Speech Transcript:

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:
In communicating to you a just view of public affairs at the
commencement of your present labors, I do it with great satisfaction,
because, taking all circumstances into consideration which claim
attention, I see much cause to rejoice in the felicity of our
situation. In making this remark I do not wish to be understood to
imply that an unvaried prosperity is to be seen in every interest of
this great community. In the progress of a nation inhabiting a
territory of such vast extent and great variety of climate, every
portion of which is engaged in foreign commerce and liable to be
affected in some degree by the changes which occur in the condition
and regulations of foreign countries, it would be strange if the
produce of our soil and the industry and enterprise of our fellow
citizens received at all times and in every quarter an uniform and
equal encouragement. This would be more than we would have a right to
expect under circumstances the most favorable.

Pressures on certain interests, it is admitted, have been felt; but
allowing to these their greatest extent, they detract but little from
the force of the remarks already made. In forming a just estimate of
our present situation it is proper to look at the whole in the
outline as well as in the detail. A free, virtuous, and enlightened
people know well the great principles and causes on which their
happiness depends, and even those who suffer most occasionally in
their transitory concerns find great relief under their sufferings
from the blessings which they otherwise enjoy and in the consoling
and animating hope which they administer.

From whence do these pressures come? Not from a Government which is
founded by, administered for, and supported by the people. We trace
them to the peculiar character of the epoch in which we live, and to
the extraordinary occurrences which have signalized it. The
convulsions with which several of the powers of Europe have been
shaken and the long and destructive wars in which all were engaged,
with their sudden transition to a state of peace, presenting in the
1st instance unusual encouragement to our commerce and withdrawing it
in the second even within its wonted limit, could not fail to be
sensibly felt here. The station, too, which we had to support through
this long conflict, compelled as we were finally to become a party to
it with a principal power, and to make great exertions, suffer heavy
losses, and to contract considerable debts, disturbing the ordinary
course of affairs by augmenting to a vast amount the circulating
medium, and thereby elevating at one time the price of every article
above a just standard and depressing it at another below it, had
likewise its due effect.

It is manifest that the pressures of which we complain have proceeded
in a great measure from these causes. When, then, we take into view
the prosperous and happy condition of our country in all the great
circumstances which constitute the felicity of a nation - every
individual in the full enjoyment of all his rights, the Union blessed
with plenty and rapidly rising to greatness under a National
Government which operates with complete effect in every part without
being felt in any except by the ample protection which it affords,
and under State governments which perform their equal share,
according to a wise distribution of power between them, in promoting
the public happiness - it is impossible to behold so gratifying, so
glorious a spectacle without being penetrated with the most profound
and grateful acknowledgments to the Supreme Author of All Good for
such manifold and inestimable blessings.

Deeply impressed with these sentiments, I can not regard the
pressures to which I have adverted otherwise than in the light of
mild and instructive admonitions, warning us of dangers to be shunned
in future, teaching us lessons of economy corresponding with the
simplicity and purity of our institutions and best adapted to their
support, evincing the connection and dependence which the various
parts of our happy Union have on each other, thereby augmenting daily
our social incorporation and adding by its strong ties new strength
and vigor to the political; opening a wider range, and with new
encouragement, to the industry and enterprise of our fellow citizens
at home and abroad, and more especially by the multiplied proofs
which it has accumulated of the great perfection of our most
excellent system of Government, the powerful instrument in the hands
of our All-merciful Creator in securing to us these blessings.

Happy as our situation is, it does not exempt us from solicitude and
care for the future. On the contrary, as the blessings which we enjoy
are great, proportionably great should be our vigilance, zeal, and
activity to preserve them. Foreign wars may again expose us to new
wrongs, which would impose on us new duties for which we ought to be
prepared. The state of Europe is unsettled, and how long peace may be
preserved is altogether uncertain; in addition to which we have
interests of our own to adjust which will require particular
attention. A correct view of our relations with each power will
enable you to form a just idea of existing difficulties, and of the
measures of precaution best adapted to them.

Respecting our relations with Spain nothing explicit can now be
communicated. On the adjournment of Congress in May last the minister
plenipotentiary of the United States at Madrid was instructed to
inform the Government of Spain that if His Catholic Majesty should
then ratify the treaty this Government would accept the ratification
so far as to submit to the decision of the Senate the question
whether such ratification should be received in exchange for that of
the United States heretofore given.

By letters from the minister of the United States to the Secretary of
State it appears that a communication in conformity with his
instructions had been made to the Government of Spain, and that the
Cortes had the subject under consideration. The result of the
deliberations of that body, which is daily expected, will be made
known to Congress as soon as it is received. The friendly sentiment
which was expressed on the part of the United States in the message
of the 9th of May last is still entertained for Spain.

Among the causes of regret, however, which are inseparable from the
delay attending this transaction it is proper to state that
satisfactory information has been received that measures have been
recently adopted by designing persons to convert certain parts of the
Province of East Florida into depots for the reception of foreign
goods, from whence to smuggle them into the United States. By opening
a port within the limits of Florida, immediately on our boundary where
there was no settlement, the object could not be misunderstood. An
early accommodation of differences will, it is hoped, prevent all
such fraudulent and pernicious practices, and place the relations of
the two countries on a very amicable and permanent basis.

The commercial relations between the United States and the British
colonies in the West Indies and on this continent have undergone no
change, the British Government still preferring to leave that
commerce under the restriction heretofore imposed on it on each side.
It is satisfactory to recollect that the restraints resorted to by the
United States were defensive only, intended to prevent a monopoly
under British regulations in favor of Great Britain, as it likewise
is to know that the experiment is advancing in a spirit of amity
between the parties.

The question depending between the United States and Great Britain
respecting the construction of the first article of the treaty of
Ghent has been referred by both Governments to the decision of the
Emperor of Russia, who has accepted the umpirage.

An attempt has been made with the Government of France to regulate by
treaty the commerce between the two countries on the principle of
reciprocity and equality. By the last communication from the minister
plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris, to whom full power had
been given, we learn that the negotiation has been commenced there;
but serious difficulties having occurred, the French Government had
resolved to transfer it to the United States, for which purpose the
minister plenipotentiary of France had been ordered to repair to this
city, and whose arrival might soon be expected. It is hoped that this
important interest may be arranged on just conditions and in a manner
equally satisfactory to both parties. It is submitted to Congress to
decide, until such arrangement is made, how far it may be proper, on
the principle of the act of the last session which augmented the
tonnage duty on French vessels, to adopt other measures for carrying
more completely into effect the policy of that act.

The act referred to, which imposed new tonnage on French vessels,
having been in force from and after the first day of July, it has
happened that several vessels of that nation which had been
dispatched from France before its existence was known have entered
the ports of the United States, and been subject to its operation,
without that previous notice which the general spirit of our laws
gives to individuals in similar cases. The object of that law having
been merely to countervail the inequalities which existed to the
disadvantage of the United States in their commercial intercourse
with France, it is submitted also to the consideration of Congress
whether, in the spirit of amity and conciliation which it is no less
the inclination than the policy of the United States to preserve in
their intercourse with other powers, it may not be proper to extend
relief to the individuals interested in those cases by exempting from
the operation of the law all those vessels which have entered our
ports without having had the means of previously knowing the
existence of the additional duty.

The contest between Spain and the colonies, according to the most
authentic information, is maintained by the latter with improved
success. The unfortunate divisions which were known to exist some
time since at Buenos Ayres it is understood still prevail. In no part
of South America has Spain made any impression on the colonies, while
in many parts, and particularly in Venezuela and New Grenada, the
colonies have gained strength and acquired reputation, both for the
management of the war in which they have been successful and for the
order of the internal administration.

The late change in the Government of Spain, by the reestablishment of
the constitution of 1812, is an event which promises to be favorable
to the revolution. Under the authority of the Cortes the Congress of
Angostura was invited to open a negotiation for the settlement of
differences between the parties, to which it was replied that they
would willingly open the negotiation provided the acknowledgment of
their independence was made its basis, but not otherwise.

No facts are known to this Government to warrant the belief that any
of the powers of Europe will take part in the contest, whence it may
be inferred, considering all circumstances which must have weight in
producing the result, that an adjustment will finally take place on
the basis proposed by the colonies. To promote that result by
friendly counsels with other powers, including Spain herself, has
been the uniform policy of this Government.

In looking to the internal concerns of our country you will, I am
persuaded, derive much satisfaction from a view of the several
objects to which, in the discharge of your official duties, your
attention will be drawn. Among these none holds a more important
place than the public revenue, from the direct operation of the power
by which it is raised on the people, and by its influence in giving
effect to every other power of the Government. The revenue depends on
the resources of the country, and the facility by which the amount
required is raised is a strong proof of the extent of the resources
and of the efficiency of the Government.

A few prominent facts will place this great interest in a just light
before you. On [1815-09-30], the funded and floating debt of the
United States was estimated at $119,635,558. If to this sum be added
the amount of 5% stock subscribed to the Bank of the United States,
the amount of Mississippi stock and of the stock which was issued
subsequently to that date, and as afterwards liquidated, to
$158,713,049.

On [1820-09-30], it amounted to $91,993,883, having been reduced in
that interval by payments $66,879,165. During this term the expenses
of the Government of the United States were likewise defrayed in
every branch of the civil, military, and naval establishments; the
public edifices in this city have been rebuilt with considerable
additions; extensive fortifications have been commenced, and are in a
train of execution; permanent arsenals and magazines have been erected
in various parts of the Union; our Navy has been considerably
augmented, and the ordnance, munitions of war, and stores of the Army
and Navy, which were much exhausted during the war, have been
replenished.

By the discharge of so large a proportion of the public debt and the
execution of such extensive and important operations in so short a
time a just estimate may be formed of the great extent of our
national resources. The demonstration is the more complete and
gratifying when it is recollected that the direct tax and excise were
repealed soon after the termination of the late war, and that the
revenue applied to these purposes has been derived almost wholly from
other sources.

The receipts into the Treasury from every source to the 30th of
September last have amounted to $16,794,107.66, whilst the public
expenditures to the same period amounted to $16,871,534.72, leaving
in the Treasury on that day a sum estimated at $1.95M. for the
probable receipts of the following year I refer you to the statement
which will be transmitted from the Treasury.

The sum of $3M authorized to be raised by loan by an act of the last
session of Congress has been obtained upon terms advantageous to the
Government, indicating not only an increased confidence in the faith
of the nation, but the existence of a large amount of capital seeking
that mode of investment at a rate of interest not exceeding 5% per
annum.

It is proper to add that there is now due to the Treasury for the
sale of public lands $22,996,545. In bringing this subject to view I
consider it my duty to submit to Congress whether it may not be
advisable to extend to the purchasers of these lands, in
consideration of the unfavorable change which has occurred since the
sales, a reasonable indulgence. It is known that the purchases were
made when the price of every article had risen to its greatest
height, and the installments are becoming due at a period of great
depression. It is presumed that some plan may be devised by the
wisdom of Congress, compatible with the public interest, which would
afford great relief to these purchasers.

Considerable progress has been made during the present season in
examining the coast and its various bays and other inlets, in the
collection of materials, and in the construction of fortifications
for the defense of the Union at several of the positions at which it
has been decided to erect such works. At Mobile Point and Dauphin
Island, and at the Rigolets, leading to Lake Pontchartrain, materials
to a considerable amount have been collected, and all the necessary
preparations made for the commencement of the works. At Old Point
Comfort, at the mouth of the James River, and at the Rip-Rap, on the
opposite shore in the Chesapeake Bay, materials to a vast amount have
been collected; and at the Old Point some progress has been made in
the construction of the fortification, which is on a very extensive
scale. The work at Fort Washington, on this river, will be completed
early in the next spring, and that on the Pea Patch, in the Delaware,
in the course of the next season. Fort Diamond, at the Narrows, in the
harbor of NY, will be finished this year. The works at Boston, NY,
Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, and Niagara have been in part
repaired, and the coast of NC, extending south to Cape Fear, has been
examined, as have likewise other parts of the coast eastward of
Boston.

Great exertions have been made to push forward these works with the
utmost dispatch possible; but when their extent is considered, with
the important purposes for which they are intended - the defense of
the whole coast, and, in consequence, of the whole interior - and
that they are to last for ages, it will be manifest that a well-
digested plan, founded on military principles, connecting the whole
together, combining security with economy, could not be prepared
without repeated examinations of the most exposed and difficult
parts, and that it would also take considerable time to collect the
materials at the several points where they would be required.

From all the light that has been shed on this subject I am satisfied
that every favorable anticipation which has been formed of this great
undertaking will be verified, and that when completed it will afford
very great if not complete protection to our Atlantic frontier in the
event of another war - protection sufficient to counterbalance in a
single campaign with an enemy powerful at sea the expense of all
these works, without taking into the estimate the saving of the lives
of so many of our citizens, the protection of our towns and other
property, or the tendency of such works to prevent war.

Our military positions have been maintained at Belle Point, on the
Arkansas, at Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, at St. Peters, on the
Mississippi, and at Green Bay, on the upper Lakes. Commodious
barracks have already been erected at most of these posts, with such
works as were necessary for their defense. Progress has also been
made in opening communications between them and in raising supplies
at each for the support of the troops by their own labor,
particularly those most remote.

With the Indians peace has been preserved and a progress made in
carrying into effect the act of Congress making an appropriation for
their civilization, with the prospect of favorable results. As
connected equally with both these objects, our trade with those
tribes is thought to merit the attention of Congress.

In their original state game is their sustenance and war their
occupation, and if they find no employment from civilized powers they
destroy each other. Left to themselves their extirpation is
inevitable.

By a judicious regulation of our trade with them we supply their
wants, administer to their comforts, and gradually, as the game
retires, draw them to us. By maintaining posts far in the interior we
acquire a more thorough and direct control over them, without which it
is confidently believed that a complete change in their manners can
never be accomplished. By such posts, aided by a proper regulation of
our trade with them and a judicious civil administration over them, to
be provided for by law, we shall, it is presumed, be enabled not only
to protect our own settlements from their savage incursions and
preserve peace among the several tribes, but accomplish also the
great purpose of their civilization.

Considerable progress has also been made in the construction of ships
of war, some of which have been launched in the course of the present
year.

Our peace with the powers on the coast of Barbary has been preserved,
but we owe it altogether to the presence of our squadron in the
Mediterranean. It has been found equally necessary to employ some of
our vessels for the protection of our commerce in the Indian Sea, the
Pacific, and along the Atlantic coast. The interests which we have
depending in those quarters, which have been much improved of late,
are of great extent and of high importance to the nation as well as
to the parties concerned, and would undoubtedly suffer if such
protection was not extended to them. In execution of the law of the
last session for the suppression of the slave trade some of our
public ships have also been employed on the coast of Africa, where
several captures have already been made of vessels engaged in that
disgraceful traffic.