of state, herewith presented, and the accompanying documents, it will be seen, that for not one of our public complaints has satisfaction been given or offered; and that but four cases of both descriptions, out of all those formally presented, and earnestly pressed, have as yet been decided upon by the Mexican government.

Not perceiving in what manner any of the powers given to the executive alone could be further usefully employed in bringing this unfortunate controversy to a satisfactory termination, the subject was, by my predecessor, referred to Congress, as one calling for its interposition. In accordance with the clearly understood wishes of the legislature, another and formal demand for satisfaction has been made upon the Mexican government, with what success the documents now communicated will show. On a careful and deliberate examination of their contents, and considering the spirit manifested by the Mexican government, it has become my painful duty to return the subject, as it now stands, to Congress, to whom it belongs to decide upon the time, the mode, and the measures of redress. Whatever may be your decision, it shall

be faithfully executed, confident that it will be characterized by that moderation and justice which will, I trust, under all circumstances, govern the counsels of our country.

The report of the commissioner of the general land office, which will be laid before you by the secretary of the treasury, will show how the affairs of that office have been conducted for the past year. The disposition of the public lands is one of the most important trusts confided to Congress. The practicability of retaining the title and control of such extensive domains in the general government, and at the same time admitting the territories embracing them into the federal Union, as co-equal with the original states, was seriously doubted by many of our wisest statesmen. All feared that they would become a source of discord, and many carried their apprehensions so far as to see in them the seeds of a future dissolution of the confederacy. But happily our experience has already been sufficient to quiet, in a great degree, all such apprehensions. The position at one time assumed that the admission of new states into

the Union on the same footing with the original states, was incompatible with a right of soil in the United States, and operated as a surrender thereof, notwithstanding the terms of the compacts by which their admission was designed to be regulated, has been wisely abandoned. Whether in the new or the old states, all now agree that the right of soil to the public lands remains in the federal government, and that these lands constitute a common property, to be disposed of for the common benefit of all the states, old and new. Acquiescence in this just principle by the people of the new states has naturally promoted a disposition to adopt the most liberal policy in the sale of the public lands. A policy which should be limited to the mere object of selling the lands for the greatest possible sum of money, without regard to higher considerations, finds but few advocates. On the contrary, it is generally conceded, that while the mode of distribution adopted by the government should always be a prudent one, yet its leading object ought to be the early settlement and cultivation of the lands sold; and that it should discountenance, if it cannot prevent, the

accumulation of large tracts in the same hands, which must retard the growth of the new states, or entail upon them a dependent tenantry and its attendant evils.

A question embracing such important interests, and so well calculated to enlist the feelings of the people in every quarter of the Union, has very naturally given rise to numerous plans for the improvement of the existing system. The distinctive features of the policy that has hitherto prevailed, are, to dispose of the public lands at moderate prices, thus enabling a greater number to enter into competition for their purchase, and accomplishing the double object of promoting their rapid settlement by the purchasers, and at the same time increasing the receipts of the treasury; to sell for cash, thereby preventing the disturbing influence of a large mass of private citizens indebted to the government which they have a voice in controlling; to bring them into the market no faster than good lands are supposed to be wanted for improvements, thereby preventing the accumulation of large tracts in few hands; and to apply the proceeds of the sales to the

general purposes of the government, thus diminishing the amount to be raised from the people of the states by taxation, and giving each state its portion of the benefits to be derived from the common fund in a manner the most quiet and at the same time, perhaps, the most equitable that can be devised.

These provisions, with occasional enactments in behalf of special interests deemed entitled to the favour of government, have, in their execution, produced results as beneficial upon the whole as could reasonably be expected in a matter so vast, so complicated, and so exciting. Upwards of seventy millions of acres have been sold, the greater part of which is believed to have been purchased for actual settlement. The population of the new states and territories created out of the public domain increased, between 1800 and 1830, from less than sixty thousand to upwards of two millions three hundred thousand souls, constituting at the latter period, about one fifth of the whole people of the United States. The increase since cannot be accurately known, but the whole may now be safely estimated at over three and a half millions of souls, composing nine States, the repre