cle. Experience, however, our best guide on this as on other subjects, makes it doubtful whether the advantages of this system are not counterbalanced by many evils, and whether it does not tend to beget, in the minds of a large portion of our countrymen, a spirit of discontent and jealousy dangerous to the stability of the Union.

[SENATE.

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 a uniform currency, maintaining the inviolability of contracts, diffusing intelligence, and discharging unfelt its other superintending functions, I recommend that 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.

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 pub-provision be made to dispose of all stocks now held lic 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 cannot 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 com. mon 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 nevertheless 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 duty to acquaint you with an arrange. ment made by the Bank of the United States with a portion of the holders of the three per cent. 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 October, 1833; and thus the liability of the Government, after its ability to discharge the debt, 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 deposi tory 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 It is my painful duty to state, that, in one quar- owned by the States should be ceded to the United ter of the United States, opposition to the revenue States, for the purposes of general harmony, and laws has risen to a height which threatens to thwart as a fund to meet the expenses of the war. The their execution, if not to endanger the integrity of recommendation was adopted, and, at different pethe Union. Whatever obstructions may be thrown riods of time, the States of Massachusetts, New in the way of the judicial authorities of the Gene-York, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and ral Government, it is hoped they will be able peace-Georgia, granted their vacant soil for the uses for ably 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 whatever, prompt notice of it will be given to Congress, with the suggestion of such views and measures as may be deemed necessary to meet it.

which they had been asked. As the lands may now be considered as relieved from this pledge, the object for which they were ceded having been accomplished, it is in the discretion of Congress to dispose of them in such a 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 cannot be doubted that the speedy settlement

SENATE.]

The President's Message.

of these lands constitutes the true interests of the Republic. The wealth and strength of a country are its population, and the best part of that population are the 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 to 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 true 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 compact. 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.

[DECEMBER, 1832. fore, 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 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 Treasury 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 cannot 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 suffi ciently apparent to command the assent of threefourths of the States, the best possible reason why the power should not be assumed on doubtful authority is afforded; for if more than one-fourth of The adventurous and hardy population of the the States are unwilling to make the grant, its exWest, besides contributing their equal share of tax-ercise will be productive of discontents which will ation, under our import system, have, in the progress of our Government, for the land they occupy, paid into the Treasury a large proportion of forty millions of dollars; and of the revenue received therefrom, but a small part has been expended amongst 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 employed the undivided emoluments arising from the sale of their own lands, it cannot 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 put an end forever 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, there

far overbalance 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 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

DECEMBER, 1832.]

The President's Message.

[SENATE.

more simple and economical political machines, the | the conviction that the state of this important arm State Governments, it will unquestionably be safer of the public defence requires your attention. and better for the people, than to add to the splen- I am happy to inform you, that the wise and hudor, the patronage, and the power of the General mane policy of transferring from the eastern to the Government. But if the people of the several western side of the Mississippi the remnants of our States think otherwise, they will amend the consti-aboriginal tribes, with their own consent and upon tution, 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 despatch, and the general movement was satisfactory.

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 cannot 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. Whatever 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 remained unchanged, as do the views communicated in my Message to the Senate, of February, 1831.

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.

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 proportioned to the emergency, and our present small army is a Besides the general remarks on some of the transnucleus around which such force could be formed actions of our Navy, presented in the view which and embodied. But for the purposes of defence has been taken of our foreign relations, I seize this under ordinary circumstances, we must rely upon occasion to invite to your notice the increased prothe electors of the country. Those by whom, and tection which it has afforded to our commerce and for whom, the Government was instituted and sup-citizens on distant seas, without any augmentation ported, will constitute its protection in the hour of of the force in commission. In the gradual imdanger, as they do its check in the hour of safety.provement of its pecuniary concerns, in the constant 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 & 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

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 submitted to Congress, are worthy of your attention: but none more so than that urging the renewal, for another term of six years, of the general appropriation for the gradual improvement of the Navy.

From the accompanying report of the PostmasterGeneral, you will also perceive that that Department continues to extend its usefulness, without impairing

SENATE.]

Report from the Secretary of the Treasury.

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.

[DECEMBER, 1832.

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 cannot now be doubted that the genius of 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 cannot 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 scarce

I have heretofore pointed out the 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 two 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 pub-ly to be felt. That the Almighty Ruler of the Unilic officers until they go out of office.

sincere prayer.

December 4, 1832.

ANDREW JACKSON.

Five thousand copies of the above Message were ordered to be printed.

verse may so direct our deliberations, and overrule The Judiciary system of the United States re- our acts, as to make us instrumental in securing a mains imperfect. Of the nine Western and South-result so dear to mankind, is my most earnest and 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 Louisiana, 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 guarantees 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 towards the most complete enjoyment of civil liberty. 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.

On an

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 cannot, 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

THURSDAY, December 6.

The President laid before the Senate a communication from the Secretary of the Treasury, containing the Treasury report of the state of the finances, for the year 1832; which was ordered to be printed.*

*Report of LOUIS MCLANE, Esq., Secretary of the Treasury, on the Finances. Extracts:

I. THE PUBLIC Debt.

"After the first of January next, no part of the public debt, except the remaining fragments of the unfunded debt, of be redeemable before the following year: and, though there which only small portions are occasionally presented, will will be in the Treasury, during the year, ample means to discharge the whole debt, they can be applied only to the purchase of stock at the market price. It is now manifest, that, if the Bank shares had been sold, and the proceeds applied to this object, the entire debt might, in this manner, have been extinguished within the present year. But it is, nevertheless, pleasing to reflect, that, after the present year, it may be considered as only a nominal debt; as the Bank shares, which have been actually paid for within the last four years, by the redemption of the stock subscribed for them, are greater in value than the whole amount of that

debt: and the debt itself ceases to be a burthen, inasmuch as the dividends derived from the Bank shares yield more to the Treasury than will be required to pay the interest. The debt may, therefore, be considered as substantially extinguished after the first of January next; which is earlier than was looked for under the most prosperous and economical administration of our affairs that could have been anticipated. It will, nevertheless, be gratifying to the national pride, that every thing having even the appearance of debt should cease; and measures will therefore be adopted to invite the early presentation of all the outstanding stocks, that they may be paid off as fast as the means are received, and the evidences of the public debt finally cancelled. It will be a proud day for the American people, when, to all these honorable characteristics, which have rendered their

have been entitled to claim its benefits could not

The following Message was received from the have received them without the fuller legislation of Congress.