HISTORIC SPEECHES
MARTIN VAN BUREN
1838 State of the Union Address
December 3, 1838
Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:
I congratulate you on the favorable circumstances in the condition of our country
under which you reassemble for the performance of your official duties. Though
the anticipations of an abundant harvest have not everywhere been realized,
yet on the whole the labors of the husbandman are rewarded with a bountiful
return; industry prospers in its various channels of business and enterprise;
general health again prevails through our vast diversity of climate; nothing
threatens from abroad the continuance of external peace; nor has anything at
home impaired the strength of those fraternal and domestic ties which constitute
the only guaranty to the success and permanency of our happy Union, and which,
formed in the hour of peril, have hitherto been honorably sustained through
every vicissitude in our national affairs. These blessings, which evince the
care and beneficence of Providence, call for our devout and fervent gratitude.
We have not less reason to be grateful for other bounties bestowed by the same
munificent hand, and more exclusively our own.
The present year closes the first half century of our Federal institutions,
and our system, differing from all others in the acknowledged practical and
unlimited operation which it has for so long a period given to the sovereignty
of the people, has now been fully tested by experience.
The Constitution devised by our forefathers as the framework and bond of that
system, then untried, has become a settled form of government; not only preserving
and protecting the great principles upon which it was rounded, but wonderfully
promoting individual happiness and private interests. Though subject to change
and entire revocation whenever deemed inadequate to all these purposes, yet
such is the wisdom of its construction and so stable has been the public sentiment
that it remains unaltered except in matters of detail comparatively unimportant.
It has proved amply sufficient for the various emergencies incident to our condition
as a nation. A formidable foreign war; agitating collisions between domestic,
and in some respects rival, sovereignties; temptations to interfere in the intestine
commotions of neighboring countries; the dangerous influences that arise in
periods of excessive prosperity, and the antirepublican tendencies of associated
wealth--these, with other trials not less formidable, have all been encountered,
and thus far successfully resisted.
It was reserved for the American Union to test the advantages of a government
entirely dependent on the continual exercise of the popular will, and our experience
has shown that it is as beneficent in practice as it is just in theory. Each
successive change made in our local institutions has contributed to extend the
right of suffrage, has increased the direct influence of the mass of the community,
given greater freedom to individual exertion, and restricted more and more the
powers of Government; yet the intelligence, prudence, and patriotism of the
people have kept pace with this augmented responsibility. In no country has
education been so widely diffused. Domestic peace has nowhere so largely reigned.
The close bonds of social intercourse have in no instance prevailed with such
harmony over a space so vast. All forms of religion have united for the first
time to diffuse charity and piety, because for the first time in the history
of nations all have been totally untrammeled and absolutely free. The deepest
recesses of the wilderness have been penetrated; yet instead of the rudeness
in the social condition consequent upon such adventures elsewhere, numerous
communities have sprung up, already unrivaled in prosperity, general intelligence,
internal tranquillity, and the wisdom of their political institutions. Internal
improvement, the fruit of individual enterprise, fostered by the protection
of the States, has added new links to the Confederation and fresh rewards to
provident industry. Doubtful questions of domestic policy have been quietly
settled by mutual forbearance, and agriculture, commerce, and manufactures minister
to each other. Taxation and public debt, the burdens which bear so heavily upon
all other countries, have pressed with comparative lightness upon us. Without
one entangling alliance, our friendship is prized by every nation, and the rights
of our citizens are everywhere respected, because they are known to be guarded
by a united, sensitive, and watchful people.
To this practical operation of our institutions, so evident and successful,
we owe that increased attachment to them which is among the most cheering exhibitions
of popular sentiment and will prove their best security in time to come against
foreign or domestic assault.
This review of the results of our institutions for half a century, without
exciting a spirit of vain exultation, should serve to impress upon us the great
principles from which they have sprung--constant and direct supervision by the
people over every public measure. strict forbearance on the part of the Government
from exercising any doubtful or disputed powers, and a cautious abstinence from
all interference with concerns which properly belong and are best left to State
regulations and individual enterprise.
Full information of the state of our foreign affairs having been recently on
different occasions submitted to Congress, I deem it necessary now to bring
to your notice only such events as have subsequently occurred or are of such
importance as to require particular attention.
The most amicable dispositions continue to be exhibited by all the nations
with whom the Government and citizens of the United States have an habitual
intercourse. At the date of my last annual message Mexico was the only nation
which could not be included in so gratifying a reference to our foreign relations.
I am happy to be now able to inform you that an advance has been made toward
the adjustment of our differences with that Republic and the restoration of
the customary good feeling between the two nations. This important change has
been effected by conciliatory negotiations that have resulted in the conclusion
of a treaty between the two Governments, which, when ratified, will refer to
the arbitrament of a friendly power all the subjects of controversy between
us growing out of injuries to individuals. There is at present also reason to
believe that an equitable settlement of all disputed points will be attained
without further difficulty or unnecessary delay, and thus authorize the free
resumption of diplomatic intercourse with our sister Republic.
With respect to the northeastern boundary of the United States, no official
correspondence between this Government and that of Great Britain has passed
since that communicated to Congress toward the close of their last session.
The offer to negotiate a convention for the appointment of a joint commission
of survey and exploration I am, however, assured will be met by Her Majesty's
Government in a conciliatory and friendly spirit, and instructions to enable
the British minister here to conclude such an arrangement will be transmitted
to him without needless delay. It is hoped and expected that these instructions
will be of a liberal character, and that this negotiation, if successful, will
prove to be an important step toward the satisfactory and final adjustment of
the controversy.
I had hoped that the respect for the laws and regard for the peace and honor
of their own country which have ever characterized the citizens of the United
States would have prevented any portion of them from using any means to promote
insurrection in the territory of a power with which we are at peace, and with
which the United States are desirous of maintaining the most friendly relations.
I regret deeply, however, to be obliged to inform you that this has not been
the case. Information has been given to me, derived from official and other
sources, that many citizens of the United States have associated together to
make hostile incursions from our territory into Canada and to aid and abet insurrection
there, in violation of the obligations and laws of the United States and in
open disregard of their own duties as citizens. This information has been in
part confirmed by a hostile invasion actually made by citizens of the United
States, in conjunction with Canadians and others, and accompanied by a forcible
seizure of the property of our citizens and an application thereof to the prosecution
of military operations against the authorities and people of Canada.
The results of these criminal assaults upon the peace and order of a neighboring
country have been, as was to be expected, fatally destructive to the misguided
or deluded persons engaged in them and highly injurious to those in whose behalf
they are professed to have been undertaken. The authorities in Canada, from
intelligence received of such intended movements among our citizens, have felt
themselves obliged to take precautionary measures against them; have actually
embodied the militia and assumed an attitude to repel the invasion to which
they believed the colonies were exposed from the United States. A state of feeling
on both sides of the frontier has thus been produced which called for prompt
and vigorous interference. If an insurrection existed in Canada, the amicable
dispositions of the United States toward Great Britain, as well as their duty
to themselves, would lead them to maintain a strict neutrality and to restrain
their citizens from all violations of the laws which have been passed for its
enforcement. But this Government recognizes a still higher obligation to repress
all attempts on the part of its citizens to disturb the peace of a country where
order prevails or has been reestablished. Depredations by our citizens upon
nations at peace with the United States, or combinations for committing them,
have at all times been regarded by the American Government and people with the
greatest abhorrence. Military incursions by our citizens into countries so situated,
and the commission of acts of violence on the members thereof, in order to effect
a change in their government, or under any pretext whatever, have from the commencement
of our Government been held equally criminal on the part of those engaged in
them, and as much deserving of punishment as would be the disturbance of the
public peace by the perpetration of similar acts within our own territory.
By no country or persons have these invaluable principles of international
law--principles the strict observance of which is so indispensable to the preservation
of social order in the world--been more earnestly cherished or sacredly respected
than by those great and good men who first declared and finally established
the independence of our own country. They promulgated and maintained them at
an early and critical period in our history; they were subsequently embodied
in legislative enactments of a highly penal character, the faithful enforcement
of which has hitherto been, and will, I trust, always continue to be, regarded
as a duty inseparably associated with the maintenance of our national honor.
That the people of the United States should feel an interest in the spread of
political institutions as free as they regard their own to be is natural, nor
can a sincere solicitude for the success of all those who are at any time in
good faith struggling for their acquisition be imputed to our citizens as a
crime. With the entire freedom of opinion and an undisguised expression thereof
on their part the Government has neither the right nor, I trust, the disposition
to interfere. But whether the interest or the honor of the United States requires
that they should be made a party to any such struggle, and by inevitable consequence
to the war which is waged in its support, is a question which by our Constitution
is wisely left to Congress alone to decide. It is by the laws already made criminal
in our citizens to embarrass or anticipate that decision by unauthorized military
operations on their part. Offenses of this character, in addition to their criminality
as violations of the laws of our country, have a direct tendency to draw down
upon our own citizens at large the multiplied evils of a foreign war and expose
to injurious imputations the good faith and honor of the country. As such they
deserve to be put down with promptitude and decision. I can not be mistaken,
I am confident, in counting on the cordial and general concurrence of our fellow-citizens
in this sentiment. A copy of the proclamation which I have felt it my duty to
issue is herewith communicated. I can not but hope that the good sense and patriotism,
the regard for the honor and reputation of their country, the respect for the
laws which they have themselves enacted for their own government, and the love
of order for which the mass of our people have been so long and so justly distinguished
will deter the comparatively few who are engaged in them from a further prosecution
of such desperate enterprises. In the meantime the existing laws have been and
will continue to be faithfully executed, and every effort will be made to carry
them out in their full extent. Whether they are sufficient or not to meet the
actual state of things on the Canadian frontier it is for Congress to decide.
It will appear from the correspondence herewith submitted that the Government
of Russia declines a renewal of the fourth article of the convention of April,
1824, between the United States and His Imperial Majesty, by the third article
of which it is agreed that "hereafter there shall not be formed by the citizens
of the United States or under the authority of the said States any establishment
upon the northwest coast of America, nor in any of the islands adjacent, to
the north of 54° 40' of north latitude, and that in the same manner there
shall be none formed by Russian subjects or under the authority of Russia south
of the same parallel;" and by the fourth article, "that during a term of ten
years, counting from the signature of the present convention, the ships of both
powers, or which belong to their citizens or subjects, respectively, may reciprocally
frequent, without any hindrance whatever, the interior seas, gulfs, harbors,
and creeks upon the coast mentioned in the preceding article, for the purpose
of fishing and trading with the natives of the country." The reasons assigned
for declining to renew the provisions of this article are, briefly, that the
only use made by our citizens of the privileges it secures to them has been
to supply the Indians with spirituous liquors, ammunition, and firearms; that
this traffic has been excluded from the Russian trade; and as the supplies furnished
from the United States are injurious to the Russian establishments on the northwest
coast and calculated to produce complaints between the two Governments, His
Imperial Majesty thinks it for the interest of both countries not to accede
to the proposition made by the American Government for the renewal of the article
last referred to.
The correspondence herewith communicated will show the grounds upon which we
contend that the citizens of the United States have, independent of the provisions
of the convention of 1824, a right to trade with the natives upon the coast
in question at unoccupied places, liable, however, it is admitted, to be at
any time extinguished by the creation of Russian establishments at such points.
This right is denied by the Russian Government, which asserts that by the operation
of the treaty of 1824 each party agreed to waive the general right to land on
the vacant coasts on the respective sides of the degree of latitude referred
to, and accepted in lieu thereof the mutual privileges mentioned in the fourth
article. The capital and tonnage employed by our citizens in their trade with
the northwest coast of America will, perhaps, on adverting to the official statements
of the commerce and navigation of the United States for the last few years,
be deemed too inconsiderable in amount to attract much attention; yet the subject
may in other respects deserve the careful consideration of Congress.
I regret to state that the blockade of the principal ports on the eastern coast
of Mexico, which, in consequence of differences between that Republic and France,
was instituted in May last, unfortunately still continues, enforced by a competent
French naval armament, and is necessarily embarrassing to our own trade in the
Gulf, in common with that of other nations. Every disposition, however, is believed
to exist on the part of the French Government to render this measure as little
onerous as practicable to the interests of the citizens of the United States
and to those of neutral commerce, and it is to be hoped that an early settlement
of the difficulties between France and Mexico will soon reestablish the harmonious
relations formerly subsisting between them and again open the ports of that
Republic to the vessels of all friendly nations.
A convention for marking that part of the boundary between the United States
and the Republic of Texas which extends from the mouth of the Sabine to the
Red River was concluded and signed at this city on the 25th of April last. It
has since been ratified by both Governments, and seasonable measures will be
taken to carry it into effect on the part of the United States.
The application of that Republic for admission into this Union, made in August,
1837, and which was declined for reasons already made known to you, has been
formally withdrawn, as will appear from the accompanying copy of the note of
the minister plenipotentiary of Texas, which was presented to the Secretary
of State on the occasion of the exchange of the ratifications of the convention
above mentioned.
Copies of the convention with Texas, of a commercial treaty concluded with
the King of Greece, and of a similar treaty with the Peru-Bolivian Confederation,
the ratifications of which have been recently exchanged, accompany this message,
for the information of Congress and for such legislative enactments as may be
found necessary or expedient in relation to either of them.
To watch over and foster the interests of a gradually increasing and widely
extended commerce, to guard the rights of American citizens whom business or
pleasure or other motives may tempt into distant climes, and at the same time
to cultivate those sentiments of mutual respect and good will which experience
has proved so beneficial in international intercourse, the Government of the
United States has deemed it expedient from time to time to establish diplomatic
connections with-different foreign states, by the appointment of representatives.
to reside within their respective territories. I am gratified to be enabled
to announce to you that since the close of your last session these relations
have been opened under the happiest auspices with Austria and the Two Sicilies,
that new nominations have been made in the respective missions of Russia, Brazil,
Belgium, and Sweden and Norway in this country, and that a minister extraordinary
has been received, accredited to this Government, from the Argentine Confederation.
An exposition of the fiscal affairs of the Government and of their condition
for the past year will be made to you by the Secretary of the Treasury.
The available balance in the Treasury on the 1st of January next is estimated
at $2,765,342. The receipts of the year from customs and lands will probably
amount to $20,615,598. These usual sources of revenue have been increased by
an issue of Treasury notes, of which less than $8,000,000, including interest
and principal, will be outstanding at the end of the year, and by the sale of
one of the bonds of the Bank of the United States for $2,254,871. The aggregate
of means from these and other sources, with the balance on hand on the 1st of
January last, has been applied to the payment of appropriations by Congress.
The whole expenditure for the year on their account, including the redemption
of more than eight millions of Treasury notes, constitutes an aggregate of about
$40,000,000, and will still leave in the Treasury the balance before stated.
Nearly $8,000,000 of Treasury notes are to be paid during the coming year in
addition to the ordinary appropriations for the support of Government. For both
these purposes the resources of the Treasury will undoubtedly be sufficient
if the charges upon it are not increased beyond the annual estimates. No excess,
however, is likely to exist. Nor can the postponed installment of the surplus
revenue be deposited with the States nor any considerable appropriations beyond
the estimates be made without causing a deficiency in the Treasury. The great
caution, advisable at all times, of limiting appropriations to the wants of
the public service is rendered necessary at present by the prospective and rapid
reduction of the tariff, while the vigilant jealousy evidently excited among
the people by the occurrences of the last few years assures us that they expect
from their representatives, and will sustain them in the exercise of, the most
rigid economy. Much can be effected by postponing appropriations not immediately
required for the ordinary public service or for any pressing emergency, and
much by reducing the expenditures where the entire and immediate accomplishment
of the objects in view is not indispensable.
When we call to mind the recent and extreme embarrassments produced by excessive
issues of bank paper, aggravated by the unforeseen withdrawal of much foreign
capital and the inevitable derangement arising from the distribution of the
surplus revenue among the States as required by Congress, and consider the heavy
expenses incurred by the removal of Indian tribes, by the military operations
in Florida, and on account of the unusually large appropriations made at the
last two annual sessions of Congress for other objects, we have striking evidence
in the present efficient state of our finances of the abundant resources of
the country to fulfill all its obligations. Nor is it less gratifying to find
that the general business of the community, deeply affected as it has been,
is reviving with additional vigor, chastened by the lessons of the past and
animated by the hopes of the future. By the curtailment of paper issues, by
curbing the sanguine and adventurous spirit of speculation, and by the honorable
application of all available means to the fulfillment of obligations, confidence
has been restored both at home and abroad, and ease and facility secured to
all the operations of trade.
The agency of the Government in producing these results has been as efficient
as its powers and means permitted. By withholding from the States the deposit
of the fourth installment, and leaving several millions at long credits with
the banks, principally in one section of the country, and more immediately beneficial
to it, and at the same time aiding the banks and commercial communities in other
sections by postponing the payment of bonds for duties to the amount of between
four and five millions of dollars; by an issue of Treasury notes as a means
to enable the Government to meet the consequences of their indulgences, but
affording at the same time facilities for remittance and exchange; and by steadily
declining to employ as general depositories of the public revenues, or receive
the notes of, all banks which refused to redeem them with specie--by these measures,
aided by the favorable action of some of the banks and by the support and cooperation
of a large portion of the community, we have witnessed an early resumption of
specie payments in our great commercial capital, promptly followed in almost
every part of the United States. This result has been alike salutary to the
true interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures; to public morals,
respect for the laws, and that confidence between man and man which is so essential
in all our social relations.
The contrast between the suspension of 1814 and that of 1837 is most striking.
The short duration of the latter, the prompt restoration of business, the evident
benefits resulting from an adherence by the Government to the constitutional
standard of value instead of sanctioning the suspension by the receipt of irredeemable
paper, and the advantages derived from the large amount of specie introduced
into the country previous to 1837 afford a valuable illustration of the true
policy of the Government in such a crisis. Nor can the comparison fail to remove
the impression that a national bank is necessary in such emergencies. Not only
were specie payments resumed without its aid, but exchanges have also been more
rapidly restored than when it existed, thereby showing that private capital,
enterprise, and prudence are fully adequate to these ends. On all these points
experience seems to have confirmed the views heretofore submitted to Congress.
We have been saved the mortification of seeing the distresses of the community
for the third time seized on to fasten upon the country so dangerous an institution,
and we may also hope that the business of individuals will hereafter be relieved
from the injurious effects of a continued agitation of that disturbing subject.
The limited influence of a national bank in averting derangement in the exchanges
of the country or in compelling the resumption of specie payments is now not
less apparent than its tendency to increase inordinate speculation by sudden
expansions and contractions; its disposition to create panic and embarrassment
for the promotion of its own designs; its interference with politics, and its
far greater power for evil than for good, either in regard to the local institutions
or the operations of Government itself. What was in these respects but apprehension
or opinion when a national bank was first established now stands confirmed by
humiliating experience. The scenes through which we have passed conclusively
prove how little our commerce, agriculture, manufactures, or finances require
such an institution, and what dangers are attendant on its power--a power, I
trust, never to be conferred by the American people upon their Government, and
still less upon individuals not responsible to them for its unavoidable abuses.
My conviction of the necessity of further legislative provisions for the safe-keeping
and disbursement of the public moneys and my opinion in regard to the measures
best adapted to the accomplishment of those objects have been already submitted
to you. These have been strengthened by recent events, and in the full conviction
that time and experience must still further demonstrate their propriety I feel
it my duty, with respectful deference to the conflicting views of others, again
to invite your attention to them.
With the exception of limited sums deposited in the few banks still employed
under the act of 1836, the amounts received for duties, and, with very inconsiderable
exceptions, those accruing from lands also, have since the general suspension
of specie payments by the deposit banks been kept and disbursed by the Treasurer
under his general legal powers, subject to the superintendence of the Secretary
of the Treasury. The propriety of defining more specifically and of regulating
by law the exercise of this wide scope of Executive discretion has been already
submitted to Congress.
A change in the office of collector at one of our principal ports has brought
to light a defalcation of the gravest character, the particulars of which will
be laid before you in a special report from the Secretary of the Treasury. By
his report and the accompanying documents it will be seen that the weekly returns
of the defaulting officer apparently exhibited throughout a faithful administration
of the affairs intrusted to his management. It, however, now appears that he
commenced abstracting the public moneys shortly after his appointment and continued
to do so, progressively increasing the amount, for the term of more than seven
years, embracing a portion of the period during which the public moneys were
deposited in the Bank of the United States, the whole of that of the State bank
deposit system, and concluding only on his retirement from office, after that
system had substantially failed in consequence of the suspension of specie payments.
The way in which this defalcation was so long concealed and the steps taken
to indemnify the United States, as far as practicable, against loss will also
be presented to you. The ease is one which imperatively claims the attention
of Congress and furnishes the strongest motive for the establishment of a more
severe and secure system for the safe-keeping -and disbursement of the public
moneys than any that has heretofore existed.
It seems proper, at all events, that by an early enactment similar to that
of other countries the application of public money by an officer of Government
to private uses should be made a felony and visited with severe and ignominious
punishment. This is already in effect the law in respect to the Mint, and has
been productive of the most salutary results. Whatever system is adopted, such
an enactment would be wise as an independent measure, since much of the public
moneys must in their collection and ultimate disbursement pass twice through
the hands of public officers, in whatever manner they are intermediately kept.
The Government, it must be admitted, has been from its commencement comparatively
fortunate in this respect. But the appointing power can not always be well advised
in its selections, and the experience of every country has shown that public
officers are not at all times proof against temptation. It is a duty, therefore,
which the Government owes, as well to the interests committed to its care as
to the officers themselves, to provide every guard against transgressions of
this character that is consistent with reason and humanity. Congress can not
be too jealous of the conduct of those who are intrusted with the public money,
and I shall at all times be disposed to encourage a watchful discharge of this
duty.
If a more direct cooperation on the part of Congress in the supervision of
the conduct of the officers intrusted with the custody and application of the
public money is deemed desirable, it will give me pleasure to assist in the
establishment of any judicious and constitutional plan by which that object
may be accomplished. You will in your wisdom determine upon the propriety of
adopting such a plan and upon the measures necessary to its effectual execution.
When the late Bank of the United States was incorporated and made the depository
of the public moneys, a right was reserved to Congress to inspect at its pleasure,
by a committee of that body, the books and the proceedings of the bank. In one
of the States, whose banking institutions are supposed to rank amongst the first
in point of stability, they are subjected to constant examination by commissioners
appointed for that purpose, and much of the success of its banking system is
attributed to this watchful supervision.
The same course has also, in view of its beneficial operation, been adopted
by an adjoining State, favorably known for the care it has always bestowed upon
whatever relates to its financial concerns. I submit to your consideration whether
a committee of Congress might not be profitably employed in inspecting, at such
intervals as might be deemed proper, the affairs and accounts of officers intrusted
with the custody of the public moneys. The frequent performance of this duty
might be made obligatory on the committee in respect to those officers who have
large sums in their possession, and left discretionary in respect to others.
They might report to the Executive such defalcations as were found to exist,
with a view to a prompt removal from office unless the default was satisfactorily
accounted for, and report also to Congress, at the commencement of each session,
the result of their examinations and proceedings. It does appear to me that
with a subjection of this class of public officers to the general supervision
of the Executive, to examinations by a committee of Congress at periods of which
they should have no previous notice, and to prosecution and punishment as for
felony for every breach of trust, the safe-keeping of the public moneys might
under the system proposed be placed on a surer foundation than it has ever occupied
since the establishment of the Government.
The Secretary of the Treasury will lay before you additional information containing
new details on this interesting subject. To these I ask your early attention.
That it should have given rise to great diversity of opinion can not be a subject
of surprise. After the collection and custody of the public moneys had been
for so many years connected with and made subsidiary to the advancement of private
interests, a return to the simple self-denying ordinances of the Constitution
could not but be difficult. But time and free discussion, eliciting the sentiments
of the people, and aided by that conciliatory spirit which has ever characterized
their course on great emergencies, were relied upon for a satisfactory settlement
of the question. Already has this anticipation, on one important point at least--the
impropriety of diverting public money to private purposes--been fully realized.
There is no reason to suppose that legislation upon that branch of the subject
would now be embarrassed by a difference of opinion, or fail to receive the
cordial support of a large majority of our constituents.
The connection which formerly existed between the Government and banks was
in reality injurious to both, as well as to the general interests of the community
at large. It aggravated the disasters of trade and the derangements of commercial
intercourse, and administered new excitements and additional means to wild and
reckless speculations, the disappointment of which threw the country into convulsions
of panic, and all but produced violence and bloodshed. The imprudent expansion
of bank credits, which was the natural result of the command of the revenues
of the State, furnished the resources for unbounded license in every species
of adventure, seduced industry from its regular and salutary occupations by
the hope of abundance without labor, and deranged the social state by tempting
all trades and professions into the vortex of speculation on remote contingencies.
The same wide-spreading influence impeded also the resources of the Government,
curtailed its useful operations, embarrassed the fulfillment of its obligations,
and seriously interfered with the execution of the laws. Large appropriations
and oppressive taxes are the natural consequences of such a connection, since
they increase the profits of those who are allowed to use the public funds,
and make it their interest that money should be accumulated and expenditures
multiplied. It is thus that a concentrated money power is tempted to become
an active agent in political affairs; and all past experience has shown on which
side that influence will be arrayed. We deceive ourselves if we suppose that,
it will ever be found asserting and supporting the rights of the community at
large in opposition to the claims of the few.
In a government whose distinguishing characteristic should be a diffusion and
equalization of its benefits and burdens the advantage of individuals will be
augmented at the expense of the community at large. Nor is it the nature of
combinations for the acquisition of legislative influence to confine their interference
to the single object for which they were originally formed. The temptation to
extend it to other matters is, on the contrary, not unfrequently too strong
to be resisted. The rightful influence in the direction of public affairs of
the mass of the people is therefore in no slight danger of being sensibly and
injuriously affected by giving to a comparatively small but very efficient class
a direct and exclusive personal interest in so important a portion of the legislation
of Congress as that which relates to the custody of the public moneys. If laws
acting upon private interests can not always be avoided, they should be confined
within the narrowest limits, and left wherever possible to the legislatures
of the States. When not thus restricted they lead to combinations of powerful
associations, foster an influence necessarily selfish, and turn the fair course
of legislation to sinister ends rather than to objects that advance public liberty
and promote the general good.
The whole subject now rests with you, and I can not but express a hope that
some definite measure will be adopted at the present session.
It will not, I am sure, be deemed out of place for me here to remark that the
declaration of my views in opposition to the policy of employing banks as depositories
of the Government funds can not justly be construed as indicative of hostility,
official or personal, to those institutions; or to repeat in this form and in
connection with this subject opinions which I have uniformly entertained and
on all proper occasions expressed. Though always opposed to their creation in
the form of exclusive privileges, and, as a State magistrate, aiming by appropriate
legislation to secure the community against the consequences of their occasional
mismanagement, I have yet ever wished to see them protected in the exercise
of rights conferred by law, and have never doubted their utility when properly
managed in promoting the interests of trade, and through that channel the other
interests of the community. To the General Government they present themselves
merely as State institutions, having no necessary connection with its legislation
or its administration. Like other State establishments, they may be used or
not in conducting the affairs of the Government, as public policy and the general
interests of the Union may seem to require. The only safe or proper principle
upon which their intercourse with the Government can be regulated is that which
regulates their intercourse with the private citizen--the conferring of mutual
benefits. When the Government can accomplish a financial operation better with
the aid of the banks than without it, it should be at liberty to seek that aid
as it would the services of a private banker or other capitalist or agent, giving
the preference to those who will serve it on the best terms. Nor can there ever
exist an interest in the officers of the General Government, as such, inducing
them to embarrass or annoy the State banks any more than to incur the hostility
of any other class of State institutions or of private citizens. It is not in
the nature of things that hostility to these institutions can spring from this
source, or any opposition to their course of business, except when they themselves
depart from the objects of their creation and attempt to usurp powers not conferred
upon them or to subvert the standard of value established by the Constitution.
While opposition to their regular operations can not exist in this quarter,
resistance to any attempt to make the Government dependent upon them for the
successful administration of public affairs is a matter of duty, as I trust
it ever will be of inclination, no matter from what motive or consideration
the attempt may originate.
It is no more than just to the banks to say that in the late emergency most
of them firmly resisted the strongest temptations to extend their paper issues
when apparently sustained in a suspension of specie payments by public opinion,
even though in some cases invited by legislative enactments. To this honorable
course, aided by the resistance of the General Government, acting in obedience
to the Constitution and laws of the United States, to the introduction of an
irredeemable paper medium, may be attributed in a great degree the speedy restoration
of our currency to a sound state and the business of the country to its wonted
prosperity.
The banks have but to continue in the same safe course and be content in their
appropriate sphere to avoid all interference from the General Government and
to derive from it all the protection and benefits which it bestows on other
State establishments, on the people of the States, and on the States themselves.
In this, their true position, they can not but secure the confidence and good
will of the people and the Government, which they can only lose when, leaping
from their legitimate sphere, they attempt to control the legislation of the
country and pervert the operations of the Government to their own purposes.
Our experience under the act, passed at the last session, to grant preemption
rights to settlers on the public lands has as yet been too limited to enable
us to pronounce with safety upon the efficacy of its provisions to carry out
the wise and liberal policy of the Government in that respect. There is, however,
the best reason to anticipate favorable results from its operation. The recommendations
formerly submitted to you in respect to a graduation of the price of the public
lands remain to be finally acted upon. Having found no reason to change the
views then expressed, your attention to them is again respectfully requested.
Every proper exertion has been made and will be continued to carry out the
wishes of Congress in relation to the tobacco trade, as indicated in the several
resolutions of the House of Representatives and the legislation of the two branches.
A favorable impression has, I trust, been made in the different foreign countries
to which particular attention has been directed; and although we can not hope
for an early change in their policy, as in many of them a convenient and large
revenue is derived from monopolies in the fabrication and sale of this article,
yet, as these monopolies are really injurious to the people where they are established,
and the revenue derived from them may be less injuriously and with equal facility
obtained from another and a liberal system of administration, we can not doubt
that our efforts will be eventually crowned with, success if persisted in with
temperate firmness and sustained by prudent legislation.
In recommending to Congress the adoption of the necessary provisions at this
session for taking the next census or enumeration of the inhabitants of the
United States, the suggestion presents itself whether the scope of the measure
might not be usefully extended by causing it to embrace authentic statistical
returns of the great interests specially intrusted to or necessarily affected
by the legislation of Congress.
The accompanying report of the Secretary of War presents a satisfactory account
of the state of the Army and of the several branches of the public service confided
to the superintendence of that officer.
The law increasing and organizing the military establishment of the United
States has been nearly carried into effect, and the Army has been extensively
and usefully employed during the past season.
I would again call to your notice the subjects connected with and essential
to the military defenses of the country which were submitted to you at the last
session, but which were not acted upon, as is supposed, for want of time. The
most important of them is the organization of the militia on the maritime and
inland frontiers. This measure is deemed important, as it is believed that it
will furnish an effective volunteer force in aid of the Regular Army, and may
form the basis of a general system of organization for the entire militia of
the United States. The erection of a national foundry and gunpowder manufactory,
and one for making small arms, the latter to be situated at some point west
of the Allegany Mountains, all appear to be of sufficient importance to be again
urged upon your attention.
The plan proposed by the Secretary of War for the distribution of the forces
of the United States in time of peace is well calculated to promote regularity
and economy in the fiscal administration of the service, to preserve the discipline
of the troops, and to render them available for the maintenance of the peace
and tranquillity of the Country. With this view, likewise, I recommend the adoption
of the plan presented by that officer for the defense of the western frontier.
The preservation of the lives and property of our fellow-citizens who are settled
upon that border country, as well as the existence of the Indian population,
which might be tempted by our want of preparation to rush on their own destruction
and attack the white settlements, all seem to require that this subject should
be acted upon without delay, and the War Department authorized to place that
country in a state of complete defense against any assault from the numerous
and warlike tribes which are congregated on that border.
It affords me sincere pleasure to be able to apprise you of the entire removal
of the Cherokee Nation of Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi.
The measures authorized by Congress at its last session, with a view to the
long-standing controversy with them, have had the happiest effects. By an agreement
concluded with them by the commanding general in that country, who has performed
the duties assigned to him on the occasion with commendable energy and humanity,
their removal has been principally under the conduct of their own chiefs, and
they have emigrated without any apparent reluctance.
The successful accomplishment of this important object, the removal also of
the entire Creek Nation with the exception of a small number of fugitives amongst
the Seminoles in Florida, the progress already made toward a speedy completion
of the removal of the Chickasaws, the Choctaws, the Pottawatamies, the Ottawas,
and the Chippewas, with the extensive purchases of Indian lands during the present
year, have rendered the speedy and successful result of the long-established
policy of the Government upon the subject of Indian affairs entirely certain.
The occasion is therefore deemed a proper one to place this policy in such a
point of view as will exonerate the Government of the United States from the
undeserved reproach which has been cast upon it through several successive Administrations.
That a mixed occupancy of the same territory by the white and red man is incompatible
with the safety or happiness of either is a position in respect to which there
has long since ceased to be room for a difference of opinion. Reason and experience
have alike demonstrated its impracticability. The bitter fruits of every attempt
heretofore to overcome the barriers interposed by nature have only been destruction,
both physical and moral, to the Indian, dangerous conflicts of authority between
the Federal and State Governments, and detriment to the individual prosperity
of the citizen as well as to the general improvement of the country. The remedial
policy, the principles of which were settled more than thirty years ago under
the Administration of Mr. Jefferson, consists in an extinction, for a fair consideration,
of the title to all the lands still occupied by the Indians within the States
and Territories of the United States; their removal to a country west of the
Mississippi much more extensive and better adapted to their condition than that
on which they then resided; the guarantee to them by the United States of their
exclusive possession of that country forever, exempt from all intrusions by
white men, with ample provisions for their security against external violence
and internal dissensions, and the extension to them of suitable facilities for
their advancement in civilization. This has not been the policy of particular
Administrations only, but of each in succession since the first attempt to carry
it out under that of Mr. Monroe. All have labored for its accomplishment, only
with different degrees of success. The manner of its execution has, it is true,
from time to time given rise to conflicts of opinion and unjust imputations;
but in respect to the wisdom and necessity of the policy itself there has not
from the beginning existed a doubt in the mind of any calm, judicious, disinterested
friend of the Indian race accustomed to reflection and enlightened by experience.
Occupying the double character of contractor on its own account and guardian
for the parties contracted with, it was hardly to be expected that the dealings
of the Federal Government with the Indian tribes would escape misrepresentation.
That there occurred ill the early settlement of this country, as in all others
where the civilized race has succeeded to the possessions of the savage, instances
of oppression and fraud on the part of the former there is too much reason to
believe. No such offenses can, however, be justly charged upon this Government
since it became free to pursue its own course. Its dealings with the Indian
tribes have been just .and friendly throughout; its efforts for their civilization
constant, and directed by the best feelings of humanity; its watchfulness in
protecting them from individual frauds unremitting; its forbearance under the
keenest provocations, the deepest injuries, and the most flagrant outrages may
challenge at least a comparison with any nation, ancient or modern, in similar
circumstances; and if in future times a powerful, civilized, and happy nation
of Indians shall be found to exist within the limits of this northern continent
it will be owing to the consummation of that policy which has been so unjustly
assailed. Only a very brief reference to facts in confirmation of this assertion
can in this form be given, and you are therefore necessarily referred to the
report of the Secretary of War for further details. To the Cherokees, whose
case has perhaps excited the greatest share of attention and sympathy, the United
States have granted in fee, with a perpetual guaranty of exclusive and peaceable
possession, 13,554,135 acres of land on the west side of the Mississippi, eligibly
situated, in a healthy climate, and in all respects better suited to their condition
than the country they have left, in exchange for only 9,492, 160 acres on the
east side of the same river. The United States have in addition stipulated to
pay them $5,600,000 for their interest in and improvements on the lands thus
relinquished, and $1,160,000 for subsistence and other beneficial purposes,
thereby putting it in their power to become one of the most wealthy and independent
separate communities of the same extent in the world.
By the treaties made and ratified with the Miamies, the Chippewas, the Sioux,
the Sacs and Foxes, and the Winnebagoes during the last year the Indian title
to 18,458,000 acres has been extinguished. These purchases have been much more
extensive than those of any previous year, and have, with other Indian expenses,
borne very heavily upon the Treasury. They leave, however, but a small quantity
of unbought Indian lands within the States and Territories, and the Legislature
and Executive were equally sensible of the propriety of a final and more speedy
extinction of Indian titles within those limits. The treaties, which were with
a single exception made in pursuance of previous appropriations for defraying
the expenses, have subsequently been ratified by the Senate, and received the
sanction of Congress by the appropriations necessary to carry them into effect.
Of the terms upon which these important negotiations were concluded I can speak
from direct knowledge, and I feel no difficulty in affirming that the interest
of the Indians in the extensive territory embraced by them is to be paid for
at its fair value, and that no more favorable terms have been granted to the
United States than would have been reasonably expected in a negotiation with
civilized men fully capable of appreciating and protecting their own rights.
For the Indian title to 116,349,897 acres acquired since the 4th of March, 1829,
the United States have paid $72,560,056 in permanent annuities, lands, reservations
for Indians, expenses of removal and subsistence, merchandise, mechanical and
agricultural establishments and implements. When the heavy expenses incurred
by the United States and the circumstance that so large a portion of the entire
territory will be forever unsalable are considered, and this price is compared
with that for which the United States sell their own lands, no one can doubt
that justice has been done to the Indians in these purchases also. Certain it
is that the transactions of the Federal Government with the Indians have been
uniformly characterized by a sincere and paramount desire to promote their welfare;
and it must be a source of the highest gratification to every friend to justice
and humanity to learn that not withstanding the obstructions from time to time
thrown in its way and the difficulties which have arisen from the peculiar and
impracticable nature of the Indian character, the wise, humane, and undeviating
policy of the Government in this the most difficult of all our relations, foreign
or domestic, has at length been justified to the world in its near approach
to a happy and certain consummation.
The condition of the tribes which occupy the country set apart for them in
the West is highly prosperous, and encourages the hope of their early civilization.
They have for the most part abandoned the hunter state and turned their attention
to agricultural pursuits. All those who have been established for any length
of time in that fertile region maintain themselves by their own industry. There
are among them traders of no inconsiderable capital, and planters exporting
cotton to some extent, but the greater number are small agriculturists, living
in comfort upon the produce of their farms. The recent emigrants, although they
have in some instances removed reluctantly, have readily acquiesced in their
unavoidable destiny. They have found at once a recompense for past sufferings
and an incentive to industrious habits in the abundance and comforts around
them. There is reason to believe that all these tribes are friendly in their
feelings toward the United States; and it is to be hoped that the acquisition
of individual wealth, the pursuits of agriculture, and habits of industry will
gradually subdue their warlike propensities and incline them to maintain peace
among themselves. To effect this desirable object the attention of Congress
is solicited to the measures recommended by the Secretary of War for their future
government and protection, as well from each other as from the hostility of
the warlike tribes around them and the intrusions of the whites. The policy
of the Government has given them a permanent home and guaranteed to them its
peaceful and undisturbed possession. It only remains to give them a government
and laws which will encourage industry and secure to them the rewards of their
exertions. The importance of some form of government can not be too much insisted
upon. The earliest effects will be to diminish the causes and occasions for
hostilities among the tribes, to inspire an interest in the observance of laws
to which they will have themselves assented, and to multiply the securities
of property and the motives for self-improvement. Intimately connected with
this subject is the establishment of the military defenses recommended by the
Secretary of War, which have been already referred to. Without them the Government
will be powerless to redeem its pledge of protection to the emigrating Indians
against the numerous warlike tribes that surround them and to provide for the
safety of the frontier settlers of the bordering States.
The case of the Seminoles constitutes at present the only exception to the
successful efforts of the Government to remove the Indians to the homes assigned
them west of the Mississippi. Four hundred of this tribe emigrated in 1836 and
1,500 in 1837 and 1838, leaving in the country, it is supposed, about 2,000
Indians. The continued treacherous conduct of these people; the savage and unprovoked
murders they have lately committed, butchering whole families of the settlers
of the Territory without distinction of age or sex, and making their way into
the very center and heart of the country, so that no part of it is free from
their ravages; their frequent attacks on the light-houses along that dangerous
coast, and the barbarity with which they have murdered the passengers and crews
of such vessels as have been wrecked upon the reefs and keys which border the
Gulf, leave the Government no alternative but to continue the military operations
against them until they are totally expelled from Florida. There are other motives
which would urge the Government to pursue this course toward the Seminoles.
The United States have fulfilled in good faith all their treaty stipulations
with the Indian tribes, and have in every other instance insisted upon a like
performance of their obligations. To relax from this salutary rule because the
Seminoles have maintained themselves so long in the territory they had relinquished,
and in defiance of their frequent and solemn engagements still continue to wage
a ruthless war against the United States, would not only evince a want of constancy
on our part, but be of evil example in our intercourse with other tribes. Experience
has shown that but little is to be gained by the march of armies through a country
so intersected with inaccessible swamps and marshes, and which, from the fatal
character of the climate, must be abandoned at the end of the winter. I recommend,
therefore, to your attention the plan submitted by the Secretary of War in the
accompanying report, for the permanent occupation of the portion of the Territory
freed from the Indians and the more efficient protection of the people of Florida
from their inhuman warfare.
From the report of the Secretary of the Navy herewith transmitted it will appear
that a large portion of the disposable naval force is either actively employed
or in a state of preparation for the purposes of experience and discipline and
the protection. of our commerce. So effectual has been this protection that
so far as the information of Government extends not a single outrage has been
attempted on a vessel carrying the flag of the United States within the present
year, in any quarter, however distant or exposed.
The exploring expedition sailed from Norfolk on the 19th of August last, and
information has been received of its safe arrival at the island of Madeira.
The best spirit animates the officers and crews, and there is every reason to
anticipate from its efforts results beneficial to commerce and honorable to
the nation.
It will also be seen that no reduction of the force now in commission is contemplated.
The unsettled state of a portion of South America renders it indispensable that
our commerce should receive protection in that quarter; the vast and increasing
interests embarked in the trade of the Indian and China seas, in the whale fisheries
of the Pacific Ocean, and in the Gulf of Mexico require equal attention to their
safety, and a small squadron may be employed to great advantage on our Atlantic
coast in meeting sudden demands for the reenforcement of other stations, in
aiding merchant vessels in distress, in affording active service to an additional
number of officers, and in visiting the different ports of the United States,
an accurate knowledge of which is obviously of the highest importance.
The attention of Congress is respectfully called to that portion of the report
recommending an increase in the number of smaller vessels, and to other suggestions
contained in that document. The rapid increase and wide expansion of our commerce,
which is every day seeking new avenues of profitable adventure; the absolute
necessity of a naval force for its protection precisely in the degree of its
extension; a due regard to the national rights and honor; the recollection of
its former exploits, and the anticipation of its future triumphs whenever
opportunity presents itself, which we may rightfully indulge from the experience
of the past--all seem to point to the Navy as a most efficient arm of our national
defense and a proper object of legislative encouragement.
The progress and condition of the Post-Office Department will be seen by reference
to the report of the Postmaster-General. The extent of post-roads covered by
mail contracts is stated to be 134,818 miles, and the annual transportation
upon them 34,580,202 miles. The number of post-offices in the United States
is 12,553, and rapidly increasing. The gross revenue for the year ending on
the 30th day of June last was $4,262,145; the accruing expenditures, $4,680,068;
excess of expenditures, $417,923. This has been made up out of the surplus previously
on hand. The cash on hand on the 1st instant was $314,068. The revenue for the
year ending June 30, 1838, was $161,540 more than that for the year ending June
30, 1837. The expenditures of the Department had been graduated upon the anticipation
of a largely increased revenue. A moderate curtailment of mail service consequently
became necessary, and has been effected, to shield the Department against the
danger of embarrassment. Its revenue is now improving, and it will soon resume
its onward course in the march of improvement.
Your particular attention is requested to so much of the Postmaster-Generals
report as relates to the transportation of the mails upon railroads. The laws
on that subject do not seem adequate to secure that service, now become almost
essential to the public interests, and at the same time protect the Department
from combinations and unreasonable demands.
Nor can I too earnestly request your attention to the necessity of providing
a more secure building for this Department. The danger of destruction to which
its important books and papers are continually exposed, as well from the highly
combustible character of the building occupied as from that of others in the
vicinity, calls loudly for prompt action.
Your attention is again earnestly invited to the suggestions and recommendations
submitted at the last session in respect to the District of Columbia.
I feel it my duty also to bring to your notice certain proceedings at law which
have recently been prosecuted in this District in the name of the United States,
on the relation of Messrs. Stockton & Stokes, of the State of Maryland,
against the Postmaster-General, and which have resulted in the payment of money
out of the National Treasury, for the first time since the establishment of
the Government, by judicial compulsion exercised by the common-law writ of mandamus
issued by the circuit court of this District.
The facts of the case and the grounds of the proceedings will be found fully
stated in the report of the decision, and any additional information which you
may desire will be supplied by the proper Department. No interference in the
particular case is contemplated. The money has been paid, the claims of the
prosecutors have been satisfied, and the whole subject, so far as they are concerned,
is finally disposed of; but it is on the supposition that the case may be regarded
as an authoritative exposition of the law as it now stands that I have thought
it necessary to present it to your consideration.
The object of the application to the circuit court was to compel the Postmaster-General
to carry into effect an award made by the Solicitor of the Treasury, under a
special act of Congress for the settlement of certain claims of the relators
on the Post-Office Department, which award the Postmaster-General declined to
execute in full until he should receive further legislative direction on the
subject. If the duty imposed on the Postmaster-General by that law was to be
regarded as one of an official nature, belonging to his office as a branch of
the executive, then it is obvious that the constitutional competency of the
judiciary to direct and control him in its discharge was necessarily drawn in
question; and if the duty so imposed on the Postmaster-General was to be considered
as merely ministerial, and not executive, it yet remained to be shown that the
circuit court of this District had authority to interfere by mandamus, such
a power having never before been asserted or claimed by that court. With a view
to the settlement of these important questions, the judgment of the circuit
court was carried by a writ of error to the Supreme Court of the United States.
In the opinion of that tribunal the duty imposed on the Postmaster-General was
not an official executive duty, but one of a merely ministerial nature. The
grave constitutional questions which had been discussed were therefore excluded
from the decision of the case, the court, indeed, expressly admitting that with
powers and duties properly belonging to the executive no other department can
inter-fere by the writ of mandamus; and the question therefore resolved itself
into this: Has Congress conferred upon the circuit court of this District the
power to issue such a writ to an officer of the General Government commanding
him to perform a ministerial act? A majority of the court have decided that
it has, but have rounded their decision upon a process of reasoning which in
my judgment renders further legislative provision indispensable to the public
interests and the equal administration of justice.
It has long since been decided by the Supreme Court that neither that tribunal
nor the circuit courts of the United States, held within the respective States,
possess the power in question; but it is now held that this power, denied to
both of these high tribunals (to the former by the Constitution and to the latter
by Congress), has been by its legislation vested in the circuit court of this
District. No such direct grant of power to the circuit court of this District
is claimed, but it has been held to result by necessary implication from several
sections of the law establishing the court. One of these sections declares that
the laws of Maryland, as they existed at the time of the cession, should be
in force in that part of the District ceded by that State, and by this provision
the common law in civil and criminal cases, as it prevailed in Maryland in 1801,
was established in that part of the District.
In England the court of king's bench--because the Sovereign, who, according
to the theory of the constitution, is the fountain of justice originally sat
there in person, and is still deemed to be present in construction of law--alone
possesses the high power of issuing the writ of mandamus, not only to inferior
jurisdictions and corporations, but also to magistrates and others, commanding
them in the King' s name to do what their duty requires in cases where there
is a vested right and no other specific remedy. It has been held in the case
referred to that as the Supreme Court of the United States is by the Constitution
rendered incompetent to exercise this power, and as the circuit court of this
District is a court of general jurisdiction in cases at common law, and the
highest court of original jurisdiction in the District, the right to issue the
writ of mandamus is incident to its common-law powers. Another ground relied
upon to maintain the power in question is that it was included by fair construction
in the powers granted to the circuit courts of the United States by the act
"to provide for the more convenient organization of the courts of the United
States," passed 13th February, 1801; that the act establishing the circuit court
of this District, passed the 27th day of February, 1801, conferred upon that
court and the judges thereof the same powers as were by law vested in the circuit
courts of the United States and in the judges of the said courts; that the repeal
of the first-mentioned act, which took place in the next year, did not divest
the circuit court of this District of the authority in dispute, but left it
still clothed with the powers over the subject which, it is conceded, were taken
away from the circuit courts of the United States by the repeal of the act of
13th February, 1801.
Admitting that the adoption of the laws of Maryland for a portion of this District
confers on the circuit court thereof, in that portion, the transcendent extrajudicial
prerogative powers of the court of king's bench in England, or that either of
the acts of Congress by necessary implication authorizes the former court to
issue a writ of mandamus to an officer of the United States to compel him to
perform a ministerial duty, the consequences are in one respect the same. The
result in either case is that the officers of the United States stationed in
different parts of the United States are, in respect to the performance of their
official duties, subject to different laws and a different supervision--those
in the States to one rule, and those in the District of Columbia to another
and a very different one. In the District their official conduct is subject
to a judicial control from which in the States they are exempt.
Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the expediency of vesting such
a power in the judiciary in a system of government constituted like that of
the United States, all must agree that these disparaging discrepancies in the
law and in the administration of justice ought not to he permitted to continue;
and as Congress alone can provide the remedy, the subject is unavoidably presented
to your consideration.
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