Speech Transcript:

Fellow Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:

It gives me pleasure to congratulate you upon your return to the seat
of Government for the purpose of discharging your duties to the people
of the United States. Although the pestilence which had traversed the
Old World has entered our limits and extended its ravages over much
of our land, it has pleased Almighty God to mitigate its severity and
lessen the number of its victims compared with those who have fallen
in most other countries over which it has spread its terrors. Not
with standing this visitation, our country presents on every side
marks of prosperity and happiness unequaled, perhaps, in any other
portion of the world. If we fully appreciate our comparative
condition, existing causes of discontent will appear unworthy of
attention, and, with hearts of thankfulness to that divine Being who
has filled our cup of prosperity, we shall feel our resolution
strengthened to preserve and hand down to our posterity that liberty
and that union which we have received from our fathers, and which
constitute the sources and the shield of all our blessings.

The relations of our country continue to present the same picture of
amicable intercourse that I had the satisfaction to hold up to your
view at the opening of your last session. The same friendly
professions, the same desire to participate in our flourishing
commerce, the same dispositions, evinced by all nations with whom we
have any intercourse. This desirable state of things may be mainly
ascribed to our undeviating practice of the rule which has long
guided our national policy, to require no exclusive privileges in
commerce and to grant none. It is daily producing its beneficial
effect in the respect shown to our flag, the protection of our
citizens and their property abroad, and in the increase of our
navigation and the extension of our mercantile operations. The
returns which have been made out since we last met will show an
increase during the last preceding year of more than 80K tons in our
shipping and of near $40,000,000 in the aggregate of our imports and
exports.

Nor have we less reason to felicitate ourselves on the position of
our political than of our commercial concerns. They remain in the
state in which they were when I last addressed you -- a state of
prosperity and peace, the effect of a wise attention to the parting
advice of the revered Father of his Country on this subject,
condensed into a maxim for the use of posterity by one of his most
distinguished successors -- to cultivate free commerce and honest
friendship with all nations, but to make entangling alliances with
none. A strict adherence to this policy has kept us aloof from the
perplexing questions that now agitate the European world and have
more than once deluged those countries with blood. Should those
scenes unfortunately recur, the parties to the contest may count on a
faithful performance of the duties incumbent on us as a neutral
nation, and our own citizens may equally rely on the firm assertion
of their neutral rights.

With the nation that was our earliest friend and ally in the infancy
of our political existence the most friendly relations have subsisted
through the late revolutions of its Government, and, from the events
of the last, promise a permanent duration. It has made an
approximation in some of its political institutions to our own, and
raised a monarch to the throne who preserves, it is said, a friendly
recollection of the period during which he acquired among our
citizens the high consideration that could then have been produced by
his personal qualifications alone.

Our commerce with that nation is gradually assuming a mutually
beneficial character, and the adjustment of the claims of our
citizens has removed the only obstacle there was to an intercourse
not only lucrative, but productive of literary and scientific
improvement.

From Great Britain I have the satisfaction to inform you that I
continue to receive assurances of the most amicable disposition,
which have on my part on all proper occasions been promptly and
sincerely reciprocated. The attention of that Government has latterly
been so much engrossed by matters of a deeply interesting domestic
character that we could not press upon it the renewal of negotiations
which had been unfortunately broken off by the unexpected recall of
our minister, who had commenced them with some hopes of success. My
great object was the settlement of questions which, though now
dormant, might here-after be revived under circumstances that would
endanger the good understanding which it is the interest of both
parties to preserve inviolate, cemented as it is by a community of
language, manners, and social habits, and by the high obligations we
owe to our British ancestors for many of our most valuable
institutions and for that system of representative government which
has enabled us to preserve and improve them.

The question of our North-East boundary still remains unsettled. In
my last annual message I explained to you the situation in which I
found that business on my coming into office, and the measures I
thought it my duty to pursue for asserting the rights of the United
States before the sovereign who had been chosen by my predecessor to
determine the question, and also the manner in which he had disposed
of it. A special message to the Senate in their executive capacity
afterwards brought before them to the question whether they would
advise a submission to the opinion of the sovereign arbiter. That
body having considered the award as not obligatory and advised me to
open a further negotiation, the proposition was immediately made to
the British Government, but the circumstances to which I have alluded
have hitherto prevented any answer being given to the overture. Early
attention, however, has been promised to the subject, and every
effort on my part will be made for a satisfactory settlement of this
question, interesting to the Union generally, and particularly so to
one of its members.

The claims of our citizens on Spain are not yet acknowledged. On a
closer investigation of them than appears to have heretofore taken
place it was discovered that some of these demands, however strong
they might be upon the equity of that Government, were not such as
could be made the subject of national interference; and faithful to
the principle of asking nothing but what was clearly right,
additional instructions have been sent to modify our demands so as to
embrace those only on which, according to the laws of nations, we had
a strict right to insist. An inevitable delay in procuring the
documents necessary for this review of the merits of these claims
retarded this operation until an unfortunate malady which has
afflicted His Catholic Majesty prevented an examination of them.
Being now for the first time presented in an unexceptionable form, it
is confidently hoped that the application will be successful.

I have the satisfaction to inform you that the application I directed
to be made for the delivery of a part of the archives of Florida,
which had been carried to The Havannah, has produced a royal order
for their delivery, and that measures have been taken to procure its
execution.

By the report of the Secretary of State communicated to you on
[1832-06-25] you were informed of the conditional reduction obtained
by the minister of the United States at Madrid of the duties on
tonnage levied on American shipping in the ports of Spain. The
condition of that reduction having been complied with on our part by
the act passed [1832-07-13], I have the satisfaction to inform you
that our ships now pay no higher nor other duties in the continental
ports of Spain than are levied on their national vessels.

The demands against Portugal for illegal captures in the blockade of
Terceira have been allowed to the full amount of the accounts
presented by the claimants, and payment was promised to be made in
three installments. The first of these has been paid; the second,
although due, had not at the date of our last advices been received,
owing, it was alleged, to embarrassments in the finances consequent
on the civil war in which that nation is engaged.

The payments stipulated by the convention with Denmark have been
punctually made, and the amount is ready for distribution among the
claimants as soon as the board, now sitting, shall have performed
their functions.

I regret that by the last advices from our chargé d'affaires at
Naples that Government had still delayed the satisfaction due to our
citizens, but at that date the effect of the last instructions was
not known. Dispatches from thence are hourly expected, and the result
will be communicated to you without delay.

With the rest of Europe our relations, political and commercial,
remain unchanged. Negotiations are going on to put on a permanent
basis the liberal system of commerce now carried on between us and
the Empire of Russia. The treaty concluded with Austria is executed
by His Imperial Majesty with the most perfect good faith, and as we
have no diplomatic agent at his Court he personally inquired into and
corrected a proceeding of some of his subaltern officers to the injury
of our consul in one of his ports.

Our treaty with the Sublime Porte is producing its expected effects
on our commerce. New markets are opening for our commodities and a
more extensive range for the employment of our ships. A slight
augmentation of the duties on our commerce, inconsistent with the
spirit of the treaty, had been imposed, but on the representation of
our chargé d'affaires it has been promptly withdrawn, and we now
enjoy the trade and navigation of the Black Sea and of all the ports
belonging to the Turkish Empire and Asia on the most perfect equality
with all foreign nations.

I wish earnestly that in announcing to you the continuance of
friendship and the increase of a profitable commercial intercourse
with Mexico, with Central America, and the States of the South I
could accompany it with the assurance that they all are blessed with
that internal tranquillity and foreign peace which their heroic
devotion to the cause of their independence merits. In Mexico a
sanguinary struggle is now carried on, which has caused some
embarrassment to our commerce, but both parties profess the most
friendly disposition toward us. To the termination of this contest we
look for the establishment of that secure intercourse so necessary to
nations whose territories are contiguous. How important it will be to
us we may calculate from the fact that even in this unfavorable state
of things our maritime commerce has increased, and an internal trade
by caravans from St. Louis to Santa Fe, under the protection of
escorts furnished by the Government, is carried on to great advantage
and is daily increasing. The agents provided for by the treaty, with
this power to designate the boundaries which it established, have
been named on our part, but one of the evils of the civil war now
raging there has been that the appointment of those with whom they
were to cooperate has not yet been announced to us.

The Government of Central America has expelled from its territory the
party which some time since disturbed its peace. Desirous of fostering
a favorable disposition toward us, which has on more than one occasion
been evinced by this interesting country, I made a second attempt in
this year to establish a diplomatic intercourse with them; but the
death of the distinguished citizen whom I had appointed for that
purpose has retarded the execution of measures from which I hoped
much advantage to our commerce. The union of the three States which
formed the Republic of Colombia has been dissolved, but they all, it
is believed, consider themselves as separately bound by the treaty
which was made in their federal capacity. The minister accredited to
the federation continues in that character near the Government of New
Grenada, and hopes were entertained that a new union would be formed
between the separate States, at least for the purposes of foreign
intercourse. Our minister has been instructed to use his good
offices, when ever they shall be desired, to produce the reunion so
much to be wished for, the domestic tranquillity of the parties, and
the security and facility of foreign commerce.

Some agitations naturally attendant on an infant reign have prevailed
in the Empire of Brazil, which have had the usual effect upon
commercial operations, and while they suspended the consideration of
claims created on similar occasions, they have given rise to new
complaints on the part of our citizens. A proper consideration for
calamities and difficulties of this nature has made us less urgent
and peremptory in our demands for justice than duty to our fellow
citizens would under other circumstances have required. But their
claims are not neglected, and will on all proper occasions be urged,
and it is hoped with effect.

I refrain from making any communication on the subject of our affairs
with Buenos Ayres, because the negotiation communicated to you in my
last annual message was at the date of our last advices still pending
and in a state that would render a publication of the details
inexpedient.

A treaty of amity and commerce has been formed with the Republic of
Chili, which, if approved by the Senate, will be laid before you.
That Government seems to be established, and at peace with its
neighbors; and its ports being the resorts of our ships which are
employed in the highly important trade of the fisheries, this
commercial convention can not but be of great advantage to our fellow
citizens engaged in that perilous but profitable business.

Our commerce with the neighboring State of Peru, owing to the onerous
duties levied on our principal articles of export, has been on the
decline, and all endeavors to procure an alteration have hitherto
proved fruitless. With Bolivia we have yet no diplomatic intercourse,
and the continual contests carried on between it and Peru have made me
defer until a more favorable period the appointment of any agent for
that purpose.

An act of atrocious piracy having been committed on one of our
trading ships by the inhabitants of a settlement on the west coast of
Sumatra, a frigate was dispatched with orders to demand satisfaction
for the injury if those who committed it should be found to be
members of a regular government, capable of maintaining the usual
relations with foreign nations; but if, as it was supposed and as
they proved to be, they were a band of lawless pirates, to inflict
such a chastisement as would deter them and others from like
aggressions. This last was done, and the effect has been an increased
respect for our flag in those distant seas and additional security for
our commerce.

In the view I have given of our connection with foreign powers
allusions have been made to their domestic disturbances or foreign
wars, to their revolutions or dissensions. It may be proper to
observe that this is done solely in cases where those events affect
our political relations with them, or to show their operation on our
commerce. Further than this it is neither our policy nor our right to
interfere. Our best wishes on all occasions, our good offices when
required, will be afforded to promote the domestic tranquillity and
foreign peace of all nations with whom we have any intercourse. Any
intervention in their affairs further than this, even by the
expression of an official opinion, is contrary to our principles of
international policy, and will always be avoided.

The report which the Secretary of the Treasury will in due time lay
before you will exhibit the national finances in a highly prosperous
state. Owing to the continued success of our commercial enterprise,
which has enabled the merchants to fulfill their engagements with the
Government, the receipts from customs during the year will exceed the
estimate presented at the last session, and with the other means of
the Treasury will prove fully adequate not only to meet the increased
expenditures resulting from the large appropriations made by Congress,
but to provide for the payment of all the public debt which is at
present redeemable.

It is now estimated that the customs will yield to the Treasury
during the present year upward of $28,000,000. The public lands,
however, have proved less productive than was anticipated, and
according to present information will not much exceed $2,000,000. The
expenditures for all objects other than the public debt are estimated
to amount during the year to about $16,500,000, while a still larger
sum, viz, $18,000,000, will have been applied to the principal and
interest of the public debt.

It is expected, however, that in consequence of the reduced rates of
duty which will take effect after [1833-03-03] there will be a
considerable falling off in the revenue from customs in the year
1833. It will never the less be amply sufficient to provide for all
the wants of the public service, estimated even upon a liberal scale,
and for the redemption and purchase of the remainder of the public
debt. On [1833-01-01] the entire public debt of the United States,
funded and unfunded, will be reduced to within a fraction of
$7,000,000, of which $2,227,363 are not of right redeemable until
[1834-01-01] and $4,735,296 not until [1835-01-02]. The commissioners
of the sinking funds, however, being invested with full authority to
purchase the debt at the market price, and the means of the Treasury
being ample, it may be hoped that the whole will be extinguished
within the year 1833.

I can not too cordially congratulate Congress and my fellow citizens
on the near approach of that memorable and happy event -- the
extinction of the public debt of this great and free nation.

Faithful to the wise and patriotic policy marked out by the
legislation of the country for this object, the present
Administration has devoted to it all the means which a flourishing
commerce has supplied and a prudent economy preserved for the public
Treasury. Within the four years for which the people have confided
the Executive power to my charge $58,000,000 will have been applied
to the payment of the public debt. That this has been accomplished
without stinting the expenditures for all other proper objects will
be seen by referring to the liberal provision made during the same
period for the support and increase of our means of maritime and
military defense, for internal improvements of a national character,
for the removal and preservation of the Indians, and, lastly, for the
gallant veterans of the Revolution.

The final removal of this great burthen from our resources affords
the means of further provision for all the objects of general welfare
and public defense which the Constitution authorizes, and presents the
occasion for such further reductions in the revenue as may not be
required for them. From the report of the Secretary of the Treasury
it will be seen that after the present year such a reduction may be
made to a considerable extent, and the subject is earnestly
recommended to the consideration of Congress in the hope that the
combined wisdom of the representatives of the people will devise such
means of effecting that salutary object as may remove those burthens
which shall be found to fall unequally upon any and as may promote
all the great interests of the community.

Long and patient reflection has strengthened the opinions I have
heretofore expressed to Congress on this subject, and I deem it my
duty on the present occasion again to urge them upon the attention of
the Legislature. The soundest maxims of public policy and the
principals upon which our republican institutions are founded
recommend a proper adaptation of the revenue to the expenditure, and
they also require that the expenditure shall be limited to what, by
an economical administration, shall be consistent with the simplicity
of the Government and necessary to an efficient public service.

In effecting this adjustment it is due, in justice to the interests
of the different States, and even to the preservation of the Union
itself, that the protection afforded by existing laws to any branches
of the national industry should not exceed what may be necessary to
counteract the regulations of foreign nations and to secure a supply
of those articles of manufacture essential to the national
independence and safety in time of war. If upon investigation it
shall be found, as it is believed it will be, that the legislative
protection granted to any particular interest is greater than is
indispensably requisite for these objects, I recommend that it be
gradually diminished, and that as far as may be consistent with these
objects the whole scheme of duties be reduced to the revenue standard
as soon as a just regard to the faith of the Government and to the
preservation of the large capital invested in establishments of
domestic industry will permit.

That manufactures adequate to the supply of our domestic consumption
would in the abstract be beneficial to our country there is no reason
to doubt, and to effect their establishment there is perhaps no
American citizen who would not for a while be willing to pay a higher
price for them. But for this purpose it is presumed that a tariff of
high duties, designed for perpetual protection, which they maintain
has the effect to reduce the price by domestic competition below that
of the foreign article. Experience, however, our best guide on this as
on other subjects, makes it doubtful whether the advantages of this
system are not counter-balanced by many evils, and whether it does
not tend to beget in the minds of a large portion of our country-men
a spirit of discontent and jealousy dangerous to the stability of the
Union.

What, then, shall be done? Large interests have grown up under the
implied pledge of our national legislation, which it would seem a
violation of public faith suddenly to abandon. Nothing could justify
it but the public safety, which is the supreme law. But those who
have vested their capital in manufacturing establishments can not
expect that the people will continue permanently to pay high taxes
for their benefit, when the money is not required for any legitimate
purpose in the administration of the Government. Is it not enough
that the high duties have been paid as long as the money arising from
them could be applied to the common benefit in the extinguishment of
the public debt?

Those who take an enlarged view of the condition of our country must
be satisfied that the policy of protection must be ultimately limited
to those articles of domestic manufacture which are indispensable to
our safety in time of war. Within this scope, on a reasonable scale,
it is recommended by every consideration of patriotism and duty,
which will doubtless always secure to it a liberal and efficient
support. But beyond this object we have already seen the operation of
the system productive of discontent. In some sections of the Republic
its influence is deprecated as tending to concentrate wealth into a
few hands, and as creating those germs of dependence and vice which
in other countries have characterized the existence of monopolies and
proved so destructive of liberty and the general good. A large portion
of the people in one section of the Republic declares it not only
inexpedient on these grounds, but as disturbing the equal relations
of property by legislation, and therefore unconstitutional and
unjust.

Doubtless these effects are in a great degree exaggerated, and may be
ascribed to a mistaken view of the considerations which led to the
adoption of the tariff system; but they are never the less important
in enabling us to review the subject with a more thorough knowledge
of all its bearings upon the great interests of the Republic, and
with a determination to dispose of it so that none can with justice
complain.

It is my painful duty to state that in one quarter of the United
States opposition to the revenue laws has arisen to a height which
threatens to thwart their execution, if not to endanger the integrity
of the Union. What ever obstructions may be thrown in the way of the
judicial authorities of the General Government, it is hoped they will
be able peaceably to overcome them by the prudence of their own
officers and the patriotism of the people. But should this reasonable
reliance on the moderation and good sense of all portions of our
fellow citizens be disappointed, it is believed that the laws
themselves are fully adequate to the suppression of such attempts as
may be immediately made. Should the exigency arise rendering the
execution of the existing laws impracticable from any cause what
ever, prompt notice of it will be given to Congress, with a
suggestion of such views and measures as may be deemed necessary to
meet it.

In conformity with principles heretofore explained, and with the hope
of reducing the General Government to that simple machine which the
Constitution created and of withdrawing from the States all other
influence than that of its universal beneficence in preserving peace,
affording an uniform currency, maintaining the inviolability of
contracts, diffusing intelligence, and discharging unfelt its other
super-intending functions, I recommend that provision be made to
dispose of all stocks now held by it in corporations, whether created
by the General or State Governments, and placing the proceeds in the
Treasury. As a source of profit these stocks are of little or no
value; as a means of influence among the States they are adverse to
the purity of our institutions. The whole principle on which they are
based is deemed by many unconstitutional, and to persist in the policy
which they indicate is considered wholly inexpedient.

It is my duty to acquaint you with an arrangement made by the Bank of
the United States with a portion of the holders of the 3% stock, by
which the Government will be deprived of the use of the public funds
longer than was anticipated. By this arrangement, which will be
particularly explained by the Secretary of the Treasury, a surrender
of the certificates of this stock may be postponed until [1833
October], and thus may be continued by the failure of the bank to
perform its duties.

Such measures as are within the reach of the Secretary of the
Treasury have been taken to enable him to judge whether the public
deposits in that institution may be regarded as entirely safe; but as
his limited power may prove inadequate to this object, I recommend the
subject to the attention of Congress, under the firm belief that it is
worthy of their serious investigation. An inquiry into the
transactions of the institution, embracing the branches as well as
the principal bank, seems called for by the credit which is given
throughout the country to many serious charges impeaching its
character, and which if true may justly excite the apprehension that
it is no longer a safe depository of the money of the people.

Among the interests which merit the consideration of Congress after
the payment of the public debt, one of the most important, in my
view, is that of the public lands. Previous to the formation of our
present Constitution it was recommended by Congress that a portion of
the waste lands owned by the States should be ceded to the United
States for the purposes of general harmony and as a fund to meet the
expenses of the war. The recommendation was adopted, and at different
periods of time the States of Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, North
and South Carolina, and Georgia granted their vacant soil for the uses
for which they had been asked. As the lands may now be considered as
relieved from this pledge, it is in the discretion of Congress to
dispose of them in such way as best to conduce to the quiet, harmony,
and general interest of the American people. In examining this
question all local and sectional feelings should be discarded and the
whole United States regarded as one people, interested alike in the
prosperity of their common country.

It can not be doubted that the speedy settlement of these lands
constitutes the true interest of the Republic. The wealth and
strength of a country are its population, and the best part of that
population are cultivators of the soil. Independent farmers are every
where the basis of society and true friends of liberty.

In addition to these considerations questions have already arisen,
and may be expected hereafter to grow out of the public lands, which
involve the rights of the new States and the powers of the General
Government, and unless a liberal policy be now adopted there is
danger that these questions may speedily assume an importance not now
generally anticipated. The influence of a great sectional interest,
when brought into full action, will be found more dangerous to the
harmony and union of the States than any other cause of discontent,
and it is the part of wisdom and sound policy to foresee its
approaches and endeavor if possible to counteract them.

Of the various schemes which have been hitherto proposed in regard to
the disposal of the public lands, none has yet received the entire
approbation of the National Legislature. Deeply impressed with the
importance of a speedy and satisfactory arrangement of the subject, I
deem it my duty on this occasion to urge it upon your consideration,
and to the propositions which have been heretofore suggested by
others to contribute those reflections which have occurred to me, in
the hope that they may assist you in your future deliberations.

It seems to me to be our policy that the public lands shall cease as
soon as practicable to be a source of revenue, and that they be sold
to settlers in limited parcels at a price barely sufficient to
reimburse to the United States the expense of the present system and
the cost arising under our Indian compacts. The advantages of
accurate surveys and undoubted titles now secured to purchasers seem
to forbid the abolition of the present system, because none can be
substituted which will more perfectly accomplish these important
ends. It is desirable, however, that in convenient time this
machinery be withdrawn from the States, and that the right of soil
and the future disposition of it be surrendered to the States
respectively in which it lies.

The adventurous and hardy population of the West, besides
contributing their equal share of taxation under our impost system,
have in the progress of our Government, for the lands they occupy,
paid into the Treasury a large proportion of $40,000,000, and of the
revenue received therefrom but a small part has been expended among
them. When to the disadvantage of their situation in this respect we
add the consideration that it is their labor alone which gives real
value to the lands, and that the proceeds arising from their sale are
distributed chiefly among States which had not originally any claim to
them, and which have enjoyed the undivided emolument arising from the
sale of their own lands, it can not be expected that the new States
will remain longer contented with the present policy after the
payment of the public debt. To avert the consequences which may be
apprehended from this cause, to pub an end for ever to all partial
and interested legislation on the subject, and to afford to every
American citizen of enterprise the opportunity of securing an
independent freehold, it seems to me, therefore, best to abandon the
idea of raising a future revenue out of the public lands.

In former messages I have expressed my conviction that the
Constitution does not warrant the application of the funds of the
General Government to objects of internal improvement which are not
national in their character, and, both as a means of doing justice to
all interests and putting an end to a course of legislation calculated
to destroy the purity of the Government, have urged the necessity of
reducing the whole subject to some fixed and certain rule. As there
never will occur a period, perhaps, more propitious than the present
to the accomplishment of this object, I beg leave to press the
subject again upon your attention.

Without some general and well-defined principles ascertaining those
objects of internal improvement to which the means of the nation may
be constitutionally applied, it is obvious that the exercise of the
power can never be satisfactory. Besides the danger to which it
exposes Congress of making hasty appropriations to works of the
character of which they may be frequently ignorant, it promotes a
mischievous and corrupting influence upon elections by holding out to
the people the fallacious hope that the success of a certain candidate
will make navigable their neighboring creek or river, bring commerce
to their doors, and increase the value of their property. It thus
favors combinations to squander the treasure of the country upon a
multitude of local objects, as fatal to just legislation as to the
purity of public men.

If a system compatible with the Constitution can not be devised which
is free from such tendencies, we should recollect that that instrument
provides within itself the mode of its amendment, and that there is,
therefore, no excuse for the assumption of doubtful powers by the
General Government. If those which are clearly granted shall be found
incompetent to the ends of its creation, it can at any time apply for
their enlargement; and there is no probability that such an
application, if founded on the public interest, will ever be refused.
If the propriety of the proposed grant be not sufficiently apparent to
command the assent of 3/4 of the States, the best possible reason why
the power should not be assumed on doubtful authority is afforded;
for if more than one quarter of the States are unwilling to make the
grant its exercise will be productive of discontents which will far
over-balance any advantages that could be derived from it. All must
admit that there is nothing so worthy of the constant solicitude of
this Government as the harmony and union of the people.

Being solemnly impressed with the conviction that the extension of
the power to make internal improvements beyond the limit I have
suggested, even if it be deemed constitutional, is subversive of the
best interests of our country, I earnestly recommend to Congress to
refrain from its exercise in doubtful cases, except in relation to
improvements already begun, unless they shall first procure from the
States such an amendment of the Constitution as will define its
character and prescribe its bounds. If the States feel themselves
competent to these objects, why should this Government wish to assume
the power? If they do not, then they will not hesitate to make the
grant. Both Governments are the Governments of the people;
improvements must be made with the money of the people, and if the
money can be collected and applied by those more simple and
economical political machines, the State governments, it will
unquestionably be safer and better for the people than to add to the
splendor, the patronage, and the power of the General Government. But
if the people of the several States think otherwise they will amend
the Constitution, and in their decision all ought cheerfully to
acquiesce.

For a detailed and highly satisfactory view of the operations of the
War Department I refer you to the accompanying report of the
Secretary of War.

The hostile incursions of the Sac and Fox Indians necessarily led to
the interposition of the Government. A portion of the troops, under
Generals Scott and Atkinson, and of the militia of the State of
Illinois were called into the field. After a harassing warfare,
prolonged by the nature of the country and by the difficulty of
procuring subsistence, the Indians were entirely defeated, and the
disaffected band dispersed or destroyed. The result has been
creditable to the troops engaged in the service. Severe as is the
lesson to the Indians, it was rendered necessary by their unprovoked
aggressions, and it is to be hoped that its impression will be
permanent and salutary.

This campaign has evinced the efficient organization of the Army and
its capacity for prompt and active service. Its several departments
have performed their functions with energy and dispatch, and the
general movement was satisfactory.

Our fellow citizens upon the frontiers were ready, as they always
are, in the tender of their services in the hour of danger. But a
more efficient organization of our militia system is essential to
that security which is one of the principal objects of all
governments. Neither our situation nor our institutions require or
permit the maintenance of a large regular force. History offers too
many lessons of the fatal result of such a measure not to warn us
against its adoption here. The expense which attends it, the obvious
tendency to employ it because it exists and thus to engage in
unnecessary wars, and its ultimate danger to public liberty will lead
us, I trust, to place our principal dependence for protection upon the
great body of the citizens of the Republic. If in asserting rights or
in repelling wrongs war should come upon us, our regular force should
be increased to an extent proportional to the emergency, and our
present small Army is a nucleus around which such force could be
formed and embodied. But for the purposes of defense under ordinary
circumstances we must rely upon the electors of the country. Those by
whom and for whom the Government was instituted and is supported will
constitute its protection in the hour of danger as they do its check
in the hour of safety.

But it is obvious that the militia system is imperfect. Much time is
lost, much unnecessary expense incurred, and much public property
wasted under the present arrangement. Little useful knowledge is
gained by the musters and drills as now established, and the whole
subject evidently requires a thorough examination. Whether a plan of
classification remedying these defects and providing for a system of
instruction might not be adopted is submitted to the consideration of
Congress. The Constitution has vested in the General Government an
independent authority upon the subject of the militia which renders
its action essential to the establishment or improvement of the
system, and I recommend the matter to your consideration in the
conviction that the state of this important arm of the public defense
requires your attention.

I am happy to inform you that the wise and humane policy of
transferring from the eastern to the western side of the Mississippi
the remnants of our aboriginal tribes, with their own consent and
upon just terms, has been steadily pursued, and is approaching, I
trust, its consummation. By reference to the report of the Secretary
of War and to the documents submitted with it you will see the
progress which has been made since your last session in the
arrangement of the various matters connected with our Indian
relations. With one exception every subject involving any question of
conflicting jurisdiction or of peculiar difficulty has been happily
disposed of, and the conviction evidently gains ground among the
Indians that their removal to the country assigned by the United
States for their permanent residence furnishes the only hope of their
ultimate prosperity.

With that portion of the Cherokees, however, living within the State
of Georgia it has been found impracticable as yet to make a
satisfactory adjustment. Such was my anxiety to remove all the
grounds of complaint and to bring to a termination the difficulties
in which they are involved that I directed the very liberal
propositions to be made to them which accompany the documents
herewith submitted. They can not but have seen in these offers the
evidence of the strongest disposition on the part of the Government
to deal justly and liberally with them. An ample indemnity was
offered for their present possessions, a liberal provision for their
future support and improvement, and full security for their private
and political rights. What ever difference of opinion may have
prevailed respecting the just claims of these people, there will
probably be none respecting the liberality of the propositions, and
very little respecting the expediency of their immediate acceptance.
They were, however, rejected, and thus the position of these Indians
remains unchanged, as do the views communicated in my message to the
Senate of [1831-02-22].

I refer you to the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy, which
accompanies this message, for a detail of the operations of that
branch of the service during the present year.

Besides the general remarks on some of the transactions of our Navy
presented in the view which has been taken of our foreign relations,
I seize this occasion to invite to your notice the increased
protection which it has afforded to our commerce and citizens on
distant seas without any augmentation of the force in commission. In
the gradual improvement of its pecuniary concerns, in the constant
progress in the collection of materials suitable for use during
future emergencies, and in the construction of vessels and the
buildings necessary to their preservation and repair, the present
state of this branch of the service exhibits the fruits of that
vigilance and care which are so indispensable to its efficiency.
Various new suggestions, contained in the annexed report, as well as
others heretofore to Congress, are worthy of your attention, but none
more so than that urging the renewal for another term of 6 years of
the general appropriation for the gradual improvement of the Navy.

From the accompanying report of the PostMaster General you will also
perceive that that Department continues to extend its usefulness
without impairing its resources or lessening the accommodations which
it affords in the secure and rapid transportation of the mail.

I beg leave to call the attention of Congress to the views heretofore
expressed in relation to the mode of choosing the President and Vice-
President of the United States, and to those respecting the tenure of
office generally. Still impressed with the justness of those views and
with the belief that the modifications suggested on those subjects if
adopted will contribute to the prosperity and harmony of the country,
I earnestly recommend them to your consideration at this time.

I have heretofore pointed out defects in the law for punishing
official frauds, especially within the District of Columbia. It has
been found almost impossible to bring notorious culprits to
punishment, and, according to a decision of the court for this
District, a prosecution is barred by a lapse of two years after the
fraud has been committed. It may happen again, as it has already
happened, that during the whole 2 years all the evidences of the
fraud may be in the possession of the culprit himself. However proper
the limitation may be in relation to private citizens, it would seem
that it ought not to commence running in favor of public officers
until they go out of office.

The judiciary system of the United States remains imperfect. Of the 9
Western and South Western States, three only enjoy the benefits of a
circuit court. Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee are embraced in the
general system, but Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama,
Mississippi, and Louisian have only district courts. If the existing
system be a good one, why should it not be extended? If it be a bad
one, why is it suffered to exist? The new States were promised equal
rights and privileges when they came into the Union, and such are the
guaranties of the Constitution. Nothing can be more obvious than the
obligation of the General Government to place all the States on the
same footing in relation to the administration of justice, and I
trust this duty will be neglected no longer.

On many of the subjects to which your attention is invited in this
communication it is a source of gratification to reflect that the
steps to be now adopted are uninfluenced by the embarrassments
entailed upon the country by the wars through which it has passed. In
regard to most of our great interests we may consider ourselves as
just starting in our career, and after a salutary experience about to
fix upon a permanent basis the policy best calculated to promote the
happiness of the people and facilitate their progress toward the most
complete enjoyment of civil liberty. On an occasion so interesting and
important in our history, and of such anxious concern to the friends
of freedom throughout the world, it is our imperious duty to lay
aside all selfish and local considerations and be guided by a lofty
spirit of devotion to the great principles on which our institutions
are founded.

That this Government may be so administered as to preserve its
efficiency in promoting and securing these general objects should be
the only aim of our ambition, and we can not, therefore, too
carefully examine its structure, in order that we may not mistake its
powers or assume those which the people have reserved to themselves or
have preferred to assign to other agents. We should bear constantly in
mind the fact that the considerations which induced the framers of the
Constitution to withhold from the General Government the power to
regulate the great mass of the business and concerns of the people
have been fully justified by experience, and that it can not now be
doubted that the genius of all our institutions prescribes simplicity
and economy as the characteristics of the reform which is yet to be
effected in the present and future execution of the functions
bestowed upon us by the Constitution.

Limited to a general superintending power to maintain peace at home
and abroad, and to prescribe laws on a few subjects of general
interest not calculated to restrict human liberty, but to enforce
human rights, this Government will find its strength and its glory in
the faithful discharge of these plain and simple duties. Relieved by
its protecting shield from the fear of war and the apprehension of
oppression, the free enterprise of our citizens, aided by the State
sovereignties, will work out improvements and ameliorations which can
not fail to demonstrate that the great truth that the people can
govern themselves is not only realized in our example, but that it is
done by a machinery in government so simple and economical as scarcely
to be felt. That the Almighty Ruler of the Universe may so direct our
deliberations and over-rule our acts as to make us instrumental in
securing a result so dear to mankind is my most earnest and sincere
prayer.