease; often by the wrongs and injustices of other nations, even to the extremities of war ; and lastly, by dissentions among our- selves dissentions, perhaps, inseparable from the enjoy- ment of freedom, but which have more than once appeared to threaten the dissolution of the Union, and, with it, the overthrow of all the enjoyments of our present lot, and all our earthly hopes of the future. The causes of these dissentions have been various, founded upon differences of speculation in the theory of republican government ; upon conflicting views of policy, in our relations with foreign nations ; upon jealousies of partial and sectional interests, aggravated by prejudices and prepossessions, which strangers to each other are ever apt to entertain. It is a source of gratification and of encouragement to me, to observe that the great result of this experiment upon the theory of human rights has, at the close of that generation by which it was formed, been crowned with success equal to the most sanguine expectations of its founders. Union, justice, tranquillity, the common de- fence, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty, all have been promoted by the government under which we have lived. Standing at this point of time ; looking back to that generation which has gone by, and forward to that which is advancing, we may at once indulge in grateful exultation and in cheering hope. From the experience of the past, we derive instructive lessons for the future. Of the two gittat political parties which have divided the opinions arra feelings of our country, the candid and the just will now admit that both have contributed splendid talents, spotless integrity, ardent patriotism and disinter- ested sacrifices, to the formation and administration of this government ; and that both have required a liberal indul- gence for a portion of human infirmity and error. The revolutionary wars of Europe, commencing precisely at the moment when the government of the United States first went into operation under this constitution, excited a collision of sentiments and of sympathies, which kin,- j. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 93 died all the passions, and embittered the conflict of par- ties, till the nation was involved in war, and the Union was shaken to its centre. This time of trial embraced a period of five-and-twenty years, during which the policy of the Union, in its relations with Europe, constituted the principal basis of our political divisions, and the most arduous part of the action of our federal government. With the catastrophe in which the wars of the French revolution terminated, and our own subsequent peace with Great Britain, this baneful weed of party strife was uprooted. From that time, no difference of principle, connected either with the theory of government, or with our intercourse with foreign nations has existed, or been called forth in force sufficient to sustain a continued com- binatiorlQf parties, or give more than wholesome anima- tion to public sentiment or legislative debate. Our po- litical cieed is, without a dissenting voice that can be heard, that the will of the people is the source, and the happiness of the people the end, of all legitimate govern- ment upon earth. That the best security for the benefi- cence, and the best guaranty against the abuse of power, consists in the freedom, the purity, and the frequency of popular elections. That the general government of the TT ' ^ | ^.1, ^ ~,..~ + ,v r*^. ~ ~.,", ^ ~~ A~ ^ f + 1-. r* c -*^*~~ (j'niOn, aim tuc ccpai aiC ui mv, ontt-ca, art; all sovereignties of legitimated powers ; fellow-servants of the same masters, uncontrolled within their respective spheres, uncontrollable by encroachments upon each other. That the firmest security of peace is the pre- paration during peace of the defences of war. That a rigorous economy, and accountability of public expendi- tures, should guard against the aggravation, and alleviate, when possible, the burden of taxation. That the military should be kept in strict subordination to the civil power. That the freedom of the press and of religious opinion should be inviolate. That the policy of our country is peace, and the ark of our salvation, union, are articles of faith upon which we are all agreed. If there have been those who doubted whether a confederated represen- tative democracy were a government competent to the wise and orderly management of the common concerns pf a mighty nation, those doubts have been dispelled. If 94 THE TRUE AMERICAN. there have been projects of partial confederacies to be erected upon the ruins of the Union, they have been scattered to the winds. If there have been dangerous attachments to one foreign nation, and antipathies against another, they have been extinguished. Ten years of peace, at home and abroad, have assuaged the animosities of political contention, and blended into harmony the most discordant elements of public opinion. There still remains one effort of magnanimity, one sacrifice of pre- judice and passion, to be made by the individuals through- out the nation, who have heretofore followed the standard of political party. It is that of discarding every remnant of rancor against each other ; of embracing as country- men and friends ; and of yielding to talents and virtue alone, that confidence which, in times of conMHtion for principle, was bestowed only upon those who bore the badge of party communion. * The collisions of party spirit, which originate in specu- lative opinions, or in different views of administrative poli- cy, are in their nature transitory. Those which are found- ed on geographical divisions, adverse interests of soil, climate, and modes of domestic life, are more permanent, and therefore perhaps more dangerous. It is this which gives inestimable value to the character of our govern- ment, at once federal and national. It holds out to us a perpetual admonition to preserve alike, and with equal anxiety, the rights of each individual state in its own government, and the rights of the whole nation in that of the Union. Whatever is of domestic concealment, un- connected with the other members of the Union, or with foreign lands, belongs exclusively to the administration of the state governments. Whatsoever directly involves the rights and interests of the federative fraternity, or of for- eign powers, is of the resort of this general government. The duties of both are obvious in the general principle, though sometimes perplexed with difficulties in the detail. To respect the rights of the state governments is the in- violable duty of that of the Union ; the government of every state will feel its own obligation to respect and pre- serve the rights of the whole. The prejudices every where too commonly entertained against distant strangers are j. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 95 worn away, and the jealousies of jarring interests are al- layed by the composition and functions of the great na- tional councils annually assembled from all quarters of the Union at this place. Here the distinguished men from every section of our country, while meeting to deliberate upon the great interests of those by whom they are depu- ted, learn to estimate the talents, and do justice to the virtues of each other. The harmony of the nation is promoted, and the whole Union is knit together by the sentiments of mutual respect, the habits of social inter- course, and the ties of personal friendship, formed be- tween the representatives of its several parts, in the per- formance of their service at this metropolis. Passing from this general review of the purposes and injunctions of the federal constitution, and their results, as indicating the first traces of the path of duty in the dis- charge of my public trust, I turn to the administration of my immediate predecessor, as the second. It has passed away in a period of profound peace : how much to the satisfaction of our country, and to the honor of our country's name, is known to you all. The great features of its policy, in general concurrence with the will of the legislature, have been to cherish peace while preparing for defensive war ; to yield exact justice to other nations, and maintain the rights of our own ; to cherish the prin- ciples of freedom and of equal rights, wherever they were proclaimed ; to discharge with all possible promptitude the national debt ; to reduce within the narrowest limits of efficiency the military force ; to improve the organization and discipline of the army ; to provide and sustain a school of military science ; to extend equal protection to all the great interests of the nation ; to promote the civil- ization of the Indian tribes ; and to proceed in the great system of internal improvements within the limits of the constitutional power of the Union. Under the pledge of these promises, made by that eminent citizen, at the time of his first induction to this office, in his career of eight years, the internal taxes have been repealed ; sixty mil- lions of the public debt have been discharged; provision has been made for the comfort and relief of the aged and indigent among the surviving warriors of the revolution ; 96 THE TRUE AMERICAN. the regular armed force has been reduced, and its consti- tution revised and perfected ; the accountability for the expenditures of public moneys has been made more effect- ive ; the Floridas have been peaceably acquired, and our boundary has been extended to the Pacific ocean ; the in- dependence of the southern nations of this hemisphere has been recognized, and recommended by example and by counsel to the potentates of Kurope : pro;rre>s has been made in the defence of the country by fortifications, and the increase of the navy towards the Hfrrtual suppres- sion of the African traffic in slaves in alluring the abori- ginal hunters of our land to the cultivation of the soil and of the mind in exploring the interior regions of the Union, and in preparing, by scientific researches and sur- veys, for the further application of our national resources to the internal improvement of our country. In this brief outline -of the promise and performance of my immediate predecessor, the line of duty for his successor is clearly delineated. To pursue to their con- summation those purposes of improvement in our com- mon condition, instituted or recommended by him, will embrace the whole sphere of my obligations. To the topic of internal improvement, emphatically urged by him at his inauguration, I recur with peculiar satisfaction. It is that from which I am convinced that the unborn mil- lions of our posterity, who are in future ages to people this continent, will derive their most fervent gratitude to the founders of the Union ; that in which the beneficent action of its government will be most deeply felt and ac- knowledged. The magnificence and splendor of their public works are among the imperishable irlories of the ancient republics. The roads and aqueducts of Rome have been the admiration of all after-ages, and have sur- vived thousands of years, after all her conquests have been swallowed up in despotism, or become the spoil of barbarians. Some diversity of opinion has prevailed with regard to the powers of Congress for legislation upon objects of this nature. The most respectful deference is due to doubts, originating in pure patriotism, and sus- tained by venerated authority. But nearly twenty years have passed since the construction of the first national j. Q. ADAMS'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 97 road was commenced. The authority for its construc- tion was then unquestioned. To how many thousands of our countrymen has it proved a benefit 1 To what single individual has it ever proved an injury ? Repeated, libe- ral and candid discussions in the legislature have concil- iated the sentiments, and approximated the opinions of enlightened minds, upon the question of constitutional power. I cannot but hope that, by the same process of friendly, patient, and persevering deliberation, all consti- tutional objections will ultimately be removed. The ex- tent and limitation of the powers of the general govern- ment, in relation to this transcendently important inte- rest, will be settled and acknowledged to the common satisfaction of all ; and every speculative scruple will be solved by a practical public blessing. Fellow-citizens, you are acquainted with the peculiar circumstances of the recent elections, which have result- ed in affording me the opportunity of addressing you at this time. You have heard the exposition of the princi- ples which will direct me in the fulfilment of the high and solemn trust imposed upon me in this station. Less possessed of your confidence in advance than any of my predecessors, I am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand, more and oftener, in need of your indul- gence. Intentions, upright and pure ; a heart devoted to the welfare of our country, and the unceasing applica- tion of the faculties allotted to me to her service, are all the pledges that I can give to the faithful performance of the arduous duties I am to undertake. To the guidance of the legislative councils ; to the assistance of the exe- cutive and subordinate departments ; to the friendly co- operation of the respective state governments ; to the candid and liberal support of the people, so far as it may be deserved by honest industry and zeal, I shall look for whatever success may attend my public service : and knowing that, except the Lord keep the city, the watch- man waketh but in vain, with fervent supplications for his favor, to his overruling providence I commit, with hum- ble but fearless confidence, my own fate and the future destinies of my country. 9 98 THE TRUE AMERICAN. J. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1825. To the Senate, and House of Representatives of the United States : In taking a general survey of the concerns of our be- loved country, with reference to subjects interesting to the common welfare, the first sentiment which impresses itself upon the mind, is of gratitude to the Omnipotent Disposer of all good, for the continuance of the signal blessings of his providence, and especially for that health which, to an unusual extent, has prevailed within our bor- ders ; and for that abundance which, in the vicissitudes of the seasons, has been scattered with profusion over our land. Nor ought we less to ascribe to Him the glory, that we are permitted to enjoy the bounties of his hand in peace and tranquillity in peace with all the other nations of the earth, in tranquillity among ourselves. There has, indeed, rarely been a period in the history of civilized man, in which the general condition of the Christian na- tions has been marked so extensively by peace and pros- perity. Europe, with a few partial and unhappy exceptions, has enjoyed ten years of peace, during which all her gov- ernments, whatever the theory of their constitutions may have been, are successively taught to feel that the end of their institutions is the happiness of the people, and that the exercise of power among men can be justified only by the blessings it confers upon those over whom it is extended. During the same period, our intercourse with all those nations has been pacific and friendly; it so continues. Since the close of your late session, no material varia- tion has occurred in our relations with any one of them. In the commercial and navigation system of Great Britain, important changes of municipal regulations have recently been sanctioned by the acts of parliament, the effect of which upon the interests of other nations, and particu- larly upon ours, has not yet been fully developed. In the j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 99 recent renewal of the diplomatic missions, on both sides, between the two governments, assurances have been given and received of the continuance and increase of the mutual confidence and cordiality by which the adjust- ment of many points of difference has already been effect- ed, and which affords the surest pledge for the ultimate satisfactory adjustment of those which still remain open, or may hereafter arise. The policy of the United States, in their commercial intercourse with other nations, has always been of the most liberal character. In the mutual exchange of their respective productions, they have abstained altogether from prohibitions; they have interdicted themselves the power of laying taxes upon exports, and whenever they have favored their own shipping, by special preferences ox exclusive privileges in their own ports, it has been only with a view to countervail similar favors and exclu- sions granted by the nations with whom we have been eaigaged in traffic, to their own people or shipping, and to the disadvantage of ours. Immediately after the close of the last war, a proposal was fairly made by the act of Con- gress of the 3d March, 1815, to all maritime nations, to lay aside the system of retaliating restrictions and exclu- sions, and to place the shipping of both parties to the common trade on a footing of equality in respect to the duties of tonnage and impost. This offer was partially and successively accepted by Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the Hanseatic cities, Prussia, Sardinia, the Duke of Oldenburg, and Russia. It was also adopted, under certain modifications, in our late commercial con- vention with France. And by the act of Congress of the 8th of January, 1824, it has received a new confirmation with all the nations who had acceded to it, and has been offered again to all those who are or may hereafter be will- ing to abide in reciprocity by it. But all these regula- tions, whether established by treaty or by municipal enactments, are still subject to one important restriction. The removal of discriminating duties of tonnage and impost, is limited to articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the country to which the vessel belongs, or to such articles as are most universally shipped from 100 THE TRUE AMERICAN. her ports. It will deserve the serious consideration of Congress, whether even this remnant of restriction may not be safely abandoned, and whether the general tender of equal competition, made in the act of 8th January, 1824, may not be extended to include all articles of mer- chandise not prohibited, of what country soever they may be the produce or manufacture. Propositions to this effect have already been made to us by more than one Eu- ropean government, and it is probable that if once esta- blished by legislation or compact with any distinguished maritime state, it would recommend itself, by the experi- ence of its advantages, to the general accession of all. The convention of commerce and navigation between the United States and France, concluded on the 24th of June, 1822, was, in the understanding and intent of both parties, as appears upon its face, only a temporary ar- rangement of the points of difference between them of the most immediate and pressing urgency. It was limit- ed, in the first instance, to two years from the first of October, 1822, but with a proviso, that it should further continue in force till the conclusion of a general and de- finitive treaty of commerce, unless terminated by a notice six months in advance, of either of the parties to the other. Its operation, so far as it extended, has been mu- tually advantageous ; and it still continues in force, by common consent. But it left unadjusted several objects of trreat interest to the citizens and subjects of both coun- tries, and particularly a mass of claims, to considerable amount, of citizens of the United States upon the govern- ment of France, of indemnity for property taken or de- stroyed, under circumstances of the most aggravated and outrageous character. In the long period during which continued and earnest appeals have been made to the equity and magnanimity of France, in behalf of those claims, their justice has not been, as it could not be, de- nied. It was hoped that the accession of a new sovereign to the throne, would have afforded a favorable opportu- nity for presenting them to the consideration of his go- U'rnment. They have been presented and urged, hither- to, without effect. The repeated and earnest representa- tions of our minister at the court of France, remains as j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 101 yet even without an answer. Were the demands of nfl- tions upon the justice of each other susceptible of adju- dication by the decision of an impartial tribunal, those to whom I now refer would long since have been settled, and adequate indemnity would have been obtained. There are large amounts of similar claims upon the Nether- lands, Naples, and Denmark. For those upon Spain, prior to 1819, indemnity was, after many years of patient forbearance, obtained, and those of Sweden have been lately compromised by a private settlement, in which the claimants themselves have acquiesced. The governments of Denmark and of Naples have been recently reminded of those yet existing against them ; nor will any of them be forgotten while a hope may be indulged of obtaining justice, by the means within the constitutional power of the executive, and without resorting to those means of self-redress, which, as well as the time, circumstances, and occasion, which may require them, are within the exclusive competency of the legislature. It is with great satisfaction that I am enabled to bear witness to the liberal spirit with which the republic of Colombia has made satisfaction for well-established claims of a similar character. And among the documents now communicated to Congress, will be distinguished a treaty of commerce and navigation with that republic, the rati- fications of which have been exchanged since the last re- cess of the legislature. The negotiation of similar trea- ties with all the independent South American states, has been contemplated, and may yet be accomplished. The basis of them all, as proposed by the United States, has been laid in two principles ; the one, of entire and un- qualified reciprocity ; the other, the mutual obligation of the parties to place each other permanently on the footing of the most favored nation. These principles are, indeed, indispensable to the effectual emancipation of the Ameri- can hemisphere from the thraldom of colonizing monopo- lies and exclusions an event rapidly realizing in the pro- gress of human affairs, and which the resistance still op- posed in certain parts of Europe to the acknowledgment of the Southern American republics as independent states, will, it is believed, contribute mare effectually to 9* 102 THE Tnt'E AMEKICAN. accomplish. The time has been, and that not remote, when some of these states might, in their anxious desire to obtain a nominal recognition, have accepted of a nomi- nal independence, clogged with burdensome conditions, and exclusive commercial privileges, granted to the nation from which they have separated, to the disadvantage of all others. They now are all aware that such conces- sions to any European nation would be incompatible with that independence which they have declared and main- tained. Among the measures which have been suggested to them by the new relations with one another, resulting from the recent changes in their condition, is that of as- sembling at the Isthmus of Panama, a Congress, at which each of them should be represented, to deliberate upon objects important to the welfare of all. The republics of Colombia, of Mexico, and of Central America, have already deputed plenipotentiaries to such a meeting, and they have invited the United States to be also represented there by their ministers. The invitation has been accept- ed, and ministers on the part of the United States will be commissioned to attend at those deliberations, and to take part in them, so far as it may be compatible with that neutrality from which it is neither our intention nor the desire of the American states that we should depart. The commissioners under the seventh article of the treaty of Ghent have so nearly completed their arduous labors, that, by the report recently received from the agent on the part of the United States, there is reason to ex- pect that the commission will be closed at their next ses- sion, appointed for the 22d of May, of the ensuing year. Tho other commission appointed to ascertain the in- demnities due for slaves carried away from the United States, after the close of the late war, have met with some difficulty which ha> delayed their progress in the inquiry. A reference has been made to the British government on the subject, which, it may be hoped, will tend to hasten the decision of tlie commissioners, or serve as a substi- tute for it. Among the powers specifically granted to Congress by the constitution, are those of establishing uniform laws j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 103 on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; and for providing for organizing, arming, and dis- ciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States. The magnitude and complexity of the interests affected by legislation upon these subjects, may account for the fact, that long and often as both of them have occupied the attention, and animated the debates of Congress, no systems have yet been devised for fulfilling, to the satis- faction of the community, the duties prescribed by these grants of power. To conciliate the claim of the indivi- dual citizen to the enjoyment of personal liberty, with the effective obligation of private contracts, is the difficult problem to be solved by a law of bankruptcy. These are objects of the deepest interest to society ; affecting all that is precious in the existence of multitudes of persons, many of them in the classes essentially dependent and helpless ; of the age requiring nurture, and of the sex entitled to protection from the free agency of the parent and the husband. The organization of the militia is yet more indispensable to the liberties of the country. It is only by an effective militia that we can at once enjoy the repose of peace, and bid defiance to foreign aggression ; it is by the militia that we are constituted an armed na- tion, standing in perpetual panoply of defence, in the pre- sence of all the other nations of the earth. To this end, it would be necessary, if possible, so to shape its organi- zation, as to give it a more united and active energy. There are laws for establishing a uniform militia throughout the United States, and for arming and equipping its whole body. But it is a body of dislocated members, without the vigor of unity, and having little of uniformity but the name. To infuse into this most important institution the power of which it is susceptible, and to make it avail- able for the defence of the Union, at the shortest notice,, and at the smallest expense possible of time, of life, and of treasure, are among the benefits to be expected from the persevering deliberations of Congress. Among the unequivocal indications of our national prosperity, is the flourishing state of our finances. The revenues of the present year, from all their principal sour-- 104 THE TRVE AMERICAN. ces, will exceed the anticipations of the last. The balance in the treasury on the firs-t of January last, was a little short of two millions of dollars, exclusive of two millions and a half, being a moiety of the loan of five millions, authorized by the act of the 26th May, 1824. The re- ceipts into the treasury from the first of January to the 30th of September, exclusive of the other moiety of the same loan, are estimated at sixteen millions five hundred thou- sand dollars ; and it is expected that those of the cur- rent quarter will exceed five millions of dollars ; form- ing an aggregate of receipts of nearly twenty-two mil- lions, independent of the loan. The expenditures of the year will not exceed that sum more than two millions. By those expenditures, nearly eight mil- lions of the principal of the public debt have been dis- charged. More than a million and a half has been devo- ted to the debt of gratitude to the warriors of the revolu- tion ; a nearly equal sum to the construction of fortifica- tions and the acquisition of ordnance, and other perma- nent preparations of national defence ; half a million to the gradual increase of the navy ; an equal sum for pur- chases of territory from the Indians, and payment of an- nuities to them ; and upwards of a million for objects of internal improvement, authorized by special acts of the last Congress. If we add to these, four millions of dol- lars for payment of interest upon the public debt, there remains a sum of about seven millions, which have defrayed the whole expense of the administration of government, in its legislative, executive, and judiciary departments, including the support of the military and naval establishments, and all the occasional contingencies of a government co-extensive with the Union. The amount of duties secured on merchandise import- ed, since the commencement of the year, is about twenty- five millions and a half; and that which will accrue during the current quarter, is estimated at five millions and a half ; from these thirty-one millions, deducting the drawbacks, estimated at less than seven millions, a sum exceeding twenty-four millions will constitute the revenue of the year, and will exceed the whole expenditures of the year. The entire amount of the public debt remaining due oa y. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 105 the first of January next, will be short of eighty-one mil- lions of dollars. By an act of Congress of the 3d of March last, a loan of twelve millions of dollars was authorized at four and a half per cent., or an exchange of stock to that amount, of four and a half per cent., for a stock of six per cent., to create a fund for extinguishing an equal amount of the public debt, bearing an interest of six percent., redeema- ble in 1826. An account of the measures taken to give effect to this act will be laid before you by the Secretary of the Treasury. As the object which it had in view has been but partially accomplished, it will be for the consid- eration of Congress, whether the power with which it clothed the executive should not be renewed at an early day of the present session, and under what modifications. The act of Congress of the 3d of March last, direct- ing the Secretary of the Treasury to subscribe, in the name and for the use of the United States, for one thou- sand five hundred shares of the capital stock of the Chesa- peake and Delaware Canal company, has been executed by the actual subscription for the amount specified ; and such other measures have been adopted by that officer, under the act, as the fulfilment of its intentions requires. The latest accounts received of this important underta- king, authorize the belief that it is in successful progress. The payments into the treasury from proceeds of the sales of the public lands, during the present year, were estimated at one million of dollars. The actual receipts of the first two quarters have fallen very little short of that sum : it is not expected that the second half of the year will be equally productive ; but the income of the year, from that source, may now be safely estimated at a million and a half. The act of Congress of the 18th of May, 1824, to provide for the extinguishment of the debt due to the United States by thepurchasers of public lands, was limited, in its operation of relief to the purchaser, to the 10th of April last. Its effect at the end of the quar- ter during which it expired, was to reduce that debt from ten to seven millions. By the operation of similar prior laws of relief, from and since that of 2d March, 1821, the debt had been reduced from upwards of twenty-two 106 THE TRUE AMERICAN. millions to ten. It is exceedingly desirable that it should be extinguished altogether ; and to facilitate that consum- mation, I recommend to Congress the revival, for one year more, of the act of 18th May, 1824, with such pro- visional modification as may be necessary to guard the public interests against fraudulent practices in the re-sale of relinquished land. The purchasers of public lands are among the most useful of our fellow-citizens ; and, since the system of sales for cash alone has been introduced, great indulgence has been justly extended to those who had previously purchased upon credit. The debt which had been contracted under the credit sales had become un- wieldy, and its extinction was alike advantageous to the pur- chaser and the public. Under the system of sales, matured as it has been by experience, and adapted to the exigen- cies of the times, the lands will continue, as they have be- come, an abundant source of revenue; and when the pledge of them to the public creditor shall have been re- deemed, by the entire discharge of the national debt, the swelling tide of wealth with which they replenish the com- mon treasury, may be made to reflow in unfailing streams of improvement, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. The condition of the various branches of the public service resorting from the Department of War, and their administration during the current year, will be exhibited in the report of the Secretary of War, and the accompa- nying documents, herewith communicated. The organi- zation and discipline of the army are effective and satis- factory. To counteract the prevalence of desertion among the troops, it has been suggested to withhold from the men a small portion of their monthly pay, until the period of their discharge ; and some expedient appears to be necessary, to preserve and maintain among the officers so much of the art of horsemanship as could scarcely fail to be found wanting on the possibly sudden eruption of a war, which should overtake us unprovided with a single corps of cavalry. The Military Academy at West Point, under the restrictions of a severe but paternal superinten- dence, recommends itself more and more to the patrorv- age of the nation ; and the number of meritorious offi- cers which it forms and introduces to the public ser- j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 107 vice, furnishes the means of multiplying the undertaking of public improvements, to which their acquirements at that institution are peculiarly adapted. The school of artillery practice, established at Fortress Monroe, is well suited to the same purpose, and may need the aid of fur- ther legislative provision to the same end. The reports of the various officers at the head of the administrative branches of the military service, connected with the quar- tering, clothing, subsistence, health and pay of the army, exhibit the assiduous vigilance of those officers in the performance of their respective duties, and the faithful accountability which has pervaded every part of the system. Our relations with the numerous tribes of aboriginal natives of this country, scattered over its extensive sur- face, and so dependent, even for their existence, upon our power, have been during the present year highly interest- ing. An act of Congress of the 25th of May, 1824, made an appropriation to defray the expenses of making treaties of trade and friendship with the Indian tribes be- yond the Mississippi. An act of the 3d of March, 1825, authorized treaties to be made with the Indians for their consent to the making of a road from the frontier of Mis- souri to that of New Mexico. And another act, of the same date, provided for defraying the expenses of hold- ing treaties with the Sioux, Chippewas, Menomonees, Sacs, Foxes, &,c. for the purpose of establishing boun- daries and promoting peace between said tribes. The first and the last objects of these acts have been accom- plished ; and the second is yet in a process of execution. The treaties which, since the last session of Congress, have been concluded with the several tribes, will be laid before the Senate for their consideration, conformably to the constitution. They comprise large and valuable acquisitions of territory ; and they secure an adjustment of boundaries, and give pledges of permanent peace be- tween several tribes which had been long waging bloody wars against each other. On the 12th of February last, a treaty was signed at the Indian Springs, between commissioners appointed on the part of the United States, and certain chiefs and indi- JL 108 THE TRUE AMERICAN. victuals of the Creek nation of Indians, which was recei- ved at the seat of government only a very few days before the close of the last session of Congress and of the late administration. The advice and consent of the Senate was given to it on the 3d of March, too late for it to re- ceive the ratification of the then President of the United States: it was ratified on the 7th of March, under the unsuspecting impression that it had been negotiated in good faith and in the confidence inspired by the recom- mendation of the Senate. The subsequent transactions in relation to this treaty will form the subject of a separate communication. The appropriations made by Congress for public works, as well in the construction of fortifications, as for pur- poses of internal improvement, so far as they have been expended, have been faithfully applied. Their progress has been delayed by the want of suitable officers for su- perintending them. An increase of both the corps of engineers, military and topographical, was recommended by my predecessor at the last session of Congress. The reasons upon which that recommendation was founded, subsist in all their force, and have acquired additional urgency since that time. It may also be expedient to organize the topographical engineers into a corps similar to the present establishment of the corps of engineers. The Military Academy at West Point will furnish, from the cadets annually graduated there, officers well qualified for carrying this measure into effect. The board of engineers for internal improvement, ap- pointed for carrying into execution the act of Congress of 30th April, 1^24, "to procure the necessary surveys, plans and estimates, on the subject of roads and canals," have been actively engaged in that service from the close of the last session of Congress. They have completed the surveys necessary for ascertaining the practicability of a canal from the Chesapeake bay to the Ohio river, and are preparing a full report on that subject, which, when completed, will be laid before you. The same ob- servation is to be made with regard to the two other ob- jects of national importance, upon which the board have been occupied ; namely, the accomplishment of a nation- *. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 1C9 al road from this city to New Orleans, and the practica- bility of uniting the waters of Lake Memphremagog with Connecticut river, and the improvement of the naviga- tion of that river. The surveys have been made, and are nearly completed. The report may be expected at an early period during the present session of Congress. The acts of Congress of the last session, relative to the surveying, marking, or laying out roads in the territory of Florida, Arkansas, and Michigan, from Missouri to Mexico, and for the continuation of the Cumberland road, are, some of them, fully executed, and others in the pro- cess of execution. Those for completing or commencing fortifications, have been delayed only so far as the corps of engineers have been inadequate to furnish officers for the necessary superintendence of the works. Under the act confirming the statutes of Virginia and Maryland, in- corporating the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, three commissioners on the part of the United States have been appointed for opening books and receiving subscrip- tions, in concert with a like number of commissioners appointed on the part of each of those states. A meet- ing of the commissioners has been postponed, to await the definitive report of the board of engineers. The light- houses and monuments for the safety of our commerce and mariners ; the works for the security of Plymouth Beach, and for the preservation of the islands in Boston harbor, have received the attention required by the laws relating to those objects, respectively. The continuation of the Cumberland road, the most important of them all, after surmounting no inconsiderable difficulty in fixing upon the direction of the road, has commenced under the most promising auspices, with the improvements of recent invention in the mode of construction, and with the advantage of a great reduction in the comparative cost of the work. The operation of the laws relating to the revolutionary pensioners may deserve the renewed consideration of Congress. The act of the 18th March, 1818, while it made provision for many meritorious and indigent citi- zens who had served in the war of independence, opened a door to numerous abuses and impositions. To remedy 10 110 THE TRUE AMERICAN. tins, the act of 1st May, 1820, exacted proofs of absolute indigence; which many really in want were unable, and all, susceptible of that delicacy which is allied to many virtues, must be deeply reluctant to give. The result has been, that some among the least deserving have been re- tained, and some in whom the requisites both of worth and want were combined, have been stricken from the list. As the numbers of these venerable relics of an age gone by, di- minish ; as the decays of body, mind and estate, of those that survive, must, in the common course of nature, in- crease ; should not a more liberal portion of indulgence be dealt out to them 1 May not the want in most instan- ces be inferred from the demand, when the service can be duly proved ; and may not the last days of human infirmity be spared the mortification of purchasing a pittance of re- lief, only by the exposure of its own necessities? I sub- mit to Congress the expediency of providing for individu- al cases of this description, by special enactment, or of revising the act of the 1st of May, 1820, with a view to mitigate the rigor of its exclusions, in favor of persons to whom charity, now bestowed, can scarcely discharge the debt of justice. The portion of the naval force of the Union, in actual service, has been chiefly employed on three stations : the .Mediterranean, the coasts of South America bordering on the Pacific ocean, and the West Indies. An occasion- al cruiser has been sent to range along the African shores most polluted by the traffic of slaves ; one armed vessel has been stationed on the coast of our eastern boundary, to cruise along the fishing grounds in Hudson's Bay, and on the coast of Labrador ; and the first service of a new frigate has been performed, in restoring to his native soil and domestic enjoyments, the veteran hero whose youth- ful blood and treasure had freely flowed in the cause of our country's independence, and whose whole life has been a series of services and sacrifices to the improve- ment of his fellow-men. The visit of General Lafayette, alike honorable to himself and to our country, closed, as it had commenced, with the most affecting testimonials of devoted attachment on his part, and of unbounded gratitude of this people to him in return. It will form, j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. Ill hereafter, a pleasing incident in the annals of our Union, giving to real history the intense interest of romance, and signally marking the unpurchasable tribute of a great nation's social affections to the disinterested champion of the liberties of human kind. The constant maintenance of a small squadron in the Mediterranean, is a necessary substitute for the humilia- ting alternative of paying tribute for the security of our commerce in that sea, and for a precarious peace, at the mercy of every caprice of four Barbary states, by whom it was liable to be violated. An additional motive for keeping a respectable force stationed there at this time, is found in the maritime war raging between the Greeks and the Turks ; and in which the neutral navigation of this Union is always in danger of outrage and depreda- tion. A few instances have occurred of such depreda- tions upon our merchant vessels by privateers or pirates wearing the Grecian flag, but without real authority from the Greek or any other government. The heroic strug- gles of the Greeks themselves, in which our warmest sym- pathies as freemen and Christians have been engaged, have continued to be maintained with vicissitudes of success adverse and favorable. Similar motives have rendered expedient the keep- ing of a like force on the coasts of Peru and Chili, on the Pacific. The irregular and convulsive character of the war upon the shores, has been extended to the con- flicts upon the ocean. An active warfare has been kept up for years, with alternate success, though generally to the advantage of the American patriots. But their naval forces have not always been under the control of their own governments. Blockades, unjustifiable upon any ac- knowledged principles of international law, have been proclaimed by officers in command; and though disavow- ed by the supreme authorities, the protection of our own commerce against them has been made a cause of com- plaint and erroneous imputations against some of the most gallant officers of our navy. Complaints equally ground- less have been made by the commanders of the Spanish royal forces in those seas ; but the most effective protec- tion to our commerce has been the flag and the firmness 112 THE TRUE AMERICAN. of our own commanding officers. The cessation of the war, by the complete triumph of the patriot cause, has removed, it is hoped, all cause of dissention with one party, and all vestige of force of the other. But an un- settled coast of many degrees of latitude, forming a part of our own territory, and a flourishing commerce and fish- ery, extending to the islands of the Pacific and to China, still require that the protecting power of the Union should be displayed under its flag, as well upon the ocean as upon the land. The objects of the West Indies squadron have been, to carry into execution the laws for the suppression of the African slave trade ; for the protection of our commerce against vessels of piratical character, though bearing commissions from either of the belligerent parties ; for its protection against open and unequivocal pirates. These objects, during the present year, have been ac- complished more effectually than at any former period. The African slave trade has long been excluded from the use of our flag; and if some few citizens of our country have continued to set the laws of the Union, as well as those of nature and humanity, at defiance, by persevering in that abominable traffic, it has been only by sheltering themselves under the banners of other nations, less earn- est for the total extinction of the trade than ours. The irregular privateers have, within the last year, been in a great measure banished from those seas; and the pirates, for months past, appear to have been almost entirely swept away from the borders and the shores of the two Spanish islands in those regions. The active, perseve- ring, and unremitted energy of Captain Warrington, and of the officers and men under his command, on that trying and perilous service, have been crowned with sig- nal success, and are entitled to the approbation of their country. But experience has shown that not even a temporary suspension or relaxation from assiduity can be indulged on that station without reproducing piracy and murder in all their horrors ; nor is it probable that, for years to come, our immensely valuable commerce in those seas can navigate in security, without the steady continu- ance of an armed force devoted to its protection. j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 113 It were indeed a vain and dangerous illusion to believe that in the present or probable condition of human soci- ety, a commerce so extensive and so rich as ours could exist and be pursued in safety, without the continual sup- port of a military marine the only arm by which the power of this confederacy can be estimated or felt by foreign nations, and the only standing military force which can never be dangerous to our own liberties at home. A permanent naval peace establishment, therefore,, adapt- ed to our present condition, and adaptable to that gigan- tic growth with which the nation is advancing in its ca- reer, is among the subjects which have already occupied the foresight of the last Congress, and which will deserve your serious deliberations. Our navy, commenced at an early period of our present political organization, upon a scale commensurate with the incipient energies, the scan- ty resources, and the comparative indigence of our infan- cy, was even then found adequate to cope with all the powers of Barbary, save the first, and with one of the principal maritime powers of Europe. At a period of further advancement, but with little ac- cession of strength, it not only sustained with honor the most unequal of conflicts, but covered itself and our country with unfading glory. But it is only since the close of the late war that, by the numbers and force of the ships of which it was composed, it could deserve the name of a navy. Yet it retains nearly the same organi- zation as when it consisted of only five frigates. The rules and regulations by which it is governed earnestly call for revision ; and the want of a naval school of in- struction, corresponding with the Military Academy at West Point, for the formation of scientific and accom- plished officers, is felt with daily increasing aggravation. The act of Congress of 26th of May, 1824, authori- zing an examination and survey of the harbor of Charles- ton, in South Carolina, of St. Mary's, in Georgia, and of the coast of Florida, and for other purposes, has been executed so far as the appropriation would admit. Those of the third of March last, authorizing the establish- ment of a navy yard and depot on the coast of Florida,, in, the Gulf of Mexico, and authorizing the building of 114 THE TRCE AMERICAN. ten sloops of war, and for other purposes, are in the course of execution : for the particulars of which and other objects connected with this department, I refer to the report of the Secretary of the Navy herewith com- municated. A report from the Postmaster-general is also submit- ted, exhibiting the present flourishing condition of that department. For the first time for many years, the re- ceipts for the year ending on the first of July last, ex- ceeded the expenditures during the same period, to the amount of more than forty-five thousand dollars. Other facts, equally creditable to the administration of this department, are, that in two years from the first of July, 1823, an improvement of more than one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars, in its pecuniary affairs, has been realized ; that, in the same interval, the increase of the transportation of the mail has exceeded one million five hundred thousand miles annually ; and that one thousand and forty new post-offices have been esta- blished. It hence appears, that under judicious manage- ment, the income from this establishment may be relied on as fully adequate to defray its expenses ; and that, by the discontinuance of post roads, altogether unproduc- tive, others of more useful character may be opened, till the circulation of the mail shall keep pace with the spread of our population, and the comforts of friendly correspondence, the exchanges of internal traffic, and the lights of the periodical press, shall be distributed to the remotest corners of the Union, at a charge scarcely perceptible to any individual, and without the cost of a dollar to the public treasury. Upon this first occasion of addressing the legislature of the Union, with which I have been honored, in pre- senting to their view the execution, so far as it has been effected, of the measures sanctioned by them, for pro- moting the internal improvement of our country, I can- iiot close the communication without recommending to their calm and persevering consideration the general principle in a more enlarged extent. The great object of the institution of civil government is the improvement of the condition of those who are parties to the social j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 115 compact. And no government, in whatever form con- stituted, can accomplish the lawful ends of its institution, but in proportion as it improves the condition of those over whom it is established. Roads and canals, by mul- tiplying and facilitating the communications and inter- course between distant regions and multitudes of men, are among the most important means of improvement. But moral, political and intellectual improvement, are duties assigned by the Author of our existence, to social-, no less than to individual man. For the fulfilment of those duties, governments are invested with power ; and, to the attainmem of the end, the progressive improve- ment of the condition of the governed, the exercise of delegated powers is a duty as sacred and indispensable, as the usurpation of powers not granted is criminal and odious. Among the first, perhaps the very first instru- ment for the improvement of the condition of men, is knowledge ; and to the acquisition of much of the know- ledge adapted to the wants, the comforts, and enjoyments of human life, public institutions and seminaries of learning are essential. So convinced of this was the first of my predecessors in this office, now first in the memory as, living, he was first in the hearts of our coun- try, that once and again, in his addresses to the Con- gresses with whom he co-operated in the public service, he earnestly recommended the establishment of seminaries of learning, to prepare for all the emergencies of peace and war a national university, and a military academy. With respect to the latter, had he lived to the present day, in turning his eyes to the institution at West Point, he would have enjoyed the gratification of his most earn- est wishes. But, in surveying the city which has been honored with his name, he would have seen the spot of earth which, he had destined and bequeathed to the use and benefit of his country as the site for a universi-* ty, still bare and barren. In assuming her station among the civilized nations of the earth, it would seem that our country had contracted the engagement to contribute her share of mind, of la- bor, and of expense, to the improvement of those parts of knowledge which lie beyond the reach of individual 116 THE TRUE AMERICAN. acquisition; and particularly to geographical and astro- nomical science. Looking hack to the history only of half the century since the declaration of our independ- ence, and observing the jrciifmus emulation with which the governments of France, Great Britain, and Russia, have devoted the genius, the i-ntelligence, the treasures of their respective nations, to the common improvement of the species in these branches of science, is it not in- cumbent upon us to inquire whether we are not bound by obligations of a high and honorable character to con- tribute our portion of energy and exertion to the common stock ? The voyages of discovery prosecuted in the course of that time at the expense of those nations, have not only redounded to their glory, but to the improvement of human knowledge. We have been partakers of that improvement, and owe for it a sacred debt, not only of gratitude, but of equal or proportional exertion in the same common cause. Of the cost of these undertakings, if the mere expenditures of outfit, equipment, and com- pletion of the expeditions, were to be considered the only charges, i.i would be unworthy of a great and gene- rous nation to take a second thought. One hundred expeditiona of circumnavigation, like those of Cook and La Perouse, would not burden the exchequer of the na- tion fitting them out, so much as the ways and means of defraying a single campaign in war. But if we take into the account the lives of those benefactors of man- kind, of which their services in the cause of their species were the purchase, how shall the cost of those heroic enterprises be estimated ? And what compensation can be made to them, or to their countries for them 1 Is it not by bearing them in affectionate remembrance ? Is it not still more by imitating their example? by enabling countrymen of our own to pursue the same career, and to hazard their lives in the same cause ? On inviting the attention of Congress to the subject of internal improvements, upon a view thus enlarged, it is not my design to recommend the equipment of an expe- dition for circumnavigating the globe for purposes of scientific research and inquiry. We have objects of useful investigation, nearer home, and to which our cares j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 117 may be more beneficially applied. The interior of our own territories has yet been very imperfectly explored. Our coasts, along many degrees of latitude upon the shores of the Pacific ocean, though much frequented by our spirited commercial navigators, have been barely visited by our public ships. The river of the west, first fully discovered and navigated by a countryman of our own, still bears the name of the ship in which he as- cended its waters, and claims the protection of our armed national flag at its mouth. With the establishment of a military post there, or at some other point of that coast, recommended by my predecessor, and already matured in the deliberations of the last Congress, I would suggest the expediency of connecting the equipment of a public ship for the exploration of the whole north-west coast of tin's continent. The establishment of a uniform standard of weights and measures, was one of the specific objects contem- plated in the formation of our constitution; and to fix that standard was one of the powers delegated by express terms, in that instrument, to Congress. The governments of Great Britain and France have scarcely ceased to be occupied with inquiries and speculations on the same subject, since the existence of our constitution ; and with them it has expanded into profound, laborious, and expensive researches into the figure of the earth, and the comparative length of the pendulum vibrating seconds in various latitudes, from the equator to the pole. These researches have resulted in the composition and publica- tion of several works highly interesting to the cause of science. The experiments are yet in the process of per- formance. Some of them have recently been made on our own shores, within the walls of one of our own col- leges, and partly by one of our own fellow-citizens. It would be honorable to our country if the sequel of the same experiments should be countenanced by the patron- age of our government, as they have hitherto been by those of France and Great Britain. Connected with the establishment of a university, or separate from it, might be undertaken the erection of an astronomical observatory, with provision for the support 118 THE TRUE AMERICAN. of an astronomer, to be in constant attendance of ob- servation upon the phenomena of the heavens ; and for the periodical publication of his observations. It is with no feeling of pride, as an American, that the remark may be made, that, on the comparatively small territorial surface of Europe, there are existing upwards of one hundred and thirty of these light-houses of the skies ; while through- out the whole American hemisphere there is not one. If we reflect a moment upon the discoveries which, in the last four centuries, have been made in the physical constitution of the universe, by the means of these build- ings, and of observers stationed in them, shull we doubt of their usefulness to every nation ? And while scarcely a year passes over our heads without bringing some new astronomical discovery to light, which we must fain re- ceive at second hand from Europe, are we not cutting ourselves off from the means of returning light for light, while we have neither observatory nor observer upon our half of the globe, and the earth revolves in perpetual darkness to our unsearching eyes ? When, on the 25th of October, 1791, the first Presi- dent of the United States announced to Congress the re- sult of the first enumeration of the inhabitants of this Union, he informed them that the returns gave the plea- sing assurance that the population of the United States bordered on four millions of persons. At the distance of thirty years from that time, the last enumeration, five years since completed, presented a population bordering on ten millions. Perhaps of all the evidences of a pros- perous and happy condition of human society, the rapid- ity of the increase of population is the most unequivo- cal. But the demonstration of our prosperity rests not alone upon this indication. Our commerce, our wealth, and the extent of our territories have increased in corre- sponding proportions; and the number of independent communities, associated in our federal Union, has, since that time, nearly doubled. The legislative representation of the states and people, in the two houses of Congress, has grown with the growth of their constituent bodies. The House, which then consisted of sixty-five members, now numbers upwards of two hundred. The Senate, j. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 119 which consisted of twenty-six members, has now forty- eight. But the executive, and still more the judiciary departments, are yet in a great measure confined to their primitive organization, and are now not adequate to the urgent wants of a still growing community. The naval armaments, which at an early period forced themselves upon the necessities of the Union, soon led to the establishment of a department of the navy. But the departments of foreign affairs and of the interior, which, early after the formation of the government, had been united in one, continue so united to this time, to the unquestionable detriment of the public service. The multiplication of our relations with the nations and go- vernments of the old world, has kept pace with that of our population and commerce, while, within the last ten years, a new family of nations, in our own hemisphere, has arisen among the inhabitants of the earth, with whom our intercourse, commercial and political, would, of it- self, furnish occupation to an active and industrious de- partment. The constitution of the judiciary, experiment- al and imperfect as it was, even in the infancy of our existing government, is yet more inadequate to the admin- istration of national justice at our present maturity. Nine years have elapsed since a predecessor in this office, now not the last, the citizen who perhaps of all others through- out the Union, contributed most to the formation and establishment of our constitution, in his valedictory ad- dress to Congress, immediately preceding his retirement from public life, urgently recommended the revision of the judiciary, and the establishment of an additional exe- cutive department. The exigencies of the public service and its unavoidable deficiencies, as now in exercise, have added yearly cumulative weight to the considerations pre- sented by him as persuasive to the measure ; and in re- commending it to your deliberations, I am happy to have the influence of his high authority in aid of the undoubt- ing convictions of my own experience. The laws relating to the administration of the Patent Office are deserving of much consideration, and perhaps susceptible of some improvement. The grant of power to regulate the action of Congress on this subject, has 120 THE TRUE AMERICAN. specified both the end to be obtained and the means by which it is to be effected, " to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their re- spective writings and discoveries." If an honest pride might be indulged in the reflection, that on the records of that office are already found inventions, the usefulness of which has scarcely been transcended in the annals of human ingenuity, would not its exultation be allayed by the inquiry, whether the laws have effectively insured to the inventors the reward destined to them by the consti- tution even a limited term of exclusive right to their discoveries ? On the 24th of December, 1799, it was resolved by Congress, that a marble monument should be erected by the United States, in the capitol, at the city of Washing- ton; that the family of General Washington should be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it ; and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political life. In re- minding Congress of this resolution, and that the monu- ment contemplated by it remains yet without execution, I shall indulge only the remarks, that the works at the cap- itol are approaching to completion ; that the consent of the family, desired by the resolution, was requested and obtained ; that a monument has been recently erected in this city, over the remains of another distinguished patriot of the revolution ; and that a spot has been reserved within the walls where you are deliberating for the bene- fit of this and future ages, in which the mortal remains may be deposited of him whose spirit hovers over you, and listens with delight to every act of the representatives of his nation which can tend to exalt and adorn his and their country. The constitution under which you are assembled, is a charter of limited powers. After full and solemn delibe- ration upon all or any of the objects which, urged by an irresistible sense of my own duty, I have recommended to your attention, should you come to the conclusion, that, however desirable in themselves, the enactment of laws for effecting them would transcend the powers committed 3. Q. ADAMS'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 121 to you by that venerable instrument which we are all bound to support ; let no consideration induce you to as- sume the exercise of powers not granted to you by the people. But if the power to exercise exclusive legisla- tion, in all cases whatsoever, over the District of Colum- bia; if the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States ; if the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes ; to fix the standard of weights and measures ; to establish post-offices and post-roads ; to declare war ; to raise and support armies ; to provide and maintain a navy ; to dis- pose of and make all needful rules and regulations re- specting the territory or other property belonging to the United States ; and to make all laws which shall be ne- cessary and proper for carrying these powers into execu- tion : if these powers, and others enumerated in the con- stitution, may be effectually brought into action by laws promoting the improvement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, the cultivation and encouragement of the mechanic and of the elegant arts, the advancement of literature, and the progress of the sciences, orna- mental and profound ; to refrain from exercising them for the benefit of the people themselves, would be to hide in the earth the talent committed to our charge would be treachery to the most sacred of trusts. The spirit of improvement is abroad upon the earth. It stimulates the hearts and sharpens the faculties, not of our fellow-citizens alone, but of the nations of Europe, and of their rulers. While dwelling with pleasing satis- faction upon the superior excellence of our political in- stitutions, let us not be unmindful that liberty is power ; that the nation blessed with the largest portion of liberty, must, in proportion to its numbers, be the most power- ful nation upon earth ; and that the tenure of power by man is, in the moral purposes of his Creator, upon con- dition that it shall be exercised to ends of beneficence, to improve the condition of himself and his fellow-men. While foreign nations, less blessed with that freedom which is power than ourselves, are advancing with gigan- 11 122 THE TRUE AMERICAN. tic strides in the career of public improvement ; were we to slumber in indolence, or fold up our arms and proclaim to the world that we are palsied by the will of our consti- tuents, would it not be to cast away the bounties of Pro vidence, and doom ourselves to perpetual inferiority ? In the course of the year now drawing to its close, we have beheld, under the auspices and expense of one state in our Union, a new university unfolding its portals to the sons of science, and holding up the torch of human im- provement to eyes that seek the light. We have seen under the persevering and enlightened enterprise of another state, the waters of our western lakes mingle with those of the ocean. If undertakings like these have been accomplished in the compass of a few years, by the authority of single members of our confede- ration, can we, the representative authorities of the whole Union, fall behind our fellow-servants in the exer cise of the trust committed to us for the benefit of our common sovereign, by the accomplishment of works im- portant to the whole, and to which neither the authority nor the resources of any one state can be adequate ? Finally, fellow-citizens, I shall await, with cheering hope and faithful co-operation, the result of your deli- berations ; assured that, without encroaching upon the powers reserved to the authorities of the respective states, or to the people, you will, with a due sense of your obli- gations to your country, and of the high responsibilities weighing upon yourselves, give efficacy to the means committed to you for the common good. And may He who searches the hearts of the children of men, prosper your exertions to secure the blessings of peace and pro- mote the highest welfare of our country. JACKSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 123 JACKSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1829. Fellow-Citizens : About to undertake the arduous duties that I have been appointed to perform, by the choice of a free people, I avail myself of this customary and solemn occasion to ex- press the gratitude which their confidence inspires, and to acknowledge the accountability which my situation en- joins. While the magnitude of their interests convinces me that no thanks can be adequate to the honor they have conferred, it admonishes me that the best return I can make, is the zealous dedication of my humble abili- ties to their service and their good. As the instrument of the federal constitution, it will devolve upon me, for a stated period, to execute the laws of the United States ; to superintend their foreign and confederate relations ; to manage their revenue ; to com- mand their forces; and, by communications to the legis- lature, to watch over and to promote their interests gene- rally. And the principles of action by which I shall endeavor to accomplish this circle of duties, it is now proper for me briefly to explain. In administering the laws of Congress, I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the executive power, trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office, without transcending its authority. With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve peace, and to cultivate friendship on fair and honorable terms ; and in the adjustment of any differences that may exist or arise, to exhibit the forbearance becoming a powerful nation, rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people. In such measures as I may be called on to pursue, in regard to the rights of the separate states, I .hope to be animated by a proper respect for those sovereign members of our Union ; taking care not to confound the powers they have reserved to themselves with those they have granted to the confederacy. 124 THE TRUE AMERICAN'. The management of the public revenue that search- ing operation of all governments is among the most delicate and important trusts in ours ; and it will, of course, demand no inconsiderable share of my official solicitude. Under every aspect in which it can be con- sidered, it would appear that advantage must result from the observance of a strict and faithful economy. This I shall aim at the more anxiously, both because it will facili- tate the extinguishment of the national debt, the unne- cessary duration of which is incompatible with real inde- pendence, and because it will counteract that tendency to public and private profligacy which a profuse expendi- ture of money by the government is but too apt to en- gender. Powerful auxiliaries to the attainment of this desirable end, are to be found in the regulations provided by the wisdom of Congress for the specific appropriation of public money, and the prompt accountability of pub- lic officers. With regard to a proper selection of the subjects of impost, with a view to revenue, it would seem to me that the spirit of equity, caution, and compromise, in which the constitution was formed, requires that the great interests of agriculture, commerce and manufac- tures, should be equally favored, and that perhaps the only exception to this rule should consist in the peculiar en- couragement of any products of either of them that may be found essential to our national independence. Internal improvement and the diffusion of knowledge, so far as they can be promoted by the constitutional acts of the federal government, are of high importance. Considering standing armies as dangerous to free go- vernments in time of peace, I shall not seek to enlarge our present establishment, nor to disregard that salutary lesson of political experience which teaches that the mil- itary should be held subordinate to the civil power. The gradual increase of our navy, whose flag has displayed, in distant climes, our skill in navigation, and our fame in arms ; the preservation of our forts, arsenals, and dock- yards; and the introduction of progressive improvements in the discipline and science of both branches of our military service, are so plainly prescribed by prudence that I should be excused for omitting their mention, soon- JACKSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 125 er than enlarging on their importance. But the bulwark of our defence is the national militia, which, in the pre- sent state of our intelligence and population, must render us invincible. As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will ; as long as it secures to us the right of person and pro- perty, liberty of conscience, and of the press, it will be worth defending ; and so long as it is worth defending, a patriotic militia will cover it with an impenetrable segis. Partial injuries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected to; but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can never be conquered by a for- eign foe. To any just system, therefore, calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of the country, I shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power. It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe towards the Indian tribes within our limits, a just and liberal policy ; and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants, which are con- sistent with the habits of our government and the feelings of our people. The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform ; which will require, particularly the correction of those abuses that have brought the patronage of the federal government into conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counter- action of those causes which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment, and have placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent hands. In the performance of a task thus generally delineated, I shall endeavor to select men whose diligence and talents will insure, in their respective stations, able and faithful co-operation depending for the advancement of the pub- lic service, more on the integrity and zeal of the public officers, than on their numbers. A diffidence, perhaps too just, in my own qualifications, will teach me to look with reverence to the examples of public virtue left by my illustrious predecessors, and with veneration to the lights that flow from the mind that found- ed and the mind that reformed our system. The same 11* 126 THE TRUE AMERICAN. diffidence induces me to hope for* instruction and aid from the co-ordinate branches of the government, and for the indulgence and support of my fellow-citizens gene- rally. And a firm reliance on the goodness of that Pow- er whose providence mercifully protected our national infancy, and has since upheld our liberties in various vicissitudes, encourages me to offer up my ardent suppli- cations that He will continue to make our beloved coun- try the object of his divine care and gracious benediction. JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 8, 1829. Fellow-Citizens of the Senatr, and lloute of Representatives : It affords me pleasure to tender my friendly greetings to you on the occasion of your assembling at the seat of government, to enter upon the important dujties to which >u have been called by the voice of our countrymen, he task devolves on me, under a provision of the consti- tution, to present to you, as the federal legislature of twenty-four sovereign states, and twelve millions of happy people, a view of our affairs ; and to propose such mea- sures as, in the discharge of my official functions, have suggested themselves as necessary to promote the objects of our Union. In communicating with you for the first time, it is to me a source of unfeigned satisfaction, calling for mutual gratulation and devout thanks to a benign Providence, that we are at peace with all mankind ; and that our country exhibits the most cheering evidence of general welfare and progressive improvement. Turning our eyes to other nations, our great desire is to see our brethren of the human race secured in the blessings enjoyed by ourselves, and advancing in knowledge, in freedom, and in social happiness. JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 127 Our foreign relations, although in their general cha- racter pacific and friendly, present subjects of difference between us and other powers of deep interest, as well to the country at large as to many of our citizens. To ef- fect an adjustment of these shall continue to be the ob- ject of my earnest endeavors ; and notwithstanding the difficulties of the task, I do not allow myself to. appre- hend unfavorable results. Blessed as our country is. with every thing which constitutes national strength, she is fully adequate to the maintenance of all her interests. In discharging the responsible trust confided to the executive in this respect, it is my settled purpose to ask nothing that is not clearly right, and to submit to nothing that is wrong ; and I flatter myself, that, supported by the other branches of the government, and by the intelligence and patriotism of the people, we shall be able, under the pro- tection of Providence, to cause all our just rights to be respected. Of the unsettled matters between the United States and other powers, the most prominent are those which have for years been the subject of negotiation with Eng- land, France, and Spain. The late periods at which our ministers to those governments left the United States, render it impossible, at this early day, to inform you of what has been done on the subjects with which they have been respectively charged. Relying upon the justice of our views in relation to the points committed to negotia- tion, and the reciprocal good feeling which characterizes our intercourse with those nations, we have the best rea- son to hope for a satisfactory adjustment of existing dif- ferences. With Great Britain, alike distinguished in peace and war, we may look forward to years of peaceful, honora- ble, and elevated competition. Every thing in the condi- tion and history of the two nations is calculated to inspire sentiments of mutual respect, and to carry conviction to the minds of both, that it is their policy to preserve the most cordial relations. Such are my own views ; and it is not to be doubted that such are also the prevailing sen- timents of our constituents. Although neither time nor opportunity has been afforded for a full development of' 128 THE TRUE AMERICAN. the policy which the present cabinet of Great Britain de- signs to pursue towards this country, I indulge the hope that it will be of a just and pacific character ; and if this anticipation be realized, we may look with confi- dence to a speedy and acceptable adjustment of our af fairs. Under the convention for regulating the reference to arbitration the disputed points of boundary under the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent, the proceedings have hitherto been conducted in the spirit of candor and libe- rality which ought ever to characterize the acts of sove- reign states, seeking to adjust, by the most unexception- able means, important and delicate subjects of contention. The first statements of the parties have been exchanged, and the final replication on our part is in a course of pre- paration. This subject has received the attention de- manded by its great and peculiar importance to a patriotic member of this confederacy. The exposition of our rights, already made, is such as from the high reputation of the commissioners by whom it has been prepared, we had a right to expect. Our interests at the court of the sovereign who has evinced his friendly disposition, by assuming the delicate task of arbitration, have been com- mitted to a citizen of the state of Maine, whose charac- ter, talents, and intimate acquaintance with the subject, eminently qualify him for so responsible a trust. With full confidence in the justice of our cause, and in the probity, intelligence, and uncompromising independence ot the illustrious arbitrator, we can have nothing to appre- hend from the result. From France, our ancient ally, we have a right to ex- pect that justice which becomes the sovereign of a pow- erful, intelligent, and magnanimous people. The benefi- cial effects produced by the commercial convention of 1822, limited as are its provisions, are too obvious not to make a salutary impression upon the minds of those who are charged with the administration of her government. Should this result induce a disposition to embrace to their full extent the wholesome principles which constitute our commercial policy, our minister to that court will hr> found instructed to cherish such a disposition, and to ai 1 JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 129 in conducting it to useful practical conclusions. The claims of our citizens for depredations upon their pro- perty, long since committed under the authority, and in many instances, by the express direction, of the then ex- isting government of France, remained unsatisfied ; and must, therefore, continue to furnish a subject of unplea- sant discussion, and possible collision, between the two governments. I cherish, however, a lively hope, founded as well on the validity of those claims, and the established policy of all enlightened governments, as on the known integrity of the French monarch, that the injurious de- lays of the past will find redress in the equity of the future. Our minister has been instructed to press these demands on the French government with all the earnest- ness which is called for by their importance and irrefuta- ble justice ; and in a spirit that will evince the respect which is due to the feelings of those from whom the satis- faction is required. Our minister recently appointed to Spain has been authorized to assist in removing evils alike injurious to both countries, either by concluding a commercial con- vention upon liberal and reciprocal terms ; or by urging the acceptance, in their full extent, of the mutually bene- ficial provisions of our navigation act. He has also been instructed to make a further appeal to the justice of Spain, in behalf of our citizens, for indemnity for spoliations upon our commerce, committed under her authority an appeal which the pacific and liberal course observed on our part, and a due confidence in the honor of that go- vernment authorized us to expect will not be made in vain. With other European powers, our intercourse is on the most friendly footing. In Russia, placed by her territo- rial limits, extensive population, and great power, high in tb rank of nations, the United States have always found a steadfast friend. Although her recent invasions of Tur- key awakened a lively sympathy for those who were ex- posed to the desolations of war, we cannot but anticipate that the result will prove favorable to the cause of civili- zation, and to the progress of human happiness. The treaty of peace between these powers having been ratified, ^ W ^^r 130 THE TRUE AMERICAN. \ve cannot be insensible to tbe great benefit to be derived by the commerce of the United States from unlocking the navigation of the Black Sea a free passage into which is secured to all merchant vessels bound to ports of Russia under a flag at peace with the Porte. This advantage, enjoyed upon conditions, by most of the pow- ers of Europe, has hitherto been withheld from us. During the past summer, an antecedent but unsuccessful attempt to obtain it, was renewed under circumstances which pro- mised the most favorable results. Although these results have fortunately been thus in part attained, further facili- ties to the enjoyment of this new field for the enterprise of our citizens are, in my opinion, sufficiently desirable to insure to them our most zealous attention. Our trade with Austria, although of secondary im- portance, has been gradually increasing ; and is now so extended as to deserve the fostering care of the govern- ment. A negotiation, commenced and nearly completed with that power, by the late administration, has been con- summated by a treaty of amity, navigation and commerce, which will be laid before the Senate. During the recess of Congress, our diplomatic relations with Portugal have been resumed. The peculiar state of things in that country caused a suspension of the recognition of the representative who presented himself, until an opportunity was had to obtain from our official organ there, information regarding the actual, and, as far as practicable, prospective condition of the authority by which the representative in question was appointed. This information being received, the application of the esta- blished rule of our government, in like cases, was no longer withheld. Considerable advances have been made during the present year in the adjustment of claims of our citizens upon Denmark for spoliations ; but all that we have a right to demand from that government in their behalf has not yet been conceded. From the liberal footing, however, upon which this subject has, with the approbation of the claimants, been placed by the government, together with the uniformly just and friendly disposition which has been evinced by his Danish majesty, there is a reasonable JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 131 ground to hope that this single subject of difference will speedily be removed. Our relations with the Barbary powers continue, as they have long been, of the most favorable character. The policy of keeping an adequate force in the Mediterra- nean, as security for the continuance of this tranquillity, will be persevered in ; as well as a similar one for the protection of our commerce and fisheries in the Pacific. The southern republics of our hemisphere have not yet realized all the advantages for which they have been so long struggling. We trust, however, that the day is not distant when the restoration of peace and internal quiet, under permanent systems of government, securing the liberty, and promoting the happiness of the citizens, will crown, with complete success, their long and arduous efforts in the cause of self-government ; and enable us to salute them as friendly rivals in all that is truly great and glorious. The recent invasion of Mexico, and the effect thereby produced upon her domestic policy, must have a control- ling influence upon the great question of South Ameri- can emancipation. We have seen the fell spirit of civil dissention rebuked, and, perhaps, forever stifled in that republic by the love of independence. If it be true, as appearances strongly indicate, that the spirit of indepen- dence is the master spirit ; and if a corresponding senti- ment prevails in the other states, this devotion to liberty cannot be without a proper effect upon the counsels of the mother country. The adoption by Spain of a pacific policy towards her former colonies an event consoling to humanity, and a blessing to the world, in which she herself cannot fail largely to participate may be most reasonably expected. The claims of our citizens upon the South American governments generally, are in a train of settlement, while the principal part of those upon Brazil have been adjusted ; and a decree in council, ordering bonds to be issued by the minister of the treasury for their amount, has received the sanction of his imperial majesty. This event, toge- ther with the exchange of the ratifications of the treaty negotiated and concluded in 1828, happily terminates all serious causes of difference with that power. 132 THE TRUE AMERICAN. Measures have been taken to place our commercial re- lations with Peru upon a better footing than that upon which they have hitherto rested ; and if met by a proper disposition on the part of that government, important bene- fits may be secured to both countries. Deeply interested as we are in the prosperity of our sister republics; and more particularly in that of our immediate neighbor, it would be most gratifying to me were I permitted to say, that the treatment which we have received at her hands has been as universally friendly, as the early and constant solicitude manifested by the United States for her success, gave us a right to expect. But it becomes my duty to inform you that prejudices long in- dulged by a portion of the inhabitants of Mexico against the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States, have had an unfortunate influence upon the affairs of the two countries ; and have diminished that usefulness to his own which was justly to be expected from his talents and zeal. To this cause in a great de- gree is to be imputed the failure of several measures equally interesting to both parties ; but particularly that of the Mexican government to ratify a treaty negotiated and concluded in its own capital, and under its own eye. Under these circumstances, it appeared expedient to give to Mr. Poinsett the option either to return or not, as in his judgment the interest of his country might require, and instructions to that end were prepared ; but before they could be despatched, a communication was received from the government of Mexico, through its charge d'af- faires here, requesting the recall of our minister. This was promptly complied with ; and a representative of a rank corresponding with that of the Mexican diplomatic agent near this government was appointed. Our conduct towards that republic has been uniformly of the most friendly character ; and having thus removed the only alleged obstacle to harmonious intercourse, I cannot but hope that an advantageous change will occur in our affairs. In justice to Mr. Poinsett, it is proper to say, that my immediate compliance with the application for his recall, and the appointment of a successsor, are not to be ascri- bed to any evidence that the imputation of an improper interference by him, in the local politics of Mexico, was JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 133 well founded ; nor to a want of confidence in his talents or integrity ; and to add, that the truth of that charge has never been affirmed by the federal government of Mexico, in their communications with this. I consider it one of the most urgent of my duties to bring to your attention the propriety of amending that part of our constitution which relates to the election of President and Vice-President. Our system of govern- ment was, by its framers, deemed an experiment ; and they, therefore, consistently provided a mode of remedying its defects. To the people belongs the right of electing their chief magistrate ; it was never designed that their choice should, in any case, be defeated, either by the intervention of electoral colleges, or by the agency confided, under cer- tain contingencies, to the House of Representatives. Ex- perience proves, that, in proportion as agents to execute the will of the people are multiplied, there is danger of their wishes being frustrated. Some may be unfaithful ; all are liable to err. So far, therefore, as the people can, with convenience, speak, it is safer for them to express their own will. The number of aspirants to the presidency, and the diversity of the interests which may influence their claims, leave little reason to expect a choice in the first instance ; and, in that event, the election must devolve on the House of Representatives, where, it is obvious, the will of the people may not be always ascertained ; or, if ascertained, may not be regarded. l ? rorn the mode of voting by states, * the choice is to be made by twenty-four votes ; and it may often occur, that one of those will be controlled by an individual representative. Honors and offices are at the disposal of the successful candidate. Repeated bal- lottings may make it apparent that a single individual holds the cast in his hand. May he not be tempted to name his reward 1 But even without corruption sup- posing the probity of the representative to be proof against the powerful motives by which it may be assailed the will of the people is still constantly liable to be misrepre- sented. O:is may err from ignorance of the wishes of his constituents ; another, from the conviction that it is 12 134 THE THEU AMERICAN. his duty to be governed by his own judgment of the fitness of the candidates ; finally, although all were inflexibly honest all accurately informed of the wishes of their constituents yet, under the present mode of election, a minority may often elect the President ; and when this happens, it may reasonably be expected that efforts will be made on the part of the majority to rectify this injuri- ous operation of their institutions. But although no evil of this character should result from such a perversion of the first principles of our system that the majority is to govern it must be very certain that a President elected by a minority cannot enjoy the confidence necessary to the successful discharge of his duties. In this, as in all other matters of public concern, policy requires that as few impediments as possible should exist to the free operation of the public will. Let us then endeavor to so amend our system, that the oflice of chief magistrate may not be conferred upon any citizen, but in pursuance of a fair expression of the will of the majority. I would therefore recommend such an amendment of the constitution as may remove all intermediate agency in the election of the President and Vice-President. The mode may be so regulated as to preserve to each state its present relative weight in the election ; and a failure in the first attempt may be provided for, by confiding the second to a choice between the two highest candidates. In connection with such an amendment, it would seem advisable to limit the service of the chief magistrate to a single term of either four or six years. If, however, it should not be adopted, it is worthy of consideration whether a provision disqualifying for office, the represen- tatives in Congress on whom such an election may have devolved, would not be proper. While members of Congress can be constitutionally appointed to offices of trust and profit, it will be the practice, even under the most conscientious adherence to duty, to select them for such stations as they are believed to be better qualified to fill than other citizens; but the purity of our government would doubtless be promoted by their exclusion from all appointments in the gift of the President, in whose election they may have been offi- JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 135 , dally concerned. The nature of the judicial office, and the necessity of securing in the cabinet and diplomatic stations of the highest rank, the best talents and political experience, should, perhaps, except these from the ex- clusion. There are perhaps few men who can for any great length of time enjoy office and power, without being more or less under the influence of feelings unfavorable to the faithful discharge of their public duties. Their integrity may be proof against improper considerations immedi- ately addressed to themselves ; but they are apt to acquire a habit of looking with indifference upon the public in- terests, and of tolerating conduct from which an unprac- tised man would revolt. Office is considered as a species of property ; and government rather as a means of pro- moting individual interest, than as an instrument created solely for the service of the people. Corruption in some, and in others a perversion of correct feelings and princi- ples, divert government from its legitimate ends, and make it an engine for the support of the few at the ex- pense of the many. The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit of being made so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance ; and I cannot but believe that more is lost by the long continuance of men in office than is generally to be gained by their experience. I submit therefore to your consideration whether the efficiency of the govern- ment would not be promoted, and official industry and integrity better secured by a general extension of the law which limits appointments to four years. In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people, no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another. Offices were not established to give support to particular men at the pub- lic expense. No individual wrong is therefore done by removal, since neither appointment to nor continuance in office is matter of right. The incumbent became an offi- cer with a view to the public benefits ; and when these require his removal, they are not to be sacrificed to pri- vate interests. It is the people, and they alone, who have a right to complain, when a bad officer is substituted for 136 THE TRUE AMERICAN. a good one. He who is removed has the same means of obtaining a living that are enjoyed by the millions who never held office. The proposed limitation would destroy the idea of property, now so generally connected with official station ; and although individual distress may be sometimes produced, it would, by promoting that rotation which constitutes a leading principle in the republican creed, give healthful action to the system. No very considerable change has occurred during the recess of Congress, in the condition of either our agri- culture, commerce, or manufactures. The operation of the tariff has not proved so injurious to the two former, or as beneficial to the latter, as was anticipated. Importa- tions of foreign goods have not been sensibly diminished ; while domestic competition, under an illusive excitement, has increased the production much beyond the demand for home consumption. The consequences have been, low prices, temporary embarrassment, and partial loss. That such of our manufacturing establishments as are based upon capital, and are prudently managed, will sur- vive the shock, and be ultimately profitable, there is no good reason to doubt. To regulate its conduct, so as to promote equally the prosperity of these three cardinal interests, is one of the most difficult tasks of government ; and it may be regretted that the complicated restrictions which now embarrass the intercourse of nations, could not by com- mon consent be abolished ; and commerce allowed to flow in those channels to which individual enterprise, always its surest guide, might direct it. But we must ever expect selfish legislation in other nations ; and are therefore compelled to adapt our own to their regulations, in the manner best calculated to avoid serious injury, and to harmonize the conflicting interests of our agriculture, our commerce, and our manufactures. Under these im- pressions, I invite your attention to the existing tariff, believing that some of its provisions require modification. The general rule to be applied in graduating the duties upon the articles of foreign growth or manufacture, is that which will place our own in fair competition with those of other countries : and the inducements to advance JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 137 even a step beyond this point, are controlling in regard to those articles which are of primary necessity in time of war. When we reflect upon the difficulty and delicacy of this operation, it is important that it should never bo attempted but with the utmost caution. Frequent legis- lation in regard to any branch of industry, affecting its value, and by which its capital may be transferred to new channels, must always be productive of hazardous specu- lation and loss. In deliberating, therefore, on these interesting sub- jects, local feelings and prejudices should be merged in the patriotic determination to promote the great interests of the whole. All the attempts to connect them with the party conflicts of the day are necessarily injurious, and should be discountenanced. Our action upon them should be under the control of higher and purer motives. Legislation, subjected to such influence, can never be just ; and will not long retain the sanction of the people, whose active patriotism is not bounded by sectional lim- its, nor insensible to that spirit of concession and for- bearance which gave life to our political compact, and still sustains it. Discarding all calculations of political ascendency, the north, the south, the east, and the west, should unite in diminishing any burden, of which either may justly complain. The agricultural interest of our country is so essen- tially connected with every other, and so superior in im- portance to them all, that it is scarcely necessary to invite it to your particular attention. It is principally as ma- nufactures and commerce tend to increase the value of agricultural productions, and to extend their application to the wants and comforts of society, that they deserve the fostering care of government. Looking forward to the period, not far distant, when a sinking fund will no longer be required, the duties on those articles of importation which cannot come in com- petition with our own productions, are the first that should engage the attention of Congress in the modifica- tion of the tariff. Of these, tea and coffee are the most prominent; they enter largely into the consumption of the country, and have become articles of necessity to all "' 138 THE TRUE AMERICAN. classes. A reduction, therefore, of the existing duties, will be felt as a common benefit; but, like all other legislation connected with commerce, to be efficacious, and not injurious, it should be gradual and certain. The public prosperity is evinced in the increased reve- nue arising from the sales of public lands; and in the steady maintenance of that produced by imposts and ton- nage, notwithstanding the additional duties imposed by the act of 19th May, 1828, and the unusual importations in the early part of that year. The balance in the treasury on the 1st January, 1829, was 5,972,435 81. The receipts of the current year are estimated at 824,002,230; and the expenditures for the same time at $20,164,595. Leaving a balance in the treasury, on the 1st of January next, of 84,410,070 81. There will have been paid on account of the public debt during the present year, the sum of $12,405,005 80 ; reducing the whole debt of the government, on the first of January next, to $48,505,400 50, including seven millions of five per cent, stock subscribed to the Bank of the United States. The payment on account of the public debt, made on the first of July last, was $8,715,- 402 87. It was apprehended that the sudden withdrawal of so large a sum from the banks in which it was deposit- ed, at a time of unusual pressure in the money market, might cause much injury to the interests dependent on bank accommodations. But this evil was wholly averted by an early anticipation of it at the treasury, aided by the judicious arrangements of the officers of the Bank of the United States. The state of the finances exhibits the resources of the nation in an aspect higlily Battering to its industry, and auspicious of the ability of the government, in a very short time, to extinguish the public debt. When this shall be done, our population will be relieved from a con- siderable portion of its present burdens; and will find not only new motives to patriotic affection, but additional means for the display of individual enterprise. The fiscal power of the states will also be increased ; and may be more extensively exerted in favor of education and other public objects ; while ample means will remain I JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 139 in the federal government to promote the general weal, .in all the modes permitted to its authority. After the extinction of the public debt, it is not proba- ble that any adjustment of the tariff, upon prineiples satisfactory to the people of the Union, will, until a re- mote period, if ever, leave the government without a considerable surplus in the treasury, beyond what may be required for its current service. As, then, the period " approaches when the application of the revenue to pay- ment of the debt will cease, the disposition of the sur- plus will present a subject for the serious deliberation of Congress; and it may be fortunate for the country that it is yet to be decided. Considered in connection with the difficulties which have heretofore attended appropria- tions for purposes of internal improvement, and with those which this experience tells us will certainly arise, whenever power over such subjects may be exercised by the general government ; it is hoped that it may lead to the adoption of some plan which will reconcile the di- Tersified interests of the states, and strengthen the bonds which unite them. Every member of the Union, in peace and in war, will be benefitted by the improvement of inland navigation, and the construction of highways in the several states. Let us then endeavor to attain this benefit in a mode that will be satisfactory to all. That hitherto adopted has, by many of our fellow-citizens, been deprecated as an infraction of the constitution ; while by others it has been viewed as inexpedient. All feel that it has been employed at the expense of harmony in the legislative councils. To avoid these evils, it appears to me that the most safe, just, and federal disposition which could be made of this surplus revenue, would be its apportionment among the several states, according to their ratio of re- presentation ; and should this measure not be found war- ranted by the constitution, that it would be expedient to propose to the states an amendment authorizing it. I regard an appeal to the source of power,, in all cases of real doubt, and where its exercise is deemed advisable to the general welfare, as among the most sacred of all our obligations. Upon this country, more than any other. THE TRUE AMERICAK. . has, in the providence of God, been cast the special guardianship of the great principle of adherence to writ- ten constitutions. If it fail here, all hope in regard to it will be extinguished. That this was intended to be a government of limited and specific, and not general pow- ers, must be admitted by all ; and it is our duty to pre- serve for it the character intended by its framers. If experience points out the necessity for an enlargement of these powers, let us apply for it to those for whose" benefit it is to be exercised ; and not undermine the whole system by a resort to overstrained constructions. The scheme has worked well. It has exceeded the hopes of those who devised it, and become an object of admi- ration to the world. We are responsible to our country and to the glorious cause of self-government, for the preservation of so great a good. The great mass of legislation relating to our internal affairs, was intended to be left where the federal convention found it in the state governments. Nothing is clearer, in my view, than that we are chiefly indebted for the success of the con- stitution under which we are now acting, to the watchful and auxiliary operation of the state authorities. This is not the reflection of a day, but belongs to the most deeply rooted convictions of my mind. I cannot, therefore, too strongly or too earnestly, for my own sense of its impor- tance, warn you against all encroachment upon the le- fitimate sphere of state sovereignty. Sustained by its ealthful and invigorating influence, the federal system can never fall. In the collection of the revenue, the long credits au- thorized on goods imported from beyond the Cape of Good Hope are the chief cause of the losses at present sustained. If these were shortened to six, nine, and twelve months, and warehouses provided by government, sufficient to receive the goods offered in deposite for se- curity and for debenture ; and if the right of the United States to a priority of payment out of the estates of its insolvent debtors was more effectually secured, this evil would in a great measure be obviated. An authority to construct such houses is, therefore, with the proposed alteration of the credits, recommended to your attention. JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 141 It is worthy of notice, that the laws for the collection and security of the revenue arising from imposts, were chiefly framed when the rates of duties on imported goods presented much less temptation for illicit trade than at present exists. There is reason to believe that hese laws are, in some respects, quite insufficient for the proper security of the revenue, and the protection of the interests of those who are disposed to observe them. The injurious and demoralizing tendency of a successful sys- tem of smuggling is so obvious as not to require com- ment, and cannot be too carefully guarded against. I therefore suggest to Congress the propriety of adopting efficient measures to prevent this evil, avoiding, however, as much as possible, every unnecessary infringement of individual liberty, and embarrassment of fair and lawful business. On an examination of the records of the treasury, I have been forcibly struck with the large amount of pub- lic money which appears to be outstanding. Of this sum thus diie from individuals to the government, a consider- able portion is undoubtedly desperate ; and in many in- stances, has probably been rendered so by remissness in the agents charged with its collection. By proper exertions, a great part, however, may yet be recovered ; and what- ever may be the portions respectively belonging to these two classes, it behoves the government to ascertain the real state of the fact. This can be done only by the prompt adoption of judicious measures for the collection of such as may be made available. It is believed that a very large amount has been lost through the inadequacy of the means provided for the collection of debts due to the public ; and that this inadequacy lies chiefly in the want of legal skill, habitually and constantly employed in the direction of the agents engaged in the service. It must, I think, be admitted, that the supervisory power over suits brought by the public, which is now vested in an accounting officer of the treasury, not selected with a view to his legal knowledge, and encumbered as he is with numerous other duties, operates unfavorably to the public interest. It is important that this branch of the public service v> 142 THE TRUE AMERICAN. should be subject to the supervision of such professional skill as will give it efficacy. The expense attendant upon such a modification of the executive department, would be justified by the soundest principles of economy. I would recommend, therefore, that the duties now assigned to the agent of the treasury, so far as they relate to the superintendence and management of legal proceedings on the part of the United States, to be transferred to the attorney-general ; and that this officer be placed on the same footing in all respects, as the heads of the other departments receiving like compensation, and having such subordinate officers provided for his department, as may be requisite for the discharge of these additional duties. The professional skill of the attorney-general, employed in directing the conduct of marshals and dis- trict attorneys, would hasten the collection of debts now in suit, and hereafter save much to the government. It might be further extended to the superintendence of all criminal proceedings for offences against the United States. In making this transfer, great care should be taken, how- ever, that the power necessary to the treasury depart- ment be not impaired ; one of its greatest securities con- sisting in a control over all accounts until they are audited or reported for suit. In connection with the foregoing views, I would sug- gest, also, an inquiry, whether the provisions of the act of Congress, authorizing the discharge of the persons of debtors to the government from imprisonment, may not, consistently with the public interest, be extended to the release of the debt, where the conduct of the debtor is wholly exempt from the imputation of fraud. Some more liberal policy than that which now prevails in reference to this unfortunate class of citizens is certainly due to them, and would prove beneficial to the country. The continuance of the liability after the means to discharge it have been exhausted, can only serve to dispirit the debtor ; or where his resources are but partial, the want of power in the government to compromise and release the demand, instigates to fraud, as the only resource for securing a support to his family. He thus sinks into a state of apathy, or becomes a useless drone in society, or JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 143 a vicious member of it, if not a feeling witness of the rigor and inhumanity of his country. All experience proves that an oppressive debt is the bane of enterprise ; and it should be the care of a republic not to exert a grinding power over misfortune and poverty. Since the last session of Congress, numerous frauds On the treasury have been discovered, which I thought it my duty to bring under the cognizance of the United States Court, for this district, by a criminal prosecution. It was my opinion, and that of able counsel who were consulted, that the cases came within the penalties of the act of the 17th Congress, approved 3d March, 1823, pro- viding for the punishment of frauds committed on the government of the United States. Either from some de- fect in the law or in its administration, every effort to bring the accused to trial under its provisions proved ineffectu- al, and the government was driven to the necessity of resorting to the vague and inadequate provisions of the common law. It is therefore my duty to call your atten- tion to the laws which have been passed for the protection of the treasury. If, indeed, there is no provision by which those who may be unworthily intrusted with its guardianship, can be punished for the most flagrant vio- lation of duty, extending even to the most fraudulent appropriation of the public funds to their own use, it is time to remedy so dangerous an omission. Or, if the law has been perverted from its original purposes, and criminals deserving to be punished under its provisions, have been rescued by legal subtilties, it ought to be made so plain, by amendatory provisions, as to baffle the arts of perversion, and accomplish the ends of its original enact- ment. In one of the most flagrant cases, the court decided that the prosecution was barred by the statute which limits prosecutions for fraud to two years. In this case all the evidences of the fraud, and indeed all knowledge that a fraud had been committed, were in the possession of the party accused, until after the two years had elapsed. Surely the statute ought not to run in favor of any man while he retains all the evidences of his crime in his own possession ; and least of all, in favor of a public officer 144 THE TRUE AMERICAN. who continues to defraud the treasury, aliu conceal the transaction for the brief term of two years. I would therefore recommend such an alteration of the law as will give the injured party and the government two years after the disclosure of the fraud, or after the accused is out of office, to commence their prosecution. In connection with this subject, I invite the attention of Congress to a general and minute inquiry into the condition of the government ; with a view to ascertain what offices can be dispensed with, what expenses re- trenched, and what improvements may be made in the organization of its various parts to secure the proper re- sponsibility of public agents, and promote efficiency and justice in all its operations. The report of the Secretary of War will make you acquainted with the condition of our army, fortifications, arsenals, and Indian affairs. The proper discipline of the army, the training and equipment of the militia, the education bestowed at West Point, and the accumulation of the means of defence, applicable to the naval force, will tend to prolong the peace we now enjoy, and which every good citizen, more especially those who have felt the miseries of even a successful warfare, most ardently desire to perpetuate. The returns from the subordinate branches of this service exhibit a regularity and order highly creditable to its character : both officers and soldiers seem imbued with a proper sense of duty, and conform to the restraints of exact discipline with th.it cheerfulness which becomes the profession of arins. There is need, however, of fur- ther legislation to obviate the inconveniences specified in the report under consideration ; to some of which it is proper that I should call your particular attention. The act of Congress of the 2d March, 1821, to reduce and fix the military establishment, remaining unexecuted as it regards the command of one of the regiments of artillery, cannot now be deemed a guide to the executive in making the proper appointment. An explanatory act, designating the class of officers out of which this grade is to be filled whether from the military list, as existing prior to the act of 1821, or from it, as it has been fixed JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 145 by that act would remove this difficulty. It is also im- portant that the laws regulating the pay and emoluments of the officers generally, should be more specific than they now are. Those, for example, in relation to the paymaster and surgeon-general, assign to them an annual salary of $2,500 ; but are silent as to allowances which, in certain exigencies of the service, may be deemed in- dispensable to the discharge of their duties. This cir- cumstance has been the authority for extending to them various allowances at different times under former admi- nistrations ; but no uniform rule has been observed on the subject. Similar inconveniences exist in other cases, in which the construction put upon the laws by the pub- lic accountants may operate unequally, produce confu- sion, and expose officers to the odium of claiming what is not their due. I recommend to your fostering care, as one of our safest means of national defence, the Military Academy. This institution has already exercised the happiest influ- ence upon the moral and intellectual character of our army ; and such of the graduates as, from various causes, may not pursue the profession of arms, will be scarce- ly less useful as citizens. Their knowledge of the mili- tary art will be advantageously employed in the militia service ; and in a measure secure to that class of troops the advantages which in this respect belong to standing armies. I would also suggest a review of the pension law, for the purpose of extending its benefits to every revolution- ary soldier who aided in establishing our liberties, and who is unable to maintain himself in comfort. Those relics of the war of independence have strong claims upon their country's gratitude and bounty. The law is de- fective in not embracing within its provisions all those who were during the last war disabled from supporting themselves by manual labor. Such an amendment would add but little to the amount of pensions, and is called for by the sympathies of the people, as well as by considera- tions of sound policy. It will be perceived that a large addition to the list of pensioners has been occasioned by an order of the late administration, departing materially 13 146 THE TRUE AMERICAN. from the rules which had previously prevailed. Consider- ing it an act of legislation, I suspended its operation as soon as I was informed that it had commenced. Before this period, however, applications under the new regula- tion had been preferred, to the number of one hundred and fifty-four : of which, on the 27th March, the date of its revocation, eighty-seven were admitted. For the amount there was neither estimate nor appropriation ; and besides this deficiency, the regular allowances, ac- cording to the rules which have heretofore governed the department, exceed the estimate of its late secretary, by about fifty thousand dollars, for which an appropriation is asked. Your particular attention is requested to that part of the report of the Secretary of War which relates to the money held in trust for the Seneca tribe of Indians. It will be perceived that, without legislative aid, the execu- tive cannot obviate the embarrassments occasioned by the diminution of the dividends on that fund, which ori- ginally amounted to $100,000, and has recently been vested in the United States three per cejot. stock. The condition and ulterior destiny of the Indian tribes within the limits of some of our states, have become ob- jects of much interest and importance. It has long been the policy of government to introduce among them the arts of civilization, in the hope of gradually reclaiming them from a wandering life. This policy has, however, been coupled with another wholly incompatible with its success. Professing a desire to civilize and settle them, we have at the same time lost no opportunity to purchase their lands, and thrust them further into the wilderness. By this means they have not only been kept in a wander- ing state, but been led to look upon us as unjust and in- different to their fate. Thus, though lavish in expendi- tures upon the subject, government has constantly de- feated its own policy ; and the Indians, in general, rece- ding further and further to the west, have retained their savage habits. A portion, however, of the southern tribes, having mingled much with the whites, and made some progress in the arts of civilized life, have lately at- tempted to erect an independent government within the JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 117 limits of Georgia and Alabama. These states, claiming to be the only sovereigns within their territories, extend- ed their laws over the Indians ; which induced the latter to call upon the United States for protection. Under these circumstances, the question presented was, whether the general government had a right to sustain those people in their pretensions. The constitution de- clares, that " no new state shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state," without the consejit of ifs legislature. If the general government is not permitted to tolerate the erection of a confederate state within the territory of one of the members of this Union, against her consent, much less could it allow a foreign and independent government to establish itself there. Georgia became a member of the confederacy which eventuated in our federal union, as a sovereign state, always asserting her claim to certain limits ; which having been originally denned in her colonial charter, and subsequently recognized in the treaty of peace, she has ever since continued to enjoy, except as they have been circumscribed by her own voluntary transfer of a portion of her territory to the Uuited States, in the articles of cession of 18D2. Alabama was admitted into the'Union on the same footing with the original states, with boun- daries which were prescribed by Congress. There is no constitutional, conventional, or legal provision, which allows them less power over the Indians within their bor- ders, than is possessed by Maine or New York. Would the people of Maine permit the Penobscot tribe to erect an independent government within their state ? and unless they did, would it not be the duty of the general govern- ment to support them in resisting such a measure? Would the people of New York permit each remnant of the Six Nations within her borders, to declare itself an independent people under the protection of the United States? Could the Indians establish a separate republic in each of their reservations in Ohio ? and if they were so disposed, would it be the duty of this government to protect them in the attempt ? If the principle involved in the obvious answer to these questions be abandoned, it will follow that the objects of this government are re- 148 THE TRUE AMERICAN. versed ; and that it has become a part of its duty to aiJ in destroying the states which it was established to pro- tect. Actuated by this view of the subject, I informed the Indians inhabiting parts of Georgia and Alabama, that their attempt to establish an independent government would not be countenanced by the executive of the Uni- ted States ; and advised them to emigrate beyond the Mississippi, or submit to the laws of those states. Our conduct towards these people is deeply interesting to our national character. Their present condition, con- trasted with what they once were, makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies. Our ancestors found them the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions. By per- suasion and force they have been made to retire from river to river, and from mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct, and others have left but remnants, to preserve, for a while, tlioir once terrible names. Surrounded by the whites, with their arts of ci- vilization, which, by destroying the resources of the sa- vage, doom him to weakness and decay ; the fate of the Mohegan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware, is fast overtaking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate surely awaits them if they remain within the limits of the states, does not admit of a doubt. Hu- manity and national honor demand that every effort should be made to avert so great a calamity. It is too late to inquire whether it was just in the United States to include them and their territory within the bounds of new states whose limits they could control. That step cannot be retraced. A state cannot be dismembered by Congress, or restricted in the exercise of her constitu- tional power. But the people of those states, and of every state, actuated by feelings of justice and a regard for our national honor, submit to you the interesting question, whether something cannot be done, consistently with the rights of the states, to preserve this much inju- red race. As a means of effecting this end, I suggest for your consideration the propriety of setting apart an ample dis- trict west of the Mississippi, and without the limits of JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 149 any state or territory now formed, to be guarantied to the Indian tribes, as long as they shall occupy it ; each tribe having a distinct control over the portion designated for its use. There they may be secured in the enjoyment of governments of their own choice, subject to no other control from the United States than such as may be neces- sary to preserve peace on the frontier, and between the several tribes. There the benevolent may endeavor to teach them the arts of civilization ; and, by promoting union and harmony among them, to raise up an interest- ing commonwealth, destined to perpetuate the race, and to attest the humanity and justice of this government. This emigration should be voluntary ; for it would be as cruel as unjust to compel the aborigines to abandon the graves of their fathers, and seek a home in a distant land. But they should be distinctly informed that, if they remain within the limits of the states, they must be subject to their laws. In return for their obedience as individuals, they will, without doubt, be protected in the enjoyment of those possessions which they have improved by their industry. But it seems to me visionary to sup- pose, that in this state of things, claims can be allowed on tracts of country on which they have neither dwelt nor made improvements, merely because they have seen them from the mountain, or passed them in the chase. Submitting to the laws of the states, and receiving, like other citizens, protection in their persons and property, they will ere long become merged in the mass of our population. The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy will make you acquainted with the condition and useful employment of that branch of our service during the present year. Constituting, as it does, the best stand- ing security of this country against foreign aggression, it claims the especial attention of government. In this spirit, the measures which, since the termination of the last war, have been in operation for its gradual enlarge- ment were adopted ; and it should continue to be che- rished as the offspring of our national experience. It will be seen, however, that notwithstanding the great so- licitude which has been manifested for the perfect orga- 13* 150 THE TRUE AMERICAN. nization of this arm, and the liberality of the appropria tions which that solicitude has suggested, this object has, in many important respects, not been secured. In time of peace we have need of no more ships of war than are requisite to the protection of our commerce. Those not wanted for this object, must lay in the harbors, where, without proper covering, they rapidly decay ; and even under the best precautions for their preservation, must soon become useless. Such is already the case with many of our finest vessels ; which, though unfinished, will now require immense sums of money to be restored to the condition in which they were when committed to their proper element. On this subject there can be little doubt that our best policy would be to discontinue the building of the first and second class, and look rather to the pos- session of ample materials, prepared for the emergencies of war, than to the number of vessels which we can float in a season of peace, as the index of our naval power. Judicious deposites in the navy-yards, of timber and other materials, fashioned under the hands of skilful workmen, and fitted for prompt application to their various pur- poses, would enable us, at all times, to construct vessels as fast as they can be manned ; and save the heavy expense of repairs, except to such vessels as must be employed in guarding our commerce. The proper points for the esta- blishments of these yards are indicated with so much force in the report of the Navy Board, that, in recom- mending it to your attention, I deem it unnecessary to do more than express my hearty concurrence in their views. The yard in this district, being already furnished with mo.-t of the machinery necessary for ship building, will be competent to the supply of the two selected by the board as the best for the concentration of materials ; and from the facility and certainty of communication between them, it will be useless to incur, at those depots, the ex- pense of similar machinery, especially that used in pre- paring the usual metallic and wooden furniture of vessels. Another improvement would be effected by dispensing altogether witli the Navy Board, as now constituted, and substituting in its stead, bureaus similar to those already existing in the War department. Each member of the JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 151 board, transferred to the head of a separate bureau charged with specific duties, would feel, in its highest degree, that wholesome responsibility which cannot be divided without a far more proportionate diminution of its force. Their valuable services would become still more so when sepa- rately appropriated to distinct portions of the great inte- rests of the navy ; to the prosperity of which each would be impelled to devote himself by the strongest motives. Under such an arrangement, every branch of this impor- tant service would assume a more simple and precise character; its efficiency would be increased, and scru- pulous economy in the expenditure of public money promoted. I would also recommend that the marine corps be merged in the artillery or infantry, as the best mode of curing the many defects in its organization. But little exceeding in number any of the regiments of infantry, that corps has, besides its lieutenant-colonel command- ant, five brevet lieutenant-colonels, who receive the full pay and emoluments of their brevet rank, without render- ing proportionate service. Details for marine service could as well be made from the artillery or infantry there being no peculiar training requisite for it. With these improvements, and such others as zealous watchfulness and mature consideration may suggest, there can be little doubt that, under an energetic administration of its affairs, the navy may soon be made every thing that the nation wishes it to be. Its efficiency in the suppres- sion of piracy in the West India seas, and wherever its squadrons have been employed in securing the interests of the country, will appear from the report of the secre- tary to which I refer you, for other interesting details. Among these I would bespeak the attention of Congress from the views presented in relation to the inequality between the army and navy as to the pay of officers. No such inequality should prevail between these brave defenders of their country ; and where it does exist, it is submitted to Congress whether il ought not to be rectified. The report of the Postmaster-general is referred to as exhibiting a highly satisfactory administration of that 152 THE TRUE AMERICAN. department. Abuses have been reformed ; increased ex- pedition in the transportation of the mail secured ; and its revenue much improved. In a political point of view this department is chiefly important as affording the means of diffusing knowledge. It is to the body politic what the veins and arteries are to the natural conveying ra- pidly and regularly to the remotest parts of the system, correct information of the operations of the government ; and bringing back to it the wishes and feelings of the people. Through its agency, we have secured to our- selves the full enjoyment of the blessings of a free press. In this general survey of our affairs, a subject of high importance presents itself in the present organization of the judiciary. A uniform operation of the federal go- vernment in the different states is certainly desirable; and existing as they do in the Union, on the basis of per- fect equality, each state has a right to expect that the benefits conferred on the citizens of others should be extended to hers. The judicial system of the United States exists in all its efficiency in only fifteen members of the Union : to three others, the circuit courts, which constitute an important part of that system, have been imperfectly extended ; and to the remaining six, altoge- ther denied. The effect has been to withhold from the inhabitants of the latter, the advantages afforded (by the supreme court) to their fellow-citizens in other states, in the whole extent of the criminal, and much of the civil authority of the federal judiciary. That this state of things ought to be remedied, if it can be done consist- ently with the public welfare, is not to be doubted : nei- ther is it to be disguised that the organization of our ju- dicial system is at once a difficult and delicate task. To extend the circuit courts equally throughout the different parts of the Union, and at the same time, to avoid such a multiplication of members as would encumber the su- preme appellate tribunal, is the object desired. Perhaps it might be accomplished by dividing the circuit judges into two classes, and providing that the supreme court should be held by those classes alternately the chief justice always presiding. If an extension of the circuit court system to those JACKSON'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 153 Slates which do not now enjoy its benefits should be de- termined upon, it would of course be necessasy to revise the present arrangements of the circuits ; and even if that system should not be enlarged, such a revision is recom- mended. A provision for taking the census of the people of the United States will, to insure the completion of that work within a convenient time, claim the early attention of Congress. The great and constant increase of business in the De- partment of State forced itself, at an early period, upon the attention of the executive. Thirteen years ago, it was in Mr. Madison's last message to Congress made the subject of an earnest recommendation, which has been repeated by both of his successors ; and my compara- tively limited experience has satisfied me of its justness. It has arisen from many causes, not the least of which is the large addition that has been made to the family of in- dependent nations, and the proportionate extension of our foreign relations. The remedy proposed was the esta- blishment of a Home Department a measure which does not appear to have met the views of Congress, on account of its supposed tendency to increase gradually, and imperceptibly, the already too strong bias of the fe- deral system towards the exercise of authority not dele- gated to it. I am not, therefore, disposed to revive the recommendation ; but am not the less impressed with the importance of so organizing that department, that its se- cretary may devote more of his time to our foreign rela- tions. Clearly satisfied that the public good would be promoted by some suitable provision on the subject, I re- spectfully invite your attention to it. The charter of the Bank of the United States expires in 1836, and its stockholders will most probably apply for a renewal of their privileges. In order to avoid the evils resulting from precipitancy in a measure involving such important principles, and such deep pecuniary interests, I feel that 1 cannot, in justice to the parties interested, too soon present it to the deliberate consideration of the legislature and the people. Both the constitutionality and the expediency of the law creating this bank are well 154 THE TRUE AMERICAN. questioned by a large portion of our fellow-citizens ; and it must be admitted by all, that it has failed in the great end of establishing a uniform and sound currency. Under these circumstances, if such an institution is deemed essential to the fiscal operations of the govern- ment, I submit to the wisdom of the legislature whether a national one, founded upon the credit of the govern- ment and its revenues, might not be devised, which would avoid all constitutional difficulties ; and, at the same time, secure all the advantages to the government and country that were expected to result from the present bank. I cannot close this communication without bringing to your view the just claim of the representatives of Com- modore Decatur, his officers and crew, arising from the re-capture of the frigate Philadelphia, under the heavy batteries of Tripoli. Although sensible, as a general rule, of the impropriety of executive interference under a government like ours, where every individual enjoys the right of directly petitioning Congress ; yet viewing this case as one of very peculiar character, I deem it my duty to recommend it to your favorable consideration. Besides the justice of this claim, as corresponding to those which have been since recognized and satisfied, it is the fruit of a deed of patriotic and chivalrous daring, which infused life and confidence into our infant navy, and contributed, as much as any exploit in its history, to elevate our national character. Public gratitude, there- fore, stamps her seal upon it ; and the meed should not be withheld which may hereafter operate as a stimulus to our gallant tars. I now commend you, fellow-citizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, with a full reliance on his merciful providence for the maintenance of our free institutions ; and with an earnest supplication, that whatever errors it may be my lot to commit, in discharging the arduous du- ties which have devolved on me, will find a remedy in the harmony and wisdom of your counsels. MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 155 MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO, MAY 27, 1830. To the House of Representatives : GENTLEMEN : I have maturely considered the bill pro- posing to authorize " a subscription of stock in the Mays- ville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike-road Company," and now return the same to the House of Representatives in which it originated, with my objec- tions to its passage. Sincerely friendly to the improvement of our country by means of roads and canals, I regret that any difference of opinion in the mode of contributing to it should exist between us; and if, in stating this difference, I go "beyond what the occasion may be deemed to call for, I hope to find an apology in the great importance of the subject, an unfeigned respect for the high source from which this branch of it has emanated, and an anxious wish to be correctly understood by my constituents in the discharge of all my duties. Diversity of sentiment among public functionaries, actuated by the same general motives, on the character and tendency of particular measures, is an incident common to all governments, and the more to be expected in one which, like ours, owes its existence to the freedom of opinion, and must be upheld by the same in- fluence. Controlled, as we thus are, by a higher tribu- nal, before which our respective acts will be canvassed with the indulgence due to the imperfections of our na- ture, and with that intelligence and unbiassed judgment which are the true correctives of error, all that our re- sponsibility demands is, that the public good should be the measure of our views, dictating alike their frank ex- pression and honest maintenance. In the message which was presented to Congress at the opening of its present session, I endeavored to exhibit briefly my views upon the important and highly interest- ing subject to which our attention is now to be directed. I was desirous of presenting to the representatives of the several states in Congress assembled, the inquiry, whether some mode could not be devised, which would reconcile 156 THE TRUE AMERICAN. the diversity of opinion concerning the powers of this government over the subject of internal improvement, and the manner in which these powers, if conferred by the constitution, ought to be exercised. The act which I am called upon to consider has therefore been passed with a knowledge of my views on this question, as these are expressed in the message referred to. In that document, the following suggestions will be found : " After the extinction of the public debt, it is not proba- ble that any adjustment of the tariff, upon principles sa- tisfactory to the people of the Union, will, until a remote 'period, if ever, leave the government without a considera- ble surplus in the treasury, beyond what may bo required for its current service. As, then, the period approaches when the application of the revenue to the payment of debt will cease, the disposition of the surplus will present a subject for the serious deliberation of Congress; and it may be fortunate for the country that it is yet to be deci- ded. Considered in connection with the difficulties which have heretofore attended iippropriations for purposes of internal improvement ; and with those which thfs experi- ence tells us will certainly arise, whenever power over such subjects may be exercised by the general govern- ment ; it is hoped that it may lead to the adoption of some plan which will reconcile the diversified interests of the states, and strengthen the bonds which unite them. Every member of the Union, in peace and in war, will be bene- fitted by the improvement of inland navigation, and the construction of highways in the several states. Let us then endeavor to attain this benefit in a mode which will be satisfactory to all. That hitherto adopted has, by many of our fellow-citizens, been deprecated as an infraction of the constitution : while by others it has been viewed as inexpedient. All feel that it Iris been employed at the expense of harmony in the legislative councils." And adverting to the constitutional power of Congress to make what I consider a proper disposition of the surplus reve- nue, I subjoined the following remarks : " To avoid these evils, it appears to me that the most safe, just, and feder- al disposition which could be made of the surplus reve- nue, would be its apportionment among the several states SIAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 157 according to their ratio of representation ; and should this measure not be found warranted by the constitution, that it would be expedient to propose to the states an amendment authorizing it." The constitutional power of the federal government to construct or promote works of internal improvement, pre- sents itself in two points of view, ihe first, as bearing upon the sovereignty of the states within whose limits their execution is contemplated, if jurisdiction of the territory which they may occupy be claimed as necessary to their preservation and use: the second, as asserting the simple right to appropriate money from the national treasury in aid of such works, when undertaken by state authority, surrendering the claim of jurisdiction. In the first view, the question of power is an open one, and can be decided without the embarrassment attending the other, arising from the practice of the government. Although frequently and strenuously attempted, the power, to this extent, has never been exercised by the government in a single instance. It does not, in my opinion, possess it; and no bill, therefore, which admits it, can receive my official sanction. But, in the other view of the power, the question is differently situated. The ground taken at an early period of the government was, " that, whenever money has been raised by the general authority, and is to be applied to a particular measure, a question arises, whether a par- ticular measure be within the enumerated authorities vested in Congress. If it be, the money requisite for it may be applied to it ; if not, no such application can be made." The document in which this principle was first advanced is of deservedly high authority, and should be held in grateful remembrance for its immediate agency in rescuing the country from much existing abuse, and for its conservative effect upon some of the most valuable principles of the constitution. The symmetry and purity of the government would doubtless have been better pre- served if this restriction of the power of appropriation could have been maintained without weakening its ability to fulfil the general objects of its institution an effect so likely to attend its admission, notwithstanding its appa- 14 158 THE TRUE AMERICAN. rent fitness, that every subsequent administration of the government, embracing a period of thirty out of forty- t\vo years of its existence, has adopted a more enlarged construction of the power. It is not my purpose to detain you by a minute recital of the acts which sustain this assertion, but it is proper that I should notice some of the most prominent, in order that the reflections which they suggest to my mind may be better understood. In the administration of Mr. Jefferson we have two examples of the exercise of the right of appropriation, which, in the considerations that led to their adoption, and in their effects upon the public mind, have had a greater agency in marking the character of the power than any subsequent events. I allude to the payment of fifteen millions of dollars for the purchase of Louisiana, and to the original appropriation for the construction of the Cumberland road ; the latter act deriving much weight from the acquiescence and approbation of the three most powerful of the original members of the confederacy, ex- pressed through their respective legislatures. Although the circumstances of the latter case may be such as to deprive so much of it as relates to the actual construc- tion of the road, of the force of an obligatory exposition of the constitution, it must nevertheless be admitted that so far as the mere appropriation of money is concerned, they present the principle in its most imposing aspect. No less than twenty-three different laws have been passed through all the forms of the constitution, appropriating upwards of two millions and a half dollars out of the na- tional treasury in support of that improvement, with the approbation of every President of the United States, including my predecessor, since its commencement. Independently of the sanction giving appropriations for the Cumberland and other roads and objects, under this power, the administration of Mr. Madison was characteri- sed by an act which furnishes the strongest evidence of its extent. A bill was passed through both houses of Congress, and presented for his approval, " setting apart and pledging certain funds for constructing roads and canals, and improving the navigation of water courses, in order to facilitate, promote, and give security to inter- MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 159 nal commerce among the several states, and to render more easy and less expensive, the means and provisions for the common defence." Regarding the bill as asserting a power in the federal government to construct roads and canals within the limits of the states, in which they were made, he objected to its passage, on the ground of its unconstitutionality, declaring that the assent of the re- spective states, in the mode provided by the bill, could not confer the power in question ; that the only cases in which the consent and cession of particular states can extend the power of Congress, are those specified and provided for in the constitution ; and superadding these avowals, his opinion that a restriction of the power " to provide for the common defence and general welfare" to cases which are to be provided for by the expenditure of money, would still leave within the legislative power of Congress all the great and most important measures of government, money being the ordinary and nece&s-ary means of carrying them into execution. I have not been able to consider these declarations in any other point of view than as a concession that the right of appropriation is not limited by the power to carry into effect the mea- sure for which the money is asked, as was formerly con- tended. The views of Mr. Monroe upon this subject were not left to inference. During his administration a bill was passed through both houses of Congress, conferring the jurisdiction, and prescribing the mode by which the fed- eral government should exercise it, in the case of the Cumberland road. He returned it, with objections to its passage, and in assigning them, took occasion to say, that in the early stages of the government, he had inclin- ed to the construction that it had no right to expend money except in the performance of acts authorized by the other specific grants of power, according to a strict construction of them ; but that, on further reflection and observation, his mind had undergone a change; that hi* opinion then was, "that Congress have an unlimited pow- er to raise money, and that in its appropriation they have a discretionary power, restricted by the duty to appropri- ate to purposes of common defence, and of general, .not 160 THE TRUE AMERICAN. local ; national, not state benefit ;" and this was avowed to be the governing principle through the residue of his administration. The views of the last administration are of such recent date as to render a particular reference to them unnecessary. It is well known that the appropria- ting power, to the utmost extent which had been claimed for it in relation to internal improvements, was fully re- cognized and exercised by it. This brief reference to known facts will be sufficient to show the difficulty, if not impracticability of bringing back the operations of the government to the construc- tion of the constitution set up in 1798, assuming that to be its true reading, in relation to the power under con- sideration ; thus giving an admonitory proof of the force of implication, and the necessity of guarding the consti- tution with sleepless vigilance against the authority of precedents which have not the sanction of its most plainly denned powers. For, although it is the duty of all to look to that sacred instrument, instead of the statute book ; to repudiate at all times, encroachments upon its spirit, which are too apt to be effected by the conjuncture of peculiar and facilitating circumstances ; it is not less true that the public good and the nature of our political in- stitutions require that individual differences shou-ld yield to a well-settled acquiescence of the people and confed- erated authorities, in particular constructions of the con- stitution on doubtful points. Not to concede this much to the spirit of our institutions, would impair their stabili- ty, and defeat the objects of the constitution itself. The bill before me does not call for a more definite opinion upon the particular circumstances which will warrant appropriations of money by Congress, to aid works of internal improvement ; for although the exten- sion of the power to apply money beyond that of carrying into effect the object for which it is appropriated, has, as we have seen, been long claimed and exercised by the federal government, yet such grants have always been professedly under the control of the general principle, that the works which might be thus aided, should be "of a general, not local ; national, not state character." A disregard of this distinction would of necessity lead to MAYSTILLE ROAD VETO. __ 161 the subversion of the federal system. That even this is an unsafe one, arbitrary in its nature, and liable conse- quently to great abuses, is too obvious to require the con- firmation of experience. It is, however, sufficiently defi- nitive and imperative to my mind to forbid my approba- tion of any bill having the character of the one under consideration. I have given to its provisions all the re- flection demanded by a just regard for the interests of those of our fellow-citizens who have desired its passage, and by the respect which is due to a co-ordinate branch of the government ; but I am not able to view it in any other light than as a measure of purely local character ; or, if it can be considered national, that no further dis- tinction between the appropriate duties of the general and state governments need be attempted ; for there can be no local interest that may not with equal propriety be denominated national. It has no connection with any established system of improvements : is exclusively within the limits of a state, starting at a point on the Ohio river, and running out sixty miles to an interior town ; and even so far as the state is interested, conferring partial, instead of general advantages. Considering the magnitude and importance of the pow- er, and the embarrassments to which, from the very nature of the thing, its exercise must necessarily be subjected, the real friends of internal improvement ought not to be willing to confide it to accident and chance. What is properly national in its character or otherwise, is an in- quiry which is often difficult of solution. The appropri- ations of one year, for an object which is considered na- tional, may be rendered nugatory by the refusal of a suc- ceeding Congress to continue the work, on the ground that it is local. No aid can be derived from the inter- vention of corporations. The question regards the cha- racter of the work, not that of those by whom it is to be accomplished. Notwithstanding the union of the govern- ment with the corporation, by whose immediate agency any work of internal improvement is carried on, the in- quiry will still remain, Is it national, and conducive to the benefit of the whole, or local, and operating only ta the advantage of a portion of the Union ? 14* 162 THE TRUE AMERICAN. But, although I might not feel it to be my official duty to interpose the executive veto to the passage of a bill appropriating money for the construction of such works a.s are authorized by the states, and are national in their character, I do not wish to be understood as expressing an opinion that it is expedient at this time, for the gene- ral government to embark in a system of this kind ; and, anxious that my constituents should be possessed of my views on this as well as on all other subjects which they have committed to ray discretion, I shall state~them frank- ly and briefly. Besides many minor considerations, there are two prominent views of the subject which I think are well entitled to your serious attention, and will, I hope, be maturely weighed by the people. From the official communication submitted to you, it appears, that if no adverse or unforeseen contingenc happens in our foreign relations, and no unusual diver- sion be made of the funds set apart for the payment ol the national debt, we may look with confidence to its en- tire extinguishment in the short period of four years. The extent to which this pleasing anticipation is depend- ent upon the policy which may be pursued in relation to measures of the character of the one now under consi- deration, must be obvious to all, and equally so that the events .of the present session are well calculated to awa- ken public solicitude upon the subject. By the statement from the Treasury department, and those from the clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives, herewith submitted, it appears that the bills which have passed into laws, and those which, in all probability, will pass before the adjournment of Congress, anticipate appropriations which, with ordinary expenditures for the support of go- vernment, will exceed considerably the amount in the treasury for the year 1830. Thus, whilst we are dismiss- ing the revenues by a reduction of the duties on tea, cof- fee, and cocoa, the appropriations for internal improve- ment are increasing beyond the available means in the treasury ; and if to this calculation be added the amounts contained in bills which are pending before the two hou ses, it may be safely affirmed that ten millions of dollars would not make up the excess over the treasury receip,t*, MAiTSVlLLE ROAD VETO. 163 unless the payment of the national debt be postponed, and the means now pledged to that object applied to those enumerated in these bills. Without a well-regulated sys- tem of internal improvement, this exhausting mode of appropriation is not likely to be avoided, and the plain consequence must be, either a continuance of the nation- al debt, or a resort to additional taxes. Although many of the states, with a laudable zeal, ami under the influence of an enlightened policy, are succes- sively applying their separate efforts to works of this cha- racter, the desire to enlist the aid of the general govern- ment in the construction of such as, from their nature, ought to devolve upon it, and to which the means of the individual states are inadequate, is both rational and pa- triotic ; and if that desire is not gratified now, it does not follow that it never will be. The general intelligence and public spirit of the American people furnish a sure guarantee, that, at the proper time, this policy will be made to prevail under circumstances more auspicious to its successful prosecution than those which now exist. But, great as this object undoubtedly is, it is not the only one which demands the fostering care of the government. The preservation and success of the republican principle rest with us. To elevate its character, and extend its influence, rank among our most important duties ; and the best means to accomplish this desirable end, are those which will rivet the attachment of our citizens to the government of their choice, by the comparative lightness of their public burdens, and by the attraction which the superior success of its operations will present to the ad- miration and respect of the world. Through the favor of an overruling and indulgent Providence, our country is blessed with general prosperity, and our citizens ex- empted from the pressure of taxation which other less favored portions of the human family are obliged to bear ; yet it is true that many of the taxes collected from our citizens, through the medium of imposts, have, for a con- siderable period, been onerous. In many particulars, these taxes have borne severely upon the laboring and less prosperous classes of the community, being imposed on the necessaries of life, and this, too, ia cases where the 164 THE TRUE AMERICAN. burden was not relieved by the consciousness that it would ultimately contribute to make us independent of foreign nations for articles of prime necessity, by the en- couragement of their growth and manufacture at home. They have been cheerfully borne, because they were thought to be necessary to the support of government, and the payment of the debts unavoidably incurred in the acquisition and maintenance of our national rights and liberties. But have we a right to calculate on the same cheerful acquiescence, when it is known that the necessi- ty for their continuance would cease, were it not for ir- regular, improvident, and unequal appropriations of the public funds ? Will not the people demand, as they have a right to do, such a prudent system of expenditure as will pay the debts of the Union, and authorize the reduc- tion of every tax to as low a point as the wise observance of the necessity to protect that portion of our manufac- tures and labor, whose prosperity is essential to our na- tional safety and independence, will allow 1 When the national de.bt is paid, the duties upon those articles which we do not raise may be repealed with safety, and still leave, I trust, without oppression to any section of the 'country, an accumulating surplus fund, which may be beneficially applied to some well-digested system of im- provement. Under this view, the question, as to the manner in which the federal government can, or ought to embark in the construction of roads and canals, and the extent to which it may impose burdens on the people for these, purposes, may be presented on its own merits, free of all disguise, and of every embarrassment except such as may arise from the constitution itself. Assuming these suggestions to be correct, will not our citizens require the observance of a course by which they can be effected ? Ought they not to require it ? With the best disposition to aid, as far as I can conscientiously, in the furtherance of works of inter- nal improvement, my opinion is, that the soundest views of national policy, at this time, point to such a course. Besides the avoidance of an evil influence upon the local concerns of the country, how solid is the advantage which the government will reap from it in the elevation of its MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 165 character ! How gratifying the effect of presenting to the world the sublime spectacle of a republic, of more than twelve millions of happy people, in the fifty-fourth year of her existence after having passed through two protracted wars, the one for the acquisition, and the other for the maintenance of liberty free from debt, and with all her her immense resources unfettered ! What a salutary influence would not such an exhibition exercise upon the cause of liberal principles and free government throughout the world ! Would we not ourselves find, in its effect, an additional guarantee that our political insti- tutions will be transmitted to the most remote posterity without decay 1 A course of policy destined to witness events like these, cannot be benefitted by a legislation which tolerates a scramble for appropriations that have no relation to any general system of improvement, and whose good effects must of necessity be very limited. In the best view of these appropriations, the abuses to which they lead, far exceed the good which they are capable of pro- moting. They may be resorted to as artful expedients to shift upon the government the losses of unsuccessful pri- vate speculation, and thus, by ministering to personal am- bition and self-aggrandizement, tend to sap the founda- tions of public virtue, and taint the administration of the government with a demoralizing influence. In the other view of the subject, and the only remain- ing one which it is my intention to present at this time, is involved the expediency of embarking in a system of internal improvement without a previous amendment of the constitution, explaining and defining the precise pow- ers of the federal government over it. Assuming the right to appropriate money to aid in the construction of national works, to be warranted by the contemporaneous and continued exposition of the constitution, its insuffi- ciency for the successful prosecution of them must be ad- mitted by all candid minds. If we look to usage to de- fine the extent of the right, that will be found so variant, and embracing so much that has been overruled, as to in- volve the whole subject in great uncertainty, and to render the execution of our respective duties in relation to it re- plete with difficulty and embarrassment. It is in regard 166 THE TUUE AMERICAN. to such works and the acquisition of additional territory, that the practice obtained its first footing. In most, if not all other disputed questions of appropriation, the construc- tion of the constitution may be regarded as unsettled, if the right to apply money, in the enumerated cases, is placed on the ground of usage. This subject has been of much, and, I may add, painful reflection to me. It has bearings that are well calculated to exert a powerful influence upon our hitherto prosperous system of government, and which, on some accounts, may even excite despondency in the breast of an Americjin citizen. I will not detain you with professions of zeal in the cause of internal improvements. If to be their friend is a virtue which deserves commendation, our country is blest with an abundance of it; for I do not suppose there is an intelligent citizen who does not wish to see them flourish. But though all are their friends, but few, I trust, are unmindful of the means by which they should be promoted ; none certainly are so degenerate as to de- sire their success at the cost of that sacred instrument, with the preservation of which is indissolubly bound our ; Country's hopes. If different impressions are entertained in any quarter ; if it is expected that the people of this country, reckless of their constitutional obligation, will prefer their local interest to the principles of the Union, such expectations will in the end be disappointed ; or, if it be not so, then indeed has the world but little to hope from the example of a free government. When an honest observance of constitutional compacts cannot be obtained from communities like ours, it need not be anticipated elsewhere ; and the cause in which there has been so much martyrdom, and from which so much was expected by the friends of liberty, may be abandoned, and the de- grading truth, that man is unfit for self-government, ad- mitted. And this will be the case, if expediency be made a rule of construction in interpreting the constitution. Power, in no government, could desire a better shield for the insidious advances which is ever ready to make up the checks that are designed to restrain its action. But I do not entertain such gloomy apprehensions. If it be the wish of the people that the construction of roads MAYSVILLE ROAD VETO. 167 and canals should be conducted by the federal govern- ment, it is not only highly expedient, but indispensably necessary, that a previous amendment of the constitution, delegating the necessary power, and defining and restrict- ing its exercise with reference to the sovereignty of the states, should be made. Without it, nothing extensively useful can be effected. The right to exercise as much jurisdiction as is necessary to preserve the works, and to raise funds by the collection of tolls to keep them in re- pair, cannot be dispensed with. The Cumberland road should be an instructive admonition of the consequences of acting without this right. Year after year, contests are witnessed, growing out of efforts to obtain the neces- sary appropriations for completing and repairing this use- ful work. Whilst one Congress may claim and exercise the power, a succeeding one may deny it; and this fluc- tuation of opinion must be unavoidably fatal to any scheme which, from its extent, would promote the interests and elevate the character of the country. The experience of the past has shown that the opinion of Congress is sub- ject to such fluctuations. If it be the desire of the people that the agency of the federal government should be confined to the appropria- tion of money in aid of such undertakings, in virtue of state authorities, then the occasion, the manner, and the extent of the appropriations should be made the subject of constitutional regulation. This is the more necessary, in order that they may be equitable among the several states ; promote harmony between different sections of the Union and their representatives ; preserve other parts of the constitution from being undermined by the exer- cise of doubtful powers, or the too great extension of those which are not so ; arid protect the whole subject against the deleterious influence of combinations to carry by concert, measures which, considered by themselves, might meet but little countenance. That a constitutional adjustment of this po.ver upon equitable principles is in the highest degree desirable, can scarcely be doubted; nor can it fail to be promoted by every sincere friend to the success of our political institutions. In no govern- ment are appeals to the source of power in cases of real 168 THE TRUE AMERICAN. doubt more suitable than in ours. No good motive can be assigned for the exercise of power by the constituted authorities, while those for whose benefit it is to be exer- cised have not conferred it, and may not be willing to confer it. It would seem to me that an honest application of the conceded powers of the general government to the advancement of the common weal, presents a sufficient scope to satisfy a reasonable ambition. The difficulty and supposed impracticability of obtaining an amendment of the constitution in this respect is, I firmly believe, in a great degree unfounded. The time has never yet been when the patriotism and intelligence of the American people were not fully equal to the greatest exigency ; and it never will, when the subject calling forth their interpo- sition is plainly presented to them. To do so with the questions involved in this bill, -and to urge them to an early, zealous and full consideration of their deep impor- tance, is in my estimation among the highest of our duties. A supposed connection between appropriations for in- ternal improvement and the system of protecting duties, growing out of the anxieties of those more immediately interested in their success, has given rise to suggestions which it is proper I should notice on this occasion. My opinions on these subjects have never been concealed from those who had a right to know them. Those which I have entertained on the latter have frequently placed me in opposition to individuals, as well as commu- nities, whose claims upon my friendship and gratitude are of the strongest character ; but I trust there has been nothing in my public life which has exposed me to the suspicion of being thought capable of sacrificing my views of duty to private considerations, however strong they may have been, or deep the regrets which they are capable of exciting. As long as the encouragement of domestic manufac- tures is directed to national ends, it shall receive from me a temperate but steady support. There is no necessary connection between it and the system of appropriations. On the contrary, it appears to me that the supposition of their dependence upon each other is calculated to excite BANK VETO. 169 the prejudices of the public against both. The former is sustained on the grounds of its consistency with the let- ter and spirit of the constitution, of its origin being traced to the assent of all the parties to the original com- pact, and of its having the support and approbation of a majority of the people ; on which account it is at least entitled to a fair experiment. The suggestions to which I have alluded, refer to a forced continuance of the na- tional debt, by means of large appropriations, as a sub- stitute for the security which the system derives from the principles on which it has hitherto been sustained. Such a course would certainly indicate either an unreasonable distrust of the people, or a consciousness that the system does not possess sufficient soundness for its support, if left to their voluntary choice and its own merits. Those who suppose that any policy thus founded can be long upheld in this country, have looked upon its history with eyes very different from mine. This policy, like every other, must abide the will of the people, who will not be likely to allow any device, however specious, to conceal its character and tendency. In presenting these opinions, I have spoken with the freedom and candor which I thought the occasion for their expression called for ; and now respectfully return the bill which has been under consideration, for your fur- ther deliberation and judgment. ANDREW JACKSON. BANK VETO, JULY 10, 1832. To the Senate : The bill to " modify and continue" the act entitled" " An act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States," was presented to me on the 4th of July instant. Having considered it with that solemn re- gard to the principles of the constitution which the, day 15 170 THE TRUE AMERICAN. was calculated to inspire, and come to the conclusion that it ought not to become a law, I herewith return it to the Senate, in which it originated, with my objections. A bank of the United States is in many respects con- venient for the government and useful to the people. Entertaining this opinion, and deeply impressed with the belief that some of the powers and privileges possessed by the existing bank are unauthorized by the constitu- tion, subversive of the rights of the states, and dangerous to the liberties of the people, I felt it my duty, at an early period of my administration, to call the attention of Con- gress to the practicability of organizing an institution com- bining all its advantages, and obviating these objections. I sincerely regret, that in the act before me, I can per- ceive none of those modifications of the bank charter which are necessary, in my opinion, to make it compati- ble with justice, with sound policy, or with the constitu- tion of our country. The present corporate body, denominated the Presi- dent, Directors, and Company of the Bank of the United States, will have existed, at the time this act is intended to take effect, twenty years. It enjoys an exclusive pri- vilege of banking, under the authority of the general government, a monopoly of its favor and support, and, as a necessary consequence, almost a monopoly of the fo- reign and domestic exchange. The powers, privileges, and favors bestowed upon it, in the original charter, by increasing the value of the stock far above its par value, operated as a gratuity of many millions to the stock- holders. An apology may be found for the failure to guard against this result, in the consideration that the effect of the origi- nal act of incorporation could not be certainly foreseen at the time of its passage. The act before me proposes ano- ther gratuity to the holders of the same stock, and, in many cases, to the same men, of at least seven millions more. This donation finds no apology in any uncertainty as to the effect of the act. On all hands it is conceded that its passage will increase, at least, twenty or thirty per cent, more, the market price of the stock, subject to the pay merit of the annuity of $200,000 per year secured by the BANK VETO. 171 act ; thus adding, in a moment, one fourth to its par value. It is not our own citizens only who are to receive the bounty of our government. More than eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by foreigners. By this act, the American republic proposes virtually to make them a present of some millions of dollars. For these gratuities to foreigners, and to some of our own opulent citizens, the act secures no equivalent whatever. They are the certain gains of the present stockholders under the opera- tion of this act, after making full allowance for the pay- ment of the bonus. Every monopoly, and all exclusive privileges are grant- ed at the expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair equivalent. The many millions which this act pro- poses to bestow on the stockholders of the existing bank, must come directly or indirectly out of the earnings of the American people. It is due to them, therefore, if their government sell monopolies and exclusive privileges, that they should at least exact for them as much as they are worth in open market. The value of the monopoly in this case may be correctly ascertained. The twenty- eight millions of stock would probably be at an advance of fifty per cent., and command in the market at least forty-two millions of dollars, subject to the payment of the present bonus. The present value of the monopoly, therefore, is seventeen millions of dollars, and this act proposes to sell for three millions, payable in fifteen annual instalments of $200,000 each. It is not conceivable how the present stockholders can have any claim to the special favor of the government. The present corporation has enjoyed its monopoly during the period stipulated in the original contract. If we must have such a corporation, why should not the government sell out the whole stock, and thus secure to the people the full market value of the privileges granted? Why should not Congress create and sell twenty-eight millions of stock, incorporating the purchasers with all the powers and privileges secured in this act, and put the premium upon the sales into the treasury ? But this act does not permit competition in the pur- chase of this monopoly. It seems to me predicated on 172 THE TKCE AMERICAN. the erroneous idea that the present stockholders have a prescriptive right not only to the favor, but to the boun- ty of government. It appears that more than a fourth part of the stock is held by foreigners, and the residue is held by a few hundred of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class. For their benefit does this act exclude the whole American people from competition in the purchase of this monopoly, and dispose of it for many millions less than it is worth. This seems the less excusable, because some of our citizens, not now stockholders, petitioned that the door of competition might be opened, and offered to take a charter on terms much more favorable to the government and country. But this proposition, although made by men whose aggregate wealth is believed to be equal to all the private stock in the existing bank, has been set aside, and the bounty of our government is proposed to be again be- stowed on the few who have been fortunate enough to secure the stock, and at this moment wield the power of the existing institution. I cannot perceive the justice or policy of this course. If our government must sell mo- nopolies, it would seem to be its duty to take nothing less than their full value; and if gratuities must be made once in fifteen or twenty years, let them not be bestowed on the subjects of a foreign government, nor upon a desig- nated and favored class of men in our own country. It is but justice and good policy, as far as the nature of the case will admit, to confine our favors to our own fellow- citizens, and let each in his turn enjoy an opportunity to profit by our bounty. In the bearings of the act before me, upon these points, I find ample reasons why it should not become a law. It has been urged as an argument in favor of rechar- tering the present bank, that the calling in its loans will produce great embarrassment and distress. The time allowed to close its concerns is ample ; and if it has been well managed, its pressure will be light, and heavy onlj in case its management has been bad. If, therefore, it shall produce distress, the fault will be its own ; and it would furnish a reason against renewing a power which has been so obviously abused. But will there ever be a BANK VETO. 173 time when this reason will be less powerful ? To acknow- ledge its force, is to admit that the bank ought to be per- petual ; and, as a consequence, the present stockholders, and those inheriting their rights as successors, be esta- blished a privileged order, clothed both with great politi- cal power, and enjoying immense pecuniary advantages from their connection with the government. The modifications of the existing charter, proposed by this act, are not such, in my view, as make it consistent with the rights of the states or the liberties of the people. The qualification of the right of the bank to hold real estate, the limitation of its power to establish branches, and the power reserved to Congress to forbid the cir- culation of small notes, are restrictions comparatively of little value or importance. All the objectionable princi- ples of the existing corporation, and most of its odious features, are retained without alleviation. The fourth section provides " that the notes or bills of the said corporation, although the same be on the faces thereof, respectively, made payable at one place only, shall, nevertheless, be received by the said corporation at the bank, or at any of the offices of discount and depo- sit thereof, if tendered in liquidation or payment of any balance or balances due to said corporation, or to such office of discount and deposit, from any other incorpo- rated bank." This provision secures to the state banks a legal privilege in the Bank of the United States, which is withheld from all private citizens. If a state bank in Philadelphia owe the Bank of the United States, and have notes issued by the St. Louis branch, it can pay the debt with those notes ; but if a merchant, mechanic or other private citizen be in like circumstances, he cannot, by law, pay his debts with those notes ; but must sell them at a dis- count, or send them to St. Louis to be cashed. This boon conceded to the state banks, though not unjust in itself, is most odious ; because it does not measure out equal justice to the high and the low, the rich and the poor. To the extent of its practical effect, it is a bond of union, among the banking establishments of the nation, erecting them into an interest separate from that of the people ; and its necessary tendency is to unite the Bank of the 15* 174 THE TRUE AMERICAN. United States ana the state banks in any measure which may be thought conducive to their common interest. The ninth section of the act recognizes principles of worse tendency than any provision of the present charter. It enacts that " the cashier of the bank shall annually report to the Secretary of the Treasury the names of all the stockholders who are not resident citizens of the Uni- ted States ; and, on the application of the treasurer of any state, shall make out and transmit to such treasurer a list of stockholders residing in, or citizens of such state, with the amount of stock owned by each." Although this provision, taken in connection with a decision of the Supreme Court, surrenders, by its silence, the right of the states to tax the banking institutions created by this corporation, under the name of branches, throughout the Union, it is evidently intended to be construed as a con- cession of their right to tax that portion of the stock which may be held by their own citizens and residents. In this light, if the act becomes a law, it will be under- stood by the states, who will probably proceed to levy a tax equal to that paid upon the stock of the banks incor- porated by themselves. In some states that tax is now one per cent, either on the capital or on the shares, and that may be assumed as the amount which all citizens or resident stockholders would be taxed under the operation of this act. As it is only the stock held in trie states, and not that employed between them, which would be subject to taxation, and as the names of foreign stock- holders are not to be reported to the treasurers of the states, it is obvious that the stock held by them will be exempt from this burden. Their annual profits will, therefore, be one per cent, more than the citizen stock- holders ; and, as, the annual dividends of the bank may be safely estimated at seven per cent., the stock will be worth ten or fifteen per cent, more to foreigners than to citizens of the United States. To appreciate the effect which this state of things will produce, we must take a brief review of the operations and present condition of the Bank of the United States. By documents submitted to Congress at the present session, it appears that on the 1st of Janur.ry, 1832, of BANK VETO. 175 the twenty-eight millions of private stock in the corpora- tion, $8,405,500 were held by foreigners, mostly of Great Britain. The amount of stock held in the nine western and south-western states, is $140,200, and in the four southern states, is $5,623,100, and in the middle and east- ern states, is about $13,522,000. The profits of the bank in 1831, as shown in a statement to Congress, were about $3,455,598 ; of this, there accrued in the nine western states, about $1,640,048; in the four southern states, about $352,507 ; and in the middle and eastern states, about $1,463,041 As little stock is held in the west, it is obvious that the debt of the people in that section, to the bank, is principally a debt to the eastern and foreign stockholders ; that the interest they pay upon it, is car- ried into the eastern states, and into Europe ; and that it is a burden upon their industry, and a. drain of their cur- rency, which no country can bear without inconvenience and occasional distress. To meet this burden, and equalize the exchange operations of the bank, the amount of specie drawn from those states, through its branches, within the last two years, as shown by its official reports, was about $6,000,000. More Jhan half a million of this amount does not stop in the eastern states, but passes on to Europe, to pay the dividends of the foreign stockhold- ers. In the principle of taxation recognized by this act, the western states find no adequate compensation for this perpetual burden on their industry, and drain of their currency. The branch bank at Mobile made last year, $95,140; yet under the provisions of this act, the state of Alabama can raise no revenue from these profitable operations, because not a share of the stock is held by any of her citizens. Mississippi and Missouri are in the same condition, in relation to the branches at Natchez and St. Louis ; and such, in a greater or less degree, is the condition of every western state. The tendency of the plan of taxation which this act proposes, will be to place the whole United States in the same relation to fo- reign countries which the western states now bear to the eastern. When, by a tax on resident stockholders, the stock of this bank is made worth ten or fifteen per cent, more to foreigners than to residents, most of it will inevi- dently leave the country. 176 THE TRUE AMERICAN*. Thus will this provision, in its practical effect, deprive the eastern as well as the southern and western states, of the means of raising a revenue from the extension of business and great profits of the institution. It will make the American people debtors to aliens, in nearly the whole amount due to this bank, and send across the Atlantic from two to five millions of specie every year to pay the hank dividends. In another of its bearings this provision is fraught with danger. Of the twenty-five directors of this bank, five are chosen by the government, and twenty by the citizen stockholders. From all voice in these elections, the fo- rc-iirn stockholders are excluded by the charter. In pro- portion, therefore, as the stock is transferred to foreign holders, the extent of suffrage in the choice of directors i^ curtailed. Already is almost a third of the stock in foreign hands, and not represented in elections. It is constantly passing out of the country ; and this act will accelerate its de- parture. The entire control of the institution would necessarily fall into the hands of a few citizen stock- holders; and the ease with which the object would be accomplished, would be a temptation to designing men to secure that control in their own hands, by monopoli- /.ing the remaining stock. There is danger that a pre- sident and directors would then be able to elect them- selves from year to year, and, without responsibility or control, manage the whole concerns of the bank during the existence of its charter. It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men, irresponsible to the people. Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank, that in its. nature has so little to bind it to our country ? The president of the bank has told us that most of the state banks exist by its forbearance. Should its influence become concentred, as it may under the operation of such an act as this, in the hands of a self- elected directory, whose interests are identified with those of the foreign stockholder, will there not be cause to tremble for the purity of our elections in peace, and for BANK VETO. 177 the independence of our country in war ? Their power would be great whenever they might choose to exert it ; but if this monopoly were regularly renewed every fifteen or twenty years, on terms proposed by themselves, they might seldom in peace put forth their strength to influ- ence elections or control the affairs of the nation. But if any private, citizen or public functionary should inter- pose to curtail its powers, or prevent a renewal of its pri- vileges, it cannot be doubted that he would be made to feel its influence Should the stock of the bank principally pass into the hands of the subjects of a foreign country, and we should unfortunately become involved in a war with that coun- try, what would l>e our condition 1 Of the course which would be pursued by a bank almost wholly owned by the subjects of a foreign power, and managed by those whose interests, if not affections, would run in the same direc- tion, there can be no doubt. All its operations within, would be in aid of the hostile fleets and armies without. Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence, it would be more formidable and dangerous than the naval and military power of the enemy. If we must have a bank with private stockholders, every consideration of sound policy, and every impulse of American feeling, admonishes that it should be purely American. Its stockholders should be composed exclu- sively of our own citizens, who at least ought to be friend- ly to our government, and willing to support it in times of difficulty and danger. So abundant is domestic capi- tal, that competition in subscribing for the stock of local banks has recently led almost to riots. To a bank exclu- sively of American stockholders, possessing the powers and privileges granted by this act, subscriptions for two hundred millions of dollars could be readily obtained. In- stead of sending abroad the stock of the bank in which the government must deposit its funds, and on which it must rely to sustain its credit in times of emergency, it would rather seem to be expedient to prohibit its sale to aliens under penalty of absolute forfeiture. It is maintained by the advocates of the bank, that its 178 THE TRUE AMERICAN. constitutionality, in all its features, ought to be consi dered as settled by precedent, and by the decision of the Supreme Court. To this conclusion I cannot assent. Mere precedent is a dangerous source of authority, and should not be regarded as deciding questions of constitu- tional power, except where the acquiescence of the peo- ple and the states can be considered as well settled. So far from this being the case on this subject, an argument against the bank might be based on precedent. One Congress, in 1791, decided in favor of a bank ; another, in 1811, decided against it. One Congress, in 1815, de- cided against a bank ; another, in 1816, decided in its favor. Prior to the present Congress, therefore, the pre- cedents drawn from that source were equal. If we re- sort to the states, the expressions of legislative, judicial, and executive opinions against the bank have been pro- bably to those in its favor as four to one. There is no- thing in precedent, therefore, which, if its authority were admitted, ought to, weigh in favor of the act before me. If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole ground of this act, it ought not to control the co-ordinate authorities of this government. The Congress, the ex- ecutive, and the court, must each for itself be guided by its own opinion of the constitution. Each public officer who takes an oath to support the eonstitution, swears that he will support it as he understands it, and not as it is understood by others. It is as much the duty of the House of Representatives, of the Senate, and of the Pre- sident, to decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or resolution which may be presented to them for passage or approval, as it is of the supreme judges when it may l>e brought before them for judicial decision. The opi- nion of the judges has no more authority over Congress than the opinion of Congress has over the judges ; and on that point the President is independent of both. The authority of the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted to control the Congress or the Executive, when acting in their legislative capacities, but to have only such influence as the force of their reasoning may de- serve. BANK VETO. 179 But in the case relied upon, the Supreme Court have not decided that all the features of this corporation are compatible with the constitution. It is true that the court have said that the law incorporating the bank is a consti- tutional exercise of power by Congress. But taking into view the whole opinion of the court, and the reasoning by which they have come to that conclusion, I under- stand them to have decided that, inasmuch as a bank is an appropriate means for carrying into effect the enume- rated powers of the general government, therefore the law incorporating it is in accordance with that provision of the constitution which declares that Congress shall have power " to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying those powers into execution." Having satisfied themselves that the word " necessary" in the constitution, means " needful," " requisite" " essen- tial" " conducive to," and that " a bank" is a conve- nient, a useful, and essential instrument in the prosecu- tion of the government's " fiscal operations," they con- clude that " to use one must be in the discretion of Con- gress," and that " the act to incorporate the Bank of the United States is a law made in pursuance of the constitu- tion ;" " but," say they, " where the law is not prohibit- sd, and is really calculated to effect any of the objects entrusted to the government, to undertake here to inquire into the degree of its necessity, would be to pass the line v hich circumscribes the judicial department, and to tread on legislative ground." The principle here affirmed is, that the " degree of its necessity," involving all the details of a banking institu- tion, is a question exclusively for legislative considera- tion. A bank is constitutional ; but it is the province of the legislature to determine whether this or that particu- lar power, privilege, or exemption, " is necessary and proper" to enable the bank to discharge its duties to the government ; and from their decision there is no appeal to the courts of justice. Under the decision of the Su- preme Court, therefore, it is the exclusive province of Congress and the President to decide whether the parti- cular features of this act are necessary and proper, in order to enable the bank to perform conveniently and ef- 180 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ficiently the public duties assigned to it as a fiscal agent, and therefore constitutional ; or unnecessary and impro- per, and therefore unconstitutional. Without comment- ing on the general principle affirmed by the Supreme Court, let us examine the details of this act in accordance with the rule of legislative action which they have laid down. It will be found that many of the powers and privileges conferred on it, cannot be supposed necessary for the purpose for which it is proposed to be created, and are not, therefore, means necessary to attain the end in view, and consequently not justified by the consti- tution. The original act of incorporation, section 21st, enacts, " that no other bank shall be established, by any future law of the United States, during the continuance of the corporation hereby created, for which the faith of the United States is hereby pledged ; Provided, Congress may renew existing charters for banks within the District of Columbia, not increasing the capital thereof; and may also establish any other bank or banks in said district, with capitals not exceeding in the whole six millions of dollars, if they shall deem it expedient." This provision is continued in force by the act before me, fifteen years from the 3d of March, 1836. If Congress possessed the power to establish one bank, they had power to establish more than one, if, in their opinion, two or more banks had been " necessary" to fa- cilitate the execution of the powers delegated to them in the constitution. If they possess the power to establish a second bank, it was a power derived from the constitu- tion, to be exercised from time to time, and at any time when the interests of the country or the emergencies of the government might make it expedient. It was pos- sessed by one Congress as well as another, and by all Congresses alike, and alike at every session. But the Congress of 1816 have taken it away from their success- ors for twenty years, and the Congress of 1832 proposed to abolish it for fifteen years more. It cannot be " nrcrt- sary" or "proper" for Congress to barter away, or divest themselves of any of the powers vested in them by the constitution to be exercised for the public good. It is BANK VETO. 181 not " necessary" to the efficiency of the bank, nor is it "proper" in relation to themselves and their successors. They may "properly" use the discretion vested in them, but they may not limit the discretion of their successors. This restriction on themselves, and grant of a monopoly to the bank, is therefore unconstitutional. In another point of view, this provision is a palpable attempt to amend the constitution by an act of legislation. The constitution declares that " the Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive legislation, in .all cases what- soever," over the District of Columbia. Its constitutional power, therefore, to establish banks in the District of Columbia, and increase their capital at will, is unlimited and uncontrollable by any other power than that which gave authority to the constitution. Yet this act declares that Congress shall not increase the capital of existing banks, nor create other banks with capitals exceeding in the whole six millions of dollars. The constitution de- clares that Congress shall have power to exercise exclu- sive legislation over this district " in all cases whatsoever ;" and this act declares they shall not. Which is the supreme law of the land? This provision cannot be "necessary," or "proper ," or "constitutional," unless the absurdity be admitted, that, whenever it be "necessary and proper," in the opinion of Congress, they have a right to barter away one portion of the powers vested in them by the constitution, as a means of executing the rest. On two subjects only, does the constitution recognize in Congress the power to grant exclusive privileges or monopolies. It declares that "Congress shall have pow- er to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discove- ries." Out of this express delegation of power, have grown our laws of patents and copy-rights. As the constitution expressly delegates to Congress the power to grant exclu- sive privileges, in these cases, as the means of executing the substantive power " to promote the progress of sci- ence arid useful arts," it is consistent with the fair rules of construction, to conclude that such a power was not 16 182 THE TRUE AMERICAN. intended to be granted as a means of accomplishing any other end. On every other subject which comes within the scope of congressional power, there is an ever-living discretion in the use of proper means, which cannot be restricted or abolished without an amendment of the con- stitution. Every act of Congress, therefore, which at- tempts by grants or monopolies, or sales of exclusive privi- leges for a limited time, or a time without limit, to restrict or extinguish its own discretion in the choice of means to execute its delegated powers, is equivalent to a legisla- tive amendment of the constitution, and palpably uncon- stitutional. This act authorizes and encourages transfers of its stock to foreigners, and grants them an exemption from all state and national taxation. So far from being " neces- sary and proper'* that the bank should possess this power to make it a safe and efficient agent of the government in its fiscal operations, it is calculated to convert the Bank of the United States into a foreign bank, to impoverish our people in time of peace, to disseminate a foreign influ- ence through every section of the republic, and in war, to endanger our independence. The several states reserved the power, at the formation of the constitution, to regulate and control titles and transfers of real property ; and most, if not all of them, have laws disqualifying aliens from acquiring or holding lands within their limits. But this act, in disregard of the undoubted right of the states to prescribe such dis- qualifications, gives to aliens, stockholders in this bank, an interest and title, as members of the corporation, to all the real property it may acquire within any of the states of this Union. This privilege granted to aliens is not " nrrrztary" to enable the bank to perform its public duties, nor in any sense " proper" because it is vitally subversive of the rights of the states. The government of the United States have no consti- tutional power to purchase lands within the states, except " for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock- yards and other needful buildings;" and even for these objects, only " by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be." By making themselvew BANK VETO. 183 - i*^v Vx stockholders in the bank, and granting to the corporation the power to purchase lands for other purposes, they as- sume a power not granted in the constitution, and grant to others what they do not themselves possess. It is not " necessary" to the receiving, safe keeping, or transmit sion of the funds of the government, that the bank should possess this power; and it is not "proper" that Congress should thus enlarge the powers delegated to them in the constitution. The old Bank of the United States possessed a capital of only eleven millions of dollars, which was found fully sufficient to enable it, with despatch and safety, to perform all the functions required of it by the government. The capital of the present bank is thirty-five millions of dol- lars, at least twenty-four more than experience has proved to be " necessary" to enable a bank to perform its public functions. The public debt which existed during the period of the old bank, and on the establishment of the new, has been nearly paid off, and our revenue will soon be reduced. This increase of capital is therefore not for public, but for private purposes. The government is the only "proper" judge where its agents should reside and keep their offices, because it best knows where their presence will be " necessary." It cannot, therefore, be " necessary" or "proper" to au- thorize the bank to locate branches where it pleases to perform the public service, without consulting the gov- ernment, and contrary to its will. The principle laid down by the Supreme Court concedes that Congress can- not establish a bank for purposes of private speculation and gain, but only as a means of executing the delegated powers of the general government. By the same princi- ple, a branch bank cannot constitutionally be established for other than public purposes. The power which this act gives to establish two branches in any state, without the injunction or request of the government, and for oth- er than public purposes, is not " necessary" to the due execution of the powers delegated to Congress. The bonus which is exacted from the bank is a confes- sion, upon the face of the act, that the powers granted by it are greater than are " necessary" to its character of a 184 THE TRUE AMERICAN. fiscal agent. The government does not tax its officer? and agents for the privilege of serving it. The bonus of a million and a half required by the original charter, and that of three millions proposed by this act, are not exacted for the privilege of giving " the necessary facili- ties for transferring the public funds from place to place, within the United States or the territories thereof, and for distributing the same in payment of the public creditors, without charging commission or claiming allowance on account of the difference of exchange," as required by the act of incorporation, but for something more benefi- cial to the stockholders. The original act declares, that it (the bonus) is granted " in consideration of the exclu- sive privileges and benefits conferred by this act upon the said bank," and the act before me declares it to be " in consideration of the exclusive benefits and privileges con- tinued by this act to the said corporation for fifteen years as aforesaid." It is, therefore, for " exclusive privileges and benefits" conferred for their own use and emolument, and not for the advantage of the government, that a bo- nus is exacted. These surplus powers, for which the bank is required to pay, cannot surely be " necessary" to make it the fic-?.! ?ent of the treasury. If they were, the exaction of a bonus for them would not be "proper." It is maintained by some that the bank is a means of executing the constitutional power "to coin money, and regulate the value thereof." Congress have established a mint to coin money, and passed laws to regulate the value thereof. The money so coined, with the value so regu- lated, and such foreign coins as Congress may adopt, are the only currency known to the constitution. But if they have other power to regulate the currency, it was confer- red to be exercised by themselves, and not to be transfer- red to a corporation. If the bank be established for that purpose, with a charter unalterable without its consent, Congress have parted with their power for a term of years, during which the constitution is a dead letter. It is nei- ther necessary nor proper to transfer its legislative power to such a bank, and therefore unconstitutional, By its silence, considered in connection with the de- cision of the Supreme Court, in the case of McCulloch BANK VETO. 185 . % against the state of Maryland, this act takes from the states the power to tax a portion of the banking business carried on within their limits, in subversion of one of the strongest barriers which secured them against federal en- croachments. Banking, like farming, manufacturing, or any other occupation or profession, is a business, the right to follow which is not originally derived from the laws. Every citizen, and every company of citizens, in all of* our states, possessed the right, until the state legislatures deemed it good policy to prohibit private banking by law. If the prohibitory state laws were now repealed, every citi- zen would again possess the right. The state banks are a qualified restoration of the right which has been taken away by the laws against banking, guarded by such pro- visions and limitations as in the opinion of the state legis latures the public interest requires. These corporations, unless there be an exemption in their charter, are, like private bankers and banking companies, subject to state taxation. The manner in which these taxes shall be laid, depends wholly on legislative discretion. It may be upon the bank, upon the stock, upon the profits, or in any other mode which the sovereign power shall will. Upon the formation of the constitution the states guard- ed their taxing power with peculiar jealousy. They surrendered it only as regards imports and exports. In relation to every other object within their jurisdiction, whether persons, property, business, or professions, it was secured in as ample a manner as it was before possessed. All persons, though United States' officers, are liable to a poll tax by the states within which they reside. The lands of the United States are liable to the usual land tax, except in the new states, from whom agreements that they will not tax unsold lands are exacted when they are admitted into the Union ; horses, wagons, any beasts or vehicles, tools or property belonging to private citizens, though employed in the service of the United States, are subject to state taxation. Every private business, whether car- ried on by an officer of the general government or not, whether it be mixed with public concerns or not, even if it be carried on by the United States itself, separately or in partnership, falls within the scope of the taxing power of the state. Nothing comes more fully within it than 16* - 186 THE TRUE AMERICAN. banks, and the business of banking, by whomsoever in .-*tituted and carried on. Over this whole subject matter, it is just as absolute, unlimited, and uncontrollable, as if the constitution never had been adopted, because, in the formation of that instrument, it was reserved without qualification. The principle is conceded that the states cannot right- fully tax the operations of the general government. They cannot tax the money of the government deposited in the state banks, nor the agency of those banks in remitting it ; but will any man maintain that their mere selection to perform this public service for the general government, would exempt the state banks and their ordinary business from state taxation ? Had the United States, instead of establishing a bank at Philadelphia, employed a private banker to keep and transmit their funds, would it have deprived Pennsylvania of the right to tax his bank and his usual banking operations ? It will not be pretended. Upon what principle, then, are the banking establishments of the Bank of the United States, and their usual bank- ' ing operations, to be exempted from taxation ? It is not their public agency or the deposits of the government which the states claim a right to tax, but their banks and their banking powers, instituted and exercised within state jurisdiction for their private emolument, those pow- ers and privileges for which they pay a bonus, and which the states tax in their own banks. The exercise of these powers within a state, no matter by whom or under what Authority, whether by private citizens in their original right, by corporate bodies created by the states, by fo- reigners or the agents of foreign governments located within their limits, forms a legitimate object of state tax- ation. From this and like sources, from the persona, property, and business that are found residing, located, or carried on under their jurisdiction, must the states, since the surrender of their right to raise a revenue from im- ports and exports, draw all the money necessary for the support of their governments and the maintenance of their independence. There is no more appropriate sub- ject of taxation than banks, banking, and bank stocks, and none to which the states ought more pertinaciously to cling. BANK VETO. 187 It cannot be necessary to the character of the bank as a fiscal agent of the government, that its private business should be exempted from that taxation to which all state banks are liable; nor can I conceive it "proper" that the substantive and most essential powers reserved by the states shall be thus attacked and annihilated as a means of executing the powers delegated to the general govern- ment. It may be safely assumed that none of those sages who had an agency in forming or adopting our con- stitution, ever imagined that any portion of the taxing power of the states, not prohibited to them nor delegated to Congress, was to be swept away and annihilated as a means of executing certain powers delegated to Con- gress. If our power over means is so absolute that the Su- preme Court will not call in question the constitutionali- ty of an act of Congress, the subject of which " is not prohibited, and is really calculated to effect any of the objects entrusted to the government," although, as in the case before me, it takes away powers expressly granted to Congress, and rights scrupulously reserved to the states, it becomes us to proceed in our legislation with the ut- most caution. Though not directly, our own powers and the rights of the states may be indirectly legislated away in the use of means to execute substantive powers. We may not enact that Congress shall not have the power of exclusive legislation over the District of Columbia, but we may pledge the faith of the United States that, as a means of executing other powers, it shall not be exerci- sed for twenty years or forever. We may not pass an act prohibiting the states to tax the banking business carried on within their limits, but we may, as a means of execu- ting power over other objects, place that business in the hands of our agents, and then declare it exempt from state taxation in their hands. Thus may our own powers and the rights of the states, which we cannot directly curtail or invade, be frittered away and extinguished in the use of means employed by us to execute other powers. That a Bank of the United States, competent to all the duties which may be required by the government, might be so organized as not to infringe on our own delegated pow- 188 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ers, or the reserved rights of the states, I do not enter- tain a doubt. Had the executive been called upon to furnish the project of such an institution, the duty would have been cheerfully performed. In the absence of such a call, it is obviously proper that he should confine him- self to pointing out those prominent features in the act presented, which, in his opinion, make it incompatible with the constitution and sound policy. A general dis- cussion will now take place, eliciting new light, and set- tling important principles ; and anew Congress, elected in the midst of such discussion, and furnishing an equal representation of the people according to the last census, will bear to the capitol the verdict of public opinion, and, I doubt not, bring this important question to a satisfac- tory result. Under such circumstances, the bank comes forward and asks a renewal of its charter for a term of fifteen years, upon conditions which not only operate as a gra- tuity to the stockholders of many millions of dollars, but will sanction any abuses and legalize any encroach- ments. Suspicions are entertained, and charges are made, of gross abuse and violation of its charter. An investiga- tion unwillingly conceded, and so restricted in time as necessarily to make it incomplete and unsatisfactory, dis- closed enough to excite suspicion and alarm. In the practices of the principal bank partially unveiled, in the absence of important witnesses, and in numerous charges confidently made, and as yet wholly uninvestigated, there was enough to induce a majority of the committee of investigation, a committee which was selected from the most able and honorable members of the House of Re- presentatives, to recommend a suspension of further ac- tion upon the bill, and a prosecution of the inquiry. As the charter had yet four years to run, and as a renewal now was not necessary to the successful prosecution of its business, it was to have been expected that the bank itself, conscious of its purity, and proud of its character, would have withdrawn its application for the present, and demanded the severest scrutiny into all its transactions. In their declining to do so, there seems to be an additional BANK VETO. 189 reason why the functionaries of the government should proceed with less haste and more caution in the renewal of their monopoly. The bank is professedly established as an agent of the executive branches of the government, and its constitu- tionality is maintained on that ground. Neither upon the propriety of present action, nor upon the provisions of this act, was the executive consulted. It has had no oj portunity to say that it neither needs nor wants an agent clothed with such powers, and favored by such exemptions. There is nothing in its legitimate functions which make it necessary or proper. Whatever interest or influence, whether public or private, has given birth to this act, it cannot be found either in the wishes or necessities of the executive department, by which present action is deemed premature, and the powers conferred upon its agent not only unnecessary, but dangerous to the government and country. It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth, cannot be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of heaven, and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law. But when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages, artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and ex- clusive privileges, to make the rich richer, and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society, the farm- ers, mechanics, and laborers, who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing. In the act before me, there seems to be a wide and unnecessary departure from these just principles. Nor is our government to be maintained, or our Union i ; 190 THE TRUE AMERICAN. preserved, by invasion of the rights and powers of the several states. In thus attempting to make our general government strong, we make it \veak. Its true strength consists in leaving individuals and states, as much as pos- sible, to themselves ; in making itself felt, not in its pow- er, but in its beneficence, not in its control, but in its protection, not in binding the states more closely to the centre, but leaving each to move unobstructed, in its proper orbit. Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the diffi- culties our government now encounters, and most of the dangers which impend over our Union, have sprung from Jin abandonment of the legitimate objects of government by our national legislation, and the adoption of such prin- ciples as are embodied in this act. Many of our rich men have not been content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to make them richer by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify their de- sires, we have, in the results of our legislation, arrayed section against section, interest against interest, and man against man, in a fearful commotion, which threatens to shake the foundations of our Union. It is time to pause in our career, to review our principles,, and, if possible, revive that devoted patriotism and spirit of compromise which distinguished the sages of the revolution and the fathers of our Union. If we cannot at once, in justice to the interests vested under improvident legislation, make our government what it ought to be, we can at least take a stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclu- sive privileges, against any prostitution of our govern- ment to the advancement of the few at the expense of the many, and in favor of compromise and gradual re- form in our code of laws and system of political economy. I have now done my duty to my country. If sustained by my fellow-citizens, I shall be grateful and happy; if not, I shall find in the motives which impel me, ample grounds for contentment and peace. In the difficulties which surround us, and the dangers which threaten our institutions, there is cause for neither dismay nor alarm. For relief and deliverance, let us firmly rely on that kind Providence which, I am sure, watches with peculiar care JACKSON'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 191 over the destinies of our republic, and on the intelligence and wisdom of our countrymen. Through His abun- dant goodness, and their patriotic devotion, our liberty and union will be preserved. JACKSON'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1833. Fellow-Citizens : The will of the American people, expressed through their unsolicited suffrages, calls me before you to pass through the solemnities preparatory to taking upon myself the duties of President of the United States for another term. For their approbation of my public conduct, through a period which has not been without its difficul- ties, and for this renewed expression of their confidence in my good intentions, I am at a loss for terms adequate to the expression of my gratitude. It shall be displayed, to the extent of my humble abilities, in continued efforts so to administer the government, as to preserve their liberty and promote their happiness. So many events have occurred within the last four years, which have necessarily called forth, sometimes under circumstances the most delicate and painful, my views of the principles and policy which ought to be pursued by the general government, that I need, on this occasion, but allude to a few leading considerations, connected with some of them. The foreign policy adopted by our government soon after the formation of our present constitution, and very generally pursued by successive administrations, has been crowned with almost complete success, and has elevated our character among the nations of the earth. To do justice to all, and to submit to wrong from none, has been, during my administration, its governing maxim ; and so happy has been its results, that we are not only at peace 5, 192 THE TRUE AMERICAN. with all the world, but have few causes of controversy ; and those of minor importance, remaining unadjusted. In the domestic policy of this government, there are two objects which especially deserve the attention of the people and th^y representatives, and which have been, and will continue to be, the subjects of my unceasing solici- tude. They are, the preservation of the rights of the states and the integrity of the Union. These great objects are necessarily connected, and can only be attained by an enlightened exercise of the pow- ers of each within its appropriate sphere, in conformity to the public will constitutionally expressed. To this end, it becomes the duty of all to yield a ready and patriotic submission to the laws constitutionally enacted, and thereby promote and strengthen a proper confidence in those institutions of the several states and of the United States, which the people themselves have ordained for their own government. My experience in public concerns, and the observation of a ^life somewhat advanced, confirm the opinions long since imbibed by me, that the destruction of our state governments, or the annihilation of their control over the local concerns of the people, would lead directly to revo- lution and anarchy, and finally to despotism and military domination. In proportion, therefore, as the general go- vernment encroaches upon the rights of the states, in the same proportion does it impair its own power, and detract from its ability to fulfil the purposes of its creation. So- lemnly impressed with these considerations, my country- men will ever find me ready to exercise my constitutional powers in arresting measures which may directly or indi- rectly encroach upon the rights of the states, or tend to consolidate all political power in the general government. But, of equal, and indeed of incalculable importance, is the union of these states, and the sacred duty of all to contribute to its preservation by a liberal support of the general government in the exercise of its just powers. You have been wisely admonished to " accustom your- selves to think and speak of the Union as of the palla- dium of your political safety and prosperity, watching for Us preservation with jealous anxiety, discountenancing JACKSON'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 193 whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of any attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts." Without union our independence and liberty would never have been achieved without union they never can be main- tained. Divided in twenty-four, or even a smaller num- ber of separate communities, we shall see our internal trade burdened with numberless restraints and exac- tions ; communication between distant points and sectio obstructed, or cut off; our sons made soldiers to delug with blood the fields they now till in peace ; the mass o our people borne down and impoverished by taxes to sup- port armies and navies ; and military leaders at the head of their victorious legions becoming our lawgivers and judges. The loss of liberty, of all good government, of peace, plenty, and happiness, must inevitably follow a dissolution of the Union. In supporting it, therefore, wo support all that is dear to the freeman and the p'luTan- thropist. The time at which I stand before you is full of inte- rest. The eyes of all nations are fixed on our republic. The event of the existing crisis will be decisive in the opinion of mankind of the practicability of our federal system of government. Great is the stake placed in our hands; great is the responsibility which must rest upon the people of the United States. Let us realize the im- portance of the attitude in which we stand before the world. Let us exercise forbearance and firmness. Let us extricate our country from the dangers which sur- round it, and learn wisdom from the lessons they in- culcate. 17 194 THE TRUE AMERICAN. PROTEST, APRIL 15, 1834. To the Senate of the United States : It appears by the published journal of the Senate, that on the 26th of December last, a resolution was offered by a member of the Senate, which, after a protracted debate, was on the twenty-eighth day of March last modified by the mover, and passed by the votes of twenty-six Sena- tor- out of forty-six, who were present and voted, in the following words, viz : " Resolved, That the President, in the late executive proceeding in relation to the public revenue, has assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in derogation of both." Having had the honor, through the voluntary suffrages of the American people, to fill the office of President of the United States during the period which may be presumed to have been referred to in this resolution, it is sufficiently evident that the censure it inflicts was intend- ed for myself. Without notice, unheard and untried, I thus find myself charged on the records of the Senate, and in a form hitherto unknown in our history, with the high crime of violating the laws and constitution of my country. It can seldom be necessary for any department of the government, when assailed in conversation or debate, or by the strictures of the press or of popular assemblies, to step out of its ordinary path for the purpose of vindica- ting its conduct, or of pointing out any irregularity or injustice in the manner of the attack. But when the chief executive magistrate is, by one of the most impor- tant branches of the government, in its official capacity, in a public manner, and by its recorded sentence, but without precedent, competent authority, or just cause, de- clared guilty of a breach of the laws and constitution, it is due to his station, to public opinion, and to proper .self-respect, that the officer thus denounced should prompt- ly expose the wrong which has been done. PROTEST. 195 In the present case, moreover, there is even a stronger necessity for such a vindication. By an express provision of the constitution, before the President of the United States can enter on the execution of his office, he is re- quired to take an oath or affirmation in the following words : "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States ; and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and de- fend the constitution of the United States." The duty of defending, so far as in him lies, the integ- rity of the constitution would indeed have resulted from the very nature of his office ; but by thus expressing it in the official oath or affirmation, which, in this respect, dif- fers from that of every other functionary, the founders of our republic have attested their sense of its importance, and have given to it a peculiar solemnity and force. Bound to the performance of this duty by the oath I have taken, by the strongest obligations of gratitude to the American people, and by the ties which unile my every earthly interest with the welfare and glory of my country ; and perfectly convinced that the discussion and passage of the above-mentioned resolution were not only unau- thorized by the constitution, but in many respects repug- nant to its provisions and subversive of the rights secured by it to other co-ordinate departments, I deem it an im- perative duty to maintain the supremacy of that sacred instrument, and the immunities of the department intrust- ed to my care, by all means consistent with my own law- ful oowers, with the rights of others, and with the genius of our civil institutions, To this end, I have caused this, my solemn protest against the aforesaid proceedings, to be placed on the files of the executive department, and to be transmitted to the Senate. It is alike due to the subject, the Senate, and the peo- ple, that the views which I have taken of the proceedings referred to, and which compel me to regard them in the light which has been mentioned, should be exhibited at length, and with the freedom and firmness which are re- quired by an occasion so unprecedented and peculiar. Under the constitution of the United States, the pow- 196 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ers and functions of the various departments of the fed- eral government, and their responsibilities for violation or neglect of duty, are clearly defined or result by neces- sary inference. The legislative power, subject to the qua- lified negative of the President, is vested in the Congress of the United States, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The executive power is vested ex- clusively in the President, except that in the conclusion of treaties and in certain appointments to office, he is to act with the advice and consent of the Senate. The judi- cial power is vested exclusively in the Supreme and other courts of the United States, except in cases of impeach- ment, for which purpose the accusatory power is vested in the House of Representatives, and that of hearing and determining in the Senate. But although, for the special purposes which have been mentioned, there is an occa- sional intermixture of the powers of the different depart- ments, yet, with these exceptions, each of the three great departments is independent of the others in its sphere of action ; and when it deviates from that sphere, is not re- sponsible to the others, further than it is expressly made so in the constitution. In every other respect, each of them is the co-equal of the other two, and all are the ser- vants of the American people, without power or right to control or censure each other in the service of their common superior, save only in the manner and to the degree which that superior has prescribed. The responsibilities of the President are numerous and weighty. He is liable to impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanors, and, on due conviction, to removal from office, and perpetual disqualification ; and notwith- standing such conviction, he may also be indicted and punished according to law. He is also liable to the pri- vate action of any party who may have been injured by his illegal mandates or instructions, in the same manner and to the same extent as the humblest functionary. In addition to the responsibilities which may thus be en- forced by impeachment, criminal prosecution, or suit at law, he is also accountable at the bar of public opinion, for every act of his administration. Subject only to the restraints of truth and justice, the free people of the PROTEST. 197 United States have the undoubted right, as individuals or collectively, orally or in writing, at such times, and in such language and form as they may think proper, to dis- cuss his official conduct, and to express and promulgate their opinions concerning it. Indirectly, also, his con- duct may come under review in either branch of the legislature, or in the Senate when acting in its executive capacity, and so far as the executive or legislative pro- ceedings of these bodies may require it, it may be ex- amined by them. These are believed to be the proper and only modes in which the President of the United States is to be held accountable for his official conduct. Tested by these principles, the resolution of the Se- nate is wholly unauthorized by the constitution, and in derogation of its entire spirit. It assumes that a single branch of the legislative department may, for the purposes of a public censure, and without any view to legislation or ^impeachment, take up, consider, and decide upon the official acts of the executive. But in no part of the con- stitution is the President subjected to any such responsi- bility ; and in no part of that instrument is any such power conferred on either branch of the legislature. The justice of these conclusions will be illustrated and confirmed by a brief analysis of the powers of the Se : nate, and a comparison of their recent proceedings with those powers. The high functions assigned by the constitution to the Senate, are in their nature either legislative, executive or judicial. It is only in the exercise of its judicial pow-' ers, when sitting as a court for the trial of impeachments, that the Senate is expressly authorized and necessarily required to consider and decide upon the conduct of the President or any other public officer. Indirectly, how- ever, as has already been suggested, it may frequently be called on to perform that office. Cases may occur in the course of its legislative or executive proceedings, in which it may be indispensable to the proper exercise of its powers, that should inquire into, and decide upon, the conduct of the President or other public officers : and in every other such case, its constitutional right to do so is cheerfully conceded. But to authorize the Senate to 17* 198 THE TRUE AMERICAN. enter on such a task in its legislative or executive capa- city, the inquiry must actually grow out of, and tend to some legislative or executive action ; and the decision when expressed, must take the form oi some appropriate legislative or executive act. The resolution in question was introduced, discussed, nnd passed, not as a joint, but as a separate resolution. It asserts no legislative power ; proposes no legislative action ; and neither possesses the form nor any of the attributes of a legislative measure. It does not appear to have been entertained or passed, with any view or expectation of its issuing in a law or joint resolution, or in any other legislative action. While wanting both the form and substance of a legia lative measure, it is equally manifest that the resolution was not justified by any of the executive powers con- ferred upon the Senate. These powers relate exclusively to the consideration of treaties and nomination to office, and they are exercised in secret session, and with closed doors. This resolution does not apply to any treaty or nomination, and was passed in a public session. Nor does this proceeding in any way belong to that class of incidental resolutions which relate to the officers of the Senate, to their chamber and other appurtenances, or to subjects of order, and other matters of like nature in all which either house may lawfully proceed, with- out any co-operation with the other, or with the Pre- sident. On the contrary, the whole phraseology and sense of the resolution seem to be judicial. Its essence, true character, and only practical effect, are to be found in the conduct which it charges upon the President, in the judgment which it pronounces on that conduct. The resolution, therefore, though discussed and adopted by the Senate in its legislative capacity, is, in its office and in all its characteristics, essentially judicial. That the Senate possess a high judicial power, and that instances may occur in which the President of the United States will be amenable to it, is undeniable. But under the provisions of the constitution, it would seem to be equally plain that neither the President nor any PROTEST. 199 other officer can be rightfully subject to the operation of the judicial power of the Senate, except in the cases and under the forms prescribed by the constitution. The constitution declares that " the President, Vice- President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors ;" that the House of Representatives "shall have the sole power of impeachments;" that the Senate " shall have the sole power to try all impeach- ments ;" that " when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation ; that " when the President of the United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside ;" that " no person shall be convicted without the concur- rence of two thirds of the members present ;" and that judgment shall not extend further than "to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States." The resolution above quoted, charges in substance, that in certain proceedings, relating to the public reve- nue, the President has usurped authority and power not conferred upon him by the constitution and laws, and that in doing so he violated both. Any such act consti- tutes a high crime one of the highest, indeed, which the President can commit -a crime which justly exposes to impeachment by the House^ of Representatives, and upon due conviction to removal from office, and to the complete and immutable disfranchisement prescribed by the constitution. The resolution, then, was in substance an impeach- ment of the President ; and in its passage, amounts to a declaration by a majority of the Senate, that he is guilty of an impeachable offence. As such, it is spread upon the journals of the Senate published to the nation and to the world made part of our enduring archives and incorporated in the history of the age. The punishment of removal from office and future disqualification, does not, it is true, follow this decision : nor would it have fol- lowed the like decision, if the regular forms of proceed- ing had been pursued, because the requisite number did not concur in the result. But the moral influence of a THE TRUE AMERICAN. solemn declaration, by a majority of the Senate, that the accused is guilty of the offence charged upon him, has been as effectually secured, as if the like declaration had been made upon an impeachment expressed in the same terms. Indeed, a greater practical effect has been gained, because the votes given for the resolution, though not sufficient to authorize a judgment of guilty on an im- peachment, were numerous enough to carry that reso- lution That the resolution does not expressly allege that the assumption of power and authority, which it condemns, was intentional and corrupt, is no answer to the preceding view of its character and effect. The act thus condemned, necessarily implies volition and design in the individual to whom it is imputed, and being unlawful in its character, the legal conclusion is that it was prompted by improper motives, and committed with an unlawful intent. The charge is not of a mistake in the exercise of supposed powers, but of the assump- tion of powers not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in derogation of both, and nothing is suggested to excuse or palliate the turpitude of the act. In the ab- sence of any such excuse or palliation, there is only room for one inference; and that is, that the intent was unlaw- ful and corrupt. Besides, the resolution not only con- tains no mitigating suggestion, but, on the contrary, it holds up the act complained of as justly obnoxious to censure and reprobation ; and thus as distinctly stamps it with impurity of motive, as if the strongest epithets had been used. The President of the United States, therefore, has been, by a majority of his constitutional triers, accused and found guilty of an impeachable offence ; but in no part of this proceeding have the directions of the consti- tution been observed. The impeachment, instead of being preferred and pro- secuted by the House of Representatives, originated in the Senate, and was prosecuted without the aid or con- currence of the other house. The oath or affirmation prescribed by the constitution, was not taken by the Se- nators ; the chief justice did not preside ; no notice of PROTEST. 201 the charge was given to the accused ; and no opportunity afforded him to respond to the accusation, to meet his accusers face to face, to cross-examine the witnesses, to procure counteracting testimony, or to be heard in his defence. The safeguards and formalities which the con- stitution has connected with the power of impeachment, were doubtless supposed by the framers of that instru- ment, to be essential to the protection of the public ser- vant, to the attainment of justice, and to the order, impar- tiality, and dignity of the procedure. These safeguards and formalities were not only practically disregarded, in the commencement and conduct of these proceedings, but, in their result, I find myself convicted by less than two thirds of the members present, of an impeachable offence. In vain may it be alleged in defence of this proceed- ing, that the form of the resolution is not that of an im- peachment or of judgment thereupon that the punish- ment prescribed in the constitution does not follow its adoption, or that in this case no impeachment is to be ex- pected from the House of Representatives. It is because it did not assume the form of an impeachment, that it is the more palpably repugnant to the constitution ; for it is through that form only that the President is judicially responsible to the Senate ; and though neither removal from office or future disqualification ensues, yet it is not to be presumed, that the framers of the constitution con- sidered either or both of these results as constituting the whole of the punishment they prescribed. The judg- ment of guilty by the highest tribunal in the Union ; the stigma it would inflict on the offender, his family and fame ; and the perpetual record on the journal, handing down to future generations the story of his disgrace, were doubtless regarded by them as the bitterest portions, if not the very essence, of that punishment. So far, there- fore, as some of its most material parts are concerned, the passage recording and promulgation of the resolution are an attempt to bring them on the President, in a man- ner unauthorized by the constitution. To shield him and other officers who are liable to impeachment, from consequences so momentous, except when really merited by official delinquencies, the constitution has most cau- 202 THE TRUE AMERICAN. tiously guarded the whole process of impeachment. A majority of the House of Representatives must think the officer guilty before he can be charged. Two thirds of the Senate must pronounce him guilty, or he is deemed to be innocent. Forty-six Senators appear by the' jour- nal to have been present when the vote on the resolution was taken. If, after all the solemnities of an impeach- ment, thirty of those Senators had voted that the Presi- dent was guilty, yet would he have been acquitted ; but by the mode of proceeding adopted in the present case, a lasting record of conviction has been entered up by the votes of twenty-six Senators, without an impeach- ment or trial ; whilst the constitution expressly declares, that to the entry of such a judgment on accusation by the House of Representatives, a trial by the Senate, and a concurrence of two thirds in the vote of guilty, shall be indispensable pre-requisites. Whether or not an impeachment was to be expected from the House of Representatives, was a point on which the Senate had no constitutional right to speculate, and in respect to which, even had it possessed the spirit of prophecy, its anticipations would have furnished no just grounds for this procedure. Admitting that there was reason to believe that a violation of the constitution and laws had been actually committed by the President, still it was the duty of the Senate, as his sole constitutional judges, to wait for an impeachment until the other House should think proper to prefer it. The members of the Senate could have no right to infer that no impeachment was intended. On the contrary, every legal and rational presumption on their part ought to have been, that if there was good reason to believe him guilty of an im- peachable offence, the House of Representatives would perform its constitutional duty, by arraigning the offend- er before the justice of his country. The contrary pre- sumption would involve an implication derogatory to the integrity and honor of the representatives of the people. But suppose the suspicion thus implied were actually en- tertained, and for good cause, how can it justify the as- sumption by the Senate of powers not conferred by the constitution? PROTEST. 203 It is only necessary to look at the condition in which the Senate and President have been placed by this proce- dure, to perceive its utter incompatibility with the pro- visions and spirit of the constitution, and with the plainest dictates of humanity and justice. If the House of Representatives shall be of opinion that there is just ground for the censure pronounced upon the President, then it will be the solemn duty of the house to prefer the proper accusation, and to cause him to be brought to trial by the constitutional tribunal. But in what condition would he find that tribunal ? A majority of its members have already considered the case, and have not only formed, but expressed a deliberate judg- ment upon its merits. It is the policy of our benign sys- tems of jurisprudence, to secure in all criminal proceed- ings, and even in the most trivial litigations, a fair, un- prejudiced, and impartial trial. And surely it cannot be less important that such a trial should be secured to the highest officer of the government. The constitution makes the House of Representatives the exclusive judges, in the first instance, of the question, whether the President has committed an impeachable of- fence. A majority of the Senate, whose interference with this preliminary question has, for the best of all rea- sons, been studiously excluded, anticipate the action of the House of Representatives, assume not only the func- tion which belongs exclusively to that body, but convert themselves into accusers, witnesses, counsel, and judges, and prejudge the whole case. Thus presenting the ap- palling spectacle in a free state, of judges going through ;i labored preparation for an impartial hearing and deci- sion, by a previous ex parte investigation and sentence against the supposed offender. There is no settled axiom in that government whence we derive the model of this our constitution, than " that the lords cannot impeach any to themselves, nor join in the accusation, because they are judges." Independent- ly of the general reasons on which this rule is founded, its propriety and importance are greatly increased by the nature of the impeaching power. The power of arraign- ing the high officers of government, before a tribunal 204 THE TRUE AMERICAN. whose sentence may expel them from their seats, and brand them as infamous, is eminently a popular remedy a remedy designed to be employed for the protection of private right and public liberty, against the abuses of in- justice and the encroachment of arbitrary power. But the framers of the constitution were also undoubtedly aware, that this formidable instrument has been and might be abused ; and that from its very nature, an impeach- ment for high crimes and misdemeanors, whatever might be its result, would in most cases be accompanied by so much of dishonor and reproach, solicitude and suffering, as to make the power of preferring it, one of the highest solemnity and importance. It was due to both these con- siderations that the impeaching power should be lodged in the hands of those who, from the mode of their elec- tion and the tenor of their offices, would most accurately express the popular will, and at the same time be most directly and speedily amenable to the people. The theo- ry of these wise and benignant intentions is, in the pre- sent case, effectually defeated by the proceedings of the Senate. The members of that body represent not the people, but the states ; and though they are undoubtedly responsible to the states, yet, from their extended term of service, the effect of that responsibility, during the whole period of that term, must very much depend upon their own impressions of its obligatory force. When a body, thus constituted, expresses beforehand its opinion in a particular case, and thus indirectly invites a prosecu- tion, it not only assumes a power intended for wise rea- sons to be confined to others, but it shields the latter from that exclusive and personal responsibility under which it was intended to be exercised, and reverses the whole scheme of this part of the constitution. Such would be some of the objections to this proce- dure, even if it were admitted that there is a just ground for imputing to the President, the offences charged in the resolution. But if, on the other hand, the House of Representatives shall be of opinion that there is no rea- son for charging them upon him, and shall therefore deem it improper to prefer an impeachment, then will the violations of that privilege as it respects that house, * PROTEST. 205 of justice as it regards the President, and of the consti- tution as it relates to both, be only the more conspicuous and impressive. The constitutional mode of procedure on an impeach- ment, has not only been wholly disregarded, but some of the first principles of natural right and enlightened juris- prudence have been violated in the very form of the re- solution. It carefully abstains from averring in which of " the late proceedings in relation to the public revenue, the President has assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws." It carefully abstains from specifying what laws or what parts of the constitution have been violated. Why was not the certainty of the offence " the nature and cause of the accusation" set out in the manner required in the constitution, before the humblest individual, for the smallest crime, can be exposed to condemnation ? Such a specification was due to the accused, that he might di- rect his defence to the real point of attack ; to the peo^ pie, that they might clearly understand in what particu- lars their institutions had been violated : and to the truth and certainty of our public annals. As the record now stands, whilst the resolution plainly charges upon the President at least one act of usurpation in the " late ex- ecutive proceedings in relation to the public revenue," and is so framed that those Senators who believed that one such act, and only one, had been committed, could assent to it ; its language is yet broad enough to include several such acts ; and so it may have been regarded by some of them who voted for it. But though the accusa- tion is thus comprehensive in the censures which it im- plies, there is no such certainty of time, place, or cir- cumstance, as to exhibit the particular conclusion of fact or law which induced any one Senator to vote for it. And it may well have happened, that whilst one Senator believed that some particular act embraced in the resolu- tion, was an arbitrary and unconstitutional assumption of povvcr, others of the majority may have deemed that very act both constitutional and expedient, or if not ex- pedient, yet still within the pale of the constitution. And thus a majority of the Senators may have been enabled 13 206 THE TRUE AMERICAN. to concur In a vague and undefined resolution that the President, in the course of the " late executive proceed- ings in relation to the public revenue," had violated the constitution and laws, whilst, if a separate vote had been taken in respect to each particular act, included within the general terms, the accusers of the President might, on any such vote, have been found in the minority. Still further to exemplify this feature of the proceed- ing, it is important to be remarked, that the resolution, as originally offered to the Senate, specified with ade- quate precision certain acts of the President, which it denounced as a violation of the constitution and laws ; and that it was not until the very close of the debate, and when perhaps it was apprehended that a majority might not sustain the specific accusation contained in it, that the resolution was so modified as to assume its pre- sent form. A more striking illustration of the soundness and necessity of the rules which forbid vague and inde- finite generalities, and require a reasonable certainty in all judicial allegations ; and a more glaring instance of the violation of those rules, has seldom been exhibited. In this view of the resolution, it must certainly be re- garded not as a vindication of any particular provision of the law or the constitution, but simply as an official re- buke or condemnatory sentence, too general and indefinite to be easily repelled, but yet sufficiently precise to bring into discredit the conduct and motives of the executive. But whatever it may have been intended to accomplish, it is obvious, that the vague, general, and abstract form of the resolution is in perfect keeping with those other departures from first principles and settled improvements in jurisprudence, so properly the boast of free countries in modern times. And it is not too much to say of the whole of these proceedings, that if they shall be approved and sustained by an intelligent people, then will that great contest with arbitrary power, which had established institutes, in bills of rights, in sacred charters, and in constitutions of government, the right of every citizen, t6 a notice before trial, to a hearing before conviction, and to an impartial tribunal for deciding on the charge, hare been waged in vain. PROTEST. 207 If the resolution had been left in its original form, it is not to be presumed that it could ever have received the assent of a majority of the -Senate, for the acts therein specified as violations of the constitution and laws, were clearly within the limits of the executive authority. They are the " dismissing the late Secretary of the Treasury, because he would not, contrary to his sense of his own duty, remove the money of the United States in deposit with the Bank of the United States and its branches in conformity with the President's opinion ; and appointing his successor to effect such a removal, which has been done." But as no other specification has been substitu- ted, and as these were the " executive proceedings in re- lation to the public revenue," principally referred to in the course of the discussion, they will doubtless be ge- nerally regarded as the acts intended to be denounced as " an assumption of authority and..power, not conferred by the constitution or laws, but in derogation of both." It is therefore due to the occasion that a condensed sum- mary of the views of the executive in respect to them, should be here exhibited. By the constitution the " executive power is vested in the President of the United States." Among the duties imposed upon him, and which he is sworn to perform, is that of " taking care that the laws be faithfully executed." Being thus made responsible for the entire action of the executive department, it was but reasonable that the power of appointing, overseeing, and controlling those who ex- ecute the laws a power i its nature executive should remain in his hands. It is therefore not only his right, but the constitution makes it his duty, to " nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint" all " officers of the United States, whose ap- pointments are not in the constitution otherwise provided for," with the proviso that the appointment of inferior officers may be vested in the President alone, in the courts of justice, or in the heads of departments. The executive power vested in the Senate is neither that of " nominating," nor " appointing." It is merely a check upon the executive power of appointment. If individuals are proposed for appointment by the Presi- 208 THE TRUE AMERICAN. dent, by them deemed incompetent or unworthy, they may withhold their consent, and the appointment cannot be made. They check the -action of the executive, but cannot in relation to these very subjects act themselvet nor direct him. Selections are still made by the Presi- dent, and the negative given to the Senate, without di- minishing his responsibility, furnishes an additional gua- rantee to the country that the subordinate executive, a well as the judicial offices, shall be filled with worthy and competent men. The whole executive power being vested in the Presi- dent who is responsible for its exercise, it is a necessary consequence that he should have aright to employ agents of his own choice to aid him in the performance of hi duties, and to discharge them when he is no longer will- ing to be responsible for their acts. In strict accordance with this principle, the power of removal, which, like that ef appointment, is an original executive power, is left unchecked by the constitution in relation to all executive officers, for whose conduct the President is responsible, while it is taken from him in relation to judicial officers, for whose acts he is not responsible. In the government from which many of the fundamental principles of our system are derived, the head of the executive department originally had power to appoint and remove at will all officers, executive and judicial. It was to take the judges out of this general power of removal, and thus make them independent of the executive, that the tenure of their offices was changed to good behavior. Nor is it conceiva- ble why they are placed in our constitution upon a tenure different from that of all other officers appointed by the executive, unless it be for the same purpose. But if there were any just ground for doubt on the face of the constitution, whether all executive officers are removable at the will of the President, it is obviated by contemporaneous construction of the instrument and th uniform practice under it. The power of removal was a topic of solemn debate lit the Congress of 1789, while organizing the administra- tive departments of the government, and it was finally decided, that the President derived from the constitution PROTEST. 209 the power of removal, so far as it regards the department for whose acts he is responsible. Although the debate covered the whole ground, embracing the treasury as well as all other executive departments, it arose on a motion to strike oat of the bill to establish a department of for- eign affairs, since called the department of state, a clause declaring the secretary " to be removable from office by the President of the United States." After that motion had been decided in the negative, it was perceived that these words did not convey the sense of the House of Representatives in relation to the true source of the pow- er of removal. With the avowed object of preventing any future inference, that this power was exercised by the President in virtue of a grant from Congress, when in fact that body considered it as derived from the consti- tution, the words which had been the subject of debate were struck out, and in lieu thereof a clause was inserted in a provision concerning the chief clerk of the depart- ment, which declared that " whenever the said principal officer shall be removed from office by the President of the United States, or in any other case of vacancy," the chief clerk should during such vacancy have charge of the papers of the office. This change having been made for the express purpose of declaring the sense of Congress that the President derived the power of removal from the constitution, the act as it passed has always been consid- ered as a full expression of the sense of the legislature on this important part of the American constitution. Here then we have the concurrent authority of Presi- dent Washington, of the Senate and House of Represen- tatives, numbers of whom had taken an active part in the convention which framed the constitution, and in the state convention which adopted it, that the President derived an unqualified power of removal from that in- strument itself, which is " beyond the reach of legislative authority." Upon this principle the government has now been steadily administered for about forty-five years, du- ring which there have been numerous removals made by the President or by his direction, embracing every grade of executive officers, from the heads of departments to the messengers of bureaus. "18* THE TRUE AMERICAN. Tne treasury department, in the discussion of 1789, was considered on the same footing as the other execu- tive departments, and in the act establishing it, the pre- cise words incorporated indicative of the sense of Con- gress, that the President derives his power to remove the secretary from the constitution, which appear in the act establishing the department of foreign affairs. An assist- ant secretary of the treasury was created, and it was provided that he should take charge of the books and papers of the department, " whenever the secretary shall be removed from office by the President of the United States." The secretary of the treasury being appointed by the President, and being considered as constitutionally removable by him, it appears never to have occurred to any one in the Congress of 1789, or since, until very recently, that he was other than an executive ofiicer, th mere instrument of the chief magistrate in the execution of the laws, subject, like all other heads of departments, to his supervision and control. No such idea as an offi- cer of the Congress, can be found in the constitution, or appears to have suggested itself to those who organized the government. There are officers of each house,- the appointment of which is authorized by the constitution, but all officers referred to in that instrument, as coming within the appointing power of the President, whether established thereby or created by law, are " officers of the United States." No joint power of appointment is given to the two houses of Congress, nor is there any accountability to them as one body ; but as soon as any office is created by law, of whatever name or character., the appointment of the person or persons to fill it, de- volves by the constitution upon the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, unless it be an inferior office, and the appointment be vested by the law itself " in the President alone, in the courts of law, or the heads of the departments." But at the time of the organization of the treasury department, an incident occurred which distinctly evince* the unanimous concurrence of the first Congress in the principle that the treasury department is wholly ex- ecutive in its character and responsibilities. A motion . ;^ PROTEST. 211 was madeto strike out the provision of the bill making it the duty of the secretary " to digest and report for the improvement and management of the revenue, and for the support of public credit," on the ground that it would give the executive department of the government too much influence and power in Congress. The motion was not opposed on the ground that the secretary was tbe officer of Congress, and responsible to that body, which would have been conclusive, if admitted, but on other grounds which conceded his executive character through- out. The whole discussion evinc"es a unanimous concur- rence iu the principle that the secretary of the treasury is wholly an executive officer, and the struggle ''of the minority was to restrict his power as such. From that time down to the present, the secretary of the treasury, the treasurer, register, comptrollers, auditors, and clerks, who fill the offices of that department, have in the prac- tice of the government, been considered and treated as on the same footing with the corresponding grades of of- ficers in all the other executive departments. The custody of the public property, under such regu- lations as may be prescribed by legislative authority, has always been considered an appropriate function of the executive department in this and all other governments. In accordance with this principle, every species of pro- perty belonging to the United States (excepting that which is in the use of the several co-ordinate departments of the government, as means to aid them in performing their appropriate functions) is in charge of officers appointed by the President, whether it be lands, or buildings, or merchandise, or provisions, or clothing, or arms and mu- nitions of war. The superintendents and keepers of the whole are appointed by the President, responsible to him, and removable at his will. Public money is but a species of public property. It annot be raised by taxations or customs, nor brought into the treasury in any other way except by law; but whenever or howsoever obtained, its custody always has been, and always must be, unless the constitution be changed, intrusted to the executive department. No of- ficer can be created by Congress for the purpose of taking 212 THE TRUE AMERICAN. charge of it, whose appointment would not, by the con- stitution, at once devolve on the President, and who would not be responsible to him for the faithful perform- ance of his duties. The legislative power may undoubt- edly bind him and the President, by any laws they may think proper to enact ; they may prescribe in what place particular portions of the public money shall be kept, and for what reasons it shall be removed, as they may direct that supplies for the army or navy shall be kept in parti- cular stores ; and it will be the duty of the President to see that the law is faithfully executed yet will the custody remain in the executive department of the go- vernment. Were the Congress to assume, with or with- out a legislative act, the power of appointing officers inde- pendently of the President, to take the charge and custo- dy of the public property contained in the military and naval arsenals, magazines, and storehouses, it is believed that such an act would be regarded by all as a palpable usurpation of executive power, subversive of the form as well as the fundamental principles of our government. But where is the difference in principle, whether the public property be in the form of arms, munitions of war, and supplies, or in gold and silver, or bank notes? None can be perceived none is believed to exist. Congress cannot, therefore, take out of the hands of the executive department, the custody of the public property or money, without an assumption of executive power, and subver- sion of the first principles of the constitution. The Congress of the United States have never passed an act imperatively directing that the public money shall be kept in any particular place or places. From the ori- gin of the government to the year 1816, the statute book was wholly silent on the subject. In 1789, a treasurer was created, subordinate to the secretary of the treasu- ry, and through him to the President. He was required to give bond, safely to keep, and faithfully to disburse the public moneys, without any direction as to the man- ner or places in which they should be kept. By refer- ence to the practice of the government, it is found that from its first organization, the secretary of the treasury, acting under the supervision of the President, designated PROTEST. 213 the places in which the public moneys should be kept, and specially directed all transfers from place to place. This practice was continued, with the silent acquiescence of Congress, from 1789 down .to 1816; and although many banks were selected and discharged, and although a portion of the moneys were first placed in the state banks, and then in the former banks of the United States, and upon the dissolution of that, were again transferred to the state banks, no legislation was thought necessary by Congress, and all the operations were originated and perfected by executive authority. The secretary of the treasury, responsible to the President, and with his ap- probation, made contracts and arrangements in relation to the whole subject, which was thus entirely committed to the direction of the President, under his responsibili ties to the American people, and to those who were au- thorized to impeach and punish him for any breach of this important trust. The act of 1816, establishing the Bank of the United States, directed the deposits of public money to be made in that bank and its branches, in places in which the said bank and branches thereof may be established, " unless the secretary of the treasury should otherwise order and direct," in which event he was required to give his rea-* aons to Congress. This was but a continuation of his pre-existing powers as the head of the executive depart- ment, to direct where the deposits should be made, with the superadded obligation of giving his reasons to Con- gress for making them elsewhere than in the Bank of the United States and its branches. It is not to be consi- dered that this provision in any degree altered the relation between the secretary of the treasury and the President, as the responsible head of the executive department, or released the latter from his constitutional obligation to " take care that the laws be faithfully executed." On the contrary, it increased his responsibilities, by adding another to the long list of laws which it was his duty to carry into effect. It would be an extraordinary result, if, because the person charged by the law with a public duty, is one of the secretaries, it were less the duty of the President to 214 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ee that law faithfully executed, than other laws enjoin- ing duties upon subordinate officers or private citizens. If there be any difference, it would seem that the obliga- tion is the stronger in relation to the former, because the neglect is in his presence, and the remedy at hand. It cannot be doubted that it was the legal duty of tho secretary of the treasury, to order and direct the depo- sits of the public money to be made elsewhere than in the Bank of the United States, whenever sufficient rea- sons existed for making the change. If, in such case, he neglected or refused to act, he would neglect or refuse to execute the law. What would then be the sworn duty of the President ? Could he say that the constitution did not bind him to see the law faithfully executed, because it was one of his secretaries, and not himself upon whom the service was specially imposed ? Might he not be asked whether there was any such limitation to his obligations prescribed in the constitution ? whether he was not equally bound to take care that the laws be faithfully exe- cuted, whether they impose duties on the highest officer of state, or the lowest subordinate in any of the departr ments? Might he not be told, that it was for the sole purpose of causing all executive officers, from the highest to the lowest, faithfully to perform the services required of them by law, that the people of the United States have made him their chief magistrate, and the constitu- tion has clothed him with the entire executive power of this government ? The principles implied in these ques- tions appear too plain to need elucidation. But here, also, we have a cotemporaneous construction of the act, which shows that it was not understood as in any way changing the relations between the President and secretary of the treasury, or as placing the latter out of executive control, even in relation to the deposits of the public money. Nor on this point are we left to any equivocal testimony. The documents of the treasury de- partment show that the secretary of the treasury did apply to the President, and obtain his approbation and sanction to the original transfer of the public deposits to the pre- sent Bank of the United States, and did carry the mea- sure into effect in obedience to his decision. They also PROTEST. show that the transfers of the public deposits from the branches of the Bank of the United States to the state banks, at Chilicothe, Cincinnati, and Louisville, in 1819, were made with the approbation of the President, and by his authority. They show that upon all important ques- tions appertaining to his department, whether they related to the public deposits or other matters, it was the con- stant practice of the secretary of the treasury to obtain for his acts the approval and sanction of the President. These acts, and the principles on which they were found- ed, were known to all the departments of the government, to Congress, and the country; and until" very recently, appear never to have been called in question. Thus it was settled by the constitution, the laws, and the whole practice of the government, that the entire executive power is vested in the President of the United States ; that as incident to that power, the right of appoint- ing and removing those officers who are to aid him in the execution of the laws, with such restrictions only as the constitution prescribes, is vested in the President ; that the secretary of the treasury is one of those officers ; that the custody of the public property and money is an ex- ecutive function, which, in relation to the money, has always been exercised through the secretary of the trea- sury and his subordinates ; that in the performance of these duties, he is subject to the supervision and control of the President, and in all important measures having relation to them, consults the chief magistrate, and obtains his approval and sanction ; that the law establishing the bank did not, as it could not, change the relation between the President and secretary did not release the former- from his obligation to see the law faithfully executed, nor the latter from the President's supervision and control ; that afterwards, and before, the secretary did in fact con- sult, and obtain the sanction of the President, to transfers and removals of the public deposits ; and that all depart- ments of the government, and the nation itself, approved or acquiesced in these acts and principles, as in strict conformity with our constitution and laws. During the last year, the approaching termination, ac- cording to the provisions of its charter and the solemn 216 THE TRUE AMERICAN. decision of the American people, of the Bank of the United States, made it expedient, and its exposed abuses and corruptions made it, in my opinion, the duty of the secretary of the treasury to place the moneys of the Uni- ted States in other depositories. The secretary did not concur in that opinion, and declined giving the necessary order and direction. So glaring were the abuses and corruption of the bank, so evident its fixed purpose to persevere in them, and so palpable its design, by its money and power, to control the government and change its character, that I deemed it the imperative duty of the executive authority, by the exertion of every power con- fided to it by the constitution and laws, to check its ca- reer, and lessen its ability to do mischief, even in the painful alternative of dismissing the head of one of the departments. At the time the removal was made, other causes sufficient to justify it existed ; but if they had not, the secretary would have been dismissed for this cause only. His place I supplied by one whose opinions were-well known to me, and whose frank expression of them, in another situation, and whose generous sacrifices of inte- rest and feeling, when unexpectedly called to the station he now occupies, ought forever to have shielded his mo- tives from suspicion, and his character from reproach. In accordance with the opinions long before expressed by him, he proceeded, with my sanction, to make arrange- ments for depositing the moneys of the United States in ether safe institutions. The resolution of the senate, as originally framed and as passed, if it refers to these acts, presupposes a right in that body to interfere with this exercise of executive pow- er. If the principle be once admitted, it is not difficult to perceive where it may end. If, by a mere denuncia- tion like this resolution, the President should ever be in- duced to act, in a matter of official duty, contrary to Ihe honest convictions of his own mind, in compliance with the wishes of the Senate, the constitutional independence of the executive department would be as effectually de- stroyed, and its power as effectually transferred to the Senate, as if that end had been accomplished by an amcnti- PROTEST. ment of the constitution. But if the Senate have a right to interfere with the executive powers, they have also the right to make that interference effective; and if the as- sertion of the power implied in the resolution be silently acquiesced in, we may reasonably apprehend that it will be followed, at some future day, by an attempt at actual enforcement. The Senate may refuse, except on the condition that he will surrender his opinions to theirs and obey their will, to perform their own constitutional func- tions ; to pass the necessary laws ; to sanction appropria- tions proposed by the House of Representatives, and to confirm proper nominations made by the President. It has already been maintained (and it is not conceivable that the resolution of the Senate can be based on any other principle,) that the secretary of the treasury is the officer of Congress, and independent of the President; that, the President has no right to control him, and conse- quently none to remove him. With the same propriety, and on similar grounds, may the secretary of state, the secretaries of war and the navy, and the postmaster gen- eral, each in succession, be declared independent of the President, and subordinates of Congress, and removable only with the concurrence of the Senate. Followed to its consequences, the principle will be found effectually to destroy one co-ordinate department of the government, to concentrate in the hands of the Senate the whole executive power, and to leave the President as powerless as he would be useless, the shadow of authority, after the substance had departed. The time and the occasion which have called forth the resolution of the Senate, seem to impose upon me an additional obligation riot to pass it over in silence. Near- ly forty-five years had the President exercised, without a question as to his rightful authority, those powers for the recent resumption of which he is now denounced. The vicissitudes of peace and war had attended our govern- ment, violent parties, watchful to take advantage of any seeming usurpation on the part of the executive, had dis- tracted our counsels ; frequent removals, or forced resig- nations in every sense tantamount to removals had been made of the secretary and other officers of the treasury ; and yet, in no one instance, is it known that any man, 10 218 THE TRUE AMERICAN. whether patriot or partisan, had raised his voice against it as a violation of the constitution. The expediency and justice of such changes, in reference to public officers of all grades, have frequently been the topics of discussion ; but the constitutional right of the President to appoint, control, and remove the head of the treasury, as well as all other departments, seems to have been univer- sally conceded. And what is the occasion upon which other principles have been first officially asserted ? The Bank of the United States, a great moneyed monopoly, had attempted to obtain a renewal of its charter, by controlling the elections of the people, and the action of the government. The use of its corporate funds and power in that attempt, was fully disclosed ; and it was made known to the President that the corporation was put- ting in train the same course of measures, with the view of making another vigorous effort, through an interference in the elections of the people, to control public opinion and force the government to yield its demands. This, with its corruption of the press, its violation of its char- ter, its exclusion of the government directors from its pro- ceedings, its neglect of duty, and arrogant pretensions, made it, in the opinion of the President, incompatible with the public interest and the safety of our institutions, that it should be longer employed as the fiscal agent of the treasury. A secretary of the treasury, appointed in the recess of the Senate, who had not been confirmed by that body and whom the President might or might not at his pleasure nominate to them, refused to do what his superior in the executive department considered the most imperative of hia duties, and because in fact, however in- nocent his motives, the protector of the bank. And on this occasion it is discovered for the first time, that those who framed the constitution misunderstood it ; that the first Congress and all its successors have been under a delusion ; that the practice of nearly forty-five years, is but a continued usurpation ; that the secretary of the treasury is not responsible to the President ; and that to remove him is a violation of the constitution and laws, for which the President deserves to stand forever dishon- ored on the journals of the Senate. There are also some other circumstances connected PROTEST. 219 with the discussion and passage of the resolution, to which I feel it to be not only my right but my duty to refer. It appears by the journal of the Senate, that among the twenty-six Senators who voted for the resolu- tion on its final passage, and who had supported it in de- bate in its original form, were, one of the Senators from the state of Maine, the two Senators from New Jersey, and one of the Senators from Ohio. It also appears by the same journal, and by the files of the Senate, that the legislatures of those states had severally expressed their opinions in respect to the executive proceedings drawn in question before the Senate. The two branches of the legislature of the state of Maine, on the 25th January, 1834, passed a preamble and series of resolutions in the following words : " Whereas, at an early period after the election of An- drew Jackson to the presidency, in accordance with the sentiments which he had uniformly expressed, the at- tention of Congress was called to the constitutionality and expediency of the renewal of the charter of the United States Bank ; and whereas the bank has transcend- ed its chartered limits in the management of its busi- ness transactions, and has abandoned the object of its cre- ation, by engaging in political controversies, by wield- ing its power and influence to embarrass the administra- tion of the general government, and by bringing insol- vency and distress upon the commercial community ; and whereas, the public security from such an institution con- sists less in its present pecuniary capacity to discharge its liabilities than in the fidelity with which the trusts reposed in it have been executed ; and whereas, the abuse and misapplication of the powers conferred have destroyed the confidence of the public in the officers of the bank, and demonstrated that such powers endangered the sta- bility of republican institutions : therefore, " Resolved, That in the removal of the public depo- sits from the Bank of the United States, as well as in the manner of their removal, we recognize in the administra- tion an adherence to constitutional rights, and the per- formance of a public duty. " Resolved, That this legislature entertain the same 220 T1IE TRUE AMERICAN. opinion as heretofore expressed by preceding legislatures of this state, that the Bank of the United States ought not to be rechartered. " Resolved, That the Senators of this state in the Congress of the United States be instructed, and the Representatives be requested to oppose the restoration of the dcposites and the renewal of the charter of the Uni- ted States Bank." On the llth of January, 1834, the House of Assembly and Council composing the legislature of the state of New Jersey, passed a preamble and a series of resolutions, in the following words : " Whereas the present crisis in our public affairs calls for a decided expression of the voice of the people of this state ; and whereas we consider it the undoubted tight of the legislatures of the several states to instruct those who represent their interests in the councils of the nation, in all matters which intimately concern the public weal, and may affect the happiness or well-being of the people; therefore, " Be it resolved by the Council and General Assanlly of this state, That while we acknowledge with feelings of devout gratitude our obligations to the great Ruler of nations for his mercies to us as a people, that we have, been preserved alike from foreign war, from the evils of internal commotions, and the machinations of designing and ambitious men, who would prostrate the fair fabric of our Union ; that we ought, nevertheless, to humble ourselves in his presence, and implore his aid for the per- petuation of our republican institutions, and for a conti- nuance of that unexampled prosperity which our country has hitherto enjoyed. 2d, " Resolved, That we have undiminished confidence in the integrity and firmness of the venerable patriot, who now holds the distinguished post of chief magistrate of this nation, and whose purity of purpose and elevated motives have so often received the unqualified approba- tion of a large majority of his fellow-citizens. 3d, " Resolved, That we view witli agitation and alarm the existence of a great moneyed incorporation, which threatens to embarrass the operations of the government, '<; PROTEST. 221 and by means of its unbounded influence upon the- cur- rency of the country, to scatter distress and ruin through- out the community ; and that we therefore solemnly believe the present Bank of the United States ought not to be rechartered. 4th, " Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be in- structed, and our members of the House of Representa- tives be requested to sustain, by their votes and influ- ence, the course adopted by the secretary of the treasu- ry, Mr. Taney, in relation to the Bank of the United States and the deposits of the government moneys, be- lieving as we do the course of the secretary to have been constitutional, and that the public good required its adop- tion." On the 21st of February last, the legislature of the same state reiterated the opinions and instructions before given, by joint resolutions, in the following words : " Resolved by the Council and General Assembly of the state of New Jersey, That they do adhere to the re- solutions passed by them on the llth day of January last, relative to the President of the United States, the Bank of the United States, and the course of Mr. Taney in removing the government deposits, " Resolved, That the legislature of New Jersey have not seen any reason to depart from such resolutions since the passage thereof; and it is their wish that they should receive from our Senators and Representatives of this state in the Congress of the United States, that attention and obedience which are due to the opinion of a sove- reign state, openly expressed in its legislative capacity." On the 2d of January, 1834, the Senate and House of Representatives composing the legislature of Ohio, passed a preamble and resolutions in the following words : " Whereas, there is reason to believe that the Bank of the United States will attempt to obtain a renewal of its charter at the present session of Congress. And where- as, it is abundantly evident that said bank has exercised powers derogatory to the spirit of our free institutions and dangerous to the liberties of these United States. And whereas, there is just reason to doubt the constitu- tional power of Congress to grant acts of incorporation 19 THE TRUE AMERICAN, tor banking purposes out of the District of Columbia. And whereas, we believe the proper disposal of the pub- lic lands to be of the utmost importance to the people of these United States, and that honor and good faith re- quire their equitable distribution : Therefore, "Resolved by the Gniiral Assembly of the state of Ohio, That we consider the removal of the public depo- sits from the Bank of the United States as required by the best interests of our country, and that a proper sense >f public duty imperiously demanded that that institution should be no longer used as a depository of the public funds. " Resolved, also, That we view, with decided disap- probation, the renewed attempts in Congress to secure the passage of the bill providing for the disposal of the publics-domain upon the principle proposed by Mr. Clay, inasmuch as we believe that such a law would be unequal in its operations, and unjust in its results. " Resolved, also, That we heartily approve of the -principles set forth in the late veto message upon this subject, and " Resolved, That our Senators in Congress be instruct- ed, and our Representatives requested, to use their influ- ence to prevent the rechartcrittg of the Bank of the Uni- ted State? ; to sustain the administration in its removal of the public deposits; and to oppose- *he passage of a land bill containing the principles adopted in the act upon that subject passed at the last session of Congress. " Resolved, That the governor be requested to trans- mit copies of the foregoing preamble and resolutions to each of our Senators and Representatives." It is thus seen that four Senators have declared by their votes that the President, in the executive proceed- ings in relation to the revenue, had been guilty of the im- peachable offence of " assuming upon himself authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in derogation of both," whilst the legislatures of their respective states had deliberately approved those very proceedings, as consistent with the constitution and de- manded by the public good. If these four votes had been in accordance with the sentiments of the legisla- T PROTEST. 223 tures, as above expressed, there would have been but twenty-four out of forty-six for censuring the President, and the unprecedented record of his conviction could not have been placed upon the journals of the Senate. In thus referring to the resolutions and instructions of the state legislatures, I disclaim and repudiate all autho- rity or design to interfere with the responsibility due from members of the Senate to their own consciences, their constituents, and their country. The facts now stated, belong to the history of these proceedings, and are im- portant to the just development of the principles and in- terests involved in them, as well as to the proper vindica- tion of the executive department ; and with that view, and that only, are they here made the topic of remark. The dangerous tendency of the doctrine which denies to the President the power of supervising, directing, and removing the secretary of the treasury in like manner with other executive officers, would soon be manifest in practice, were the doctrine to be established. The Pre- sident is the direct representative of the American peo- ple, but the secretaries are not. If the secretary of the treasury be independent of the President in the execu- tion of the laws, then is there no direct responsibility to the people in the important branch of this government, to which is committed the care of the national finances. And it is in the power of the Bank of the United States, or any other corporation, body of men, or individuals, if a secretary shall be found to accord with them in opinion, or can be induced in practice to promote their views, to control through him the whole action of government (so far as it is exercised by his department,) in defiance of the chief magistrate elected by the people and responsi- ble to them. But the evil tendency of the particular doctrine advert- ed to, though superficially serious, would be as nothing in comparison with the pernicious consequences which would inevitably flow from the high approbation and al- lowance by the people, and the practice by the Senate, of the unconstitutional power of arraigning and censuring the official conduct of the executive, in the manner re- cently pursued. Such proceedings are eminently calcu- 224 THE TRUE AMERICAN. lated to unsettle the foundations of the government ; to disturb the harmonious action of the different depart- ments ; and to break down the checks and balances by which the wisdom of its framers sought to insure its sta- bility and usefulness. The honest differences of opinion which occasionally exist between the Senate and President, in regard to mat- ters in which both are obliged to participate, are suffi- ciently embarrassing. But if the course recently adopted by the Senate shall hereafter be frequently pursued, it is not only obvious that the harmony of the relations be- tween the President and the Senate will be destroyed, but that other and graver effects will ultimately ensue. If the censures of the Senate be submitted to by the President, the confidence of the people in his ability and virtue, and the character and usefulness of his administration, will soon be at an end, and the real power of the government will fall into the hands of a body, holding their offices for long terms, not elected by the people, and not to them directly responsible. If, on the other hand, the illegal censures of the Senate should be resisted by the Presi- dent, collisions and angry controversies might ensue, dis- creditable in their progress, and in the end compelling the people to adopt the conclusion, either that their chief magistrate was unworthy of their respect, or that the Se- nate was chargeable with calumny and injustice. Either of these results would impair public confidence in the perfection of the system, and lead to serious alterations of its frame-work, or to the practical abandonment of some of its provisions. The influence of such proceedings in- the other depart- ments of the government, and more especially on the states, could not fail to be extensively pernicious. When the judges in the last resort of official misconduct, them- selves overleaped the bounds of their authority, as pre- scribed by the constitution, what general disregard of its provisions might not their example be expected to pro- duce ? And who does not perceive that such contempt of the federal constitution, by one of its most important departments, would hold out the strongest temptations to resistance on the part of the state sovereignties, when- ." ^.3! PROTEST. . 225 ever they shall suppose their just rights to have been in- vaded ? Thus all the independent departments of the government, and the states which compose our confede- rated union, instead of attending to their appropriate du- ties, and leaving those who may offend, to be reclaimed or punished in the manner pointed out in the constitu- tion, would fall to mutual crimination. and recrimination, and give to the people confusion and anarchy, instead of order and law ; until at length some form of aristo- cratic power would be established on the ruins of the constitution, or the states be broken into separate com- munities. Far be it from me to charge, or to insinuate, that the present Senate of the United States intended, in the most distant way, to encourage such a result. It is not of their motives or designs, but only of the tendency of their acts, that it is my duty to speak. It is, if possible, to make Senators themselves sensible of the danger which lurks undu: the precedent set in their resolution ; and at any rate To perform my duty, as the responsible head of one of the co-equal departments of the government, that I have been compelled to point out the consequences to which the discussion and passage of the resolutions may lead, if the tendency of the measure be not checked in its inception. It is due to the high trust with which I have been charged ; to those who may be called to suc- ceed me in it ; to the representatives of the people, whose constitutional prerogative has been unlawfully assumed ; to the people and to the states ; and to the constitution they have established ; that I shall not permit its provi- sions to be broken down by such an attack on the execu- tive department, without at least some effort" to preserve, protect, and defend them." With this view, and for the reasons which have been sta- ted, I do hereby SOLEMNLY PROTEST against the afore-men- tioned proceedings of the Senate, as unauthorized by the constitution ; contrary to its spirit and to several of its express provisions ; subversive of that distribution of the powers of government which it has ordained and esta- blished ; destructive of the checks and safeguards by which those powers were intended, on the one hand to 226 THE TRUE AMERICAN. be controlled, and on the other to be protected, and cal- culated by their immediate and collateral effects, by their character and tendency, to concentrate in the hands of a body not directly amenable to the people, a degree of in- fluence and power dangerous to their liberties, and fatal to the constitution of their choice. The resolution of the Senate contains an imputation upon my private as well as upon my public character ; and as it must stand forever on their journals, I cannot close this, substitute for that defence which I have not been allowed to present in the ordinary form, without re- marking, that I have lived in vain, if it be necessary to enter into a formal vindication of my character and pur- pose from such an imputation. In vain do I bear upon my person, enduring memorials of that contest in which American liberty was purchased in vain have I since periled property, fame, and life, in defence of the rights and privileges so dearly bought in vain am I now, with- out a personal aspiration, or the hope of individual f credit are so diversified, and the influence which affect them so numerous, and often so subtle, that even impar- tial and well-informed persons are seldom found to agree in respect to them. To inherent difficulties were also add- ed other tendencies, which were by no means favorable to the discovery of truth. It was hardly to be expected, that those who disapproved the policy of the government in relation to the currency, would, in the excited state of public feeling produced by that occasion, fail to attri- bute to that policy any extensive embarrassment in the monetary affairs of the country. The matter thus be- came connected with the passions and conflicts of party ; opinions were more or less affected by political conside^ rations ; and differences were prolonged which might otherwise have been determined by an appeal to facts, by the exercise of reason, or by mutual concession. It is, VAN BUREN'S SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE. 241 however, a cheering reflection, that circumstances of this nature cannot prevent a community so intelligent as ours from ultimately arriving at correct conclusions. Encou- raged by the firm belief of this truth, I proceed to state my views, so far as may be necessary to a clear under- standing of the remedies I feel it my duty to propose, and of the reasons by which I have been led to recom- mend them. The history of trade in the United States, for the last three or four years, affords the most convincing evidence that our present condition is chiefly to be attributed to over-action in all the departments of business ; an over- action deriving, perhaps, its first impulses from antecedent causes, but stimulated to its destructive consequences by excessive issues of bank paper, and by other facilities for the acquisition and enlargement of credit. At the com- mencement of the year 1834, the banking capital of the United States, including that of the national bank, then existing, amounted to about two hundred millions of dol- lars ; the bank notes then in circulation to about ninety- five millions ; and the loans and discounts of the banks to three hundred and twenty-four millions. Between that time and the first of January, 1836, being the latest pe- riod to which accurate accounts have been received, our banking capital was increased to more than two hundred and fifty-one millions ; our paper circulation to more than one hundred and forty millions, and the loans and dis- counts to more than four hundred and fifty-seven millions. To this vast increase are to be added the many millions of credit, acquired by means of foreign loans, contract- ed by the states and state institutions, and by the lavish accommodations extended by foreign dealers to our mer- chants. The consequences of this redundancy of credit, and the spirit of reckless speculation engendered by it, were a foreign debt contracted by our citizens, estimated, in March last, at more than thirty millions of dollars ; the extension to dealers in the interior of our country of cre- dits for supplies, greatly beyond the wants of our people ; the investment of thirty-nine and a half millions of dol- 'ars in unproductive public lands, in the years 1835 and 21 242 THE TRUE AMERICAN. 1836, whilst in the preceding year the sales amounted to only four and a half millions ; the creation of debts, to an almost countless amount, for real estate in existing or anticipated cities or villages, equally unproductive, and at prices not seen to have been greatly disproportionate to their real value ; the expenditure of immense sums in improvements, which in many cases have been found to be ruinously improvident ; the diversion to other pursuits of much of the labor that should have been applied to agriculture, thereby contributing to the expenditure of large sums in the importation of grain from Europe an expenditure which amounted, in 1834, to about two hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars, was in the first two quar- ters of the present year, increased to more than two mil- lions of dollars ; and finally, without enumerating other injurious results, the rapid growth among all classes, and especially in our great commercial towns, of luxurious habits, founded too often on merely fancied wealth, and detrimental alike to the industry, the resources, and the morals of our people. It was so impossible that such a state of things could long continue, that the prospect of revulsion was present to the minds of considerate men before it actually came. None, however, had correctly anticipated its severity. A concurrence of circumstances inadequate of themselves to produce such wide-spread and calamitous embarrass- ments, tended so greatly to aggravate them that they can- not be overlooked in considering their history. Among these may be mentioned as most prominent, the great loss of capital sustained in our commercial emporium in the fire of December, 1835 a loss, the effects of which were underrated at the time, because postponed for a season by the great facilities of credit then existing ; the dis- turbing effects in our commercial cities, of the transfers of the public moneys, required by the deposit law of June, 183(5 ; and the measures adopted by the foreign creditors of our merchants, to reduce their debts, and to withdraw from the United States a large portion of their specie. However unwilling any of our citizens may heretofore hare been to assign to these causes the chief instrumen- . *N&fr- TAN BUREN'S SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE. 243 tality in producing the present state of things, the deve- lopments subsequently made, and the actual condition of other commercial countries, must, as it seems to me, dis- pel all remaining doubts upon the subject. It has since appeared that evils similar to those suffered by ourselves, have been experienced in Great Britain, on the continent, and indeed throughout the commercial world ; and that in other countries as well as our own, they have been uniformly preceded by an undue enlargement of the boun- daries of trade, prompted, as with us, by an unprecedent- ed expansion of the system of credit. A reference to the amount of banking capital, and the issues of paper cre- dits put in circulation in Great Britain, by banks and in other ways, 'during the years 1834, 1835, and 1836, will show an augmentation of the paper currency there, as much disproportioned to the real wants of trade as in the United States. With this redundancy of the paper currency, there arose in that country also a spirit of ad- venturous speculation embracing the whole range of hu- man enterprise. Aid was profusely given to projected improvements ; large investments were made in foreign stocks and loans ; credits for goods were granted with unbounded liberality to merchants in foreign countries ; and all means of acquiring and employing credit were put in active operation, and extended in their effects to every department of business, and to every part of the globe. The reaction was proportioned in its violence to the extraordinary character of events which preceded it. The commercial community of Great Britain were sub- jected to the greatest difficulties, and their debtors in this country were not only suddenly deprived of accustomed and expected credits, but called upon for payments, which, in the actual posture of things here, could only be made through a general pressure and at the most ruinous sa- crifices. In view of these facts it would seem impossible for in- quirers after truth to resist the conviction, that the causes of the revulsion in both countries have been substantially the same. Two nations, the most commercial in the world, enjoying but recently the highest degree of appa- rent prosperity, and maintaining with each other the clo- 244 THE TRUE AMERICAN. sest relations, are suddenly in a time of profound peace, and without any great national disaster, arrested in their career, and plunged into a state of embarrassment and distress. In both countries we have witnessed the same redundancy of paper money, and other facilities of cre- dit ; the same spirit of speculation ; the same partial suc- cess ; the same difficulties and reverses ; and, at length, nearly the same overwhelming catastrophe. The most material difference between the results in the two coun- tries has only been, that with us there has also occurred an extensive derangement in the fiscal affairs of the fede- ral and state governments, occasioned by the suspension of specie payments by the banks. The history of these causes and effects in Great Bri- tain and the United States, is substantially the history of the revulsion in all other commercial countries. The present and visible effect of these circumstances on the operation of the government, and on the industry of the people, point out the objects which call for your immediate attention. They are to regulate by law the safe-keeping, trans- fer, and disbursement of the public moneys ; to designate the funds to be received and paid by the government ; to enable the treasury to meet promptly every demand upon it ; to prescribe the terms of indulgence, and the mode of settlement to be adopted, as well in collecting from individuals the revenue that has accrued, as in withdraw- ing it from former depositories, and to devise and adopt such further measures, within the constitutional compe- tency of Congress, as will be best calculated to revive the enterprise and to promote the prosperity of the country. For the deposit, transfer, and disbursement of the re- venue, national and state banks have always, with tempo rary and limited exceptions, been heretofore employed ,- but, although advocates of each system are still to be found, it is apparent that the events of the last few months have greatly augmented the desire, long existing among the people of the United States, to separate the fiscal operations of the government from those of indivi- duals or corporations. VAN BUUEN'S SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE. 245 Again to create a national bank, as a fiscal agent, would be to disregard the popular will, twice solemnly and une- quivocally expressed. On no question of domestic poli- cy is there stronger evidence that the sentiments of a large majority are deliberately fixed ; and I cannot con- cur with those who think they see in recent events, a proof that these sentiments are, or a reason that they should be, changed. Events, similar in their origin and character, have heretofore frequently occurred without producing any such change; and the lessons of experience must be for- gotten, if we suppose that the present overthrow of credit would have been prevented by the existence of a national bank. Proneness to excessive issues has ever been the vice of the banking system ; a vice as prominent in national as in state institutions. This propensity is as subservient to the advancement of private interests in the one as in the other; and those who direct them both, being princi- pally guided by the same views, and influenced by the same motives, will be equally ready to stimulate extrava- gance of enterprise by improvidence of credit. How strikingly is this conclusion sustained by experience. The Bank of the United States, with the vast powers con- ferred on it by Congress, did not or could not prevent former and similar embarrassments ; nor has the still greater strength it has been said to possess under its pre- sent charter, enabled it, in the existing emergency, to check other institutions, or even to save itself. In Great Britain, where it has been seen the same causes have been attended with the same effects, a national bank, possessing powers far greater than are asked for by the .warmest advocates of such an institution here, has also proved unable to prevent an undue expansion of credit, and the evils that flow from it. Nor can I find any tena- ble ground for the re-establishment of a national bank, in the derangement alleged at present to exist in the domestic ^exchanges of the country, or in the facilities it may be capable of affording them. Although advantages of this kind were anticipated when the first Bank of the United States was created, they were regarded as an incidental accommodation ; not one which the federal government 21* '*' 246 THE TRUE AMERICAN. was bound or could be called upon to furnish. This ac- commodation is now, indeed, after the lapse of not many years, demanded from it as among its first duties ; and an omission to aid and regulate commercial exchange, is treated as a ground of loud and serious complaint. Such results only serve to exemplify the constant desire among some of our citizens to enlarge the powers of the go- vernment, and to extend its control to subjects with which it should not interfere. They can never justify the crea- tion of an institution to promote such objects. On the contrary, they justly excite among the community a more diligent inquiry into the character of those operations of trade, towards which it is desired to extend such peculiar favors. The various transactions that bear the name of domes- tic exchanges, differ essentially in their nature, opera- tions, and utility. One class of them consists of bills of exchange, drawn for the purpose of transferring actual capital from one part of the country to another, or to an- ticipate the proceeds of property actually transmitted. Bills of this description are highly useful in the move- ments of trade, and well deserve all the encouragement that can rightfully be given to them. Another class is made up of bills of exchange, not drawn to transfer ac- tual capital, nor on the credit of property transmitted, hut to create fictitious capital, partaking at once of the character of notes discounted in bank, and of banknotes in circulation, and swelling the amount of paper credits in a most objectionable manner. These bills have formed, for the last few years, a large proportion of what are termed the domestic exchanges of the country, serving as the means of usurious profit, and constituting the most unsafe and precarious paper in circulation. This species f traffic, instead of being upheld, ought to be discoun- ter a need by the government and the people. In transferring its funds from place to place, the go- vernment is on the same footing with the private citizen, i ay resort to the same legal means. It may do so t; ; rou^ii the medium of bills drawn by itself, or purchase uthcrs ; aud in these operations it may, in a manner uc;Jjubte mense wastes behind them, and enlarging the frontier be- yond the means of the government to afford it adequate protection ; but in encouraging it to occupy, with rea- sonable denseness, the territory over which it advances, and find its best defence in the compact front which it presents to the Indian tribes. Many of you will bring to the consideration of the subject the advantage of local knowledge and greater experience, and all will be desi- rous of making an early and final disposition of every dis- turbing question in regard to this important interest. If these suggestions shall in any degree contribute to the accomplishment of so important a result, it will afford me sincere satisfaction. In some sections of the country most of the public lands have been sold, and the registers and receivers have little to do. It is a subject worthy of inquiry whether, in many cases, two or more districts may not be consoli- dated, and the number of persons employed in this busi- ness considerably reduced. Indeed, the time will come, when it will be the true policy of the general government, 292 THE TRUE AMERICAN. as to some of the states, to transfer to them, for a reasona- ble equivalent, all the refuse and unsold lands, and to withdraw the machinery of the federal land offices alto- gether. All who take a comprehensive view of our fede- ral system, and believe that one of its greatest excellen- cies consists in interfering as little as possible with the internal concerns of the states, look forward with great interest to this result. A modification of the existing laws in respect to the prices of the public lands, might also have a favorable influence on the legislation of Congress, in relation to another branch of the subject. Many who have not the ability to buy at present prices, settle on those lands, with the hope of acquiring from their cultivation the means of purchasing under pre-emption laws, from time to time passed by Congress. For this encroachment ou the rights of the United States, they excuse themselves under the plea of their own necessities; the fact that they dispossess nobody, and only enter upon the waste domain ; that they give additional value to the public lands in their vicinity, and their intention ultimately to pay the govern- ment price. So much weight has from time to time been attached to these considerations, that Congress hare passed laws giving actual settlers on the public lands a rignt of pre-emption to the tracts occupied by them, at the mini- mum price. These laws have in all instances been retrospective in their operations; but in a few years after their passage, crowds of new settlers have been found on the public lands, for similar reasons, and under like expectations, who have been indulged with the same privilege. This course of legislation tends to impair public respect for the laws of the country. Either the laws to prevent intrusion upon the public lands should be executed, or, if that should be impracticable or inexpedient, they should be modified or repealed. If the public lands are to be con- sidered as open to be occupied by any, they should, by law, be thrown open to all. That which is intended, in all instances, to be legal- ized, should at once be made legal, that those who are disposed to conform to the laws, may enjoy at least equal VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 293 privileges with those who are not. But it is not believed to be the disposition of Congress to open the public lands to occupancy without regular entries and payment of the government price, as such a course must tend to worse evils than the credit system, which it was found necessary to abolish. It would seem, therefore, to be the part of wisdom and sound policy to remove, as far as practicable, the causes which produce i.?*msions upon the public lands, and then take efficient steps to prevent them in future. Would any single measure be so effective in removing all plausi- ble grounds for these intrusions as the graduation of price already suggested 1 A short period of industry and eco- nomy in any part of our country would enable the poor- est citizen to accumulate the means to buy him a home at the lowest prices, and leave him without apology for settling on lands not his own. If he did not, under such circumstances, he would enlist no sympathy in his favor ; and the laws would be readily executed without doing violence to public opinion. A large portion of our citizens have seated themselves on the public lands, without authority, since the passage of the last pre-emption law, and now ask the enactment of another, to enable them to retain the lands occu- pied, upon payment of the minimum government price. They ask that which has been repeatedly granted before. If the future may be judged of by the past, little harm can be done to the interests of the treasury by yielding to their request. Upon a critical examination, it is found that the lands sold at the public sales since the introduc- tion of cash payments in 1820, have produced, on an av- erage, the nett revenue of only six cents an acre more than the minimum government price. There is no rea- son to suppose that future sales will be more productive. The government, therefore, has no adequate pecuniary interest to induce it to drive those people from the lands they occupy, for the purpose of selling them to others. Entertaining these views, I recommend the passage of a pre-emption law for their benefit, in connection with the preparatory steps towards the graduation of the price of the public lands, and farther and more effectual pro- 25* 394 THE TRUE AMERICAN. visions to prevent intrusions hereafter. Indulgence to those who have settled on these lands with expectations that past legislation would be made a rule for the future, and at the same time removing the most plausible ground on which intrusions are excused, and adopting more effi- cient means to prevent them hereafter, appears to me the most judicious disposition which can be made of this difficult subject. The limitations and restrictions to guard against abuses in the execution of the pre-emption law, will necessarily attract the attention of Congress ; but under no circum- stances is it considered expedient to authorize floating claims in any shape. They have been heretofore, and doubtless would be hereafter, most prolific sources of fraud and oppresson, and instead of operating to confer the favor of the government on industrious settlers, are often used only to minister to a spirit of cupidity at the expense of the most meritorious of that class. The accompanying report of the secretary of war will bring to your view the state of the army, and all the va- rious subjects confided to the superintendence of that officer. The principal part of the army has been concentrated in Florida, with a view and in the expectation of bring- ing the war in that territory to a speedy close. The ne- cessity of stripping the posts on the maritime and inland frontiers, of their entire garrisons, for the purpose of as- sembling in the field an army of less than four thousand men, would seem to indicate the necessity of increasing our regular forces ; and the superior efficiency as well as greatly diminished expense of that description of troops, recommend this measure as one of economy, as* well as of expediency. I refer to the report for the rea- sons which have induced the secretary of war to urge the re-organization and enlargement of the staff of the army, and of the ordnance corps, in which I fully concur. It is not, however, compatible with the interest of the people to maintain, in time of peace, a regular force ad- equate to the defence of our extensive frontiers. In pe- riods of danger and alarm, we must rely principally upon a well-organized militia ; and some general arrangement VAN BUUEN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 295 that will render this description of force more efficient, has long been a subject of anxious solicitude. It was recommended to the first Congress by General Washing- ton, and has since been frequently brought to your notice, and recently its importance strongly urged by my immediate predecessor. The provision in the constitution tint renders it ne- cessary to adopt a uniform system of organization for the militia throughout the United States, presents an in- surmountable obstacle to an efficient arrangement by the classification heretofore proposed, and I invite your atten- tion to the plan which will be submitted by the secretary of war, for the organization of the volunteer corps, and the instruction of militia officers, as more simple and practicable, if not equally advantageous, as a general ar- rangement of the whole militia of the United States. A moderate increase of the corps both of military and topographical engineers, has been more than once recom- mended by my predecessor, and my conviction of the pro- priety, not to say necessity of the measure, in order to enable them to perform the various and important duties imposed upon them, induces me to repeat the recommen- dation. The Military Academy continues to answer all the pur- poses of its establishment, and not only furnishes well- educated officers of the army, but serves to diffuse through- out the mass of our citizens, individuals possessed of mi- litary knowledge, and the scientific attainments of civil and military engineering. At present, the cadet is bound, with the consent of his parents or guardians, to remain in service five years from the period of his enlistment, unless sooner discharged, thus exacting only one year's service in the army after his education is completed. This does not appear to me sufficient. Government ought (o command for a longer period the services of those who are educated at the public expense ; and I recommend that the time of enlistment be extended to seven years, and the terms of the engagement strictly enforced. The creation of a national foundry for cannon, to be common to the service of the army and navy of the Uni- ted States, has been heretofore recommended, and ap- 296 THE TRUE AMERICAN. pears to be required in order to place our ordnance on an equal footing with that of other countries, and to ena- ble that branch of the service to control the prices of those articles, and graduate the supplies to the wants of the government, as well as to regulate their quality and insure their uniformity. The same reasons induce me to recommend the erec- tion of a manufactory of gunpowder, to be under the di- rection of the ordnance office. The establishment of a manufactory of small arms west of the Alleghany moun- tains, upon the plan proposed by the secretary of war, will contribute to extend throughout that country the improvements which exist in establishments of a similar description in the Atlantic states, and tend to a much more economical distribution of the armament required in the western portion of our Union. The system of removing the Indians west of the Mis- sissippi, commenced by Mr. Jefferson, in 1804, has been steadily persevered in by every succeeding President, and may be considered the settled policy of the country. Un- connected at first with any well-defined system for their improvement, the inducements held out to the Indians were confined to the greater abundance of game to be found in the west ; but when the beneficial effects of their removal were made apparent, a more philanthropic and enlightened policy was adopted, in purchasing their lands east of the Mississippi. Liberal prices were given, and provisions inserted in all the treaties with them for the implication of the funds they received in exchange, to such purposes as were best calculated to promote their present welfare, and advance their future civilization. These measures have been attended thus far with the happiest results. It will be seen, by referring to the report of the com- missioner of Indian affairs, that the most sanguine ex- pectations of the friends and promoters of this system have been realized. The Choctaws, Cherokees, and other tribes that first emigrated beyond the Mississippi, have, for the most part, abandoned the hunter state, and become cultivators of the soil. The improvement of their condition has been rapid, and it is believed that VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 297 they are now fitted to enjoy the advantages of a simple form of government, which has been submitted to them and received their sanction; and I cannot too strongly urge this subject upon the attention of Congress. Stipulations have been made with all the Indian tribes to remove them beyond the Mississippi, except with the band of the Wyandotts, the Six Nations, in New York, the Menomonees, Mandans, and Stockbridges, in Wis- consin, and Miamies, in Indiana. With all but the Menomonees, it is expected that arrangements for their emigration will be completed the present year. The resistance which has been opposed to their removal by- some tribes, even after treaties had been made with them to that effect, has arisen from various causes, operating differently on each of them. In most instances they have been instigated to resist- ance by persons to whom the trade with them and the acquisition of their annuities were important; and in some by the personal influence of interested chiefs. These obstacles must be overcome ; for the government cannot relinquish the execution of this policy with- out sacrificing important interests, and abandoning the tribes remaining east of the Mississippi to certain de- struction. The decrease in numbers of the tribes within the limits of the states and territories has been most rapid. If they be removed, they can be protected from those associa- tions and evil practices which exert so pernicious and destructive an influence over their destinies. They can be induced to labor, and to acquire property, and its acquisition will inspire them with a feeling of indepen- dence. Their minds can be cultivated, and they can be taught the value of salutary and uniform laws, and be made sensible of the blessings of free government, and capable of enjoying its advantages. In the possession of property, knowledge, and a good government, free to give what direction they please to their labor, and sharers in the legislation by which their persons and the profits of their industry are to be pro- tected and secured, they will have an ever present con- viction of the importance of union, of peace among 29S THE TRUE AMERICAN. themselves, and of the preservation of amicable relations with us. The interests of the United States would also be greatly promoted by freeing the relations between the general and state governments, from what has proved a most embarrassing incumbrance, by a satisfactory adjust- ment of conflicting titles to lands, caused by the occu- pation of the Indians, and by causing the resources of the whole country to be developed by the power of the state and general governments, and improved by the enterprise of a white population. Intimately connected with this subject is the obligation of the government to fulfil its treaty stipulations, and to protect the Indians thus assembled " at their new resi- dence from all interruptions and disturbances from any other tribes or nations of Indians, or from any other person or persons whatsoever," and the equally solemn obligation to guard from Indian hostilities its own border settlements stretching along a line of more than one thousand miles. To enable the government to redeem their pledge to the Indians, and to afford adequate pro- tection to its own citizens, will require the continual presence of a considerable regular force on the frontiers, and the establishment of a chain of permanent posts. Examinations of the country are now making, with a view to decide on the most suitable points for the erection of fortresses and other works of defence, the results of which will be presented to you by the secretary of war at an early day, together with a plan for the effectual pro- tection of friendly Indians, and the permanent defence of the frontier states. By the report of the secretary of the navy, herewith communicated, it appears that unremitted exertions have been made at the different navy-yards, to carry into effect all authorized measures for the extension and employ- ment of our naval force. The launching and prepa- ration of the ship of the line Pennsylvania, and the complete repairs of the ships of the line Ohio, Delaware, and Columbus, may be noticed, as forming a respectable addition to this important arm of our national defence. Our commerce and navigation have received increased VAN BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 299 aid and protection during the present year. Our squad- rons in the Pacific and on the Brazilian station have been much increased, and that in the Mediterranean, although small, is adequate to the present wants of our commerce in that sea. Additions have been made to our squadron on the West India station, where the large force under Commodore Dallas has been most actively and efficiently employed in protecting our commerce, in preventing the importation of slaves, and in co-operating with the officers of the army in carrying on the war in Florida. The satisfactory condition of our naval force abroad, leaves at our disposal the means of conveniently provid- ing for a home squadron, for the protection of commerce upon our extensive coast. The amount of appropriations required for such a squadron will be found in the general estimates for the naval service, for the year 1838. The naval officers engaged upon our coast survey, have rendered important service to our navigation. The discovery of a new channel into the harbor of New York, through which our largest ships may pass without danger, must afford important commercial advantages to that harbor, and add greatly to its value as a naval station. The accurate survey of Georges' shoals, off the coast of Massachusetts, lately completed, will render compara- tively safe, a navigation hitherto considered dangerous. Considerable additions have been made to the number of captains, commanders, lieutenants, surgeons and as- sistant surgeons in the navy. These additions were rendered necessary, by the increased number of vessels put in commission, to answer the exigencies of our grow- ing commerce. Your attention is respectfully invited to the various suggestions of the secretary, for the improvement of the naval service. The report of the postmaster-general exhibits the pro- gress and condition of the mail service. The opera- tions of the post-office department, constitutes one of the most active elements of our national prosperity, and it is gratifying to observe with what vigor they are con- ducted. The mail routes of the United States cover au 300 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ettent of about one hundred and forty-two thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven miles, having been in- creased about thirty-seven thousand one hundred and three miles, within the last two years. The annual mail transportation on these routes is about 36,228,962 miles, having been increased about 10,359,476 miles within the same period. The number of post-offices has also been increased from 10,770, to 12,099, very few of which receive the mails less than once a week, and a large portion of them daily. Con- tractors and post-masters in general are represented as attending to their duties with most commendable zeal and fidelity. The revenue of the department within the year end- ing on the 30th of June last, was 4,137,066 59 ; and its liabilities accruing within the same time, were $3,380,847 75. The increase of revenue over that of the preceding year, was 6708,166 41. For many interesting details, I refer you to the report of the postmaster-general, with the accompanying paper. Your particular attention is invited to the necessity of providing a more safe and convenient building for the accommodation of the department. I lay before Congress copies of reports, submitted in pursuance of a call made by me upon the heads of departments, for such suggestions as their experience might enable them to make, as to what further legislative provisions may be advantageously adopted to secure the faithful application of public money to the objects for which they are appropriated; to prevent their misappli- cation or embezzlement by those intrusted with the expenditure of them ; and generally to increase the security of the government against losses in their dis- bursement. It is needless to dilate on the importance of providing such new safeguards as are within the power of legislation to promote these ends ; and I have little to add to the recommendations submitted in the accompanying papers. By law, the terms of service of our most important collecting and disbursing officers in the civil departments, ore limited to four years, and when re-appointed, their BUREN'S FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 301 bonds are required to be renewed. The safety of the public is much increased by this feature of the law, and there can be no doubt that its application to all officers intrusted with the collection or disbursement of the pub- lic money, whatever may be the tenure of their offices; would be equally beneficial. I therefore recommend, in addition to such of the suggestions presented by the heads of department as you may think useful, a general provi- sion that all officers of the army or navy, or in the civil department, intrusted with the receipt or payment of the public money, and whose term of service is either un- limited or for a longer time than four years, be required to give bonds, with good and sufficient securities, at the expiration of every such period. A change in the period of terminating the fiscal year, from the first of October to the first of April, has been frequently recommended, and appears to be desirable. The distressing casualities in steamboats, which have BO frequently happened, during the year, seem to evince the necessity of attempting to prevent them by means of severe provisions connected with their csistom-house papers. This subject was submitted to the attention of Congress by the secretary of the treasury, in his last annual report, and will be again noticed at the present session, with additional details. It will doubtless receive that early and careful consideration which its pressing importance appears to require. Your attention has heretofore been frequently called to the affairs of the District of Columbia, and I should not again ask it, did not their entire dependence on Con- gress give them a constant claim upon its notice. Sep- arated by the constitution from the rest of the Union, limited in extent, and aided by no legislature of its own, it would seem to be a spot where a wise and uniform sys- tem of local government might have been easily adopted. This district however, unfortunately, has been left to linger behind the rest of the Union ; its codes, civil and criminal, are not only very defective, but full of obsolete or inconvenient provisions ; being formed of portions of two states, discrepancies in the laws prevail in different parts of the territory, small as it is ; and although it wa* 26 302 THE TRUE AMERICAN. selected as the seat of the general government, the site of its public edifices, the depository of its archives, and the residence of officers intrusted with large amounts of public property, and the management of public business, yet it has never been subjected to, or received, that spe- cial and comprehensive legislation which these circum- stances peculiarly demand. I am well aware of the various subjects of greater magnitude and immediate interest, that press themselves on the consideration of Congress ; but I believe there is no one that appeals more directly to its justice, than a liberal and even generous attention to the interests of the District of Columbia, and a thorough and careful revi- sion of its local government. WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS, SEPTEMBER 17, 1796. un:l F, Hoio-Citizcns : Tire period for a nc\v election of a citizen to adminis- ter the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more dis- tinct expression of the public voice that I should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed, to decline brim.; considered among the number oftho.se out of whom tho choice is to be made. I beg you at the same time to do me the justice to bo assured, that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country ; and th it in futhdrawtng the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no di- minution of zeal for your future interest ; no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness; but am sup- WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 303 ported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in the office to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retire- ment from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature reflection on the then per- plexed and critical posture of affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my con- fidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety ; and am per- suaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my scr-- vices, that in the present circumstances of our country you will not disapprove of my determination to retire. The impressions with which I first undertook the ar- duous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organiza- tion and administration of the government the best exer- tions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my quali- fications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to dif- fidence of myself; and, every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is to termi- nate the career of my political life, my feelings do not 304 THE TRUE AMERICAN. permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me ; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me ; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of mani- festing my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these ser- vices, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as instructive example in our annals, that under circum- stances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead amidst appearances sometimes dubious vicissitudes of fortunes often discouraging in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans, by which they were effected. Pro- foundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing wishes, that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual that the free constitution which is the work of your hands may be sacredly maintained that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation, and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your so- lemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to* the permanency of your fe- licity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disin- terested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 305 have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent recep- tion of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every liga- ment of our hearts, no recommendation of mine is neces- sary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The unity of government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence ; the support of your tranquillity at home ; your peace abroad ; of your safety ; of your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices em- ployed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed ; it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happi- ness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immoveable attachment to it ; accustoming yourselves to think and to speak of it as a palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that-itcan in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link togo ther the various parts For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth or choice, of a common eountry, that country has a right to concentrate your af- fections. The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principle. You have, in a common cause, fought and 26* 306 TBE TBUE AMERICAIT. triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess, are the work of joint councils and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, aiid success. But these considerations, however powerfully they ad- dress themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most com- 'nanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The north, in an unrestrained intercourse with the youth, protected by the equal laws of a common govern- ment, finds in the productions of the latter, great addi- tional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The south, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the samo agency of the north, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the north, it finds its particular navigation invigorated and while it contributes in different ways to- nourish and increase the general mass of the national na- vigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The cast, in like intercourse with the west, already finds in the pro- gressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manu- factures at home. The west derives from the east sup- plies requisite to its growth and comfort and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions, to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, di- rected by an indissoluble community of interest as one mtion. Any other tenure by which the west can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural con- nection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of meauu WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 307 and efforts, greater strength, greater resource, propor- tionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations ; and what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring coun- tries, not tied together by the same government, which their own rivalships alone- wouM be sufficient to produce ', bu-t which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. Hence, like- wise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which under any form of govern- ment are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is, that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the con- tinuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere 1 Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were crimi- nal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organiza- tion of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of govern- ments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue of the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb oar union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties, by geographical discriminations Northern and Southern; Atlantic and Western? whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expe- dients of party to acquire influence within particular districts, i s to misrepresent the opinions and aims of othe* 309 THE TRUE AMERICA W districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which epring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head. They have seen in the negotiation by the executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the senate of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the general government, and in the Atlantic states, unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our for- eign relations, toward confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict between the parts, cun be an adequate substitute ; they must inevitably experience the infrac- tions and interruptions which alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concern. This govern- ment, the offspring of your own choice, uninfluenced and nnawed ; adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation; completely free in its principles; in the distribution of its powers uniting security with energy, and containing within itself provision for its own amend- ment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for -its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 309 our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists, until changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sa- credly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government, pre- supposes the duty of every individual to obey the estab- lished government. All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, coun- teract, or awe the regular deliberations and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this funda- mental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction ; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force ; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of party, often a small, but artful and en- terprising minority of the community ; and according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and un- principled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government ; destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppo- sition to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its princi- ples, however specious the pretext. One method of assault may be to effect in the forms of the constitution alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly over- thrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, 310 THE TRUE AMERICA!*. remember that time and habit arc at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of other human institutions ; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitu- tions of a country ; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to per- petual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember especially, that from the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty, as indis- pensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the tsecure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them upon geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you, in the most solemn manner, against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our na- ture, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest ranknces, and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissention, which in different ages and countries has per- petrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek secu- rity and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 311 this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation oa the ruins of the public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the com- munity with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms ; kin- dles the animosity of one part against another ; foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself, through the channels ot party passion. Thus the policy and will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful chccks,upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true ; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From the natural ten- dency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose ; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, should inspire caution in those intrust- ed with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres ; avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one department-, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to con- solidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominate in the human 313 THE TRUE AMERICAN. heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this posi- tion. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing into dif- ferent depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions of the other, has been evinced by experiments, ancient and modern ; some of them in our country, and under our own eyes. To pre- serve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modifica- tion of the constitutional powers be, in any particular, wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way in which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation ; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary wea- pon by which free governments are destroyed. The pre- cedent must always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to politi- cal prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pil- lars of human happiness these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connection with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclu- sion of religious principles. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a ne- cessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation i>f the fabric ? WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 313 * Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it, is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering, also, that timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it ; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon pos- terity the burdens which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representa- tives ; but it is necessary that public opinion should co- operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue ; that to have revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less incon- venient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects, (which is always a choice of difficulties,) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acqui- escence in the measures for obtaining revenue which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice towards all nations ; cultivate peace and harmony with all ; religion and mo- rality enjoin this conduct ; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and be- nevolence. Who can doubt but that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has 27 314 .THE TRUE AMERICAN. connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas ! it is rendered impossible by its vices ! In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachment for others, should be excluded; and that in the place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is, in some degree, a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, cither of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The govern- ment sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject ; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation sub- servient to the projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes, perhaps, the liberty of na- tions has been the victim. So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and the wars of the latter, without adequate inducements or justification. It leads, also, to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which are apt doubly to injure the nation making tlu) concessions, by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealouy, ill will and a dispo- WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 315 sition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privi- leges are withheld ; and it gives to ambitious, corrupt, or deluded citizens, (who devote themselves to the favorite nation,) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popu- larity ; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation to a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infat- uation. As avenues to foreign influence, in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many oppor- tunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the art of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils ! Such an at- tachment of a small or weak, towards a great and power- ful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it be- comes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influ- ence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests. The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence, she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which 316 THE TRUE AMERICAN. are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, there- fore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitude of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friend- ships or enmities. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one peo- ple, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance ; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice ? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alli- ances with any portion of the foreign world ; so far I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be un- derstood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking nor granting exclu- sive favors or preferences ; consulting the natural course of things ; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the WASHIN 7 OTOM'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 317 stream .of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support th^m, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and natural opinion .will permit, but temporary, and liable to be, from time to time, abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another ; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character ; that by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial bene- fit, some occasional good ; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit ; to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue ; to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitu.de for your welfare by which they have been dictated. How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, 27* 318 THE TRUE AMERICAN. the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. After deliberate examination, with the aids of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our coun- try, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with mode- ration, perseverance and firmness. The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is -not necessary on this occasion to de- tail. I will only observe, that according to my under- standing of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtu- ally admitted by all. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. The inducements of interest for observing that con- duct, will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country, to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress, without inter- ruption, to that degree of strength and constancy, which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the coir land of its own fortune. Though in reviewing the incidents- of my adminis- tration, I am unconscious of intentional error; I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. What- ever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence ; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this as in other things,, and JACKSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 319 actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natu- ral to a man who views in it the native soil of .himself and his progenitors for several generations ; I anticipate, with pleasing expectation, that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws, under a free government ; the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors and dangers. JACKSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. Fellow-Citizens : Being about to retire finally from public life, I beg leave to offer you my grateful thanks for the many proofs of kind- ness and confidence which I have received at your hands. It has been my fortune, in' the discharge of public duties, civil and military, frequently to have found myself in difficult and trying situations, where prompt decision and energetic action were necessary, and where the interests of the country required that high responsibilities should be fearlessly encountered ; and it is with the deepest emo- tions of gratitude that I acknowledge the continued and unbroken confidence with which you have sustained me in every trial. My public life has been a long one, and I cannot hope that it has at all times been free from errors. But I have the consolation of knowing that if mistakes have been committed, they have not seriously injured the country I so anxiously endeavoured to serve ; and at the moment when I surrender my last public trust, I leave this great people prosperous and happy ; in the full enjoyment of liberty and peace ; and honored and respected by every nation of the world. If my humble efforts have, in any degree, contributed to preserve to you these blessings, I have been more than rewarded by the honor you have heaped upon me ; and, above all, by the generous confidence with which you have supported me in every peril, and with which you 320 THE TRUE AMERICAN. have continued to animate and cheer my path to the clos- ing hour of my political life. The time has now come, when advanced age and a broken frame warn me to re- tire from public concerns ; but the recollection of the many favors you have bestowed upon me is engraven upon my heart, and I have felt that I could not part from your service without making this public acknowledgment of the gratitude I owe you. And if I use the occa- sion to offer to you the counsels of age and experience, you will, I trust, receive them with the same indulgent kindness which you have so often extended to me ; and will, at least, see in them an earnest desire to perpetuate, in this favored land, the blessings of liberty and equal laws. We have now lived almost fifty years under the consti- tution framed by the sages and patriots of the revolution. The conflicts in which the nations of Europe were en- gaged during a great part of this period ; the spirit in which they waged war with each other ; and our intimate commercial connections with every part of the civilized world, rendered it a time of much difficulty for the go- vernment of the United States. We have had our sea- sons of peace and of war, with all the evils which precede or follow a state of hostility with powerful nations. We encountered these trials with our constitution yet in its infancy, and under the disadvantages which a new and untried government must always feel when it is called to put forth its whole strength, without the lights of expe- rience to guide it, or the weight of precedent to justify its measures. But we have passed triumphantly through all these difficulties. Our constitution is no longer a doubt- ful experiment ; and at the end of nearly half a century, we find that it has preserved unimpaired the liberties of the people, secured the rights of property, and that our country has improved, and is flourishing beyond any for- mer example in the history of nations. In our domestic concerns, there is every thing to en- courage us ; and if you are true to yourselves, nothing can impede your march to the highest point of national prosperity. The states which had so long been retarded in their improvement, by the Indian tribes residing in the JACKSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 321 midst of them, are at length relieved from the evil ; and this unhappy race the original dwellers in our land are now placed in a situation where we may well hope that they will share in the blessings of civilization, and be saved from that degradation and destruction to which they were rapidly hastening while they remained in the states ; and while the safety and comfort of our own citizens have been greatly promoted by their removal, the philan- thropist will rejoice that the remnant of that ill-fated race has been at length placed beyond the reach of injury or oppression, and that the paternal care of the general government will hereafter watch over them and protect them. If we turn to our relations with foreign powers, we find our condition equally gratifying. Actuated by the sincere desire to do justice to every nation, and to pre- r serve the blessing of peace, our intercourse with them has been conducted on the part of this government in the spirit of frankness, and I take pleasure in saying that it has generally been met in a corresponding temper. Difficulties of old standing have been surmounted by friendly discussion and the mutual desire to be just ; and the claims of our citizens, which had been long withheld, have at length been acknowledged -and adjusted, and sa- tisfactory arrangements made for their final payment ; and with a limited, and, I trust, a temporary exception, our relations with every foreign power are now of the most friendly character, our commerce continually expanding, and our flag respected in every quarter of the world. These cheering and grateful prospects, and these mul- tiplied favors, we owe, under Providence, to the adoption of the federal constitution. It is no longer a question whether this great country can remain happily united, and flourish under our present form of government. Expe- rience, the unerring test of all human undertakings, has shown the wisdom and foresight of those who framed it ; and has proved, that in the union of these states there is a sure foundation for the brightest hopes of freedom, and for the happiness of the people. At every hazard, and by every sacrifice, this union must be preserved. The necessity of watching with jealous anxiety for the THE TRUE AMERICAN. preservation of the union, was earnestly pressed upon his fellow-citizens by the father of his country, in his fare- well address. He has there told us, that " while experi- ence shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bonds ;" and he has cautioned us in the strongest terms against the formation of parties, on geographical discri- minations, as one of the means which might disturb our union, and to which designing men would be likely to resort. The lessons contained in this invaluable legacy of Washington to his countrymen, should be cherished in the heart of every citizen to the latest generation; and, perhaps, at no period of time could they be more usefully remembered than at the present moment. For when we look upon the scenes that are passing around us, and dwell upon the pages of his parting address, his paternal counsels would seem to be not merely the offspring of wisdom and foresight, but the voice of prophecy foretell- ing events, and warning us of the evil to come. Forty years have passed since this imperishable document was given to his countrymen. The federal constitution was then regarded by him as an experiment, and he so speaks of it in his address ; but an experiment upon the success of which the best hopes of his country depended, and we all know that he was prepared to lay down his life, if necessary, to secure to it a full and fair trial. The trial has been made. It has succeeded beyond the proudest hopes pf those who framed it. Every quarter of this widely extended nation has felt its blessings, and shared in the general prosperity produced by its adoption. But amid this general prosperity and splendid success, the dangers of which he warned us are becoming every day more evident, and the signs of evil are sufficiently appa- rent to awaken the deepest anxiety in the bosom of the patriot. We behold systematic efforts publicly made to sow the seeds of discord between different parts of the United States, and to place party divisions directly upon geographical distinctions ; to excite the south against the north, and the north against the south, and to force into JACKSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 323 tne controversy the most delicate and excited topics upon which it is impossible that a large portion of the Union can ever speak without strong emotions. Appeals, too, are constantly made to sectional interests, in order to in- fluence the election of the chief magistrate, as if it were desired that he should favor a particular quarter of the country, instead of fulfilling the duties of his station with impartial justice to all; and the possible dissolution of the Union has at length become an ordinary and familiar subject of discussion. Has the warning voice of Wash- ington been forgotten ? or have designs already been formed to sever the Union ? Let it not be supposed that I impute to all of those who have taken an active part in these unwise and unprofitable discussions a want of patri- otism or of public virtue. The honorable feel ing of state pride and local attachments, find a place in the bosofhs of the most enlightened and pure. But while such men are conscious of their own integrity and honesty of pur- pose, they ought never to forget that the citizens of other states are their political brethren ; and that, however mis- taken they may be in their views, the great body of them are equally honest and upright with themselves. Mutual suspicions and reproaches may in time create mutual hostility, and artful and designing men w r ill always be found, who are ready to foment these fatal divisions, and to inflame the natural jealousies of different sections of the country. The history of the world is full of such examples, and especially the history of republics. What have you to gain by division and dissension? Delude not yourselves with the belief that a breach once made may be afterwards repaired. If the Union is once severed, the line of separation will grow wider and wider, and the controversies which are now debated and settled in the halls of legislation, will then be tried in fields of battle, and be determined by the sword. Neither should you deceive yourselves with the hope, that the first line of separation would be the permanent one, and that no- thing but harmony and concord would be found in the new associations, formed upon the dissolution of this Union. Local interests would still be found there, and unchastened ambition. And if the recollection of com- 324 THE TRUE AMERICAN. mon dangers, in which the people of these United States stood side by side against the common foe ; the memory of victories won by their united valor ; the prosperity and happiness they have enjoyed under the present constitu- tion ; the proud name they bear as citizens of this great republic ; if these recollections and proofs of common interest are not strong enough to bind us together as one people, what tie will hold this Union dissevered ? The first line of separation would not last for a single genera- tion ; new fragments would be torn off: new leaders would spring up ; and this great and glorious republic would soon be broken into a multitude of petty states ; armed for mutual aggressions; loaded with taxes to pay armies and leaders ; seeking aid against each other from foreign pow- ers; insulted and trampled upon by the nations of Eu- rop*, until harassed with conflicts, and humbled and de- based in spirit, they would be ready to submit to the absolute dominion of any military adventurer, and t( surrender their liberty for the sake of repose. It is im- possible to look on the consequences that would inevita- bly follow the destruction of this government, and not feel indignant when we hear cold calculations about the value of the Union, and have so constantly before us a line of conduct so well calculated to weaken its ties. There is too much at stake to allow pride or passion to influence your decision. Never for a moment believe that the great body of the citizens of any state or states can deliberately intend to do wrong. They may, under the influence of temporary excitement or misguided opi- nions, commit mistakes ; they may be misled for a time by the suggestions of self-interest ; but in a community so enlightened and patriotic as the people of the United States, argument will soon make them sensible of their errors ; and when convinced, they will be ready to repair them. If they have no higher or better motives to govern them, they will at least perceive that their own interest requires them to be just to others as they hope to receive justice at their hands. But in order to maintain the Union unimpaired, it is absolutely necessary that the laws passed by the constitu- ted authorities should be faithfully executed in every part JACKSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS, 325 of the country, and that every good citizen should, at all times, stand ready to put down, with the combined force of the nation, every attempt at unlawful resistance, under whatever pretext it may be made, or whatever shape it may assume. Unconstitutional or oppressive laws may no doubt be passed by Congress, either from erroneou-s views or the want of due consideration ; if they are within reach of judicial authority, the remedy is easy and peace- ful ; and if, from the character of the law, it is an abuse of power not within the control of the judiciary, then free discussion and calm appeals to reason and to the justice of the people, will not fail to redress the wrong. But until the law shall be declared void by the courts, or re- pealed by Congress, no individual or combination of indi- viduals, can be justified in forcibly resisting its execution. It is impossible that any government can continue to exist upon any other principles. It would cease to be a govern- ment, and be unworthy of the name, if it had not the power to enforce the execution of its own laws within its own sphere of action. It is true that cases may be imagined disclosing such a settled purpose of usurpation and oppression, on the part of the government, as would justify an appeal to arms. These, however, are extreme cases, which we have no reason to apprehend in a government where the power is in the hands of a patriotic people ; and no citizen who loves his country, would in any case whatever resort to forcible resistance, unless he clearly saw that the time had come when a freeman should prefer death to submission ; for if such a struggle is once begun, and the citizens of one section of the country, arrayed in arms against those of another, in doubtful conflict, let the battle result as it may, there will be an end of the Union, and with it an end of the hopes of freedom. The victory of the injured would not secure to them the blessings of liberty ; it would avenge their wrongs, but they would themselves share in the common ruin. But the constitution cannot be maintained, nor the Union preserved, in opposition to public feeling, by the mere exertion of the coercive powers confided to the general government. The foundations must be laid in 28 3'26 THE TRUE AMERICAN. the affections of the people : in the security it gives to life, liberty, character, and property, in every quarter of the country ; and in the fraternal attachments which the citizens of the several states bear to one another, as mem- bers of one political family, mutually contributing to pro- mote the happiness of each other. Hence the citizens of every state should studiously avoid every thing calculated to wound the sensibility or offend the just pride of the people of other states ; and they should frown upon any proceedings within their own borders likely to disturb the tranquillity of their political brethren in other portions of the Union. In a country so extensive as the United States, and with pursuits so varied, the internal regula- tions of the several states must frequently differ from one another in important particulars ; and this difference is unavoidably increased by the varying principles upon which the American colonies were originally planted ; principles which had taken deep root in their social rela- tions before the revolution, and therefore, of necessity, influencing their policy since they became free and inde- pendent states. But each state has the unquestionable right to regulate its own internal concerns according to its own pleasure ; and while it does not interfere with the rights of the people of other states, or the rights of the Union, every state must be the sole judge of that measure proper to secure the safety of its citizens and promote their happiness ; and all efforts on the part of the people of other states to cast odium upon their institutions, and all measures calculated to disturb their rights of property, or to put in jeopardy their peace and internal tranquillity, are in direct opposition to the spirit in which the Union was formed, and must endanger its safety. Motives of philanthropy may be assigned for this unwarrantable in- terference ; and weak men may persuade themselves for a moment that they are laboring in the cause of humanity, and asserting the rights of the human race; but every one, upon sober reflection, will see that nothing but mis- chief can come from these improper assaults upon the feelings and rights of others. Rest assured, that the men found busy in this work of discord are not worthy of your confidence, and deserve your strongest reprobation. - JACKSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 337 In the legislation of Congress, also, and in every mea- sure of the general government, justice to every portion of the United States should be faithfully observed. No free government can stand without virtue in the people, and a lofty spirit of patriotism ; and if the sordid feelings of mere selfishness shall usurp the place which ought to be filled by public spirit, the legislation of Congress will soon be converted into a scramble for personal and sec- tional advantages. Under our free institutions the citi- zens in every quarter of our country are capable of at- taining a high degree of prosperity and happiness, without seeking to profit themselves at the expense of others ; and every such attempt must in the end fail to succeed, for the people in every part of the United States are too en- lightened not to understand their own rights and interests, and to detect and defeat every effort to gain undue advan- tages over them ; and when such designs are discovered, it naturally provokes resentments which cannot be always allayed. Justice, full and ample justice, to every portion of the United States, should be the ruling principle of every freeman, and should guide the deliberations of every public body, whether it be state or national. It is well known that there have always been those among us who wish to enlarge the powers of the general government ; and experience would seem to indicate that there is a tendency on the part of this government to overstep the boundaries marked out for it by the consti- tution. Its legitimate authority is abundantly sufficient for all the purposes for which it is created ; and its pow- ers being expressly enumerated, there can be no justifica- tion for claiming any thing beyond them. Every attempt to exercise power beyond these limits should be promptly and firmly opposed. For one evil example will lead to other measures still more mischievous ; and if the prin- ciple of constructive powers, or supposed advantages, or temporary circumstances, shall ever be permitted to jus- tify the assumption of a power not given by the constitu- tion, the general government will before long absorb all the powers of legislation, and you will have in effect, but one consolidated government. From the extent of our coun- try, its diversified interests, different pursuits, and diffe- 328 THE TRUE AMERICAN. rent habits, it is too obvious for argument that a single consolidated government would be wholly inadequate to watch over and protect its interests ; and every friend of our free institutions should be always prepared to main- tain unimpaired and in full vigor the rights and sove- reignty of the states, and to confine the action of the general government strictly to the sphere of its appropri- ate duties. There is, perhaps, no one of the powers conferred on the federal government so liable to abuse as the taxing power. The most productive and convenient sources of revenue were necessarily given to it, that it might perform the important duties imposed upon it ; and the taxes which it lays upon commerce being concealed from the real payer in the price of the article, they do not so rea- dily attract the attention of the people as smaller sums demanded from them directly by the tax-gatherer. But the tax imposed on goods, enhances by so much the price of the commodity to the consumer; and as many of these duties are imposed on articles of necessity which are daily used by the great body of the people, the money raised by these imposts is drawn from their pockets, Con- gress has no right under the constitution to take money from the people unless it is required to execute some one of the specific powers intrusted to the government : and if they raise more than is necessary for such purpo- ses, it is an abuse of the power of taxation, and unjust and oppressive. It may indeed happen that the revenue will sometimes exceed the amount anticipated when the taxes were laid. When, however, this is ascertained, it is easy to reduce them; and, in such a case, it is unques- tionably the duty of the government to reduce them, for no circumstances can justify it in assuming a power not given to it by the constitution, nor in taking away the money of the people when it is not needed for the legiti- mate wants of the government. Plain as these principles appear to be, you will find that there is a constant effort to induce the general go- vernment to go beyond the limits of its taxing power, and to impose unnecessary burdens upon the people. Many powerful interests are continually at work to procure hea- JACKSON S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 329 vy duties on commerce, and to swell the revenue beyond the real necessities of the public service ; and the country has already felt the injurious effects of their combined in- fluence. They succeeded in obtaining a tariff of duties bearing most oppressively on the agricultural and laboring classes of society, and producing a revenue that could not be usefully employed within the range of the powers conferred upon Congress ; and, in order to fasten upon the people this unjust and unequal system of taxation, ex- travagant schemes of internal improvement were got up, in various quarters, to squander the money and to pur- chase support. Thus, one unconstitutional measure was intended to be upheld by another, and the abuse of the power of taxation was to be maintained by usurping the power of expending the money in internal improvements, ^ou cannot have forgotten the severe and doubtful strug- gle through which we passed, when the executive depart- ment of the government, by its veto, endeavored to arrest this prodigal scheme of injustice, and to bring back the legislation of Congress to the boundaries prescribed by the constitution. The good sense and practical judgment of the people, when the subject was brought before them, sustained the course of the executive ; and this plan of unconstitutional expenditure for the purposes of corrupt influence is, I trust, finally overthrown. The result of this decision has been felt in the rapid extinguishment of the public debt, and the large accumu- lation of a surplus in the treasury, notwithstanding the tariff was reduced, and is now far below the amount ori- ginally contemplated by its advocates. But, rely upon it, the design to collect an extravagant revenue, and to bur- den you with taxes beyond the economical wants of the government, is not yet abandoned. The various interests which have combined together to impose a heavy tariff, and to produce an overflowing treasury, are too strong, and have too much at stake, to surrender the contest. The corporations and wealthy individuals who are en- gaged in large manufacturing establishments, desire a high tariff to increase their gains. Designing politicians will support it to conciliate their favor, and to obtain the means of profuse expenditure, for the purpose of purcha- 28* THE TRVE AMERICA*. sing influence in other quarters ; and since the people have decided that the federal government cannot be per- mitted to employ its income in internal improvements, efforts will be made to seduce and mislead the citizens of the several states by holding out to them the deceitful prospect of benefits to be derived from a surplus revenue collected by the general government, and annually divi- ded among the states. And if encouraged by these falla- cious hopes, the states should disregard the principles of economy which ought to characterise every republican government, and should indulge in lavish expenditures exceeding their resources, they will, before long, find themselves oppressed with debts which they are unable to pay, and the temptation will become irresistible to support a high tariff, in order to obtain a surplus dis- tribution. Do not allow yourselves, my fellow-citizens, to be misled on this subject. The federal government cannot collect a surplus for such purposes, without viola- ting the principles of the constitution, and assuming pow- ers which have not been granted. It is, moreover, a system of injustice, and, if persisted in, will inevitably lead to corruption, and must end in ruin. The surplus revenue will be drawn from the pockets of the people from the farmer, the mechanic, and the laboring classes of society ; but who will receive it when distributed among the states, where it is to be disposed of by leading politi- cians who have friends to favor, and political partisans to gratify ? It will certainly not be returned to those who paid it, and who have most need of it, and are honest y entitled to it. There is but one safe rule, and trial is to , confine the general government rigidly within the sphere of its appropriate duties. It has no power to raise a re- venue, or impose taxes, except for the purposes enumera- ted in the constitution ; and if its income is found to exceed these wants, it should be forthwith reduced, and the burdens of the people so far lightened. In reviewing the conflicts which have taken place be- tween different interests in the United States, and the policy pursued since the adoption of our present form of government, we find nothing that has produced such deep-seated evil as the course of legislation in relation to JACKSQ:*'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 331 the currency. The constitution of the United States un- questionably intended to secure the people a circulating medium of gold and silver. But the establishment of a national bank by Congress, with the privilege of issuing paper money receivable in the payment of the public dues, and the unfortunate course of legislation in the several states upon the same subject, drove from general circula- tion the constitutional currency, and substituted one of paper in its place. It was not easy for men engaged in the ordinary pur- suits of business, whose attention had not been particu- larly drawn to the subject, to foresee all the consequences of a currency exclusively of paper : and we ought not, on that account, to be surprised at the facility with which laws were obtained to carry into effect the paper system. Honest, and even enlightened men are sometimes misled by the specious and plausible statements of the design- ing. But experience has now proved the mischiefs and dangers of a paper currency, and it rests with you to de- termine whether the proper remedy shall be applied. The paper system being founded on public confidence, and having of itself no intrinsic value, it is liable to great and sudden fluctuations ; thereby rendering pro- perty insecure, and the wages of labor unsteady and uncertain. The corporations which create the paper money cannot be relied upon to keep the circulating medium uniform in amount. In times of prosperity, when confidence is high, they are tempted, by the pros- pect of gain, or by the influence of those who hope to profit by it, to extend their issues of paper beyond the bounds of discretion and the reasonable demands of business. And when these issues have been pushed on, from day to day, until public confidence is at length shaken, then a reaction takes place, and they immedi- ately withdraw the credits they have given ; suddenly curtail their issues ; and produce an unexpected and ru- inous contraction of the circulating medium, which is felt by the whole community. The banks, by this means, save themselves, and the mischievous consequences of their imprudence or cupidity are visited upon the public. Nor does the evil stop here. These ebbs and flowfc in 332 THE TRUE AMERICAN. the currency, and these indiscreet extensions of credit, naturally engender a spirit of speculation injurious to the habits and character of the people. We have already seen its effects in the wild spirit of speculation in the public lands, and various kinds of stock, which within the last year or two, seized upon such a multitude of our citizens, and threatened to pervade all classes of society, and to withdraw their attention from the sober pursuits of honest industry. It is not by encouraging this spirit that we shall best preserve public virtue, and promote the true interests of our country. But if your currency continues as exclusively paper as it now is, it will foster this eager desire to amass wealth without labor ; it will multiply the number of dependents on bank accommo- dations and bank favors ; the temptation to obtain money at any sacrifice will become stronger and stronger, and inevitably lead to corruption, which will find its way into your public councils, and destroy, at no distant day, the purity of your government. Some of the evils which arise from this system of paper, press with peculiar hard- ship upon the class of society least able to bear it. A portion of this currency frequently becomes depreciated or worthless, and all of it is easily counterfeited, in such a mariner as to require peculiar skill and much experience to distinguish the counterfeit from the genuine notes. These frauds are most generally perpetrated in the smaller notes, which are used in the daily transactions of ordinary business; and the losses occasioned by them are commonly thrown upon the laboring classes of soci- ety, whose situation and pursuits put it out of their power to guard themselves from these impositions, and whose daily wages are necessary for their subsistence. It is the duty of every government so to regulate its currency, as to protect this numerous class as far as practicable from the impositions of avarice and fraud. It is more espe- cially the duty of the United States, where the govern- ment is emphatically the government of the people, and where this respectable portion of our citizens are so proudly distinguished from the laboring classes of all other nations, by their independent spirit, their love of liberty, their intelligence, and their high tone of moral JACKSON'S PAKE-WELL ADDRESS. 333 character. Their industry in peace, is the source of our wealth ; and their bravery in -war, has covered us with glory ; and the government of the United States will but ill discharge its duties, if it leaves them a prey to such dishonest impositions. Yet it is evident that their inte- rests cannot be effectually protected, unless silver and gold are restored to circulation. These views alone, of the paper currency, are suffi- cient to call for immediate reform ; but there is another consideration which should still more strongly press it upon your attention. Recent events have proved that the paper money sys- tem of this country, may be used as an engine to under- mine your free instimtions ; and that those who desire to engross all power in the hands of the few, and to govern by corruption or force, are aware of its power, and pre- pared to employ it. Your banks now furnish your only circulating medium, and money is plenty or scarce, ac- cording ta the quantity of notes issued by them. While they have capitals not greatly disproportioned to each other, they are competitors in business, and no one of them can exercise dominion over the rest ; and although, in the present state of the currency, these banks may and do operate injuriously upon the habits of business, the pecuniary concerns, and the moral tone of society ; yet, from their number and dispersed situation, they can- not combine for the purposes of political influence ; and whatever may be the dispositions of some of them, their power of mischief must necessarily be confined to a narrow space, and felt only in their immediate neigh- borhood. But when the charter for the Bank of the United States was obtained from Congress, it perfected the schemes of the paper system, and gave its advocates the position they have struggled to obtain, from the com- mencement of the federal government down to the pre- sent hour. The immense capital, the peculiar privileges bestowed upon it, enabled it to exercise despotic sway over the other banks in every part of the country. From its superior strength, it could seriously injure, if not de- stroy the business of any one of them which might incur 334 THE TROE AMERICA^. its resentment ; and it openly claimed for itself the power of regulating the currency throughout the United States. In other words, it asserted (and undoubtedly possessed) the power to make money plenty or scarce, at its pleasure, at any time, and in any quarter of the Union by con- trolling the issues of other banks, and permitting an expansion, or compelling a general contraction, of the circulating medium, according to its own will. The other banking institutions were sensible of its strength, and they soon generally became its obedient instruments, ready at all times, to execute its mandates; and with the banks necessarily went also that numerous class of per- sons in our commercial cities, who depend altogether on bank credits for their solvency and means of business; and who are, therefore, obliged, for their own safety, to propitiate the favor of the money power by distinguished zeal and devotion in its service. The result of the ill- advised legislation which established this great monopoly was to concentrate the whole moneyed power of the Union, with its boundless means of corruption, and its numerous dependents, under the direction and command of one acknowledged head ; thus organizing this particu- lar-interest as one body, and securing to it unity and concert of action throughout the United States, and en- abling it to bring forward, upon any occasion, its entire and undivided strength to support or defeat any measure of the government. In the hands of this formidable power, thus perfectly organized, -was also placed unlimited dominion over the amount of the circulating medium, giving it the power to regulate the value of property and the fruits of labor in every quarter of the Union ; and to bestow prosperity, or bring ruin upon any city or section of the country, as might best comport with its own inte- rest or policy. We are not left to conjecture how the moneyed power, thus organized, and with su0 been a New Orleans battery of heavy ojdnance the close columns of the British party have never, been able to make head against them. America might be supposed a partial judge of the fame of her favorites but we find them- respected abroad no less highly than at home. The champion of the rights of juries at the English bar, the great master of forensic eloquence, confessed that he stood in awe of Washing- ton. The prime minister of the most liberal administra- tion Great Britain has ever yet seen, pronounced Jackson to be the first of American statesmen. Already a trans- atlantic reputation, which no one living, save himself, can claim, associates his name with that of Washington, and anticipates the sure award of coming generations. These illustrious pioneers of genuine independence have, by their whole career of arduous service well re- warded, demonstrated the proposition, that the American people will sustain the statesman who maintains Ameri- can principles ; and that nothing can be more grateful to their feelings, than whatever is perfectly suited to our own institutions, character, and situation ; free, equal, liberal, and manly. Our ship of state navigates no pacific ocean ; she rides the stormy billows of liberty. Give her sea room enough, and she rides secure, and defies the fury of embattled winds. Hidden perils only can endanger her safety. Treacherous insects have been at work in the unseen depths; slowly and long have the coral reefs been rising; if treason takes the helm a moment, she strikes, and all hope is lost. But the ever-watchful eye of our experi- enced pilot, wise in counsel, resolute in action, sagacious amid difficulties, and unshaken by the terrors of the cri- sis, has already descried the course through which her passage opens ; she leaves destruction behind, and goes bounding on her glorious way, a home of life, and joy, and confidence, freighted with the welfare of a nation, and cheered by the admiration of a world. The great dividing line between our parties originally was, generally has been, and for the most part will be, be- tween the friends of arbitrary power on the one hand, and the friends of constitutional freedom on the othei 371 THS TRUE AMERICAN. between those who wish, by wholesome limitations origi- nally imposed, and by a strict construction of them, to confine governments to the few objects which have been specified, and to leave the people otherwise individually free to govern themselves, and those who by a lavish grant of power originally, and a broad latitude of inter- pretation, and a free use of implication afterwards, would enable the government to control and regulate every ac- tion, and would make it, in fine, a mere engine for the aggrandizement of the few at the expense of the many, like every other government upon the face of the globe. The first constitute the democratic or constitutional party, the latter are the aristocratic or consolidationist party, who seem to be governed by British rather than American principles. The aristocratic party seem never to have abandoned the doctrine that the people could not safely be trusted with political power. They consider the popular will too sandy a foundation to uphold the structure of govern- ment. For this reason, after failing in the attempt to establish a government whose leading features should be a President to serve during good behavior a Senate to serve during good behavior, and to have the sole power of declaring war the Governor of each state to be ap- pointed by the federal head, and to have a negative on the laws of the state they set about building a consoli- dated government under the forms of a democratic con- stitution. In many respects the attempt has been alarm- ingly successful. One who observes the little considera- tion which the states now command, and how completely the central government absorbs and draws into its vortex every interest and all ambition, cannot but feel some mis- givings lest the states may have committed the same fatal error in consenting to the federal government, which the forest committed in giving the axe wood enough to fur- nish a handle. Such misgivings would have been but too well founded, had not the Roman energy of Andrew Jack- son arrested, before it was too late, the progress of con- solidation, and redressed the wrongs of the violated con- stitution. There w$s but one resource for the preservation of the ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN. 371 constitution, and that was an energetic, democratic chief magistrate. Providence, which in great perils, raises up great deliverers, has given us the man. He fulfilled hi destiny, and routed the consolidationists as effectually as he did their British friends at New Orleans. The whig champion of the constitution, Daniel Web- ster, explained to the world his notions of the nature of government, in his speech in the Massachusetts conven- tion against basing the senate on population, and in favor of the basis of wealth. " It would seem," said that gen- tleman, " to be the part of political wisdom TO FOUND GOVERNMENT ON PROPERTY" " property being the true basis and measure of power." He maintains that a government founded on property, is legitimately founded, and that a government founded on the disregard of pro- perty, IS FOUNDED IN INJUSTICE. These purely British notions come quite up to Mr. Jefferson's idea of the " splendid government of an aristocracy." Such a government would be very certain to take care of the rich, and let the rich take care of the poor, in whatever way might suit their own interest. No wonder that a states- man holding such principles s'nould desire to build up our house of lords into an irresponsible oligarchy, ca- pable of controlling every other branch of the govern- ment. No wonder that he should look with peculiar favor upon every British feature in our institutions, and that he should aim especially to make A NATIONAL BANK the main pillar of that government, which he thinks it " the part of political wisdom TO FOUND ON PROPERTY." The democratic party, on the other hand, holds fast those purely American principles which have already been described. Again and again have they been put forward as our distinguishing doctrines, and it is upon the faithful- ness with which they have supported and applied these doctrines, that those who stand foremost in our ranks must rest their claims to public confidence. As no man has practically illustrated this creed more consistently or with happier effect than our late chief magistrate, so no man has given the theory a more beautiful expression. " The ambition which leads me on'' these were the words of that venerated patriot, uttered upon a memorable occasion, 872 THE TRUE AMERICAN. with that noble frankness which only conscious rectitude could inspire " the ambition which leads me on is an anxious desire and a fixed determination, to return to the people, unimpaired, the sacred trust they have committed to my charge to heal the wounds of the constitution, and preserve it from further violation ; to persuade my countrymen, so far as I may, that it is not in a splendid government, supported by powerful monopolies and aris- tocratic establishments, that they will find happiness or their liberties protection, but in a plain system, void of pomp, protecting all, and granting favors to none rfiV pensing its blessings like flic durs of heaven, unseen and nnfelt save in the freshness and beauty they contribute to produce. If the Almighty Being, who has hitherto sus- tained and protected me, will but vouchsafe to make my feeble powers instrumental to such a result, I shall anti- pate with pleasure the place to be assigned me in the history of my country, and die contented with the belief that I have contributed, in some small degree, to increase the value and prolong the duration of American liberty." To increase the value and prolong the duration of American liberty, there are three essential requisites a strict observance of its sacred charter the constitution, the supremacy of the laws under the constitution, and the preservation of the federal Union. If the constitution should be violated by the adoption of the whig policy, of plundering the many to pamper the few, consolidation would either bring on the dead calm of despotism, or provoke a tempest of resistance, ending in revolution. If the laws may with impunity be set at defiance, either by a corporation exalting itself above law, and gathering its strength to break down our constituted authorities ; or by a band of factious demagogues, disappointed, re- vengeful, and disorganizing ; or by seditious mobs insti- gated to violence and outrage by the incendiary harangues of the Catilines who preach panic, create distress, and cry to arms, because they would willingly welcome war, pestilence, and famine, rather than endure the pre- Talence of democracy in either case, anarchy, misrule and civil discord would stalk through the land. If bold bad men, struggling to pull down the virtue they cannot ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN. 073 rise to emulate, should- burst asunder the bands of our national Union, the days of our independence would soon be numbered, and liberty could not hope to survive. These three fundamental truths, the President, in his usual com- prehensive and emphatic language, has condensed into an aphorism" THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAWS ARE SUPREME, AND TKE UNION INDISSOLUBLE." This grand and simple annunciation of democratic doctrine would have been a mere form of words without meaning, if their author had not redressed the first and most fearful infraction of the constitution. The duty of the administration, as to this point, was fully expressed in the sentiment of Mr. Van Buren " Unqualified and uncompromising opposition to the Bank of the United States. The interest and the honor of the people de- mand it." No one that knew the bold heart and the firm hand that guided the helm of state could dcubt for a moment that the interest and the honor of the people were safe. The opinion of the early friend of Washington, the adopted child of America, the apostle of universal liber- ty, the lamented of both worlds, THE GREAT AND GOOD LA FAYETTE, was also the opinion of the democrats of America, as 219 electoral votes bestowed upon the author of the Bank Veto, against the 49 votes of the bank or whig party, may amply testify. The illustrious worthy, LaFayette, shortly before he closed his sublunary pilgrim- age, and went joyfully to receive the reward of a long life of suffering, toil and virtue, expressed himself in words which ought to be forever remembered. " General Jackson is the very man fitted for the present crisis" said that keen, judicious and experienced obser- ver of human character. " His stern and uncompromi- sing republicanism, and high sense of honor, will prove the best security for our republican institutions (for he calls every thing American his own.) For a long time I saw with pain the advances of an aristocratic moneyed institution, which threatened to cast a poisonous mildew over our precious liberties. They would have rendered our fair country a passive instrument in their hands, in which case freedom would have vanished from among us. 32 374 THE TRUE AMERICAN. General Jackson possesses the honesty of a Regulus, the patriotism of a Washington, and the firmness of a Timo- leon in fact, I am unacquainted with any character in ancient or modern history, which combines so much cellence with so few of the errors of humanity." The champions of the paper power had strong hopes at this time, that the bank leviathan in his fury would rend and tear the constituted authority of the nation, which had put a hook in his nose, and restrained the su- perfluity of his naughtiness. But in this, as in all other cases, whenever the aristocratic party have congratulated themselves that democracy had taken the fatal step, had plunged itself into an abyss from which it could never rise, behold it standing on firmer ground than ever. When they look for its disastrous eclipse, it shines out brighter than ever. When they look for its final downfall, behold it towering more secure and lofty, in the esteem and affection of a whole people, smiling at the impotent malice of the billows of wrath that lash the foot of the adamantine rock of truth whereon it stands. In 1832, loud and long was the anthem of joy from the whole host of mammon. The recoil of the veto had prostrated old Hickory ! The veto strengthened him. In 1833, his popu- larity was unbounded. We saw the aristocracy of the city of Boston welcome the old hero with the homage of the heart for it could not have been all mere lip service. We heard them send up the universal shout that almost rent the blue concave. We saw them thronging his anti- chamber besieging his bed-chamber scarcely leaving uninvaded his refuge on the couch of sickness ; so eager were they to pour into his ear the testimony of their re- spect, their gratitude, and their love. Our ancient uni- versity of Harvard bestowed her highest honors upon her illustrious visitor, thereby honoring herself more than she honored him. And at Bunker Hill, the scene of the first great battle in the long struggle with British power which he himself had closed so gloriously at New Orleans, one of our most eloquent orators exhausted the language of panegyric to do justice to his virtues and his valor. King- loathed Columbia's brave and wise old man cannot have been, at that time, the object of the hatred of any citizen. ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN. 375 We have no bold, bad men, no senators, like Catiline, the Roman senator, when he aspired to the consulship, striving to pull down the virtue they cannot rise to emu- late. Thousands witnessed the affection, it might almost be said the adoration, which the whigs of Boston mani- fested in 1833, for the defender and restorer of the con- stitution, and since that time he has done much to strengthen their devotion, having fairly subdued that deadly enemy, the United States Bank monopoly. Yet, in 1834, the dupes of federal delusion were again on tiptoe with glad expectation. Nicholas Biddle and the hero were in their death grapple. Nicholas will throttle him, was the cry of the Biddleites. But it proved to be the dying convulsion of the monster. That strug- gle and its issue have been grossly misrepresented, but history and posterity will set the matter right, all over the world. History and posterity will say that Andrew Jackson, by loosening the hold which the bank had on the go- vernment and on the people, was enabled to bid defiance to its arts arid power, to defeat its onset to reconquer us and subject us anew to its detested sway ; and that he thereby restored to its original pristine purity the violated constitution of the United States. Do we not remember the endless catalogue of whig victories in 1834, the tens of thousands of new-made whig converts in almost every state in the Union, that for a few short months delighted whig credulity? And do we not remember that in 1835 the administration was stronger than ever ? So mote it be ! So will it be now. The dark clouds that sheltered the dim-eyed owls and bats of whig delusion are fast dissipating before the re- fulgence of truth, and in brief space the glorious sun of democracy will burst upon their gaze in dazzling splen- dor, clear and unspotted as the sun of Austerlitz. A bold, just, and consistent course is the only safe policy for an individual, or for a government, whatever hoarse clamors of prejudice or howling tempests of fac- tion may rage around you. It is as true that there is no safety in cowardice, as that there is no peace for the 376 THE TRUE AMERICAN wicked. The administration knows this truth, and it will push onward, and right on. There is practically but one great question now before the people. It is whether they will go back to the sys- tem of consolidation, and in a few years time make their government equivalent to a monarchy, with a house of lords, and an overruling money power. All who oppose the independent treasury des'/e to re-establish the Uni- ted States Bank, for there is no other alternative. With a bank would come also the bank policy, an assumption of state debts to the amount of two hundred millions, internal improvements 'ike the projected road from Buf- falo to New Orleans, r .nd the projects to cost a hundred millions, which were prostrated by the Maysville Veto. To support this monstrous system, heavy taxes, like the bill of abominatkris of 1828, must again be levied on us, the millstone ag?.m be hung upon the neck of commerce, and the two hundred millions of duties from which we have been relieved since General Jackson's election would again be imposed, ay, and augmented. This combina- tion of measures would double or treble the revenue, the expense?, and the patronage of the general government, and in the host of additional office holders, and contract- ors, and the perpetual millions lavished in the log-rolling system would be found an inexhaustible source of influ- ence and fund of corruption. Those who aim to introduce a strong government, de- sire to make use of its powers, as the aristocracy of all old nations have done, to direct to their own reservoirs those innumerable, minute streams of wealth, which, un- der the equalizing influence of freedom, diffuse a general fertility over the whole surface of society. Though these ulterior designs may never be realized, and in their full extent never can be without a revolution more terrible than any yet recorded in history, still it will be the part of wisdom to understand precisely the end they have in view. The perilous progress towards consolidation was indeed appalling, and the firmest friends of their country had begun to apprehend that it was irresistible, when it encountered an obstacle which neither force nor craft ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN. 377 ould remove, nor seduction, intrigue, or intimidation overcome. The old Roman vigor, incorruptible integrity, and austere probity of Andrew Jackson, sternly rejecting the immense accession of executive influence and patron- age which an infatuated opposition never ceased for a moment to urge upon him, turned back the current of federal encroachment, and restored, before it was too late, the violated constitution to its original purity. Dur- ing his career as chief magistrate, the world beheld for the first time the astonishing spectacle, which, unless human nature be wholly regenerated it will seldom wit- ness again, of an administration, which voluntarily, and in defiance of the bitterest opposition, in defiance of re- proaches, threats, and maledictions, diminished its own revenue ; lightened, by refusing income offered and ak moct forced into its hands, the burdens of the people; cut off and cast from it the strongest means of influence ; lessened the number of its powers ; narrowed the limits of its action ; and not only restrained itself from corrup- tion and abuses, to which its enemies invited it, but re- moved to the utmost of its capacity, the possibility of abuses and corruption hereafter. The overthrow and ruin of that administration were confidently predicted if it should dare persist to follow the self-denying path of duty. Truly formidable was the combination of learning, and talent, and wealth, and weight of authority enlisted against it ; fearful was the conflict, and doubtful for a while seemed the issue. But the hero who filled the post of danger had adopted the maxim of Metellus, whom, in un- bending fortitude and umblemished virtue, he most re- sembled. " If it were always safe to do right, who would ever do wrong 1 It is the part of good men to do that which is right, even when least for their safety." He was ready therefore to take the responsibility of fulfilling the oath he had sworn, of maintaining the constitution of his country, and of seeing that her laws should be faithfully executed. Andrew Jackson had made an ex-, periment some years before at New Orleans. He had tried, and knew the effect of a well-directed energy in scattering the solid columns of British veterans, officered by choice scions of British nobility. He was not there- 32* 378 THE TRUE AMERICAN. fore to be driven from his purpose by the most deter- mined onset of whatever array of British principles, Bri- tish precedents, and British interests, the whole British party in these United States could marshal against him. He proceeded steadily in the work of reform. God speed the right, was the fervent prayer of every true-hearted patriot, every honest statesman, every wise philanthropist in the world. That prayer was accepted. The enemies of our liberty rushed upon him in mad fury, to hurl him from his station. Like the unclouded sum- mit of a lofty mountain, against whose base the storms spend their vain rage, he stood unshaken, above the whirlwind of passions that threatened the overthrow of our social institutions. Where now are his assailants? Shall I say, a Waterloo defeat awaited them ? Our language furnishes an expression somewhat more em- phatical. A New Orleans defeat annihilated them. The British bank is bankrupt. The British system of restric- tion is abandoned. Unconstitutional taxation is disa- vowed. New England cannot be assessed to tunnel the Alleghanies. The traitors who deserted the cause of their country in the hour of her peril, have sunk into con- genial oblivion. The tenant of the throne of Napoleon has redressed the wrongs of his predecessor. The last remnant of the system of consolidation has disappeared, and neither from discontent and division at home, nor through aggression from abroad, can any opportunity now be anticipated to restore its hated sway. The consolida- tionists are completely consolidated. Since their last catastrophe in the election of Mr. Van Buren there has been no hope for them. They indeed did make a desperate plunge to recover the public favor when they brought about the suspension of specie pay- ments in 1837, and falsely attributed that calamity to the administration. The suspension of specie payments having been natu- rally brought about by the paper-money party, by their unprecedented overbanking and consequent speculation, having been precipitated by their favorite measure, the distribution, having been recommended by them long be- r ore it happened, justified by them ever since, and profit- ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN. 379 able to them while it lasts, is the appropriate consummation of the whig policy upon the subject of the currency. By a currency of irredeemable paper the many are made to pay tribute to the few. The aristocracy, who in all coun- tries desire to enrich themselves out of the taxes of the people, make it an engine of taxation. The people suffer by the depreciation of the bills in their hands. The speculator in beef, pork, flour, or cot- ton, buys up these bills at a large discount, and pays them into the bank, in discharge of his obligations, at par. Though the Great Regulator of the currency, the United States Bank, failed with the rest, and is now more hopelessly insolvent than almost any other engine of fraud in the country, still a large class of mercantile men la- mented its downfall, and preposterously prayed for its impossible restoration to soundness and health. The merchants doing a moderate business would be crushed and ground into the dust beneath the wheels of this pon- derous engine, as so many thousands of their predecessors have been, yet many of them are still ready to cast them- selves before the car of Juggernaut, at the bidding of their political priesthood, and perish for the glory of the money king. They are as much incensed against the govern- ment which has delivered them from their opppressor, as the Hindoos are with the government of India for its efforts to suppress the Thugs. This class of incurables, though their numbers daily diminish, and their wailing cry grows fainter and fainter, have wickedly, as well as stupidly, charged upon the de- mocratic party the consequences of the paper-money poli- cy. The absurdity is too gross to influence an intelligent people, an,d indeed the hard-cider party have long since ceased to make any appeal to intelligence. Did the administration advise the rechartering of the United States Bank by Pennsylvania ? Did the administra- tion advise that the number of banks, the amount of bank capital, of loans, and of paper circulation should be more than doubled, nay, almost trebled, within six years ? Did the administration urge the banks to issue more notes than they could redeem ; the merchants to import more than they could pay for ; and to supply the retailers with 380 THE TRUE AMERICAN. more goods than they could dispose of? Did it instigate thousands of young men to abandon the cultivation of the soil and throng to the great cities, to embark in the lottery of trade ? Did it run up the prices of articles of commerce? Did it encourage speculators to invest immense amounts in fancy stocks, in products, house lots, and public lands? Did it recommend the distribu- tion bill, to withdraw, in four payments, near forty mil- lions from the channels of commerce ? Did it advise the borrowing of two hundred millions abroad ? Did it ad- rise the United States Bank to buy up the cotton crop of the country on speculation, to involve itself with monopo- lizers of flour, beef, and pork, and with many millions of most worthless fancy stocks, and then to stop payment, and thereby derange the whole currency and exchanges of the nation? These are the causes of our distress, and against these it has never failed to remonstrate ; it has not ceased to warn us of our dangers. The bank party have driven us toward the precipice, over which they would now compel us to plunge. The administration has labored faithfully to avert impending evils. The bank veto was intended to put an end to that great disturbing power over the currency, which has made its successive expansions and contractions so sudden and terrible. The removal of the deposits paralized the destructive energy with which the bank was then waging war on credit and industry, and prepared the community for the redemption of its notes and the collection of its debts by that insti- tution, if it had been disposed to acquiesce in the deci- sion of the nation. The specie circular checked the frauds, speculations, and monopolies in the public lands ; checked the excessive bank credits in the west ; checked also the overbanking and overtrading of the Atlantic cities from which it retained specie ; secured the safety of the treasury receipts ; strengthened the western banks, and thereby lessened the losses of the merchants on the seaboard by their inland debtors ; and by retarding the exportation of gold and silver to England, made the re- sumption of specie payments possible. By the passage of the sub-treasury bill the banks know that prices are to be more steady and business more re- ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN. 381 gular, and the news of the passage ought to have been the signal for a general resumption of specie payments, south and west, as in fact it was in Charleston, South Caro- lina. The only obstacle in the way of a general resump- tion at this moment is the deplorable condition of the United States Bank, which is perishing in its own rotten- ness. Immediately upon the passage of the independent treasury bill, the prices of such agricultural products as had been most unreasonably depressed, experienced an improvement, there was a revival of business, and a re- storation of confidence, even according to the confession of honest whigs themselves. The last and present administrations, then, are not responsible for any depression of business. They did nothing to cause it. They have done every thing to remove it. The United States Bank, by its expansions and contrac- tions caused all the other banks to expand and contract in obedience to its will, while it was itself controlled by the Bank of England. These expansions and contractions caused prices to rise and fall, so that our business was under the control of the Bank of England. Under this influence, when prices were high, we imported in three years more than a hundred millions of dollars worth of goods more than we could then pay for. We imported when cotton was sixteen cents a pound, and we are now paying for these goods in cotton at less than eight cents a pound. This is the blessing of bank action on prices, by causing the currency to fluctuate under British control. Were we INDEPENDENT while thus controlled? When the venerable Franklin, in the last period of his life, heard the war of 1776 spoken of as the war of inde- pendence, he is said to have replied, " Say rather, the war of the Revolution : THAT OF INDEPENDENCE IS YET TO COME." Ay, fellow-citizens, it was to come ! It has come ! We have conquered ! For the last ten years the power of the bank has been broken. The commerce, agriculture, and manufactures of the country have flourished our business has doubled. In 1830, imports 79 millions exports 73 millions. 1839, " 162 " " 121 " 382 THE TRUE AMERICAN. The prosperity of agriculture and manufactures haj been even more astonishing than that of commerce. Under the full power of the bank, these great interests were decaying. From 1825 to 1830, the commerce of the country diminished, the prices of agricultural pro- ducts fell, factories without number failed. Whoever remembers the disasters of that gloomy period of the bank ascendency, rejoices in the relief and comparative ease of the last ten years. Never has the good of the whole people been more successfully provided for ; and yet never was man more outraged and vilified, than the two illustrious statesmen who during that period have suc- cessively presided over the destinies of the nation. The sole purpose of government is the good of the whole people, and the gratitude and love of the people will reward him whom the enmity of the few would in rain strive to load with dishonor. He has fought the good fight faithfully, and let the disappointed and the envious detractor say what they may, sixteen millions of freemen have already awarded to him the meed of an undying fame. Fellow-citizens, the conflict which we have hitherto carried on victoriously under his auspices, is still to be continued. Perpetual vigilance is the price of liberty. Let no neglect of ours forfeit the rich inheritance. In union there is strength. Let us march shoulder to shoul- der to the decisive onset. Let us present to the foes of the democratic cause, a concentrated, and therefore a formidable front. In our candidate for the first office in the gift of the people, we can have nothing more to desire. The dis- tinguished son of the empire state is the adopted favorite of the whole Union. The arrows of his assailants have fallen harmless at his feet, and our clear-sighted yeomanry do justice to the leading traits of his well-balanced cha- racter. To form a perfect statesman, the knowledge of history, the wisdom of experience and the inspiration of geniui combine to illuminate his understanding; while courage to dare, and fortitude to suffer in the cause of humanity, must arm him with an impenetrable panoply for that war- ADDRESS TO YOUNG MEN. 383 fare against the common enemies of our race, to which a generous philanthropy will incessantly impel him. In which of these requisites does not Martin Van Burea excel 1 " Who," said Mr. Wilde, of Georgia, no partial wit- ness " who was a more dexterous debater ? better versed in the politics of our country ; or deeper read in the HISTORY of others ; above all, who was more thoroughly imbued with the idiom of the English language, and its beauty and delicacy, or more capable of breathing thoughts of flame in words of magic and tones of silver?" From the momentous crisis of the war to this day, hold- ing the most important trusts, and filling the most respon- sible stations in state and nation, in a continued though varied career of active and arduous duty, who can have reaped a richer harvest of EXPERIENCE ? At the outset of his public life, he stepped at once into the front rank of the New York bar, where the Spencers, Rents, and Livingstons, and Hamilton had established the standard of talent. At the time which tried men's souls, the darkest period of the war, on his first entrance to the senate of that state, he, a youth, gave the efficient impulse to that body. Mounting to higher theatres of fame, in every part he is called to act, he distances all rivalship. When his enemies look for his eclipse and downfall, they behold him shining brighter and soaring higher, with the brilliancy of transcendent intellect, and the buoyancy of paramount merit. His intrigues the service of the peo- ple, his arts the faithful performance of duty, he has run rapidly through a series of promotion, shedding lustre on every post he occupies. Who can exhibit proofs more unequivocal of GENIUS of the highest order ? In the legislature, the senate, the cabinet, through the war, the great northern defection, and the struggle for the renewed ascendency of democratic principles, through the death grapple with the moneyed power, the COURAGE he has manifested cannot be called in question ; neither can the fortitude with which he smiles upon the system- atic detraction, virulent beyond example, except in the history of Jefferson and Jackson, by which he has been 384 THE TRUE AMERICAN. tried as by fire, but under which no man ever saw him quail or waver. " Uncompromising hostility to the United States Bonk, the interest and the honor of the people demand it," has been the maxim of his faith and practice. We have, with his express pledge, the guaranty of his uniform course, from his first entrance upon the political arena, that he will follow in the footsteps of Andrew Jackson. He has followed; and like him has triumphed. In politics, men are put forward to represent princi- ples, and to effect the will of the masses. Let us again elevate Martin Van Buren to the chair of state, that we may not only maintain the ground we have gained alrea- dy, but during the second term of his presidency, soon about to open so auspiciously, eradicate from our system and institutions, every vestige of foreign policy, intro- duced by servile imitation, and discordantly combined with the original home growth of freedom, only to mar its simplicity and unity. That he is the man predestined by Providence to ac- complish this glorious work, we have abundant evidence in that he has thus far been prospered in this his high mission. Commenced in a darker day, he has gone on with the arduous task of giving permanent stability to American independence and liberty, and already the sunshine of victory gladdens and cheers his honest efforts. Three years ago, the bank desperadoes hoped by distress and panic to bend to their will the American people and the government of their choice. The onset was terrible, but our leader stood firm. A bold man might have hesi- tated, a timid man would have quailed ; but he, unap- plied by the real perils of the crisis, called together the Congress of the extra session, collected all the talent opposed to him, and met them on their own chosen battle ground. There was no UNCOMMITTAL in that immortal message which scattered confusion through their ranks. He said to the bank aristocracy, with democratic frank- ness, This is my plan. They had no plan to offer, but wasted their fury in impotent attacks upon his, like vipers gnawing at a file. They could delay, but they could not THE CURRENCY. defeat that wise and virtuous measure which seals our independence. We have no longer any thing to fear from the bank, which Mr. Jefferson called an institution of the "MOST DEADLY HOSTILITY EXISTING TO A REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT." From a mighty sovereignty ambitious to dictate terms to the nation, it has sunk to its place upon the list of fancy stocks. In the pending contest, our country expects every man to do his duty. That grand and original measure of a bold and wise policy, on which the whole issue is staked must and will be sustained. Liberty, righteousness and truth must triumph. Then may we trust in the assurance that Independence is ours forever. THE CURRENCY. OUR monopoly, paper money, banking system in its best estate, when free from derangement, and enjoying undoubted credit, imposes heavy taxes on the people. The expenses of carrying on the whole complicated ma- chinery, fall ultimately upon the consumer of the goods which are bought and sold by the borrowers from the banks. As the consumer in the country has to pay in- terest on the capital invested in these goods for a much longer time than the consumer in the city, as the poor man, buying in smaller quantities, pays a much larger advance on the first cost, and consequently on the inte- rest which makes a part of the cost, than the rich man who buys in larger quantities, this tax, as well as all other tax- es levied on consumption, falls more nearly an equal im- position of so much a head on the whole population, than in any other proportion. The rent of land and buildings, loss and repairs upon them, cost of bills, salaries of the various officers, presidents, cashiers, tellers, clerks, and messengers, fees of notaries on protested notes, fees of attorneys on suits brought, all these are paid, with inte- 33 386 THE TRUE AMERICAN. rest on them all, by the consumer. These charges in the aggregate must considerably exceed one per cent, on the capital employed. The capital stock of the banks in Massachusetts is about forty millions. For the expenses of these banks, then, we the people pay of our earnings more than four hundred thousand dollars per annum. The bank tax to the state treasury is drawn from the same source, and robs us every year of four hundred thousand dollars more. I shall be answered that it de- frays the expenses of the state ; what then ? Is it just to defray those expenses by a capitation tax? Ought they not to be borne in the ratio of property ? But the bank tax, just or unjust, even if it cost the people nothing, has been a curse to this commonwealth rather than a blessing. It has introduced corruption into the state government, augmenting its expenses more than the whole amount re- ceived from the banks. In eighteen hundred twenty-four, a committee of both houses of our legislature reported that the expenses of the state were enormously great and ought to be diminished. Ever since that time they have been rapidly increasing. In eighteen hundred and twen- ty-five they amounted to less than two hundred thousand dollars, last year they exceeded six hundred thousand ! This we owe to the bank tax, and to that tax we owe the present unparalleled extension of our banking system : the one per cent^to be annually paid to the state opera- ting as a bribe whenever new charters were asked for. The bank receives interest not only on its capital, but also on that portion of the debts it owes which is repre- sented by its circulation. The people are thus compelled to pay interest first on what they owe the banks, and se- cond on what the banks owe them. For the use of their capital, it is right that they should receive a fair compen- sation, but the power of putting their own debts in cir- culation, and receiving interest on them as long as they remain unpaid, is an exclusive privilege of the banks, and a tax is thereby levied from the people. The whole cir- culation of the banks by the state returns last September was about eleven millions. The interest accruing on this on banking principles exceeds seven hundred thousand dollars. THE CURRENCY. 387 The monopoly which the banks enjoy raises the rate of interest to those who wish to effect loans without recourse to banks, and enables the favorites of those institutions to take advantage of the state of the markets, which others, not so favored, cannot do. This monopoly is un- doubtedly worth to the bankers and their favorites much more than double the profit they derive from their circu- lation. Of late years it is the principal object in esta- blishing new banks. It taxes the people more than four- teen hundred thousand dollars a year. By the combined operation of the banking system and the usury laws, it has become very difficult for any one not belonging to the party of the bankers to obtain money on loan except through the intervention of brokers. The profits paid to brokers for changing notes for money, dis- count on uncurrent notes, commission for negotiating loans, and the higher rate of interest on money borrowed by them at or below the legal rate, and let again for extra interest, all these constitute another tax which the bank- ing system levies on us. Whoever considers for how small a part of the money let in this state the actual owner receives more than legal interest, while two or even three per cent, a month have been paid on large sums for a great part of last year, will not be disposed to doubt, especially if he recollects that the revulsion in the money market returns regularly every three or four years, that this tax far exceeds three times the profit of the cir- culation. It is therefore more than two millions and one hundred thousand dollars. Bills lost or accidentally destroyed are also a tax on the public. When a government calls in the metallic currency to be recoined and reissued, the depreciation by friction and clipping is a loss to the government. But when a bank calls in its notes, the whole amount of bills lost, or destroyed by wear and tear, or accident, is so much clear gain to the bank ; and not only so, but on double the amount of every bill lost the bank receives compound interest from the day of its loss down to the close of its own existence. Thus, for all its bills lost in the year eighteen hundred and seventeen, the United States Bank has received eight times their value. How 3S8 THE TRUE AMERICAN much the banks abstract from the public in this way can- not be known until the expiration of their charters. The sum is no doubt large ; but in the absence of fixed data, I will make no attempt to estimate it. So also counterfeit notes are a tax on the people, though not to the profit of the banks, yet apart of the price we have to pay for the banking system, a loss falling almost exclusively on persons of small property. They are not as a class so good judges of bills, and counterfeiting is mostly confined to small bills. There are about two hun- dred known editions of counterfeit bills of the United States Bank, and about nine hundred editions of those of the local banks. How many of each edition ever passed into circulation we have no means of determining, but evidently many millions of dollars of it have been manufactured, and the loss which falls on honest and un- suspecting poverty must be considerable. It is useless to attempt to estimate it. The loss by the failures of banks, which always have, and always will occasionally happen, is also a tax on the community. By Mr. Gallatin's tables, 330 banks were in operation in 1830, and 1G5 had failed before that date I We boast of the superior prudence with which our banks are managed, and of the safeguards which the laws have established for the protection of the public. The greater security of our New England banking system seems to be as well settled as that there are fewer steamboats blown up on Long Island Sound than on the Mississippi river. Yet the failure of the Farmer's Exchange, Berkshire, Coos, Hillsborough, Keene, Hallowell and Augusta, Wis casset, Castine, Belchertown, Sutton, Nahant, and Chel sea banks, all in New England, and not to mention more, are quite enough to demonstrate that such catastrophes are by no means impossible. It would be difficult to es- timate the total loss they have occasioned. These are the burdens of legitimate paper money bank ing, inseparable from the system; and before proceeding to enumerate the evils of overbanking, let us add up these items which no one can deny must always exist wherever banks, having the exclusive power to issue paper money, are to be found. Let us look at the aggregate cost of THE CURRENCY. these institutions, and judge whether they are worth it in any good we receive from them. The account, so far, is stated thus : expense tax, 400,000 ; state tax, 400,000 ; circulation tax, 700,000; monopoly tax, 1,400,000; bro- kerage tax, 2,100,000 ; in all, $5,000,000 besides lost bills, forged bills, and bank failures, not estimated, for which a round sum might be justly added. These FIVE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS are mostly the product of hard labor, and by the legerdemain of pa- per money they are transferred to the pockets of the note makers. Thus a tax is levied on the inhabitants of this commonwealth of about seven dollars a head, or from thirty-five to forty dollars for each family. What feudal nobility ever gathered a larger tribute from its vassals ? There are one hundred and eighty thousand able bod- ied men in this state, the average wages of whose labor cannot exceed two hundred and fifty dollars a year. That rate would give a total of forty-five millions : so that the manufacturers of paper money and their associates con- vert to their own use one ninth part of the wages of labor. This they do without rendering any equivalent, for this whole tax is exclusive of a fair interest on the actual capital loaned. A large majority of those who earn the wages of labor are unable to add to them the wages of skill, and very few receive the still higher wages of machinery, yet all bear the burden alike. Though persevering industry and rigid economy will enable a man living solely by the labor of his hands to accumulate something, even under such disadvantages, yet slow and hard must be the pro- cess, and it is evident that many can never extricate themselves from a hopeless poverty who might rise, were this weight removed ; and that many who now attain a competence only when old age is unfitting them to enjoy it, might have found themselves in easy circumstances of pecuniary independence, in early manhood, if the paper money tax had not borne them down. We are yet upon the threshold of our investigation. We have examined the effects of our system of banking in its ordinary and natural operation merely. We have not yet touched upon the effects of ovcrbanking. We 33* 390 THE TRUE AMERICAN. have, it is true, seen enough to give us some faint con- ception of the injury a paper currency inflicts on the community, but its most odious and alarming character- istics remain to be exposed. We will develop to the view its calamities, its convulsions, its agrarianism, its paralyzing, desolating, withering influence. Before we have concluded our inquiries we shall be satisfied that there is no other evil in the land, except intemperance, that can be compared for magnitude with paper money ; there is no other cause so fruitful of misery, pauperism and crime. The first effect of overbanking is wild speculations, the weight of which falls as a tax on the consumers of all foreign and domestic products. Banks, by issuing paper, cheapen the currency, and of course raise prices : rising prices tempt more purchasers into the market, and the competition of purchasers runs up the prices still higher. The banks furnish funds to the speculators, and enable them to hold on their purchases, in order to profit by the rise. The enhanced prices take so much out of the pocket of the consumer, for which he receives no equivalent. In 1830, the bank capital of the United States was ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE MILLIONS : in 1836, it had risen to THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY- EIGHT MILLIONS : it is now probably about TRE- BLE its amount seven years ago. The paper circulation in 1830 was SIXTY-ONE MILLIONS : in 1836, it was ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY MILLIONS, the highest point it reached was probably about ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX MILLIONS. In 1830, the loans and discounts of the banks amounted to about TWO HUN- DRED MILLIONS : in 1836, they were FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN MILLIONS : they have since exceeded FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY MIL- LIONS. The bank capital, circulation, and discounts, having more than doubled, and indeed nearly trebled, in less than seven years time, the immense and unparalleled speculations we have witnessed, have been the necessary result. Sales of public lands rose from less than two and a half millions in 1830, to more than twenty-four mil THE CURRENCY. 391 lions In 1836. Lands in Maine were purchased in vast quantities at ten times their former prices. House lots enough were laid out to accommodate two or three times the present population of the nation. The land imme- diately about New York, and within ten miles of that city, which in 1830 was valued at ten millions of dollars, changed hands at prices which would have made trie whole amount to over one hundred millions. Our imports increased from seventy millions in 1830, to one hundred and ninety millions in 1836. Prices of all articles of consumption rose, some forty, some sixty, and many a hundred per cent. But the wages of labor, fixed salaries, and compensation for services of all kinds are the last to rise, and the first to fall, in a general change of prices, nor do they fluctuate half so much as articles of mer- chandise. Laboring men therefore suffer most by the rise of prices which speculation occasions. Those who live on fixed salaries, or receive fixed fees, or enjoy the fixed income or interest of funds invested, suffer next, in the enormous tax levied by speculators. But all this is independent of the fortunes lost by those engaged in trade and commerce, and the sacrifice sub- mitted to by one of the parties to every contract, by the fluctuations in the money market, which follow each other at intervals of about three years, rising and falling with as much regularity as the billows of the ocean, and having always a smaller series of intermediate waves between the billows. These fluctuations are the natural result of the banking system, and will always grow out of it. When confidence begins to return after one of our terrible convulsions, prices, from the mere fact that they had fallen too low, begin to rise. This gives busi- ness an impulse, and disposes dealers to borrow money and make purchases. There is a competition between those who wish to supply themselves, as they are all anx- ious to lay in their stock of goods before there is any essential advance. The banks are willing to loan freely for this purpose, because purchasers at the low prices being perfectly safe, they are secure of repayment. Each bank can enlarge its discounts and loans, because, as all the other banks are doing the same, its bills are not forced 392 THE TRUE AMERICAN. home upon it for redemption. The more money is issued, the more purchasers are made; and prices rise both from depreciation of the currency, and from the briskness of the demand. The faster prices rise, the more pressing will be the applications to the banks for loans ; and the banks, as their first object is to make large dividends, will grant these applications as long as confidence con- tinues. New banks are created : old banks push to the verge of prudence. More goods are imported, more goods are manufactured, production of every kind is over-stimulated. There must, however, be a pause in this progress. Either from the depreciation of the currency, specie be- comes of less value here than abroad, and is therefore ex- ported ; or the market is so glutted with products, that buyers are indifferent about taking them off the hands of holders, in which case a competition arises among the sellers which runs down prices; or a suspicion springs up in the mind of capitalists, or of the bankers themselves, and finally of the whole community, that prices artificially high are unsafe, and must fall. From whatever cause it happens, when once confidence is shaken, the banks, will- ing or unwilling, must contract. They find themselves in a precarious situation, and to fortify themselves, they call in their paper, and diminish their discounts. Contrac- tion once begun, must go on, by a necessity as irresistible as the decree of fate, for every bank sends home the paper of every other bank. By the contraction, money is re- stored to its true value, prices are reduced again, and the improvident, surprised with large stocks on hand, are ruined. It is in the power of a combination of banks, or of one mammoth bank, to increase these periodical fluctuations, ox to create lesser intermediate vibrations, for their own advantage, at pleasure. In June, 1819, a leading press, Niles's Register, complained, and justly too, that " We have now indubitable evidence that twenty-five men at Philadelphia can make money plenty at their own will and discretion an immense command over the nation, by fixing the value of every acre of land, and of any other species of property, from the lowest point of Flori- THE CURRENCY. 393 da, to the Lake of the Woods." It might with more truth have been alleged four years ago that one man in Phila- delphia possessed this power, and the nation felt soon af- terwards that he did not scruple to use it. A bank with a capital of thirty-five millions can make its managers and their favorites rich, at a single operation, by making money alternately plenty and scarce. Having first secured large loans to its favorites as a permanent accommodation for twelve months or more, they then contract their discounts suddenly. This compels all the lesser banks to curtail their accommodations and collect their debts rapidly. In three or four months' time this sinks prices a fourth or even a third. Then the mana- gers invest their funds to the best advantage, and the ar- rangements being completed, the bank floods the country with its notes again, and the lesser banks freed from the pressure of balances against them, follow its example; and money instantly abounds, and property assumes higher values than before its fall. The speculators sell at the highest point, the bank itself furnishing the purchasers with funds if necessary. When the golden harvest is fully reaped, they may make money scarce again, and prepare for another. In describing this process, Mr. Niles, in 1819, used this strong language. " At the end of the year, the man- agers in the scheme realize from fifty to one hundred thousand dollars each, which they may be said as com- pletely to rob the people of, as if, with pistol in hand, they took the money from travellers on the highway. In- deed the last should be considered the most honorable. " These expressions are too severe ; they were wrung from sober men at that time, by the torture which the United States Bank inflicted, when it first regulated the currency, much as one might regulate the packing of gunpowder, by clapping a coal of fire into a cask of that article. The bank no sooner touched the currency than a univer- sal explosion ensued, scattering the broken fragments of credit over the south and west, and covering the land with the wreck of blasted hopes, enterprise arrested, commerce stagnant, industry prostrate, mutual confidence annihilated, and the whole business intercourse of soci- 394 THE TRUE AMERICAN. ety thrown into a chaos of irremediable confusion. Mr. Niles's phrase was, " the bank was saved, but the country was ruined." Their agony under the screws of the great engine may excuse the sufferers under the first regulation for the intemperate warmth of such remarks. The vic- tim broken on the wheel is not expected to groan with grace and decorum. It is fashionable, now-a-days, to speak more tenderly and respectfully of this mode of conveying one man's property into another man's pocket, and no one, I think, would venture to compare it with highway robbery. It is neither to be asserted nor intimated, because it cannot be proved, that the directors of banks, often, with a deliberate design, create a pressure in order to take advantage of it, as just now described : but the effect on the community, of the fluctuations produced by banks, is of the same nature, even in the absence, which we be- lieve is generally the case, of any injurious intention on the part of the managers of those institutions. In times of scarcity, the directors and their friends are naturally accommodated before strangers. Those who stand at the source of the stream drink first. With scarce mo- ney, they buy at low prices. When prices are rising, and money easy, then it is that the banks discount freely, because they then can do it, not being pressed or run upon. Then it is that the knowing ones sell, because then they can sell highest, and pay their debts to the banks, because just then a loan is no favor. A large balance of profit remains in their hands, and as soon as a falling market and contracted issues have brought about the proper moment to enter on a new speculation, they are ready to borrow and buy again. But it is not only the favored borrowers from banks who tax the people through these fluctuations ; if it were, that tax has been reckoned already in speaking of the ndvantage they gain from their monopoly. But the whole amount of property transferred by the fluctuation, vast as it is, is a tax on the losers, which the banking sys- tem has enabled the gainers to levy on them. A great crime, a national crime, has been committed, and is still persisted in the crime of cheating the labor- THE CURRENCY. 305 ing classes by the delusion of paper money. Who then are guilty of this heinous crime? for the innocent must not share the shame ; who are the guilty 1 Not every stockholder of a bank, not every officer of a bank, not every borrower from a bank, not every tra- der, or capitalist, who has profited by the fluctuations caused by a paper currency. O, no ! We should do them great injustice if we set down all these as our enemies, when among them are many of our best friends friends who are ready to witness their sincerity by cheerfully submitting to great sacrifices to restore a wholesome currency. The system is riveted upon us. It has insinuated itself into all business intercourse, so that no business man can keep clear of it, any more than he could keep clear of cold, if he had been born in the frigid zone, or of heat on the sands of the great de- sert, for paper money is all pervading as the atmosphere. We might as well proscribe every man who takes a bank bill, as every man who owns a bank share, or assists in managing a bank, for it is the bill holders, ultimately, who produce the fluctuations : if they refused to receive paper, it could not be issued. There are thousands, tens of thousands, who abhor irredeemable paper, and will go as far as any man to suppress the mischief, but who cannot, so long as bad legislation forces it upon them, disentan- gle themselves from the system, without neglecting duties they are bound to discharge, and abandoning the station in which Providence has placed them. A sober man may disapprove of war, and of all preparation for war, yet if the government has established a powder magazine in the heart of his village, it is better that he should keep it than a drunkard or a lunatic. In the debate on the charter of the United States Bank, John Ran- dolph said, that he owned no stock whatever, except live stock, and had determined never to own any ; but if this bill passed, he would not only be a stockholder to the utmost of his power, but would advise every man, over whom he had any influence, to do the same, because it was the creation of a great privileged order of the most hateful kind to his feelings, and because he would rather be the master than the slave. Without going quite this 396 THE TRUE AMERICAN. length with Mr. Randolph, many feel justified in defend- ing themselves with the same weapons with which they are attacked, though anxious to prohibit the use of those weapons to all. These are on our side, and we must not make war upon them, for without their assistance we shall never be able to reduce the trade in money to an equal footing with all other trades. To whom then does the guilt belong, for it must fall somewhere 1 To those who fastened the system on us, who uphold and defend it, who oppose all efforts to abolish it or miti- gate its evils, who are determined to perpetuate it, with all its most grievous abuses. To all who sustain it by their votes in the national or state legislatures. To all who vote for the bank candidate for President of the Uni- ted States; the bank candidates for congress; the bank candidate for governor ; the paper money partisans for state senators and representatives. Among these are thousands who own no bank stock, and who groan under the curses they invite. If they kneel for the rider to mount, who can pity them when they feel the spurs 1 Who have fastened the system upon us? Clearly those who profit by it, the aristocratic, or whig party, so called because they somewhat resemble the party in Great Bri- tain thus described in the Edinburgh Review, " THE STRENGTH OF THE WHIGS LAY IN THE GREAT ARISTOCRACY, IN THE CORPORA- TIONS, AND IN THE TRADING OR MONEYED INTERESTS." Look at their course in Massachu- setts. In the spring session of eighteen hundred and thirty-five there were many petitions for new banks. Some few whig presidents and directors of banks opposed peti- tions asking for a share in their monopoly; but the ma~ jority of the whig party voted to grant them. The whole democratic party opposed them, as did many nominal whigs, with democratic consciences, from among the yeomanry, and they were defeated. All the support they received came from whigs, the most ardent opposition they encountered was from democrats. If one fourth part of the democrats in the legislature had supported them, they would all have passed, and a numerous litter of banks would that year have cursed the state. THE CURRENCY. 397 The aristocracy has lately come before the country more distinctly than ever as the bank party. The coali- lition evidently intend to fight over again the battle for a national bank in which they were defeated in eighteen hundred and thirty-two. They cannot at this moment agree upon the precise plan of the institution they would establish, and the difficulty of determining the details may cause some delay in bringing forward their project ; but the hope of a national bank is their only bond of union. The whigs profess that the revolution of 1688, from which they derive their name, " was a revolution in favor of property." They believe that " it is the part of wisdom to found government on property." They " avow their belief that in a great majority of cases, the posses- sion of property is the proof of merit." They hope to become much more meritorious, if the government can be founded on their property, by creating a national bank, and investing it with controlling power. A national bank cures none of the evils of paper mo- ney banking, but enhances them all. It increases all the expenses of the system, for the great bank, being on a more magnificent scale than any other, sets an example of extravagance to all the rest, which by degrees they follow. It vastly increases the fluctuations of the cur- rency, for the smaller institutions bank upon its paper as they otherwise would upon specie ; and as this paper is much more easily obtained than specie, while the bank is expanding, it makes the general expansion more rapid ; and as it is more suddenly withdrawn than specie, when the great bank contracts, it makes the general contrac- tion more sudden. If the state banks issued paper on a specie basis, the fluctuations of the paper currency would still be a great evil ; but how much greater must be the fluctuation, when the basis itself is an elastic medium, which expands when it ought to contract, and contracts when it ought to expand ? It of course increases the de- preciation, which must be greater in proportion as the whole amount of paper out exceeds the specie. That such an institution fosters more than any other the spirit of speculation is too evident to need proof. The larger the bank, the more enormous will be the specula- 34 398 THB TRUE AMERICAN. tions it occasions, and these enormous speculations, de- ranging prices, will engender innumerable smaller opera- tions of a similar character. April 9th, 1832, the loans of the mother bank, at Philadelphia, made that day, were In 1 loan, over $400,000 $417,766 4 loans not less than 200,000 995,456 3 " " " " 100,000 341,729 19 " " " " 50,000 1,274,882 72 " " " " 20,000 2,404,278 $5,434,111 leaving less than a tenth part of this amount, $529,974 only, to be divided in sums less than twenty thousand dollars, among all the rest of the community. The spe- culations into which men launch with such facilities, ter- minate in bankruptcies of a proportionate magnitude. A national bank is the great parent of forgery. Small banks having a local circulation, their bills are less ex- tensively counterfeited, because the chance of detection is greater, the fraud sooner becomes impossible, the field to operate in is not so wide. From 1797 to 1819, the pro- secutions for counterfeit notes of the Bank of England were nine hundred and ninety-eight ; the convictions were eight hundred and forty-three, of which three hun- dred and thirteen were capital. The counterfeit notes detected at the bank alone, during six years and three months of that time, were 107,238 one pound notes, 17,787 two do., 5,826 five do., 419 ten do., 54 twenty do., 35 above twenty pounds. If more than twenty thou- sand a year are detected at the bank, how shall we esti- mate the numbers detected elsewhere ? The verdict of history is decisive against national banks. The Royal Bank of France was one of the most flattering and fatal delusions. Never was a financier more popular than John Law, its founder. Never was a country more prosperous than France seemed before that bubble burst. An, eminent French writer of that time called the projector " a minister far above all that the past age has known, that the present can conceive, or that the future will believe." All France was seized with THE CURRENCY. 399 a rage for speculation. " All the world," says Postle- thwaite, " ran to Paris." There were half a million of new comers in the city. Twelve hundred new coaches were set up. As fast as new blocks and streets could be built up, lodgings could not be had. The reaction shook the social fabric to its base. Gloom and despair were inmates with every household. Four hundred thousand fortunes had been sacrificed, and the state loaded itself with a specie debt of sixteen hundred and thirty-one mil- lions of livres. The amount of its paper in circulation at the time of the crash was four hundred and nineteen millions of dollars, not so much beyond our own paper circulation, in proportion to the population, as the terms in which this bank is usually described would naturally imply, while the specie thrown into the bank in March and April, 1720, exceeded fifty-six millions of dollars, an accession of hard money such as our banks never re- ceived, in so short a time. John Law died at*Venice, in 1729, never relinquishing for a moment the firmest con- viction of the solidity of his system, the disastrous failure of which he attributed entirely to the malice of his ene- mies ; and thousands of his disciples entertained the same belief for many years. The present bank of France was established in 1803 ; and though, issuing no small notes, its circulation is com- paratively steady, yet it has twice produced considerable distress ; in 1806, when it occasioned numerous failures, and again in 1814, when it became so embarrassed that the government were obliged to limit its specie payments. But the Bank of England is the model of American bankers. Its history is full of instruction and warning. In 1693, in the midst of national disasters, both the peo- ple and the ministry were weary of the war, which pro- duced nothing but disgrace, but which William was ob- stinately bent upon continuing. He therefore brought in a whig ministry, whom he expected to find tractable, partly from the ambition of being courted by the crown, and partly from the prospect of gain from advancing money to the government. The most scandalous prac- tices in the mystery of corruption were at that time exer- cised in grants, places, pensions, and salaries to members, 400 THE TECE AMERICAN. whereby the House of Commons was so managed that the king could quash all grievances, stifle the examination of accounts, and defeat any bill. When these practices were exposed, mere shame forced through both houses a bill for free and impartial proceedings in parliament, to which bill, the king, with the concurrence of his whig ministry, to whose existence corruption was essential, applied his veto. Corruption being thus perpetuated, a majority was secured in both houses, and the scheme of the bank brought forward, and the charter granted in 1694. Its whole capital was a loan to the government ; its immediate object was to assist the government in car- rying on an unpopular war. Its ultimate effects were distinctly foretold by the opposition, but the power of corruption prevailed. From the year 1797 to 1817, the metallic currency of the world had slightly diminished, while the business to be transacted had greatly increased ; prices ought there- fore to have fallen, instead of rising. Improvements in agriculture had more than kept pace with the increase of population ; for this reason also the prices of wheat should have fallen. War no doubt raises the price, but the war was raging in 1794 and 1795, when the price was under fifty shillings ; and the country was at peace in 1817, when the price was one hundred and twenty- four shillings. Corn laws go but little way to account for the fluctuations they must be mainly owing to bank paper. Compare the circulation of the bank and the price of wheat for a few years, and see whether you can doubt that they are cause and effect. The circulation of bank notes in 1787 was .8,688,570, wheat was 49s. 1790 1795 1805 1810 1817 10,217,360, 13,539,160, 18,397,880, 21,000,000, 30,099,908, 57 10 77 5 106 116 2 124 After Parliament had determined in 1819 that the bank should resume specie payment, it began to diminish its circulation, which was brought down to ,18,000,000, a THE CURRENCY. 401 less sum, in proportion to the business done, than the circulation of 1795. Accordingly wheat fell, and for ten years after 1819 it averaged seventy shillings. As thirty millions are to eighteen millions, so are one hundred and twenty-four shillings to seventy-four shillings : so that wheat fell more than bank notes diminished, the increased business to be done giving a higher value to money. " The average money price of corn regulates more or less that of all other commodities," says Adam Smith ; we may judge, then, what universal distress this bank produced by raising prices. We are not left to conjec- ture the effects; they are matter of record. The years 1812 and 1817 are the two years in which wheat reached the highest price it had borne for nearly six centuries, since the great famine of the year 1270. These were two years when the taxes were comparatively light, par- ticularly 1817. In 1815, for instance, the taxes were 79,948,670, while in 1812, they were 70,435,679, and in 1817, they were only 55,836,257. The distress which existed then was produced by the high price of wheat, in spite of lighter taxation. Yet Mr. Huskisson singled out these two years, as those in which the pres- sure was most severe. These were his words : " If dis- tress bordering upon famine, if misery bursting forth in insurrection, and all the other symptoms of wretchedness, discontent, and difficulty, are to be taken as symptoms of pressure upon the people ; then I should say, that 1812 and 1817 were two years, of which no good man can ever wish to witness the like again." Thus has this institution taken the bread out of the mouths of the poor, literally and fatally. In Barton's poor-law tables the connection is shown between the high price of wheat and the increase of mortality. In seven manufacturing districts in England, when wheat was 118s. 3d. there were 55,965 deaths in a year ; three years later, when wheat had fallen to 60s. Id. there were but 44,794 deaths in the same districts. An extensive comparison between prices and mortality demonstrates the fact, that nothing tends more to prolong the average duration of life than the cheapness of good wholesome bread. In- deed, proof of this truth is before us all, in the extraor* 34* 402 THE TRUE AMERICAN. dinary longevity of the inhabitants of the agricultural vil- lages of New England. Sin and death are nearly related. What has been the effect of the Bank of England on crime? The year 1817 was that in which the amount of bank notes was greatest, and that year is as distinguished in the annals of the criminal law as in the history of the bank. In the year 1817, the number of criminal prosecutions suddenly rose from about 8000 to about 14,000 ; the number of persons condemned to death, from 890 to 1302 ; of persons trans- ported to New Holland, from 1054 to 1734. Want of employment, poverty, and hunger, all springing from high prices, and the deranged currency, caused these addi- tional crimes. In June, 1823, after the resumption of specie payments, Sir Robert Peel made the following statements to parliament. In 1817, seven out of nine of the manufacturing class were unemployed ; in 1823, none. In Sheffield, the poor rates, in 1820, were .36,000 ; in 1S23, only .13,000. In 1817, there were 1600 houses empty; in 1823, none. In Birmingham, in 1817, of 84,000 inhabitants, 27,500 received aid from the poor fund ; a third part of the workmen had no occupation ; the remainder were only half employed ; the poor rates amounted to about ,60,000. In 1823, all the workmen were employed ; the poor rates amounted to only ,20,000. The weekly pay of weavers, which in 1817, had sunk to three shillings and three pence, now rose to ten, and sometimes to sixteen shillings. The exports had in- creased, and disturbances ceased. The mode in which paper money fluctuation, such as the Bank of England begets, grinds the independent poor into pauperism, has been fully explained already. British pauperism is the offspring of the bank. There were not two hundred thousand paupers in England and Wales, when the bank begun to grind; in 1810 there were twelve hundred thousand, and the bank ground harder after that. The poor rates were but small in the time of * King William ; but in 1827 they were about thirty-eight millions of dollars. The madman who scatters firebrands, arrows, and death, and says, Am I not in sport ? is innocent and lovely THE CURRENCY. 403 compared with the monster that inflicts these miseries on the British people. It sucks the blood from their veins, the marrow from their bones : it makes them bond slaves, and mocks at their unpaid toil, till exhausted nature sinks into an early grave. It is such an incarnation of active, all-pervading, unremitted cruelty, that our whig nobility worship ; that they desire to see enthroned over us ; and upon whose altar they are ready to sacrifice the proper- ties, morals, lives, and liberties of American citizens. The Bank of England has generally had no actual capital, no, not a farthing, for the purposes of trade. Its loans and advances to the government have, during almost the whole of its existence, exceeded its whole capital ; so that it wrings from the people, by the machinery of paper money, the whole of that immense wealth, on which its stockholders fatten ; and through which it has sometimes been, to use the expression of one of its friends, " strong enough to take the government on its shoulders." In such precarious strength there is inherent weakness ; and the bank is more likely, ultimately, to bury the govern- ment in its ruins, as it threatened to do in 1696, and again in 1797. With the bank begun the funding system : hand in hand with the bank, dependent on it, and grow- ing out of it, the funding system has advanced. Like the Siamese twins, they have one common breath of life ; separate them, and they perish. " The practice of fund- ing," says Adam Smith, "has gradually enfeebled every state which has adopted it." He instances the Italian Republics, Genoa, Venice, Spain, France, and the Uni- ted Provinces, and adds, " Is it Hkely that in Great Bri- tain alone, a practice which has brought either weakness or desolation into every> other country, should prove alto- gether innocent?" Since Smith wrote this (in 1776) that explosion has taken place in France, which made all nations quake with fear, an explosion, which would never have happened, but for the practice of funding : the British debt is quadrupled : is the practice of funding less likely now to bring desolation upon Great Britain ? The United States had one fair experiment of paper money at the outset of their national existence. An eye- witness, Mr. Pelatiah Webster, speaks thus, first of Hi 404 THE TRUB AMERICAN. supposed advantages, and afterwards of ils real evils. " Though men of all descriptions stood trembling before this monster of force, without daring to lift a hand against it, during all this period, (from 1776 to 1781,) yet its unrestrained energy always proved ineffectual to its pur- poses, but in every case increased the evils it was de- signed to remedy, and destroyed the benefits it was in- tended to promote : at best, its utmost effect was like that of water sprinkled on a blacksmith's forge, which indeed deadens the flame for a moment, but never fails to in- crease the heat and flame of the internal fire. Many thousand families of full and easy fortune, were ruined by these fatal measures, and lie in ruins to this day, with- ont the least benefit to the country, or to the great and noble cause in which we were then engaged." He enu- merates the sufferings incident to the war, the exorbitant price of foreign goods, the extreme scarcity of many ne- cessary articles, such as salt, the total cessation of many trades for want of materials, the seizure of goods, wagons, stock, grain, cattle, timber, and every thing else which was wanted for the public service, the captures, ravages, and depredations, the burnings and plunders of the ene- my, which were very terrible and expensive. " They had possession, first or last, in the course of the war, of eleven of the capitals of the thirteen states, pervaded the coun- try in every part, and left dreadful tracks of their march- es behind : burning in cool blood a great number, not only of houses, barns, mills, &c., but also of most capital towns and villages." Yet all these evils, he testifies, were less than those of continental money. " We have suf- fered more from this cause," he says, " than from every other cause of calamity : it has killed more men, perva- ded and corrupted the choicest interests of our country more, and done more injustice than even the arms and artifices of our enemies." " While we rejoice in the riches and strength of our country, we have reason to la- ment with tears of the deepest regret, the most pernicious shifts of property which the irregularities of our finances introduced, .and the many thousands of fortunes which were ruined by it ; the generous, patriotic spirits sufftred the injury ; the idle and avaricious derived the benefit THE CURRENCY. 405 from the confusion." This was written at the very peri- od of the dissolution of the continental currency system, while the people were yet smarting under its torments, the remembrance of which had so much power over the fa- thers of our constitution, that they deliberately and stern- ly REFUSED TO INCORPORATE IN THAT IN- STRUMENT, ANY LICENSE TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO CREATE ANY CORPORA- TION, LEST UNDER SUCH A LICENSE THEY MIGHT CHARTER A NATIONAL BANK. It is natural to imagine that government paper which depreciates suddenly, and then becomes worthless, is an evil much more terrible than a national bank with its ever-fluctuating currency. Not so. A sword cut, or a gun-shot wound, however appalling, yet if it heals or kills, is less to be dreaded, than to be stretched daily on the rack for years, to perish in the torture at last. Law's bank and Mississippi scheme, the south sea bubble, as- signats, and continental money, marked their course with wide destruction, but they had their end. The victims who survived recovered, others filled the places of the fallen, and a new career of prosperity commenced ; but when will England shake off the incubus of her national bank ? A paper money explosion, even like the most awful on record, is far less to be deprecated than the per- petual wrong, injury, and tyranny of a perpetually fluc- tuating paper currency ; even as the fire that sweeps the prairie, but leaves the soil rich for a fresh vegetation, is less fatal than the eternal curse of barrenness on Sodom and Gomorrah. Nothing can prevent a mixed currency partly of paper, from becoming superabundant, and consequently depre- ciating. Nothing can prevent such a mixed currency from fluctuating, and the larger the proportion of paper, the greater will be the fluctuation. A national bank, or any other banks, issuing small bills unrestrictedly, must sooner or later stop specie pay- ment : its paper then becomes irredeemable paper, which even the whig oracle abhors. This result is not acci- dental, it is certain and necessary : it is the inherent vice of the system. During the last forty years, the Bank of 406 TBS TRIE AMERICAN. England has refused payment in specie twenty-six years, and the banks of the United States generally have viola- ted their obligations twice. I say nothing of the government banks on the con- tinent of Europe, such as the banks of Petersburg, Co- penhagen, Vienna, &/c., because the friends of a national bank among us have nothing to say for these. They ad- mit them all to be miserable failures. Their only favorite model is the Bank of England, which has issued irre- deemable paper about half of the time since the United States had a banking system. " A bank not to pay specie," said Mr. Calhoun in 1816, " would be an instru- ment of deception ; it would have no character or feature of a bank. He should regard it with disgust and abhor- rence." Such a bank is the great bank in Pennsylvania. Let banks issuing small bills set out with what professions they may, to this complexion they must come at last : sooner or later, they will be banks not to pay specie. No art, wisdom, or power of man can prevent irre- deemable paper from depreciation. The promise of gold, however slightly doubtful, is worth less than gold itself; but nothing can make a promise known to be false, equal to a promise believed to be true. The severest penal laws could not prevent guineas from selling at twenty-eight, and even thirty shillings, in bank notes, while the Bank of England violated its promises. Con- gress passed an act of outlawry, (January 11, 1776,) and other threatening declarations, against those who refused continental bills at par : this did not keep them at par. Danton and Robespierre undertook to sustain the value of the assignats, the revolutionary money of France. First, they decreed a long imprisonment to those who should take, pass, or offer assignats below their nominal value ; then they fixed a price on all the necessaries of life, and punished with death those who, having such articles for sale, refused to sell them at the legal price in assignats : but the terrors of the dungeon and the guillo- tine proved insufficient, though unsparingly employed, to give value to a worthless paper. The fear of death, then, cannot check the depreciation of irredeemable paper. If we sum up in one grand total all the wo to wbioh THE CURRENCY. 407 paper money banking, and the over-extended system of credit growing out of it, have given birth, we shall pro- nounce it to be the most tremendous of the plagues which the Almighty in his wrath has suffered to afflict degenerate men. Neither war, nor pestilence, nor fa- mine, ever, for so long a time, spread desolation over so large a portion of the earth. What now paralizes the energies of Great Britain? Her national debt, which originated with the bank, grew with its growth and strengthened with its strength, is a part of the same sys- tem, and without its aid could never have swelled to the colossal dimensions in which it overshadows the empire. When the bank commenced, the debt was about five millions of dollars. The object of the creation of the bank was to increase the debt, which it manages for the government, and which is now about four thousand mil- lions of dollars ; the sinews of the poor, from generation to generation, being mortgaged to pay the interest. The burdens and taxes, which I enumerated in speaking of the banks of Massachusetts, are but a drop from that fountain of bitterness, the preposterous extension of a fictitious credit, which has deluged the world with mise- ries. View the bank ami the funding sys^m together, in their combined operation, and see what the abuse of credit, through fictitious paper, has done for mankind. What enabled Great Britain to carry on wars ruinous to her own interests, destructive of her own liberties, and fatal to the welfare of the human race, for one half the period from the accession of King William to the down- fall of Napoleon ? Paper credit ; whereby the ministry of the day could not only exhaust the resources of the nation, but beggar posterity, building up that national debt which is the most stupendous phenomenon of mod- ern times ; perhaps, in the world's whole history. Not Napoleon in his march on Moscow, with that carnival of horrors, the retreat, gave so many corpses to the wolves and vultures, as paper credit. Neither Alaric, nor Attila, nor any other scourge of God, ever struck down so many heads, or glutted his revenge with so vast a havoc, or left behind him such wide-spread devastation. If France, in 1789, had had no debt, France might 408 THE TRUE AMERICAN. have been free and happy, without a bloody revolution, and the long years of succeeding agony. Who stimulated and kept alive the wars that grew out of the French revolution, wherein three millions of human lives were sacrificed? England. How did she sustain those wars'* By her paper credit. It was paper credit that held out through twenty-three years of carnage, and at last con- quered at Waterloo. It is a stock corporation, existing by credit, and operating through credit, that has " sold every monarch, prince, and state, in India, broken every contract, and ruined every prince and every state who had trusted them ;" that has bestrewn that whole empire with the bones of slaughtered millions, turning their tem- ples into charnel houses, and making their Eden a Gol- gotha. It was paper credit that waged war eight years upon the liberties and rising independence of America. It is paper credit that rivets the fetters of Ireland, and tightens the ligatures which check the circulation of the British empire's life-blood. Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have predicted, at St. Helena, that the next general convulsion of Europe would be a conflagration of paper credit. When that catastrophe befalls the insolvent governments of the old world, when the national debt of England, " incurred one half in pulling down the Bourbons, and the other half in setting them up," explodes, and blows up with it the bank, the East India Company, and the government, while the debts of the continent topple down with the shock, will not the contest over the wreck be fiercer than the memo- rable reign of terror, in proportion as greater interests are at stake, and greater numbers implicated 1 It seems that elements exist to form a crisis as much more terrible than the last, as the battle of devils conceived by the genius of Milton exceeds in sublimity the ordinary con- flicts of men. It is time to return from these speculations to our own peculiar perils. " Let the Americans," said William Pitt, " adopt their funding system, and go into their banking institutions, and their boasted independence will be a mere phantom." Could William Pitt have foreseen, that in about sixty THE CURRENCY. 4QJ> year's from our independence, we should have eight hun- dred and twenty-three banks, whose loans would exceed five hundred and ninety millions of dollars ? Could he have foreseen that these banks would issue their bills to the amount of one hundred and eighty-five millions, and then, in May, 1837, stop payment, and continue to flood the country with irredeemable paper ? Could he have foreseen that a British banking house (the Barings) would in their circulars describe, truly describe, the contest between the banks and their privileges on the one hand, and the people and their liberties on the other, as a con- test between the aristocracy of wealth, and the demo- cracy of numbers ; and that in this contest, an institution modelled after the Bank of England, and largely owned by British stockholders, would lead the bank interest ; while the democracy of numbers would sustain the go- vernment and the constitution of their country ? Could he have foreseen that merchants, having a deep stake in the preservation of order, would threaten rather to rebel, than pay their dues to the government, while they could find plenty of specie to export in England ; and that the government would be called on, in every form of entreaty and menace, to allow the whole basis of our circulation to be withdrawn from us, and to flow from the West to the Atlantic cities, and thence across the ocean, leaving our banks, and our people, to certain ruin, in order that the Bank of England might not be compelled to suspend specie payments 1 Could he have foreseen that for the benefit of England a new doctrine would be advanced in America, that " the truth is, the banks of the United States are always the STRONGEST when they hold the LEAST SPECIE, and the country always the RICH- EST when it has the LEAST GOLD AND SILVER ?" If he foresaw all this, no wonder he anticipated that banks would one day reduce our boasted independence to a mere phantom. His forebodings will not, however, be realized. Our government is a popular government. With us, the will of the people is sovereign, and it is not the will of the people to barter their birthright for a mess of pottage. Though they believed all the promises of advantage which 35 410 THE TRUE AMERICAN. banks hold out, promises which the history of other na- tions, and the experience of their own, have shown to be delusive, yet liberty and independence are blessings too dear to them to be weighed in the balance with wealth. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? The slaves of filthy lucre, who prize it above liberty, must have sold themselves, body and soul, into the service of the god of their idolatry ; but the American people cling to their soul's freedom. To deliver us from thraldom to the banks, a sound currency is indispensable. Let the ban dogs of faction howl ; fangless now, their malice is impotent. A great people is conscious of its rights and power. Calmly majestic, it gathers its strength, and rises to overturn, smite, and demolish, whatever the spirit of our institutions cannot tolerate. Rashness shall not rule the hour, nor an avenging fury confound inno- cence with guilt ; but the inflexible determination of vir- tuous wisdom shall carry on reform, till her warfare be utterly accomplished. Then, when the proud bearing of paper feudality is humbled, the hoarse throat of anarchy silenced, and popular sovereignty sways over all the scep- tre of equal justice, then may we exult in the security, eternal, as far as human foresight reaches, of American liberty, union, and independence. OPINIONS OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. THE American people may read in the messages of our patriot Presidents, summaries of the principles of freedom, such as cannot be found in any other series of state pa- pers ever given to the world. But so irresistible is the impression which these principles make upon the heart, that one can hardly believe that any citizen of our free country ever thought otherwise than Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, and Van Buren. OPINIONS OF A. HAMILTON. 411 When we close the volume that includes their precious expositions of the democratic faith, we are almost ready to say of the whole contents, what the declaration of in- dependence says of the fundamental axioms on whic& their system is 'built, " WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT!" Yet the aristocratic party of the country holds, and always has held, opinions diametrically the opposite of the doctrines of equality. As we have not room to give very numerous extracts from their writings, and as the acknowledged founder of the whig school is still the apostle of the bank faction, we will give a distinct view of his ideas of government, to be contrasted with those of the great apostles of democracy. Extracts from a speech by Alexander Hamilton, Jane 18, 1787, as reported in Judge Yates' minutes of the se- cret debates of the convention which formed the federal constitution : " I believe the British government forms the best mo- del the world ever produced, and such has been its pro- gress in the minds of many, that the truth gradually gains ground. This government has for its object public strength and individual security. It is said with us to be unattainable. If it was once formed, it would maintain itself. " All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well-born, the other the mass of the people. The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God ; and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact. The people are turbulent and changing ; they sel- dom judge or determine right. GIVE THEREFORE TO THE FIRST CLASS A DISTINCT, PERMA- NENT SHARE IN THE GOVERNMENT * * " Nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy. Their turbulent and uncontrolling disposition requires checks. * * " It is admitted that you cannot have a good executive upon a democratic plan. See the ex- cellency of the British executive. He is placed above temptation. He can have no distinct interests from the 412 THE TRUE AMERICAN. public welfare. NOTHING SHORT OF SUCH AN EXECUTIVE CAN BE EFFICIENT. * " Let one body of the legislature be constituted during good behavior or life. " Let one executive be appointed who dares execute his powers. * " And let me observe, that an execu- tive is less dangerous to the liberties of the people when in office during life, than for seven years." Mr. Hamilton read his plan, which may be found in Elliott's Debates, vol. i. p. 12. It contained the following provisions : 1. A legislature in two chambers, " with powers to pass all laws whatsoever," subject to the veto. 2. The house to be chosen for three years. 8. The senate to serve during good behavior. 4. The executive to serve during good behavior, and to have a negative on all laws about to be passed, the en tire direction of war when once begun, the appointment of his cabinet officers, and nomination to the Senate of other officers, and the pardoning power. To APPOINT THE GOVERNOR OF EACH STATE, and TO HAVE A VETO ON ALL THE LAWS OF EACH STATE. No state to have any forces land or naval, and their militia to be under the sole and exclusive direction of the United States. In closing his speech on this plan, Mr. Hamilton re- marked^ " The people are gradually ripening in their opi- nions of government they begin to be tired of an excess of democracy and what even is the Virginia plan, but pork still, with a little change of the sauce." Mr. Madison, in his report of this speech in the De- bates in the Convention, vol. ii., p. 885, attributes to Mr. Hamilton the same ideas. The following are extracts from Mr. Madison's account. " Mr. Hamilton said, ' In his private opinion, he had no scruple in declaring, supported as he was by the opinion of so many of the wise and good, that THE BRITISH GO- VERNMENT WAS THE BEST IN THE WORLD, and that he doubt- ed whether any thing short of it would do in America.' " Give all power to the many, they will oppress the OPINIONS OP A. HAMILTON. 413 few. Give all power to the few, they will oppress the many. Both, therefore, ought to have the power, that each may defend itself against the other. To the proper adjustment [of this check] the British owe the excellence of their constitution. THEIR HOUSE OF LORDS IS A MOST NOBLE INSTITUTION." " As to the executive, it seemed to be admitted that no good one could be established on republican principles. Was not this giving up the merits of the question ; for can there be a good government without a good execu- tive ? THE ENGLISH MODEL WAS THE ONLY GOOD ONE ON THIS SUBJECT." * " Let one branch of the legislature hold their places for life, or at least during good behavior. Let the exe- cutive also be for life." In August, 1840, the second volume of the life of Ha- milton was published by his son, John C. Hamilton. In this volume, page 481, we find " the brief, as it exists among his manuscripts," of this celebrated speech. Here then are some of the heads as they stand in Ha-. milton's awn hand- writing : " BRITISH CONSTITUTION, BEST FORM. * # * * ' Representation alone will not do. ' Demagogues will generally prevail. ' And if separated they will need a mutual check 'THIS CHECK IS A MONARCH. ' Each principle ought to exist in full force, or it will not answer its end. " The democracy must be derived immediately from the people. " The aristocracy ought to be entirely separated ; their power should be permanent, and they should have the caritas liberorum. * * * * " The monarch must have proportional strength. HE OUGHT TO BE HEREDITARY, and to have so much power, that it will not be his interest to risk much to act- quire more. * " It is said a republican government does not admit a vigorous execution. 35* 414 THE TRUE AMERICA!*. " IT IS THEREFORE BAD ; for the goodness of & government consists in a vigorous execution. " The principle chiefly intended to be established, is this that THERE MUST BE A PERMANENT WILL." A whig is an admirer and defender of the British con- stitution, as settled in 1688. The above extracts prove that Alexander Hamilton was a genuine whig. He held in its purest form the doctrine vindicated by Daniel Web- ster in the Massachusetts convention of 1820, when he said, "It would seem then to be the part of political wis- dom TO FOUND GOVERNMENT ON PROPERTY I" " Hamilton," says Mr. Jefferson, " was not only a mo- narchist, but for a monarchy bottomed on corruption." This is the British whig system, as acted on by Walpole, and in this country also illustrated by the operations of the bank in its loans to members of Congress, editors, &c., and in its immense fees to Clay, Binney, Webster, and others. THE PERFECTION OF GOVERNMENT. BY COV. MORTON, OP MASSACHUSETTS. FREE government, to be permanent and secure, must be founded on equality equality of rights and duties equal rights of acquisition and enjoyment duties equal in obligation, though not in degree. The powers, mental and physical, with which we are endowed, are unequal and various, but admirably suited in their proper applica- tion to the multifarious wants and comforts of human life, and all wisely and wonderfully adapted to the promo- tion of the greatest happiness of the whole. He who faithfully performs the part assigned to him, will fulfil the end of his creation, and be entitled to his appropriate re- ward. He who profitably employs the ten talents intrust- ed to him, will no more perfectly perform his duty, than he who does the same with his one talent. But the benefits of their respective labors, and the fruits and THE PERFECTION OF GOVERNMENT. 415 rewards thereof, will be widely different. Each one should be secured in the productions of his own industry, and the remuneration of each should be in exact propor- tion to the utility of his services. Let not those more blessed, neglect to employ their own talents, nor seek to filch from the less favored ones the pittance of their earnings. A munificent Providence has made ample provision for the whole human family. But the unequal and unjust distribution of his bounties by his children " makes countless thousands mourn." Great inequalities of con- dition the extremes of poverty and wealth are alike unfavorable to free institutions, and to the virtue, intelli- gence, and happiness of the people. In those communi- ties where the greatest degree of equality prevails among their members, there also will ever be found the highest degree of intelligence, virtue, and felicity. It should, therefore, ever be the leading object in the institution of government to promote so desirable a state. With the different capacities of men perfect equality is unat- tainable. But how shall the nearest approximation be made ? Not by diminishing the stimulants to industry, for this is the ordinance of God ; not by weakening the rights of property, for they should be deemed sacred, nor by restraining its disposition or descent, for this is alike beneficial to parents and children ; but by holding out to all the highest motives to industry and frugality, and by insuring to labor, mental and physical, a reward exactly proportionate to its utility. Let every one have undoubt- ing assurance that he will receive a share in the common stock, in the exact ratio of his contributions to it, and this will furnish the highest encouragement which human power can offer, to promote the intelligence, virtue, and happiness of the whole. Such is the high aim of democracy. If, like all hu- man institutions, it is imperfect, and fails of the accom- plishment of its whole object, it is a reason for increased efforts on the part of its friends to, improve it, rather than of discouragement at its short comings. If any government can be said to be I y divine author- ity, it is the government of the people. And if covered 416 THE TRUE AMERICAN. by its broad panoply of equal protection, we find bad as well as good, infidels as well as Christians, it proves the e-xpansiveness and universality of its beneficent power. The rain falls on the unjust as well as the just. Be- cause it guarantees the freedom of thought and of belief, and, in all, the advocacy of their own opinions, and thus commands the approbation of those who, from the few- ness of their numbers, or the odium of their tenets, need its protecting influence, let it not be said to favor their views. Because it secures to the infidel the enjoyment of his opinions, let it not be supposed to favor infidelity. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Its principles are founded in Christianity itself, and find their highest sanction in the Gospel. And whenever the time shall arrive that every man shall govern his conduct by the fundamental rules of Christianity " thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" " and whatsoever you would that men should do to you, even so do ye to them," there will exist a state of perfect democracy ; and if any human government be needed on earth, it will be a perfect de- mocratic government. DEMOCRACY AND REFORM. [EXTRACT.] WE address ourselves to reformers, to men who profess to believe in progress, and to be desirous of laboring in the holy cause of social melioration. Can they hesitate which party to join, when the alternative is to join one or the other of the two existing parties ? We have no dis- position to speak disparagingly of the whig party. In that party are many men whom we are proud to reckon among our personal friends. We freely acknowledge that it embodies much talent, and not a little private worth. But every party, if it be worth considering, has a set of principles which it must develop, and which it is com- DEMOCRACY AND REFORM. 41T pdled by the laws of Providence to push to their last consequences. These principles are stronger than indi- viduals. They carry away individuals in spite of them- selves. There is- an invincible logic which conquers the stubbornest will. He who refuses to go where the prin- ciples of his party lead, is inevitably left by the way, and he who steps before his party to arrest its onward career, is swept away by a resistless current, or trampled in the dust by a thousand feet. To judge of a party, you need not inquire what are the private virtues of the individuals which compose it, but what are the principles on which it is founded, the idea around which it rallies, and which it is its mission to realize. This idea nakedly presented, may be repudiated by a large portion of the party; few of the party may comprehend it, or will its realization ; nevertheless, they must all obey it, and nearly all will ul- timately adopt its last consequences. The capital invested in the soil has, with us, not even its legitimate share of influence. The commercial capi- tal, the capital employed in business operations, is the preponderating power. To give it additional weight ia therefore to war against the true interests of humanity. The party which labors to do this is not, and cannot be in this country, the party of progress. But the leading idea of the whig party is the preponderance of commer- cial capital. As the old English whigs supported the Bank of England, so they support the Bank of the Uni- ted States ; as the old English whigs supported the mer- chants, corporations, funding systems, so our American whigs support the same. The American whigs possess the larger portion of the commercial capital of the coun- try, and they contend, that therefore they ought to con- trol the government of the country. They ask with the celebrated Addison, in his " Whig-Examiner," " Is there any thing more reasonable than that they who have all the riches of the nation in their possession, or that they who have already engrossed all our riches, should have the management of our public treasure, and the direction of our fleets and armies ?" This question might be very proper if our work were to put down an aristocracy founded on birth and the sword, like the old feudal aris- 418 THE TRUE AMERICAN. tocracy ; but it indicates the worst possible system here, where our work is to raise up man, and give him the pre eminence over money. The whig party also is a foreign party, and anti- Ame- rican in its principles. Its policy and movements are necessarily controlled, not by a regard to true American interests, but by a regard to the interests of the "credit system," which the party is wedded to, of which the Bank of England is the common centre, and whose ramifications extend to all parts of the globe. By com- merce and manufactures, by their various business ope- rations which are carried on mainly by means of credits, they are intimately connected with this system, and vir- tually enslaved by it. We should be asking more than our knowledge of the weakness of human nature war- rants, were we to ask them in case of collision between this " credit system" and their country, to be faithful to the latter. Where a man's treasure is, there will be his heart also. Their treasure is in the " credit system," the principal seat of which is not in this country ; conse- quently their hearts are abroad rather than at home. So long as the " credit system" is controlled by foreign na- tions, or in other words, so long as our country is not the first commercial nation of the world, support of the system must be incompatible with patriotism. England is at present the ruling commercial nation ; she controls the " credit system" so far as it can be controlled, and consequently controls all who are dependent on it. In case of collision between this country and Great Britain during the existence of the " credit system," we must always look to see all true whigs sustaining Great Britain as its grand supporter, although her cannon should be battering down the walls of our capitol, resolving that it is unbecoming a moral and religious people to rejoice at American victories over her armies, and singing Te Deums whenever her mercenaries succeed in suppressing the democratic movements of the Old World. We must expect them to do this, for the system they have espoused will compel them to do it ; and they will do it spontane- ously, religiously, with the feeling that in so doing they are honoring God and serving man. Whiggisrn with us DEMOCRACY AND REFORM. 419 is, therefore, incompatible with patriotism. The whig Tirtually expatriates himself, or rather forswearing the land of his birth, adopts the " credit system" as his coun- try, makes it his home, in it erects his altar and places his household gods. When that system coincides with American principles, he is an American ; when they do not, he is an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Chinaman, or one of that nation with whose interests for the time being they chance to be co-incident. Mr. Biddle, who is not altogether destitute of patri- otic feelings, had, we apprehend, a glimpse of this fact, and hence his efforts to transfer the seat of the credit sys- tem from London to Philadelphia. He probably dreamed of making the American merchants, through the Bank of the United States, all that English merchants now are through the Bank of England. This was a lofty ambi- tion, only a single remove from the sublime. All that was wanting for its complete success was, that this coun- try should stand first in the scale of commercial nations, a rank it unfortunately does not hold, and will not, for some considerable time to come. So long as this country is only a second or third rate commercial nation, it cannot be the principal seat of the "credit system;" so long as it retains its present position in relation to Great Britain, a Bank of the United States can only be a branch of the Bank of England. The Bank of England, as the great centre of the credit system of the world, can, at any mo- ment it chooses, win the credit of American merchants, and crush our whole banking system, as past experience fully demonstrates. By the intricate connection which has heretofore existed between the fiscal concerns of our government and the general business of banking, we have, government, and all, been virtually under the control of Great Britain. Hence, the reason why, whenever we have demanded justice of Great Britain, we have uniformly armed our business men against our own government. The war, which we have been carrying on against the banking system for the last ten years, has been really a war for national independence, and Gen. Jackson, in wai- ring against the bank, was fighting in the same cause in which he fought at New Orleans, and against the same 420 THE TRUE AMERICAN. enemy. It was therefore that the people, by an unerring instinct, selected him, the hero of New Orleans, to be their chief in the new campaigns, of which they had a forefeeling. The democratic party is the patriotic party; it is the party jealous of national honor. The whig party, com- posed in the main of business men, whose idea is proper- ty, not man, are insensible to national honor, when its maintenance requires the sacrifice of the facilities of trade or commerce. In their estimation, the national honor is well enough, when -they are making large profits, and ia endangered only wten their chances of gain Beem to be diminished. Hence it is, that every measure taken to maintain the honor of the nation, or to enhance its real prosperity, has been taken by the democratic party amidst the most violent, and all but treasonable hostility of the whigs. The democracy purchased Louisiana, and thus secured to trade the Mississippi, to agriculture an immense territory of unrivalled fertility, and to free institutions many millions of supporters. The democracy declared and sustained the war against Great Britain, in which we vindicated our national honor, and asserted the freedom of the seas. And during its continuance, the whig party were plotting treason with the enemy, refusing all support to the government of their country, and cutting off, as far as they could, its supplies. The democratic party is the party of liberty. This is involved in the fact that it is the American party. The idea of this country is, we have said, the supremacy of man. This supremacy is attained only by the broadest freedom. The American idea, under another aspect, then, is that of liberty. The truly American party always ral- lies around the quickening idea of liberty. No man can have the hardihood to pretend that liberty is the idea the whigs are struggling to bring out. The democratic party has always been faithful to free- dom of mind and conscience, the basis of all freedom, It has always opposed every thing even approaching a religious establishment, and contended that man's inter- course with his Maker should be free and voluntary. It has opposed all test laws, and uniformly frowned upon DEMOCRACY AND REFORM. 421 every effort to molest a man for his opinions. It inserted in the federal . constitution the amendments which for- bid Congress to establish a religion, or to pass any law prohibiting freedom of speech or of the press. It op- posed the elder Adams and his party, because in their alien and sedition laws they proved themselves the ene- mies of free thought and free utterance ; and raised Thomas Jefferson to the presidential chair, because he was the unflinching friend of freedom of mind. It has always said with Milton, " Let truth and falsehood grap- ple. Who ever knew truth put to the worse in free and open encounter?" Her confuting is the best and surest suppressing. The democratic party is the Christian party. Chris- tianity is a revelation of God's mercy to man. It is al- ways on the side of freedom and humanity. It addresses man as endowed with the capacity to judge of himself what is or is not right. Democracy is based on the fact, that man does really possess this capacity. Christianity, by addressing itself to all men, necessarily recognizes this capacity in every man ; democracy, by defending universal suffrage, does the same. Christianity values man for his simple humanity, not for his trappings, the accidents of birth, wealth, or position ; so does demo- cracy. Christianity, aside from its design to fit the in- dividual for communion with the blest after death, seeks to introduce a new order of things on the earth, to exalt the humble, abash the proud, to establish the reign of justice, and enable every man to sit under his own vine and fig-tree, with none to molest or make afraid. The democratic party is the party of progress. This is involved in what has already been said. A party ga- thers round an idea or principle, which is its life, its soul. That idea it can never abandon, and live ; nor can it ever receive a new idea, without losing its identity. If left to itself, it will unfold, exhaust its idea ; and having done this, it dies. Thus, English whiggism, having ex- hausted its original idea, having found its euthanasia, in the " Reform Bill," has gone the way of all the earth, and is suffered to lie in state still, merely because neither tories nor radicals are prepared to assume the responsi- 36 432 THE TRUE AMERICAN. bility of heirs, and give it burial. The whigs in this country are demonstrating the same law. The idea around which they gather, is offensive to a majority of the American people. This the more discerning of our whig friends perceive, and, therefore, they would fain change the doctrines of the party. They have even tried to make it pass for the democratic party. Vain efforts ! They may change its name, receive into its ranks many who once thought themselves republicans, and submit to be led on by men, who once enjoyed the confidence of the democracy ; but nothing can change its character ; its identity remains ; and your Lincoln's, Selden's, Duane's, Verplank's, Talmadges, and Rives's, who gene- rously undertake to give it a democratic aspect, can change nothing in its principles or direction, but are themselves swept away by its resistless current. The mission of the democratic party is to unfold the great idea of justice, and reduce it to practice in all man's social and political relations. It stands, therefore, not as the representative of a fraction of the race, but of the race itself, and, therefore, like the race, it is immortal. This great idea of justice the party is destined to realize. From this work it cannot withdraw itself, if it would. Its leaders may be false to it, and seek to betray it ; but it leaves them by the way, and with or without new leaders, con- tinues its march. No matter how high a rank a man may have held in its estimation, the moment he proves false to the mission of the party, he is left, though leaving him be like plucking out a right eye, or cutting off a right hand. Nothing from within can betray it, or divert it from its onward course. Many of the most active mem- bers of the whig party were once in its ranks, but it has not missed them. It is never in want of a man compe- tent to lead on its forces, nor of an " available" candidate for its suffrages. A panic may now and then occur, and produce a momentary confusion, but it instantly recovers itself, re-establishes order, and takes up its line of march, ready to grapple with any force it may meet. Now as the party, according to the general laws of par- ty, must go on unfolding its idea, and as that idea is uni- versal and all-comprehensive, we say truly, that it is the , .-- ... . DEMOCRACY AND REFORM. party of progress. Justice is its idea, and this idea it must unfold, and this idea in its unfolding must reach all the reforms the friends of progress can desire. Progress is simply the better and fuller application of justice to our social and political relations. All the progress which in the very nature of things now can be, must come from the unfolding of the idea which constitutes the life and soul of the democratic party. Then as friends of pro- gress you should support that party, and contribute what you can to help it onward in the development and appli- cation of its general principles. Are you contending for universal education ? What principle will establish a true system of universal educa- tion, but that which declares the supremacy of man over money, and recognizes man in all his integrity in every individual man? Are you the advocate of the rights of woman ? How will you succeed but by appealing to the great principle of democracy, that right is paramount to might 1 Are you a non-resistant, a peace man ? What means have you to compass your ends, but by aiding the democracy to introduce the rule of justice into all public affairs? Are you an advocate of the working-man, anx- ious to secure to honest industry its due reward, and to the laborer his true social position ? You must do it by means of that party which struggles to raise up universal humanity, to abolish all privilege, and to place the govern- ment in the hands of MAN, instead of MONEY. Are you an abolitionist, and would you free the slave ? What party puts forth general principles which in their gradual unfolding must break every unjust bond, and set every captive free ? The day of emancipation is not yet. It were useless to emancipate the slave to-day, because we should be merely changing the form, not the substance, of his slavery. But the democratic party puts forth prin- ciples, which must, in the end, abolish slavery, and do it too at the very day, the very hour, when it can be done with advantage to the cause of freedom and justice. Sla- very is doomed ; man will not always tyrannize over man. There are causes at work which will free the slave, and free him too, with the consent and joy of his master. Let these causes work on, and do not murmur because their 434 THE TRUE AMERICAN. full effects are not realised to-day. God doubtless could have made the world in one day, but \ve are told that he chose to employ six days in creating it. The seed is not sown, and the corn harvested the same day. Be sure that you have principles in operation that will effect your work, and you may retain your composure. The democratic party embraces the idea of universal freedom to universal man, and it will realise this idea, just as fast as we can urge onward the general progress of humanity, and no faster. We have now given some of the reasons why reform- ers should sustain the democratic party. That party em- braces the general principles of liberty, of progress, which include within them, as the oak is included in the acorn, all possible reforms. It represents to-day in this western world, entire humanity, and as such has a right to demand the hearty co-operation of every true friend of his race. PROSPECTS OF THE DEMOCRACY. THE whig party, which we have been in the habit of regarding as the legitimate heir of the old federal party, modified merely to meet the new questions which have come up, has not been willing to rest its claims on the fact of its being the continuation of that party, but it has called itself democratic, and challenged success on the ground of being more democratic than the democratic party itself. Why has it done this, if not from the con- viction that democracy is the dominant faith of the coun- try, and that all open and avowed opposition to it must be unavailing ? In doing this, has it not said that its success must be proportionate to the belief it can produce that it is the real democratic party ? that to conquer, it must steal the democratic thunder, and swear that it is whig property 1 It is a proof that the American people are soond at the core, and that nothing is necessary to PROSPECTS OP THE DEMOCRACY. 425 carry any measure but to make it be seen to be a truly democratic measure. The true democratic party always relies with a firm faith on principle. It is conscious of its own rectitude, that its cause is the cause of truth and justice ; and it knows the people are with it ; that the prayers of all good men, the world over, are for it ; and that Heaven with all its omnipotence, stands pledged to give it suc- cess. In prosperity it is not elated ; in adversity it does not despond ; but ever keeps on the even tenor of its way, with a serene brow and a tranquil pulse. It con- fides too firmly in the power of truth and justice to ever resort to artifice for its success. Calmly, but distinctly, it proclaims its great doctrines, which are always the in- tuitions of the Universal Reason, and doubts not that in due time those doctrines will embody themselves in insti- tutions, and diffuse their fragrance over the whole earth. This true democratic party, as it presents itself to us, is the true Movement Party of the country, forming the advanced guard of the grand army of progress, now dis- playing its plumes throughout the civilized world, and promising not to lay down its arms till man every where is free. It is the party of Liberty, of Humanity, and as such must commend itself to every friend of his race. If it fulfil its present promises, it will realize a truly demo- cratic society ; enlist religion, art, science, literature, philosophy on its side, and prove to the world that man can be really great and good only where the people are sovereign. In the states themselves, the party must be really and truly democratic. It must go for the whole people ; against all monopolies ; against all exclusive privileges ; against all aristocratic measures, and in favor of equal rights ; in favor of education, literature, art, and philoso- phy. It must plant itself on the primitive fact that all men are born essentially equal, and that there is something divine in every man. It must be ever on the side of freedom, sympathize with the oppressed, with all who are struggling for their rights. It must be high toned and moral ; confiding in the people, and still more in the im- mortal vigor of truth and justice. Then its triumph is 37 496 THE TUCE AMERICAN. certain, and will be a blessing to the country lo the world. Its success rests on the fact, that it rallies around a principle which is planted deep in the human heart, and in the triumph of which entire Humanity is interest- ed. The masses are moved only by great and everlasting principles, which touch every individual of the race. Parties, merely as parties, are nothing to the masses ; individuals, as simple individuals, are nothing to them. Show them that this or that man embodies in himself the cause of the millions, that in raising him to office the cause of the millions is secured, and then as the repre- sentative of a cause does he become of importance. No matter how great or how worthy a man is viewed, simply as an individual, the masses will not sustain him, and ought not to sustain him, unless he represents their cause. The contest for men is insignificant. Individuals are nothing, causes are every thing ; and the man who would stand at the head of his country, must be the impersona- tion of his country's cause. Parties, as such, again, are nothing, causes every thing. Let the standard of the masses be raised, the banner of Equality be unfurled, and distinctly seen to wave over the camp of the party, and the masses shall rally around that standard, joyously enrol themselves under that banner. Let there then be no thought about men, but let the whole energy of the soul be given to causes. Seize the right cause, and doubt not the right party will gather round you, with the right man at . its head. Ideas are omnipotent ; bring out the true idea, it will choose its leader, and organize its party. If the democratic party, so called, adhere to the democratic idea, if it continue to show that it has in its keeping, a sacred cause, a cause dear to Humanity, and which ought to prevail, it may rest assured of complete success. If it be asked, which of the two parties that now di- vide the country will succeed ? we answer, truth and jus- tice reign, and they have decreed that tin's shall be the land of freedom ; and the party which best represents the cause of freedom will triumph. The party which best represents this cause is, in our judgment, the party which calls itself democratic. Since it has fallen back on first WASHINGTON S OPINION OP PAPER MONEY. 42? principles, it has come into harmony with the mighty spirit of Freedom now agitating the world ; and we doubt not its success. Through it now speaks the voice of eternal principle, which is the voice of the people ; and the voice of the people is the voice of God ; and when God speaks, who dare deny that he will be heard and obeyed ? WASHINGTON'S OPINION OF PAPER MONEY, CONTAINED IN A LETTER TO T. STONE.* Mount Vernon, February 27, 1787. DEAR SIR, YOUR favor of the 30th ultimo came duly to hand. To give an opinion in a cause of so much importance as that, which has warmly agitated the two branches of your le- gislature, and which, from the appeal that is made, is likely to create great and perhaps dangerous divisions, is rather a delicate matter ; but, as this diversity of opinion is on a subject which has, I believe, occupied the minds of most men, and as my sentiments thereon have been fully and decidedly expressed long before the Assembly either of Maryland or this state was convened, I do not scruple to declare that, if I had a voice in your legisla- ture, it would have been given decidedly against a paper emission upon the general principles of its utility as a representative, and the necessity of it as a medium. To assign reasons for this opinion would be as unne- cessary as tedious. The ground has been so often trod, that a place hardly remains untouched. In a word, the necessity arising from a want of specie is represented as greater than it really is. I contend that it is by the sub- stance, not with the shadow of a thing, we are to be bene- fited. The wisdom of man, in my humble opinion, can- not at this time devise a plan by which the credit of paper ley would be long supported ; consequently deprecia * Member of the Senate of Maryland. 428 THE TRUB AMERICAN. tion keeps pace with the quantity of the emission, and articles, for which it is exchanged, rise in a greater ratio than the sinking value of the money. Wherein, then, is the farmer, the planter, the artisan benefited ? The debtor may be, because, as I have observed, he gives the shadow in lieu of the substance; and, in proportion to his gain, the creditor or the body politic suffers. Whe- ther it be a legal tender or not, it will, as has been ob- served very truly, leave no alternative. It must be that or nothing. An evil equally great is, the door it imme- diately opens for speculation, by which the least design- ing, and perhaps most valuable, part of the community are preyed upon by the more knowing and crafty specu- lators. But, contrary to my intention and declaration, I am offering reasons in support of my opinion ; reasons too, which of all others are least pleasing to the advocate for paper money. I shall therefore only observe generally, that so many people have suffered by former emissions, that, like a burnt child who dreads the fire, no person will touch it who can possibly avoid it. The natural conse- quence of which will be, that the specie, which remains unexportetf, will be instantly locked up. With great esteem and regard, I am, dear sir, &c. GEO. WASHINGTON F* tr. CL1 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. Series 9482 3 1205026553436 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FAC LITY ill Jlilll i ilili 1 M" : i i si