I shall not attempt to describe the grateful emotions which the new and very
distinguished proof of the confidence of my fellow citizens, evinced by my reelection
to
this high trust, has excited in my bosom. The approbation which it announces of my
conduct in the preceding term affords me a consolation which I shall profoundly feel
through life. The general accord with which it has been expressed adds to the great
and
never-ceasing obligations which it imposes. To merit the continuance of this good
opinion, and to carry it with me into my retirement as the solace of advancing
years,will be the object of my most zealous and unceasing efforts.
Having no pretensions to the high and commanding claims of my predecessors, whose
names
are so much more conspicuously identified with our Revolution, and who contributed
so
preeminently to promote its success, I consider myself rather as the instrument than
the
cause of the union which has prevailed in the late election. In surmounting, in favor
of
my humble pretensions, the difficulties which so often produce division in like
occurrences, it is obvious that other powerful causes, indicating the great strength
and
stability of our Union, have essentially contributed to draw you together. That these
powerful causes exist, and that they are permanent, is my fixed opinion; that they
may
produce a like accord in all questions touching, however remotely, the liberty,
prosperity, and happiness of our country win always be the object of my most fervent
prayers to the Supreme Author of All Good.
In a government which is founded by the people, who possess exclusively the
sovereignty,it seems proper that the person who may be placed by their suffrages in
this
high trust should declare on commencing its duties the principles on which he intends
to
conduct the Administration. If the person thus elected has served the preceding term,
an
opportunity is afforded him to review its principal occurrences and to give such further
explanation respecting them as in his judgment may be useful to his constituents.
The
events of one year have influence on those of another, and, in like manner, of a
preceding on the succeeding Administration. The movements of a great nation are
connected in all their parts. If errors have been committed they ought to be corrected;
if the policy is sound it ought to be supported. It is by a thorough knowledge of
the
whole subject that our fellow-citizens are enabled to judge
correctly of the past and to give a proper direction to the future.
Just before the commencement of the last term the United States had concluded a war
witha
very powerful nation on conditions equal and honorable to both parties. The events
of
that war are too recent and too deeply impressed on the memory of all to require a
development from me. Our commerce had been in a great measure driven from the sea,
our
Atlantic and inland frontiers were invaded in almost every part; the waste of life
along
our coast and on some parts of our inland frontiers, to the defense of which our gallant
and patriotic citizens were called, was immense, in addition to which not less than
$120,000,000 were added at its end to the public debt.
As soon as the war had terminated, the nation, admonished by its events, resolved to place itself in a situation which should be
better calculated to prevent the recurrence of a like evil, and, in case it should
recur, to mitigate its calamities. With this view, after reducing our land
force to the basis of a peace establishment, which has been further modified since,
provision was made for the construction of fortifications at proper points through
the
whole extent of our coast and such an augmentation of our naval force as should be
well
adapted to both purposes. The laws making this provision were passed in 1815 and 1816,
and it has been since the constant effort of the Executive to carry them into
effect.
The advantage of these fortifications and of an
augmented naval force in the extent contemplated, in a point of
economy, has been fully illustrated by a report of the Board of Engineers and Naval
Commissioners lately communicated to Congress, by which it appears that in an
invasion by 20,000 men, with a correspondent naval force, in a campaign of six
months only, the whole expense of the construction of the works would be defrayed
by
the difference in the sum necessary to maintain the force which would be adequate
to
our defense with the aid of those works and that which would be incurred without
them. The reason of this difference is obvious. If fortifications are
judiciously placed on our great inlets, as distant from our cities as circumstances
will
permit, they will form the only points of attack, and the enemy will be detained there
by a small regular force a sufficient time to enable our militia to collect and repair
to that on which the attack is made. A force adequate to the enemy, collected at that
single point, with suitable preparation for such others as might be menaced, is all
that
would be requisite. But if there were no fortifications, then the enemy might go where
he pleased, and, changing his position and sailing from place to place, our force
must
be called out and spread in vast numbers along the whole coast and on both sides of
every bay and river as high up in each as it might be navigable for ships of war.
By these fortifications, supported by our Navy, to
which they would afford like support, we should present to other powers an armed
front from St. Croix to the Sabine, which would protect in the event of war our
whole coast and interior from invasion; and even in the wars of other powers, in
which we were neutral, they would be found eminently useful,as, by keeping their
public ships at a distance from our cities, peace and order in them would be
preserved and the Government be protected from insult.
It need scarcely be remarked that these measures have not been resorted to in a spirit
of
hostility to other powers. Such a disposition does not exist toward any power. Peace
and good will have been, and will hereafter be,
cultivated with all, and by the most faithful regard to justice. They have been
dictated by a love of peace, of economy, and an earnest desire to save the lives of
our fellow-citizens from that destruction and our
country from that devastation which are inseparable from war when it finds us
unprepared for it. It is believed, and experience has shown, that such a preparation
is the best expedient that can be resorted to prevent war. I add with much pleasure
that considerable progress has already been made in these measures of defense, and
that they will be completed in a few years, considering the great extent and
importance of the object, if the plan be zealously and steadily persevered
in.
The conduct of the Government in what relates to foreign powers is always an object
ofthe
highest importance to the nation. Its agriculture, commerce, manufactures,fisheries,
revenue, in short, its peace, may all be affected by it. Attention is therefore due
to
this subject.
At the period adverted to the powers of Europe, after having been engaged in long
and
destructive wars with each other, had concluded a peace, which happily still exists.
Our
peace with the power with whom we had been engaged had also been concluded. The war
between Spain and the colonies in South America, which had commenced many years
before,was then the only conflict that remained unsettled. This being a contest between
different parts of the same community, in which other powers had not interfered, was
not
affected by their accommodations.
This contest was considered at an early stage by my
predecessor a civil war in which the parties were entitled to equal rights in our
ports. This decision, the first made by any power, being formed on great
consideration of the comparative strength and resources of the parties, the length
of
time, and successful opposition made by the colonies, and of all other circumstances
on
which it ought to depend, was in strict accord with the law of nations. Congress has invariably acted on this principle, having made no
change in our relations with either party. Our attitude has therefore been
that of neutrality between them, which has been maintained by the Government with
the
strictest impartiality. No aid has been afforded to
either, nor has any privilege been enjoyed by the one which has not been equally
open to the other party, and every exertion has been made in its power to enforce
the execution of the laws prohibiting illegal equipments with equal rigor against
both.
By this equality between the parties their public vessels have been received in our
ports
on the same footing; they have enjoyed an equal right to purchase and export arms,
munitions of war, and every other supply, the exportation of all articles whatever
beingp ermitted under laws which were passed long before the commencement of the
contest; our citizens have traded equally with both, and their commerce with each
has
been a like protected by the Government.
Respecting the attitude which it may be proper for the United States to maintain
hereafter between the parties, I have no hesitation in stating
it as my opinion that the neutrality heretofore observed should still be adhered
to. From the change in the Government of Spain and the negotiation now
depending, invited by the Cortes and accepted by the colonies, it may be presumed,
that
their differences will be settled on the terms proposed by the colonies. Should the
war
be continued, the United States,regarding its occurrences, will always have it in
their
power to adopt such measures respecting it as their honor and interest may require.
Great confidence is entertained that the late treaty with Spain,
which has been ratified by both the parties, and the ratifications whereof have been
exchanged, has placed the relations of the two countries on a basis of permanent
friendship. The provision made by it for such of our citizens as have
claims on Spain of the character described will, it is presumed, be very satisfactory
to
them, and the boundary which is established between the territories of the parties
westward of the Mississippi, heretofore in dispute, has,it is thought, been settled
on
conditions just and advantageous to both. But to the
acquisition of Florida too much importance can not be attached.It secures to the
United States a territory important in itself, and whose importance is much
increased by its bearing on many of the highest interests of the Union. It opens to
several of the neighboring States a free passage to the ocean, through the Province
ceded, by several rivers, having their sources high up within their limits. It
secures us against all future annoyance from powerful Indian tribes. It
gives us several excellent harbors in the Gulf of Mexico for ships of war of the largest
size. It covers by its position in the Gulf the Mississippi and other great waters
within our extended limits, and thereby enables the United States to afford complete
protection to the vast and very valuable productions of our whole Western country,
which
find a market through those streams.
By a treaty with the British Government, bearing date on the
20th of October, 1818, the convention regulating the commerce between the United
States and Great Britain,concluded on the 3d of July, 1815, which was about
expiring, was revived and continued for the term of ten years from the time of its
expiration. By that treaty, also, the differences which had arisen under the treaty
of Ghent respecting the right claimed by the United States for their citizens to
take and cure fish on the coast of His Britannic Majesty’s dominions in America,
with other differences on important interests, were adjusted to the satisfaction of
both parties. No agreement has yet been entered into respecting the commerce between
the United States and the British dominions in the West Indies and on this
continent. The restraints imposed on that commerce by Great Britain,and reciprocated
by the United States on a principle of defense, continue still in
force.
The negotiation with France for the regulation of the commercial
relations between the two countries, which in the course of the last summer had been
commenced at Paris, has since been transferred to this city, and will be pursued on
the part of the United States in the spirit of conciliation, and with an earnest
desire that it may terminatein an arrangement satisfactory to both
parties.
Our relations with the Barbary Powers are preserved in the same state and by the same
means that were employed when I came into this office. As early as 1801 it was found
necessary to send a squadron into the Mediterranean for the protection of our
commerce,and no period has intervened, a short term excepted, when it was thought
advisable to withdraw it. The great
interests which the United States have in the Pacific, in commerce and in the
fisheries, have also made it necessary to maintain a naval force there. In disposing
of this force in both instances the most effectual measures in our power have been
taken, without interfering with its other duties, for the suppression of the slave
trade and of piracy in the neighboring seas.
The situation of the United States in regard to their resources, the extent of their
revenue, and the facility with which it is raised affords a most gratifying spectacle.
The payment of nearly $67,000,000 of the public debt, with
the great progress made in measures of defense and in other improvements of various
kinds since the late war, are conclusive proofs of this extraordinary prosperity,
especially when it is recollected that these expenditures have been defrayed without
a burthen on the people, the direct tax and excise having been repealed soon after
the conclusion of the late war, and the revenue applied to these great objects
having been raised in a manner not to be felt.Our great resources therefore
remain untouched for any purpose which may affect the vital interests of the nation.
For
all such purposes they are inexhaustible. They are more especially to be found in
the
virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of our fellow-citizens,
and in the devotion with which they would yield up by any just measure of taxation
all
their property in support of the rights and honor of their country.
Under the present depression of prices, affecting all
the productions of the country and every branch of industry, proceeding from causes
explained on a former occasion, the revenue has considerably diminished, the effect
of which has been to compel Congress either to abandon these great measures of
defense or to resort to loans or internal taxes to supply the deficiency.
On the presumption that this depression and the deficiency in the revenue arising
from
it would be temporary, loans were authorized for the demands of the last and present
year. Anxious to relieve my fellow-citizens in 1817 from
every burthen which could be dispensed with, and the state of the Treasury permitting
it, I recommended therepeal of the internal taxes, knowing
that such relief was then peculiarly necessary in consequence of the great exertions
made in the late war. I made that recommendation under a pledge that should
the public exigencies require a recurrence to them at any time while I remained in
this
trust, I would with equal promptitude perform the duty which would then be alike
incumbent on me. By the experiment now making it will be seen by the next session
of
Congress whether the revenue shall have been so augmented as to be adequate to all
these
necessary purposes.Should the deficiency still continue, and especially should it
be
probable that it would be permanent, the course to be pursued appears to me to be
obvious. I am satisfied that under certain circumstances loans may be resorted to
with
great advantage. I am equally well satisfied, as a general
rule, that the demands of the current year, especially in time of peace, should be
provided for by the revenue of that year.
I have never dreaded, nor have I ever shunned, in any situation in which I have been
placed making appeals to the virtue and patriotism of my fellow-citizens, well knowing that they could never be made in vain,
especially in times of great emergency or for purposes of high national importance.
Independently of the exigency of the case, many considerations of great weight urge
a
policy having in view a provision of revenue to meet to a certain extent the demands
of
the nation, without relying altogether on the precarious resource of foreign commerce.
I
am satisfied that internal duties and excises, with corresponding imposts on foreign
articles of the same kind, would, without imposing any serious burdens on the people,
enhance the price of produce, promote our manufactures, and augment the revenue, at
the
same time that they made it more secure and permanent.
The care of the Indian tribes within our limits has long been an essential part of
our
system, but, unfortunately, it has not been executed in a manner to accomplish all
the
objects intended by it. We have treated
them as independent nations, without their having any substantial pretensions to
that rank. The distinction has flattered their pride, retarded their improvement,
and in many instances paved the way to their destruction. The progress of our
settlements westward, supported as they are by a dense population, has constantly
driven them back, with almost the total sacrifice of the lands which they have been
compelled to abandon. They have claims on the magnanimity and, I may add, on the
justice of this nation which we must all feel. We should become their real
benefactors; we should perform the office of their Great Father, the endearing title
which they emphatically give to the Chief Magistrate of our Union. Their sovereignty
over vast territories should cease, in lieu of which the right of soil should be
secured to each individual and his posterity in competent portions; and for the
territory thus ceded by each tribe some reasonable equivalent should be granted, to
be vested in permanent funds for the support of civil government over them and for
the education of their children, for their instruction in the arts of husbandry, and
to provide sustenance for them until they could provide it for themselves. My
earnest hope is that Congress will digest some plan, founded on these principles,
with such improvements as their wisdom may suggest, and carry it into effect as soon
as it may be practicable.
Europe is again unsettled and the prospect of war increasing. Should the flame light
upin
any quarter, how far it may extend it is impossible to foresee. It is our peculiar
felicity to be altogether unconnected with the causes which
produce this menacing aspect elsewhere. With every power we are in perfect
amity, and it is our interest to remain so if it be practicable on just conditions.
I
see no reasonable cause to apprehend variance with any power, unless it proceed from
a
violation of our maritime rights. In these contests, should they occur, and to whatever
extent they may be carried, we shall be neutral; but as a neutral power we have rights
which it is our duty to maintain. For like injuries it will be incumbent on us to
seek
redress in a spirit of amity, in full confidence that, injuring none, none would
knowingly injure us. For more imminent dangers we should be prepared, and it should
always be recollected that such preparation adapted to the circumstances and sanctioned
by the judgment and wishes of our constituents can not fail to have a good effect
in
averting dangers of every kind. We should recollect also that the season of peace
is
best adapted to the sepreparations.
If we turn our attention, fellow-citizens, more immediately to the internal concerns
of
our country, and more especially to those on which its
future welfare depends, we have every reason to anticipate the happiest
results. It is now rather more than forty-four years since we declared our independence,
and thirty-seven since it was acknowledged.The talents and
virtues which were displayed in that great struggle were a sure presage of all that
has since followed. A people who were able to surmount in their infant state such
great perils would be more competent as they rose into manhood to repel any which
they might meet in their progress. Their physical strength would be more adequate
to
foreign danger, and the practice of self-government, aided by the light of
experience,could not fail to produce an effect equally salutary on all those
questions connected with the internal organization. These favorable anticipations
have been realized.
In our whole system, national and State, we have shunned all the defects which
unceasingly preyed on the vitals and destroyed the ancient Republics. In them there
were
distinct orders, a nobility and a people, or the people governed in one assembly.
Thus,in the one instance there was a perpetual conflict between the orders in society
for the ascendency, in which the victory of either terminated in the overthrow of
the
government and the ruin of the state; in the other, in which the people governed in
a
body, and whose dominions seldom exceeded the dimensions of a county in one of our
States, a tumultuous and disorderly movement permitted only a transitory existence.
In
this great nation there is but one order, that of the people, whose power, by a
peculiarly happy improvement of the representative principle, is transferred from
them,
without impairing in the slightest degree their sovereignty, to bodies of their own
creation, and to persons elected by themselves, in the full extent necessary for all
the
purposes of free, enlightened, and efficient government. The whole system is elective,
the complete sovereignty being in the people, and every officer in every department
deriving his authority from and being responsible to them for his conduct.
Our career has corresponded with this great outline. Perfection in our organization
could
not have been expected in the outset either in the National or State Governments or
in
tracing the line between their respective powers. But no serious conflict has arisen,nor
any contest but such as are managed by argument and by a fair appeal to the good sense
of the people, and many of the defects which experience had
clearly demonstrated in both Governments have been remedied. By steadily pursuing
this course in this spirit there is every reason to believe that our system will
soon attain the highest degree of perfection of which human institutions are
capable, and that the movement in all its branches will exhibit such a degree of
order and harmony as to command the admiration and respect of the civilized
world.
Our physical attainments have not been less eminent. Twenty-five years ago the river
Mississippi was shut up and our Western brethren had no outlet for their commerce.
What
has been the progress since that time? The river has not only become the property
of the
United States from its source to the ocean, with all its tributary streams (with the
exception of the upper part of the Red River only), but Louisiana, with a fair and
liberal boundary on the western side and the Floridas on the eastern, have been ceded
to
us. The United States now enjoy the complete and uninterrupted sovereignty over the
whole territory from St. Croix to the Sabine. New States,
settled from among ourselves in this and in other parts, have been admitted into our
Union in equal participation in the national sovereignty with the original States.
Our population has augmented in anastonishing degree and extended in every
direction. We now, fellow-citizens, comprise within our limits the dimensions and
faculties of a great power under a Government possessing all the energies of any
government ever known to the Old World, with an utter incapacity to oppress
the people.
Entering with these views the office which I have just solemnly sworn to execute
with
fidelity and to the utmost of my ability, I derive great satisfaction from a knowledge
that I shall be assisted in the several Departments by the very enlightened and upright
citizens from whom I have received so much aid in the preceding term. With full
confidence in the continuance of that candor and generous indulgence from my
fellow-citizens at large which I have heretofore experienced, and with a firm reliance
on the protection of >Almighty God , I shall forth with
commence the duties of the high trust to which you have called me.