Speech Transcript:

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:

I congratulate you and our common constituency upon the favorable
auspices under which you meet for your first session. Our country is
at peace with all the world. The agitation which for a time
threatened to disturb the fraternal relations which make us one
people is fast subsiding, and a year of general prosperity and health
has crowned the nation with unusual blessings. None can look back to
the dangers which are passed or forward to the bright prospect before
us without feeling a thrill of gratification, at the same time that he
must be impressed with a grateful sense of our profound obligations to
a beneficent Providence, whose paternal care is so manifest in the
happiness of this highly favored land.

Since the close of the last Congress certain Cubans and other
foreigners resident in the United States, who were more or less
concerned in the previous invasion of Cuba, instead of being
discouraged by its failure have again abused the hospitality of this
country by making it the scene of the equipment of another military
expedition against that possession of Her Catholic Majesty, in which
they were countenanced, aided, and joined by citizens of the United
States. On receiving intelligence that such designs were entertained,
I lost no time in issuing such instructions to the proper officers of
the United States as seemed to be called for by the occasion. By the
proclamation a copy of which is herewith submitted I also warned
those who might be in danger of being inveigled into this scheme of
its unlawful character and of the penalties which they would incur.
For some time there was reason to hope that these measures had
sufficed to prevent any such attempt. This hope, however, proved to
be delusive. Very early in the morning of the 3d of August a steamer
called the Pampero departed from New Orleans for Cuba, having on
board upward of 400 armed men with evident intentions to make war
upon the authorities of the island. This expedition was set on foot
in palpable violation of the laws of the United States. Its leader
was a Spaniard, and several of the chief officers and some others
engaged in it were foreigners. The persons composing it, however,
were mostly citizens of the United States.

Before the expedition set out, and probably before it was organized,
a slight insurrectionary movement, which appears to have been soon
suppressed, had taken place in the eastern quarter of Cuba. The
importance of this movement was, unfortunately, so much exaggerated
in the accounts of it published in this country that these
adventurers seem to have been led to believe that the Creole
population of the island not only desired to throw off the authority
of the mother country, but had resolved upon that step and had begun
a well-concerted enterprise for effecting it. The persons engaged in
the expedition were generally young and ill informed. The steamer in
which they embarked left New Orleans stealthily and without a
clearance. After touching at Key West, she proceeded to the coast of
Cuba, and on the night between the 11th and 12th of August landed the
persons on board at Playtas, within about 20 leagues of Havana.

The main body of them proceeded to and took possession of an inland
village 6 leagues distant, leaving others to follow in charge of the
baggage as soon as the means of transportation could be obtained. The
latter, having taken up their line of march to connect themselves with
the main body, and having proceeded about 4 leagues into the country,
were attacked on the morning of the 13th by a body of Spanish troops,
and a bloody conflict ensued, after which they retreated to the place
of disembarkation, where about 50 of them obtained boats and
reembarked therein. They were, however, intercepted among the keys
near the shore by a Spanish steamer cruising on the coast, captured
and carried to Havana, and after being examined before a military
court were sentenced to be publicly executed, and the sentence was
carried into effect on the 16th of August.

On receiving information of what had occurred Commodore Foxhall A.
Parker was instructed to proceed in the steam frigate Saranac to
Havana and inquire into the charges against the persons executed, the
circumstances under which they were taken, and whatsoever referred to
their trial and sentence. Copies of the instructions from the
Department of State to him and of his letters to that Department are
herewith submitted.

According to the record of the examination, the prisoners all
admitted the offenses charged against them, of being hostile invaders
of the island. At the time of their trial and execution the main body
of the invaders was still in the field making war upon the Spanish
authorities and Spanish subjects. After the lapse of some days, being
overcome by the Spanish troops, they dispersed on the 24th of August.
Lopez, their leader, was captured some days after, and executed on
the 1st of September. Many of his remaining followers were killed or
died of hunger and fatigue, and the rest were made prisoners. Of
these none appear to have been tried or executed. Several of them
were pardoned upon application of their friends and others, and the
rest, about 160 in number, were sent to Spain. Of the final
disposition made of these we have no official information.

Such is the melancholy result of this illegal and ill-fated
expedition. Thus thoughtless young men have been induced by false and
fraudulent representations to violate the law of their country through
rash and unfounded expectations of assisting to accomplish political
revolutions in other states, and have lost their lives in the
undertaking. Too severe a judgment can hardly be passed by the
indignant sense of the community upon those who, being better
informed themselves, have yet led away the ardor of youth and an
ill-directed love of political liberty. The correspondence between
this Government and that of Spain relating to this transaction is
herewith communicated.

Although these offenders against the laws have forfeited the
protection of their country, yet the Government may, so far as
consistent with its obligations to other countries and its fixed
purpose to maintain and enforce the laws, entertain sympathy for
their unoffending families and friends, as well as a feeling of
compassion for themselves. Accordingly, no proper effort has been
spared and none will be spared to procure the release of such
citizens of the United States engaged in this unlawful enterprise as
are now in confinement in Spain; but it is to be hoped that such
interposition with the Government of that country may not be
considered as affording any ground of expectation that the Government
of the United States will hereafter feel itself under any obligation
of duty to intercede for the liberation or pardon of such persons as
are flagrant offenders against the law of nations and the laws of the
United States. These laws must be executed. If we desire to maintain
our respectability among the nations of the earth, it behooves us to
enforce steadily and sternly the neutrality acts passed by Congress
and to follow as far as may be the violation of those acts with
condign punishment.

But what gives a peculiar criminality to this invasion of Cuba is
that, under the lead of Spanish subjects and with the aid of citizens
of the United States, it had its origin with many in motives of
cupidity. Money was advanced by individuals, probably in considerable
amounts, to purchase Cuban bonds, as they have been called, issued by
Lopez, sold, doubtless, at a very large discount, and for the payment
of which the public lands and public property of Cuba, of whatever
kind, and the fiscal resources of the people and government of that
island, from whatever source to be derived, were pledged, as well as
the good faith of the government expected to be established. All
these means of payment, it is evident, were only to be obtained by a
process of bloodshed, war, and revolution. None will deny that those
who set on foot military expeditions against foreign states by means
like these are far more culpable than the ignorant and the
necessitous whom they induce to go forth as the ostensible parties in
the proceeding. These originators of the invasion of Cuba seem to have
determined with coolness and system upon an undertaking which should
disgrace their country, violate its laws, and put to hazard the lives
of ill-informed and deluded men. You will consider whether further
legislation be necessary to prevent the perpetration of such offenses
in future.

No individuals have a right to hazard the peace of the country or to
violate its laws upon vague notions of altering or reforming
governments in other states. This principle is not only reasonable in
itself and in accordance with public law, but is ingrafted into the
codes of other nations as well as our own. But while such are the
sentiments of this Government, it may be added that every independent
nation must be presumed to be able to defend its possessions against
unauthorized individuals banded together to attack them. The
Government of the United States at all times since its establishment
has abstained and has sought to restrain the citizens of the country
from entering into controversies between other powers, and to observe
all the duties of neutrality. At an early period of the Government, in
the Administration of Washington, several laws were passed for this
purpose. The main provisions of these laws were reenacted by the act
of April, 1818, by which, amongst other things, it was declared
that--

If any person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the
United States, begin, or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means
for, any military expedition or enterprise to be carried on from
thence against the territory or dominions of any foreign prince or
state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom the United
States are at peace, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty
of a high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding $3,000 and
imprisoned not more than three years.

And this law has been executed and enforced to the full extent of the
power of the Government from that day to this.

In proclaiming and adhering to the doctrine of neutrality and
nonintervention, the United States have not followed the lead of
other civilized nations; they have taken the lead themselves and have
been followed by others. This was admitted by one of the most eminent
of modern British statesmen, who said in Parliament, while a minister
of the Crown, "that if he wished for a guide in a system of neutrality
he should take that laid down by America in the days of Washington and
the secretaryship of Jefferson;" and we see, in fact, that the act of
Congress of 1818 was followed the succeeding year by an act of the
Parliament of England substantially the same in its general
provisions. Up to that time there had been no similar law in England,
except certain highly penal statutes passed in the reign of George II,
prohibiting English subjects from enlisting in foreign service, the
avowed object of which statutes was that foreign armies, raised for
the purpose of restoring the house of Stuart to the throne, should
not be strengthened by recruits from England herself.

All must see that difficulties may arise in carrying the laws
referred to into execution in a country now having 3,000 or 4,000
miles of seacoast, with an infinite number of ports and harbors and
small inlets, from some of which unlawful expeditious may suddenly
set forth, without the knowledge of Government, against the
possessions of foreign states.

"Friendly relations with all, but entangling alliances with none,"
has long been a maxim with us. Our true mission is not to propagate
our opinions or impose upon other countries our form of government by
artifice or force, but to teach by example and show by our success,
moderation, and justice the blessings of self-government and the
advantages of free institutions. Let every people choose for itself
and make and alter its political institutions to suit its own
condition and convenience. But while we avow and maintain this
neutral policy ourselves, we are anxious to see the same forbearance
on the part of other nations whose forms of government are different
from our own. The deep interest which we feel in the spread of
liberal principles and the establishment of free governments and the
sympathy with which we witness every struggle against oppression
forbid that we should be indifferent to a case in which the strong
arm of a foreign power is invoked to stifle public sentiment and
repress the spirit of freedom in any country.

The Governments of Great Britain and France have issued orders to
their naval commanders on the West India station to prevent, by force
if necessary, the landing of adventurers from any nation on the island
of Cuba with hostile intent. The copy of a memorandum of a
conversation on this subject between the charge d'affaires of Her
Britannic Majesty and the Acting Secretary of State and of a
subsequent note of the former to the Department of State are herewith
submitted, together with a copy of a note of the Acting Secretary of
State to the minister of the French Republic and of the reply of the
latter on the same subject. These papers will acquaint you with the
grounds of this interposition of two leading commercial powers of
Europe, and with the apprehensions, which this Government could not
fail to entertain, that such interposition, if carried into effect,
might lead to abuses in derogation of the maritime rights of the
United States. The maritime rights of the United States are founded
on a firm, secure, and well-defined basis; they stand upon the ground
of national independence and public law, and will be maintained in all
their full and just extent. The principle which this Government has
heretofore solemnly announced it still adheres to, and will maintain
under all circumstances and at all hazards. That principle is that in
every regularly documented merchant vessel the crew who navigate it
and those on board of it will find their protection in the flag which
is over them. No American ship can be allowed to be visited or
searched for the purpose of ascertaining the character of individuals
on board, nor can there be allowed any watch by the vessels of any
foreign nation over American vessels on the coast of the United
States or the seas adjacent thereto. It will be seen by the last
communication from the British charge d'affaires to the Department of
State that he is authorized to assure the Secretary of State that
every care will be taken that in executing the preventive measures
against the expeditions which the United States Government itself has
denounced as not being entitled to the protection of any government no
interference shall take place with the lawful commerce of any nation.

In addition to the correspondence on this subject herewith submitted,
official information has been received at the Department of State of
assurances by the French Government that in the orders given to the
French naval forces they were expressly instructed, in any operations
they might engage in, to respect the flag of the United States
wherever it might appear, and to commit no act of hostility upon any
vessel or armament under its protection.

Ministers and consuls of foreign nations are the means and agents of
communication between us and those nations, and it is of the utmost
importance that while residing in the country they should feel a
perfect security so long as they faithfully discharge their
respective duties and are guilty of no violation of our laws. This is
the admitted law of nations and no country has a deeper interest in
maintaining it than the United States. Our commerce spreads over
every sea and visits every clime, and our ministers and consuls are
appointed to protect the interests of that commerce as well as to
guard the peace of the country and maintain the honor of its flag.
But how can they discharge these duties unless they be themselves
protected? And if protected it must be by the laws of the country in
which they reside. And what is due to our own public functionaries
residing in foreign nations is exactly the measure of what is due to
the functionaries of other governments residing here. As in war the
bearers of flags of truce are sacred, or else wars would be
interminable, so in peace ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls,
charged with friendly national intercourse, are objects of especial
respect and protection, each according to the rights belonging to his
rank and station. In view of these important principles, it is with
deep mortification and regret I announce to you that during the
excitement growing out of the executions at Havana the office of Her
Catholic Majesty's consul at New Orleans was assailed by a mob, his
property destroyed, the Spanish flag found in the office carried off
and torn in pieces, and he himself induced to flee for his personal
safety, which he supposed to be in danger. On receiving intelligence
of these events I forthwith directed the attorney of the United
States residing at New Orleans to inquire into the facts and the
extent of the pecuniary loss sustained by the consul, with the
intention of laying them before you, that you might make provision
for such indemnity to him as a just regard for the honor of the
nation and the respect which is due to a friendly power might, in
your judgment, seem to require. The correspondence upon this subject
between the Secretary of State and Her Catholic Majesty's minister
plenipotentiary is herewith transmitted.

The occurrence at New Orleans has led me to give my attention to the
state of our laws in regard to foreign ambassadors, ministers, and
consuls. I think the legislation of the country is deficient in not
providing sufficiently either for the protection or the punishment of
consuls. I therefore recommend the subject to the consideration of
Congress.

Your attention is again invited to the question of reciprocal trade
between the United States and Canada and other British possessions
near our frontier. Overtures for a convention upon this subject have
been received from Her Britannic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary,
but it seems to be in many respects preferable that the matter should
be regulated by reciprocal legislation. Documents are laid before you
showing the terms which the British Government is willing to offer
and the measures which it may adopt if some arrangement upon this
subject shall not be made.

From the accompanying copy of a note from the British legation at
Washington and the reply of the Department of State thereto it will
appear that Her Britannic Majesty's Government is desirous that a
part of the boundary line between Oregon and the British possessions
should be authoritatively marked out, and that an intention was
expressed to apply to Congress for an appropriation to defray the
expense thereof on the part of the United States. Your attention to
this subject is accordingly invited and a proper appropriation
recommended. A convention for the adjustment of claims of citizens of
the United States against Portugal has been concluded and the
ratifications have been exchanged. The first installment of the
amount to be paid by Portugal fell due on the 30th of September last
and has been paid. The President of the French Republic, according to
the provisions of the convention, has been selected as arbiter in the
case of the General Armstrong, and has signified that he accepts the
trust and the high satisfaction he feels in acting as the common
friend of two nations with which France is united by sentiments of
sincere and lasting amity.

The Turkish Government has expressed its thanks for the kind
reception given to the Sultan's agent, Amin Bey, on the occasion of
his recent visit to the United States. On the 28th of February last a
dispatch was addressed by the Secretary of State to Mr. Marsh, the
American minister at Constantinople, instructing him to ask of the
Turkish Government permission for the Hungarians then imprisoned
within the dominions of the Sublime Porte to remove to this country.
On the 3d of March last both Houses of Congress passed a resolution
requesting the President to authorize the employment of a public
vessel to convey to this country Louis Kossuth and his associates in
captivity. The instruction above referred to was complied with, and
the Turkish Government having released Governor Kossuth and his
companions from prison, on the 10th of September last they embarked
on board of the United States steam frigate Mississippi, which was
selected to carry into effect the resolution of Congress. Governor
Kossuth left the Mississippi at Gibraltar for the purpose of making a
visit to England, and may shortly be expected in New York. By
communications to the Department of State he has expressed his
grateful acknowledgments for the interposition of this Government in
behalf of himself and his associates. This country has been justly
regarded as a safe asylum for those whom political events have exiled
from their own homes in Europe. and it is recommended to Congress to
consider in what manner Governor Kossuth and his companions, brought
hither by its authority, shall be received and treated.

It is earnestly to be hoped that the differences which have for some
time past been pending between the Government of the French Republic
and that of the Sandwich Islands may be peaceably and durably
adjusted so as to secure the independence of those islands. Long
before the events which have of late imparted so much importance to
the possessions of the United States on the Pacific we acknowledged
the independence of the Hawaiian Government. This Government was
first in taking that step, and several of the leading powers of
Europe immediately followed. We were influenced in this measure by
the existing and prospective importance of the islands as a place of
refuge and refreshment for our vessels engaged in the whale fishery,
and by the consideration that they lie in the course of the great
trade which must at no distant day be carried on between the western
coast of North America and eastern Asia.

We were also influenced by a desire that those islands should not
pass under the control of any other great maritime state, but should
remain in an independent condition, and so be accessible and useful
to the commerce of all nations. I need not say that the importance of
these considerations has been greatly enhanced by the sudden and vast
development which the interests of the United States have attained in
California and Oregon, and the policy heretofore adopted in regard to
those islands will be steadily pursued.

It is gratifying, not only to those who consider the commercial
interests of nations, but also to all who favor the progress of
knowledge and the diffusion of religion, to see a community emerge
from a savage state and attain such a degree of civilization in those
distant seas. It is much to be deplored that the internal tranquillity
of the Mexican Republic should again be seriously disturbed, for since
the peace between that Republic and the United States it had enjoyed
such comparative repose that the most favorable anticipations for the
future might with a degree of confidence have been indulged. These,
however, have been thwarted by the recent outbreak in the State of
Tamaulipas, on the right bank of the Rio Bravo. Having received
information that persons from the United States had taken part in the
insurrection, and apprehending that their example might be followed by
others, I caused orders to be issued for the purpose of preventing any
hostile expeditions against Mexico from being set on foot in violation
of the laws of the United States. I likewise issued a proclamation
upon the subject, a copy of which is herewith laid before you. This
appeared to be rendered imperative by the obligations of treaties and
the general duties of good neighborhood.

In my last annual message I informed Congress that citizens of the
United States had undertaken the connection of the two oceans by
means of a railroad across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, under a grant
of the Mexican Government to a citizen of that Republic, and that
this enterprise would probably be prosecuted with energy whenever
Mexico should consent to such stipulations with the Government of the
United States as should impart a feeling of security to those who
should invest their property in the enterprise. A convention between
the two Governments for the accomplishment of that end has been
ratified by this Government, and only awaits the decision of the
Congress and the Executive of that Republic.

Some unexpected difficulties and delays have arisen in the
ratification of that convention by Mexico, but it is to be presumed
that her decision will be governed by just and enlightened views, as
well of the general importance of the object as of her own interests
and obligations.

In negotiating upon this important subject this Government has had in
view one, and only one, object. That object has been, and is, the
construction or attainment of a passage from ocean to ocean, the
shortest and the best for travelers and merchandise, and equally open
to all the world. It has sought to obtain no territorial acquisition,
nor any advantages peculiar to itself; and it would see with the
greatest regret that Mexico should oppose any obstacle to the
accomplishment of an enterprise which promises so much convenience to
the whole commercial world and such eminent advantages to Mexico
herself. Impressed with these sentiments and these convictions, the
Government will continue to exert all proper efforts to bring about
the necessary arrangement with the Republic of Mexico for the speedy
completion of the work. For some months past the Republic of
Nicaragua has been the theater of one of those civil convulsions from
which the cause of free institutions and the general prosperity and
social progress of the States of Central America have so often and so
severely suffered. Until quiet shall have been restored and a
government apparently stable shall have been organized, no advance
can prudently be made in disposing of the questions pending between
the two countries.

I am happy to announce that an interoceanic communication from the
mouth of the St. John to the Pacific has been so far accomplished as
that passengers have actually traversed it and merchandise has been
transported over it, and when the canal shall have been completed
according to the original plan the means of communication will be
further improved. It is understood that a considerable part of the
railroad across the Isthmus of Panama has been completed, and that
the mail and passengers will in future be conveyed thereon. Whichever
of the several routes between the two oceans may ultimately prove most
eligible for travelers to and from the different States on the
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico and our coast on the Pacific, there is
little reason to doubt that all of them will be useful to the public,
and will liberally reward that individual enterprise by which alone
they have been or are expected to be carried into effect. Peace has
been concluded between the contending parties in the island of St.
Domingo, and, it is hoped, upon a durable basis. Such is the extent
of our commercial relations with that island that the United States
can not fail to feel a strong interest in its tranquillity. The
office of commissioner to China remains unfilled. Several persons
have been appointed, and the place has been offered to others, all of
whom have declined its acceptance on the ground of the inadequacy of
the compensation. The annual allowance by law is $6,000, and there is
no provision for any outfit. I earnestly recommend the consideration
of this subject to Congress. Our commerce with China is highly
important, and is becoming more and more so in consequence of the
increasing intercourse between our ports on the Pacific Coast and
eastern Asia. China is understood to be a country in which living is
very expensive, and I know of no reason why the American commissioner
sent thither should not be placed, in regard to compensation, on an
equal footing with ministers who represent this country at the Courts
of Europe.

By reference to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury it will
be seen that the aggregate receipts for the last fiscal year amounted
to $52,312,979.87, which, with the balance in the Treasury on the 1st
July, 1850, gave as the available means for the year the sum of
$58,917,524.36.

The total expenditures for the same period were $48,005,878.68. The
total imports for the year ending June 30, 1851, were $215,725,995,
of which there were in specie $4,967,901. The exports for the same
period were $217,517,130, of which there were of domestic products
$178,546,555; foreign goods reexported, $9,738,695; specie,
$29,231,880.

Since the 1st of December last the payments in cash on account of the
public debt, exclusive of interest, have amounted to $7,501,456.56,
which, however, includes the sum of $3,242,400, paid under the
twelfth article of the treaty with Mexico, and the further sum of
$2,591,213.45, being the amount of awards to American citizens under
the late treaty with Mexico, for which the issue of stock was
authorized, but which was paid in cash from the Treasury.

The public debt on the 20th ultimo, exclusive of the stock authorized
to be issued to Texas by the act of 9th September, 1850, was
$62,560,395.26.

The receipts for the next fiscal year are estimated at $51,800,000,
which, with the probable unappropriated balance in the Treasury on
the 30th June next, will give as the probable available means for
that year the sum of $63,258,743.09.

It has been deemed proper, in view of the large expenditures
consequent upon the acquisition of territory from Mexico, that the
estimates for the next fiscal year should be laid before Congress in
such manner as to distinguish the expenditures so required from the
otherwise ordinary demands upon the Treasury.

The total expenditures for the next fiscal year are estimated at
$42,892,299.19, of which there is required for the ordinary purposes
of the Government, other than those consequent upon the acquisition
of our new territories, and deducting the payments on account of the
public debt, the sum of $33,343,198.08, and for the purposes
connected, directly or indirectly, with those territories and in the
fulfillment of the obligations of the Government contracted in
consequence of their acquisition the sum of $9,549,101.11.

If the views of the Secretary of the Treasury in reference to the
expenditures required for these territories shall be met by
corresponding action on the part of Congress, and appropriations made
in accordance therewith, there will be an estimated unappropriated
balance in the Treasury on the 30th June, 1853, of $20,366,443.90
wherewith to meet that portion of the public debt due on the 1st of
July following, amounting to $6,237,931.35, as well as any
appropriations which may be made beyond the estimates.

In thus referring to the estimated expenditures on account of our
newly acquired territories, I may express the hope that Congress will
concur with me in the desire that a liberal course of policy may be
pursued toward them, and that every obligation, express or implied,
entered into in consequence of their acquisition shall be fulfilled
by the most liberal appropriations for that purpose.

The values of our domestic exports for the last fiscal year, as
compared with those of the previous year, exhibit an increase of
$43,646,322. At first view this condition of our trade with foreign
nations would seem to present the most flattering hopes of its future
prosperity. An examination of the details of our exports, however,
will show that the increased value of our exports for the last fiscal
year is to be found in the high price of cotton which prevailed during
the first half of that year, which price has since declined about
one-half.

The value of our exports of breadstuffs and provisions, which it was
supposed the incentive of a low tariff and large importations from
abroad would have greatly augmented, has fallen from $68,701,921 in
1847 to $26,051,373 in 1850 and to $21,948,653 in 1851, with a strong
probability, amounting almost to a certainty, of a still further
reduction in the current year.

The aggregate values of rice exported during the last fiscal year, as
compared with the previous year, also exhibit a decrease, amounting to
$460,917, which, with a decline in the values of the exports of
tobacco for the same period, make an aggregate decrease in these two
articles of $1,156,751.

The policy which dictated a low rate of duties on foreign
merchandise, it was thought by those who promoted and established it,
would tend to benefit the farming population of this country by
increasing the demand and raising the price of agricultural products
in foreign markets.

The foregoing facts, however, seem to show incontestably that no such
result has followed the adoption of this policy. On the contrary,
notwithstanding the repeal of the restrictive corn laws in England,
the foreign demand for the products of the American farmer has
steadily declined, since the short crops and consequent famine in a
portion of Europe have been happily replaced by full crops and
comparative abundance of food.

It will be seen by recurring to the commercial statistics for the
past year that the value of our domestic exports has been increased
in the single item of raw cotton by $40,000,000 over the value of
that export for the year preceding. This is not due to any increased
general demand for that article, but to the short crop of the
preceding year, which created an increased demand and an augmented
price for the crop of last year. Should the cotton crop now going
forward to market be only equal in quantity to that of the year
preceding and be sold at the present prices, then there would be a
falling off in the value of our exports for the present fiscal year
of at least $40,000,000 compared with the amount exported for the
year ending 30th June, 1851.

The production of gold in California for the past year seems to
promise a large supply of that metal from that quarter for some time
to come. This large annual increase of the currency of the world must
be attended with its usual results. These have been already partially
disclosed in the enhancement of prices and a rising spirit of
speculation and adventure, tending to overtrading, as well at home as
abroad. Unless some salutary check shall be given to these tendencies
it is to be feared that importations of foreign goods beyond a
healthy demand in this country will lead to a sudden drain of the
precious metals from us, bringing with it, as it has done in former
times, the most disastrous consequences to the business and capital
of the American people.

The exports of specie to liquidate our foreign debt during the past
fiscal year have been $24,963,979 over the amount of specie imported.
The exports of specie during the first quarter of the present fiscal
year have been $14,651,827. Should specie continue to be exported at
this rate for the remaining three quarters of this year, it will
drain from our metallic currency during the year ending 30th June,
1852, the enormous amount of $58,607,308.

In the present prosperous condition of the national finances it will
become the duty of Congress to consider the best mode of paying off
the public debt. If the present and anticipated surplus in the
Treasury should not be absorbed by appropriations of an extraordinary
character, this surplus should be employed in such way and under such
restrictions as Congress may enact in extinguishing the outstanding
debt of the nation.

By reference to the act of Congress approved 9th September, 1850, it
will be seen that, in consideration of certain concessions by the
State of Texas, it is provided that--

The United States shall pay to the State of Texas the sum of
$10,000,000 in a stock bearing 5 per cent interest and redeemable at
the end of fourteen years, the interest payable half-yearly at the
Treasury of the United States.

In the same section of the law it is further provided--

That no more than five millions of said stock shall be issued until
the creditors of the State holding bonds and other certificates of
stock of Texas, for which duties on imports were specially pledged,
shall first file at the Treasury of the United States releases of all
claims against the United States for or on account of said bonds or
certificates, in such form as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of
the Treasury and approved by the President of the United States.

The form of release thus provided for has been prescribed by the
Secretary of the Treasury and approved. It has been published in all
the leading newspapers in the commercial cities of the United States,
and all persons holding claims of the kind specified in the foregoing
proviso were required to file their releases (in the form thus
prescribed) in the Treasury of the United States on or before the 1st
day of October, 1851. Although this publication has been continued
from the 25th day of March, 1851, yet up to the 1st of October last
comparatively few releases had been filed by the creditors of Texas.

The authorities of the State of Texas, at the request of the
Secretary of the Treasury, have furnished a schedule of the public
debt of that State created prior to her admission into the Union,
with a copy of the laws under which each class was contracted. I
have, from the documents furnished by the State of Texas, determined
the classes of claims which in my judgment fall within the provisions
of the act of Congress of the 9th of September, 1850.

On being officially informed of the acceptance by Texas of the
propositions contained in the act referred to I caused the stock to
be prepared, and the five millions which are to be issued
unconditionally, bearing an interest of 5 per cent from the 1st day
of January, 1851, have been for some time ready to be delivered to
the State of Texas. The authorities of Texas up to the present time
have not authorized anyone to receive this stock, and it remains in
the Treasury Department subject to the order of Texas. The releases
required by law to be deposited in the Treasury not having been filed
there, the remaining five millions have not been issued. This last
amount of the stock will be withheld from Texas until the conditions
upon which it is to be delivered shall be complied with by the
creditors of that State, unless Congress shall otherwise direct by a
modification of the law.

In my last annual message, to which I respectfully refer, I stated
briefly the reasons which induced me to recommend a modification of
the present tariff by converting the ad valorem into a specific duty
wherever the article imported was of such a character as to permit
it, and that such a discrimination should be made in favor of the
industrial pursuits of our own country as to encourage home
production without excluding foreign competition.

The numerous frauds which continue to be practiced upon the revenue
by false invoices and undervaluations constitute an unanswerable
reason for adopting specific instead of ad valorem duties in all
cases where the nature of the commodity does not forbid it. A
striking illustration of these frauds will be exhibited in the report
of the Secretary of the Treasury, showing the custom-house valuation
of articles imported under a former law, subject to specific duties,
when there was no inducement to undervaluation, and the custom-house
valuations of the same articles under the present system of ad
valorem duties, so greatly reduced as to leave no doubt of the
existence of the most flagrant abuses under the existing laws. This
practical evasion of the present law, combined with the languishing
condition of some of the great interests of the country, caused by
over importations and consequent depressed prices, and with the
failure in obtaining a foreign market for our increasing surplus of
breadstuffs and provisions, has induced me again to recommend a
modification of the existing tariff. The report of the Secretary of
the Interior, which accompanies this communication, will present a
condensed statement of the operations of that important Department of
the Government.

It will be seen that the cash sales of the public lands exceed those
of the preceding year, and that there is reason to anticipate a still
further increase, notwithstanding the large donations which have been
made to many of the States and the liberal grants to individuals as a
reward for military services. This fact furnishes very gratifying
evidence of the growing wealth and prosperity of our country.

Suitable measures have been adopted for commencing the survey of the
public lands in California and Oregon. Surveying parties have been
organized and some progress has been made in establishing the
principal base and meridian lines. But further legislation and
additional appropriations will be necessary before the proper
subdivisions can be made and the general land system extended over
those remote parts of our territory.

On the 3d of March last an act was passed providing for the
appointment of three commissioners to settle private land claims in
California. Three persons were immediately appointed, all of whom,
however, declined accepting the office in consequence of the
inadequacy of the compensation. Others were promptly selected, who
for the same reason also declined, and it was not until late in the
season that the services of suitable persons could be secured. A
majority of the commissioners convened in this city on the 10th of
September last, when detailed instructions were given to them in
regard to their duties. Their first meeting for the transaction of
business will be held in San Francisco on the 8th day of the present
month.

I have thought it proper to refer to these facts, not only to explain
the causes of the delay in filling the commission, but to call your
attention to the propriety of increasing the compensation of the
commissioners. The office is one of great labor and responsibility,
and the compensation should be such as to command men of a high order
of talents and the most unquestionable integrity.

The proper disposal of the mineral lands of California is a subject
surrounded by great difficulties. In my last annual message I
recommended the survey and sale of them in small parcels under such
restrictions as would effectually guard against monopoly and
speculation; but upon further information, and in deference to the
opinions of persons familiar with the subject, I am inclined to
change that recommendation and to advise that they be permitted to
remain as at present, a common field, open to the enterprise and
industry of all our citizens, until further experience shall have
developed the best policy to be ultimately adopted in regard to them.
It is safer to suffer the inconveniences that now exist for a short
period than by premature legislation to fasten on the country a
system founded in error, which may place the whole subject beyond the
future control of Congress.

The agricultural lands should, however, be surveyed and brought into
market with as little delay as possible, that the titles may become
settled and the inhabitants stimulated to make permanent improvements
and enter on the ordinary pursuits of life. To effect these objects it
is desirable that the necessary provision be made by law for the
establishment of land offices in California and Oregon and for the
efficient prosecution of the surveys at an early day.

Some difficulties have occurred in organizing the Territorial
governments of New Mexico and Utah, and when more accurate
information shall be obtained of the causes a further communication
will be made on that subject.

In my last annual communication to Congress I recommended the
establishment of an agricultural bureau, and I take this occasion
again to invoke your favorable consideration of the subject.

Agriculture may justly be regarded as the great interest of our
people. Four-fifths of our active population are employed in the
cultivation of the soil, and the rapid expansion of our settlements
over new territory is daily adding to the number of those engaged in
that vocation. Justice and sound policy, therefore, alike require
that the Government should use all the means authorized by the
Constitution to promote the interests and welfare of that important
class of our fellow-citizens. And yet it is a singular fact that
whilst the manufacturing and commercial interests have engaged the
attention of Congress during a large portion of every session and our
statutes abound in provisions for their protection and encouragement,
little has yet been done directly for the advancement of agriculture.
It is time that this reproach to our legislation should be removed,
and I sincerely hope that the present Congress will not close their
labors without adopting efficient means to supply the omissions of
those who have preceded them.

An agricultural bureau, charged with the duty of collecting and
disseminating correct information as to the best modes of cultivation
and of the most effectual means of preserving and restoring the
fertility of the soil and of procuring and distributing seeds and
plants and other vegetable productions, with instructions in regard
to the soil, climate, and treatment best adapted to their growth,
could not fail to be, in the language of Washington in his last
annual message to Congress, a "very cheap instrument of immense
national benefit."

Regarding the act of Congress approved 28th September, 1850, granting
bounty lands to persons who had been engaged in the military service
of the country, as a great measure of national justice and
munificence, an anxious desire has been felt by the officers
intrusted with its immediate execution to give prompt effect to its
provisions. All the means within their control were therefore brought
into requisition to expedite the adjudication of claims, and I am
gratified to be able to state that near 100,000 applications have
been considered and about 70,000 warrants issued within the short
space of nine months. If adequate provision be made by law to carry
into effect the recommendations of the Department, it is confidently
expected that before the close of the next fiscal year all who are
entitled to the benefits of the act will have received their
warrants.

The Secretary of the Interior has suggested in his report various
amendments of the laws relating to pensions and bounty lands for the
purpose of more effectually guarding against abuses and frauds on the
Government, to all of which I invite your particular attention. The
large accessions to our Indian population consequent upon the
acquisition of New Mexico and California and the extension of our
settlements into Utah and Oregon have given increased interest and
importance to our relations with the aboriginal race. No material
change has taken place within the last year in the condition and
prospects of the Indian tribes who reside in the Northwestern
Territory and west of the Mississippi River. We are at peace with all
of them, and it will be a source of pleasure to you to learn that they
are gradually advancing in civilization and the pursuits of social
life.

Along the Mexican frontier and in California and Oregon there have
been occasional manifestations of unfriendly feeling and some
depredations committed. I am satisfied, however, that they resulted
more from the destitute and starving condition of the Indians than
from any settled hostility toward the whites. As the settlements of
our citizens progress toward them, the game, upon which they mainly
rely for subsistence, is driven off or destroyed, and the only
alternative left to them is starvation or plunder. It becomes us to
consider, in view of this condition of things, whether justice and
humanity, as well as an enlightened economy, do not require that
instead of seeking to punish them for offenses which are the result
of our own policy toward them we should not provide for their
immediate wants and encourage them to engage in agriculture and to
rely on their labor instead of the chase for the means of support.

Various important treaties have been negotiated with different tribes
during the year, by which their title to large and valuable tracts of
country has been extinguished, all of which will at the proper time
be submitted to the Senate for ratification.

The joint commission under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo has been
actively engaged in running and marking the boundary line between the
United States and Mexico. It was stated in the last annual report of
the Secretary of the Interior that the initial point on the Pacific
and the point of junction of the Gila with the Colorado River had
been determined and the intervening line, about 150 miles in length,
run and marked by temporary monuments. Since that time a monument of
marble has been erected at the initial point, and permanent landmarks
of iron have been placed at suitable distances along the line.

The initial point on the Rio Grande has also been fixed by the
commissioners, at latitude 32 degrees 22', and at the date of the
last communication the survey of the line had been made thence
westward about 150 miles to the neighborhood of the copper mines. The
commission on our part was at first organized on a scale which
experience proved to be unwieldy and attended with unnecessary
expense. Orders have therefore been issued for the reduction of the
number of persons employed within the smallest limits consistent with
the safety of those engaged in the service and the prompt and
efficient execution of their important duties.

Returns have been received from all the officers engaged in taking
the census in the States and Territories except California. The
superintendent employed to make the enumeration in that State has not
yet made his full report, from causes, as he alleges, beyond his
control. This failure is much to be regretted, as it has prevented
the Secretary of the Interior from making the decennial apportionment
of Representatives among the States, as required by the act approved
May 23, 1850. It is hoped, however, that the returns will soon be
received, and no time will then be lost in making the necessary
apportionment and in transmitting the certificates required by law.

The Superintendent of the Seventh Census is diligently employed,
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, in classifying
and arranging in tabular form all the statistical information derived
from the returns of the marshals, and it is believed that when the
work shall be completed it will exhibit a more perfect view of the
population, wealth, occupations, and social condition of a great
country than has ever been presented to the world. The value of such
a work as the basis of enlightened legislation can hardly be
overestimated, and I earnestly hope that Congress will lose no time
in making the appropriations necessary to complete the
classifications and to publish the results in a style worthy of the
subject and of our national character.

The want of a uniform fee bill, prescribing the compensation to be
allowed district attorneys, clerks, marshals, and commissioners in
civil and criminal cases, is the cause of much vexation, injustice,
and complaint. I would recommend a thorough revision of the laws on
the whole subject and the adoption of a tariff of fees which, as far
as practicable, should be uniform, and prescribe a specific
compensation for every service which the officer may be required to
perform. This subject will be fully presented in the report of the
Secretary of the Interior. In my last annual message I gave briefly
my reasons for believing that you possessed the constitutional power
to improve the harbors of our Great Lakes and seacoast and the
navigation of our principal rivers, and recommended that
appropriations should be made for completing such works as had
already been commenced and for commencing such others as might seem
to the wisdom of Congress to be of public and general importance.
Without repeating the reasons then urged, I deem it my duty again to
call your attention to this important subject. The works on many of
the harbors were left in an unfinished state, and consequently
exposed to the action of the elements, which is fast destroying them.
Great numbers of lives and vast amounts of property are annually lost
for want of safe and convenient harbors on the Lakes. None but those
who have been exposed to that dangerous navigation can fully
appreciate the importance of this subject. The whole Northwest
appeals to you for relief, and I trust their appeal will receive due
consideration at your hands.

The same is in a measure true in regard to some of the harbors and
inlets on the seacoast.

The unobstructed navigation of our large rivers is of equal
importance. Our settlements are now extending to the sources of the
great rivers which empty into and form a part of the Mississippi, and
the value of the public lands in those regions would be greatly
enhanced by freeing the navigation of those waters from obstructions.
In view, therefore, of this great interest, I deem it my duty again to
urge upon Congress to make such appropriations for these improvements
as they may deem necessary.

The surveys of the Delta of the Mississippi, with a view to the
prevention of the overflows that have proved so disastrous to that
region of country, have been nearly completed, and the reports
thereof are now in course of preparation and will shortly be laid
before you.

The protection of our southwestern frontier and of the adjacent
Mexican States against the Indian tribes within our border has
claimed my earnest and constant attention. Congress having failed at
the last session to adopt my recommendation that an additional
regiment of mounted men specially adapted to that service should be
raised, all that remained to be done was to make the best use of the
means at my disposal. Accordingly, all the troops adapted to that
service that could properly be spared from other quarters have been
concentrated on that frontier and officers of high reputation
selected to command them. A new arrangement of the military posts has
also been made, whereby the troops are brought nearer to the Mexican
frontier and to the tribes they are intended to overawe.

Sufficient time has not yet elapsed to realize all the benefits that
are expected to result from these arrangements, but I have every
reason to hope that they will effectually check their marauding
expeditions. The nature of the country, which furnishes little for
the support of an army and abounds in places of refuge and
concealment, is remarkably well adapted to this predatory warfare,
and we can scarcely hope that any military force, combined with the
greatest vigilance, can entirely suppress it.

By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo we are bound to protect the
territory of Mexico against the incursions of the savage tribes
within our border "with equal diligence and energy" as if the same
were made within our territory or against our citizens. I have
endeavored to comply as far as possible with this provision of the
treaty. Orders have been given to the officers commanding on that
frontier to consider the Mexican territory and its inhabitants as
equally with our own entitled to their protection, and to make all
their plans and arrangements with a view to the attainment of this
object. Instructions have also been given to the Indian commissioners
and agents among these tribes in all treaties to make the clauses
designed for the protection of our own citizens apply also to those
of Mexico. I have no reason to doubt that these instructions have
been fully carried into effect; nevertheless, it is probable that in
spite of all our efforts some of the neighboring States of Mexico may
have suffered, as our own have, from depredations by the Indians.

To the difficulties of defending our own territory, as above
mentioned, are superadded, in defending that of Mexico, those that
arise from its remoteness, from the fact that we have no right to
station our troops within her limits and that there is no efficient
military force on the Mexican side to cooperate with our own.

So long as this shall continue to be the case the number and activity
of our troops will rather increase than diminish the evil, as the
Indians will naturally turn toward that country where they encounter
the least resistance. Yet these troops are necessary to subdue them
and to compel them to make and observe treaties. Until this shall
have been done neither country will enjoy any security from their
attacks.

The Indians in California, who had previously appeared of a peaceable
character and disposed to cultivate the friendship of the whites, have
recently committed several acts of hostility. As a large portion of
the reenforcements sent to the Mexican frontier were drawn from the
Pacific, the military force now stationed there is considered
entirely inadequate to its defense. It can not be increased, however,
without an increase of the Army, and I again recommend that measure as
indispensable to the protection of the frontier.

I invite your attention to the suggestions on this subject and on
others connected with his Department in the report of the Secretary
of War. The appropriations for the support of the Army during the
current fiscal year ending 30th June next were reduced far below the
estimate submitted by the Department. The consequence of this
reduction is a considerable deficiency, to which I invite your early
attention. The expenditures of that Department for the year ending
30th June last were $9,060,268.58, The estimates for the year
commencing 1st July next and ending June 30, 1853, are $7,898,775.83,
showing a reductions of $1,161,492.75, The board of commissioners to
whom the management of the affairs of the military asylum created by
the act of 3d March last was intrusted have selected a site for the
establishment of an asylum in the vicinity of this city, which has
been approved by me subject to the production of a satisfactory
title.

The report of the Secretary of the Navy will exhibit the condition of
the public service under the supervision of that Department. Our naval
force afloat during the present year has been actively and usefully
employed in giving protection to our widely extended and increasing
commerce and interests in the various quarters of the globe, and our
flag has everywhere afforded the security and received the respect
inspired by the justice and liberality of our intercourse and the
dignity and power of the nation.

The expedition commanded by Lieutenant De Haven, dispatched in search
of the British commander Sir John Franklin and his companions in the
Arctic Seas, returned to New York in the month of October, after
having undergone great peril and suffering from an unknown and
dangerous navigation and the rigors of a northern climate, without
any satisfactory information of the objects of their search, but with
new contributions to science and navigation from the unfrequented
polar regions. The officers and men of the expedition having been all
volunteers for this service and having so conducted it as to meet the
entire approbation of the Government, it is suggested, as an act of
grace and generosity, that the same allowance of extra pay and
emoluments be extended to them that were made to the officers and men
of like rating in the late exploring expedition to the South Seas.

I earnestly recommend to your attention the necessity of reorganizing
the naval establishment, apportioning and fixing the number of
officers in each grade, providing some mode of promotion to the
higher grades of the Navy having reference to merit and capacity
rather than seniority or date of entry into the service, and for
retiring from the effective list upon reduced pay those who may be
incompetent to the performance of active duty. As a measure of
economy, as well as of efficiency, in this arm of the service, the
provision last mentioned is eminently worthy of your consideration.

The determination of the questions of relative rank between the sea
officers and civil officers of the Navy, and between officers of the
Army and Navy, in the various grades of each, will also merit your
attention. The failure to provide any substitute when corporal
punishment was abolished for offenses in the Navy has occasioned the
convening of numerous courts-martial upon the arrival of vessels in
port, and is believed to have had an injurious effect upon the
discipline and efficiency of the service. To moderate punishment from
one grade to another is among the humane reforms of the age, but to
abolish one of severity, which applied so generally to offenses on
shipboard, and provide nothing in its stead is to suppose a progress
of improvement in every individual among seamen which is not assumed
by the Legislature in respect to any other class of men. It is hoped
that Congress, in the ample opportunity afforded by the present
session, will thoroughly investigate this important subject, and
establish such modes of determining guilt and such gradations of
punishment as are consistent with humanity and the personal rights of
individuals, and at the same time shall insure the most energetic and
efficient performance of duty and the suppression of crime in our
ships of war.

The stone dock in the navy-yard at New York, which was ten years in
process of construction, has been so far finished as to be
surrendered up to the authorities of the yard. The dry dock at
Philadelphia is reported as completed, and is expected soon to be
tested and delivered over to the agents of the Government. That at
Portsmouth, N. H., is also nearly ready for delivery; and a contract
has been concluded, agreeably to the act of Congress at its last
session, for a floating sectional dock on the Bay of San Francisco. I
invite your attention to the recommendation of the Department touching
the establishment of a navy-yard in conjunction with this dock on the
Pacific. Such a station is highly necessary to the convenience and
effectiveness of our fleet in that ocean, which must be expected to
increase with the growth of commerce and the rapid extension of our
whale fisheries over its waters.

The Naval Academy at Annapolis, under a revised and improved system
of regulations, now affords opportunities of education and
instruction to the pupils quite equal, it is believed, for
professional improvement, to those enjoyed by the cadets in the
Military Academy. A large class of acting midshipmen was received at
the commencement of the last academic term, and a practice ship has
been attached to the institution to afford the amplest means for
regular instruction in seamanship, as well as for cruises during the
vacations of three or four months in each year.

The advantages of science in nautical affairs have rarely been more
strikingly illustrated than in the fact, stated in the report of the
Navy Department, that by means of the wind and current charts
projected and prepared by Lieutenant Maury, the Superintendent of the
Naval Observatory, the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports
of our country has been shortened by about forty days.

The estimates for the support of the Navy and Marine Corps the
ensuing fiscal year will be found to be $5,856,472.19, the estimates
for the current year being $5,900,621.

The estimates for special objects under the control of this
Department amount to $2,684,220.89, against $2,210,980 for the
present year, the increase being occasioned by the additional mail
service on the Pacific Coast and the construction of the dock in
California, authorized at the last session of Congress, and some
slight additions under the head of improvements and repairs in
navy-yards, buildings, and machinery. I deem it of much importance to
a just economy and a correct understanding of naval expenditures that
there should be an entire separation of the appropriations for the
support of the naval service proper from those for permanent
improvements at navy-yards and stations and from ocean steam mail
service and other special objects assigned to the supervision of this
Department.

The report of the Postmaster-General, herewith communicated, presents
an interesting view of the progress, operations, and condition of his
Department.

At the close of the last fiscal year the length of mail routes within
the United States was 196,290 miles, the annual transportation thereon
53,272,252 miles, and the annual cost of such transportation
$3,421,754.

The length of the foreign mail routes is estimated at 18,349 miles
and the annual transportation thereon at 615,206 miles. The annual
cost of this service is $1,472,187, of which $448,937