Yale University Library 39002002555184 YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Gift of WILLIAM HENRY GAGE Yale 1934 This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You may not reproduce this digitized copy ofthe book for any purpose other than for scholarship, research, educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy (or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes. OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES BY THE PRESIDENTS With Historical Reviews of Each Administration BY THE FOLLOWING LEADING STATESMEN OF THE TIME Henry Cabot Lodge, John T. Morgan, Senator from Massachusetts. Senator from Alabama. Shelby M. Cullom, Chauncey M. DepEw, Senator from Illinois. Senator from New York. Champ Clark, John W. Daniel, Congressman from Missouri. Senator from Virginia. Major-Gen. Joseph Wheeler, John R. Procter, Congressman from Alabama. President Civil Service Commission. Joseph D. Cannon, William P. Aldridge, Congressman from Illinois. Congressman from Alabama. General Horatio C. King, Ellis H. Roberts, Ex-Adjutant-General of New York. Treasurer of the United States. John B. Henderson, PERRY S. HEATH, Ex-Senator from Missouri. First Assistant Postmaster-General. Charges Dice, Horace Taylor, Congressman from Ohio. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Marion Butler, Henry Clay Evans, Senator from North Carolina. Commissioner of Pensions. Frank A. Vanderlip, Holmes Conrad, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Ex-Solicitor General of United States. Colonel a. k. McClure, Binger Hermann, Editor of the Philadelphia Times. Commissioner of General Land Office. James D. Richardson, Joseph B. Foraker, Congressman from Tennessee. Senator from Ohio. ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, POLITICAL CARTOONS, AND HALF-TONE POR TRAITS OF THE PRESIDENTS, THEIR HOMES, MONUMENTS, The New England Company 1899 ' Copyright, 1899, By THE NEW ENGLAND COMPANY. ILLUSTRATIONS Page. Old Capitol Prison at Washington — It was Occupied as the Capitol after the Capture of Washington by the British, August 24, 1814, When the Former Capitol was Destroyed (Frontispiece) George Washington, First President of the United States, . . 15 Mount Vernon, Va. — Home of George Washington, . . 16 Home of Washington's Parents on the Potomac, . 17 Washington's Birthplace at Bridge's Creek, on the Potomac, Virginia, .20 Washington's First Thanksgiving Proclamation, . . 33, 34 The White House, Residence of the Presidents at Washington, D. C, ... . Si The United States Capitol at Washington, D. C, . . . 52 House at Arlington, District of Columbia — It was Owned by George Washington and now the Property of the Government, 57 Home of John Adams, at Quincy, Massachusetts, 58 John Adams, Second President of the United States 69 Coinage Proclamation by President John Adams, 70 Monticello, Virginia, Home of Thomas Jefferson, . 78 Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States, . . 79 Liberty Hall, Philadelphia, Where Declaration of Independence was Signed, . ... . . ... 80 First and Last Pages of Jefferson's Neutrality Proclamation, 81, 82 Fac-simile of Parts of Jefferson's Original Draft of the Declara tion of Independence, 91-94 Home of James Madison, at Montpelier, Virginia, . 108 James Madison, Fourth President of the United States, . . .111 President Madison's Declaration of War Against Great Britain Which Brought on the "War of 1812," 112 Home of James Monroe, Loudon County, Virginia, . 132 James Monroe, Fifth President of the United States . . . .137 2 Illustrations. Page. The Monroe Doctrine — Page from President Monroe's Seventh Annual Message of December 2, 1823, . . ... - J38 Letter of President Monroe to a Friend, Explaining National Policy 155, 156 Birthplace of John Quincy Adams, • 160 John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States, . . 165 United States Mint, at Washington, D. C, 166 First and Last Pages of President J. Q. Adams' Proclamation on Tonnage Duties, 175, 176 The "Hermitage," near Nashville, Tennessee — Andrew Jackson's Home, .... 183 Andrew Jackson, Seventh President of the United States, . 185 Cartoon on Andrew Jackson's Campaign for His Second Term, Picturing His Power of Controlling Men Against Their Own Will, .... 186 Cartoon on Andrew Jackson's Second Term Campaign, Showing How He Pleased the Masses by Overthrowing the National Bank Monopoly, 186 Proclamation by President Andrew Jackson About the Public Lands of Alabama, 203 President Jackson's Signature on a State Document, .... 204 Home of Martin Van Buren, at Kinderhook, New York, . 211 Martin Van Buren, Eighth President of the United States, . . 213 Agitation Against Dueling in Washington in Martin Van Buren's Administration, 214 Cartoon on Van Buren's Policy of Payments in Coin, Which Par tisans at that Time Claimed Throttled " The Poor Man," . . 214 President Van Buren's Proclamation Revoking Tonnage Duties on Vessels of Greece, 223, 224 William Henry Harrison's Home at North Bend, Indiana, . 232 W. H. Harrison, Ninth President of the United States, . . 233 State, War and Navy Department Buildings at Washington, D. C, 234 Cartoon Ridiculing the Millerites' Millennium Prophecy of 1843, . 243 Cartoon Against the National Bank System, Which Andrew Jack son Overthrew, . . 243 Financial Crisis of Van Buren's Administration, Following Re tiring of Inflated Paper Currency and Resumption of Specie Payments, . . . . „.. 244 Ridicule of Jenny Lind's Popularity in 1850, . . 244 Illustrations. , 3 Page. Home of John Tyler, at Sherwood Forest, Greenway, Virginia, . 246 John Tyler, Tenth President of the United States, .... 253 Page of Webster-Ashburton Treaty Ratified in John Tyler's Administration 263 President Tyler's Signature on the Ratification of the Webster- Ashburton Treaty, 264 The Old Capitol of the Confederacy, at Richmond, Va., . . . 281 Cartoon on " Troubled Treasures," 282 Cartoon on " The Times," 282 Home of James K. Polk, at Nashville, Tennessee, .... 285 James K. Polk, Eleventh President of the United States, . . 299 Declaration of War Against Mexico by President Polk, . . . 300 Zachary Taylor, Twelfth President of the United States, . . 309 Home of Zachary Taylor, at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, . . .311 Signature of President Taylor on a State Document, . . . 319 Final Page of Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, Ratified in President Taylor's Administration, 320 Old Home of Millard Fillmore, at Buffalo, New York, . . . 327 Millard Fillmore, Thirteenth President of the United States, . 329 Tariff Agitation of 1846, With Caricatures of Polk, Buchanan, Calhoun and Other Political Leaders of the Period, . . 330 Cartoon on Buchanan's Currency Policy, 330 President Fillmore's Fugitive Slave Proclamation, .... 339 Last Page of Fillmore's Fugitive Slave Proclamation, . . 340 Home of Franklin Pierce, at Concord, New Hampshire, . . . 347 Franklin Pierce, Fourteenth President of the United States, . 357 Temperance Craze of 1854, During Franklin Pierce's Administration, 358 Temperance Agitation of Franklin Pierce's Term, .... 358 First Page of President Pierce's Proclamation Against Filibuster ing Expeditions to Cuba, 367 Last Page of Proclamation Against Filibustering by President Pierce 368 Home of James Buchanan, at Wheatland, Pennsylvania, . . 369 James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States, . . 375 Confederate Monument at Richmond, Va., 376 South Carolina's Ordinance to Secede from the Union December 20, i860, During Buchanan's Administration, 385 President Buchanan's Note to Senate, Relating to Utah Massacres, 386 4 Illustrations. Page. Home of Abraham Lincoln, at Springfield, Illinois, 39 1 Abraham Lincoln, Sixteenth President of the United States, . ¦ 395 Lincoln's Exhortation to the People of the United States Not to Plunge into Civil War, 396 First and Last Pages of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, . 4°5 Page from Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, .... 4o6 Last Page of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, .... 4°7 Lincoln's Signature to Emancipation Proclamation, . . • 408 President Lincoln's Proclamation Admitting West Virginia into the Union, . . 417 President Lincoln's Signature to Proclamation Admitting West Virginia into the Union, . 418 House in Washington Where Lincoln Died, 427 Cartoon of the " New Woman " of Lincoln's Administration, . . 428 Beginning of Women's Rights Agitation in Lincoln's Administra tion, . 428 Birthplace of Andrew Johnson,, at Raleigh, North Carolina, . . 434 Andrew Johnson, Seventeenth President of the United States, . 437 Madison Mansion — McClelland's Headquarters at Washington in 1861, 438 Thanksgiving Proclamation of President Johnson, .... 447 Signature of President Johnson to Thanksgiving Proclamation, . 448 U. S. Grant, Eighteenth President of the United States, . . . 457 President Grant's Proclamation Calling for an Extra Session of the Senate, 458 Home of U. S. Grant, at Galena, Illinois, 459 President Grant's Centennial Proclamation, 467 President Grant's Signature to Centennial Proclamation, . . 468 Mt. McGregor Cottage, at Saratoga, New York, Where General U. S. Grant Died, 477 General Grant's Tomb on Morningside Heights, New York City, . 478 " Hardscrabble," General Grant's Farm, in St. Louis County, Missouri, 481 Home of President Hayes, at Fremont, Ohio 482 R. B. Hayes, Nineteenth President of the United States, . . . 487 Bartholdi Fountain, Washington, D. C, With the Capitol in the Distance, ..... _ ,gg First Page of President Hayes' Proclamation to Suppress Railroad Strike in Maryland, .._ Illustrations. 5 Page. Last Page and Signature of President Hayes' Proclamation to Suppress Maryland Railroad Strike, . . . 498 Home of James A. Garfield, at Hiram, Ohio, . . 504 James A. Garfield, Twentieth President of the United States, 507 A Note to the Secretary of State by President Garfield, . 508 Home of Chester A. Arthur, Lexington Avenue, New York City, . 518 Chester A. Arthur, Twenty-first President of the United States, . 525 President Arthur's Announcement of President Garfield's Death, 527 President Arthur's Signature to Official Announcement of Presi dent Garfield's Death, 528 Birthplace of Grover Cleveland, at Caldwell, New Jersey, . . 536 Grover Cleveland, Twenty-second and Twenty-fourth President of the United States . 545 President Cleveland's Proclamation Admitting the Territory of Washington as a State, 546 President Cleveland's Proclamation on Utah's Admission to the Union, 555 President Cleveland's Signature to a State Document, . . . 556 Home of Jefferson Davis, at Richmond, Va., .... . 573 United States Patent Office, at Washington, D. C, . . . 574 Home of ex-President Benjamin Harrison, at Indianapolis, Indiana, 580 Benjamin Harrison, Twenty-third President of the United States, 591 Signature of President Harrison to a State Document, . . 592 William McKinley, Twenty-fifth President of the United States, 609 President McKinley's Home, at Canton, Ohio 610 President McKinley's Declaration 01 War Against Spain, . . 627 United States Treasury Building, at Washington, D. C 628 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. GEORGE WASHINGTON the Greatest Man in History, by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts; Washington's own History of his two Admin istrations, 1789-1797; His Farewell Address; Life of Washington Page 17 CHAPTER II. JOHN ADAMS as Financier and Statesman, by Ellis H. Roberts, Treasurer of the United States; Administration of 1797-1801, by President Adams; Suspen sion of Diplomatic Relations with France; First Coinage Law; Insurrection in Pennsylvania; Removal of National Capital from Philadelphia to Washing ton; Life of John Adams Page 58 CHAPTER III. THOMAS JEFFERSON'S Place in History, by Senator John W. Daniel, of Virginia; Administration of 1801-1809, by President Jefferson; War with Tripoli; Purchase of Louisiana Territory from France; Spain's Depredations on United States Commerce; Lewis and Clark's Exploration of the Northwest; Treason of Aaron Burr; Life of Thomas Jefferson Page 78 CHAPTER IV. JAMES MADISON as Father of the Constitution, by James D. Richardson, Congressman from Tennessee; Administration of 1809-1817, by President Madison; War against Great Britain; Captain Decatur and Captain Jones' Naval Victories; Battle of Lake Erie; Frigate "Constitution's" Destruction of British Frigate "Java;" Victories on Land; Treaty of Peace with Great Britain; End of War with Algiers; Life of James Madison Page 108 CHAPTER V. MONROE'S Great National Policy, by John R. Proctor, President of the United States Civil Service Commission; Administration of 1817-1825, by Presi dent Monroe; Reduction of Naval Force on the Great Lakes; Military Force of the United States; General Jackson's Seizure of Florida from Spain; Sup pression of Slave Trade on the High Seas; The "Monroe Doctrine;" Life of James Monroe Page 132 8 Contents. CHAPTER VI. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS as Man, Scholar, Diplomat and Statesman, by Binger Hermann, Commissioner of the General Land Office; Administration of 1825-1829, by President John Quincy Adams; Depredations on our Commerce of Grecian Pirates; Population of the United States in 1825; War between Russia and Turkey; Arbitration of Northeastern Boundary of United States; Life of John Quincy Adams Page 160 CHAPTER VII. ANDREW JACKSON as Soldier and Statesman, by Major-General Joseph Wheeler; Administration of 1829-1837, by President Jackson; His Tariff Policy; Abuses of the Public Treasury; Establishment of Indian Territory; Reorganiza tion of Army and Navy; Overthrow of the Bank of the United States; Recog nition of Republic of Texas; Rebellion of South Carolina; Life of Andrew Jackson Page 183 CHAPTER VIII. MARTIN VAN BUREN, the First Politician President, by F. A. Vanderlip, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Administration of 1837-1841, by President Van Buren; His Financial Policy; Dispute with Russia over the Northwest Boundary; Fixing the Northern Boundary; Improved Financial Conditions; Life of Martin Van Buren Page 211 CHAPTER IX. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON the People's Idol, by Perry Sanford Heath, First Assistant Postmaster-General; Administration of 1841, by Presi dent Harrison; His Inaugural Address; His Sudden Death; Announcement to the People by Daniel Webster; Life of William Henry Harrison Page 232 CHAPTER X. JOHN TYLER'S Greatness, by Ex-Senator J. B. Henderson, of Mis souri; Administration of 1841-1845, by President Tyler; Treaty with Great Britain over Northern Boundary; Right of Search on the High Seas; Con dition of the Treasury; Independence of Hawaiian Islands from European Control; Commerce with China; Hostile Attitude of Mexico; Application for Annexation of Texas; Life of John Tyler Page 246 CHAPTER XI. JAMES K. POLK'S Administration, by Marion Butler, Senator from North Carolina; Administration of 1845-1849, by President Polk; Admis sion of Texas into the Union; War with Mexico; Victories of United States Contents. 9 Army under General Taylor; Acquisition of New Mexico and California from Mexico; Organizing Territorial Governments; Settlement with Great Britain of the Northwestern Boundary; Discovery of Gold in California; Missouri Com promise; Life of James K. Polk Page 285 CHAPTER XII. ZACHARY TAYLOR as Soldier and President,- by Henry Clay Evans, Pension Commissioner; Administration of 1849-1850, by President Taylor; Nica ragua Canal Advocated; Civil Government for California; Recomends Estab lishment of Department of Agriculture; Pacific Coast Survey; Clayton-Bulwer Treaty for Building Nicaragua Canal; Life of Zachary Taylor Pagi 311 CHAPTER XIII. MILLARD FILLMORE'S Career, by W. F. Aldrich, Congressman from Alabama; Administration of 1850-1853, by President Fillmore; Ratification of the Nicaragua Canal Treaty; Hawaiian Treaty; Protective Tariff Policy; New Naval Code; Expedition against Cuba; Life of Millard Fillmore Page 327 CHAPTER XIV. FRANKLIN PIERCE, the Great Expansionist, by John T. Morgan, Sen ator from Alabama; Administration of 1853-1857, by President Pierce; Adher ence to the Constitution; Territorial Expansion; First Commercial Treaty with Japan; Settlement of the Mexican Boundary; Adjustment of Fishery Question with Great Britain; Repeal of the Missouri Compromise; Treaty of Reciprocity with British North American Provinces; Organization of the Territories of. Kansas and Nebraska; Reorganization of Consular and Diplo matic Service; Organization of the Court of Claims; Retired List for the Navy; Veto Indigent Insane Bill; Life of Frariklin Pierce Page 347 CHAPTER XV. JAMES BUCHANAN'S Policy, by General Horatio A. King, LL. D., of New York; Administration of 1857-1861, by President Buchanan; Mormon Rebellion in Utah; Admission of Minnesota; Negotiations to Acquire Island of Cuba; Slavery War in Kansas; Topeka Government; Le Compton Consti tution; Union Threatened; Secession of the Southern States; Seizure of United States Forts and Arsenals; Plan to Capture- the Capital; Life of James Buchanan Page 369 CHAPTER XVI. ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S Greatness, by Colonel A. K. McClure, Editor " The Philadelphia Times; " Administration of 1861-1865, by President Lin- io Contents. coin; Supreme Desire for Peace; Union of States Perpetual; Proclamation Calling Out Militia; Firing on Fort Sumter; Establishing Blockade of South ern Ports; Maryland Declares for the Union; Bringing Missouri and Kentucky into Line; Emancipation Proclamation, January I, 1863; Diplomatic Relations with England and France; Organization of Colored Troops into War Service; Capture of Vessels and Prizes; Naval Force of the United States; Admission of Nevada; Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant Assigned to the Command of the Army; Establishment of Telegraph Lines between the Atlantic and Pacific States; Sherman's March to the Sea; Lee's Surrender; Peace; National Prosperity; Second Inauguration; Last Words to His Countrymen; Assassina tion; Life of Abraham Lincoln Page 391 CHAPTER XVII. ANDREW JOHNSON as a Patriot, by Champ Clark, Congressman from Missouri; Administration of 1865-1869, by President Johnson; Maintenance of the Union; Constitutional Rights; Policy of Reconciliation; Removal of the Blockade; Custom-Houses Re-established; Internal Revenue Laws Put in Force; Negotiations for the Islands of St. Thomas and St. John; Retire ment of Paper Currency and Resumption of Specie Advocated; Life of An drew Johnson Page 434 CHAPTER XVIII. ULYSSES S. GRANT' as Soldier and Statesman, by Shelby M. Cullom, Senator from Illinois; Administration of 1869-1877; Quaker Peace Commis sion; Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution; Panama Canal Treaty; Rati fication Urged of the Treaty for Annexation of San Domingo; Reform of the Civil Service; Southern States Admitted to Representation; Settlement of " Virginius " Claims; Admission of Colorado; Resumption of Specie; Set tlement of "Alabama Claims;" Life of Ulysses S. Grant Page 459 CHAPTER XIX. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES as a Citizen and Statesman, by Joseph B. Foraker, Senator from Ohio; Administration of 1877-1881, by President Hayes; Policy of Pacification; No North, No South, but a United Country: Strength ening the Public Credit; Veto Bland- Allison Bill; Veto Act to Prohibit Mili tary Interference at Elections; Successful Execution of the Resumption Act; Territorial Government for Alaska; Territorial Government for Utah; Indian Policy; Life of Rutherford' B. Hayes Page 482 CHAPTER XX. JAMES A. GARFIELD, Great in Life and Death, by Charles Dick, Con gressman from Ohio; Administration of 1881, by James A. Garfield- Close Contents. i i of First Century of Growth; Nation Developing Great Possibilities; Elevation of Negro to Citizenship; Question of Equal Suffrage; Interests of Agriculture; Refunding of the National Debt; Assassination of Garfield; Life of James A. Garfield Page 504 CHAPTER XXI. CHESTER A. ARTHUR'S Administration, by Chauncey M. Depew, Sen ator from New York; Administration of 1881-1885, by President Arthur; Pro tection of Law for Indians; Land Allotted Them in Severalty; Veto of Chinese Bill;' Reconstruction of Navy; Improvement of Civil Service; Nicaragua Canal Treaty; General Grant Placed on the Retired List of the Army; Currency and Finance; Centennial Celebration at Yorktown; Life of Chester A. Arthur Page 518 CHAPTER XXII. GROVER CLEVELAND'S Administration, by Holmes Conrad, ex-Attor ney-General of the United States; Administration of 1885-1889, by President Cleveland; Action against Union Pacific Railroad; Civil Service Policy; Re organizing Army and Navy; Veto of Nicaraguan Canal Bill; Chinese Ques tion; Management of the Indians; Tariff Message; Treaty of Commerce with Peru; Samoan Message; Second Administration, 1893-1897; International Con ference; Financial Panic; Anti-Polygamy Prosecution; Admission of Utah; Venezuela Controversy; Enforcement of Monroe Doctrine; Life of Grover Cleveland Page 536 CHAPTER XXIII. BENJAMIN HARRISON as a Statesman, by Horace Taylor, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Administration of 1889- 1893, by President Harri son; International Maritime Conference; Financial Policy; Revision of the Tariff; Improvements in Alaska; Admission of South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Washington; Creation of the Department of Agriculture; Re organization of Weather Bureau and Signal Corps; Admission of Wyoming :and Idaho; World's Columbian Exposition; Attack of the U. S. S. " Baltimore" 'at Valparaiso; Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of America; Great Prosperity of the Country; Successful Naval Policy; Introduction of -Torpedoes; Recommendation for Using Smokeless Powder; Development of JNaval Militia; Treaty for Annexation of Hawaiian Islands; Amnesty to Mor mons; Life of Benjamin Harrison Page 580 ( CHAPTER XXIV. 0 WILLIAM McKINLEY'S Administration, by Joseph G. Cannon, Con gressman from Illinois; Administration Beginning 1897, by President McKin- 12 Contents. ley; Revision of Financial System; Special Session for Tariff Legislation; Treaty for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands; Relief for Destitute Americans in Cuba; Destruction of the "Maine;" Naval Court of Inquiry Organized; Finding of Naval Court; Views of this Government Communicated to Spain; Declaration of Hostilities against Spain; Withdrawal of Spanish Minister; Commodore George Dewey Ordered to the Philippine Islands; Dewey's Vic tory at Manila; Review of Cuban Struggle; Red Cross in Cuba; American Minister Quits Spain; Call for Volunteers; Naval Preparations; Planting of Submarine Mines; The Signal Corps Organized; National Defense Fund Ex pended; The First Encounter of the War; Reinforcements Hurried to Manila; Arrival of the " Oregon" and " Marietta;" Commodore Schley's Squadron Bom bardment of the Forts Guarding Santiago Harbor; Sinking of the " Merrimac; " Cutting of the Cuban Cable; Battles of El Caney and San Juan; Destruction of Admiral Cervera's Fleet; Fall of Santiago; General Miles at Porto Rico; Battle at Manila; Peace Commission at Paris; Signing of the Peace Protocol; Ratification of Peace Treaty; Life of William McKinley Page 604 INTRODUCTION. THIS is the first time that a complete, popular history of the United States has appeared, written by the men who made our history. The impression which first strikes a person, when taking up the book, is the distinctness and forcibleness with which events of the past are stated. Incidents reaching back into the times of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Monroe and Andrew Jackson are flashed as brilliantly before the reader as if they were current events. We have been accustomed to think of those old heroes as if they were men of action only. But this is certainly a mistake. They were all men who spoke and wrote with vigor. They penned their messages in the heat and ardor of war, political strife and social con vulsions. Things Which have seemed dead issues and dry history in the hands of the professional historian are here made as interesting as topics of our own times. The effect upon first picking up the book and seeing such headings as "Administration of 1789- 1797," written "By George Washing ton," " Administration of 1829- 1837," written " By Andrew Jackson," is almost startling. It is a revelation. It seems as if those old statesmen had come back upon the arena of public affairs. The magnetic influence of their own words makes them seem like the voices of living men. We have been accustomed to receive history second hand, but here it is given first hand. There can be no more vivid and instructive form of history than this. The illustrations tend to impress these features even more 14 History of the United States. strongly. The handwriting of Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Lin coln and the other Presidents tend to bring the reader into an inti mate acquaintance with them, just as a letter from a friend appeals to a person more strongly than the printed columns of newspapers. These autographs and documents from the leading libraries and private collections of the country are almost priceless. The birthplaces, homes, monuments, and places and scenes in which these heroes of Our history moved, complete the impressions formed by their own words and the sight of their own writings. It is a work unique among histories. The reviews of each Presi dent's administration by some prominent, living statem'an bring out plainly the, leading acts and facts for which each is most noted and temembered. It mirrors all our past in the critical glass of the present day. It brings history up to date in an entirely new way. As the public men who have reviewed the various Presidents are fiom all parts of the country, it gives a local and universal interest to the book. Altogether, this is an educational work unique among histories, and would seem to mark a new epoch in history-making. It ought to find its way into the hands and homes of American citizens everywhere. THE PUBLISHERS. first president of the united states. f v r,7£} ™: HOME OF WASHINGTON'S PARENTS, ON THE POTOMAC. CHAPTER I. WASHINGTON, THE GREATEST MAN IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY. By Henry Cabot Lodge.. Senator from Massachusetts. XT O man in history seems to have risen to such a height in the estimation A of the people that criticism about him has been silenced as has George Washington. There is a great meaning in this if it can be rightly stated. It can not be attributed to popular superstition made of hero worship, which a closer study of the man and his acts dispels. Nothing is nearer the truth than public opinion, and it is useless to belittle this element in history. The world's opinion of a man becomes in the course of time the nearest we can attain to the true judgment. To be sure, different men have different ideals. Don Quixote may mean nothing to one man, and Shakespeare may have no charm for another; but the fault lies in the reader of those masters. No intelligent man doubts the greatness of either Shakespeare or Cervantes; they have stood the test of time — generations of men have called them great, and there is no appeal from this verdict. We may have called certain poetry hackneyed 18 History of the United States. and simple lyrics but childhood rhyhies, but these very things are on the whole the best poetry. What crowds of admiring gazers for centuries have pronounced the best pictures and statues must be accepted as such. This is why Washington may be called supremely great, when a century after his death the people's verdict agrees to call him great. The verdict must be accepted. Historians may have whitened or blackened and critics may have weighed and dissected him, but they have not changed the popular judgment. The solitary fact still stands and his foremost place in history is established. In Washington's case, people seemed to have agreed at last that his great ness was of such a character that no one could fail to respect him. Around other great leaders discussions have arisen, and they have had their partisans after death as they had them while living. Even Washington had enemies who assailed him while alive, but in death he stood alone, above strife and beyond malice. In America there can be no further dispute as to his work. Even English men, who are the most unsparing critics of us, have done homage to Wash ington, from the time of Byron and Fox to the present day. France has always revered his name. In distant lands, people who have hardly heard of the United States know the name of Washington. Nothing could better show the regard of the world for this great giver of liberty to the people than the way in which contributions came from all nations to his monument at Washington. There are stones from Greece, fragments of the Parthenon. There are stones from Brazil, Turkey, Japan, Switzerland, Siam and India. In sending her tribute, China said: " In devising plans, Washington was more decided than Ching Shing or Woo Kwang; in winning a country, he was braver than Tsau Tsau or Ling Pi. Wielding his four-footed falchion, he extended the frontiers and refused to accept the Royal Dignity. The sentiments of the Three Dynasties have reappeared in him. Can any man of ancient or modern times fail to pronounce Washington peerless? " These comparisons, which are so strange to our ears and which sound stranger still when used in comparison with Washington, show that his name has reached farther than we can comprehend. He has become a type that has impressed itself deep on the mind and imagination of all mankind. Whether this image in all its details be true or false is of little consequence; the fact remains. He towers up from the dust of history as a Grecian statue stands, pure and serene, after being dug up from the earth in which it has lain for centuries. We are aware of his deeds, but the question is, what was it in the man himself that has given him such a position in the respect, the love and the imagination of men the whole world over. George Washington. 19 The historians and the antiquarians, as well as the critics, seem to have exhausted every resource. They have held up to us the most minute details, and still people are anxious to hear more of Washington's character. It is a significant fact that every house where he ever lived has been photographed, painted and drawn. Portraits, statues and medals of the man have been catalogued as classics. Even his private affairs, his servants, his clothes, his horses, his arms, have been brought beneath the microscope of history. Biographies have been written and rewritten many times. From every lurk ing place his letters have been drawn out and made public in volumes and in detachments. Over and over again his battles have been fought and studied by military critics, while his State papers have received an almost verbal examination. Yet, in spite of his great name and the tireless work of biogra phers and antiquarians, Washington is still not understood. He has been disguised more or less both by critics and friends, and misrepresented by eulogies and theories of admirers. What still remains to be done is to try to gather from this mass of material at the end of the nineteenth century enough to make a new image of the man himself in the various circumstances of his life, and to try and see what he actually was; what his motives were at all times. This will show what he means to us and to the whole world at this time. His own words in his messages and documents of State are the best starting point for the people of the present time to form their own picture of him. The image they have now in their own minds of Washington they will then see is largely mythical, for we have not outgrown the primitive, mythical idea of things, even at the end of the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding its vaunted intelligence, myths still remain and grow as they did in the infancy of the race. It is the oldest sentiment of humanity, and is far more lasting than records of parchments and monuments. It is what led men in the morning of history to adore their ancestors and it still endures. As centuries have passed this sentiment has lost much of its religious flavor and has become more limited, but it has not been extinguished. Whenever a man in modern times rises above the ordinary bounds of greatness, the same feeling which made our ancestors humble themselves at the altars of their forefathers and chiefs makes us envelop our modern heroes with a mythical character, and we picture him in our minds as a man to whom in past years shrines would have been builded and sacrifices made. So, wc have at the present time in our minds a great, solemn and imprefsive idea of Washington. In this character he seems a man of towering intellect, great moral force, the symbol of success, the idol of fortune, and standing apart from the rest of his fellow countrymen and humanity. This picture of 20 History of the United States. lonely greatness comes up in our mind with all the royal splendor of the Lavain Augustus, and with as much glow and life as that unparalleled statue. This great and serious idea contains a deal of truth, but it is not wholly true. It is the superstition of love and adoration rising from the hereditary grati tude of the people of America to one of the founders of our nation. A famous historical scholar and antiquarian said, in an essay long ago, Lhe " traditional Washington must give place to the new Washington." This is true in one sense. A new idea of Washington comes up in the mind of each generation, as it learns the story of the father of this country; but, in another sense, the idea of a new Washington is wrong. He can not be discovered anew, because there never was but one Washington. ..,-' 'j'-r -w5» $mm WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE AT BRIDGE'S CREEK, ON THE POTOMAC, VIRGINIA. George Washington. 21 ADMINISTRATION OF 1789-1797. By George Washington. AMONG the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notifi cation of first election was transmitted and received on the 14th day of the present month (April, 1789). On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immu table decision, as the asylum of my declining years — a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who (inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration) ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All I dare hope is that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my in capacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me, and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality in which they originated. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United Above Is from first inaugural address delivered in New York, April 30, 1789. 22 History of the United States. States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most' governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed; and being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual expendi tures as the public good may be thought to require. It doubtless is important that all treaties and compacts formed by the United States with other nations, whether civilized or not, should be made with caution and executed with fidelity. It is said to be the general understanding and practice of nations, as a check on the mistakes and indiscretions of ministers or commis sioners, not to consider any treaty negotiated and signed by such officers as final and conclusive until ratified by the sovereign or government from whom they derive their powers. This practice has been adopted by the United States respecting their treaties with European nations, and I am inclined to think it would be advisable to observe it in the conduct of our treaties with the Indians; for though such treaties, being on their part made by their chiefs or rulers, need not be ratified by them, yet, being formed on our part by the agency of subordinate officers, it seems to be both prudent and reasonable that their acts should not be binding on the nation until approved and ratified by the Government. It strikes me that this point should be well considered and settled, so that our national proceedings in this respect may become uniform and be directed by fixed and stable principles. George Washington. 23 first annual address, january 8, 179o. I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity of congratu lating you on the present favorable prospects of our public affairs. The recent accession of the important State of North Carolina to the Constitution of the United States, the rising credit and respectability of our country, the general and increasing good-will toward the Government of the Union, and the concord, peace, aud plenty with which we are blessed are circumstances auspicious in an eminent degree to our national prosperity. Among the many objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit 'particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of pre serving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essentials, particularly mili tary, supplies. There was reason to hope that the pacific measures adopted with regard to certain hostile tribes of Indians would have relieved the inhabitants of our southern and western frontiers from their depreda tions, that we ought to be prepared to afford protection to those parts of the Union, and, if necessary, to punish aggressors. The interests of the United States require that our intercourse with other nations should be facilitated by such provisions as will enable me to fulfill my duty in that respect in the manner which circum stances may render most conducive to the public good, and to this end that the compensations to be made to the persons who may be employed should, according to the nature of their appointments, be defined by law, and a competent fund designated for defraying the expenses incident to the conduct of our foreign affairs. Various considerations also render it expedient that the terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights of citizens should be speedily ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization. Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to. The advancement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures by all proper means will not, I trust, need recommendation; but I can 24 History of the United States. not forbear intimating to you the expediency of giving effectual encouragement as well to the introduction of new and useful inven tions from abroad as to the exertions of skill and genius in producing them at home, and of facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our country by a due attention to the post-office and post- roads. Having received official information of the accession of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to the Constitution of the United States, June i, 1790, I take the earliest opportunity of communicating the same, with my congratulations on this happy event, which unites under the General Government all the States which were originally confederated, and have directed my secretary to lay before you a copy of the letter from the president of the con vention of the State of Rhode Island to the President of the United States. A treaty of peace and friendship between the United States and the Creek Nation was made and concluded on the 7th day of the present month of August, 1790. To the end that the same may be observed and performed with good faith on the part of the United States, I have ordered the said treaty to be published; and I do hereby enjoin and require all officers of the United States, civil and military, and all other citizens and inhabitants thereof, faithfully to observe and fulfill the same. It hath at this time become peculiarly necessary to warn the citi zens of the United States against a violation of the treaties made at Hopewell, on the Keowee, on the 28th day of November, 1785, and on the 3d and ioth days of January, 1786, between the United States and the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations of Indians. SECOND ANNUAL ADDRESS, DECEMBER 8, 1790. I feel much satisfaction in being able to repeat my congratula tions on the favorable prospects which continue to distinguish our public affairs. The abundant fruits of another year have blessed our country with plenty and with the means of a flourishing commerce. The progress of public credit is witnessed by a considerable rise of American stock abroad as well as at home, and the revenues allotted for this and other national purposes have been productive beyond the calculations by which they were regulated. In conformity to the powers vested in me by acts of the last ses sion, a loan of 3,000,000 florins has been completed in Holland. As George Washington. 25 well the celerity with which it has been filled as the nature of the terms (considering the more than ordinary demand for borrowing created by the situation of Europe) give a reasonable hope that the further execution of those powers may proceed with advantage and success. I have received communications by which it appears that the dis trict of Kentucky, at present a part of Virginia, has concurred in cer tain propositions contained in a law of that State, in consequence of which the district is to become a distinct member of the Union, in case the requisite sanction of Congress be added. For this sanction application is now made. It has been heretofore known to Congress that frequent incursions have been made on our frontier settlements by certain banditti of Indians from the northwest side of the Ohio. These aggravated provocations rendered it essential to the safety of the western settle ments that the aggressors should be made sensible that the Govern ment of the Union is not less capable of punishing their crimes than it is disposed to respect their rights and reward their attachments. As this object could not be effected by defensive measures, it became necessary to put in force the act which empowers the President to call out the militia for the protection of the frontiers, and I have accordingly authorized an expedition in which the regular troops in that quarter are combined with such drafts of militia as were deemed sufficient. The disturbed situation of Europe, and particularly the critical posture of the great maritime powers, requires that we should not overlook the tendency of a war, and even of preparations for a war, among the nations most concerned in active commerce with this country to abridge the means, and thereby at least enhance the price. of transporting its valuable productions to their proper markets. I recommend it to your serious reflections how far and in what mode it may be expedient to guard against embarrassments from these contingencies by such encouragements to our own navigation as will render our commerce and agriculture less dependent on foreign bot toms, which may fail us in the very moments most interesting to both of these great objects. Our fisheries and the transportation of our own produce offer us abundant means for guarding ourselves against this evil. The laws you have already passed for the establishment of a judiciary system have opened the doors of justice to all descriptions of persons. 26 History of the United States. You will consider in your wisdom whether improvements in that system may yet be made, and particularly whether an uniform process of execution on sentences issuing from the Federal courts be not de sirable through all the States. The patronage of our commerce, of our merchants and seamen, has called for the appointment of consuls in foreign countries. It seems expedient to regulate by law the exercise of that jurisdiction and those functions which are permitted them, either by express convention or by a friendly indulgence, in the places of their resi dence. The consular convenlion, too, with His Most Christian Majesty of France has stipulated in certain cases the aid of the na tional authority to his consuls established here. Some legislative provision is requisite to carry these stipulations into full effect. The establishment of the militia, of a mint, of standards of weights and measures, of the post-office and post-roads are subjects which are abundantly urged by their own importance. The sufficiency of the revenues you have established for the objects to which they are appropriated leaves no doubt that the residuary provisions will be commensurate to the other objects for which the public faith stands now pledged. Allow me, moreover, to hope that it will be a favorite policy with you, not merely to secure a payment of the interest of the debt funded, but as far and as fast as the growing resources of the country will permit, to exonerate it of the principal itself. The appropriation made of the Western land explains your dispositions on this subject, and I am persuaded that the sooner that valuable fund can be made to contribute, along with other means, to the actual reduction of the public debt, the more salutary will the measure be to every public interest, as well as the more satisfactory to our constituents. Soon after I was called to the administration of the Government I found it important to come to an understanding with the Court of London on several points interesting to the United States, and par ticularly to know whether they were disposed to enter into arrange ments by mutual consent which might fix the commerce between the two nations on principles of reciprocal advantage. For this purpose I authorized informal conferences with their ministers, and from these I do not infer any disposition on their part to enter into any arrange ments merely commercial. George Washington. 27 Conceiving that in the possible event of a refusal of justice on the part of Great Britain we should stand less committed should it be made to a private rather than to a public person, I employed Mr. Gouverneur Morris, who was on the spot, and without giving him any definite character, to enter informally into the conferences before mentioned. For your more particular information I lay before you the instructions I gave him and those parts of his communications wherein the British ministers appear either in conversation or by letter. These are two letters from the Duke of Leeds to Mr. Morris, and three letters of Mr. Morris giving an account of two conferences with the Duke of Leeds and one with him and Mr. Pitt. The sum of these is that they declare without scruple they do not mean to fulfill what remains of the treaty of peace to be fulfilled on their part, by which we are to understand the delivery of the posts and payment for property carried off, till performance on our part, and compensation where the delay has rendered the performance now impracticable; that on the subject of a treaty of commerce they avoided direct answers, so as to satisfy Mr. Morris they did not mean to enter into one unless it could be extended to a treaty of alliance offensive and defensive, or unless in the event of a rupture with Spain. As to the sending a minister here, they made excuses at the first conference, seemed disposed to it in the second, and in the last expressed an intention of so doing. Their views being thus suffi ciently ascertained, I have directed Mr. Morris to discontinue his communications with them. The aspect of affairs in Europe during the last summer (1790) and especially between Spain and England, gave reason to expect a favor able occasion for pressing to accommodation the unsettled matters between them and us. Mr. Carmichael, our charge d'affaires at Madrid, having been long absent from his country, great changes hav ing taken place in our circumstances and sentiments during that interval, it was thought expedient to send some person, in a private character, fully acquainted with the present state of things here, to be the bearer of written and confidential instructions to him, and at the same time to possess him in full of all those details, facts and topics of argument which could not be conveyed in writing, but which would be necessary to enable him to meet the reasonings of that Court with advantage. Colonel David Humphreys was sent for these purposes. 28 History of the United States. An additional motive for this confidential mission arose in the same quarter. The Court of Lisbon had on several occasions made the most amicable advances for cultivating friendship and intercourse with the United States. The exchange of a diplomatic character had been informally, but repeatedly, suggested on their part. It was our in terest to meet this nation in its friendly dispositions and to concur in the exchange proposed. But my wish was at the same time that the character to be exchanged should be of the lowest and most eco nomical grade. To this it was known that certain rules of long standing at that Court would produce obstacles. Colonel Humphreys was charged with dispatches to the Prime Minister of Portugal and with instructions to endeavor to arrange this to our views. It happened, however, that previous to his arrival at Lisbon the Queen had appointed a minister resident to the United States. This embarrassment seems to have rendered the difficulty completely insurmountable. The minister of that Court in his conferences with Colonel Humphreys, professing every wish to accommodate, yet expresses his regret that circumstances do not permit them to concur in the grade of charge d'affaires, a grade of little privilege or respectability by the rules of their Court and held in so low estimation with them that no proper character would accept it to go abroad. In a letter to the Secretary of State he expresses the same sentiments, and announces the appointment on their part of a minister resident to the United States, and the pleasure with which the Queen will receive one from us at her Court. A copy of his letter, and also of Colonel Humphreys', giving the details of this transaction, will be delivered to you. On consideration of all circumstances I have determined to accede to the desire of the Court of Lisbon in the article of grade. I am aware that the consequences will not end here, and that this is not the only instance in which a like change may be pressed. But should it be necessary to yield elsewhere also, I shall think it a less evil than to disgust a government so friendly to us as that of Portugal. I do not mean that the change of grade shall render the mission more expensive. I have, therefore, nominated David Humphreys minister resident from the United States to Her Most Faithful Majesty, the Queen of Portugal. I will proceed to take measures (February 22, 1791) for the ransom of our citizens in captivity at Algiers. George Washington. 29 The recognition of our treaty with the new Emperor of Morocco requires also previous appropriation and provision. The act for the admission of the State of Vermont into this Union having fixed on this as the day of its admission, March 4, 1791, it was thought that this would also be the first day on which any officer of the Union might legally perform any act of authority relating to that State. Pursuant to the powers vested in me (March 4, 1791) by the act entitled "An act repealing after the last day of June next the duties heretofore laid upon distilled spirits imported from abroad and laying others in their stead, and also upon spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same," I have thought fit to divide the United States into the following districts, namely: The district of New Hampshire, to consist of the State of New Hampshire; the district of Massachusetts, to consist of the State of Massachusetts; the district of Rhode Island and Providence Planta tions, to consist of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan tations; the district of Connecticut, to consist of the State of Connec ticut; the district of Vermont, to consist of the State of Vermont; the district of New York, to consist of the State of New York; the district of New Jersey, to consist of the State of New Jersey; the district of Pennsylvania, to consist of the State of Pennsylvania; the district of Delaware, to consist of the State of Delaware; the district of Mary land, to consist of the* State of Maryland; the district of Virginia, to consist of the State of Virginia; the district of North Carolina, to con sist of the State of North Carolina; the district of South Carolina, to consist of the State of South Carolina; and the district of Georgia, to consist of the State of Georgia. It hath been represented to me that James O'Fallon is levying an armed force in that part of the State of Virginia which is called Kentucky, disturbs the public peace, and sets at defiance the treaties of the United States with the Indian tribes, the act of Congress en titled "An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes," and my proclamations of the 14th and 26th days of August, 1790, founded thereon; and it is my earnest desire that those who have incautiously associated themselves with the said James O'Fallon may be warned of their danger, I have, therefore, thought fit to declare that all persons violating the treaties and act aforesaid shall be prosecuted with the utmost rigor of the law, 30 History of the United States. By a proclamation bearing date the 24th day of January of this present year, 1791, and in pursuance of certain acts of the States of Maryland and Virginia and of the Congress of the United States, therein mentioned, certain lines of experiment were directed to be run in the neighborhood of Georgetown, in Maryland, for the purpose of determining the location of a part of the territory of ten miles square for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States, and a certain part was directed to be located within the said lines of experiment on both sides of the Potomac and above the limit of the Eastern Branch prescribed by the said act of Congress; And Congress by an amendatory act passed on the 3d day of the present month of March, 1791, have given further authority to the President of the United States " to make any part of the territory below the said limit and above the mouth of Hunting Creek a part of the said district, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch and of the lands lying on the lower side thereof, and also the town of Alexandria: " Now, therefore, for the purpose of amending and completing the location of the whole of the said territory of ten miles square in con formity with the said amendatory act of Congress, I do hereby declare and make known that the whole of the said territory shall be located and included within the four lines following, that is to say: Beginning at Jones' Point, being the upper cape of Hunting Creek, in Virginia, and at an angle in the outset of 45 degrees west of the north, and running in a direct line ten miles for the first line; then beginning again at the same Jones' Point and running another direct line at a right angle with the first across the Potomac ten miles for the second line; then from the termination of the said first and second lines running two other direct lines of ten miles each, the one crossing the Eastern Branch aforesaid and the other the Potomac, and meeting each other in a point. And I do accordingly direct the commissioners named under the authority of the said first-mentioned act of Congress to proceed forth with to have the said four lines run, and by proper metes and bounds defined and limited, and thereof to make due report under their hands and seals; and the territory so to be located, defined, and limited shall be the whole territory accepted by the said acts of Congress as the district for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States. George Washington. 31 third annual address, october 25, 179i. The rapid subscriptions to the Bank of the United States, which completed the sum allowed to be subscribed in a single day, is among the striking evidences, not only of confidence in the Government, but of resource in the community. Among the most important of present necessities is the defense and security of the Western frontiers. To accomplish it on the most humane principles was a primary wish. Accordingly, at the same time that treaties have been provisionally concluded and other proper means used to attach the wavering and to confirm in their friendship the well-disposed tribes of Indians, effectual measures have been adopted to make those of a hostile description sensible that a pacification was desired upon terms of moderation and justice. Those measures having proved unsuccessful, it became necessary to convince the refractory of the power of the United States to punish their depredations. Offensive operations have, therefore, been di rected, to be conducted, however, as consistently as possible with the dictates of humanity. Some of these have been crowned with full success and others are yet depending. ,The expeditions which have been completed were carried on under the authority and at the expense of the United States by the militia of Kentucky, whose enter prise, intrepidity, and good conduct are entitled to peculiar com mendation. Overtures of peace are still continued to the deluded tribes, and considerable numbers of individuals belonging to them have lately renounced all further opposition, removed from rfieir former situations, and placed themselves under the immediate protection of the United States. It is sincerely to be desired that all need of coercion in future may cease and that an intimate intercourse may succeed, calculated to advance the happiness of the Indians and to attach them firmly to the United States. In order to this it seems necessary — That they should experience the benefits of an impartial dispensa tion of justice. That the mode of alienating their lands, the main source of discon tent and war, should be so defined and regulated as to obviate im position, and as far as may be practicable, controversy concerning the reality and extent of the alienations which are made. 32 History of the United States. That commerce with them should be promoted under regulations tending to secure an equitable deportment toward them, and that such rational experiments should be made for imparting to them the bless ings of civilization as may from time to time suit their condition. That the Executive of the United States should be enabled to employ the means to which the Indians have been long accustomed for uniting their immediate interests with the preservation of peace. And that efficacious provision should be made for inflicting adequate penalties upon all those who, by violating their rights, shall infringe the. treaties and endanger the peace of the Union. A system corresponding with the mild principles of religion and philanthropy toward an unenlightened race of men, whose happiness materially depends on the conduct of the United States, would be as honorable to the national character as conformable to the dictates of sound policy. The completion of the census of the inhabitants, for which provision was made by law, has been duly notified (excepting one instance in which the return has been informal, and another in which it has been omitted or miscarried), and the returns of the officers who were charged with this duty, which will be laid before you, will give you the pleasing assurance that the present population of the United States borders on 4,000,000 persons. It is proper also to inform you that a further loan of 2,500,000 florins has been completed in Holland, the terms of which are similar to those of the one last announced, except as to a small reduction of charges. Another, on like terms, for 6,000,000 florins, had been set on foot under circumstances that assured an immediate completion. With a view to relieve the merchants and merchandise of the United States from the extra duties to which they are or may be sub jected in the ports of Denmark, I have thought it for the interest of the United States that a consul be appointed to reside at Copenhagen (March 6, 1792). I, therefore, nominate Hans Rudolph Saaby, a Danish subject and merchant of Copenhagen, to be consul for the United States of America at the port of Copenhagen and for such other places within the allegiance of His Danish Majesty as shall be nearer to the said port than to the residence of any other consul or vice-consul of the United States within the same allegiance. $>u Una fmbvAvnK ol iiV U of Ikiwaa,, \C\KH w tw\uu liu oilnuuU^ u-WuW uUutl -So mavui otluf ...taitevi* Uit YvKSoA ceUtUUnx i>jUu Hmltil SltvUsujicKN «u«U .wiuto of ctm»c(cvUevv Mlii MltlsfaiUm . (.lui uu»|liltii illi'mi'il lulu |fa«*."tm toav , an tttf/KOMiVUL jWCi - *ltct of llu tciiluuuvuii dUuil uoi.iiIkh Un OftkoA cUotM t'( iitltvnut itfavu^tffidl u-t fvavc mit-iitd, Un retiAvt CMiliviuaUt-u of ttvat Wau^uJUV fct^ it'vt Mi|ifv*«*.- iifni of.an uisttmcUpM iiAutL so itKviiUnil.il UvHativtwi tt, tVtf, &a|vfu» c*u/rtt of- i-ui imtUc uiiiuvs m iu\Mt\t , U'u nuaamlj\Csii JVYtt^UflKtu oloM. cia|vM> ot- chi\ CiU\i.-i\S tvn cwuiiusUmus mWCv lutuutvtlii uuult ouv mUioXi*yk»)i»v UliUttvUt»> oj llu v| iwm IVilllltltlCi tlunitUs n.N . in Mw\'tOl btuiL o| Uuiu^i tl i.\ in un canouoit Huirniu , ihv* lAutii us n VuonCe , iahACi dwrottL YWWMM, und ulUtluntuU uYuktudi ,U- PziimtHjeiedap aufl nn.v"i a-ut nt;ot rf'-i at'iw If < •¦ J. -J — if - t; lUmtiiWUi licit, iwut U n>\^\tn+c Umiv tr cpvxU/vuut oumA, tcn|WvYv Wuc mijjwtw> lAvl oxjiwicvvu. ^'miUi |\tmUi\Uil witU tins SmWinvnt *i (iCCYOlft »- o- U'USlu UlUCVl ' iYouUnt, i- 1 Hit united Unit*, itt- "Kcowmevick lo a(t (XeitauHUi MHiiUtS unit WiiemouiUeu'.. aiuA ti ixJlt jutSmis itUe-mkoeoert uhA&m* /t&o -»- avuW. \SU,Us te Sit uluvd unit. cl'StuK khsu *.¦!-<- <-<<->. :>- dua t-l nt-x.t iou dau ix! juil-lic (UaviUi^uwuj u«rt Jwaytj and mi Uud dau li mill U-mtliU ctnii nuiiw Uuuv suum aiuU'uw^UtaYiAA -lo Utu u-Ktd fidti t.^SuUtu-. I'm Uu munt|dd cvvui *tpi£ wtuii, wtt tuaivttuuvd M-it Sot »b ix -WUcn , [ujrt-UtuW^ fet du iju^.fsam. o| ^eW- sUUtUeix* o( lu>VlYlY\lllllt iiWiiii ttvuti unit. Cm ihuit u-ittfci.. tVtuMiNVi. *- ¦utuvttt wdiv cwUv, ic/i Hu f|i'fiM'-YiniUtm oj mw ^vaus |cYca^v< a/vui dcvnMvUt to* Ui'e, buvMmciili ttubouC utiuii UtiA k«|Wi to u ^t^d*# At *fu .Mt^wtjutw ofUit U« tv,MAymctovt,tvv«i.cjww^ (oi tvt uJWs ^ittttu itnit pwult -, amd aX iht ktvut lutltiM of vniM fcttfstiui/i antuttntifti *«' twofoyui tfitm to At!> If tiutmid n >i cui ticwdb u ilu)\ uikI Spttiiwi.' icult of ow ofctuicdu'ivib Ac fum InlAun It Uucd ha hcAa&u U istimutt tfutr Amvmtvidt vudu te jMUVtu u!< l/vc-ni [hi ivmnuvuu e> jiYo^unnttt cvvud |vOin ^UAMVflUllU tfll tuUKlll'ttlOl'.i ox UlllMI l)ii t-lifuWt |Ul-|MlltS _ fo tUMlOie, Atb f.e iwuv-d dfvt CMtUmAAt7i/v«t oj fus JtiiiM1 :. , bu net iituM/nu .Uuu put tytnuUicAt, |v» IvvjflTv.cwuA l)u ix, ct-KiksHcmUnt Cf-ndticA, 0U> utott/ytA and tib wis a _ Ao twv,kut ihiA IfOtwvtJHi mtnK, UutA inOTt tt Suit o/nd h«. ju.Aa.ous .tiAtjftunt £pt LWbj AAidotA.Ufno.Aji o| otfii/t QotunA^tA*>--_ ,tc -wdond ,-»-• cvmtnuj ua U-tu. owid um|a£. kiiowkdtjt, _ U tlijjuM cwtd tsUi£tu>£ Ljrfk, o| ^bHtUj;PtdM,,>MMuWij ,tviui fiuA^ mut |wvU«u An t.nfuiYt aft AW l^tvujA uh- fu£ t|s ,„, a*& |w owM&ict,; lo Kit ii-l.Ht Utnuft. o[ |„cw VtWut Sklto. o| Uvnmcu tc U ti||,.ttd ft- UuM |mxw(* itvitt.. .>,.y,. d '.ut same u>Hh mil WumA . Tout ai X Ull bib} oj JUaddfiW Uk tfi»»< ita,, oj ;|u,uum) cm tfioiuMviu-f u»m Uh-AkcI ctwd nuutu fun: , -Wtlio|tkt SudA^UUdlllCl of kW ttudtd StrtkS of CUrwvua Uu UmtUt/vvU'x. (Wid N \ t £^?^A, '. George Washington, 35 The adoption of a constitution for the State of Kentucky has been notified to me (November 6, 1792). The Legislature will share with me in the satisfaction which arises from an event interesting to the happiness of the part of the nation to which it relates and conducive to the general order. A supplementary arrangement has been made by me, pursuant to the acts of the 3d day of March, 1791, and the 8th day of May, 1792, for raising a revenue upon foreign and domestic distilled spirits, in respect to the subdivisions and officers which have appeared to me necessary and to the allowances for their respective services to the supervisors, inspectors, and other officers of inspection, together with the estimates of the amount of compensations and charges. FIFTH ANNUAL ADDRESS, DECEMBER 3, 1793. Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again called into office no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my fellow- citizens at large the deep and respectful sense which I feel of the renewed testimony of public approbation. As soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers with whom the United States have the most extensive relations there was reason to apprehend that our intercourse with them might be inter rupted and our disposition for peace drawn into question by the suspicions too often entertained by belligerent nations. It seemed, therefore, to be my duty to admonish our citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade and of hostile acts to any of the parties, and to obtain by a declaration of the existing legal state of things an easier admission of our right to the immunities belonging to our situation. In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved to adopt general rules which should conform to the treaties and assert the privileges of the U j" ed States. Although I have not thought myself at liberty to forbid the sale of the prizes permitted by our treaty of commerce with France to be brought into our ports, I have not refused to cause them to be restored when they were taken within the protection of our territory, or by vessels commissioned or equipped in a warlike form within the limits of the United States. I can not recommend to your notice measures for the fulfillment of our duties to the rest of the world without again pressing upon you the necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defense 36 History of the United States. and of exacting from them the fulfillment of their duties toward us. The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance those painful appeals to arms with which the history of every other nation abounds. There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputa tion of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instru ments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. The connection of the United States with Europe has become extremely interesting. The occurrences which relate to it and have passed under the knowledge of the Executive will be exhibited to Congress in a subsequent communication. The commissioners charged with the settlement of accounts be tween the United States and individual States concluded their import ant functions within the time limited by law, and the balances struck in their report, which will be laid before Congress, have been placed on the books of the Treasury. On the ist day of June last an installment of 1,000,000 florins be came payable on the loans of the United States in Holland. This was adjusted by a prolongation of the period of reimbursement in nature of a new loan at an interest of 5 per cent, for the term of ten years, and the expenses of this operation were a commission of 3 per cent. The first installment of the loan of $2,000,000 from the Bank of the United States has been paid, as was directed by law. For the sec ond it is necessary that provision should be made. No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular re demption and discharge of the public debt. On none can delay be more injurious or an economy of time more valuable. The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has continued to equal the anticipations which were formed of it, but it is not expected to prove commensurate with all the objects which have been suggested. Some auxiliary provisions will, therefore, it is pre sumed, be requisite, and it is hoped that these may be made con sistently with a due regard to the convenience of our citizens, who can not but be sensible of the true wisdom of encountering a small present addition to their contributions to obviate a future accumula tion of burthens. But here I can not forbear to recommend a repeal of the tax on the transportation of public prints. George Washington. 37 Having a letter of the 16th of August, 1793, from the Secretary of State to our minister at Paris, stating the conduct and urging the recall of the minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of France, I now communicate (January 20, 1794) that his conduct has been un equivocally disapproved, and that the strongest assurances have been given that his recall should be expedited without delay. Among the matters which may demand regulations (January 21, 1794) is the effect, in point of organization, produced by the separa tion of Kentucky from the State of Virginia, and the situation with regard to the law of the territories northwest and southwest of the Ohio. The laws respecting light-house establishments require, as a con dition of their permanent maintenance at the expense of the United States, a complete cession of soil and jurisdiction. In the execution of the Resolution of Congress bearing date the 26th of March, 1794, and imposing an embargo, I have requested the governors of the several States to call forth the force of their militia, if it should be necessary, for the detention of vessels. This power is conceived to be incidental to an embargo. The communications which I have made April 16, 1794, from the dispatches of our minister in London contain a serious aspect of our affairs with Great Britain. But as peace ought to be pursued with unremitted zeal before the last resource, which has so often been the scourge of nations, and can not fail to check the advanced prosperity of the United States, is contemplated, I have thought proper to nomi nate, and do hereby nominate, John Jay as envoy extraordinary of the United States to His Britannic Majesty. Whereas it appears that a state of war exists (April 22, 1794), be tween Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Nether lands of the one part and France on the other, and the duty and interest of the United States require that they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers: I have thought fit to declare the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid toward those powers respectively, and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever which may in any manner tend to contravene such disposition. I lay before you in confidence sundry papers (May 21, 1794), by which you will perceive the state of affairs between us and the Six 38 History of the United States. Nations, and the probable cause to which it is owing, and also certain information whereby it would appear that some encroachment was about to be made on our territory by an officer and party of British troops. Proceeding upon a supposition of the authenticity of this information, although of a private nature, I have caused the represen tation to be made to the British minister a copy of which accompanies this message. It can not be necessary to comment upon the very serious nature of such an encroachment, nor to urge that this new state of things sug gests the propriety of placing the United States in a posture of effectual preparation for an event which, notwithstanding the en deavors making to avert it, may by circumstances beyond our con trol be forced upon us. Whereas from a hope that the combinations against the Constitu tion and laws of the United States in certain of the western counties of Pennsylvania would yield to time and reflection I thought it suffi cient in the first instance rather to take measures for calling forth the militia than immediately to embody them, but the moment is now come when the overtures of forgiveness, with no other condition than a submission to law, have been only partially accepted; when every form of conciliation not inconsistent with the being of Govern ment has been adopted without effect; Government is set at defiance, the contest being whether a small portion of the United States shall dictate to the whole Union, and, at the expense of those who desire peace, indulge a desperate ambition: Now, therefore, I, George Washington, President of the United States, in obedience to that high and irresistible duty consigned to me by the Constitution " to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," am resolved to reduce the refractory to a due subordina tion to the law, do hereby declare and make known (September 25, 1794) that, with a satisfaction which can be equaled only by the merits of the militia summoned into service from the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, I have received in telligence of their patriotic alacrity in obeying the call; that a force which, according to every reasonable expectation, is adequate to the exigency is already in motion to the scene of disaffection; that those who have confided or shall confide in the protection of the Govern ment shall meet full succor under the standard and from the. arms of the United States; that those who, having offended against the laws, have since entitled themselves to indemnity will be treated with George Washington. 39 the most liberal good faith if they shall not have forfeited their claim by any subsequent conduct, and that instructions are given accord ingly. ' EIGHTH ANNUAL ADDRESS, DECEMBER J, 1796. The period during the late session at which the appropriation was passed for carrying into effect the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between the United States and His Britannic Majesty necessarily procrastinated the reception of the posts stipulated to be delivered beyond the date assigned for that event. As soon, how ever, as the Governor-General of Canada could be addressed with propriety on the subject, arrangements were cordially and promptly concluded for their evacuation, and the United States took possession of the principal of them, comprehending Oswego, Niagara, Detroit, Michilimackinac, and port Miami, where such repairs and additions have been ordered to be made as appeared indispensable. The commissioners appointed on the part of the United States and of Great Britain to determine which is the river St. Croix mentioned in the treaty of peace of 1783, agreed in the choice of Egbert Benson, Esq., of New York, for the third commissioner. The whole met at St. Andrews, in Passamaquoddy Bay, in the beginning of October, and directed surveys to be made of the rivers in dispute; but deeming it impracticable to have these surveys completed before the next year, they adjourned to meet at Boston in August, 1797, for the final decis ion of the question. Other commissioners appointed on the part of the United States, agreeably to the seventh article of the treaty with Great Britain, relative to captures and condemnation of vessels and other property, met the commissioners of His Britannic Majesty in London in August last, when John Trumbull, Esq., was chosen by lot for the fifth commissioner. In October following the board were to proceed to business. As yet there has been no communication of commis sioners on the part of Great Britain to unite with those who have been appointed on the part of the United States for carrying into effect the sixth article of the treaty. The treaty with Spain required that the commissioners for running the boundary line between the territory of the United States and His Catholic Majesty's provinces of East and West Florida should meet at the Natchez before the expiration of six months after the exchange of the ratifications, which was effected at Aranjuez on the 25th day of 40 History of the United States. April; and the troops of His Catholic Majesty occupying any posts within the limits of the United States were within the same period to be withdrawn. To an active external commerce the protection of a naval force is indispensable. From the best information I have been able to obtain it would seem as if our trade to the Mediterranean without a protect ing force will always be insecure and our citizens exposed to the calamities from which numbers of them have but just been relieved. These considerations invite the United States to look to the means and to set about the gradual creation of a navy. The institution of a military academy is also reccmmended by cogent reasons. However pacific the general policy of a nation may be, it ought never to be without an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergencies. While in our external relations some serious inconveniences and embarrassments have been overcome and others lessened, it is with much pain and deep regret I mention that circumstances of a very unwelcome nature have lately occurred. Our trade has suffered and is suffering extensive injuries in the West Indies from the cruisers and agents of the French Republic, and communications have been received from its minister here which indicate the danger of a further disturbance of our commerce by its authority, and which are in other respects far from agreeable. It has been my constant, sincere, and earnest wish, in conformity with that of our nation, to maintain cordial harmony and a perfectly friendly understanding with that Republic. FAREWELL ADDRESS, SEPTEMBER, I796. The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the Executive Government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg you at the same time to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen George Washington. 41 to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminu tion of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. The acceptance of and continuance hitherto in the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what ap peared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this previous to the last election had even led to the prepara tion of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence im pelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present circumstances of our country you will not disapprove my determination to retire. The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed toward the organization and administration of the Government the best ex ertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not un conscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experi ence in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satis fied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my ser vices they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene,, patriotism does not forbid it. In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my political life my feelings do not permit me to sus pend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred 42 History of the United States. upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me, and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment by services faithful and perse vering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remem bered to your praise and as an instructive example in our annals that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direc tion, were liable to mislead; amidst appearances sometimes dubious; vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging; in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts and a guaranty of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual ; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare which can not end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger natural to that solicitude, urge me on an occasion like the present to offer to your solemn contemplation and to recommend to your fre quent review some sentiments which are the result of much reflec tion, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget as an encouragement to it your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice George Washington. 43 of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the con viction of this truth, as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively, though often covertly and insidiously directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and indi vidual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of America, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes. But these considerations, however powerfully they address them selves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the same agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its par- 44 History of the United States. ticular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes in different ways to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navi gation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indis pensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from an apostate and un natural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically pre carious. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined can not fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the neces sity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflect ing and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experi ence solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the aux-iliary agency of governments for the respect- George Washington. 45 ive subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands. In contemplating the causes which may disturb .our union it oc curs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations — Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western — whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influ ence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You can not shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head. They have seen in the negotiation by the Executive and in the unani mous ratification by the Senate of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their intetrests in regard to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties — that with Great Britain and that with Spain — • which secure to them everything they could desire in respect to our foreign relations toward confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preserva tion of these advantages on the union by which they were procured? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens? To the efficacy and permanency of your union a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute. They must inevitably ex perience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated than your former for an intimate union and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and un- 46 History of the United States. awed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, com pletely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real de sign to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this funda mental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize fac tion; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community, and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may, now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things to become potent engines by which cunning, am bitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterward the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. Toward the preservation of your Government and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect in the forms of the Constitution alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus lo undermine what can not be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited remember that time and habit are at least as necessary George Washington. 47 to fix the true character of governments as of other human institu tions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember especially that for the efficient management of your common interests in a country so extensive as ours a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, con trolled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharp ened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormi ties, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual, and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own eleva tion on the ruins of public liberty. Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight, the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded 48 History of the United States. jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated ac cess to the government itself through the channels of party passion. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchial cast patriotism may look with in dulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administra tion to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to con solidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this posi tion. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern, some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If in the opinion of the people the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amend ment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this in one instance may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. George Washington. 49 Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness — these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experi ence both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as pos sible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remem bering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives; but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that toward the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and un pleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selec tion of the proper objects, which is always a choice of difficulties, ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the con- 50 History of the United States. duct of the Government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct. And can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period a great nation to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices? In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and pas sionate attachments for others should be excluded, and that in place of them just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its ani mosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against an other disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody con tests. The nation prompted by ill-will and resentment sometimes im pels to war the government contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject. At other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and per nicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another pro duces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facili tating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. George Washington. 53 It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the con cessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been re tained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, who devote themselves to the favorite nation, facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a com mendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attach ments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and inde pendent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak toward a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidi ous wiles of foreign influence, I conjure you to believe me, fellow- citizens, the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Ex cessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of an other cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests. The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engage ments let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent con troversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordi nary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. 54 History of the United States. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient gov ernment, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupu lously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world, so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less appli cable to public than to private affairs that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But in my opinion it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand, neither seeking nor grant ing exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our mer chants, and to enable the Government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached George Washington. 55 with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish — that they will control the usual current of the passions or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good — that they may now and then recur to mod erate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism — this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice and by that of your representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually gov erned me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circum stances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined as far as should depend upon me to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity im pose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity toward other nations. 56 History of the United States. The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me a pre dominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress with out interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. Though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration I am un conscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence, and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love toward it which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several genera tions, I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize without alloy the sweet enjoyment of par taking in the midst of my fellow-citizens the benign influence of good laws under a free government — the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. GEORGE WASHINGTON, the first President of the United States, was born on the 22d day of February, 1732, at Bridges Creek, on the Potomac river, Virginia. His father, Augustine Washington, was the son of Lawrence Washington, who emigrated from England in 1657, and settled at Bridges Creek. In 1743 Augustine Washington died, leaving several children ; George was the oldest. He began his military career at the age of nineteen years, when he was ap pointed adjutant- general of one of the districts of Virginia, with the rank of major. In November, 1753, he was sent on an important mission to the French army in the Ohio valley. War followed, and he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1754, and took part in the war. He was aide-de-camp to General Braddock in 1755, and soon after was made commander-in-chief of all the forces of the George Washington. 57 Colony. He devoted himself for three years to raising and organizing troops for her defense. He commanded a successful expedition to Fort Du Quesne in 1758. He then left the army and married Mrs. Martha Custis, a widow, of Virginia. He lived at Mount Vernon for sixteen years, occasionally filling State offices. He was a delegate to the Williamsburg convention, August, 1773, which resolved that taxation and representation were inseparable, and the following year was sent to the Continental Congress, as a delegate from Virginia. The next year he was made commander-in-chief, and assumed the command of the Continental army July 2, 1775; and throughout the War for Independence commanded the army. At its close he resigned his commission, December 23, 1783, and returned to private life. He was president of the National Convention, which met in Phila delphia, Penn., May, 1787, and adopted a new constitution increas ing the power of the Federal Government. He was elected the first President of the United States, and inaugurated in New York city on the 30th of April, 1789. At the expiration of his first term he was unanimously re-elected. He declined a third term, and retired March 4, 1797. In September, 1796, he issued his farewell address to the people. He was made lieutenant-general and appointed to the command of the army of the United States July 3, 1798. Wash ington was a freemason and acted as master of his lodge. He died, after a short illness, on December 14, 1799, at Mount Vernon, Va., and was buried there. HOUSE AT ARLINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. (It was once owned by George Washington and now the property of the Government. ) 58 History of the United States. HOME OF JOHN ADAMS AT QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS. CHAPTER II. JOHN ADAMS, AS FINANCIER AND STATESMAN. By Ellis H. Roberts, Treasurer of the United States. *~pHE proclamation of John Adams, as President, with reference to the -*¦ coins of the United States is interesting, but in itself it initiated no policy. It was issued July 22, 1797, to carry out the provisions of the act of Congress, passed February 9, 1793, which allowed foreign gold and silver coins to pass current as legal tender for three years after the mint of the United States should commence coinage under the act " establishing a mint and regulating the coins of the United States." This proclamation gave notice that the mint commenced the coinage of silver on the 15th of October, 1794. and of gold on the 31st of July, 1795, and that foreign coins would cease to be legal tender in three years from those respective dates. Exception was made in favor of Spanish milled dollars. Such a notice was simple compliance with the act cited, and marks the progress of the policy of Hamilton, approved by Congress under Washington. Mr. Adams, according to his grandson, Charles Francis Adams, always regarded his mission to Holland and its results, " as the greatest success of John Adams. 59 his life." It is impossible to exaggerate the value of his services in that country in their bearing on the finances and the political standing of the young republic. He went to Holland with a commission to borrow not more than $10,000,000 on the credit of the United States. This was June 21, 1780; but the first steps had not been then taken toward recognition and commercial relations. Until April, 1781, Mr. Adams' commission put him in the attitude of a borrower only. On that date he received authority as minister to Holland, and he set at work to be recognized as such. The bills of our infant govern ment had been protested in France, and our poverty was well known in Holland. English emissaries were busy in arousing suspicion and extending distrust of our solvency. Even the French minister of foreign affairs devised obstructions to American plans. The treaty of peace with Great Britain was not to be made until September 3, 1783, and, therefore, the United States stood before Europe only as a congeries of rebellious colonies. The task before Mr. Adams called for the exercise of all his powers, and they were well adapted for the emergency. The self-assertion, the confidence in himself, his haughty and aggressive bearing, not always helpful to the cause of which he was the champion, now were serviceable in the highest degree. The presentation of his memorial for recognition as minister plenipotentiary, prepared as it was with energy and persistence, marked the turning of the tide. First by Friesland, as a separate State, and then by the States General at the end of a year recognition was granted, and Mr. Adams rejoiced in a welcome among the representatives of the European powers at The Hague, as minister from the new power beyond the seas. As a recognized nation engaged in negotiating a treaty of commerce with Holland, the position of the United States as borrower in the Dutch money markets became at once more favorable. The desired funds were not imme diately available, but they were in sight to eyes even less sanguine than those of the American minister. On July 28, 1783, he was able to write to Secretary Livingston: "I have great pleasure in assuring you that there is not one foreign loan open in this republic, which is as good credit and goes as quick as mine," although Russia, Spain and France were borrowers. Mr. Adams resisted the bankers in the rate of charges on the loan, and entered on an arrangement with leading houses who for forty years continued as financial agents of the United States in Holland. The loan of 1782 was for $2,000,000, at S per cent, interest, with charges of tf/2 per cent, and I per cent, for paying out the interest. Compared with the vast sums of national loans with which the present generation is familiar, the amount was small, but it was bread for a famishing treasury, in such stress indeed that its bills for 1,250,000 guilders went to protest for nonacceptance before funds came in. Fortunately they were paid after great effort on their maturity. 60 History of the United States. But halcyon days were not yet assured to Mr. Adams as a borrower. Janu ary 24, 1784, he wrote to Franklin from The Hague: " I am here only to be a witness that American credit in this republic is dead, never to rise again, at least until the United States shall all agree upon some plan of revenue, and make it certain that interest and principal will be paid." And yet before the year by a sort of lottery a loan for 2,000,000 guilders was consummated. Although in the meantime the negotiations relating to the treaty of peace with Great Britain, with which he was in part charged, had called Mr. Adams from The Hague to Paris and London, Mr. Adams was an important factor in securing additional loans in Holland in 1787 and 1788. The loan of 1787 was for $10,000,000, at 5 per cent, interest, with 8 per cent, charges. That of 1788 was for only 1,000,000 guilders at 5 per cent. With subsequent loans in Holland Mr. Adams was not directly connected, but his efforts to establish the national credit abroad had set on foot influences which did not cease when he was called home to become at first Vice-President and in due course President of the United States. In his later life, in 1815, Mr. Adams wrote: "I desire no other inscription over my gravestone than: ' Here lies John Adams who took upon himself the responsibility of the peace with France in the year 1800.' " High courage, strong purpose, noble patriotism were involved in that difficult service. But his labors and achievements in Holland for the young republic in securing moneys for its empty treasury and recognition before the world, do not suffer in comparison. After all and above all, history will give him unique place, in spite of his vanity and his prejudices and his quarrels, as among the architects of the republic, the chief organizer of the movement for American independence. &Z&Z John Adams. 6i ADMINISTRATION OF 1797-1801. By John Adams. INAUGtTRAL ADDRESS DELIVERED IN PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 4, 1 797. WHEN it was first perceived, in early times, that no middle course for America remained between unlimited submission to a foreign legislature and a total independence of its claims, men of reflection were less apprehensive of danger from the formidable power of fleets and armies they must determine to resist than from those contests and dissensions, which would certainly arise concerning the forms' of government to be instituted over the whole and over the parts of this extensive country. Relying, however, on the purity of their intentions, the justice of their cause, and the integrity and intelli gence of the people, under an overruling Providence which had so signally protected this country from the first, the representatives of this nation, then consisting of little more than half its present number, not only broke to pieces the chains which were forging and the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder the ties which had bound them. Returning to the bosom of my country after a painful separation from it for ten years, I had the honor to be elected to a station under the new order of things, and I have repeatedly laid myself under the most serious obligations to support the Constitution. SPECIAL SESSION MESSAGE, MAY l6, 1 797. After the President of the United States received information that the French Government had expressed serious discontents at some proceedings of the Government of these States said to affect the in terests of France, he thought it expedient to send to that country a new minister, fully instructed to remove the discontents and sus picions of the French Government and vindicate the conduct of the United States. A few days before his arrival at Paris the French 62 History of the United States. minister of foreign relations informed the American minister then resident at Paris of the formalities to be observed by himself in taking leave, and by his successor preparatory to his reception. These formalities they observed, and on the 9th of December presented officially to the minister of foreign relations, the one a copy of his letters of recall, the other a copy of his letters of credence. These were laid before the Executive Directory. Two days after-' ward the minister of foreign relations informed the recalled American minister that the Executive Directory had determined not to receive another minister plenipotentiary from the United States until after the redress of grievances demanded of the American Government, and which the French Republic had a right to expect from it. The American minister immediately endeavored to ascertain whether by refusing to receive him it was intended that he should retire from the territories of the French Republic, and verbal answers were given that such was the intention of the Directory. For his own justification he desired a written answer, but obtained none until toward the last of January, when, receiving notice in writ ing to quit the territories of the Republic, he proceeded to Amster dam, where he proposed to wait for instruction from this Government. During his residence at Paris cards of hospitality were refused him, and he was threatened with being subjected to the jurisdiction of the minister of police; but with becoming firmness he insisted on the protection of the law of nations due to him as the known minister of a foreign power. As it is often necessary that nations should treat for the mutual advantage of their affairs, and especially to accommodate and termi nate differences, and as they can treat only by ministers, the right of embassy is well known and established by the law and usage of nations. The refusal on the part of France to receive our minister is, then, the denial of a right; but the refusal to receive him until we have acceded to their demands without discussion and without in vestigation is to treat us neither as allies nor as friends, nor as a sovereign state. With this conduct of the French Government it will be proper to take into view the public audience given to the late minister of the United States on his taking leave of the Executive Directory. The speech of the President discloses sentiments more alarming than the refusal of a minister, because more dangerous to our independence and union, and at the same time studiously marked with indignities John Adams. 63 toward the Government of the United States. It evinces a disposition to separate the people of the United States from the Government, to persuade them that they have different affections, principles, and in terests from those of their fellow-citizens whom they themselves have chosen to manage their common concerns, and thus to produce divi sions fatal to our peace. Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision which shall convince France and the world that we are not a degraded people, htimiliated under a colonial spirit of fear and sense of inferiority, fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign in fluence, and regardless of national honor, character, and interest. I should have been happy to have thrown a veil over these trans actions if it had been possible to conceal them; but they have passed on the great theater of the world, in the face of all Europe and America, and with such circumstances of publicity and solemnity that they can not be disguised and will not soon be forgotten. The diplomatic intercourse between the United States and France being at present suspended, the Government has no means of obtain ing official information from that country. Nevertheless, there is reason to believe that the Executive Directory passed a decree on the 2d of March last contravening in part the treaty of amity and commerce of 1778, injurious to our lawful commerce and endanger ing the lives of our citizens. While we are endeavoring to adjust all our differences with France by amicable negotiation, the progress of the war in Europe, the dep redations on our commerce, the personal injuries to our citizens, and the general complexion of affairs render it my indispensable duty to recommend effectual measures of defense. The commerce of the United States has become an interesting object of attention, whether we consider it in relation to the wealth and finances or the strength and resources of the nation. With a seacoast of near 2,000 miles in extent, opening a wide field for fisher ies, navigation, and commerce, a great portion of our citizens naturally apply their industry and enterprise to these objects. Any serious and permanent injury to commerce would not fail to produce the most embarrassing disorders. To prevent it from being undermined and destroyed it is essential that it receive an adequate protection. The naval establishment must occur to every man who considers the injuries committed on our commerce, the insults offered to our citizens, and the description of vessels by which these abuses have been practiced. As the sufferings of our mercantile and seafaring 64 History of the United States. citizens can not be ascribed to the omission of duties demandable, considering the neutral situation of our country, they are to be attributed to the hope of impunity arising from a supposed inability on our part to afford protection. To resist the consequences of such impressions on the minds of foreign nations and to guard against the degradation and servility which they must finally stamp on the American character is an important duty of Government. I have received information (June 12, 1797), from the commissioner appointed on the part of the United States, pursuant to the third article of- our treaty with Spain, that the running and marking of the boundary line between the colonies of East and West Florida and the territory of the United States have been delayed by the officers of His Catholic Majesty, and that they have declared their intention to main tain his jurisdiction, and to suspend the withdrawing his troops from the military posts they occupy within the territory of the United States until the two Governments shall, by negotiation, have settled the meaning of the second article respecting the withdrawing of the troops, garrisons, or settlements of either party in the territory of the other — that is, whether, when the Spanish garrisons withdraw, they are to leave the works standing or to demolish them — and until, by an additional artkle to the treaty, the real property of the inhabitants shall be secured, and, likewise, until the Spanish officers are sure the Indians will be pacific. The two first questions, if to be determined by negotiation, might be made subjects of discussion for years, and as no limitation of time can be prescribed to the other, a certainty in the opinion of the Spanish officers that the Indians will be pacific, it will be impossible to suffer it to remain an obstacle to the fulfillment of the treaty on the part of Spain. To remove the first difficulty, I have determined to leave it to the discretion of the officers of His Catholic Majesty when they withdraw his troops from the forts within the territory of the United States, either to leave the works standing or to demolish them; and to re move the second I shall cause an assurance to be published and to be particularly communicated to the minister of His Catholic Majesty and to the governor of Louisiana that the settlers or occupants of the lands in question shall not be disturbed in their possessions by the troops of the United States, but, on the contrary, that they shall be protected in all their lawful claims; and to prevent or remove every doubt on this point it merits the consideration of Congress whether it will not be expedient immediately to pass a law giving positive John Adams. 65 assurance to those inhabitants who, by fair and regular grants or by occupancy, have obtained legal titles or equitable claims to lands in that country prior to the final ratification of the treaty between the United States and Spain on the 25th of April, 1796. This country is rendered peculiarly valuable by its inhabitants, who are represented to amount to nearly 4,000, generally well affected and much attached to the United States, and zealous for the establishment of a government under their authority. I, therefore, recommend the expediency of erecting a government in the district of the Natchez similar to that established for the territory northwest of the river Ohio. The Dey of Algiers has manifested a predilection (June 23, 1797), for American-built vessels, and in consequence has desired that two vessels might be constructed and equipped as cruisers according to the choice and taste of Captain O'Brien. The cost of two such vessels built with live oak and cedar, and coppered, with guns and all other equipments complete, is estimated at $45,000. The expense of navi gating them to Algiers may, perhaps, be compensated by the freight of the stores with which they may be loaded on account of our stipula tions by treaty with the Dey. A compliance with the Dey's request appears to me to be of serious importance. He will repay the whole expense of building and equip ping the two vessels, and as he has advanced the price of our peace with Tripoli, and become pledged for that of Tunis, the United States seem to be under peculiar obligations to provide this accommodation, and I trust that Congress will authorize the advance of money neces sary for that purpose. It also appears to be of importance to place at Algiers a person as consul in whose integrity and ability much confidence may be placed, to whom a considerable latitude of discretion should be allowed, for the interest of the United States in relation to their commerce. That country is so remote as to render it impracticable for the consul to ask and receive instructions in sudden emergencies. He may some times find it necessary to make instant engagements for money or its equivalent, to prevent greater expenses or more serious evils. We can hardly hope to escape occasions of discontent proceeding from the Regency or arising from the misconduct or even the misfortunes of our commercial vessels navigating in the Mediterranean Sea, and unless the causes of discontent arc speedily removed the resentment of the Regency may be exerted with precipitation on our defenseless 66 History of the United States. citizens and their property, and thus occasion a tenfold expense to the United States. For these reasons it appears to me to be expedient to vest the consul at Algiers with a degree of discretionary power which can be requisite in no other situation; and to encourage a person deserving the public confidence to accept so expensive and responsible a situation, it appears indispensable to allow him a hand some salary. I should confer on such a consul a superintending power over the consulates for the States of Tunis and Tripoli, especially in respect to pecuniary engagements, which should not be made without his approbation. While the present salary of $2,000 a year appears adequate to the consulates of Tunis and Tripoli, twice that sum probably will be requisite for Algiers. Whereas (July 22, 1797), an act of the Congress of the United States was passed on the 9th day of February, 1793, entitled "An act regulating foreign coins, and for other purposes," in which it was enacted " that foreign gold and silver coins shall pass current as money within the United States and be a legal tender for the payment of all debts and demands " at the several and respective rates therein stated; and that " at the expiration of three years next ensuing the time when the coinage of gold and silver agreeably to the act intituled An act establishing a mint and regulating the coins of the United States ' " shall commence at the Mint of the United States (which time shall be announced by the proclamation of the President of the United States), all foreign gold coins and all foreign silver coins, except Spanish milled dollars and parts of such dollars, shall cease to be a legal tender as aforesaid: Now, therefore, I, the said John Adams, President of the United States, hereby proclaim, announce, and give notice to all whom it may concern that, agreeably to the act last above mentioned, the coinage of silver at the mint of the United States commenced on the 15th day of October, 1794, and the coinage of gold on the 31st day °f July. I795'y and that consequently, in conformity to the act first above mentioned, all foreign silver coins, except Spanish milled dol lars and parts of such dollars, will cease to pass current as money within the United States and to be a legal tender for the payment of any debts or demands after the 15th day of October next, and all foreign gold coins will cease to pass current as money within the United States and to be a legal tender as aforesaid for the payment of any debts or demands after the 31st day of July, which will be A. D. 1798. John Adams. 67 FIRST ANNUAL ADDRESS, NOVEMBER 22, 1 797. I have entertained an expectation that it would have been in my power at the opening of this session to have communicated the agree able information of the due execution of our treaty with His Catholic Majesty respecting the withdrawing of his troops from our territory and the demarcation of the line of limits, but by the latest authentic intelligence Spanish garrisons were still continued within our country, and the running of the boundary line has not been commenced. These circumstances are the more to be regretted as they can not fail to affect the Indians in a manner injurious to the United States. Still, however, indulging the hope that the answers which have been given will remove the objections offered by the Spanish officers to the im mediate execution of the treaty, I have judged it proper that we should continue in readiness to receive the posts and to run the line of limits. In connection with this unpleasant state of things on our western frontier it is proper for me to mention the attempts of foreign agents to alienate the affections of the Indian nations and to excite them to actual hostilities against the United States. Great activity has been exerted by those persons who have insinuated themselves among the Indian tribes residing within the territory of the United States to influence them to transfer their affections and force to a foreign nation, to form them into a confederacy, and prepare them for war against the United States. Although measures have been taken to counteract these infractions of our rights, to prevent Indian hostilities, and to preserve entire their attachment to the United States, it is my duty to observe that to give a better effect to these measures and to obviate the consequences of a repetition of such practices a law pro viding adequate punishment for such offenses may be necessary. I have received (February 2, 1798) from our minister in London two acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, one passed on the 4th of July, 1797, entitled " An act for carrying into execution the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation concluded between His Majesty and the United States of America," the other passed on the 19th day of July, 1797, entitled " An act for regulating the trade to be carried on with the British possessions in India by the ships of nations in amity with His Majesty." While I congratulate you (June 21, 1798) on the arrival of General Marshall, one of our late envoys extraordinary to the French Republic, 68 History of the United States. at a place of safety, where he is justly held in honor, I think it my duty to communicate to you a letter received by him from Mr. Gerry, the only one of the three who has not received his conge. This letter, together with another from the minister of foreign relations to him of the 3d of April, and his answer of the 4th, will show the situation in which he remains — his intentions and prospects. I presume that before this time he has received fresh instructions (a copy of which accompanies this message) to consent to no loans, and, therefore, the negotiation may be considered at an end. I will never send another minister to France without assurances that he will be received, respected, and honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation. I nominate (July 2, 1798) George Washington, of Mount Vernon, to be Lieutenant-General and Commander in Chief of all the armies raised or to be raised in the United States. The citizen Joseph Philippe Letombe having heretofore produced to the President of the United States his commission as consul-general of the French Republic within the United States of America, and another commission as consul of the French Republic at Philadelphia; and, in like manner, the citizen Rosier having produced his commis sion as vice-consul of the French Republic at New York; and the citizen Arcambal having produced his commission as vice-consul of the French Republic at Newport; and citizen Theodore Charles Mozard having produced his commission as consul of the French Republic within the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island; and the President of the United States having there upon granted an exequatur to each of the French citizens above named, recognizing them in their respective consular offices above mentioned, and declaring them respectively free to exercise and enjoy such functions, powers, and privileges as are allowed to a consul- general, consuls, and vice-consuls of the French Republic by their treaties, conventions, and laws in that case made and provided; and the Congress of the United States, by their act passed the 7th day of July, 1798, having declared " that the United States are of right freed and exonerated from the stipulations of the treaties and of the consular convention heretofore concluded between the United States and France, and that the same shall not henceforth be regarded as legally obligatory on the Government or citizens of the United States," and by a former act, passed the 13th day of May, 1798, the Congress of the United States (July 13, 1798) having " suspended the commercial w^ Jd^71^ SECOND PEESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. ;)k\ )din .- Mtu>i;> .In)! ¦! (fii i.ltuUH Httl'N i'l (!hm,»'Cu v I 'ivtiunutlu n lHumi!> mi ud i-fllu tVsjujVcf. i-f l(u U>ulti< ftullcbr.u -,.s jiajuil ,-n Hu h«-.U. ,I.u f(niii> fi l'-u Uvu.lt J Uadb" ->U«U c-nvumu-.. ni lt-u dim! o/lln Unit I Wiidy, uW, .'¦..' v.-'. incut bu tin .Pv«Umiili-ii K-f l-tn l\ku-Liil el Ifu Uml it Stiln lu pm,,., !..- ,. IM iiimwi a.lul all |fnu;u bltm ClHvli. ijtcijll sliuuisli linKLa1(,-Unv,;ShaU aub- l< Im a uuui W- .I - . y u|fc..s..W'\ Si-u' HuYtlc-vH. .Miu said UUti. liUtniii Ji-isuii.nl ci Uu. U. iiUd. ¦ ;.: ¦ it^-nW| |it«uh... im.iMwd anil ciu* vutiu. 1< aU ivltt-m tt uuui Cu.iavw Hull u.. .... . in Kit lul. fast at'eitnuntuMvcct. tlu Coouu^ i-j iihv, tli tlu JW ri (lu Umkcl S..J. .- Ivv.uttd jMl ttlS.kj(tlAvl(> clxMj tl I'-tlcKY O-v-UJ H.tllSiUul iUH.fi tu«,VlcUtt< Hild iOKi'Ui ,.-•, '. VuJ t£»fi t'liwii^fl* pi l/.rlW „,, H\c H,.,.t., l.,-.t 1- ('(¦,' . If ' ¦ '. o-v-ucyw !m.Uk>- Cw-vi- xccjit SiiavuvU JLiuJ cWtavs ft.-vu.-l iwvlt u| iiuiu-'.t iinyy , uhIi ceqA jjaS ruvycYil ah mtnuj uillim Uu itmli.t itabb cmct It- ll a tajal Undo- k-v tliCiUuuv-i .: \ swtj i/Msuvduv.avvclA.iiltivK.t ^flttnlU ctclij o{ GtWky iiul .,„.lul- Im.m.^lUi, ,.. 5«iM tcoj-uifs (uvvuil a-., ,,,-uu| mctlun U„ Umlui Muto u,u< (etac'.ftW limit* aiuv,-- .|*T Uu |uu|-.,u»( c( uuy U'U. o-, .luumul-. ujttv Hu ItviyUj (tvst U.iu ,.j (uluuUuU W,U £ .,; V Jt still lt^rti:( »HtKe| .Hiimv. '-auVid IW Ccaftv^lfit lnudj QaJbib te A« cifftaut tt tfuiu, j >« v.U , >.u>, '. ¦^uyvur^i. WiE. bawi umAIi vnt) Ikxu.-!. a f-Ul. ut .nutactljiUui Hu Iuh.,iIu M.CtlU.li'.CU| vi im tW.iilt UfcOflT Ot(K4.V tl&ttk Li^li- HlOUVO lltt ^Ct.U.ll.luiV-ltivect iWul VlUKtli *>ClitVl,lA.lutl>/UtlC i-.ul. L dxntt' ci^di" t' 1 '7 I- ^itciti s tfii, 'iu>eulii >i„c&vict, ^ 7#$z Jul ann X i>,m1uK, •/'-¦ COINAGE PROCLAMATION BY PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS. John Adams. 71 intercourse between the United States and France and the depend encies thereof," which commercial intercourse was the direct and chief object of the consular establishment; and Whereas actual hostilities have long been practiced on the com merce of the United States by the cruisers of the French Republic under the orders of the Government, which orders that Government refuses to revoke or relax; and hence it has become improper any longer to allow the consul-general, consuls, and vice-consuls of the French Republic above named, or any of its consular persons or agents heretofore admitted in these United States, any longer to exercise their consular functions: These are, therefore, to declare that I do no longer recognize the said citizen Letombe as consul-general or consul, nor the said citizens Rosier and Arcambal as vice-consuls, nor the said citizen Mozard as consul of the French Republic in any part of these United States, - nor permit them or any other consular persons or agents of the French Republic heretofore admitted in the United States to exercise their functions as such; and I do hereby wholly revoke the exequaturs heretofore given to them respectively, and do declare them absolutely null and void from this day forward. After the Spanish garrisons had evacuated the posts they occupied at the Natchez and Walnut Hills the commissioner of the United States commenced his observations to ascertain the point near the Mississippi which terminated the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude. From thence he proceeded to run the bound ary line between the United States and Spain. He was afterward joined by the Spanish commissioner, when the work of the former was confirmed, and they proceeded together to the demarcation of the line. Recent information renders it probable that the Southern Indians, either instigated to oppose the demarcation or jealous of the consequences of suffering white people to run a line over lands to which the Indian title had not been extinguished, have ere this time stopped the progress of the commissioners; and considering the mis chiefs which may result from continuing the demarcation in opposition of the will of the Indian tribes, the great expense attending it, and that the boundaries which the commissioners have actually established probably extend at least as far as the Indian title has been extinguished, it will, perhaps, become expedient and necessary to suspend further proceedings by recalling our commissioner. 72 History of the United States. The commissioners appointed in pursuance of the fifth article of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between the United States and His Britannic Majesty to determine what river was truly intended under the name of the river St. Croix mentioned in the treaty of peace, and forming a part of the boundary therein described, have finally decided that question. On the 25th of October they made their decla ration that a river called Scoodiac, which falls into Passamaquoddy Bay at its northwestern quarter, was the true St. Croix intended in the treaty of peace, as far as its great fork, where one of its streams comes from the westward, and the other from the north ward, and that the latter stream is the continuation of the St. Croix to its source. This decision, it is understood, will preclude all contention among individual claimants, as it seems that the Scoodiac and its northern branch bound the grants of land .which have been made by the respective adjoining Governments. A subordinate question, however, it has been suggested, still remains to be determined. Between the mouth of the St. Croix as now settled and what is usually called the Bay of Fundy lie a number of valuable islands. The commissioners have not continued the boundary line through any channel of these islands, and unless the bay of Passama quoddy be a part of the Bay of Fundy this further adjustment of boundary will be necessary. But it is apprehended that this will not be a matter of any difficulty. Such progress has been made in the examination and decision of cases of captures and condemnations of American vessels which were the subject of the seventh article of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation between the United States and Great Britain that it is supposed the commissioners will be able to bring their business to a conclusion in August of the ensuing year. The commissioners acting under the twenty-fifth article of the treaty between the United States and Spain have adjusted most of the claims of our citizens for losses sustained in consequence of their vessels and cargoes having been taken by the subjects of His Catholic Majesty during the late war between France and Spain. The proposition of (February 25, 1799) a fresh negotiation with France in consequence of advances made by the French Government has excited so general an attention and so much conversation as to John Adams. y^ have given occasion to many manifestations of the public opinion, from which it appears to me that a new modification of the embassy will give more general satisfaction to the Legislature and to the nation, and perhaps better answer the purposes we have in view. It is upon this supposition and with this expectation that I now nominate Oliver Ellsworth, Esq., Chief Justice of the United States; Patrick Henry, Esq., late governor of Virginia, and William Vans Murray, Esq., our minister resident at The Hague, to be envoys extra ordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the French Republic, with full powers to discuss and settle by a treaty all controversies between the United States and France. It is not intended that the two former of these gentlemen shall em bark for Europe until they shall have received from the Executive Directory assurances, signified by their secretary of foreign relations, that they shall be received in character, that they shall enjoy all the prerogatives attached to that character by the law of nations, and that a minister or ministers of equal powers shall be appointed and com missioned to treat with them. It has pleased Divine Providence (December 19, 1799) to remove from this life our excellent fellow-citizen, George Washington, by the purity of his character and a long series of services 'to his country rendered illustrious through the world. It remains for an affectionate and grateful people, in whose hearts he can never die, to pay suitable honors to his memory. The late wicked and treasonable insurrection (May 21, 1800) against the just authority of the United States of sundry persons in the counties of Northampton, Montgomery, and Bucks, in the State of Pennsyl vania, in the year 1799, having been speedily suppressed without any of the calamities usually attending rebellion, whereupon peace, order, and submission to the laws of the United States were restored in the aforesaid counties, and the ignorant, misguided, and misinformed in the counties have returned to a proper sense of their duty, whereby it is become unnecessary for the public good that any future prosecutions should be commenced or carried on against any person or persons by reason of their being concerned in the said insurrection. Wherefore be it known that I, John Adams, President of the United States of America, have granted, and by these presents do grant, a full, free, and absolute pardon to all and every person or persons con cerned in the said insurrection, excepting as hereinafter excepted, of all treasons, misprisions of treason, felonies, misdemeanors) and other 74 History of the United States. crimes by them respectively done or committed against the United States in either of the said counties before the 12th day of March, in the year 1799, excepting and excluding therefrom every person who now standeth indicted or convicted of any treason, misprision of treason, or other offense against the United States, whereby remedying and releasing unto all persons, except as before excepted, all pains and penalties incurred, or supposed to be incurred, for or on account of the premises. FOURTH ANNUAL ADDRESS, NOVEMBER 22, l8oO. Immediately after the adjournment (November 22, 1800) of Con gress at their last session in Philadelphia I gave directions, in com pliance with the laws, for the removal of the public offices, records, and property. These directions have been executed, and the public officers have since resided and conducted the ordinary business of the Government in this place. I congratulate the people of the United States on the assembling of Congress at the. permanent seat of their Government, Washington, and I congratulate you, gentlemen, on the prospect of a residence not to be changed. Although there is cause to apprehend that accom modations are not now so complete as might be wished, yet there is great reason to believe that this inconvenience will cease with the present session. It would be unbecoming the representatives of this nation to as semble for the first time in this solemn temple without looking up to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and imploring His blessing. May this territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! In this city may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and self-government, which adorned the great character whose name it bears, be forever held in veneration! Here and through out our country may simple manners, pure morals, and true religion flourish forever! A treaty of amity and commerce with the King of Persia has been concluded and ratified. The envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary from the United States to France were received by the First Consul with the respect due to their character, and three persons with equal powers were appointed to treat with them. Although at the date of the last official intelligence the negotiation had not terminated, yet it is to be hoped that our efforts to effect an accommodation will at length meet John Adams. 75 with a success proportioned to the sincerity with which they have been so often repeated. While our best endeavors for the preservation of harmony with all nations will be continued to be used, the experience of the world and our own experience admonish us of the insecurity of trusting too con fidently to their success. We can not, without committing a danger ous imprudence, abandon those measures of self-protection which are adapted to our situation and to which, notwithstanding our pacific policy, the violence and injustice of others may again compel us to resort. While our vast extent of seacoast, the commercial and agn cultural habits of our people, the great capital they will continue to trust on the ocean, suggest the system of defense which will be most beneficial to ourselves, our distance from Europe and our resources for maritime strength will enable us to employ it with effect. Season able and systematic arrangements, so far as our resources will justify, for a navy adapted to defensive war, and which may in case of necessity be quickly brought into use, seem to be as much recommended by a wise and true economy as by a»just regard for our future tranquillity, for the safety of our shores, and for the protection of our property committed to the ocean. The present Navy of the United States, called suddenly into exist ence by a great national exigency, has raised us in our own esteem, and by the protection afforded to our commerce has effected to the extent of our expectations the objects for which it was created. In connection with a navy ought to be contemplated the fortification of some of our principal seaports and harbors. A variety of considera tions urge an attention to this measure of precaution. To give security to our principal ports considerable sums have already been expended, but the works remain incomplete. The manufacture of arms within the United States still invites the attention of the National Legislature. At a considerable expense to the public this manufacture has been brought to such a state of maturity as, with continued encouragement, will supersede the neces sity of future importations from foreign countries. I transmit to the Senate (December 15, 1800), a convention, both in English and French, between the United States of America and the French Republic, signed at Paris on the 30th day of September last by the respective plenipotentiaries of the two powers. I have received from Elias Boudinot, Esq. (January 17, 1801). Director of the Mint of the United States, a report of the 2d of 76 History of the United States. January, representing the state of it, together with an abstract of the coins struck at the Mint from the ist of January to the 31st of December, 1800; an abstract of the expenditures of the Mint from the ist of January to the 31st of December, inclusive; a statement of gain on copper coined at the Mint from the ist of January to the 31st of December, 1800, and a certificate from Joseph Richardson, assayer of, the Mint, ascertaining the value of Spanish milled doubloons in proportion to the gold coins of the United States to be no more than 84 cents and |-§-^ parts of a cent for 1 pennyweight, or 28 grains and -| f-j^f-f parts of a grain to one dollar. These papers I transmit to Congress for their consideration. LIFE OF JOHN ADAMS. JOHN ADAMS was born on October 26, 1735, in Quincy, Mass., ten miles from Boston. He was descended from Henry Adams, who fled from persecution in Devonshire, England, and settled in Massachusetts about 1630, and from John Adams, a founder of the Plymouth Colony, in 1620. He graduated from Harvard College in 1755, and was admitted to the bar of Suffolk county, in 1758. In 1768, he removed to Boston and won distinction in the practice of law. In 1764, he married Abigail Smith, a daughter of Rev. William Smith, and granddaughter of Colonel Quincy. He was representative from Boston to the legislature of Massachusetts in 1770, and in 1774 was a member of the Continental Congress, and was the adviser and great supporter of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He declined the offer of chief justice of Massachusetts; was a commissioner to France, December, 1777, and returned in 1779, and then became a member of the Massachusetts convention for framing a State con stitution. He was appointed by Congress, September 29, 1779, min ister plenipotentiary to negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain. In 1 781, he was a commissioner to conclude treaties of peace with European powers. Was one of the negotiators of a commercial treaty with Great Britain in 1783, and one of the commissioners to sign the provisional treaty of peace with that nation November 30, 1782, and the definite treaty September 3, 1783. Congress appointed him, in 1785, minister of the United States to court of Great Britain. He re turned June, 1788, and was elected Vice-President on the ticket with Washington, and on the assembling of the Senate at New York in John Adams. tj April, 1789, took his seat as President of that body. He was elected President, on the retirement of Washington in 1796, and inaugurated March 4, 1797. He retired to his home at Quincy, Mass., March 4, 1801, and was elected president of the convention to revise the con stitution of Massachusetts, but declined on account of his age. His wife died in 1818, and on July 4, 1826, he died and was buried at Quincy. 78 History of the United States. MONTICELLO, VIRGINIA, HOME OF THOMAS JEFFERSON. CHAPTER III THOMAS JEFFERSON'S PLACE IN HISTORY. By John W. Daniel, Senator from Virginia. T^HOMAS JEFFERSON still lives. In the independence of his country, ¦*¦ in the rounded domain ocean-washed and sentineled under the mighty canopy of the stars that stretches from the delta of the Mississippi to the shores of the Columbia and the Golden Gate, in the civil and religious liberty which he clad with iron, in the free schools which make dull earth illuminant with the light of knowledge; in these and in the immortal principles which he enunciated, he lives and will always live. The honors heaped upon him by the people were but their gifts to their benefactor, the insignia of his labors, his burdens and his cares. How paltry seems that long catalogue of official designations compared with what he was himself — a man God-gifted and God-armed for the battle of right against wrong — compared to what he did for the" people, his gifts to them. There is not a heart that loves humanity and thrills with noble rage for right and truth and justice; there is not a people on earth who are weary and heavy laden THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. '¦'-'j yy , ) J . 5 ¦ > -¦.' ¦¦' >- / J 'r ''' S *f. r/J?. elct'cj. /y-C4A*t/H£t £iCc H1W14 ~£-fcc /L-ttu c^7 of ouA*ap& 6ftJe, Sfj! , /f 3' it^liJ Hi (^MiC^ <^< VT** ll,. tfU, 1 /d^c,/ It) rf fi.e*'c* Ar<< t eiL? es. 0 an- -e-Jd *> 'f-Ctj-G'cjc &y u. nsj, < £aA olcO rA.a ->- u< /. A-^/^f afr. t^L. -6 ef£c€- eA,&4t. C? /ft r-f.1 1 2 c ¦ v, J .<-< I,, . 3 ':-'C..-f.J y fycut ,- f.ffcJ.' i A %(< /iJi-iT £7 j /jCc ft'U» t'C&H-J ¦£d&c<*A. £t/H<. h. a Cc ffi t$ fl ft<*-t<--C}f ,.ly Oli-hJI r«c 6- a-i'fxtY t /i^y /u\- 2?w tU u.£ Xj£_£&>nd &£*".¦> £ &%/Zk4. n.<.4 .. ,-i /^ (4 i ¦ d-c I •$&>¦ * Cf-OHtA. cC A/IjS^CJ^^ £-6&h £?*<-¦*- e-fae/hv&i) <*, c M^4- ^ l u 4 'Xa. 7 c*. if. a. cHt fi. ua /-ctA*. -Sf.^o kx i>ti 0&?>i.4i I t-C, *, *i*tc:*-u . & f>^- ¦ 2^ic rt tJt-uA. fl aA 6 s u/l4 cX-u> a-& 'in Zjte ?}?*&. f i -iOh\ r,cJi a*3) **. (2tf,/-i .*_-' ft/i^.sh.&ifL'&.j ^(-^ ^V &4<&t3 l% a.&z. J-?fi^4 -¦&-o (UfaFfS <^' Crttj rtt-U-l ,- Uc<<-\ 1&4* ca 3-f Cl £&? t /f- £u~'£<,l- p-^r f is$OCi£t&&/ IRST AND LAST PAGES OF JEFFERSON'S NEUTRALITY PROC LAMATION. cxu^ /^^" ^ £'«,j„d»(^ C^/j.C to //<¦- Grm-rXrt of ' tA* X, .:'¦„ - .-, /,U.,^ /-/«, . ,- - -vrt-nir,.-, A,ti,lX.i ffi ,'X '.'¦;''. <-aU'.<>-l,J i). f/i.Lt die, fvu.JCAt.i-ti, ¦ i.l. {£.<. (7 < , /¦ / »r ,\,.,.L ,',,¦ /lj > }>¦ 1 /l'^j CoP^OJ- Mb r*OL7,,i>. .'.t.A/.j 1 , Ti fi.) ? ;,• . h. .-/-c.jrf o! Ks.vc ¦":..,¦ .- - '£ <*/ 'V** ( ' > . &'/*&:< /,. Q ,.<{£<* <,¦ u t&i.: ;,uu,./i /S><;i. • /6"V. ¦ '' £/(« >V.- ' ¦ <- f A '',/ •¦' ¦ /. .. . - .-. /, ,„ /, / 5 Mi > X,- Z/'r( htf/Zu, Xu/J*.../ . . "': Thomas Jefferson. 83 under the burden of oppression; there is not a chancellor who loves equity; there is not a devotee who bows his head in free worship to his Maker; there is not an ingenuous student by the midnight lamp; there is not a toiler by land or sea; yea, there is not an astronomer who reads the stars, nor an humble farmer in his cabin, nor a freeman anywhere who treads the earth with the spirit of the free who does not bless God that Thomas Jefferson lived, and that his life goes marching on! What did Jefferson do for the people? Rather, what did he not do? He was one of them. He loved them, trusted them, guided them; he cheered them, he comforted them, he led them. So much for generalities. It is true, as said by the Cicero of Massachusetts, Edward Everett, that there rests on Thomas Jefferson the imperishable renown of having framed the Declaration of Independence. But had he never penned a syllable of it he would be immortal. It is true he raised his hand against the Established Church, threw himself against the great landed proprietors and powerful party leaders and brought forth the first statute of religious freedom that adorned the history of the world. Imperishable renown with that, but without it he would have been immortal. It is true he negotiated the purchase of Louisiana from Napoleon, gaining a kingdom for a song, securing the free navigation of the Mississippi to the countless multitudes who now throng its bank and adding the Great West and Southwest to the Union — the greatest territory ever won by man without a drop of blood. But without all this he would have been immortal. He will be remembered as the most accomplished man America has ever produced, the "Admirable Crichton " of the New World, dedicating to mankind his gifts from Heaven. He labored for them harder than the horniest hand for its daily bread. Jefferson's mind was practical and of the kind which turns things to account. He loved the mathematics, and no superstition could evec lead him from the rock-bed notion that two and two make four, world without end. He was as precise in detail as he was broad and accurate in generalization. His mind was like. an elephant's trunk in that it could pick up a pin or knock down a lion. When he was President he went regularly to market, and in hii journal he kept a record of the date of the appearance of spring fruits and vegetables. The stately dome of the University of Virginia and the classic lines of the mansion at Monticello bespeak the classic mind that reproduced them. He founded the Patent Office of the United States, but do you know that he was himself an inventor? While in France, as minister, he wrote his admirable notes on Virginia, and with the Revolution fermenting about him, he invented a hillside plow which won him a medal from the " Royal Agricultural Society," 84 History of the United States. of the Seine. He was also the inventor of the modern revolving office chair. The rice grown in the Southern States to-day is from grain which Jefferson hid in his pockets while in Italy, and distributed ten grains at a time to the farmers on his return. His influence is felt to-day when any important ques tions are up for discussion. As regards the " Monroe Doctrine," he was like " John the Baptist " crying in the Wilderness. He foreshadowed it in a letter " On the Island of San Domingo." He was a child of nature, this glorious Jefferson, and with all his wisdom and all his culture he was on the people's side of all questions. An honest son of Mother Earth; a man with a man's faults, but no Pharisee. He had fewer faults and lesser faults than most, and noble and God-like virtues. " The glory of man," said Solomon, " is strength; '' and Jefferson was strong. In his old age he delighted to gallop his horse along steep mountain roads. Strong intellectually — behold his works. Strong morally — see his instinctive leap to the right side of all questions, and his inflexible adherence thereto. He was strong in all courage; yea, in civic courage, the rarest of all forms of bravery. This Jefferson had the quiet, patient, daring, superb courage that looks public opinion in the eye, and dares confront and affront it and not flinch the encounter. When he stood for Independence they said " Rebel." When he stood for justice they said " Communist." When he stood for religious freedom they cried " Infidel." When he aroused the people against monarchy and concentrated power they said " Demagogue." But the common people heard him gladly. They knew their ears, and with one accord they said " All Hail, Our Friend." Dying without a penny, his very books, his land, his home were sold away from his inheritors, and fighting successfully every battle but his own, he crowned the people as victor in every battle that he won. If it is right that a man sues for, and if he does not believe that one man is born bridled and saddled, and the other booted and spurred — let him pluck a flower from this good man's life and wear it in his soul forever. Thomas Jefferson. 85 ADMINISTRATION OF 1801-1809. By Thomas Jefferson. FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, l8oi. CALLED upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and conse quently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will com press them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people — a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military au thority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom of religion; freedom of the press. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 8, l8oi. I am able to announce on grounds of reasonable certainty that the wars and troubles' which have for so many years afflicted our sister nations have at length come to an end, and that the communications of peace and commerce are once more opening among them. 86 History of the United States. Among our Indian neighbors also a spirit of peace and friendship generally prevails, and I am happy to inform you that the continued efforts to introduce among them the implements and the practice of husbandry and of the household arts have not been without success; that they are becoming more and more sensible of the superiority of this dependence for clothing and subsistence over the precarious re sources of hunting and fishing, and already we are able to announce that instead of that constant diminution of their numbers produced by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to experience an increase of population. To this state of general peace with which we have been blessed, one only exception exists. Tripoli, the least considerable of the Barbary States, had come forward with demands unfounded either in right or in compact, and had permitted itself to denounce war on our failure to comply before a given day. The style of the demand admitted but one answer. I sent a small squadron of frigates into the Mediterranean, with assurances to that power of our sincere desire to remain in peace, but with orders to protect our commerce against the threatened attack. The measure was seasonable and salutary. The Bey had already declared war. His cruisers were out. Two had arrived at Gibraltar. Our commerce in the Mediterranean was blockaded and that of the Atlantic in peril. The arrival of our squadron dispelled the danger. One of the Tripolitan cruisers having fallen in with and engaged the small schooner Enterprise, commanded by Lieutenant Sterret, which had gone as a tender to our larger ves sels, was captured, after a heavy slaughter of her men, without the loss of a single one on our part. The result of the census lately taker, of our inhabitants, to a con formity with which we are now to reduce the ensuing ratio of repre sentation and taxation. You will perceive that the increase of num bers during the last ten years, proceeding in geometrical ratio, prom ises a duplication in little more than twenty-two years. Other circumstances, combined with the increase of numbers, have produced an augmentation of revenue arising from consumption in a ratio far beyond that of population alone; and though the changes in foreign relations now taking place so desirably for the whole world may for a season affect this branch of revenue, yet weighing all probabilities of expense as well as of income, there is reasonable ground of confidence that we may now safely dispense with all the internal taxes, comprehending excise, stamps, auctions, licenses, car- Thomas Jefferson. 87 riages, and refined sugars, to which the postage on newspapers may be added to facilitate the progress of information, and that the re maining sources of revenue will be sufficient to provide for the sup port of Government, to pay the interest of the public debts, and to discharge the principals within shorter periods than the laws or the general expectation had contemplated. The success which has at tended the late sales of the public lands shows that with attention they may be made an important source of receipt. Among the payments those made in discharge of the principal and interest of the national debt will show that the public faith has been exactly maintained. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 15, l802. The cession of the Spanish Province of Louisiana to France, which took place in the course of the late war, will, if carried into effect, make a change in the aspect of our foreign relations. There was reason not long since to apprehend that the warfare in which we were engaged with Tripoli might be taken up by some other of the Barbary Powers. A re-enforcement, therefore, was immediately ordered to the vesels already there. Subsequent information, how ever, has removed these apprehensions for the present. To secure our commerce in that sea with the smallest force competent, we have supposed it best to watch strictly the harbor of Tripoli. Still, how ever, the shallowness of their coast and the want of smaller vessels on our part has permitted some cruisers to escape unobserved, and to one of these an American vessel unfortunately fell a prey. The captain, one American seaman, and two others of color remain prison ers with them unless exfi'^nged under an agreement formerly made with the Bashaw, to whoAi, on the faith of that, some of his captive subjects had been restored. The convention with the State of Georgia has been ratified by their legislature, and a repurchase from the Creeks has been consequently made of a part of the Talasscee country. In this purchase has been also comprehended a part of the lands within the fork of Oconee and Oakmulgee rivers. In order to remove every ground of difference possible with our Indian neighbors, I have proceeded in the work of settling with them and marking the boundaries between us. That with the Choctaw Nation is fixed in one part and will be through the whole within a short time. The country to which their title had been extinguished before the Revolution is sufficient to receive a very respectable popula- 88 History of the United States. tion, which Congress will probably see the expediency of encourag ing so soon as the limits shall be declared. We are to view this posi tion as an outpost of the United States, surrounded by strong neigh bors and distant from its support; and how far that monopoly which prevents population should here be guarded against and actual habita tion made a condition of the continuance of title will be for con sideration. A prompt settlement, too, of all existing rights and claims within this territory presents itself as a preliminary operation. In that part of the Indian Territory which includes Vincennes the lines settled with the neighboring tribes fix the extinction of their title at a breadth of twenty-four leagues from east to west and about the same length parallel with and including the Wabash. They have also ceded a tract of four miles square, including the salt springs near the mouth of that river. In the Department of Finance the receipts of external duties for the last twelve months have exceeded those of any former year, and that the ratio of increase has been also greater than usual. This has enabled us to answer all the regular exigencies of Government, to pay from the Treasury within one year upward of $8,000,000, principal and interest, of the public debt, exclusive of upward of one million paid by the sale of bank stock, and making in the whole a reduction of nearly five millions and a half of principal, and to have now in the Treasury $4,500,000, which are in a course of application to the further discharge of debt and current demands. A small force in the Mediterranean will still be necessary to restrain the Tripoline cruisers, and the uncertain tenure of peace with some • other of the Barbary Powers may eventus Uy require that force to be augmented. The necessity of procuring some smaller vessels for that service will raise the estimate, but the difference in their maintenance will soon make it a measure of economy. Presuming it will be deemed expedient to expend anually a con venient sum toward providing the naval defense which our situation may require, I can not but recommend that the first appropriations for that purpose may go to the saving what we already possess. No cares, no attentions, can preserve vessels from rapid decay which lie in water and exposed to the sun. These decays require great and constant repairs, and will consume, if continued, a great portion of the moneys destined to naval purposes. To avoid this waste of our resources it is proposed to add to our navy-yard here a dock within which our present vessels may be laid up dry and under cover from Thomas Jefferson. 89 the sun. Under these circumstances experience proves that works of wood will remain scarcely at all affected by time. The great abundance of running water which this situation possesses, at heights far above the leval of the tide, if employed as is practiced for lock . navigation, furnishes the means for raising and laying up our vessels on a dry and sheltered bed. And should the measure be found useful here, similar depositories for laying up as well as for building and repairing vessels may hereafter be undertaken at other navy-yards offering the same means. The plans and estimates of the work, pre pared by a person of skill and experience, will be presented to you without delay, and from this it will be seen that scarcely more than has been the cost of one vessel is necessary to save the whole. The cession (January 11, 1803) of the Spanish Province of Louisiana to France, and perhaps of the Floridas, and the late suspension of our right of deposit at New Orleans are events of primary interest to the United States. On both occasions such measures were promptly taken as were thought most likely amicably to remove the present and to prevent future causes of inquietude. The objects of these measures were to obtain the territory on the left bank of the Mississippi and east ward of that, if practicable, on conditions to which the proper au thorities of our country would agree, or at least to prevent any changes which might lessen the secure exercise of our rights. While my con fidence in our minister plenipotentiary at Paris is entire and undimin ished, I still think that these objects might be promoted by joining with him a person sent from hence directly, carrying with him the feelings and sentiments of the nation excited on the late occurrence, impressed by full communications of all the views we entertain on this interesting subject, and thus prepared to meet and to improve to an useful result the counter propositions of the other contracting party, whatsoever form their interests may give to them, and to secure to us the ultimate accomplishment of our object. I therefore nominate Robert R. Livingston to be minister plenipo tentiary and James Monroe to be minister extraordinary and plenipo tentiary, with full powers to both jointly, or to either on the death of the other, to enter into a treaty or convention with the First Consul of France for the purpose of enlarging and more effectually securing our rights and interests in the river Mississippi and in the Territories eastward thereof. oo History of the United States. But as the possession of these provinces is still in Spain, and the course of events may retard or prevent the cession to France being carried into effect, to secure our object it will be expedient to address equal powers to the Government of Spain also, to be used only in the event of its being necessary. I therefore nominate Charles Pinckney to be minister plenipoten tiary, and James Monroe, of Virginia, to be minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary, with full powers to both jointly, or to either on the death of the other, to enter into a treaty or convention with His Catholic Majesty for the purpose of enlarging and more effectually securing our rights and interests in the river Mississippi and in the Territories eastward thereof. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, OCTOBER 1 7, 1803. The extraordinary agitation produced in the public mind by the suspension of our right of deposit at the port of New Orleans, no assignment of another place having been made according to treaty. They were sensible that the continuance of that privation would be more injurious to our nation than any consequences which could flow from any mode of redress, but reposing just confidence in the good faith of the Government whose officer had committed the wrong friendly and reasonable representations were resorted to, and the right of deposit was restored. Previous, however, to this period we had not been unaware of the danger to which our peace would be perpetually exposed whilst so important a key to the commerce of the Western country remained under foreign power. Difficulties, too, were presenting themselves as to the navigation of other streams which, arising within our territories, pass through those adjacent. Propositions had, therefore, been au thorized for obtaining on fair conditions the sovereignty of New Orleans and of other possessions in that quarter interesting to our quiet to such extent as was deemed practicable, and the provisional appropriation of $2,000,000 to be applied and accounted for by the President of the United States, intended as part of the price, was con sidered as conveying the sanction of Congress to the acquisition pro posed. The enlightened Government of France saw with just discern ment the importance to both nations of such liberal arrangements as might best and permanently promote the peace, friendship, and interests of both, and the property and sovereignty of all Louisiana which had been restored to them have on certain conditions been yT *~^>p-A<,**;,hM»j\ ty, fyezuZiVth ^rJ,^x , ,£¦ K^jt aLrm^ ~~y fin™ S) . ¦He fJ . p-r.Ljtc.-n-tjL. ww^M- „ , fc JL fU&, to fAn*x~> df su^A. < ¦ '.ix- -"— Y— ¦'«4...'Lh^rf CL-* Sfi! c/ ishivk 'U. iW^d M*Wi» urrr~*n*X' aMLtsr^+k Hul. W**^ rf il^W,] T3 \&H*JU'*^JUA-dlt>^jr>ii^p^.aj1^o 'nMAr-C* ^e--#>-«ju. fu-/Uvw~ OJCLtA ur*A^JC/Zft~zjL> ¦%*£&><-• n*/iliVtt-^i^ijiifi1^i;M^rW^^T^^iiii-. iiufyw:/ 11 r- i iri «./ iii* v-fuxtft, jix--k&*i iyu dcj&XcJt^t ^AwO- y^j 7t**f a^j-e^st- w» w*^^/ ff*rr c*if^,ou*sfu,ns f4Aa(j-juj!2s>y p %cfus^\iud- Te hXvryqSs srJb- owo' / r>~vr':4&. (rt-t/fri^-e^r^ A^t- /Lw>< i**^-^ yL^forrCL-rr^ U &>. ¦ tf*rf£*9TY& try tbiST fU^laOJu**- ti O^i^O ^fUsyLrf - -*LUM*m- ev*V JklJ^ irusY- J i-aj-c^. %*>** bo***- yOmsn.-'is^L rnu^r^ dJ Hvl, ct^cw^-^rfAsn-^x^ ^> ****; <^™^r«^r>v cfje.tt&.rna.srCt tusK.feu3 - ei^iyx. '%£*jtoLU h**Uus>-ci u&MJ+LjJc2 £77 /a£/ U^cJifk ot fhi jft-Kr^a-fh. ff ,ff^a.t fj-rxtf+Jrv. fKect ^, Wrut-.i^ £j ^cjtuvi. f?LcJe. UjJI H3 . ''¦ . ,.-1-1. I .'.. ' ' . sJtTni-fy'? 1 C*rvn«fct"^rL-*'- , t ¦ SpOlW( tit dC*f£t4*~cf- rtr-r^t-yr\ "vyvtcrao-tM 6 f tr<-^ fourth president of the united states. PRESIDENT MADISON'S DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN. WHICH BROUGHT ON THE " WAR OF T812 " James Madison. 113 sideration of Congress the seasonableness of a declaration that the United States could not see without serious inquietude any part of a neighboring territory in which they have in different respects so deep and so just a concern, pass from the hands of Spain into those of any other foreign power." Who can say, therefore, it should not be the Madison doctrine rather than the Monroe Doctrine. Mr. Madison as a debater was able, and as a writer had few equals among American statesmen. The style of his public papers, and, indeed, all his writings have been much admired. When he died at the advanced age of eighty-five (85) years, he was the last surviving signer of the Constitution. Although he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a member of Congress from Virginia, although he wrote the Virginia resolutions of 1798, was Secretary of State for eight years, was elected President in 1808, and re elected in 1812, and conducted his country in triumph through a great war, was associated with Hamilton and Jay in the composition of the Federalist, was the author of the Madison papers and other famous writings, it was not for these things or any of them his fame is to endure. His act and policy in the framing of the marvelous instrument, the Constitution of our country, his matchless advocacy of it with his voice and pen, and his adherence to its provisions at all times and in all exigencies, obtained for him the proudest title ever be stowed upon a man, the title of the " Father of the Constitution." It is for this " act and policy " he will be remembered by posterity. Jk*u*A ®^Zt.t4.r~*r~y 114 History of the United States ADMINISTRATION OF 1809-1817. By James Madison. first inaugural address, march 4, 1809. ASSURING myself that under every vicissitude the determined spirit and united councils of the nation will be safeguards to its honor and its essential interests, I repair to the post assigned me with no other discouragement than what springs from my own in adequacy to its high duties. Whereas, in consequence of a communication (August 9, 1800) from His Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary declaring that the British orders of council oi January and November, 1807, would have been withdrawn on the ioth day of June last, and by virtue of authority given in such event by the eleventh section of the act of Congress entitled "An act to interdict the commercial intercourse between the United States and Great Britain and France and their dependencies, and for other purposes," I, James Madison, President of the United States, did issue my proclamation bearing date on the 19th of April last, declaring that the orders in council aforesaid would have been so withdrawn on the said ioth day of June, after which the trade sus pended by certain acts of Congress might be renewed; and Whereas it is now officially made known to me that the said orders in council have not been withdrawn agreeably to the communication and declaration aforesaid : I do hereby proclaim the same, and, consequently, that the trade renewable on the event of the said orders, being withdrawn, is to be considered as under the operation of the several acts by which such trade was suspended. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, NOVEMBER 29, 1809. I had the satisfaction of communicating an adjustment with one of the principal belligerent nations, highly important in itself, and still James Madison. 115 more so as presaging a more extended accommodation. The favorable prospect has been overclouded by a refusal of the British Government to abide by the act of its minister plenipotentiary, and by its ensuing policy toward the United States. The recall of the disavowed minister having been followed by the appointment of a successor, hopes were indulged that the new mission would contribute to alleviate the disappointment which had been pro duced, and to remove the causes which had so long embarrassed the good understanding of the two nations. It could not be doubted that it would at least be charged with conciliatory explanations of the step which had been taken and with proposals to be substituted for the rejected arrangement. Reasonable and universal as this expectation was, it also has not been fulfilled. From the first official disclosures of the new minister it was found that he had received no authority to enter into explanations relative to either branch of the arrangement disavowed nor any authority to substitute proposals as to that branch which concerned the British orders in council, and, finally, that his proposals with respect to the other branch, the attack on the frigate " Chesapeake," were founded on a presumption repeatedly declared to be inadmissible by the United States, that the first step toward ad justment was due from them, the proposals at the same time omitting even a reference to the officer answerable for the murderous aggres sion, and asserting a claim not less contrary to the British laws and British practice than to the principles and obligations of the United States. The correspondence between the Department of State and this minister will show how unessentially the features presented in its commencement have been varied in its progress. It will show also that, forgetting the respect due to all governments, he did not refrain from imputations on this, which required that no further communica tions should be received from him. The necessity of this step will be made known to His Britannic Majesty through the minister pleni potentiary of the United States in London; and it would indicate a want of the confidence due to a Government which so well under stands and exacts what becomes foreign ministers near it not to infer that the misconduct of its own representative will be viewed in the same light in which it has been regarded here. With France, the other belligerent, whose trespasses on our com mercial rights have long been the subject of our just remonstrances, 116 History of the United States. the posture of our relations does not correspond with the measures taken on the part of the United States to effect a favorable change. The sums which had been previously accumulated in the Treasury, together with the receipts during the year ending on the 30th of Sep tember last (and amounting to more than $9,000,000), have enabled us to fulfill all our engagements and to defray the current expenses of Government without recurring to any loan. Whereas the territory south of the Mississippi Territory and east ward of the river Mississippi, and extending to the river Perdido, of which possession was not delivered to the United States in pursuance of the treaty concluded at Paris on the 30th April, 1803, has at all times, as is well known, been considered and claimed by them as being within the colony of Louisiana conveyed by the said treaty in the same extent that it had in the hands of Spain and that it had when France originally possessed it; and Whereas the acquiescence of the United States in the temporary continuance of the said territory under the Spanish authority was not the result of any distrust of their title, as has been particularly evinced by the general tenor of their laws and by the distinction made in the application of those laws between that territory and foreign countries, but was occasioned by their conciliatory views and by a confidence in the justice of their cause and in the success of candid discussion and amicable negotiation with a just and friendly power; and Whereas a satisfactory adjustment, too long delayed, without the fault of the United States, has for some time been entirely suspended by events over which they had no control; and Whereas a crisis has at length arrived subversive of the order of things under the Spanish authorities, whereby a failure of the United States to take the said territory into its possession may lead to events ultimately contravening the views of both parties, whilst in the mean time the tranquillity and security of our adjoining territories are en dangered and new facilities given to violations of our revenue and commercial laws and of those prohibiting the introduction of slaves; Considering, moreover, that under these peculiar and imperative circumstances a forbearance on the part of the United States to occupy the territory in question, and thereby guard against the confusions James Madison. 117 and contingencies which threaten it, might be construed into a dere liction of their title or an insensibility to the importance of the stake ; considering that in the hands of the United States it will not cease to be a subject of fair and friendly negotiation and adjustment; con sidering, finally, that the acts of Congress, though contemplating a present possession by a foreign authority, have contemplated also an eventual possession of the said territory by the United States, and are accordingly so framed as in that case to extend in their opera tion to the same: Now be it known that I, James Madison, President of the United States of America (October 27, 1810), in pursuance of these weighty and urgent considerations, have deemed it right and requisite that possession should be taken of the said territory in the name and behalf of the United States. William C. C. Claiborne, governor of the Orleans Territory, of which the said Territory is to be taken as part, will accordingly proceed to execute the same and to exercise over the said Territory the authorities and functions legally appertaining to his office; and the good people inhabiting the same are invited and en joined to pay due respect to him in that character, to be obedient to the laws, to maintain order, to cherish harmony, and in every manner to conduct themselves as peaceable citizens, under full assurance that they will be protected in the enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, NOVEMBER 5, l8ll. Among the occurrences produced by the conduct of British ships of war hovering on our coasts was an encounter between one of them and the American frigate commanded by Captain Rodgers, rendered unavoidable on the part of the latter by a fire commenced without cause by the former, whose commander is therefore alone chargeable with the blood unfortunately shed in maintaining the honor of the American flag. The proceedings of a court of inquiry requested by Captain Rodgers are communicated, together with the correspond ence relating to the occurrence, between the Secretary of State and His Britannic Majesty's envoy. To these are added the several corre spondence which have passed on the subject of the British orders in council, and to both the correspondence relating to the Floridas, in which Congress will be made acquainted with the interposition which the Government of Great Britain has thought proper to make against the proceeding of the United States. 118 History of the United States. The justice and fairness which have been evinced on the part of the United States toward France, both before and since the revocation of her decrees, authorized an expectation that her Government would have followed up that measure by all such others as were due to our reasonable claims, as well as dictated by its amicable professions. No proof, however, is yet given of an intention to repair the other wrongs done to the United States, and particularly to restore the great amount of American property seized and condemned under edicts which, though not affecting. our neutral relations, and therefore not entering into questions between the United States and other bel ligerents, were nevertheless founded in such unjust principles that the reparation ought to have been prompt and ample. In addition to this and other demands of strict right on that nation, the United States have much reason to be dissatisfied with the rigorous and unexpected restrictions to which their trade with the French dominions has been subjected, and which, if not discontinued, will require at least corresponding restrictions on importations from France into the United States. On all those subjects our minister plenipotentiary lately sent to Paris has carried with him the necessary instructions, and, by ascer taining the ulterior policy of the French Government toward the United States, will enable you to adapt to it that of the United States toward France. Our other foreign relations remain without unfavorable changes. With Russia they are on the best footing of friendship. The ports of Sweden have afforded proofs of friendly dispositions toward our commerce in the councils of that nation also, and the information from our special minister to Denmark shows that the mission had been attended with valuable effects to our citizens, whose property had been so extensively violated and endangered by cruisers under the Danish flag. I must now add that the period is arrived which claims from the legislative guardians of the national rights a system of more ample provisions for maintaining them. Notwithstanding the scrupulous justice, the protracted moderation, and the multiplied efforts on the part of the United States to substitute for the accumulating dangers to the peace of the two countries all the mutual advantages of re established friendship and confidence, we have seen that the British Cabinet perseveres not only in withholding a remedy for other wrongs, so long and so loudly calling for it, but in the execution, brought James Madison. 119 home to the threshold of our territory, of measures which under ex isting circumstances have the character as well as the effect of war on our lawful commerce. With this evidence of hostile inflexibility in trampling on rights which no independent nation can relinquish, Congress will feel the duty of putting the United States into an armor and an attitude de manded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations. I recommend that adequate provision be made for filling the ranks and prolonging the enlistments of the regular troops ; for an auxiliary force to be engaged for a more limited term; for the acceptance of volunteer corps, whose patriotic ardor may court a participation in urgent services; for detachments as they may be wanted of other por tions of the militia, and for such a preparation of the great body as will proportion its usefulness to its intrinsic capacities. The manufacture of cannon and small arms has proceeded with due success, and the stock and resources of all the necessary munitions are adequate to emergencies. It will not be inexpedient, however, for Congress to authorize an enlargement of them. The receipts into the Treasury during the year ending on the 30th of September last have exceeded $13,500,000, and have enabled us to defray the current expenses, including the interest on the public debt, and to reimburse more than $5,000,000 of the principal without re curring to the loan authorized by the act of the last session. The temporary loan obtained in the latter end of the year 1810 has also been reimbursed, and is not included in that amount. At the request of the convention assembled in the Territory of Orleans on the 22d day of November, 181 1, I transmit (March 3, 1812) to Congress the proceedings of that body in pursuance of the act entitled " An act to enable the people of the Territory of Orleans to form a constitution and State government, and for the admission of the said State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and for other purposes." Without going back beyond the renewal in 1803 of the war in which Great Britain is engaged, and omitting unrepaired wrongs of inferior magnitude, the conduct of her Government presents a series of acts hostile to the United States as an independent and neutral nation. 120 History of the United States. British cruisers have been in the continued practice of violating the American flag on the great highway of nations, and of seizing and carrying off persons sailing under it, not in the exercise of a bel ligerent right founded on the law of nations against an enemy, but of a municipal prerogative over British subjects. British jurisdiction is thus extended to neutral vessels in a situation where no laws can operate but the law of nations and the laws of the country to which the vessels belong, and a self-redress is assumed which, if British subjects were wrongfully detained and alone concerned, is that sub stitution of force for a resort to the responsible sovereign which falls within the definition of war. Could the seizure of British subjects in such cases be regarded as within the exercise of a belligerent right, the acknowledged laws of war, which forbid an article of captured property to be adjudged without a regular investigation before a competent tribunal, would imperiously demand the fairest trial where the sacred rights of persons were at issue. In place of such a trial these rights are subjected to the will of every petty commander. The practice, hence, is so far from affecting British subjects alone that, under the pretext of searching for these, thousands of American citizens, under the safeguard of public law and of their national flag, have been torn from their country and from everything dear to them; have been dragged on board ships of war of a foreign nation and exposed, under the severities of their discipline, to be exiled to the most distant and deadly climes, to risk their lives in the battles of their oppressors, and to be the melancholy instruments of taking away those of their own brethren. British cruisers have been in the practice also of violating the rights and the peace of our coasts. They hover over and harass our entering and departing commerce. To the most insulting pretensions they have added the most lawless proceedings in our very harbors, and have wantonly spilt American blood within the sanctuary of our territorial jurisdiction. The principles and rules enforced by that nation, when a neutral nation, against armed vessels of belligerents hovering near her coasts and disturbing her commerce are well known. When called on, nevertheless, by the United States to punish the greater offenses committed by her own vessels, her Government has bestowed on their commanders additional marks of honor and confidence. Not content with these occasional expedients for laying waste our neutral trade, the Cabinet of Britain resorted at length to the sweeping system of blockades, under the name of orders in council, which has James Madison. 121 been molded and managed as might best suit its political views, its commercial jealousies, or the avidity of British cruisers. In reviewing the conduct of Great Britain toward the United States our attention is necessarily drawn to the warfare just renewed by the savages on one of our extensive frontiers — a warfare which is known to spare neither age nor sex and to be distinguished by features peculiarly shocking to humanity. It is difficult to account for the activity and combinations which have for some time been developing themselves among tribes in constant intercourse with British traders and garrisons without connecting their hostility with that influence and without recollecting the authenticated examples of such inter positions heretofore furnished by the officers and agents of that Government. We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain a state of war against the United States, and on the side of the United States a state of peace toward Great Britain. Whether the United States shall continue passive under these pro gressive usurpations and these accumulating wrongs, or, opposing force to force in defense of their national rights, is a solmn question which the Constitution wisely confides to the legislative department of the Government. In recommending it to their early deliberations I am happy in the assurance that the decision will be worthy the en lightened and patriotic councils of a virtuous, a free, and a powerful nation. Whereas the Congress (June 19, 1812) of the United States, by virtue of the constituted authority vested in them, have declared by their act bearing date the 18th day of June, 1812, the present month, that war exists between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof and the United States of America and their Territories: Now, therefore, I, Jarne- Madison, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the same to all whom it may concern ; and I do specially enjoin on all persons holding offices, civil or mili tary, under the authority of the United States that they be vigilant and zealous in discharging the duties respectively incident thereto; and I do moreover exhort all the good people of the United States, as they love their country, as they value the precious heritage derived 122 History of the United States. from the virtue and valor of their fathers, as they feel the wrongs which have forced on them the last resort of injured nations, and as they consult the best means under the blessing of Divine Providence of abridging its calamities, that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, in maintaining the authority and efficacy of the laws, and in supporting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted by the constituted authorities for obtaining a speedy, a just, and an honorable peace. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, NOVEMBER 4, l8l2. Our expectation of gaining the command of the Lakes by the in vasion of Canada from Detroit having been disappointed, measures were instantly taken to provide on them a naval force superior to that of the enemy. From the talents and activity of the officer charged with this object everything that can be done may be expected. On the coasts and on the ocean the war has been as successful as circumstances inseparable from its early stages could promise. Our public ships and private cruisers, by their activity, and, where there was occasion, by their intrepidity, have made the enemy sensible of the difference between a reciprocity of captures and the long confine ment of them to their side. Our trade, with little exception, has safely reached our ports, having been much favored in it by the course pursued by a squadron of our frigates under the command of Com modore Rodgers, and in the instance in which skill and bravery were more particularly tried with those of the enemy the American flag had an auspicious triumph. The frigate " Constitution," commanded by Captain Hull, after a close and short engagement completely dis abled and captured a British frigate, gaining for that officer and all on board a praise which can not be too liberally bestowed, not merely for the victory actually achieved, but for that prompt and cool exertion of commanding talents which, giving to courage its highest character, and to the force applied its full effect, proved that more could have been done in a contest requiring more. The propositions for an armistice which have been received here, one of them from the authorities at Halifax and in Canada, the other from the British Government itself through Admiral Warren, but on grounds on which neither of them could be accepted. The final communications from our special minister to Denmark afford further proofs of the good effects of his mission, and of the amicable disposition of the Danish Government. From Russia we James Madison. 123 have the satisfaction to receive assurances of continued friendship, and that it will not be affected by the rupture between the United States and Great Britain. Sweden also professes sentiments favorable to the subsisting harmony. The Indian tribes not under foreign instigations remain at peace, and receive the civilizing attentions which have proved so beneficial to them. The receipts into the Treasury during the year ending on the 30th of September last (1812) have exceeded $16,500,000, which have been sufficient to defray all the demands on the Treasury to that day, includ ing a necessary reimbursement of near three millions of the principal of the public debt. In these receipts is included a sum of near $5,850,000 received on account of the loans authorized by the acts of the last session; the whole sum actually obtained on loan amounts to $11,000,000, the residue of which, being receivable subsequent to the 30th of September last, will, together with the current revenue, enable us to defray all the expenses of this year. SECOND INAUGURAL, MARCH 4, 1813. About to add the solemnity of an oath to the obligation imposed by a second call to the station in which my country heretofore placed me, I find the impressions on me are strengthened by such an evidence that my faithful endeavors to discharge my arduous duties have been favorably estimated, and by a consideration of the momentous period at which the trust has been renewed. At an early day (May 25, 1813) after the close of the last session of Congress an offer was formally communicated from His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia of his mediation, as the common friend of the United States and Great Britain, for the purpose of facilitating a peace between them. The high character of the Emperor Alexander being a satisfactory pledge for the sincerity and impartiality of his offer, it was immediately accepted, and as a further proof of the disposition on the part of the United States to meet their adversary in honorable experiments for terminating the war it was determined to avoid intermediate delays incident to the distance of the parties by a definitive provision for the contemplated negotiation. Three of our eminent citizens were accordingly commissioned with the requisite powers to conclude a treaty of peace with persons clothed with like powers on the part of Great Britain. They are authorized also to enter into such conventional regulations of the commerce between 124 History of the United States. the two countries as may be mutually advantageous. The two envoys who were in the United States at the time of their appointment have proceeded to join their colleague already at St. Petersburg. I transmit (December n, 1812) to Congress copies of a letter to the Secretary J the Navy from Captain Decatur, of the frigate " United States," reporting his combat and capture of the British frigate " Mace donian." Too much praise can not be bestowed on that officer and his companions on board for the consummate skill and conspicuous valor by which this trophy has been added to the naval arms of the United States. I transmit also a letter from Captain Jones, who commanded the sloop of war " Wasp," reporting his capture of the British sloop of war " Frolic," after a close action, in which other brilliant titles will be seen to the public admiration and praise. A nation feeling what it owes to itself and to its citizens could never abandon to arbitrary violence on the ocean a class of them which give such examples of capacity and courage in defending their rights on that element, examples which ought to impress on the enemy, how-' ever brave and powerful, preference of justice and peace to hostility against a country whose prosperous career may be accelerated but can not be prevented by the assaults made on it. I lay before Congress (February 22, 1813) a letter with accompany ing documents, from Captain Bainbridge, now commanding the United States frigate " Constitution," reporting his capture and de struction of the British frigate " Java." The circumstances and the issue of this combat afford another example of the professional skill and heroic spirit which prevail in our naval service. The signal dis play of both by Captain Bainbridge, his officers and crew, commands the highest praise. This being a second instance in which the condition of the captured ship, by rendering it impossible to get her into port, has barred a contemplated reward of successful valor, I recommend to the con sideration of Congress the equity and propriety of a general provision allowing in such cases, both past and future, a fair proportion of the value which would accrue to the captors on the safe arrival and sale of the prize. FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 7, 1813. It was a just expectation, from the respect due to the distinguished Sovereign who had invited them by his offer of mediation, from the James Madison. 125 readiness with which the invitation was accepted on the part of the United States, and from the pledge to be found in an act of their Legislature for the liberality which their plenipotentiaries would carry into the negotiations, that no time would be lost by the British Govern ment in embracing the experiment for hastening a stop to the effusion of blood. The British cabinet, either mistaking our desire of peace for a dread of British power or misled by other fallacious calculations, has dis appointed this reasonable anticipation. No communications from our envoys having reached us, no information on the subject has been received from that source; but it is known that the mediation was declined. Under such circumstances a nation proud of its rights and conscious of its strength has no choice but an exertion of the one in support of the other. On Lake Erie, the squadron under command of Captain Perry having met the British squadron of superior force, a sanguinary conflict ended in the capture of the whole. The conduct of that officer, adroit as it was daring, and which was so well seconded by his com rades, justly entitles them to the admiration and gratitude of their country, and will fill an early page in its naval annals with a victory never surpassed in luster, however much it may have been in magni tude. The success on Lake Erie having opened a passage to the territory of the enemy, the officer commanding the Northwestern army trans ferred the war thither, and rapidly pursuing the hostile troops, fleeing with their savage associates, forced a general action, which quickly terminated in the capture of the British and dispersion of the savage force. This result is signally honorable to Major-General Harrison, by whose military talents it was prepared; to Colonel Johnson and his mounted volunteers, whose impetuous onset gave a decisive blow to the ranks of the enemy, and to the spirit of the volunteer militia, equally brave and patriotic, who bore an interesting part in the scene. The effect of these successes has been to rescue the inhabitants of Michigan from their oppressions. The cruelty of the enemy in enlisting the savages into a war with a nation desirous of mutual emulation in mitigating its calamities has not been confined to any one quarter. Wherever they could be turned 126 History of the United States. against us no exertions to effect it have been spared. On our south western border the Creek tribes, who, yielding to our persevering endeavors, were gradually acquiring more civilized habits, became the unfortunate victims of seduction. A war in that quarter has been the consequence, infuriated by a bloody fanaticism recently propagated among them. It was necessary to crush such a war before it could spread among the contiguous tribes and before it could favor enter prises of the enemy into that vicinity. With this view a force was called into the service of the United States from the States of Georgia and Tennessee, which, with the nearest regular troops and other corps from the Mississippi Territory, might not only chastise the savages into present peace but make a lasting impression on their fears. The progress of the expedition, as far as is yet known, corresponds with the martial zeal with which it was espoused, and the best hopes of a satisfactory issue are authorized by the complete success with which a well-planned enterprise was executed against a body of hostile savages by a detachment of the volunteer militia of Tennessee, under the gallant command of General Coffee, and by a still more important victory over a larger body of them, gained under the immediate com mand of Major-General Jackson, an officer equally distinguished for his patriotism and his military talents. The attacks of the enemy on Craney Island, on Fort Meigs, on Sacketts Harbor, and on Sandusky have been vigorously and success fully repulsed; nor have they in any case succeeded on either frontier excepting when directed against the peaceable dwelling of individuals or villages unprepared or undefended. On the other hand, the movements of the American Army have been followed by the reduction of York, and of Forts George, Erie, and Maiden; by the recovery of Detroit and the extinction of the Indian war in the West, and by the occupancy or command of a large portion of Upper Canada. Battles have also been fought on the borders of the St. Lawrence, which, though not accomplishing their entire objects, reflect honor on the discipline and prowess of our soldiery, the best auguries of eventual victory. If the war has increased the interruptions of our commerce, it has at the same time cherished and multiplied our manufactures so as to make us independent of all other countries for the more essential branches for which we ought to be dependent on none, and is even rapidly giving them an extent which will create additional staples in our future intercourse with foreign markets. James Madison. 127 SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, SEPTEMBER 20, 1814. On our side we can appeal to a series of achievements which have given new luster to the American arms. Besides the brilliant incidents in the minor operations of the campaign, the splendid victories gained on the Canadian side of the Niagara by the American forces under Major-General Brown and Brigadiers Scott and Gaines have gained for these heroes and their emulating companions the most unfading laurels, and, having triumphantly tested the progressive discipline of the American soldiery, have taught the enemy that the longer he protracts his hostile efforts the more certain and decisive will be his final discomfiture. On our southern border victory has continued also to follow the American standard. The bold and skillful operations of Major- General Jackson, conducting troops drawn from the militia of the States least distant, particularly of Tennessee, have subdued the prin cipal tribes of hostile savages, and, by establishing a peace with them, preceded by recent and exemplary chastisement, has best guarded against the mischief of their co-operation with the British enterprises which may be planned against that quarter of our country. Important tribes of Indians on our northwestern frontier have also acceded to stipulations which bind them to the interests of the United States and to consider our enemy as theirs also. In the recent attempt of the enemy on the city of Baltimore, de fended by militia and volunteers, aided by a small body of regulars and seamen, he was received with a spirit which produced a rapid retreat to his ships, whilst a concurring attack by a large fleet was successfully resisted by the steady and well-directed fire of the fort and batteries opposed to it. In another recent attack by a powerful force on our troops at Plattsburg, of which regulars made a part only, the enemy, after a perseverance for many hours, was finally compelled to seek safety in a hasty retreat, with our gallant bands pressing upon him. On the Lakes, so much contested throughout the war, the great exertions for the command made on our part have been well repaid. On Lake Ontario our squadron is now and has been for some time in a condition to confine that of the enemy to his own port, and to favor the operations of our land forces on that frontier. A part of the squadron on Lake Erie has been extended into Lake Huron, and has produced the advantage of displaying our command 128 History of the United States. on that lake also. One object of the expedition was the reduction of Mackinaw, which failed with the loss of a few brave men, among whom was an officer justly distinguished for his gallant exploits. The expedition, ably conducted by both the land and the naval com manders, was otherwise highly valuable in its effects. On Lake Champlain, where our superiority had for some time been undisputed, the British squadron lately came into action with the American, commanded by Captain Macdonough. It issued in the capture of the whole of the enemy's ships. The best praise for this officer and his intrepid comrades is in the likeness of his triumph to the illustrious victory which immortalized another officer and estab lished at a critical moment our command of another lake. On the ocean the pride of our naval arms had been amply supported. A second frigate has indeed fallen into the hands of the enemy, but the loss is hidden in the blaze of heroism with which she was defended. Captain Porter, who commanded her, and whose previous career had been distinguished by daring enterprise and by fertility of genius, maintained a sanguinary contest against two ships, one of them superior to his own, and under other severe disadvantages, till humanity tore down the colors which valor had nailed to the mast. This officer and his brave comrades have added much to the rising glory of the American flag, and have merited all the effusions of gratitude which their country is ever ready to bestow on the champions of its rights and of its safety. Two smaller vessels of war have also become prizes to the enemy, but by a superiority of force which sufficiently vindicates the reputa tion of their commanders, whilst two others, one commanded by Captain Warrington, the other by Captain Blakely, have captured British ships of the same class with a gallantry and good conduct which entitle them and their companions to a just share in the praise of their country. In spite of the naval force of the enemy accumulated on our coasts, our private cruisers also have not ceased to annoy his commerce and to bring their rich prizes into our ports, contributing thus, with other proofs, to demonstrate the incompetency and illegality of a blockade the proclamation of which is made the pretext for vexing and dis couraging the commerce of neutral powers with the United States. To meet the extended and diversified warfare adopted by the enemy, great bodies of militia have been taken into service for the public defense, and great expenses incurred. That the defense everywhere James Madison. 129 may be both more convenient and more economical, Congress will see the necessity of immediate measures for filling the ranks of the Regular Army and of enlarging the provision for special corps, mounted and unmounted, to be engaged for longer periods of service than are due from the militia. I earnestly renew, at the same time, a recommendation of such changes in the system of the militia as, by classing and disciplining for the most prompt and active service the portions most capable of it, will give to that great resource for the public safety all the requisite energy and efficiency. The moneys received into the Treasury during the nine months ending on the 30th day of June last amounted to $32,000,000, of which near eleven millions were the proceeds of the public revenue and the remainder derived from loans. The disbursements for public ex penditures during the same period exceeded $34,000,000, and left in the Treasury on the ist day of July near $5,000,000. The demands during the remainder of the present year already authorized by Con gress and the expenses incident to an extension of the operations of the war will render it necessary that large sums should be provided to meet them. From this view of the national affairs Congress will be urged to take up without delay as well the subject of pecuniary supplies as that of military force, and on a scale commensurate with the extent and the character which the war has assumed. It is not to be disguised that the situation of our country calls for its greatest efforts. Our enemy is powerful in men and in money, on the land and on the water. Availing himself of fortuitous advantages, he is aiming with his un divided force a deadly blow at our growing prosperity, perhaps at our national existence. He has avowed his purpose of trampling on the usages of civilized warfare, and given earnests of it in the plunder and wanton destruction of private property. In his pride of maritime dominion and in his thirst of commercial monopoly he strikes with peculiar animosity at the progress of our navigation and of our manu factures. His barbarous policy has not even spared those monuments of the arts and models of taste with which our country had enriched and embellished its infant metropolis. From such an adversary hostility in its greatest force and in its worst forms may be looked for. The American people will face it with the undaunted spirit which in their revolutionary struggle defeated his unrighteous projects. !3o History of the United States. I lay before Congress (February 18, 1815), copies of the treaty of peace and amity between the United States and His Britannic Majesty, which was signed by the commissioners of both parties at Ghent on the 24th of December, 1814. and the ratifications of which have been duly exchanged. While performing this act I congratulate our constituents upon an event which is highly honorable to the nation, and terminates with peculiar felicity a campaign signalized by the most brilliant successes. Congress will have seen (February 23, 1815), by the communication from the consul-general of the United States at Algiers laid before them on the 17th of November, 181 2, the hostile proceedings of the Dey against that functionary. These have been followed by acts of more overt and direct warfare against the citizens of the United States trading in the Mediterranean, some of whom are still detained in captivity, notwithstanding the attempts which have been made to ransom them, and are treated with the rigor usual on the coast of Barbary. The considerations which rendered it unnecessary and unimportant to commence hostile operations on the part of the United States being now terminated by the peace with Great Britain, which opens the prospect of an active and valuable trade of their citizens within the range of the Algerine cruisers, I recommend to Congress the ex pediency of an act declaring the existence of a state of war between the United States and the Dey and Regency of Algiers, and of such provisions as may be requisite for a vigorous prosecution of it to a successful issue. SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 1815. I have the satisfaction of being able to communicate the successful termination of the war which had been commenced against the United States by the Regency of Algiers. The squadron in advance on that service, under Commodore Decatur, lost not a moment after its arrival in the Mediterranean in seeking the naval force of the enemy then cruising in that sea, and succeeded in capturing two of his ships, one of them the principal ship, commanded by the Algerine admiral. The high character of the American commander was brilliantly sus tained on the occasion which brought his own ship into close action with that of his adversary, as was the accustomed gallantry of all the officers and men actually engaged. Having prepared the way by this demonstration of American skill and prowess, he hastened to the port James Monroe. j^i of Algiers, where peace was promptly yielded to his victorious force. In the terms stipulated the rights and honor of the United States were particularly consulted by a perpetual relinquishment on the part of the Dey of all pretensions to tribute from them. LIFE OF JAMES MADISON. JAMES MADISON was born in Orange county, Va., March 16, 175 1. His father, James Madison, was of English descent and one of the early settlers. He was fitted for college by private tutors, and in 1769 entered Princeton College, graduating in 1771, and remained another year pursuing special studies, after which he re turned to Virginia and began to practice law. Pie was elected member of the General Assembly of Virginia in 1776, and was appointed a member of the executive council in 1778. In the winter of 1779-1780 he was chosen delegate to the Continental Congress and continued an active and prominent member till 1784. In 1786 the legislature of Virginia appointed him delegate to a convention at Annapolis, Md., to devise a system of commercial regulations for all the States. Upon their recommendation a con vention of delegates from all the states was held in Philadelphia, May, 1787. Mr. Madison was a leading member of this con vention, which framed the Constitution of the United States. He was then a member of the convention of his State, which met to con sider the new Constitution for the United States. He was member of the House of Representatives in the First Congress, April, 1789, and continued in the House during both terms of Washington's admin istration. In 1794 he married Mrs. Dolly Paine Todd of Philadelphia. She was the widow of a Pennsylvania lawyer, and daughter of a Quaker, who had removed from Virginia to Philadelphia. Mrs. Madison was the youngest of the many mistresses of the White House. The office of Secretary of State, vacated by Jefferson in 1793, was offered to Madison, which he declined. In 1797 he retired from Con gress, and in 1798 accepted a seat in the Virginia assembly. Presi dent Jefferson appointed him Secretary of State in 1801, which office he held during Jefferson's entire administration. He was elected President in 1808, and re-elected in 1812. He retired from public life March 4, 181 7, and passed the remainder of his life at Montpelier, Orange county, Va., where he died June 28, 1836, and was buried. 132 History of the United States. HOME OF JAMES MONROE, LOUDON COUNTY, VIRGINIA. CHAPTER V MONROE'S GREAT NATIONAL DOCTRINE. By John R. Procter, President of the U. S. Civil Service Commission. T HAVE been requested to write my opinion as to what act or policy will ex-President Monroe be best remembered by posterity. Public men are remembered not so much for what they are as for what great policies or acts their names happen to be associated with. For instance, Mr. Gladstone, who has probably been the most conspicuous man in the English- speaking world for the last twenty-five years, and who is one of the truly great Englishmen, will not be remembered so long as Cecil Rhodes, because Cecil Rhodes will stand in the future as one of the great builders of the empire. When the great British Federation of South Africa becomes a popu lous and prosperous part of the British Empire, Cecil Rhodes will be looked James Monroe. j,, upon as the man who originated, organized, and started upon its successful career this great country. We have all recently witnessed a waning of the hold of Gladstone upon the English people. Only a few weeks ago Lord Kitchener asked the British public to contribute to the establishment of a school at Khartoum as a memorial to Gordon, and almost instantly a half million dollars were sub scribed by the British public, while at the same time a much smaller con tribution was requested for the purpose of building a memorial to Gladstone, and the smaller sum has not yet been forthcoming. The plain, simple-minded backwoodsman, Daniel Boone, occupies a large place in the history of this country, because he first pushed westward into the wilderness and established a home for our race beyond the Alleghenies, and learned lawyers and statesmen of that time who would have looked down with contempt upon the plain pioneer have been forgotten, while Boone is gratefully remembered by millions of Americans. James Monroe is peculiarly fortunate because his name is associated, first, with the great westward extension of our domain beyond the Mississippi, and secondly, with the enunciation of a great doctrine which must for all time dominate the Western Hemisphere. When President Jefferson saw the neces sity of securing the mouth of the Mississippi, in order to prevent the western backwoodsmen from going down the river and forcibly taking possession and thus precipitating a war with France — ¦ Jefferson being of a conservative and somewhat timid nature ¦ — attempted to divert this by purchasing from France the mouth of that river, and having confidence in the ability of Mr. Monroe, he sent him on a special mission to France for this purpose. As Napoleon was about to declare war against Great Britain, and knowing that the British fleet had weakened the sea power of both France and Spain and that it would be almost impossible to hold the mouth of the Mississippi river, he was in a frame of mind to treat favorably the proposition made by Mr. Monroe and our minister to France, Mr. Livingston. Through their combined efforts, but more particularly through the efforts of Mr. Monroe, we were enabled to secure for a small sum not only the mouth of the Mississippi but the vast territory extending west to the Rocky Mountains; thus fixing the destiny of this country and making it for all time the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere. After the crushing defeat of the French and Spanish navies by Nelson at Trafalgar, Great Britain was left mistress of the seas, which supremacy, how ever, was disputed in 1812 by the descendants of the sea rovers who had com menced to build a great empire in the Western Hemisphere. The Spanish colonies extending from Mexico to Cape Horn had succeeded in throwing off the Spanish yoke, but European powers, fearing the extension of republican 134 History of the United States. institutions, formed what is known as the " Holy Alliance " with Russia at its head, and determined to aid Spain in reconquering her American possessions. At this juncture Mr. Canning, the British minister, proposed to the American minister at London that the two countries should stand together in resisting, if necessary, by force of arms, this interference by European powers in American affairs, and assured him that Great Britain would lend efficient aid to the United States, if necessary, in preventing this. This proposition was forwarded by President Monroe to Mr. Jefferson at Monticello, who replied that this was the most important subject brought to his notice since the Declaration of Independence, and advised the President to accept the " proffered aid of England," and the celebrated Monroe Doctrine, which was promulgated by President Monroe in his message of December 2, 1823, was the result. This doctrine, which never had legislative sanction, has been accepted by the American people as a policy which must be enforced, if necessary, by a resort to arms, and has also been accepted by some of the foreign powers. This doctrine was re-enunciated when Napoleon III attempted to put a foreign king upon the throne of Mexico, and the United States placed an army upon the Mexican border and notified Napoleon that the French troops must be withdrawn and the Mexicans must decide for themselves what form of government they desired. It was again re-enunciated recently in the Venezuela question, and the interpretation put upon it by this Government was accepted by England, the only great sea power having anything like an ability to dispute it. A doctrine like this, which is accepted by the entire population of a great country, irrespective of party, is more potent than any mere legislative action, and for the enunciation of this great doctrine Monroe must for all times be honored as one of the great Americans. The potency of this doctrine should be an inspiration to our rulers for future times, showing them that great ends may be achieved by the firm and fearless enunciation of great doctrines by the President of a great people independent of legislative action. It has a material bearing on the tremendous problems soon to be solved in the Far East. James Monroe. 135 ADMINISTRATION OF 1817-1825. By James Monroe. first inaugural address, march 4, 1817. I SHOULD be destitute of feeling if I was not deeply affected by the strong proof which my fellow-citizens have given me of their confidence in calling me to the high office whose functions I am about to assume. From the commencement of our Revolution to the present day almost forty years have elapsed, and from the establishment of this Constitution twenty-eight. Through this whole term the Govern ment has been what may emphatically be called self-government. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 2, 1817. An arrangement which had been commenced by my predecessor with the British Government for the reduction of the naval force by Great Britain and the United States on the Lakes has been concluded, by which it is provided that neither party shall keep in service on Lake Champlain more than one vessel, on Lake Ontario more than one, and on Lake Erie and the upper lakes more than two, to be armed each with one cannon only, and that all the other armed vessels of both parties, of which an exact list is interchanged, shall be dis mantled. It is also agreed that the force retained shall be restricted in its duty to the internal purposes of each party, and that the arrange ment shall remain in force until six months shall have expired after notice given by one of the parties to the other of its desire that it should terminate. By this arrangement useless expense on both sides and, what is of still greater importance, the danger of collision between armed vessels in those inland waters, which was great, is prevented. I have the satisfaction also to state that the commissioners under the fourth article of the treaty of Ghent, to whom it was referred to decide to which party the several islands in the bay of Passamaquoddy belonged under the treaty of 1783, have agreed in a report, by which 136 History of the United States. all the islands in the possession of each party before the late war have been decreed to it. The commissioners acting under the other articles of the treaty of Ghent for the settlement of boundaries have also been engaged in the discharge of their respective duties, but have not yet completed them. The difference which arose between the two Govern ments under that treaty respecting the right of the United States to take and cure fish on the coasts of the British provinces north of our limits, which had been secured by the treaty of 1783, is still in negotiation. The negotiation with Spain for spoliations on our commerce and the settlement of boundaries remains essentially in the state it held. It has been evidently the policy of the Spanish Government to keep the negotiation suspended, and in this the United States have acquiesced, from an amicable disposition toward Spain and in the expectation that her Government would, from a sense of justice, finally accede to such an arrangement as would be equal between the parties. It was anticipated at an early stage that the contest between Spain and the colonies would become highly interesting to the United States. It was natural that our citizens should sympathize in events which affected their neighbors. It seemed probable also that the prosecu tion of the conflict along our coast and in contiguous countries would occasionally Interrupt our commerce and otherwise affect the persons and property of our citizens. These anticipations have been realized. Such injuries have been received from persons acting under authority of both the parties, and for which redress has in most instances been withheld. Through every stage of the conflict the United States have maintained an impartial neutrality, giving aid to neither of the parties in men, money, ships, or munitions of war. They have regarded the contest not in the light of an ordinary insurrection or rebellion, but as a civil war between parties nearly equal, having as to neutral powers equal rights. Our ports have been open to both, and every article the fruit of our soil or of the industry of our citizens which either was permitted to take has been equally free to the other. Should the colonies establish their independence, it is proper now to state that this Government neither seeks nor would accept from them any advantage in commerce or otherwise which will not be equally open to all other nations. The colonies will in that event become inde pendent states, free from any obligation to or connection with us which it may not then be their interest to form on the basis of a fair reciprocity. FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, CS/Ud*'0 / J > ^ Xsfs*-'?'-' t*f? x.-^x^^^ . . j„,^ &* ^ i2^i. «* y€c-t^L>X^^' t-trf/ffXn, ^ /£ a^ce^M ^M^* ^^<%? stfrz. j&**^, .a^^^/' ^-jJy^^/^tXX>^ *^> y?C*-X£' stt^S^^-^ j&t*J> : &&y -^-oc/iC s4<% ^^-^rt^v^*^ ^-^S-^^- ToF^™.DOCTRINE-PAGE FR°M PRESIDENT MON ROES SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE OF DECEMBER 2. 1823. James Monroe. 139 In the summer of the present year an expedition was set on foot against East Florida by persons claiming to act under the authority of some of the colonies, who took possession of Amelia Island, at the mouth of the St. Marys River, near the boundary of the State of Georgia. As this Province lies eastward of the Mississippi, and is bounded by the United States and the ocean on every side, and has been a subject of negotiation with the Government of Spain as an indemnity for losses by spoliation or in exchange for territory of equal value westward of the Mississippi, a fact well known to the world, it excited surprise that any countenance should be given to this measure by any of the colonies. As it would be difficult to reconcile it with the friendly relations existing between the United States and the colonies, a doubt was. entertained whether it had been authorized by them, or any of them. This doubt has gained strength by the circum stances which have unfolded themselves in the prosecution of the enterprise, which have marked it as a mere private, unauthorized adventure. Projected and commenced with an incompetent force, reliance seems to have been placed on what might be drawn, in de fiance of our laws, from within our limits ; and of late, as their resources have failed, it has assumed a more marked character of unfriendliness to us, the island being made a channel for the illicit introduction of slaves from Africa into the United States, an asylum for fugitive slaves from the neighboring States, and a port for smuggling of every kind. A similar establishment was made at an earlier period by persons of the same description in the Gulf of Mexico at a place called Galvezton, within the limits of the United States, as we contend, under the cession of Louisiana. This enterprise has been marked in a more signal manner by all the objectionable circumstances which character ized the other, and more particularly by the equipment of privateers which have annoyed our commerce, and by smuggling. These estab lishments, if ever sanctioned by any authority whatever, which is not believed, have abused their trust and forfeited all claim to considera tion. A just regard for the rights and interests of the United States required that they should be suppressed, and orders have been accord ingly issued to that effect. The imperious considerations which produced this measure will be explained to the parties whom it may in any degree concern. The payments which have been made into the Treasury show the very productive state of the public revenue. After satisfying the ap propriations made by law for the support of the civil Government and 140 History of the United States. of the military and naval establishments, embracing suitable pro vision for fortifications and for the gradual increase of the Navy, pay ing the interest of the public debt, and extinguishing more than eighteen millions of the principal, within the present year, it is estimated that a balance of more than $6,000,000 will remain in the Treasury on the ist day of January applicable to the current service of the ensuing year. The payments into the Treasury during the year 1818 on account of imposts and tonnage, resulting principally from duties which have accrued in the present year, may be fairly estimated at $20,000,000; the internal revenues at $2,500,000; the public lands at $1,500,000; bank dividends and incidental receipts at $500,000; making in the whole $24,500,000. The annual permanent expenditure for the support of the civil Government and of the Army and Navy, as now established by law, amounts to $11,800,000, and for the sinking fund to $10,000,000, mak ing in the whole $21,800,000, leaving an annual excess of revenue beyond the expenditure of $2,700,000, exclusive of the balance estimated to be in the Treasury on the ist day of January, 1818. In the present state of the Treasury the whole of the Louisiana debt may be redeemed in the year 1819, after which, if the public debt continues as it now is, above par, there will be annually about five millions of the sinking fund unexpended until the year 1825, when the loan of 1812 and the stock created by funding Treasury notes will be redeemable. It is also estimated that the Mississippi stock will be discharged during the year 1819 from the proceeds of the public lands assigned to that object, after which the receipts from those lands will annually add to the public revenue the sum of one million and a half, making the permanent annual revenue amount to $26,000,000, and leaving an annual excess of revenue after the year 1819 beyond the permanent authorized expenditure of more than $4,000,000. The militia force of the several States may be estimated at 800,000 men — iifantry, artillery, and cavalry. Great part of this force is armed, and measures are taken to arm the whole. An improvement in the organization and discipline of the militia is one of the great objects which claims the unremitted attention of* Congress. The regular force amounts nearly to the number required by law, and is stationed along the Atlantic and inland frontiers. Of the naval force it has been necessary to maintain strong squadrons in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Mexico. James Monroe. 141 From several of the Indian tribes inhabiting the country bordering on Lake Erie purchases have been made of lands on conditions very favorable to the United States, and, as it is presumed, not less so to the tribes themselves. By these purchases the Indian title, with moderate reservations, has been extinguished to the whole of the land within the limits of the State of Ohio, and to a part of that in the Michigan Territory and of the State of Indiana. From the Cherokee tribe a tract has been pur chased in the State of Georgia and an arrangement made by which, in exchange for lands beyond the Mississippi, a great part, if not the whole, of the land belonging to that tribe eastward of that river in the States of North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, and in the Alabama Territory will soon be acquired. By these acquisitions, and others that may reasonably be expected soon to follow, we shall be enabled to extend our settlements from the inhabited parts of the State of Ohio along Lake Erie into the Michigan Territory, and to connect our settlements by degrees through the State of Indiana and the Illinois Territory to that of Missouri. A similar and equally advantageous effect will soon be produced to the south, through the whole extent of the States and territory which border on the waters emptying into the Mississippi and the Mobile. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, NOVEMBER 6, l8l8. Our relations with Spain remain nearly in the state in which they were at the close of the last session. The convention of 1802, provid ing for the adjustment of a certain portion of the claims of our citizens for injuries sustained by spoliation, and so long suspended by the Spanish Government, has at length been ratified by it, but no arrange ment has yet been made for the payment of another portion of like claims, not less extensive or well founded, or for other classes of claims, or for the settlement of boundaries. These subjects have again been brought under consideration in both countries, but no agreement has been entered into respecting them. In the meantime events have occurred which clearly prove the ill effect of the policy which that Government has so long pursued on the friendly relations of the two countries, which it is presumed is at least of as much importance to Spain as to the United States tp maintain. A state of things has existed in the Floridas the tendency of which has been obvious to all who have paid the slightest attention to the progress of affairs in that quarter. Throughout the whole of those Provinces to which the 142 History of the United States. Spanish title extends the Government of Spain has scarcely been felt. Its authority has been confined almost exclusively to the walls of Pensacola and St. Augustine, within which only small garrisons have been maintained. Adventurers from every country, fugitives from justice, and ab sconding slaves have found an asylum there. Several tribes of Indians, strong in the number of their warriors, remarkable for their ferocity, and whose settlements extend to our limits, inhabit those Provinces. These different hordes of people, connected together, disregarding on the one side the authority of Spain, and protected on the other by an imaginary line which separates Florida from the United States, have violated our laws prohibiting the introduction of slaves, have practiced various frauds on our revenue, and committed every kind of outrage on our peaceable citizens which their proximity to us enabled them to perpetrate. The invasion of Amelia Island last year by a small band of adventurers, not exceeding 150 in number, who wrested it from the inconsiderable Spanish force stationed there, and held it several months, during which a single feeble effort only was made to recover it, which failed, clearly proves how completely extinct the Spanish authority had become, as the conduct of those adventurers while in possession of the island as distinctly shows the pernicious purposes for which their combination had been formed. This country had, in fact, become the theater of every species of lawless adventure. With little population of its own, the Spanish authority almost extinct, and the colonial governments in a state of revolution, having no pretension to it, and sufficiently employed in their own concerns, it was in a great measure derelict, and the object of cupidity to every adventurer. A system of buccaneering was rapidly organizing over it which menaced in its consequences the lawful com merce of every nation, and particularly of the United States, while it presented a temptation to every people, on whose seduction its success principally depended. In regard to the United States, the pernicious effect of this unlawful combination was not confined to the ocean; the Indian tribes have constituted the effective force in Florida. With these tribes these adventurers had formed at an early period a con nection with a view to avail themselves of that force to promote their own projects of accumulation and aggrandizement. It is to the inter ference of some of these adventurers, in misrepresenting the claims and titles of the Indians to land and in practicing on their savage propensities, that the Seminole war is principally to be traced. Men James Monroe. 143 who thus connect themselves with savage communities and stimulate them to war, which is always attended on their part with acts of barbarity the most shocking, deserve to be viewed in a worse light than the savages. They would certainly have no claim to an im munity from the punishment which, according to the rules of warfare practiced by the savages, might justly be inflicted on the savages themselves. If the embarrassments of Spain prevented her from making an in demnity to our citizens for so long a time from her treasury for their losses by spoliation and otherwise, it was always in her power to have provided it by the cession of this territory. Of this her Government has been repeatedly apprised, and the cession was the more to have been anticipated as Spain must have known that in ceding it she would in effect cede what had become of little value to her, and would likewise relieve herself from the important obligations secured by the treaty of 1795 and all other compromitments respecting it. If the United States, from consideration of these embarrassments, declined pressing their claims in a spirit of hostility, the motive ought at least to have been duly appreciated by the Government of Spain. It is well known to her Government that other powers have made to the United States an indemnity for like losses sustained by their citizens at the same epoch. There is nevertheless a limit beyond which this spirit of amity and forbearance can in no instance be justified. If it was proper to rely on amicable negotiation for an indemnity for losses, it would not have been so to have permitted the inability of Spain to fulfill her engage ments and to sustain her authority in the Floridas to be perverted by foreign adventurers and savages to purposes so destructive to the lives of our fellow-citizens and the highest interests of the United States. The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals, and whether the attack be made by Spain herself or by those who abuse her power, its obligation is not the less strong. The invaders of Amelia Island had assumed a popular and respected title under which they might approach and wound us. As their object was distinctly seen, and the duty imposed on the Executive by an existing law was profoundly felt, that mask was not permitted to protect them. It was thought incumbent on the United States to suppress the establishment, and it was accordingly done. The combination in Florida for the unlawful purposes stated, the acts perpetrated by that combination, and, above 144 History of the United States. all, the incitement of the Indians to massacre our fellow-citizens of every age and of both sexes, merited a like treatment and received it. In pursuing these savages to an imaginary line in the woods it would have been the height of folly to have suffered that line to protect them. Had that been done the war could never cease. Even if the territory had been exclusively that of Spain and her power complete over it, we had a right by the law of nations to follow the enemy on it and to subdue him there. But the territory belonged, in a certain sense at least, to the savage enemy who inhabited it; the power of Spain had ceased to exist over it, and protection was sought under her title by those who had committed on our citizens hostilities which she was bound by treaty to have prevented, but had not the power to prevent. To have stopped at that line would have given new en couragement to these savages and new vigor to the whole combination existing there in the prosecution of all its pernicious purposes. In suppressing the establishment at Amelia Island no unfriendliness was manifested toward Spain, because the post was taken from a force which had wrested it from her. The measure, it is true, was not adopted in concert with the Spanish Government or those in authority under it, because in transactions connected with the war in which Spain and the colonies are engaged it was thought proper in doing justice to the United States to maintain a strict impartiality toward both the belligerent parties without consulting or acting in concert with either. It gives me pleasure to state that the Governments of Buenos Ayres and Venezuela, whose names were assumed, have ex plicitly disclaimed all participation in those measures, and even the knowledge of them until communicated by this Government, and have also expressed their satisfaction that a course of proceedings had been suppressed which if justly imputable to them would dishonor their cause. In authorizing Major-General Jackson to enter Florida in pursuit of the Seminoles care was taken not to encroach on the rights of Spain. I regret to have to add that in executing this order facts were disclosed respecting the conduct of the officers of Spain in authority there in encouraging the war, furnishing munitions of war and other supplies to carry it on, and in other acts not less marked which evinced their participation in the hostile purposes of that combination and justified the confidence with which it inspired the savages that by those officers they would be protected. A conduct so incompatible with the friendly relations existing between the two countries, par- James Monroe. 145 ticularly with the positive obligation of the fifth article of the treaty of 1795, by which Spain was bound to restrain, even by force, those savages from acts of hostility against the United States, could not fail to excite surprise. The commanding general was convinced that he should fail in his object, that he should in effect accomplish nothing, if he did not deprive those savages of the resource on which they had calculated and of the protection on which they had relied in making the war. As all the documents relating to this occurrence will be laid before Congress, it is not necessary to enter into further detail respecting it. Although the reasons which induced Major-General Jackson to take these posts were duly appreciated, there was nevertheless no hesitation in deciding on the course which it became the Government to pursue. As there was reason to believe that the commanders of these posts had violated their instructions, there was no disposition to impute to their Government a conduct so unprovoked and hostile. An order was in consequence issued to the general in command there to deliver the posts — Pensacola unconditionally to any person duly authorized to receive it, and St. Marks, which is in the heart of the Indian country, on the arrival of a competent force to defend it against those savages and their associates. In entering Florida to suppress this combination no idea was enter tained of hostility to Spain, and however justifiable the commanding general was, in contequence of the misconduct of the Spanish officers, in entering St. Marks and Pensacola to terminate it by proving to the savages and their associates that they should not be protected even there, yet the amicable relations existing between the United States and Spain could not be altered by that act alone. By ordering the restitution of the posts those relations were preserved. To a change of them the power of the Executive is deemed incompetent; it is vested in Congress only. By this measure, so promptly taken, due respect was shown to the Government of Spain. The misconduct of her officers has not been imputed to her. She was enabled to review with candor her relations with the United States and her own situation, particularly in respect to the territory in question, with the dangers inseparable from it, and regarding the losses we have sustained for which indemnity has been so long withheld, and the injuries we have suffered through that territory, and her means of redress, she was likewise enabled to take with honor the course best calculated to do justice to the United States and to promote her own welfare. 146 History of the United Statfs. The civil war which has so long prevailed between Spain and the Provinces in South America still continues, without any prospect of its speedy termination. The information respecting the condition of those countries which has been collected by the commissioners recently returned from thence will be laid before Congress in copies of their reports, with such other information as has been received from other agents of the United States. It appears from these communications that the Government at Buenos Ayres declared itself independent in July, 1816, having pre viously exercised the power of an independent government, though in the name of the King of Spain, from the year 1810; that the Banda Oriental, Entre Rios, and Paraguay, with the city of Santa Fe, all of which are also independent, are unconnected with the present Government of Buenos Ayres; that Chili has declared itself inde pendent and is closely connected with Buenos Ayres; that Venezuela has also declared itself independent, and now maintains the conflict with various success; and that the remaining parts of South America, except Monte Video and such other portions of the eastern bank of the La Plata as are held by Portugal, are still in the possession of Spain or in a certain degree under her influence. By a circular note addressed by the ministers of Spain to the allied powers, with whom they are respectively accredited, it appears that the allies have undertaken to mediate between Spain and the South American Provinces, and that the manner and extent of their inter position would be settled by a congress which was to have met at Aix-la-Chapelle in September last. From the general policy and course of proceeding observed by the allied powers in regard to this contest it is inferred that they will confine their interposition to the expression of their sentiments, abstaining from the application of force. I state this impression that force will not be applied with the greater satisfaction because it is a course more consistent with justice and likewise authorizes a hope that the calamities of the war will be confined to the parties only, and will be of shorter duration. From the view taken of this subject, founded on all the information that we have been able to obtain, there is good cause to be satisfied with the course heretofore pursued by the United States in regard to this contest, and to conclude that it is proper to adhere to it, especially in the present state of affairs. I have great satisfaction in stating that our relations with France, Russia, and other powers continue on the most friendly basis. James Monroe. 147 In our domestic concerns we have ample cause of satisfaction. The • receipts into the Treasury during the three first quarters of the year have exceeded $17,000,000. After satisfying all the demands which have been made under ex isting appropriations, including the final extinction of the old 6 per cent, stock and the redemption of a moiety of the Louisiana debt, it is estimated that there will remain in the Treasury on the 1st day of January next more than $2,000,000. It has been necessary during the present year to maintain a strong naval force in the Mediterranean and in the Gulf of Mexico, and to send some public ships along the southern coast and to the Pacific Ocean. By these means amicable relations with the Barbary Powers have been preserved, our commerce has been protected, and our rights respected. The augmentation of our Navy is advancing with a steady progress toward the limit contemplated by law. I communicate with great satisfaction the accession of another State (Illinois) to our Union. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER J, 1819. Having informed Congress, on the 27th of February last, that a treaty of amity, settlement, and limits had been concluded in this city between the United States and Spain, and ratified by the competent authorities of the former, full confidence was entertained that it would have been ratified by His Catholic Majesty with equal promptitude and a like earnest desire to terminate on the conditions of that treaty the differences which had so long existed between the two countries. I regret to have to state that this reasonable expectation has been disappointed; that the treaty was not ratified within the time stipulated and has not since been ratified. As it is important that the nature and character of this unexpected occurrence should be distinctly understood, I think it my duty to communicate all the facts relating to it. Anxious to prevent all future disagreement with Spain by giving the most prompt effect to the treaty which had been thus concluded, and particularly by the establishment of a government in Florida which should preserve order there, the minister of the United States who had been recently appointed to His Catholic Majesty, and to whom the 148 History of the United States. ratification by his Government had been committed to be exchanged for that of Spain, was instructed to transmit the latter to the Depart ment of State as soon as obtained, by a public ship subjected to his order for the purpose. Unexpected delay occurring in the ratification by Spain, he requested to be informed of the cause. It was stated in reply that the great importance of the subject, and a desire to obtain explanations on certain points which were not specified, had produced the delay, and that an envoy would be dispatched to the United States to obtain such explanations of this Government. The minister of the United States offered to give full explanation on any point on which it might be desired, which proposal was declined. Having com municated this result to the Department of State in August last, he was instructed, notwithstanding the disappointment and surprise which it produced, to inform the Government of Spain that if the treaty should be ratified and transmitted here at any time before the meeting of Congress it would be received and have the same effect as if it had been ratified in due time. In the course which the Spanish Government nave on this occasion thought proper to pursue it is satisfactory to know that they have not been countenanced by any other European power. On the contrary, the opinion and wishes both of France and Great Britain have not been withheld either from the United States or from Spain, and have not been unequivocal in favor of the ratification. There is also reason to believe that the sentiments of the Imperial Government of Russia have been the same, and that they have also been made known to the cabinet of Madrid. In the civil war existing between Spain and the Spanish Provinces in this hemisphere the greatest care has been taken to enforce the laws intended to preserve an impartial neutrality. Our ports have continued to be equally open to both parties and on the same condi tions, and our citizens have been equally restrained from interfering in favor of either to the prejudice of the other. The progress of the war, however, has operated manifestly in favor of the colonies. Buenos Ayres still maintains unshaken the independence which it declared in 1816, and has enjoyed since 1810. Like success has also lately attended Chili and the Provinces north of the La Plata border ing on it, and likewise Venezuela. This contest has from its commencement been very interesting to other powers, and to none more so than to the United States. A virtuous people may and will confine themselves within the limit of a James Monroe. 149 strict neutrality; but it is not in their power to behold a conflict so vitally important to their neighbors, without the sensibility and sympathy which naturally belong to such a case. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, NOVEMBER 14, 1820. On the 30th of September, 1815, the funded and floating debt of the United States was estimated at $119,635,558. If to this sum be added the amount of 5 per cent, stock subscribed to the Bank of the United States, the amount of Mississippi stock and of the stock which was issued subsequently to that date, the balances ascertained to be due to certain States for military services and to individuals for supplies fur nished and services rendered during the late war, the public debt may be estimated as amounting at that date, and as afterward liqui dated, to $158,713,049. On the 30th of September, 1820, it amounted to $91,993,883, having been reduced in that interval by payments $66,879,165. During this term the expenses of the Government of the United States were likewise defrayed in every branch of the civil, mili tary, and naval establishments; the public edifices in this city have been rebuilt with considerable additions; extensive fortifications have been commenced, and are in a train of execution; permanent arsenals and magazines have been erected in various parts of the Union; our Navy has been considerably augmented, and the ordnance, muni tions of war, and stores of the Army and Navy, which were much exhausted during the war, have been replenished. The treaty (February 22, 1821) of amity, settlement, and limits between the United States and Spain, signed on the 22d of February, 1819, having been ratified by the contracting parties, and the ratifica tions having been exchanged, it is communicated to Congress, that such legislative measures may be taken as they shall judge proper for carrying the same into execution. SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 5, l82I. 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 re-election to this high trust, has excited in my bosom. IS° History of the United States. FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, l82I. It is understood that the colonies in South America have had great success during the present year in the struggle for their independence. The new Government of Colombia has extended its territories and considerably augmented its strength, and at Buenos Ayres, where civil dissensions had for some time before prevailed greater harmony and better order appear to have been established. Equal success has at tended their efforts in the Provinces on the Pacific. It has long been manifest that it would be impossible for Spain to reduce these colonies by force, and equally so that no conditions short of their independence would be satisfactory to them. It may, therefore, be presumed, and it is earnestly hoped, that the Government of Spain, guided by en lightened and liberal councils, will find it to comport with its interests and due to its magnanimity to terminate this exhausting controversy on that basis. To promote this result by friendly counsel with the Government of Spain will be the object of the Government of the United States. SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, l822. On the 24th of June last a convention of navigation and commerce was concluded in this city between the United States and France by ministers duly authorized for the purpose. The sanction of the Ex ecutive having been given to this convention under a conviction that, taking all its stipulations into view, it rested essentially on a basis of reciprocal and equal advantage, I deemed it my duty, in compliance with the authority vested in the Executive by the second section of the act of the last session of the 6th of May, concerning navigation, to suspend by proclamation until the end of the next sesion of Congress the operation of the act entitled " An act to impose a new tonnage duty on French ships and vessels, and for other purposes," and to suspend likewise all other duties on French vessels or the goods imported in them which exceeded the duties on American vessels and on similar goods imported in them. The prohibition which had been imposed on the commerce between the United States and the British colonies in the West Indies and on this continent has likewise been removed. Satisfactorv evidence hav ing been adduced that the ports of those colonies had been opened to James Monroe^ t gt the vessels of the United States by an act of the British Parliament bearing date on the 24th of June last, on the conditions specified therein, I deemed it proper, in compliance with the provision of the first section of the act of the last session above recited, to declare, by proclamation bearing date on the 24th of August last, that the ports of the United States should thenceforward and until the end of the next session of Congress be opened to the vessels of Great Britain em ployed in that trade, under the limitation specified in that proclamation. In compliance with an act of the last session a Territorial govern ment has been established in Florida on the principles of our system. By this act the inhabitants are secured in the full enjoyment of their rights and liberties, and to admission into the Union, with equal participation in the Government with the original States on the con ditions heretofore prescribed to other Territories. When we see that a civil war of the most frightful character rages from the Adriatic to the Black Sea; that strong symptoms of war ap pear in other parts, proceeding from causes which, should it break out, may become general and be of long duration; that the war still continues between Spain and the independent governments, her late Provinces, in this hemisphere; that it is likewise menaced between Portugal and Brazil, in consequence of the attempt of the latter to dis member itself from the former, and that a system of piracy of great ex tent is maintained in the neighboring seas, which will require equal vigilance and decision to suppress it, the reasons for sustaining the at titude which we now hold and for pushing forward all our measures of defense with the utmost vigor appear to be to acquire new force. SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 2, 1823. The negotiation which had been long depending with the French Government on several important subjects, and particularly for a just indemnity for losses sustained in the late wars by the citizens of the United States under unjustifiable seizures and confiscations of their property, has not as yet had the desired effect. As this claim rests on the same principle with others which have been admitted by the French Government, it is not perceived on what just ground it can be rejected. A minister will be immediately appointed to proceed to France and resume the negotiation on this and other subjects which may arise between the two nations. 15^ History of *the United States. At the proposal of the Russian Imperial Government, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and instruc tions have been transmitted to the minister of the United States at St. Petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this con tinent. A similar proposal had been made by His Imperial Majesty to the Government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The Government of the United States has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the friendship of the Emperor and their solici tude to cultivate the best understanding with his Government. In the discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrange ments by which they may terminate the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests ot the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and main tain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future coloni zation by any European powers. Since the close of the last session of Congress the commissioners and arbitrators for ascertaining and determining the amount of indem nification which may be due to citizens of the United States under the decision of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, in con formity to the convention concluded at St. Petersburg on the 12th °f Juty; J822, have assembled in this city, and organized themselves as a board for the performance of the duties assigned to them by that treaty. The commission constituted under the eleventh article of the treaty of the 22d of February, 1819, between the United States and Spain is also in session here, and as the term of three years limited by the treaty for the execution of the trust will expire before the period of the next regular meeting of Congress, the attention of the Legislature will be drawn to the measures which may be necessary to accomplish the objects for which the commission was instituted. In compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives adopted at their last session, instructions have been given to all the ministers of the United States accredited to the powers of Europe and America to propose the proscription of the African slave trade by classing it under the denomination, and inflicting on its perpetrators the punishment, of piracy. Should this proposal be acceded to, it is not doubted that this odious and criminal practice will be promptly James Monroe. !g3 and entirely suppressed. It is earnestly hoped that it will be acceded to, from the firm belief that it is the most effectual expedient that can be adopted for the purpose. At the commencement of the recent war between France and Spain it was declared by the French Government that it would grant no commissions to privateers, and that neither the commerce of Spain herself nor of neutral nations should be molested by the naval force of France, except in the breach of a lawful blockade. This declara tion, which appears to have been faithfully carried into effect, con curring with principles proclaimed and cherished by the United States from the first establishment of their independence, suggested the hope that the time had arrived when the proposal for adopting it as a per manent and invariable rule in all future maritime wars might meet the favorable consideration of the great European powers. Instruc tions have accordingly been given to our ministers with France, Russia, and Great Britain to make those proposals to their respective Governments, and with the friends of humanity reflect on the essential amelioration to the condition of the human race which would result from the abolition of private war on the sea and on the great facility by which it might be accomplished, requiring only the consent of a few sovereigns, an earnest hope is indulged that these overtures will meet with an attention animated by the spirit in which they were made, and that they will ultimately be successful. * In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to them selves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our de fense. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective Governments; and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing be tween the United States and those powers to declare that we should * This paragraph of Monroe's seventh annual message Is what is now known e,s the Monroe Do^rlne, 154 History of the United States. consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any por tion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Govern ments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just prin ciples, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the pur pose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the mani festation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. In the war between those new Governments and Spain we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in the judgment of the competent authorities of this Government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the United States indis pensable to their security. The late events in Spain and Portugal show that Europe is still un settled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be adduced than that the allied powers should have thought it proper, on any principle satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed by force in the internal concerns of Spain. To what extent such interposition may be carried, on the same principle, is a question in which all independent powers whose governments differ from theirs are interested, even those most remote, and surely none more so than the United States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers ; to consider the government de facto as the legiti mate government for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy, meeting in all instances the just claims of every power, submitting to injuries from none. But in regard to those continents circumstances are eminently and conspicuously different. It is impossible that the allied powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endangering our peace and happiness ; nor can any one believe that our southern brethern, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such interposition in any form with indifference. If we look to the comparative strength and resources of Spain and those new Governments, and their distance from each other, it must be '< c'/f // /, X/ /'if j'c'7/(C/c^ tffa/tS < v' <>X2dc-iM'?tia/f/r/t>. */'/,,-,¦>,< / / ,-/./ f ./.{<¦<> J f**fe ¦—?&>?¦, /*¦*'- J/^/Ai ,; /,{<- J< /.-/, ''£• *-Xfa* /¦' _ ;, ' '' /' /.-/ti-ll, .'VIC .'Tz ,"2 .'.'A -ii'v- L'< c '/I I- A £< // .V/.-.'^ tT/SiSt' Xf-t'ri/J. ,\ ..'rs7>t. <-.-. ¦*:'- A£-. '¦ t<.:-^ .>?* 'xs, /¦' ?>; ,;?*. *\i '<:< .jtA.Sss7*.r * S/ ' ¦ ¦ y y ¦ j-t & S7*. ¦ /¦ *.\'*'i. £ S 'ir/tSt'y /***+ *'r*Q t/*.a <- * <~* /*¦ 2 ' Xi. i ,/hj/.- < /. ?i,'.i s.s : is .¦¦.-ti.-l ,*'.,- /sm.'s,... Xs- fa: ft sf/s-sX ,,.-;;- /-is Xh','^. .-_ . y.-li^ si X'*-.'tX.A fj / / * X J_/,^ ts '.'7. A risse Js> isil.i ,:,, As* . ,-,-s. '. )-ss.\S.. s"u-. ' J ,,.s,/,.-^ 5 /¦.;:-sA.' /•«-/. .ss'/.si Xs .'sAis-r..' .; sy / ' S /l 'ii.'-.'L- sK'a*'.-' , ~ >. . t '/.srt. ,1.1,. -Xjc .'., .: ¦ -,.-. /• f ¦ / / , / ,'e ,. /c .; ( t ,ls..X, 7/s /.'/. ;'.-i X S i-s-j. /, ,, sXe s ','? * ss Ar st'jt sKr si i Xi t Ctcy sry X/.'s. is /.j Js- -./ _ Xsss.- .''s /,<¦/. X i si.". . '/S./C / /. XS/4 'f-/ 'if S Sfy. .rU I .-*/ /fi'sflJ sVis AA sVt.'tls, sf& is's-.rf /7 s '. s". 7 est- .'< I. A At fs'-r. A ' f* <"^/<--, i I s'L s*y / X? * l 'i/l . Aa t 's- /. ss'sr sr . •£ i' '' / / / /At '/fa/is/cXd *f/st AXP ;;.^.r.,'V.''- ^^z^. seventh president of the united states. %? \ &m \ CARTOON ON ANDREW JACKSON'S CAMPAIGN FOR HIS SECOND TERM, PICTURING HIS POWER OF CONTROLLING MEN AGAINST THEIR OWN WILL. §? ^ CARTOON ON ANDREW JACKSON'S SECOND TERM CAMPAIGN, SHOWIHG HOW HE PLEASED THE MASSES BY OVERTHROWING THE NATIONAL BANK MONOPOLY. Andrew Jackson. 187 pie requires — such a one only under which our states may remain for ages to come united, prosperous and free." It is in view of such utterances as these that I say that Jackson's future place in history will depend upon his utterances as a statesman, rather than his deeds as a warrior. Caution had been the admonition of the thoughtful and pains taking Monroe, " caution " was the keynote of the policy upon this important question recommended by the impetuous and dauntless Jackson. History of the United States. ADMINISTRATION OF 1829-1837. By Andrew Jackson. first inaugural address, march 4, 1829. AS the instrument of the Federal Constitution it will devolve on me for a stated period to execute the laws of the United States, to superintend their foreign and their confederate relations, to manage their revenue, to command their forces, and, by communi cations to the Legislature, to watch over and to promote their interests generally. And the principles of action by which I shall endeavor to accomplish this circle of duties it is now proper for me briefly to explain. In administering the laws of Congress I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power, trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office without transcending its authority. With foreign nations it will be my study to preserve peace and to cultivate friendship on fair and honorable terms, and in the adjustment of any differences that may exist or arise to exhibit the forbearance becoming a powerful nation rather than the sensibility belonging to a gallant people. The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of Executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform, which will require particularly the correction of those abuses that have brought the patronage of the Federal Government into conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those causes which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment and have placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent hands. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 8, 1829. I consider it one of the most urgent of my duties to bring to your attention the propriety of amending that part of our Constitution which relates to the election of President and Vice-President. Our system of government was by its framers deemed an experiment, and they, therefore, consistently provided a mode of remedying its defects. Andrew Jackson. 189 To the people belongs the right of electing their Chief Magistrate; it was never designed that their choice should in any case be defeated, either by the intervention of electoral colleges or by the agency con fided, under certain contingencies, to the House of Representatives. Experience proves that in proportion as agents to execute the will of the people are multiplied there is danger of their wishes being frus trated. Some may be unfaithful; all are liable to err. So far, there fore, as the people can with convenience speak, it is safer for them to express their own will. The nUmber of aspirants to the Presidency and the diversity of the interests which may influence their claims leave little reason to expect a choice in the first instance, and in that event the election must de volve on the House of Representatives, where it is obvious the will of the people may not be always ascertained, or, if ascertained, may not be regarded. From the mode of voting by States the choice is to be made by 24 votes, and it may often occur that one of these will be con trolled by an individual Representative. Honors and offices are at the disposal of the successful candidate. Repeated ballotings may make it apparent that a single individual holds the cast in his hand. May he not be tempted to name his reward? But even without corruption, supposing the probity of the Representative to be proof against the powerful motives by which it may be assailed, the will of the people is still constantly liable to be misrepresented. But although no evil of this character should result from such a per version of the first principle of our system — that the majority is to govern — it must be very certain that a President elected by a minority can not enjoy the confidence necessary to the successful discharge of his duties. In this as in all other matters of public concern policy requires that as few impediments as possible should exist to the free operation of the public will. Let us, then, endeavor so to amend our system that the office of Chief Magistrate may not be conferred upon any citizen but in pursuance of a fair expression of the will of the majority. I would therefore recommend such an amendment of the Constitu tion as may remove all intermediate agency in the election of the Presi dent and Vice-President. The mode may be so regulated as to pre serve to each State its present relative weight in the election, and a failure in the first attempt may be provided for by confining the sec ond to a choice between the two highest candidates. 190 History of the United States. No very considerable change has occurred during the recess of Congress in the condition of either our agriculture, commerce, or manufactures. The operation of the tariff has not proved so injurious to the two former or as beneficial to the two latter as was anticipated. Importations of foreign goods have not been sensibly diminished, while domestic competition, under an illusive excitement, has increased the production much beyond the demand for home consumption. The consequences have been low prices, temporary embarrassment, and partial loss. That such of our manufacturing establishments as are based upon capital and are prudently managed will survive the shock and be ultimately profitable there is no good reason to doubt. To regulate its conduct so as to promote equally the prosperity of these three cardinal interests is one of the most difficult tasks of Gov ernment; and it may be regretted that the complicated restrictions which now embarrass the intercourse of nations could not by common consent be abolished, and commerce allowed to flow in those channels to which individual enterprise, always its surest guide, might direct it. But we must ever expect selfish legislation in other nations, and are therefore compelled to adapt our own to their regulations in the man ner best calculated to avoid serious injury and to harmonize the con flicting interests of our agriculture, our commerce, and our manufac tures. Under these impressions I invite your attention to the exist ing tariff, believing that some of its provisions require modification. The general rule to be applied in graduating the duties upon articles of foreign growth or manufacture is that which will place our own in fair competition with those of other countries ; and the inducements to advance even a step beyond this point are controlling in regard to those articles which are of primary necessity in time of war. When we reflect upon the difficulty and delicacy of this operation, it is im portant that it should never be attempted but with the utmost caution. Frequent legislation in regard to any branch of industry, affecting its •value, and by which its capital may be transferred to new channels, must always be productive of hazardous speculation and loss. In deliberating, therefore, on these interesting subjects local feelings and prejudices should be merged in the patriotic determination to pro mote the great interests of the whole. All attempts to connect them with the party conflicts of the day are necessarily injurious, and should be discountenanced. Ouractionupon themshould be under the control of higher and purer motives. Legislation subjected to such influences can never be just, and will not long retain the sanction of a people Andrew Jackson. 191 whose active patriotism is not bounded by sectional limits nor insensi ble to that spirit of concession and forbearance which gave life to our political compact and still sustains it. Discarding all calculations of political ascendency, the North, the South, the East, and the West should unite in diminishing any burden of which either may justly complain. The agricultural interest of our country is so essentially connected with every other and so superior in importance to them all that it is scarcely necessary to invite to it your particular attention. It is prin cipally as manufactures and commerce tend to increase the value of agricultural productions and to extend their application to the wants and comforts of society that they deserve the fostering care of Government. Looking forward to the period, not far distant, when a sinking fund will no longer be required, the duties of those articles of importation which can not come in competition with our own productions are the first that should engage the attention of Congress in the modification of the tariff. Of these, tea and coffee are the most prominent. They enter largely into the consumption of the country, and have become articles of necessity to all classes. A reduction, therefore, of the exist ing duties will be felt as a common benefit, but like all other legislation connected with commerce, to be efficacious and not injurious it should be gradual and certain. The public prosperity is evinced in the increased revenue arising from the sales of the public lands and in the steady maintenance of that produced by imposts and tonnage, notwithstanding the additional duties imposed by the act of 19th May, 1828, and the unusual importa tions in the early part of that year. The balance in the Treasury on January 1, 1829, was $5,972,435.81. The receipts of the current year are estimated at $24,602,230 and the expenditures for the same time at $26,164,595, leaving a balance in the Treasury on the ist of January next of $4,410,070.81. There will have been paid on account of the public debt during the present year the sum of $12,405,005.80, reducing the whole debt of the Government on the ist of January next to $48,565,406.50, including seven millions of 5 per. cent, stock subscribed to the Bank of the United States. The payment on account of public debt made on the ist of July last was $8,715,462.87. I suggest for your consideration the propriety of setting apart an ample district west of the Mississippi, and without the limits of any 192 History of the United States. State or Territory now formed, to be guaranteed to the Indian tribes as long as they shall occupy it, each tribe having a distinct control over the portion designated for its use. There they may be secured in the enjoyment of governments of their own choice, subject to no other control from the United States than such as may be necessary to preserve peace on the frontier and between the several tribes. There the benevolent may endeavor to teach them the arts of civilization, and, by promoting union and harmony among them, to raise up an interesting commonwealth, destined to perpetuate the race and to attest the humanity and justice of this Government. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1830. An arrangement has been effected with Great Britain in relation to the trade between the United States and her West India and North American colonies which has settled a question that has for years af forded matter for contention and almost uninterrupted discussion, and has been the subject of no less than six negotiations, in a manner which promises results highly favorable to the parties. This arrangement secures to the United States every advantage asked by them, and which the state of the negotiation allowed us to insist upon. The trade will be placed upon a footing decidedly more favorable to this country than any on which it ever stood, and our commerce and navigation will enjoy in the colonial ports of Great Britain every privilege allowed to other nations. The injury to the commerce of the United States resulting from the exclusion of our vessels from the Black Sea and the previous footing of mere sufferance upon which even the limited trade enjoyed by us with Turkey has hitherto been placed have for a long time been a source of much solicitude to this Government, and several endeavors have been made to obtain a better state of things. Sensible of the importance of the object, I felt it my duty to leave no proper means unemployed to acquire for our flag the same privileges that are en joyed by the principal powers of Europe. Commissioners were con sequently appointed to open a negotiation with the Sublime Porte, Not long after the member of the commission who went directly from the United States had sailed, the account of the treaty of Adrianople, bv which one of the objects in view was supposed to be secured, reached this country. The Black Sea was understood to be opened to us. Under the supposition that this was the case, the additional facili ties to be derived from the establishment of commercial regulations Andrew Jackson. 193 with the Porte were deemed of sufficient importance to require a prosecution of the negotiation as originally contemplated. It was therefore persevered in, and resulted in a treaty, which will be forth with laid before the Senate. By its provisions a free passage is secured, without limitation of time, to the vessels, of the United States to and from the Black Sea, including the navigation thereof, and our trade with Turkey is placed on the footing of the most favored nation. The latter is an arrange ment wholly independent of the treaty of Adrianople, and the former derives much value, not only from the increased security which under any circumstances it would give to the right in question, but from the fact, ascertained in the course of the negotiation, that by the construc tion put upon that treaty by Turkey the article relating to the passage of the Bosphorus is confined to nations having treaties with the Porte. The most friendly feelings appear to be entertained by the Sultan, and an enlightened disposition is evinced by him to foster the intercourse between the two countries by the most liberal arrangements. This disposition it will be our duty and interest to cherish. In connection with the condition of our finances, it affords me pleas ure to remark that judicious and efficient arrangements have been made by the Treasury Department for securing the pecuniary responsi bility of the public officers and the more punctual payment of the pub lic dues. The Revenue Cutter Service has been organized and placed on a good footing, and aided by an increase of inspectors at exposed points, and regulations adopted under the act of May, 1830, for the in spection and appraisement of merchandise, has produced much im provement in the execution of the laws and more security against the commission of frauds upon the revenue. Abuses in the allowances for fishing bounties have also been corrected, and a material saving in that branch of the service thereby effected. In addition to these improve ments the system of expenditure for sick seamen belonging to the mer chant service has been revised, and being rendered uniform and eco nomical the benefits of the fund applicable to this object have been use fully extended. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 183I. To China and the East Indies our commerce continues in its usual extent, and with increased facilities which the credit and capital of our merchants afford by substituting bills for payments in specie. A dar ing outrage having been committed in those seas by the plunder of one 194 History of the United States. of our merchantmen engaged in the pepper trade at a port in Sumatra, and the piratical perpetrators belonging to tribes in such a state of so ciety that the usual course of proceedings between civilized nations could not be pursued, I forthwith dispatched a frigate with orders to require immediate satisfaction for the injury and indemnity to the sufferers. An important trade has been opened with mutual benefit from St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, by caravans to the interior Provinces of Mexico. This commerce is protected in its progress through the Indian countries by the troops of the United States, which have been permitted to escort the caravans beyond our boundaries to the settled part of the Mexican territory. Our treaty with this Republic continues to be faithfully observed, and promises a great and beneficial commerce between the two coun tries — a commerce of the greatest inportance if the magnificent pro ject of a ship canal through the dominions of that State from the At lantic to the Pacific Ocean, now in serious contemplation shall be executed. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 4, 1832. Owing to the continued success of our commercial enterprise, which has enabled the merchants to fulfill their engagements with the Gov ernment, the receipts from customs during the year will exceed the estimate presented at the last session, and with the other means of the Treasury will prove fully adequate not only to meet the increased ex penditures resulting from the large appropriations made by Congress, but to provide for the payment of all the public debt which is at pres ent redeemable. It is now estimated that the customs will yield to the Treasury during the present year upward of $28,000,000. The public lands, however, have proved less productive than was anticipated, and according to present information will not much exceed two millions. The expenditures for all objects other than the public debt are esti mated to amount during the year to about sixteen millions and a half, while a still larger sum, viz., $18,000,000, will have been applied to the principal and interest of the public debt. It is expected, however, that in consequence of the reduced rates of duty which will take effect after the 3d of March next there will be a considerable falling off in the revenue from customs in the year 1833. It will nevertheless be amply sufficient to provide for all the wants of the public service, estimated even upon a liberal scale, and for Andrew Jackson. joe the redemption and purchase of the remainder of the public debt. On the ist of January next the entire public debt of the United States, funded and unfunded, will be reduced to within a fraction of $7,000,000, of which $2,227,363 are not of right redeemable until the ist of January, 1834, and $4,735,296 not until the 2d of January, 1835. The commissioners of the sinking funds, however, being invested with full authority to purchase the debt as the market price, and the means of the Treasury being ample, it may be hoped that the whole will be extinguished within the year 1833. SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1833. The will of the American people, expressed through their unsolicited suffrages, calls me to pass through the solemnities preparatory to tak ing upon myself the duties of President of the United States for an-' other term. In the domestic policy of this Government there are two objects which especially deserve the attention of the people and their repre sentatives, and which have been and will continue to be the subjects of my increasing solicitude. They are the preservation of the rights of the several States and the integrity of the Union. FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, 1833. It is my duty on this occasion to call your attention to the destruc tion of the public building occupied by the Treasury Department, which happened since the last adjournment of Congress. I take pleasure, however, in stating here that by the laudable exertions of the officers of the Department and many of the citizens of the District but few papers were lost, and none that will materially affect the pub lic interest. The public convenience requires that another building should be erected as soon as practicable, and in providing for it it will be ad visable to enlarge in some manner the accommodations for the public officers of the several Departments, and to authorize the erection of suitable depositories for the safe-keeping of the public documents and records. Since the last adjournment of Congress the Secretary of the Treas ury has directed the .money of the United States to be deposited in certain State banks designated bv him, and he will immediately lay before you his reasons for this direction. I concur with him entirely 196 History of the United States. in the view he has taken of the subject, and some months before the removal I urged upon the Department the propriety of taking that step. The near approach of the day on which the charter will expire, as well as the conduct of the bank, appeared to me to call for this measure upon the high considerations of public interest and public duty. The extent of its misconduct, however, although known to be great, was not at that time fully developed by proof. It was not until late in the month of August that I received from the Government di rectors an official report establishing beyond question that this great and powerful institution had been actively engaged in attempting to influence the elections of the public officers by means of its money, and that, in violation of the express provisions ofws charter, it had by a formal resolution placed its funds at the disposition of its presi dent to be employed in sustaining the political power of the bank. A copy of this resolution is contained in the report of the Government directors before referred to, and however the object may be disguised by cautious language, no one can doubt that this money was in truth intended for electioneering purposes, and the particular uses to which it was proved to have been applied abundantly show that it was so understood. Not only was the evidence complete as to the past application of the money and power of the bank to electioneering pur poses, but that the resolution of the board of directors authorized the same course to be pursued in future. It being thus established by unquestionable proof that the Bank of the United States was converted into a permanent electioneering en gine, it appeared to me that the path of duty which the executive department of the Government ought to pursue was not doubtful. As by the terms of the bank charter no officer but the Secretary of the Treasury could remove the deposits, it seemed to me that this author ity ought to be at once exerted to deprive that great corporation of the support and countenance of the Government in such an use of its funds and such an exertion of its power. In this point of the case the question is distinctly presented whether the people of the United States are to govern through representatives chosen by their unbiased suffrages or whether the money and power of a great corporation are to be secretly exerted to influence their judgment and control their decisions. It must now be determined whether the bank is to have its candidates for all offices in the country, from the highest to the lowest, or whether candidates on both sides of political questions shall be brought forward as heretofore and supported by the usual means. Andrew Jackson. 197 At this time the efforts of the bank to control public opinion, through the distresses of some and the fears of others, are equally apparent, and, if possible, more objectionable. By a curtailment of 'its accommodations more rapid than any emergency requires, and even while it retains specie to an almost unprecedented amount in its vaults, it is attempting to produce great embarrassment in one portion of the community, while through presses known to have been sus tained by its money it attempts by unfounded alarms to create a panic in all. Information having been received (June 21, 1834) of the death of General Lafayette, the President considers it due to his own feelings as well as to the character and services of that lamented man to announce the event to the Army and Navy. Lafayette was a citizen of France, but he was the distinguished friend of the United States. In early life he embarked in that contest which secured freedom and independence to our country. His services and sacrifices constitute a part of our Revolutionary history, and his memory will be second only to that of Washington in the hearts of the American people. In his own country and in ours he was the zealous and uniform friend and advocate of rational liberty. Consistent in his principles and conduct, he never during a long life committed an act which exposed him to just accusation or which will expose his memory to reproach. Living at a period of great excite ment and of moral and political revolutions, engaged in many of the important events which fixed the attention of the world, and invited to guide the destinies of France at two of the most momentous eras of her history, his political integrity and personal disinterestedness have not been called in question. Happy in such life, he has been happy in his death. He has been taken from the theater of action with faculties unimpaired, with a reputation unquestioned, and an object of veneration wherever civilization and the rights of man have ex tended; and mourning, as we may and must, his departure, let us re joice that this associate of Washington has gone, as we humbly hope, to rejoin his illustrious commander in the fullness of days and of honor. He came in his youth to defend our country. He came in the ma turity of his age to witness her growth in all the elements of prosperity, and while witnessing these he received those testimonials of national 198 History of the United States. gratitude which proved how strong was his hold upon the affections of the American people. One melancholy duty remains to be performed. The last major- general of the Revolutionary army has died. Himself a young and humble participator in the struggles of that period, the President feels called on as well by personal as public considerations to direct that appropriate honors be paid to the memory of this distinguished patriot and soldier. He therefore orders that the same honors be rendered upon this occasion at the different military and naval stations as were observed upon the decease of Washington, the Father of his Country, and his contemporary in arms. In ordering this homage to be paid to the memory of one so eminent in the field, so wise in council, so endeared in private life, and so well and favorably known to both hemispheres the President feels assured that he is anticipating the sentiments not of the Army and Navy only, but of the whole American people. SIXTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER, 1834. In the midst of her internal difficulties the Queen of Spain has ratified the convention for the payment of the claims of our citizens arising since 1819. It is in the course of execution on her part, and a copy of it is now laid before you for such legislation as may be found necessary to enable those interested to derive the benefits of it. Yielding to the force of circumstances and to the wise counsels of time and experience, that power has finally resolved no longer to oc cupy the unnatural position in which she stood to the new Govern ments established in this hemisphere. I have the great satisfaction of stating to you that in preparing the way for the restoration of harmony between those who have sprung from the same ancestors, who are allied by common interests, profess the same religion, and speak the same language the United States have been actively instru mental. Our efforts to effect this good work will be persevered in while they are deemed useful to the parties and our entire disinterested ness continues to be felt and understood. It becomes my unpleasant duty to inform you that this pacific and highly gratifying picture of our foreign relations does not include those with France at this time. There is but one point in the controversy, and upon that the whole civilized world must pronounce France to be in the wrong. We insist that she shall pay us a sum of money which she has acknowledged to Andrew Jackson. 199 be due, and of the justice of this demand there can be but one opinion among mankind. True policy would seem to dictate that the question at issue should be kept thus disencumbered and that not the slightest pretense should be given to France to persist in her refusal to make payment by any act on our part affecting the interests of her people. The question should be left, as it is now, in such an attitude that when France fulfills her treaty stipulations all controversy will be at an end. It is my conviction that the United States ought to insist on a prompt execution of the treaty, and in case it be refused or longer delayed take redress into their own hands. After the delay on the part of France of a quarter of a century in acknowledging these claims by treaty, it is not to be tolerated that another quarter of a century is to be wasted in negotiating about the payment. The laws of nations provide a remedy for such occasions. It is a well-settled principle ot the international code that where one nation owes another a liquidated debt which it refuses or neglects to pay the aggrieved party may seize on the property belonging to the other,, its citizens or subjects, suffi cient to pay the debt without giving just cause of war. This remedy has been repeatedly resorted to, and recently by France herself toward Portugal, under circumstances less unquestionable. The time at which resort should be had to this or any other mode of redress is a point to be decided by Congress. If an appropriation shall not be made by the French Chambers at their next session, it may justly be concluded that the Government of France has finally determined to disregard its own solemn undertaking and refuse to pay an acknowledged debt. In that event every day's delay on our part will be a stain upon our national honor, as well as a denial of justice to our injured citizens. Prompt measures, when the refusal of France shall be complete, will not only be most honorable and just, but will have the best effect upon our national character. Circumstances make it my duty to call the attention of Congress to the Bank of the United States. Created for the convenience of the Government, that institution has become the sourge of the people. Its interference to postpone the payment of a portion of the national debt that it might retain the public money appropriated for that pur pose to strengthen it in a political contest, the extraordinary exten sion and contraction of its accommodations to the community, its corrupt and partisan loans, its exclusion of the public directors from a knowledge of its most important proceedings, the unlimited authority conferred on the president to expend its funds in hiring writers and 200 History of the United States. procuring the execution of printing, and the use made of that author ity, the retention of the pension money and books after the selection of new agents, the groundless claim to heavy damages in consequence of the protest of the bill drawn on the French Government, have through various channels been laid before Congress. Immediately after the close of the last session the bank, through its president, an nounced its ability and readiness to abandon the system of unparalleled curtailment and the interruption of domestic exchanges which it had practiced upon from the ist of August, 1833, to the 30th of June, 1834, and to extend its accommodations to the community. The grounds assumed in this annunciation amounted to an acknowledgment that the curtailment, in the extent to which it had been carried, was not neces sary to the safety of the bank, and had been persisted in merely to induce Congress to grant the prayer of the bank in its memorial rela tive to the removal of the deposits and to give it a new charter. They were substantially a confession that all the real distresses which in dividuals and the country had endured for the preceding six or eight months had been needlessly produced by it, with the view of affecting through the sufferings of the people the legislative action of Congress. It is a subject of congratulation that Congress and the country had the virtue and firmness to bear the infliction, that the energies of our people soon found relief from this wanton tyranny in vast importa tions of the precious metals from almost every part of the world, and that at the close of this tremendous effort to control our Government the bank found itself powerless and no longer able to loan out its sur plus means. The community had learned to manage its affairs with out its assistance, and trade had already found new auxiliaries, so that on the ist of October last the extraordinary spectacle was pre sented of a national bank more than one-half of whose capital was either lying unproductive in its vaults or in the hands of foreign bankers. The progress of our gold coinage is credible to the officers of the Mint, and promises in a short period to furnish the country with a sound and portable currency, which will much diminish the inconveni ence to travelers of the want of a general paper currency should the State banks be incapable of furnishing it. Those institutions have al ready shown themselves competent to purchase and furnish domestic exchange for the convenience of trade at reasonable rates, and not a doubt is entertained that in a short period all the wants of the country in bank accommodations and exchange will be supplied as promptly Andrew Jackson. 201 and as cheaply as they have heretofore been by the Bank of the United States. If the several States shall be induced gradually to reform their banking systems and prohibit the issue of all small notes, we shall in a few years have a currency as sound and as little liable to fluctuations as any other commercial country. SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 7, 1835. Since my last annual communication all the remains of the public debt have been redeemed, or money has been placed in deposit for this purpose whenever the creditors choose to receive it. All the other pecuniary engagements of the Government have been honorably and promptly fulfilled, and there will be a balance in the Treasury at the close of the present year of about $19,000,000. It is believed that after meeting all outstanding and unexpended appropriations there will remain near eleven millions to be applied to any new objects which Congress may designate or to the more rapid execution of the works already in progress. In aid of these objects, and to satisfy the cur rent expenditures of the ensuing year, it is estimated that there will be received from various sources twenty millions more in 1836. Among the evidences of the increasing prosperity of the country, not the least gratifying is that afforded by the receipts from the sales of the public lands, which amount in the present year to the unex pected sum of $11,000,000. The extinction of the public debt having taken place, there is no longer any use for the offices of Commissioners of Loans and of the Sinking Fund. I recommend, therefore, that they be abolished, and that proper measures be taken for the transfer to the Treasury De partment of any. funds, books, and papers connected with the opera tions of those offices, and that the proper power be given to that De partment for closing finally any portion of their business which may remain to be settled. It is also incumbent on Congress in guarding the pecuniary in terests of the country to discontinue by such a law as was passed in 1812 the receipt of the bills of the Bank of the United States in pay ment of the public revenue, and to provide for the designation of an agent whose duty it shall be to take charge of the books and stock of the United States in that institution, and to close all connection with it after the 3d of March, 1836, when its charter expires. In making provision in regard to the disposition of this stock it will be essential to 202 History of the United States. define clearly and strictly the duties and powers of the officer charged with that branch of the public service. The plan of removing the aboriginal people who yet remain within the settled portions of the United States to. the country west of the Mississippi River approaches its consummation. It becomes my painful duty (June 30, 1836) to announce the melan choly intelligence of the death of James Madison, ex-President of the United States. He departed this life at half-past 6 o'clock on the morning of the 28th instant, full of years and full of honors. EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 1836. With France our diplomatic relations have been resumed, and under circumstances which attest the disposition of both Governments to preserve a mutually beneficial intercourse and foster those amicable feelings which are so strongly required by the true interests of the two countries. You will perceive from the report of the Secretary of the Treasury that the financial means of the country continue to keep pace with its improvement in all other respects. The receipts into the Treasury during the present year will amount to about $47,691,898; those from customs being estimated at $22,523,151, those from lands at about $24,000,000, and the residue from miscellaneous sources. The ex penditures for all objects during the year are estimated not to exceed $32,000,000, which will leave a balance in the Treasury for public purposes on the ist day of January next of about $41,723,959. This sum, with the exception of $5,000,000, will be transferred to the sev eral States in accordance with the provisions of the act regulating the deposits of the public money. The unexpended balances of appropriation on the' ist day of Janu ary next are estimated at $14,636,062, exceeding by $9,636,062 the amount which will be left in the deposit banks, subject to the draft of the Treasurer of the United States, after the contemplated transfers to the several States are made. If, therefore, the future receipts should not be sufficient to meet these outstanding and future appro priations, there may be soon a necessity to use a portion of the funds deposited with the States. Variableness must ever be the characteristic of a currency of which the precious metals are not the chief ingredient, or which can be ex panded or contracted without regard to the principles that regulate the value of those metals as a standard in the general trade of the X,. 71 X/y,-./y x -/,,-... ., & ,/y /- ,-¦ ,•/.,/,„,., , -a../ , ".//,, ;. K ,# ^ ¦¦/,/,/ ,,,-, -,/,,,,., « «:w,S .,/ ,///[, ?s,y,,: A,/y /A. ,./.,// •H.nW.ltKf „„M .I/,.,//, r,,.^.,,,,., f/!y ,-<£„; ^././.yj, r^ y „ n: j/r f„r/ J,,-/,4,,, .', »«4<* *y f //, %//./ &*J> /,,,¦/!-,„ '/-'¦ t.y-,,,, ±/Xu„/s,;'//, ,'. /I yy, y ,//,/,„.., ,,/,s,,,./ .:l. „(-,,„.. tits J„'„ /,„/ fa^/jCsr - Jr7si„... / inf/1/.,^. A J ,y,,.', .,./,, . ,/,.y i.s/ ,y: - f. m,i £, ,ff,y I/, ../„;,. ,/.,.„ ,, 'Jy, A„J J,/sCc-, ¦„, /'¦ , Jlty's1.,.,,, /arc* ,lvl »t.^y hi.-m* ¦/,*.,_.*:/„/ .^ .... ,f >l DU;f -y.,. ,,,.s A ¦'.- /„,. .. C~~~..rr„ /.yry '/./ft i -^ ........ 6 #¦.,,-:',/ .... -f/.,., '?,'.'* ,, I -. - '. sS. . i - y y-', ...'„, „,., X /. /A „,,.; ,../.,, ./ /a. w. ,y/i. -,.s . / . ;... s.:...y / A V.<. v,„„, ,^/r / fatUd f//r,Ay // ?/sf //. .2'>Vty.riJ*IT_ fa jje a/£*r*y> i /#'ssr Akt. 7X, '%,yyU, ,-f*,> JL-ymu, ,»,//,.„, /,„* f .-.-, i/y'A-^-> ..'s<-,,. cArs*/a*2 X./ //< ,f/- PRESIDENT JACKSON'S SIGNATURE ON A STATE DOCUMENT. Andrew Jackson. 205 world. With us bank issues constitute such a currency, and must ever do so until they are made dependent on those just proportions of gold and silver as a circulating medium which experience has proved to be necessary not only in this but in all other commercial countries. Where those proportions are not infused into the circulation and do not control it, it is manifest that prices must vary according to the tide of bank issues, and the value and stability of property must stand exposed to, all the uncertainty which attends the administration of in stitutions that are constantly liable to the temptation of an interest distinct from that of the community in which they are established. The progress of an expansion, or rather a depreciation, of the cur rency by excessive bank issues is always attended by a loss to the laboring classes. This portion of the community have neither time nor opportunity to watch the ebbs and flows of the money market. Engaged from day to day in their useful toils, they do not perceive that although their wages are nominally the same, or even somewhat higher, they are greatly reduced in fact by the rapid increase of a spurious currency, which, as it appears to make money abound, they are at first inclined to consider a blessing. It is not so> with the speculator, by whom this operation is better understood, and is made to contribute to his advantage. It is not until the prices of the neces saries of life become so dear that the laboring classes can not supply their wants out of their wages that the wages rise and gradually reach a justly proportioned rate to that of the products of their labor. It was in view of these evils, together with the dangerous power wielded by the Bank of the United States and its repugnance to our Constitution, that I was induced to exert the power conferred upon me by the American people to prevent the continuance of that institution. But although various dangers to our republican institutions have been obviated by the failure of that bank to extort from the Government a renewal of its charter, it is obvious that little has been accomplished except a salutary change of public opinion toward restoring to the country the sound currency provided for in the Constitution. At the beginning (February 6, 1837) of this session Congress was informed that our claims upon Mexico had not been adjusted, but that notwithstanding the irritating effect upon her councils of the movements in Texas, I hoped, by great for- 206 History of the United States. bearance, to avoid the necessity of again bringing the subject of them to notice. That hope has been disappointed. Hav ing in vain urged upon that Government the justice of those claims and my indispensable obligation to insist that there should be " no further delay in the acknowledgment, if not in the redress, of the injuries complained of," my duty requires that the whole subject should be presented, as it now is, for the action of Congress, whose ex clusive right it is to decide on the further measures of redress to be em ployed. The length of time since some of the injuries have been com mitted, the repeated and unavailing applications for redress, the wan ton character of some of the outrages upon the property and persons of our citizens, upon the officers and flag of the United States, inde pendent of recent insults to this Government and people by the late extraordinary Mexican minister, would justify in the eyes of all na tions immediate war. That remedy, however, should not be used by just and generous nations, confiding in their strength for injuries com mitted, if it can be honorably avoided; and it has occurred to me that, considering the present embarrassed condition of that country, we should act with both wisdom and moderation by giving to Mexico one more opportunity to atone for the past before we take redress into our own hands. To avoid all misconception on the part of Mexico, as well as to protect our own national character from reproach, this op portunity should be given with the avowed design and full preparation to take immediate satisfaction if it should not be obtained on a repeti tion of the demand for it. To this end I recommend that an act be passed authorizing reprisals, and the use of the naval force of the United States by the Executive against Mexico to enforce them, in the event of a refusal by the Mexican Government to come to an ami cable adjustment of the matters in controversy between us upon an other demand thereof made from on board one of our vessels of war on the coast of Mexico. The documents transmitted, with those accompanying my message in answer to a call of the House of Representatives of the 17th ultimo, will enable Congress to judge of the propriety of the course hereto fore pursued and to decide upon the necessity of that now recom mended. If these views should fail to meet the concurrence of Congress, and that body be able to find in the condition of the affairs between the two countries, as disclosed by the accompanying documents, with those referred to, any well-grounded reasons to hope that an adjust- Andrew Jackson. 207 ment of the controversy between them can be effected without a resort to the measures I have felt it my duty to recommend, they may be assured of my co-operation in any other course that shall be deemed honorable and proper. The State of Texas having established and maintained an in dependent government capable of performing those duties, for eign and domestic, which appertain to independent governments, and it appearing that there is no longer any reasonable prospect of the successful prosecution of the war by Mexico against said State, it is expedient and proper and in conformity with the laws of nations and the practice of this Government in like cases that the independent political existence of said State be acknowledged by the Government of the United States." Regarding these proceedings as " a virtual decision of the question submitted by me to Congress, I think it my duty to acquiesce therein, and therefore I nominate Alcee La Branche, of Louisiana, to be charge d'affaires to the Republic of Texas. Whereas a convention assembled (December 10, 1832) in the State of South Carolina have passed an ordinance by which they declared " that the several acts and parts of acts of the Congress of the United States purporting to be laws for the imposing of duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities, and now having actual opera tion and effect within the United States, and more especially " two acts for the same purposes passed on the 29th of May, 1828, and on the 14th of July, 1832, " are unauthorized by the Constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and intent thereof, and are null and void and no law," nor binding on the citizens of that State or its officers ; and by the said ordinance it is further declared to be unlawful for any of the constituted authorities of the State or of the United States to enforce the payment of the duties imposed by the said acts within the same State, and that it is the duty of the legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to give full effect to the said ordi nance; and Whereas by the said ordinance it is further ordained that in no case of law or equity decided in the courts of said State wherein shall be drawn in question the validity of the said ordinance, or of the acts of the legislature that may he passed to give it effect, or of the said laws of the United States, no appeal shall be allowed to the Supreme Court 208 History of the United States. of the United States, nor shall any copy of the record be permitted or allowed for that purpose, and that any person attempting to take such appeal shall be punished as for contempt of court ; and, finally, the said ordinance declares that the people of South Carolina will maintain the said ordinance at every hazard, and that they will consider the pas sage of any act by Congress abolishing or closing the ports of the said State or otherwise obstructing the free ingress or egress of vessels to and from the said ports, or any other act of the Federal Government to coerce the State, shut up her ports, destroy or harass her commerce, or to enforce the said acts otherwise than through the civil tribunals of the country, as inconsistent with the longer continuance of South Carolina in the Union, and that the people of the said State will thence forth hold themselves absolved from all further obligation to maintain or preserve their political connection with the people of the other States, and will forthwith proceed to organize a separate government and do all other acts and things which sovereign and independent states may of right do; and Whereas the said ordinance prescribes to the people of South Caro lina a course of conduct in direct violation of their duty as citizens of the United States, contrary to the laws of their country, subversive of its Constitution, and having for its object the destruction of the Union — To preserve this bond of our political existence from destruction, to maintain inviolate this state of national honor and prosperity, and to justify the confidence my fellow-citizens have reposed in me, I, An drew Jackson, President of the United States, have thought proper to issue this my proclamation, stating my views of the Constitution and laws applicable to the measures adopted by the convention of South Carolina and to the reasons they have put forth to sustain them, de claring the course which duty will require me to pursue, and, appeal ing to the understanding and patriotism of the people, warn them of the consequences that must inevitably result from an observance of the dictates of the convention. I consider the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, in consistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed. Fellow-citizens, the momentous case is before you. On your undi vided support of your Government depends the decision of the great Andrew Jackson. 209 question it involves — whether your sacred Union will be preserved and the blessing it secures to us as one people shall be perpetuated. No one can doubt that the unanimity with which that decision will be expressed will be such as to inspire new confidence in republican insti tutions, and that the prudence, the wisdom, and the courage which it will bring to their defense will transmit them unimpaired and invigor ated to our children. May the Great Ruler of Nations grant that the signal blessings with which He has favored ours may not, by the madness of party or per sonal ambition, be disregarded and lost; and may His wise providence bring those who have produced this crisis to see the folly before they feel the misery of civil strife, and inspire a returning veneration for that Union which, if we may dare to penetrate His designs, He has chosen as the only means of attaining the high destinies to which we may reasonably aspire. A" LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON. \ NDREW JACKSON was born March 15, 1767, in the Wax- haw Settlement, South Carolina. He was a son of Andrew Jackson, an Irishman who came to America in 1765 and died in 1767. His mother was Elizabeth Hutchinson. Little is known about his early education. The historian Parton says : " He learned to read, to write and cast accounts — little more." He studied law at Salisbury, North Carolina, about 1785, and removed to Nashville, Tenn., in 1788 where he practiced law. About 1791 he married Mrs. Rachel Robards whose maiden name was Rachel Donelson and whose first husband was living and was obtaining a divorce which was legally completed in 1793. The marriage ceremony between her and Mr. Jackson was again performed in 1794. In 1796 he was one of the convention which framed the Constitution of Tennessee, and in the fall of that year was sent as Representative to Congress from Tennessee, which was then entitled to but one member. In the Presidential election of 1796 he supported Thomas Jefferson and was sent to the United States Sen ate from Tennessee in 1797. He resigned his seat in the Senate in 1798 and became judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, from 1798 to 1804. In June, 1812, after war had been declared against Great Brit ain, General Jackson, who had several years previously been made major-general of mUitia, offered his services and those of 2,500 volun- 210 History of the United States. teers. With 2,070 men he was ordered to New Orleans and advanced as far as Natchez when he received an order dated February 6, 1813, by which his troops were dismissed from public service. He took the field against the Creek Indians October, 1813, and defeated them at Talladega in November. Through this Creek War, which closed in 1814, he became very popular and was, in May, 1814, appointed a major-general in the regular army. He was soon after ordered to the Gulf of Mexico to oppose an expected invasion of the English. Pensacola, which belonged to Spain, but was used as a base of opera tions by the British, he seized in November. He moved his army to New Orleans about December 1st, when he defeated the English in two engagements, and on January 8, 1815, won his famous victory. This was the last battle of the war, a treaty of peace having been signed December 24, 1814. From 1817 to 1818 he waged a successful war against the Seminoles in Florida. He took Pensacola and executed two British subjects, Ambrister and Arbuthnot, accused of inciting the Indians to hostile acts against the Americans. In 1821 he was appointed governor of Florida. In 1823 he was elected a Senator of the United States and nominated for the presidency by the legislature of Tennessee. John Q. Adams, Henry Clay and William H. Crawford ran against him. Neither candidate having a majority of electoral votes the election devolved on the House of Representatives which re sulted in the choice of John Quincy Adams. In 1828 Jackson was elected President, defeating Adams for re-election. He was re-elected in 1832, defeating Henry Clay. He retired to his home in Tennessee, March 4, 1837, and died at The Hermitage, June 8, 1845 and was buried there. Martin Van Buren. 211 HOME OF MARTIN VAN BUREN AT KINDERHOOK, NEW YORK. CHAPTER VIII. MARTIN VAN BUREN, THE FIRST POLITICIAN PRESIDENT. By Frank A. Vanderlip, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. T N estimating the political character of Martin Van Buren, and in attempt ing to gauge the place which he occupies in the line of Presidents, it is at least easy to see that he does not stand among the mediocre men whom chance has placed in the White House. His elevation to the Presidency was not an accident; it was a direct and logical sequence; but the moving springs were not to be found, as with every previous President except Jackson, in pre eminent qualities of statesmanship. There is no gainsaying that the line of Presidents up to Jackson's time was a line of statesmen in the broadest sense. 212 History of the United States. With the election of Van Buren came the first success of a politician. Jack son was not a statesman, and his election was largely the work of the poli ticians, but he was a strong character owing little of his political success to his skill in machine politics. With Van Buren's election came the triumph ol political machinery, as indeed was his whole political career, and while he showed under the responsibilities of the Presidency qualities in which his friends saw evidences of high statesmanship, his elevation to that office was the final fruit of a lifetime of the shrewdest political maneuvering, the keenest knowl edge of the methods of political combination, and of the theories of political rewards and proscriptions. Van Buren recognized that a gap lay between him and his predecessors when he said in his first inaugural, that he stood as the representative of a new generation, that the Revolution had been achieved at the period of his birth, and that he belonged to a later age, and was the first President that had had no part in that historic period. His political life was one of steady and logical advancement, but he did not come forward from local to state prominence, and from state to national position, as an exponent and advocate of any great principle or political con viction. In his career as a lawyer of fair ability, a senator of his State, a member of the United States Senate, as Governor of New York, as Prime Minister of Jackson's cabinet, as foreign envoy, and as Vice-President, he never once stood for great political principles. He was not inconsistent; he was silent. Always the clever courteous gentleman, always anxious to avoid controversy, and showing a remarkable genius for combinations, he built up a machine which moved forward to political prominence sometimes himself and sometimes others, but which he always held compactly together by the bonds of self interest, by a system of political rewards for the friends of the machine, and political exclusion for its enemies. The strong friendship which Andrew Jackson held for his Secretary of State was one of the most important causes leading to Van Buren's election to succeed Jackson. There had been for several years a perfectly clear un derstanding between the two men that the younger was to be a political legatee, and the immense personal popularity of Jackson made the legacy of his good will a thing of the greatest importance. When there was added to that the strength of the perfect political machine of which Van Buren was the master, his nomination and his election was not difficult. He drew great strength from the fact that Jackson's political mantle was looked upon as having been laid upon his shoulders. Even at the time of the inauguration, Jackson seemed the central figure rather than the new President, and the temper of the inaugural address was distinctly one of ? ^7^2^&^^jUii^^ eighth president of the united states. Martin Van Buren. 215 subordination to his more popular predecessor. Jackson's farewell address was taken up with a glorification of his financial views, and with a parting shot at the defunct national bank. Hardly had the people ceased reading that farewell message in which there was no comprehension of the trouble that was to come, than a financial crash, such as the country had never known, broke with tremendous fury, and the new President was brought face to face with the most trying of situations. The tremendous speculative bubble, which had been inflating for years, burst in a moment. The. situation was made vastly mor esevere by some of the features of Jackson's empirical system of finance, and the blame for it all came down upon the head of Jackson's successor. He now rose to a height that had not at all been measured by anything in his previous career. He faced an angry and excited nation with calmness and dignity. He would not be driven into hasty and unadvised action for the relief of a situation that had become distressing in the extreme. He carried this calmness in the midst of the terrific uproar that came about his head to a degree that left doubt as to whether he could show anything more than the phlegmatic characteristics of his Dutch ancestors, refusing for a time even to call any extra session of Congress to consider means of relief. He did finally convene Congress and presented his scheme of completely divorcing government finances from the banks, the scheme which subsequently developed into the present sub-treasury system. It was not original with the President, but had been proposed by a Virginia representative, and re jected by a decisive vote of the President's party in the House as early as 1834. It was again rejected after being brought forward in Mr. Van Buren's mes sage to Congress, but at the next session was passed in practically the same form as was at first proposed and endures to the present time. Upon this single act must rest Van Buren's claims to a statesmanship which originates great public measures. He accomplished what he undoubtedly believed to be a most important financial step - — the divorcing of government finance from the banks. Had he been & wiser statesman, had he possessed a more comprehensive knowledge of practical finance, he would have found a way for securing the safety at which he aimed, with vastly less hardship upon the commercial interests than this plan of locking up all government funds in idleness. Van Buren has been blamed for the errors of others, quite as much as for his own mistakes. He inherited the presidency because of Jackson's good will, and almost immediately lost all hold on public confidence in a large measure because of errors his predecessor had made. He advanced to public distinction with the aid of a shrewdly managed political machine, and after he reached the goal of his ambitions was unable to shake off, try as he might, 2l6 History of the United States. a reputation for dexterity and intrigue, which his later years did not merit. His introduction of the spoils system into politics has been none too severely condemned, but his use of the public patronage after he became President was less objectionable than were the actions of some of his contemporaries. At all times he showed admirable courage, and great political sagacity. His political sagacity, indeed, seemed at times to be the chief obstacle in the way of his being a great statesman. His state papers show that he could not bring himself to make unqualified statements, that he preferred vague ness, that he seemed always to write with a view to possible political con tingencies. While he was always able to withstand the thoughtless rush of popular sentiment with dignity and firmness, that same quality of tempera ment seemed to keep him from a hearty and quick sympathy with the temper of the day, and left him without that close touch with affairs which stood in the way of his popularity Martin Van Buren. 217 ADMINISTRATION OF 1837-1841. By Martin Van Buren. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1837. IN receiving from the people the sacred trust twice confided to my illustrious predecessor, and which he has discharged so faith fully and so well, I know that I can not expect to perform the arduous task with equal ability and success. But united as I have been in his counsels, a daily witness of his exclusive and unsurpassed devotion to his country's welfare, agreeing with him in sentiments which his countrymen have warmly supported, and permitted to take largely of his confidence, I may hope that somewhat of the same cheer ing approbation will be found to attend upon my path. The last, perhaps the greatest, of the prominent sources of discord and disaster supposed to lurk in our political condition was the insti tution of domestic slavery. Our forefathers were deeply impressed with the delicacy of this subject, and they treated it with a forbearance so evidently wise that in spite of every sinister foreboding it never until the present period disturbed the tranquility of our common country. Such a result was sufficient evidence of the justice and the patriotism of their course. It is evidence not to be mistaken that an adherence to it can prevent all embarrassment from this as well as from every other anticipated cause of difficulty or danger. Have not recent events made it obvious to the slightest reflection that the least devia tion from this spirit of forbearance will be injurious to every interest, that of humanity included? Amidst the violence of excited passions this generous and fraternal feeling has been sometimes disregarded; and standing before my countrymen, in this high place of honor and of trust, I can not refrain from invoking my fellow-citizens never to be deaf to its dictates. Perceiving before my election the deep interest this subject was beginning to excite, I believed it a solemn duty fully to make known my sentiments in regard to it, and now, when every motive for misrepresentation has passed away, I trust that they will be 218 History of the United States. candidly weighed and understood. At least they will be my stand ard of conduct in the path before me. I then declared that if the desire of those of my countrymen who were favorable to my election was gratified " I must go into the Presidential chair the inflexible and uncompromising opponent of every attempt on the part of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia against the wishes of the slaveholding States, and also with a determination equally decided to resist the slightest interference with it in the States where it exists." I submitted also to my fellow-citizens, with fullness and frankness, the reasons which led me to this determination. The result authorizes me to believe that they were approved and were confided in by a majority of the people of the United States, including those whom they most immediately affect. It now only remains to add that no bill conflict ing with these views can ever receive my constitutional sanction. These opinions have been adopted in the firm belief that they are in ac cordance with the spirit that actuated the venerated fathers of the Re public, and that succeeding experience has proved them to be humane, patriotic, expedient, honorable, and just. If the agitation of this subject was intended to reach the stability of our institutions, enough has occurred to show that it has signally failed, and that in this as in every other instance the apprehensions of the timid and the hopes of the wicked for the destruction of our Government are again destined to be disappointed. SPECIAL MESSAGE, SEPTEMBER 4, 1837. The act of the 23d June, 1836, regulating the deposits of the public money and directing the employment of State, District, and Territorial banks for that purpose, made it the duty of the Secretary of the Treas ury to discontinue the use of such of them as should at any time re fuse to redeem their notes in specie, and to substitute other banks, provided a sufficient number could be obtained to receive the public deposits upon the terms and conditions therein prescribed. The gen eral and almost simultaneous suspension of specie payments by the banks in May last rendered the performance of this duty imperative in respect to those which had been selected under the act, and made it at the same time impracticable to employ the requisite number of others upon the prescribed conditions. The specific regulations es tablished by Congress for the deposit and safe-keeping of the public moneys having thus unexpectedly become inoperative, I felt it to be my duty to afford yeu an earlv opportunity for the exercise of your supervisory powers over the subject. Martin Van Buren. 219 I was also led to apprehend that the suspension of specie payments, increasing the embarrassments before existing in the pecuniary affairs of the country, would so far diminish the public revenue that the ac cruing receipts into the Treasury would not, with the reserved five millions, be sufficient to defray the unavoidable expenses of the Gov ernment until the usual period for the meeting of Congress, whilst the authority to call upon the States for a portion of the sums de posited with them was too restricted to enable the Department to realize a sufficient amount from that source. These apprehensions have been justified by subsequent results, which render it certain that this deficiency will occur if additional means be not provided by Con gress. The difficulties experienced by the mercantile interest in meeting their engagements induced them to apply to me previously to the actual suspension of specie payments for indulgence upon their bonds for duties, and all the relief authorized by law was promptly and cheer fully granted. The dependence of the Treasury upon the avails of these bonds to enable it to make the deposits with the States required by law led me in the outset to limit this indulgence to the ist of Sep tember, but it has since been extended to the 1st of October, that the matter might be submitted to further direction. Banking has become a political topic of the highest interest, and trade has suffered in the conflict of parties. A speedy termination of this state of things, however desirable, is scarcely to be expected. We have seen for nearly half a century that those who advocate a national bank, by whatever motive they may be influenced, constitute a portion of our community too numerous to allow us to hope for an early abandonment of their favorite plan. On the other hand, they must indeed form an erroneous estimate of the intelligence and temper of the American people who suppose that they have con tinued on slight or insufficient grounds their persevering opposition to such an institution, or that they can be induced by pecuniary pressure or by any other combination of circumstances to surrender principles they have so long and so inflexibly maintained. The collection, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the pub lic money can, it is believed, be well managed by officers of the Gov ernment. Its collection, and to a great extent its disbursement also, have indeed been hitherto conducted solely by them, neither national nor State banks, When employed, being required to do more than keep it safely while in their custody, and transfer and pay it in such portions and at such times as the Treasury shall direct. 220 History of the United States. Surely banks are not more able than the Government to secure the money in their possession against accident, violence, or fraud. The assertion that they are so must assume that a vault in a bank is stronger than a vault in the Treasury, and that directors, cashiers, and clerks not selected by the Government nor under its control are more worthy of confidence than officers selected from the people and responsible to the Government — officers bound by official oaths and bonds for a faithful performance of their duties, and constantly subject to the supervision of Congress. With these views I leave to Congress the measures necessary to regulate in the present emergency the safe-keeping and transfer of the public moneys. The character of the funds to be received and disbursed in the transactions of the Government likewise demands most careful con sideration. There can be no doubt that those who framed and adopted the Constitution, having in immediate view the depreciated paper of the Confederacy — of which $500 in paper were at times only equal to $1 in coin — intended to prevent the recurrence of similar evils, so far at least as related to the transactions of the new Government. They gave to Congress express powers to coin money and to regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin; they refused to give it power to establish corporations — the agents then as now chiefly employed to create a paper currency; they prohibited the States from making any thing but gold and silver a legal tender in payment of debts ; and the First Congress directed by positive law that the revenue should be received in nothing but gold and silver. Whereas information having been received (January 5, 1838) of a dangerous excitement on the northern frontier of the United States in consequence of the civil war begun in Canada, and instructions having been given to the United States officers on that frontier and appli cations having been made to the governors of the adjoining States to prevent any unlawful interference on the part of our citizens in the contest unfortunately commenced in the British Provinces, additional information has just been received that, notwithstanding the proclama tions of the governors of the States of New York and Vermont ex horting their citizens to refrain from any unlawful acts within the Martin Van Buren. 221 territory of the United States, and notwithstanding the presence of the civil officers of the United States, who by my directions have visited the scenes of commotion with a view of impressing the citizens with a proper sense of their duty, the excitement, instead of being appeased, is every day increasing in degree; that arms and munitions of war and other supplies have been procured by the insurgents in the United States; that a military force, consisting in part, at least, of citizens of the United States, had been actually organized, had con gregated at Navy Island, and were still in arms under the command of a citizen of the United States, and that they were constantly receiv ing accessions and aid: Now, therefore, to the end that the authority of the laws may be maintained and the faith of treaties observed, I, Martin Van Buren, do most earnestly exhort all citizens of the United States who have thus violated their duties to return peaceably to- their respective homes ; and I hereby warn them that any persons who shall compromit the neutral ity of this Government by interfering in an unlawful manner with the affairs of the neighboring British Provinces will render themselves liable to arrest and punishment under the laws of the United States, which will be rigidly enforced; and, also, that they will receive no aid or countenance from their Government, into whatever difficulties they may be thrown by tbe violation of the laws of their country and the territory of a neighboring and friendly nation. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, 1838. 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 Im perial Majesty, by the third article of which it is agreed that " here after 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 540 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 222 History of the United States. fishing and trading with the natives of the country." The reasons assigned for declining to renew the provisions of this article were, briefly, that the only use made by our citizens of the privileges it se cured to them had been to supply the Indians with spirituous liquors, ammunition, and firearms; that this traffic had been excluded from the Russian trade; and as the supplies furnished from the United States were injurious to the Russian establishments on the northwest coast and calculated, to produce complaints between the two Govern ments, 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 communicated will show the grounds upon which we contend that the citizens of the United States have, inde pendent 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 crea tion 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 re ferred 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, per haps, 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. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 1840. The excitement which grew out of the territorial controversy be tween the United States and Great Britain having in a great measure subsided, it is hoped that a favorable period is approaching for its final settlement. Both Governments must now be convinced of the dan gers with which the question is fraught, and it must be their desire, as it is their interest, that this perpetual cause of irritation should be removed as speedily as practicable. In my last annual message you were informed that the proposition for a commission of exploration and survey promised by Great Britain had been received, and that a ST$ , S - y '.-'¦ '¦-'¦-¦- ¦/,.¦;<¦. ¦/..rzsay, As XAJ Aii /A ¦ / ¦/-. 7: ,.y-/s [-.'. ¦•'.'.'-. .-H-/7I-A' / 11 s-;''7' -.''.-- - 'v s.'s/si.- /- yAaAc'X& s'.i l't VAcst ' /, :.z / '-,;,¦ , /, r -:i: .-.'..-.- .,-/(!/,- .si- zyzs ilXt ¦iSity.AvtS i/zi/zsy' zsf. . .-.:.-/ ; ,;- s's-.-^is/' . -z/ ? : ,'sy fXtyys.i z. j i ,z /i ssi z.- £fi y/s I l£f STZ sAZ ¦i'e^A/ af s/sc c/is yzsz-Zi-s^zsis yAssyZS' cfszysy A Ac- Xet^ty:y> ^t /ft/AX/ <•' AlZ ./lUSs-.S /z'.rAl / iA/-zs/, /7'isu_csy, .T'.r/cyAz^A/i^e/.'s^sts-^i^ssX^iyAsti/'^X /^S-iz ./ cces.se s/s A-r-rtz cAsS ^A/stfs-sT/^ /Aiz- s^cy ,s/ / ly^z s^y. v "A, / AAszA /As. st 'Xs ozyy7 z 1 1 -i yt/c^ zs s?£zy:XZy<- sf Am.* i assy Av~zsA TSy f/ ysts>sC stt sz*£A-i*zs 717-7, /Ay. y/z^// Ss-~ zy sy^^Ss '-/ s%Z JAszysAj> X/A7sy/ Aslsts-CS X-SS^ty SsXrAsfAs-STO. zsAAs-, sAiyyi Ss/zszy_s/ , . ^ACczsT-AXa^. Asz^.ts lA/Ssszy^z^ ^'A/zizAiA tf sAs Aj'ptzsAzy^ AAzz-X/, ySy/ Als/^sXy zA c/aszs-y. iZ4t,s>A-7y> sAsZoxszy Arsz-A yAs. A71 ^z sLSe^ zfzc-AJy ysi^XA^. zy£/Z/zA rf Aiz Ayis-tAXs/ AzAzAA PRESIDENT VAN BUREN'S PROCLAMATION REVOKING TON NAGE DUTIES ON VESSELS OF GREECE. .. ' ' / f . ',. / . t's sf i - s . /'Ssz , J A/s.t As.-. ,;¦ ¦ , Ay / , 1 . / . 1 ci?x yj . ' " -'~> Martin Van Buren. 225 counter project, including also a provision for the certain and final adjustment of the limits in dispute, was then before the British Gov ernment for its consideration. The answer of that Government, ac companied by additional propositions of its own, was received through its minister here since your separation. These were promptly con sidered, such as were deemed correct in principle and consistent with a due regard to the just rights of the United States and of the State of Maine concurred in, and the reasons for dissenting from the residue, with an additional suggestion on our part, communicated by the Secre tary of State to Mr. Fox. That minister, not feeling himself suffi ciently instructed upon some of the points raised in the discussion, felt it to be his duty to refer the matter to his own Government for its further decision. Having now been for some time under its advisement, a speedy answer may be confidently expected. From the character of the points still in difference and the undoubted disposi tion of both parties to bring the matter to an early conclusion, I look with entire confidence to a prompt and satisfactory termination of the negotiation. Three commissioners were appointed shortly after the adjournment of Congress under the act of the last session provid ing for the exploration and survey of the line which separates the States of Maine and New Hampshire from the British Provinces. They have been actively employed until their progress was interrupted by the inclemency of the season, and will resume their labors as soon as practicable in the ensuing year. It is understood that their respective examinations will throw new light upon the subject in controversy and serve to remove any erroneous impressions which may have been made elsewhere preju dicial to the rights of the United States. It was, among other reasons, with a view of preventing the embarrassments which in our peculiar system of government impede and complicate negotiations involving the territorial rights of a State that I thought it my duty, to propose to the British Government, through its minister at Washington, that early steps should be taken to adjust the points of difference on the line of boundary from the entrance of Lake Superior to the most northwestern point of the Lake of the Woods by .the arbitration of a friendly power in conformity with the seventh article of the treaty of Ghent. The commissioners appointed in pursuance of the convention be tween the United States and Texas for marking the boundary between them have, according to the last report received from our commis- 226 History of the United States. sioner, surveyed and established the whole extent of the boundary north along the western bank of the Sabine River from its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico to the thirty-second degree of north latitude. The commission adjourned on the 16th of June last, to reassemble on the ist of November for the purpose of establishing accurately the inter section of the thirty-second degree of latitude with the western bank of the Sabine and the meridian line thence to Red River. It is pre sumed that the work will be concluded in the present season. The present sound condition of their finances and the success with which embarrassments in regard to them, at times apparently insur mountable, have been overcome are matters upon which the people and Government of the United States may well congratulate them selves. An overflowing Treasury, however it may be regarded as au evidence of public prosperity, is seldom conducive to the permanent welfare of any people, and experience has demonstrated its incompati bility with the salutary action of political institutions like those of the United States. Our safest reliance for financial efficiency and in dependence has, on the contrary, been found to consist in ample re sources unencumbered with debt, and in this respect the Federal Government occupies a sinpailarlv fortunate and trulv enviable posi tion. When I entered upon the discharge of my official duties in March, 1837, the act for the distribution of the surplus revenue was in a course of rapid execution. Nearly $28,000,000 of the public moneys were, in pursuance of its provisions, deposited with the States in the months of January, April, and July of that year. In May there occurred a gen eral suspension of specie payments by the banks, including, with very few exceptions, those in which the public moneys were deposited and upon whose fidelity the Government had unfortunately made itself dependent for the revenues which had been collected from the people and were indispensable to the public service. It affords me, however, great pleasure to be able to say that from the commencement of this period to the present day every demand upon the Government, at home or abroad, has been promptly met. This has been done not only without creating a permanent debt or a resort to additional taxation in any form, but in the midst of a steadily progressive reduction of existing burdens upon the people, leaving still a considerable balance of available funds which will remain in the Treasury at the end of the year. The small amount of Treasury notes, not exceeding $4,500,000, still outstanding, and less by twenty-three Martin Van Buren. 227 millions than the United States have in deposit with the States, is composed of such only as are not yet due or have not been presented for payment. They may be redeemed out of the accruing revenue if the expenditures do not exceed the amount within which they may, it is thought, be kept without prejudice to the public interest, and the revenue shall prove to be as large as may justly be anticipated. The policy of the Federal Government in extinguishing as rapidly as possible the national debt, and subsequently in resisting every temptation to create a new one, deserves to be regarded in the same favorable light. Among the many objections to a national debt, the certain tendency of public securities to concentrate ultimately in the coffers of foreign stockholders is one which is every day gathering strength. Already have the resources of many of the States and the future industry of their citizens been indefinitely mortgaged to the subjects of European Governments to the amount of twelve millions annually to pay the constantly accruing interest on borrowed money — a sum exceeding half the ordinary revenues of the whole United States. The pretext which this relation affords to foreigners to scrutinize the management of our domestic affairs, if not actually to intermeddle with them, presents a subject for earnest attention, not to say of serious alarm. Fortunately, the Federal Government, with the exception of an obligation entered into in behalf of the District of Columbia, which must soon be discharged, is wholly exempt from any such embarrassment. It is also, as is believed, the only Govern ment which, having fully and faithfully paid all its creditors, has also relieved itself entirely from debt. To maintain a distinction so desir able and so honorable to our national character should be an object of earnest solicitude. Never should a free people, if it be possible to avoid it, expose themselves to the necessity of having to treat of the peace, the honor, or the safety of the Republic with the governments of foreign creditors, who, however well disposed they may be to culti vate with us in general friendly relations, are nevertheless by the law of their own condition made hostile to the success and permanency of political institutions like ours. To change a system operating upon so large a surface and appli cable to such numerous and diversified interests and objects was more than the work of a day. The attention of every department of the Government was immediately and in good faith directed to that end, and has been so continued to the present moment. The estimates and appropriations for the year 1838, the first over which I had any con- 228 History of the United States. trol, were somewhat diminished. The expenditures of 1839 were re duced $6,000,000. Those of 1840, exclusive of disbursements for public debt and trust claims, will probably not exceed twenty-two and a half millions, being between two and three millions less than those of the preceeding year and nine or ten millions less than those of 1837. Nor has it been found necessary in order to produce this result to resort to the power conferred by Congress of postponing certain classes of the public works, except by deferring expenditures for a short period upon a limited portion of them, and which postponement terminated some time since — at the moment the Treasury Department by further receipts from the indebted bank 3 became fully assured of its ability to meet them without prejudice to the public service in other respects. Causes are in operation which will, it is believed, justify a still further reduction without injury to any important national in terest. The expenses of sustaining the troops employed in Florida have been gradually and greatly reduced through the persevering efforts of the War Department, and a reasonable hope may be enter tained that the necessity for military operations in that quarter will soon cease. The removal of the Indians from within our settled bor ders is nearly completed. The pension list, one of the heaviest charges upon the Treasury, is rapidly diminishing by death. The most costly of our public buildings are either finished or nearly so, and we may, I think, safely promise ourselves a continued exemption from border difficulties. The available balance in the Treasury on the 1st of January next is estimated at $1,500,000. This sum, with the expected receipts from all sources during ihe next year, will, it is believed, be sufficient to enable the Government to meet every engagement and have a suitable balance in the Treasury at the end of the year, if the remedial meas ures connected with the customs and the public lands heretofore recommended are adopted and the new appropriations by Congress shall not carry the expenditures beyond the official estimates. The new system established by Congress for the safe-keeping of the public money, prescribing the kind of currency to be received for the public revenue and providing additional guards and securities against losses, has now been several months in operation. Although it might be premature upon an experience of such limited duration to form a definite opinion in regard to the extent of its influences in correcting many evils under which the Federal Government and the country have hitherto suffered, especially those that have grown out of banking ex- Martin Van Buren. 229 pansions, a depreciated currency, and official defalcations, yet it is but right to say that nothing has occurred in the practical operation of the system to weaken in the slightest degree, but much to strengthen, the confident anticipations of its friends. The policy of the United States in regard to the Indians, and of the wisdom and expediency of which I am fully satisfied, has been con tinued in active operation throughout the whole period of my Admin istration. Since the spring of 1837 more than 40,000 Indians have been removed to their new homes west of the Mississippi, and I am happy to add that all accounts concur in representing the result of this measure as eminently beneficial to that people. The emigration of the Seminoles alone has been attended with seri ous difficulty and occasioned bloodshed, hostilities having been com menced by the Indians in Florida under the apprehension that they would be compelled by force to comply with their treaty stipulations. The Navy has been usefully and honorably employed in the pro tection of our commerce and citizens in the Mediterranean, the Pacific, on the coast of Brazil, and in the Gulf of Mexico. A small squadron, consisting of the frigate " Constellation " and the sloop of war " Bos ton," under Commodore Kearney, is now on its way to the China and Indian seas for the purpose of attending to our interests in that quar ter, and Commander Aulick, in the sloop of war " Yorktown," has been instructed to visit the Sandwich and Society islands, the coasts of New Zealand and Japan, together with other ports and islands frequented by our whale ships, for the purpose of giving them counte nance and protection should they be required. Other smaller vessels have been and still are employed in prosecuting the surveys of the coast of the United States directed by various acts of Congress. The exploring expedition at the latest date was preparing to leave the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, in further prosecution of objects which have thus far been successfully accomplished. The discovery of a new continent, which was first seen in latitude 66° 2' south, lon gitude 1540 27' east, and afterward in latitude 66° 31' south, longitude 153° 40' east, by Lieutenants Wilkes and Hudson, for an extent of 1,800 miles, but on which they were prevented from landing by vast bodies of ice which encompassed it, is one of the honorable results of the enterprise. Lieutenant Wilkes bears testimony to the zeal and good conduct of his officers and men, and it is but justice to that offi cer to state that he appears to have performed the duties assigned him with an ardor, ability, and perseverance which give every assurance of an honorable issue to the undertaking. 230 History of the United States. LIFE OF MARTIN VAN BUREN. MARTIN VAN BUREN was born December 5, 1782, at Kin derhook, New York. He was the oldest son of Abraham Van Buren, a farmer, and Mrs. Mary Van Alen, a widow whose maiden name was Mary Hoes. He learned the rudiments of English and Latin in the schools of Kinderhook, and when 14 years old entered the office of Francis Sylvester and commenced the study of law, where he remained seven years. He exhibited a fondness for extemporaneous debate and was early remarked for his intelligent observation of public events and interest in politics. In 1802 he went to New York city and continued the study of law under William P. Van Ness, a friend of Aaron Burr. He was admitted to the bar in 1803, and returning to Kinderhook entered into practice with his half- brother, James I. Van Alen. He married Hannah Hoes, a distant relative, in February, 1807, and removed to Hudson, New York. During the same year he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court. In 1808 he became Surrogate of Columbia county, defeating his half-brother and partner. In 181 2 he was elected to the Senate of New York from the middle district as a Clinton Republican, and took his seat that November. While Senator he strongly opposed the charter of " The Bank of America," which was then striving to es tablish itself in New York, and to take the place of the " United States Bank." Though he was an adherent of Madison's Administra tion and of the policy of declaring war against Great Britain, he went with the Republican members of the New York Legislature in 1812 and supported De Witt Clinton for the Presidency. The following year he broke with the Clinton faction, and resumed cordial relations with Madison's Administration. In 181 5 he was appointed Attorney- General of New York State, and the next year was re-elected to the State Senate. He then removed to Albany and formed a law partner ship with Benjamin F. Butler. That same year he was made a Regent of the University of New York. He was elected to the United States Senate and took his seat December 3, 1821. He was at once made a member of its committees on the Judiciary and Finance, and was chairman of the former for many years. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1827, but resigned to become Governor of New York in 1828. He staunchly supported Andrew Jackson in the Presidential election of 1828, and became Secretary of State in 1829. While in this office he successfully settled the long-standing feud between the Martin Van Buren. 231 United States and England in regard to the West Indian trade. He resigned from this office in June, 1831, and was sent to England as minister. In 1832 the Senate refused to confirm his nomination by the casting vote of John C. Calhoun, the Vice-President. In 1832 he was elected Vice-President of the United States, and President in 1836, defeating William H. Harrison and Daniel Webster. He was nominated by the Democratic party for re-election in 1840 but was de feated by William H. Harrison. He then retired to his country seat, Lindenwold. He ran against James K. Polk for President in 1844, but was defeated. He died at Kinderhook, July 24, 1862, and was buried there. 232 History of the United States. -S/z^^.- WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON'S HOME. AT NORTH BEND, INDIANA. CHAPTER IX WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, THE PEOPLE'S IDOL. By Perry Sanford Heath, First Assistant Postmaster-General. U7 ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON as President was a distinctive char- acter. In personality he probably never had, and it is doubtful if he ever will have, an imitator or an equal. The country looked upon him at the time not alone as a great pioneer and warrior, but as a great and good man, who came very close to the people. The people selected him for the highest office within their gift, not only on account of that which he had accomplished in blazing the way to civilization and taming the savages in the Central West, or because he had assisted in repelling British intrusion, but because they regarded him as the personification of honor and as pos sessing the material for a great statesman. It has often been recorded in history and it is a common expression to-day that " William Henry Harrison was killed by office-seekers." A man who would place himself so near the people as to permit office-seekers to send him to an untimely grave must have had in a very marked degree the milk of s& M/fyfiL^/cn^ NINTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. William PIenry FIarrison. 235 human kindness, and a fountain of gratitude and personal affection, which should win admiration. It was the elevation of such a man to the Presidential chair, after a cam paign so characteristic as to leave its imprint upon time, that made the ad ministration of William Henry Harrison notable. It was this rather than his Presidential service or the opportunities which were offered him as the Chief Executive of the country. The mere inauguration of such a man doubtless facilitated the work, which greatly perplexed the country, of subjugating un civilized tribes of Indians and of populating with white men that section of the United States which is now most productive of all that goes to sustain a great government. Probably no man has ever occupied the Executive Mansion whose name was so universally perpetuated by namesakes, with the possible exception of George Washington. The children who were named after William Henry Harrison, if they could be lined up to-day, \Vould make an army almost sufficient to have conducted successfully the war against Spain, or to fill all of the Federal offices of the country to-day. I find that the State papers of President William Henry Harrison are con fined to his inaugural address and a proclamation convening Congress to meet in extraordinary session on May 31, 1841. On the fourth of the fol lowing April he died. In his inaugural address he manifests an intense de sire to conscientiously fulfill the duties of his high office. He quotes in the opening paragraph the remarks of a Roman consul of several thousand years ago, that there was a striking contrast between the conduct of candidates for office before and after their selection, they seldom carrying out the pledges and promises they had given. He proceeds to declare his intention of ful filling all the pledges he had made and concludes his address with this some what pathetic sentence: " Fellow citizens, being fully vested with that high office to which the partiality of my countrymen has called me, I now take an affectionate leave of you.'- The above utterance seemed to be prophetic, in that it was his leave-taking, for he never again appeared in public. As a warrior among Indians, William Henry Harrison has been placed upon the scroll of fame with Daniel Boone and Kenton. As an army officer, a trained soldier and tactician upon the field history places him with Wash ington, whose unlimited confidence he possessed. As a patriot, William Henry Harrison will always be remembered. No one who has achieved the high office he held will probably ever have a greater degree of confidence or affection of the people. It is lamentable that the 236 History of the United States. expectations of the country were so rudely dashed by his untimely death, as much was expected of, and no doubt much would have been realized by his administration. He had high hopes, sustained by the confidence of the peo ple, that there would be a swift development of the entire West. The pioneers had entire faith in his administration, and the commercial interests of the country anticipated from the results of his statesmanship, results as remarkable as the success of his military exploits. At the time of the Harrison- Van Buren campaign political cartoons were just coming into general use in this country. Gen. William Henry Harrison, who had some time before retired to private life, was then living upon his farm at North Bend, Ohio, between Cincinnati and the Indiana line. In one of these campaign hand bills are pictures of various scenes upon the farm in cluding the Log Cabin and the famous Cider Press, while the General him self is represented in his shirt sleeves, ploughing. He was called " The Cin cinnati of the West," and this epithet proved of advantage in the cam paign. He was living in the famous cabin at North Bend, and devoting himself to agriculture with the same energy and enthusiasm which he had displayed in the affairs of War and of State. Here he remained until called upon by his friends to become a candidate for the presidency of the United States. He had married a daughter of John Cleves Symmes, the founder of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was in sympathy wholly with the Western pioneers, among whom he had lived so long. His term as president lasted but thirty days, and his death was felt as a severe blow by his party, which had formed high expectations of his capacity in executive matters. Notwithstanding his notable career as a general and statesman, William Henry Harrison is likely to be remembered as the highest type of the pioneers, who succeeded the frontiersmen Kenton and Boone. His service to the great empire, which has since been divided into the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, will cause him to be affectionately re membered by thousands who barely know the names of other presidents. 7-?^€. as&6 '« William Henry Harrison. 237 ADMINISTRATION OF 1841. By William Henry Harrison. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 184I. CALLED from a retirement which I had supposed was to con tinue for the residue of my life to fill the chief executive office of this great and free nation, and in obedience to a custom coeval with our Government and what I believe to be your expecta tions I proceed to present to you a summary of the principles which will govern me in the discharge of the duties which I shall be called upon to perform. It was the remark of a Roman consul in an early period of that celebrated Republic that a most striking contrast was observable in the conduct of candidates for offices of power and trust before and after obtaining them, they seldom carrying out in the latter case the pledges and promises made in the former. However much the world may have improved in many respects in the lapse of upward of two thou sand years since the remark was made by the virtuous and indignant Roman, I fear that a strict examination of the annals of some of the modern elective governments would develop similar instances of vio lated confidence. I proceed to state in as summary a manner as I can my opinion of the sources of the evils which have been so extensively complained of and the correctives which may be applied. Some of the former are unquestionably to be found in the defects of the Constitution; others, in my judgment, are attributable to a misconstruction of some of its provisions. Of the former is the eligibility of the same individual to a second term of the Presidency. The sagacious mind of Mr. Jef ferson early saw and lamented this error, and attempts have been made, hitherto without success, to apply the amendatory power of the States to its correction. As, however, one mode of correction is in the power of every President, and consequently in mine, it would be use less, and perhaps invidious, to enumerate the evils of which, in the 238 History of the United States. opinion of many of our fellow-citizens, this error of the sages who framed the Constitution may have been the source and the bitter fruits which we are still to gather from it if it continues to disfigure our system. It may be observed, however, as a general remark, that re publics can commit no greater error than to adopt or continue any fea ture in their systems of government which may be calculated to create or increase the love of power in the bosoms of those to whom neces sity obliges them to commit the management of their affairs; and surely nothing is more likely to produce such a state of mind than the long continuance of an office of high trust. Until an amend ment of the Constitution can be effected public opinion may secure Ihe desired object. I give my aid to it by renewing the pledge hereto fore given that under no circumstances will I consent to serve a second term. But if there is danger to public liberty from the acknowledged defects of the Constitution in the want of limit to the continuance of the Ex ecutive power in the same hands, there is, I apprehend, not much less from a misconstruction of that instrument as it regards the powers actually given. I can not conceive that by a fair construction any or either of its provisions would be found to constitute the President a part of the legislative power. It can not be claimed from the power to recommend, since, although enjoined as a duty upon him, it is a privilege which he holds in common with every other citizen; and although ihere may be something more of confidence in the propriety of the measures recommended in the one case than in the other, in the obligations of ultimate decision there can be no difference. In the language of the Constitution, " all the legislative powers " which it grants " are vested in the Congress of the United States." It would be a solecism in language to say that any portion of these is not in cluded in the whole. It is preposterous to suppose that a thought could for a moment have been entertained that the President, placed at the capital, in the center of the country, could better understand the wants and wishes of the people than their own immediate representatives, who spend a part of every year among them, living with them, often laboring with them, and bound to them by the triple tie of interest, duty, and affec tion. To assist or control Congress, then, in its ordinary legislation could not, I conceive, have been the motive for conferring the veto power on the President. This argument acquires additional force from the fact of its never having been thus used by the first six Presi- William Henry Harrison. 239 dents — and two of them were members of the Convention, one pre siding over its deliberations and the other bearing a larger share in consummating the labors of that august body than any other person. But if bills were never returned to Congress by either of the Presidents above referred to upon the ground of their being inexpedient or not as well adapted as they might be to the wants of the people, the veto was applied upon that of want of conformity to the Constitution or be cause errors had been committed from a too hasty enactment. By making the President the sole distributer of all the patronage of the Government the framers of the Constitution do not appear to have anticipated at how short a period it would become a formidable instru ment to control the free operations of the State governments. Of trifling importance at first, it had early in Mr. Jefferson's Administra tion become so powerful as to create great alarm in the mind of that patriot from the potent influence it might exert in controlling the free dom of the elective franchise. If such could have then been the effects of its influence, how much greater must be the danger at this time, quadrupled in amount as it certainly is and more completely un der the control of the Executive will than their construction of their powers allowed or the forbearing characters of all the early Presidents permitted them to make. But it is not by the extent of its patronage alone that the executive department has become dangerous, but by the use which it appears may be made of the appointing power to bring under its control the whole revenues of the country. The Constitu tion has declared it to be the duty of the President to see that the laws are executed, and it makes him the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies and Navy of the United States. If the opinion of the most approved writers upon that species of mixed government which in modern Eu rope is termed monarchy in contradistinction to despotism is correct, there was wanting no other addition to the powers of our Chief Mag istrate to stamp a monarchial character on our Government but the control of the public finances; and to me it appears strange indeed that anyone should doubt that the entire control which the President pos sesses over the officers who have the custody of the public money, by the power of removal with or without cause, does, for all mischievous purposes at least, virtually subject the treasure also to his disposal. I am not insensible to the great difficulty that exists in drawing a proper plan for the safe-keeping and disbursement of the public revenues, and I know the importance which has been attached by men of great abilities and patriotism to the divorce, as it is called, of the Treasury 240 History of the United States. from the banking institutions, It is not the divorce which is com plained of, but the unhallowed union of the Treasury with the execu tive department, which has created such extensive alarm. To this danger to our republican institutions and that created by the influence given to the Executive through the instrumentality of the Federal officers I propose to apply all the remedies which may be at my com mand. It was certainly a great error in the framers of the Constitu tion not to have made the officer at the head of the Treasury Depart ment entirely independent of the Executive. He should at least have been removable only upon the demand of the popular branch of the Legislature. The influence of the Executive in controlling the freedom of the elective franchise through the medium of the public officers can be effectually checked by renewing the prohibition published by Mr. Jefferson forbidding their interference in elections further than giving their own votes and their own independence secured by an assurance of perfect immunity in exercising this sacred privilege of freedom under the dictates of their own unbiased judgments. Never with my con sent shall an officer of the people, compensated for his services out of their pockets, become the pliant instrument of Executive will. There is no part of the means placed in the hands of the Executive which might be used with greater effect for unhallowed purposes than the control of the public press. The maxim which our ancestors de rived from the mother country that " the freedom of the press is the great bulwark of civil and religious liberty " is one of the most precious legacies which they have left us. We have learned, too, from our own as well as the experience of other countries, that golden shackles, by whomsoever or by whatever pretense imposed, are as fatal to it as the iron bonds of despotism. The presses in the necessary em ployment of the Government should never be used " to clear the guilty or to varnish crime." A decent and manly examination of the acts of the Government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged. The idea of making the currency exclusively metallic, however well intended, appears to me to be fraught with more fatal consequences than any other scheme having no relation to the personal rights of the citizens that has ever been devised. If any single scheme could pro duce the effect of arresting at once that mutation of condition by which thousands of our most indigent fellow-citizens by their industry and enterprise are raised to the possession of wealth, that is the one. If there is one measure better calculated than another to produce that William Henry Harrison. 241 state of things so much deprecated by all true republicans, by which the rich are daily adding to their hoards and the poor sinking deeper into penury, it is an exclusive metallic currency. Or if there is a pro cess by which the character of the country for generosity and noble ness of feeling may be destroyed by the great increase and necessary toleration of usury, it is an exclusive metallic currency. It is my intention to use every means in my power to preserve the friendly intercourse which now so happily subsists with every foreign nation, and that although, of course, not well informed as to the state of pending negotiations with any of them, I see in the personal char acters of the sovereigns, as well as in the mutual interests of our own and of the governments with which our relations are most intimate, a pleasing guaranty that the harmony so important to the interests of their subjects as well as of our citizens will not be interrupted by the advancement of any claim or pretension upon their part to which our honor would not permit us to yield. Long the defender of my country's rights in the field, I trust that my fellow-citizens will not see in my earnest desire to preserve peace with foreign nations any indica tion that their rights will ever be sacrificed or the honor of the nation tarnished by any admission on the part of their Chief Magistrate un worthy of their former glory. In our intercourse with our aboriginal neighbors the same liberality and justice which marked the course pre scribed to me by two of my illustrious predecessors when acting under their direction in the discharge of the duties of superintendent and commissioner shall be strictly observed. An all-wise Providence having suddenly removed (April 4, 1841) from this life William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States, we have thought it our duty, in the recess of Congress and in the absence of the Vice-President from the seat of Government, to make this afflicting bereavement known to the country by this declara tion under our hands. He died at the President's house, in this city, this 4th day of April, A. D. 1 841, at thirty minutes before 1 o'clock in the morning. The people of the United States, overwhelmed, like ourselves, by an event so unexpected and so melancholy, will derive consolation from knowing that his death was calm and resigned, as his life has been patriotic, useful, and distinguished, and that the last utterance of his 242 History of the United States. lips expressed a fervent desire for the perpetuity of the Constitution and the preservation of its true principles. In death, as in life, the happiness of his country was uppermost in his thoughts. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State. THOMAS EWING, Secretary of the Treasury. JOHN BELL, Secretary of War. J. J. CRITTENDEN, Attorney-General. FRANCIS GRANGER, Postmaster-General. LIFE OF WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON was born at Berkley, Va., February 9, 1773. He was the youngest son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independ ence. He was educated at Hampden Sidney College, Virginia, and entered upon the study of medicine, but Indian hostilities on the western frontier led him to abandon it and enter the Army, as ensign in the First Infantry, August 16, 1791. He joined his regiment at Fort Washington, Ohio, was made lieutenant, June 2, 1792. He then became aid-de-camp to General Wayne and distinguished himself for gallantry in the victory on the Miami, August 20, 1794. He was made captain May 15, 1797, and given the command of Fort Washing ton. While stationed there he married Anna Symmes, daughter of John Cleves Symmes. Peace having been made with the Indians he resigned his commission June 1, 1798, upon which President John Adams appointed him Secretary of the Northwest Territory, which office he resigned October, 1799 to become Territorial Delegate in Congress. During his term a portion of the Northwest Territory was formed into the Territory of Indiana, which included the present States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, and he was ap pointed its Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and was reappointed by Jefferson and Madison both. In 1805 he organized the legislature at Vincennes, and on September 30, 1809, he con cluded a treaty with several Indian tribes by which they sold to the SM.AMAWI)EK. o. & ' Win CARTOON RIDICULING THE MILLERITES MILLENNIUM PROPHECY OF 1843. y^K { A^t : •'--¦ \kar U f.r- «¦ :¦¦«¦ 7-, ' : •• ( -. <-.;.* .-iV^ii. ^ jjj|iK-<: /mg$wk M.k, JaM^lr^- xf-ffcfyXJ, ¦ - ¦ -/' "' ; . -1 ^'- >'A'^--~..... ' \ -A. .. - - CARTOON AGAINST THE NATIONAL BANK SYSTEM, WHICH ANDREW JACKSON OVERTHREW. FINANCIAL CRISIS OF VAN BUREN S ADMINISTRATION, FOLLOWING RETIRING OF INFLATED PAPER CURRENCY AND RESUMPTION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. mr* - M . y.sj\ RIDICULE OF JENNY LINd's POPULARITY IN 185O. William Henry Harrison. 245 United States about 3,000,000 acres of land on the Wabash and White rivers. The Indians began frequent depredations in the spring of 181 1 and Governor Harrison marched from Vincennes on September 26th, with a force of 900, and completed Fort Harrison near the site of Terre Haute, Ind. He left a garrison there and pressed on toward Tippecanoe, October 28th. When near the town on the morning of November 7th a fierce attack was made on his forces by the savages whom he drove from the field. On August 22, 1812, he was made a brigadier-general of the Regular Army, and latter was appointed to the chief command of the Northwestern Army with instructions to act according to his discretion and judgment — a latitude which had been given no commander since Washington. He was commissioned major-general March 2, 1813, and was in command of Fort Meigs when General Proctor with a force of British troops and Indians be sieged it unsuccessfully from April 28 to May 9, 1813. Transfer ring his army to Canada he fought the battle of the Thames, October 5th, defeated General Proctor's army of 800 regulars and 1,200 In dians and killed the celebrated Tecumseh, who led the latter. This battle together with Perry's naval victory in Lake Erie put an end to the war in upper Canada. For his victory of the Thames Con gress voted him a gold medal March 30, 1818. In 1824 he was sent to the United States Senate from Ohio. In 1828 he resigned having been appointed by President John Quincy Adams, Minister to the United States of Colombia. He was elected to the Presidency by the Whigs, November 10, 1840; was inaugurated March 4, 1841, and died April 4, 1841. He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery at Washington, but in June, 1841, his remains were removed to North Bend and placed in a tomb overlooking the Ohio River. 246 History of the United States. -s**- ''-/ /' E#~l {X=-A. -/ ?rr m HOME OF JOHN TYLER, AT SHERWOOD FOREST, GREENWAY, VIRGINIA. CHAPTER X JOHN TYLER'S WISE POLICY. By Ex-Senator J. B. Henderson, of Missouri. "\ TO President of the Republic has created greater extremes of opinion re- *¦ ^ specting his merits than John Tyler; and perhaps another generation must pass before his administration can be justly or impartially weighed. He came of an old English family, which settled in Virginia, in the early days ot that colony, and he was the fifth John Tyler in the line of descent in his sec tion of the State. Some have traced the family origin to Watt Tyler, the celebrated English agitator, who became famous by his rebellion near the close of the 14th Century. John Tyler's political success seems to have been unbounded, and one of n's friends records, in a brief sentence the reasons for it: John Tyler. 247 " By a rare union of prudence, good sense, and good temper, set off by natural gifts of oratory and a persuasive address, he won the hearts of the people, and commanded the favors of fortune, and success waited on him at every step of his public career.'- John Tyler seems to have foreseen even in his early manhood the inevitable clash to come between the slaveholding and nonslaveholding States. As a pro- slavery man he accepted and followed the lead of John C. Calhoun in the nullification branch of the Democratic party; and he soon became a power to be reckoned with in the politics of the country. His prominence was such that he was put on the ticket with General W. H. Harrison in 1840, when the " Tippecanoe and Tyler " campaign developed into one of the most exciting episodes of American politics. This campaign produced a singular combina tion, the Whigs, the " National Republicans " and the " Democratic Repub licans," combining on a ticket discordant in its candidates, but claimed with frantic enthusiasm, to represent the cherished views of both the North and the South. Tyler was expected to uphold and conserve the tenets of the State-rights party, and to see that the Constitution was strictly construed in all matters affecting the institution of slavery. In one month after the inauguration, General Harrison died, and Tyler be came President. Instead of reorganizing the Cabinet on lines of his own, he adopted the policy of retaining the existing Cabinet, although many, and possibly all, of them felt more or less distrust of Mr. Tyler's fidelity to the platform on which the party had come into power. The truth is, that the combination ticket of Harrison and Tyler was the usual party trick, intended to unite discordant elements, and having the sole object of obtaining votes enough to insure success. Slavery agitation had already then become exciting if not violent. Harrison was recognized as an anti-slavery man, while Tyler was notoriously allied in sentiment with the extreme section of the pro- slavery party of the South. Mr. Harrison's fidelity to the platform of his party demanding the creation of a national bank and the establishment of a protective tariff, was implicitly accepted by all his adherents, while the previous public career of Tyler had openly identified him with the enemies of a national bank; and his former political associations gave but little assurance on the subject of the tariff. As a Senator from Virginia in 1831-1832 he had opposed by speech and by vote a tariff for direct or express protection, but accepted the then Southern doctrine of a tariff for revenue with incidental protection. His vote against the protective tariff of 1828 had never been disavowed, and was sufficient to render his position equivocal at the least. At the same session 248 History of the United States. he had opposed the biil to continue the bank of the United States beyond the termination of its then existing charter. There is but little doubt that Tyler's seeming affiliation with the Whig party had its only origin in his avowed sympathy with nullification in 1832, which, of course, placed him in open antagonism with President Jackson and his followers. The Whigs indeed were generally favorable to General Jackson's proclamation against the nullifiers; but Jackson's course on that subject had produced considerable dissatisfaction in the Democratic party, threatening open revolt in Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and other Southern States. At the head of this revolt Mr. Tyler occupied prominence, and, as a candidate for the Vice-Presidency in 1836, he had received the support of the States named. His nomination, therefore, in 1840, on the Whig ticket, was to reap the fruits of disaffection in the Democratic party rather than to make sure of fealty to Whig principles or to reward Mr. Tyler for any services rendered to that party. When Tyler vetoed the National Bank Bill in 1841, his party abandoned him with curses and maledictions accompanied with unpardonable vehemence and violence. In all other respects his administration proved to be eminently successful. A bankruptcy law, admittedly necessary to relieve the failures following the panic of 1837, was passed, and a tariff law looking to both revenue and pro tection was approved in 1842. Just before the expiration of his term in 1845, Texas was admitted into the Union with the mutual consent of the parties in interest, and on the true principles of peaceable and healthful expansion, under which the inhabitants of the new territory became at once clothed with every constitutional right, and the State itself took its place as an equal member of the federal union. The Northeastern boundary question which had long threatened the public peace was honorably and satisfactorily settled during his administration. President Tyler's critics of that day aspersed his name with immoderate abuse and seem to have delighted in calumniating his character, but in the clearer light of subsequent history, it is admitted that much of this detraction may be fairly attributed to the smarting anguish of party disappointments, stimulated and aggravated by the fierce and unreasonable passions which disgraced the politics of that period. It is now perfectly clear that the independent treasury system, then recently adopted under the administration of Mr. Van Buren, is far better for both government and people than any benefits to be derived from the fiscal agencies of a national bank. Time, indeed, sets all things even. And Tyler's friends may now, with some justification, claim that his treason to party proved to be a blessing to his country. John Tyler. 249 When the great war of the Rebellion began in 1861, he came as a delegate from Virginia to a " Peace Convention " at Washington, with the vain hope of averting the horrors which he had already seen in the prophetic visions of his youth, but it was too late. He returned home from his fruitless mission to join the fortunes of his State just then being hurried on with frantic zeal into a war more fruitless still. John Tyler was not without faults, but he was better than many who, with shameless contumely, have aspersed his name. He disregarded the behests of his party; and no man can survive this act of disobedience, however justified he may be in the eyes of God or of sensible men. The more ignorant or corrupt his party, the more swift and certain is his ruin. 250 History of the United States. ADMINISTRATION OF 1841-1845. By John Tyler. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, APRIL 9, 184I. BEFORE my arrival at the seat of Government the painful com munication was made by the officers presiding over the sev eral Departments of the deeply regretted death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States. Upon him you had conferred your suffrages for the first office in your gift, and had selected him as your chosen instrument to correct and reform all such errors and abuses as had manifested themselves from time to time in the practical operation of the Government. While standing at the threshold of this great work he has by the dispensation of an all-wise Providence been removed from amongst us, and by the provisions of the Constitution the efforts to be directed to the accomplishing of this vitally important task have devolved upon myself. This same oc currence has subjected the wisdom and sufficiency of our institutions to a new test. For the first time in our history the person elected to the Vice.-Presidency of the United States, by the happening of a contingency provided for in the Constitution, has had devolved upon him the Presidential office. A brief exposition of the principles which will govern me in' the general course of my administration of public affairs would seem to be due as well to myself as to you. In regard to foreign nations, the groundwork of my policy will be justice on our part to all, submitting to injustice from none. While I shall sedulously cultivate the relations of peace and amity with one ancl all, it will be my most imperative duty to see that the honor of the country shall sustain no blemish. In all public expenditures the most rigid economy should be re sorted to, and, as one of its results, a public debt in time of peace be sedulously avoided. A wise and patriotic constituency will never object to the imposition of necessary burdens for useful ends, and true wisdom dictates the resort to such means in order to supply de- John Tyler. 251 ficiencies in the revenue, rather than to those doubtful expedients which, ultimating in a public debt, serve to embarrass the resources of the country and to lessen its ability to meet any great emergency which may arise. All sinecures should be abolished. I have the satisfaction to communicate (August 11, 1842) the re sults of the negotiations recently had in this city with the British minister, special and extraordinary. These results comprise — First. A treaty to settle and define the boundaries between the territories of the United States and the possessions of Her Britannic Majesty in North America, for the suppression of the African slave trade, and the surrender of criminals fugitive from justice in certain cases. Second. A correspondence on the subject of the interference of the colonial authorities of the British West Indies with American mer chant vessels driven by stress of weather or carried by violence into the ports of those colonies. If this treaty shall receive the approbation of the Senate, it will terminate a difference respecting boundary which has long subsisted between the two Governments, has been the subject of several in effectual attempts at settlement, and has sometimes led to great irrita tion, not without danger of disturbing the existing peace. Both the United States and the States more immediately concerned have enter tained no doubt of the validity of the American title to all the territory which has been in dispute, but that title was controverted and the Gov ernment of the United States had agreed to make the dispute a subject of arbitration. One arbitration had been actually had, but had failed to settle the controversy, and it was found at the commencement of last year that a correspondence had been in progress between the two Governments for a joint commission, with an ultimate reference to an umpire or arbitrator with authority to make a final decision. That correspondence, however, had been retarded by various occurrences, and had come to no definite result when the special mission of Lord Ashburton was announced. This movement on the part of England afforded in the judgment of the Executive a favorable opportunity for making an attempt to settle this long-existing controversv by some agreement or treaty without further reference to arbitration. 252 History of the United States. After sundry informal communications with the British minister upon the subject of the claims of the two countries to territory west of the Rocky Mountains, so little probability was found to exist of coming to any agreement on that subject at present that it was not thought expedient to make it one of the subjects of formal negotiation to be entered upon between this Government and the British minister as part of his duties under his special mission. By the treaty of 1783 the line of division along the rivers and lakes from the place where the forty-fifth parallel of north latitude strikes the St. Lawrence to the outlet of Lake Superior is invariably to be drawn through the middle of such waters, and not through the middle of their main channels. Such a line, if extended according to the literal terms of the treaty, would, it is obvious, occasionally intersect islands. The manner in which the commissioners of the two Govern ments dealt with this difficult subject may be seen in their reports. But where the line thus following the middle of the river or water course did not meet with islands, yet it was liable sometimes to leave the only practicable navigable channel altogether on one side. The treaty made no provision for the common use of the waters by the citizens and subjects of both countries. The treaty obligations subsisting between the two countries for the suppression of the African slave trade and the complaints made to this Government within the last three or four years, many of them but too well founded, of the visitation, seizure, and detention of Ameri can vessels on that coast by British cruisers could net but form a delicate and highly important part of the negotiations which have now been held. The early and prominent part which the Government of the United States has taken for the abolition of this unlawful and inhuman traffic is well known. By the tenth article of the treaty of Ghent it is de clared that the traffic in slaves is irreconcilable with the principles of humanity and justice, and that both His Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing their efforts to promote its entire abolition; and it is thereby agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their best endeavors to accomplish so desirable an object. The Government of the United States has by law declared the African slave trade piracy, and at its suggestion other nations have made similar enactments. It has not been wanting in honest and zealous efforts, made in conformity with the wishes of the whole country, to accomplish the entire abolition of the traffic in slaves upon the African TENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. John Tyler. 255 coast, but these efforts and those of other countries directed to the same end have proved to a considerable degree unsuccessful. Treaties are known to have been entered into some years ago between Eng land and France by which the former power, which usually maintains a large naval force on the African station, was authorized to seize and bring in for adjudication vessels found engaged in the slave trade under the French flag. It is known that in December last a treaty was signed in London by the representatives of England, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria having for its professed object a strong and united effort of the five powers to put an end to the traffic. This treaty was not officially communicated to the Government of the United States, but its pro visions and stipulations are supposed to be accurately known to the public. It is understood to be not yet ratified on the part of France. No application or request has been made to this Government to become party to this treaty, but the course it might take in regard to it has excited no small degree of attention and discussion in Europe, as the principle upon which it is founded and the stipulations which it contains have caused warm animadversions and great political excitement. In my message at the commencement of the present session of Congress I endeavored to state the principles which this Government supports respecting the right of search and the immunity of flags. Desirous of maintaining those principles fully, at the same time that existing obligations should be fulfilled, I have thought it most con sistent with the honor and dignity of the country that it should execute its own laws and perform its own obligations by its own means and its own power. The examination or visitation of the merchant vessels of one nation by the cruisers of another for any purpose except those known and acknowledged by the law of nations, under whatever restraints or regulations it may lake place, may lead to dangerous results. It is far better by other means to supersede any supposed necessity or any motive for such examination or visit. Interference with a merchant vessel by an armed cruiser is always a delicate proceeding, apt to touch the point of national honor as well as to affect the interests of individuals. It has been thought, therefore, expedient, not only in accordance with the stipulations of the treaty of Ghent, but at the same time as removing all pretext on the part of others for violating the immunities of the American flag upon the seas, as they exist and are 256 History of the United States. • defined by the law of nations, to enter into the articles now submitted to the Senate. The treaty which I now submit proposes no alteration, mitigation, or modification of the rules of the law of nations. It provides simply that each of the two Governments shall maintain on the coast of Africa a sufficient squadron to enforce separately and respectively the laws, rights, and obligations of the two countries for the suppression of the slave trade. Another consideration of great importance has recommended this mode of fulfilling the duties and obligations of the country. Our commerce along the western coast of Africa is extensive, and sup posed to be increasing. There is reason to think that in many cases those engaged in it have met with interruptions and annoyances caused by the jealousy and instigation of rivals engaged in the same trade. Many complaints on this subject have reached the Government. A respectable naval force on the coast is the natural resort and security against further occurrences of this kind. The surrender to justice of persons who, having committed high crimes, seek an asylum in the territories of a neighboring nation would seem to be an act due to the cause of general justice and prop erly belonging to the present state of civilization and intercourse. The British Provinces of North America are separated from the States of the Union by a line of several thousand miles, and along portions of this line the amount of population on either side is quite considerable, while the passage of the boundary is always easy. Offenders against the law on the one side transfer themselves to the other. Sometimes, with great difficulty, they are brought to justice, but very often they wholly escape. A consciousness of im munity from the power of avoiding justice in this way instigates the unprincipled and reckless to the commission of offenses, and the peace and good neighborhood of the border are consequently often disturbed. In the case of offenders fleeing from Canada into the United States, the governors of States are often applied to for their surrender, and .questions of a ve;ry embarrassing nature arise from these applications. It has been thought highly important, therefore, to provide for the whole case by a proper treaty stipulation. The article on the subject in the proposed treaty is carefully confined to such offenses as all mankind agree to regard as heinous and destructive of the security of life and property. In this careful and specific enumeration of crimes the object has been to exclude all political offenses or criminal charges John Tyler. 257 arising from wars or intestine commotions. Treason, misprision of treason, libels, desertion from military service and other offenses of similar character are excluded. Brevet Major-General Winfield Scott having been appointed (July 5, 1841) by the President, by and with the consent and advice of the Senate, the Major-General of the Army of the United States, he is directed to assume the command and enter upon his duties accord ingly. The season for active hostilities in Florida having nearly terminated (May 10, 1842), my attention has necessarily been directed to the course of measures to be pursued hereafter in relation to the few In dians yet remaining in that Territory. Their number is believed not to exceed 240, of whom there are supposed to be about 80 warriors, or males capable of bearing arms. The further pursuit of these miserable beings by a large military force seems to be as injudicious as it is unavailing. The history of the last year's campaign in Florida has satisfactorily shown that notwithstanding the vigorous and in cessant operations of our troops (which can not be exceeded), the Indian mode of warfare, their dispersed condition, and the very small- ness of their number (which increases the difficulty of finding them in the abundant and almost inaccessible hiding places of the Territory) render any further attempt to secure them by force impracticable ex cept by the employment of the most expensive means. The exhibi tion of force and the constant efforts to capture or destroy them of course places them beyond the reach of overtures to surrender. It is believed by the distinguished officer in command there that a different system should now be pursued to attain the entire removal of all the Indians in Florida, and he recommends that hostilities should cease unless the renewal of them be rendered necessary by new aggressions; that communications should be opened by means of the Indians with him to insure them a peaceful and voluntary surrender, and that the military operations should hereafter be directed to the protection of the inhabitants. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1842. I felt it to be my duty to cause to be submitted the plan of an exchequer, the whole power and duty of maintaining which in purity 258 History of the United States. and vigor was to be exercised by the representatives of the people and the States, and therefore virtually by the people themselves. It was proposed to place it under the control and direction of a Treasury board to consist of three commissioners, whose duty it should be to see that the law of its creation was faithfully executed and that the great end of supplying a paper medium of exchange at all times con vertible into gold and silver should be attained. The board thus constituted was given as much permanency as could be imparted to it without endangering the proper share of responsibility which should attach to all public agents. In order to insure all the advantages of a well-matured experience, the commissioners were to hold their offices for the respective periods of two, four, and six years, thereby securing at all times in the manage ment of the exchequer the services of two men of experience; and to place them in a condition to exercise perfect independence of mind and action it was provided that their removal should only take place for actual incapacity or infidelity to the trust, and to be followed by the President with an exposition of the causes of such removal, should it occur. It was proposed to establish subordinate boards in each of the States, under the same restrictions and limitations of the power of re moval, which, with the central board, should receive, safely keep, and disburse the public moneys. And in order to furnish a sound paper medium of exchange the exchequer should retain of the revenues of the Government a sum not to exceed $5,000,000 in specie, to be set apart as required by its operations, and to pay the public creditor at his own option either in specie or Treasury notes of denominations not less than $5 nor exceeding $100, which notes should be redeemed at the several places of issue, and to be receivable at all times and every where in payment of Government dues, with a restraint upon such issue of bills that the same should not exceed the maximum 0! $15,000,000. In order to guard against all the hazard? incident to fluctuations in trade, the Secretary of the Treasury was invested with authority to issue $5,000,000 of Government stock, should the same at any time be regarded as necessary in order to place beyond hazard the prompt redemption of the bills which might be thrown into cir culation; thus in fact making the issue of $15,000,000 of exchequer bills rest substantially on $10,000,000, and keeping in circulation never more than one and one-half dollars for every dollar of specie. John Tyler. 259 When to this it is added that the bills are not only everywhere re ceivable in Government dues, but that the Government itself would be bound for their ultimate redemption, no rational doubt could exist that the paper which the exchequer would furnish would readily enter into general circulation and be maintained at all times at or above par with gold and silver, thereby realizing the great want of the age and fulfilling the wishes of the people. In order to reimburse the Gov ernment the expenses of the plan, it was proposed to invest the ex chequer with the limited authority to deal in bills of exchange, unless prohibited by the State in which an agency might be situated, having only thirty days to run and resting on a fair and bona tide basis. The legislative will on this point might be so plainly announced as to avoid all pretext for partiality or favorism. It was furthermore proposed to invest this Treasury agent with authority to receive on deposit to a limited amount the specie funds of individuals and to grant certificates therefor to be redeemed on presentation, under the idea, which is be lieved to be well founded, that such certificates would come in aid of the exchequer bills in supplying a safe and ample paper circulation. Or if in place of the contemplated dealings in exchange the exchequer should be authorized not only to exchange its bills for actual deposits of specie, but, for specie or its equivalent, to sell drafts, charging there for a small but reasonable premium, I can not doubt but that the bene fits of the law would be speedily manifested in the revival of the credit, trade, and business of the whole country. Entertaining this opinion, it becomes my duty to urge its adoption upon Congress by reference to the strongest considerations of the public interests, with such altera tions in its details as Congress may in its wisdom see fit to make. I am well aware that this proposed alteration and amendment of the laws establishing the Treasury Department has encountered various objections, and that among others it has been proclaimed a Govern ment bank of fearful and dangerous import. It is proposed to confer upon it no extraordinary power. It purports to do no more than pay the debts of the Government with the redeemable paper of the Govern ment; in which respect it accomplishes precisely what the Treasury does daily at this time in issuing to the public creditors the Treasury notes which under law it is authorized to issue. It has no resem blance to an ordinary bank, as it furnishes no profits to private stock holders and lends no capital to individuals. If it be objected to as a ¦Government bank and the objection be available, then should all the 260 History of the United States. laws in relation to the Treasury be repealed and the capacity of the Government to collect what is due to it or pay what it owes be abro gated. This is the chief purpose of the proposed exchequer, and surely if in the accomplishment of a purpose so essential it affords a sound circulating medium to the country and facilities to trade it should be regarded as no slight recommendation of it to public consideration. Properly guarded by the provisions of law, it can run into no danger ous evil, nor can any abuse arise under it but such as the Legislature itself will be answerable for if it be tolerated, since it is but the creature of the law and is susceptible at all times of modification, amendment, or repeal at the pleasure of Congress. There can be but three kinds of public currency — first, gold and silver; second, the paper of State institutions; or, third, a representa tive of the precious metals provided by the General Government or under its authority. The subtreasury system rejected the last in any form, and as it was believed that no reliance could be placed on the issues of local institutions for the purposes of general circulation it necessarily and unavoidably adopted specie as the exclusive currency for its own use; and this must ever be the case unless one of the other kinds be used. The choice in the present state of public sentiment lies between an exclusive specie currency on the one hand and Gov ernment issues of some kind on the other. That these issues can not be made by a chartered institution is supposed to be conclusively set tled. They must be made, then, directly by Government agents. For several years past they have been thus made in the form of Treasury notes, and have answered a valuable purpose. Their usefulness has been limited by their being transient and temporary; their ceasing to bear interest at given periods necessarily causes their speedy return and thus restricts their range of circulation, and being used only in the disbursements of Government they can not reach those points where they are most required. By rendering their use permanent, to the moderate extent already mentioned, by offering no inducement for their return and by exchanging them for coin and other values, they will constitute to a certain extent the general currency so much needed to maintain the internal trade of the country. And this is the excheq uer plan so far as it may operate in furnishing a currency. I can not forego the occasion to urge its importance to the credit of the Government in a financial point of view. The great necessity of resorting to every proper and becoming expedient in order to place John Tyler. 261 the Treasury on a footing of the highest respectability is entirely obvious. The credit of the Government may be regarded as the very soul of the Government itself — a principle of vitality without which all its movements are languid and all its operations embarrassed. Owing to their locality and to the course of the winds which prevail. in this quarter of the world, the Sandwich Islands are the stopping place for almost all vessels passing from continent to continent across the Pacific Ocean. They are especially resorted to by the great num ber of vessels of the United States which are engaged in the whale fishery in these seas. The number of vessels of all sorts and the amount of property owned by citizens of the United States which are found in those islands in the course of the year are stated probably with sufficient accuracy in the letter of the agents. Just emerging from a state of barbarism, the Government of the islands is as yet feeble, but its dispositions appear to be just and pacific, and it seems anxious to improve the condition of its people by the in troduction of knowledge, of religious and moral institutions, means of education, and the arts of civilized life. It can not but be in conformity with the interest and wishes of the Government and the people of the United States that this community, thus existing in the midst of a vast expanse of ocean, should be re spected and all its rights strictly and conscientiously regarded; and this must also be the true interest of all other commercial states. Far remote from the dominions of European powers, its growth and pros perity as an independent state may yet be in a high degree useful to all whose trade is extended to those regions; while its near approach to this continent and the intercourse which American vessels have with it, such vessels constituting five-sixths of all which annually visit it, could not but create dissatisfaction on the part of the United States at any attempt by another power, should such attempt be threatened or feared, to take possession of the islands, colonize them, and subvert the native Government. Considering, therefore, that the United States possesses so large a share of the intercourse with those islands, it is deemed not unfit to make the declaration that their Government seeks, nevertheless, no peculiar advantages, no exclusive control over the Hawaiian Government, but is content with its independent exist ence and anxiously wishes for its security and prosperity. Its forbear- 262 History of the United States. ance in this respect under the circumstances of the very large inter course of their citizens with the islands would justify this Government, should events hereafter arise to require it, in making a decided re monstrance against the adoption of an opposite policy by any other power. Under the circumstances I recommend to Congress to pro vide for a moderate allowance to be made out of the Treasury to the consul residing there, that in a Government so new and a country so remote American' citizens may have respectable authority to which to apply for redress in case of injury to their person and property, and to whom the Government of the country may also make known any acts committed by American citizens of which it may think it has a right to complain. Events of considerable importance have recently transpired in China. The military operations carried on against that Empire by the English Government have been terminated by a treaty, according to the terms of which four important ports hitherto shut against for eign commerce are to be open to British merchants, viz. : Amoy, Foo- Choo-Foo, Ningpo, and Chinghai. It can not but be interesting to the mercantile interest of the United States, whose intercourse with China at the single port of Canton has already become so considerable, to ascertain whether these other ports now open to British commerce are to remain shut, nevertheless, against the commerce of the United States. The treaty between the Chinese Government and the British commissioner provides neither for the admission nor the exclusion of the ships of other nations. It would seem, therefore, that it remains with every other nation having commercial intercourse with China to seek to make proper arrangements for itself with the Government of that Empire in this respect. The importations into the United States from China are known to be large, having amounted in some years, as will be seen by the an nexed tables, to. $9,000,000. The experts, too, from the United States to China constitute an interesting and growing part of the commerce of the country. It appears that in the year 1841, in the direct trade between the two countries, the value of the exports from the United States amounted to $715,000 in domestic produce and $485,000 in foreign merchandise. But the whole amount of American produce which finally reaches China and is there consumed is not comprised in these tables, which show only the direct trade. Many vessels with American products on board sail with a primary destination to other countries, but ultimately dispose of more or less of their cargoes in the port of Canton. . JA,,/, xn -..,/, sA.s, .:. • t A / ts - .,- >7 ' / s,-.:,,.y /A. .- 'A-i, ,,.'..¦ y . ,/ "¦ 0 /.-,./ ^P' PAGE OF WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY, RATIFIED IN JOHN TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. '¦/irzA jriciAfJ/ dy. Af.z- AAvifXssAs yAX^zAe^s sUsi^a/A^t. (JXAi/siy S2slSzs/vLeA? SZ-tsAyZJ Jt-jA:^ <• >A .AsXsis-s^ ytAr^, S2si^iy6s7- AsiAy s>-7^iy ^Az/n-z^yAy . sazs>ss?S\, jgazzzji^yy- *pj A v ¦Sj^ / szsfasy AsyxA- zsA XAAyy zAAziXs'slsAj ^AAazAyy.^ ¦tWifx'-'-S ' "~~y, -; ' yO-' yesAj \ff -y "/ /- A A) ' A s-r ¦ A^J; ' LAAjsy.es zxyb /AA^s AAsJ^y _yfyt 1 .% . x>^^__ JJAyiic*/ALz-i*^Aih; Ot^tSKy srA , sAXUs ASs^iyAeifi'g>2*y7A&™-&e^- Z7-A >XXLey sCAiiy&sA? (Ca4x^ ^-AysTfJ^z^es CsAf^y/^A'^^nyA:^. f£/2^^'$g£A0AA: {e&f.AAdU{A> z,A &£XatAey . PRESIDENT TYLER'S SIGNATURE ON THE RATIFICATION OF THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY. John Tyler. 265 The peculiarity of the Chinese Government and the Chinese charac ter are well known. An Empire supposed to contain 300,000,000 sub jects, fertile in various rich products of the earth, not without the knowledge of letters and of many arts, and with large and expensive ac commodations for internal intercourse and traffic, has for ages sought to exclude the visits of strangers and foreigners from its dominions, and has assumed for itself a superiority over all other nations. Events ap pear likely to break down and soften this spirit of nonintercourse and to bring China ere long into the relations which usually subsist between civilized states. She has agreed in the treaty with England that cor respondence between the agents of the two Governments shall be on equal terms — a concession which it is hardly probable will hereafter be withheld from other nations. It is true that the cheapness of labor among the Chinese, their in genuity in its application, and the fixed character of their habits and pursuits may discourage the hope of the opening of any great and sudden demand for the fabrics of other countries. But experience proves that the productions of western nations find a market to some extent among the Chinese; that that market, so far as respects the pro ductions of the United States, although it has considerably varied in successive seasons, has on the whole more than doubled within the last ten years; and it can hardly be doubted that the opening of several new and important ports connected with parts of the Empire hereto fore seldom visited by Europeans or Americans would exercise a favorable influence upon the demand for such productions. It is not understood that the immediate establishment of correspond ent embassies and missions or the permanent residence of diplomatic functionaries with full powers of each country at the Court of the other is contemplated between England and China, although, as has been already observed, it has been stipulated that intercourse between the two countries shall hereafter be on equal terms. An ambassador or envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary can only be ac credited, according to the usages of western nations, to the head or sovereign of the state, and it may be doubtful whether the Court of Pekin is yet prepared to conform to these usages so far as to receive a minister plenipotentiary to reside near it. Being of opinion, however, that the commercial interests of the United States connected with China require at the present moment a degree of attention and vigilance such as there is no agent of this Government on the spot to bestow, I recommend to Congress to make 266 History of the United States. appropriation for the compensation of a commissioner to reside in China to exercise a watchful care over the concerns of American citi zens and for the protection of their persons and property, empowered to hold intercourse with the local authorities, and ready, under instruc tions from this Government, should such instructions become neces sary and proper hereafter, to address himself to the high functionaries of the Empire, or through them to the Emperor himself. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER, 1843. Since the last adjournment of Congress the Executive has relaxed no effort to render indestructible the relations of amity which so hap pily exist between the United States and other countries. The treaty lately concluded with Great Britain has tended greatly to increase the good understanding which a reciprocity of interests is calculated to en courage, and it is most ardently to be hoped that nothing may trans pire to interrupt the relations of amity which it is so obviously the policy of both nations, to cultivate. A question of much importance still remains to be adjusted between them. The territorial limits of the two countries in relation to what is commonly known as the Ore gon Territory still remain in dispute. The United States would be at all times indisposed to aggrandize itself at the expense of any other nation; but while they would be restrained by principles of honor, which should govern the conduct of nations as well as that of individu als, from setting up a demand for territory which does not belong to them, they would as unwillingly consent to a surrender of their rights. After the most rigid and, as far as practicable, unbiased examination of the subject, the United States have always contended that their rights appertain to the entire region of country lying on the Pacific and embraced within 420 and 540 40' of north latitude. This claim being controverted by Great Britain, those who have preceded the present Executive — actuated, no doubt, by an earnest desire to adjust the matter upon terms mutually satisfactory to both countries — have caused to be submitted to the British Government propositions for settlement and final adjustment, which, however, have not proved heretofore acceptable to it. Our minister at London has, under in structions, again brought the subject to the consideration of that Gov ernment, and while nothing will be done to compromit the rights or honor of the United States, every proper expedient will be resorted to in order to bring the negotiation now in the progress of resumption to a speedy and happy termination. In fhe meantime it is proper to re- John Tyler. 267 mark that many of our citizens are either already established in the Territory or are on their way thither for the purpose of forming per manent settlements, while others are preparing to follow; and in view of these facts I must repeat the recommendation contained in previous messages for the establishment of military posts at such places on the line of travel as will furnish security and protection to our hardy ad venturers against hostile tribes of Indians inhabiting those extensive regions. Our laws should also follow them, so modified as the cir cumstances of the case may seem to require. Under the influence of our free system of government new republics are destined to spring up at no distant day on the shores of the Pacific similar in policy and in feeling to those existing on this side of the Rocky Mountains, and giving a wider and more extensive spread to the principles of civil and religious liberty. Measures of an unusual character have recently been adopted by the Mexican Government, calculated in no small degree to affect the trade of other nations in Mexico and to operate injuriously to the United States. All foreigners, by a decree of the 23d day of September, and after six months from the day of its promulgation, are forbidden to carry on the business of selling by retail any goods within the confines of Mexico. Against this decree our minister has not failed to re monstrate. The trade heretofore carried on by our citizens with Santa Fe, in which much capital was already invested and which was becoming of daily increasing importance, has suddenly been arrested by a decree of virtual prohibition on the part of the Mexican Government. What ever may be the right of Mexico to prohibit any particular course of trade to the citizens or subjects of foreign powers, this late procedure, to say the least of it, wears a harsh and unfriendly aspect. In connection with its other interests, as well as those of the whole country, I recommend that at your present session you adopt such measures in order to carry into effect the Smithsonian bequest as in your judgment will be best calculated to consummate the liberal in tent of the testator. I can not forbear urging upon you the importance (February 23, 1844) of constructing, upon the principles which have been brought into use in the construction of the " Princeton," several ships of war of a larger class, better fitted than that ship to the heavy armament which 268 History of the United States. should be placed on board of them. The success which has so emin ently crowned this first experiment should encourage Congress to lose no time in availing the country of all the important benefits so obviously destined to flow from it. Other nations will speedily give their at tention to this subject, and it would be criminal in the United States, the first to apply to practical purposes the great power which has been brought into use, to permit others" to avail themselves of our improve ments while we stood listlessly and supinely by. In the number of steam vessels of war we are greatly surpassed by other nations, and yet to Americans is the world indebted for that great discovery of the means of successfully applying steam power which has in the last quarter century so materially changed the condition of the world. We have now taken another and even bolder step, the results of which upon the affairs of nations remain still to be determined, and I can not but flatter myself that it will be followed up without loss of time to the full extent of the public demands. The application of steam power to ships of war no longer confines us to the seaboard in their construction. The urgent demands of the service for the Gulf of Mexico and the substitution of iron for wood in the construction of ships plainly point to the establishment of a navy-yard at some suitable place on the Mississippi. The coal fields and iron mines of the extensive region watered by that noble river recommended such an establishment, while high considerations of public policy would lead to the same conclusion. One of the complaints of the Western States against the actual operation of our system of government is that while large and increas ing expenditures of public money are made on the Atlantic frontier the expenditures in the interior are comparatively small. The time has now arrived when this cause of complaint may be in a great meas ure removed by adopting the legitimate and necessary policy which I have indicated, thereby throwing around the States another bond of union. I transmit herewith, for approval and ratification (April 22, 1844), a treaty which I have caused to be negotiated between the United States and Texas, whereby the latter, on the conditions therein set forth, has transferred and conveved all its rieht of separate and inde pendent sovereignty and jurisdiction to the United States. In tak- John Tyler. 269 ing so important a step I have been influenced by what appeared to me to be the most controlling considerations of public policy and the general good, and in having accomplished it, should it meet with your approval, the Government will have succeeded in reclaiming a terri tory which formerly constituted a portion, as it is confidently believed, of its domain under the treaty of cession of 1803 by France to the United States. The country thus proposed to be annexed has been settled princi pally by persons from the United States, who immigrated on the in vitation of both Spain and Mexico, and who carried with them into the wilderness which they have partially reclaimed the laws, customs, and political and domestic institutions of their native land. They are deeply indoctrinated in all the principles of civil liberty, and will bring along with them in the act of reassociation devotion to our Union and- a firm and inflexible resolution to assist in maintaining the public liberty unimpaired — a consideration which, as it appears to me, is to-be regarded as of no small moment. The country itself thus ob tained is of incalculable value in an agricultural and commercial point of view. To a soil of inexhaustible fertility it unites a genial and healthy climate, and is destined at a day not distant to make large con tributions to the commerce of the world. Its territory is separated from the United States in part by an imaginary line, and by the river Sabine for a distance of 310 miles, and its productions are the same with those of many of the contiguous States of the Union. Such is the country, such are its inhabitants, and such its capacities to add to the general wealth of the Union. As to the latter, it may be safely asserted that in the magnitude of its productions it will equal in a short time, under the protecting care of this Government, if it does not surpass, the combined production of many of the States of the Confederacy. A new and powerful impulse will thus be given to the navigating interest of the country, which will be chiefly engrossed by our fellow- citizens of the Eastern and Middle States, who have already attained a remarkable degree of prosperity by the partial monopoly they have enjoyed of the carrying trade of the Union, particularly the coastwise trade, which this new acquisition is destined in time, and that not dis tant, to swell to a magnitude which can not easily be computed, while the addition made to the boundaries of the home market thus secured to their mining, manufacturing, and mechanical skill and industry will be of a character the most commanding and important. Such 270 History of the United States. are some of the many advantages which will accrue to the Eastern and Middle States by the ratification of the treaty — advantages the extent of which it is impossible to estimate with accuracy or properly to ap preciate. Texas, being adapted to the culture of cotton, sugar, and rice, and devoting most of her energies to the raising of these pro ductions, will open an extensive market to the Western States in the important articles of beef, pork, horses, mules, etc., as well as in breadstuffs. At the same time, the Southern and Southeastern States will find in the fact of annexation protection and security to their peace and tran quillity, as well against all domestic as foreign efforts to disturb them, this consecrating anew the Union of the States and holding out the promise of its perpetual duration. Thus, at the same time that the tide of public prosperity is greatly swollen, an appeal of what appears to the Executive to be of an imposing, if not of a resistless, character is made to the interests of every portion of the country. Texas, for reasons deemed sufficient by herself, threw off her de pendence on Mexico as far back as 1836, and consummated her inde pendence by the battle of San Jacinto' in the same year, since which period Mexico has attempted no serious invasion of her territory, but the contest has assumed features of a mere border war, characterized by acts revolting to humanity. In the year 1836 Texas adopted her constitution, under which she has existed as a sovereign power ever since, having been recognized as such by many of the principal powers of the world; and contemporaneously with its adoption, by a solemn vote of her people, embracing all her population but ninety-three persons, declared her anxious desire to be admitted into association with the United States as a portion of their territory. This vote, thus solemnly taken, has never been reversed, and now by the action of her constituted authorities, sustained as it is by popular sentiment, she reaffirms her desire for annexation. This course has been adopted by her without the employment of any sinister measures on the part of this Government. No intrigue has been set on foot to accomplish it. Texas herself wills it, and the Executive of the United States, concur ring with her, has seen no sufficient reason to avoid the consummation of an act esteemed to be so desirable by both. It can not be denied that Texas is greatly depressed in her energies by her long-protracted war with Mexico. Under these circumstances it is but natural that she should seek for safety and repose under the protection of some stronger power, and it is equally so that her people John Tyler. 271 should turn to the United States, the land of their birth, in the first instance in the pursuit of such protection. She has often before made known her wishes, but her advances have to this time been repelled. The Executive of the United States sees no longer any cause for pur suing such a course. The hazard of now defeating her wishes may be of the most fatal tendency. It might lead, and most probably would, to such an entire alienation of sentiment and feeling as would inevi tably induce her to look elsewhere for aid, and force her either to enter into dangerous alliances with other nations, who, looking with more wisdom to their own interests, would, it is fairly to be presumed, readily adopt such expedients; or she would hold out the proffer of discriminating duties in trade and commerce in order to secure the necessary assistance. Whatever step she might adopt looking to this object would prove disastrous in the highest degree to the interests of the whole Union. To say nothing of the impolicy of our permitting the carrying trade and home market of such a country to pass out of our hands into those of a commercial rival, the Government, in the first place, would be certain to suffer most disastrously in its revenue by the introduction of a system of smuggling upon an extensive scale, which an army of custom-house officers could not prevent, and which would operate to affect injuriously the interests of all the industrial classes of this country. Hence would arise constant collisions between the inhabitants of the two countries, which would evermore endanger their peace. A large increase of the military force of the United States would inevitably follow, thus devolving upon the people new and extraordinary burdens in order not only to protect them from dan ger of daily collision with Texas herself, but to guard their border in habitants against hostile inroads, so easily excited on the part of the numerous and warlike tribes of Indians dwelling in their neigh borhood. Texas would undoubtedly be unable for many years to come, if at any time, to resist unaided and alone the military power of the United States; but it is not extravagant to suppose that nations reaping a rich harvest from her trade, secured to them by advantageous treaties, would be induced to take part with her in any conflict with us, from the strongest considerations of public policy. Such a state of things might subject to devastation the territory of contiguous States, and would cost the country in a single campaign more treasure, thrice told over, than is stipulated to be paid and reimbursed by the treaty now proposed for ratification. I will not permit myself to dwell on 272 History of the United States. this view of the subject. Consequences of a fatal character to the peace of the Union, and even to the preservation of the Union itself, might be dwelt upon. They will not, however, fail to occur to the mind of the Senate and of the country. Nor do I indulge in any vague conjectures of the future. The documents now transmitted along with the treaty lead to the conclusion, as inevitable, that if the boon now tendered be rejected, Texas will seek for the friendship of others In contemplating such a contingency it can not be over looked that the United States are already almost surrounded by the possession of European powers. The Canadas, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, the islands in the American seas, with Texas trammeled by treaties of alliance or of a commercial character differing in policy from that of the United States, would complete the circle. Texas voluntarily steps forth, upon terms of perfect honor and good faith to all nations, to ask to be annexed to the Union. As an inde pendent sovereignty her right to do this is unquestionable. In doing so she gives no cause of umbrage to any other power ; her people desire it, and there is no slavish transfer of her sovereignty and independence. She has for eight years maintained her independence against all ef forts to subdue her. She has been recognized as independent by many of the most prominent of the family of nations, and that recog nition, so far as they are concerned, places her in a position, without giving any just cause of umbrage to them, to surrender her sover eignty at her own will and pleasure. The United States, actuated evermore' by a spirit of justice, has desired by the stipulations of the treaty to render justice to all. They have made provision for the pay ment of the public debt of Texas. We look to her ample and fertile domain as the certain means of accomplishing this; but this is a mat ter between the United States and Texas, and with which other Gov ernments have nothing to do. Our right to receive the rich grant tendered by Texas is perfect, and this Government should not, having due respect either to its own honor or its own business interests, per mit its course of policy to be interrupted by the interference of other powers,, even if such interference were threatened. The question is one purely American. In the acquisition, while we abstain most care fully from all that could interrupt the public peace, we claim the right to exercise a due regard to our own. This Government can not con sistently with its honor permit any such interference. To Mexico the Executive is disposed to pursue a course conciliatory in its character and at the same time to render her the most ample John Tyler. 273 justice by conventions and stipulations not inconsistent with the rights and dignity of the Government. It is actuated by no spirit of unjust aggrandizement, but looks only to its own security. It has made known to Mexico at several periods its extreme anxiety to wit ness the termination of hostilities between that country and Texas. Its wishes, however, have been entirely disregarded. It has ever been ready to urge an adjustment of the dispute upon terms mutually ad vantageous to both. It will be ready at all times to hear and discuss any claims Mexico may think she has on the justice of the United States and to adjust any that may be deemed to be so on the most liberal terms. There is no desire on the part of the Executive to wound her pride or affect injuriously her interest, but at the same time it can not compromit by any delay in its action the essential in terests of the United States. Mexico has no right to ask or to expect this of us; we deal rightfully with Texas as an independent power. The war which has been waged for eight years has resulted only in the conviction with all others than herself that Texas can not be reconquered. I can not but repeat the opinion expressed in my message at the opening of Congress that it is time it had ceased. The Executive, while it could not look upon its longer continuance without the great est uneasiness, has, nevertheless, for all past time preserved a course of strict neutrality. But one view of the subject remains to be presented. It grows out of the proposed enlargement of our territory. From this, I am free to confess, I see no danger. The federative system is susceptible of the greatest extension compatible with the ability of the representa tion of the most distant State or Territory to reach the seat of Gov ernment in time to participate in the functions of legislation and to make known the wants of the constituent body. Our confederated Republic consisted originally of thirteen members. It now consists of twice that number, while applications are before Congress to per mit other additions. This addition of New States has served to strengthen rather than to weaken the Union. New interests have sprung up, which require the united power of all, through the action of the common Government, to protect and defend upon the high seas and in foreign parts. Each State commits with perfect security to that common Government those great interests growing out of our relations with other nations of the world, and which equally involve the good of all the States. Its do- 274 History of the United States. mestic concerns are left to its own exclusive management. But if there were any force in the objection it would seem to require an im mediate abandonment of territorial possessions which lie in the dis tance and stretch to a far-off sea, and yet no one would be found, it is believed, ready to recommend such an abandonment. Texas lies at our very doors and in our immediate vicinity. Under every view which I have been able to take of the subject, I think that the interests of our common constituents, the people of all the States, and a love of the Union left the Executive no other al ternative than to negotiate the treaty. The high and solemn duty of ratifying or rejecting it is wisely devolved on the Senate by the Constitution of the United States. In my message communicating the treaty (May 16, 1844) with Texas I expressed the opinion that if Texas was not now annexed it was probable that the opportunity of annexing it to the United States would be lost forever. Since then the subject has been much agitated, and if an opinion may be formed of the chief ground of the opposition to the treaty, it is not that Texas ought not at some time or other to be annexed, but that the present is not the proper time. It becomes, therefore, important, in this view of the subject, and is alike due to the Senate and the country, that I should furnish any papers in my possession which may be calculated to impress the Senate with the correctness of the opinion thus expressed by me. With this view I transmit a report from the Secretary of State, accompanied by vari ous communications on the subject. These communications are from private sources, and it is to be remarked that a resort must in all such cases be had chiefly to private sources of information, since it is not to be expected that any government, more especially if situated as Texas is, would be inclined to develop to the world its ulterior line of policy. Among the extracts is one from a letter from General Houston to General Andrew Jackson, to which I particularly invite your at tention, and another from General Jackson to a gentleman of high re spectability, now of this place. Considering that General Jackson was placed in a situation to hold the freest and fullest interview with Mr. Miller, the private and confidential secretary of President Houston, who, President Houston informed General Jackson, " knows all his John Tyler. 275 actions and understands all his motives," and who was authorized to communicate to General Jackson the views 'of the policy enter tained by the President of Texas, as well applicable to the present as the future; that the declaration made by General Jackson in his letter " that the present golden moment to obtain Texas must not be lost, or Texas might from necessity be thrown into the arms of England and be forever lost to the United States," was made with a full knowl edge of all circumstances, and ought to be received as conclusive of what will be the course of Texas should the present treaty fail — from this high source, sustained, if it requires to be sustained, by the accompanying communications, I entertain not the least doubt that if annexation should now fail it will in all human probability fail forever. Indeed, I have strong reasons to believe that instructions have already been given by the Texan Government to propose to the Government of Great Britain, forthwith on the failure, to enter into a treaty of commerce and an alliance offensive and defensive. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, 1844. The treaty with Texas which had been negotiated failed to receive the ratification of the Senate. One of the chief objections which was urged against it was found to consist in the fact that the question of annexation had not been submitted to the ordeal of public opinion in the United States. However untenable such an objection was esteemed to be, in view of the unquestionable power of the Executive to negotiate the treaty and the great and lasting interests involved in the question, I felt it to be my duty to submit the whole subject to Congress as the best expounders of popular sentiment. No definitive action having been taken on the subject by Congress, the question re ferred itself directly to the decision of the States and people. The great popular election which has just terminated afforded the best op portunity of ascertaining the will of the States and the people upon it. Pending that issue it became the imperative duty of the Executive to inform Mexico that the question of annexation was still before the American people, and that until their decision was pronounced any serious invasion of Texas would be regarded as an attempt to forestall their judgment and could not be looked upon with indifference. I am most happy to inform you that no such invasion has taken place ; and I trust that whatever your action may be upon it Mexico will see the importance of deciding the matter by a resort to peaceful ex pedients in preference to those of arms. 276 History of the United States. The decision of the people and the States on this great and interest ing subject has been decisively manifested. The question of an nexation has been presented nakedly to their consideration. By the treaty itself all collateral and incidental issues which were cal culated to divide and distract the public councils were carefully avoided. These were left to the wisdom of the future to determine. It presented, I repeat, the isolated question of annexation, and in that form it has been submitted to the ordeal of public sentiment. A con trolling majority of the people and a large majority of the States have declared in favor of immediate annexation. Instructions have thus come up to both branches of Congress from their respective con stituents in terms the most emphatic. It is the will, of both the people and the States that Texas shall be annexed to the Union promptly and immediately. It may be hoped that in carrying into execution the public will thus declared all collateral issues may be avoided. Future Legislatures can best decide as to the number of States which should be formed out of the territory when the time has arrived for deciding that question. So with all others. By the treaty the United States assumed the payment of the debts of Texas to an amount not exceed ing $10,000,000, to be paid, with the exception of a sum falling short of $400,000, exclusively out of the proceeds of the sales of her public lands. We could not with honor take the lands without assuming the full payment of all incumbrances upon them. The greatly improved condition of the Treasury affords a subject for general congratulation. The paralysis which had fallen on trade and commerce, and which subjected the Government to the necessity of resorting to loans and the issue of Treasury notes to a large amount, has passed away, and after the payment of upward of $7,000,000 on account of the interest, and in redemption of more than $5,000,000 of the public debt which falls due on the 1st of January next, and setting apart upward of $2,000,000 for the payment of outstanding Treasury notes and meeting an installment of the debts of the cor porate cities of the District of Columbia, an estimated surplus of upward of $7,000,000 over and above the existing appropriations will remain in the Treasury at the close of the fiscal year. Should the Treasury notes continue outstanding as heretofore, that surplus will be considerably augmented. Although all interest has ceased upon them and the Government has invited their return to the Treasury, yet they remain outstanding, affording great facilities to commerce, and es tablishing the fact that under a well-regulated system of finance the John Tyler. 277 Government has resources within itself which render it independent in time of need, not only of private loans, but also of bank facilities. I can not too strongly urge the policy of authorizing the establish ment of a line of steamships regularly to ply between this country and foreign ports and upon our own waters for the transportation of the mail. The example of the British Government is well worthy of imitation in this respect. The belief is strongly entertained that emoluments arising from the transportation of mail matter to foreign countries would operate of itself as an inducement to cause individual enterprise to undertake that branch of the task, and the remuneration of the Government would consist in the addition readily made to our steam navy in case of emergency by the ships so employed. Should this suggestion meet your approval, the propriety of placing such ships under the command of experienced officers of the Navy will not es cape your observation. The application of steam to the purposes of naval warfare cogently recommends an extensive steam marine as important in estimating the defenses of the country. Fortunately this may be obtained by us to a great extent without incurring any large, amount of expenditure. Steam vessels to be engaged in the transportation of the mails on our principal water-courses, lakes, and ports of our coast could also be so constructed as to be efficient as war vessels when needed, and would of themselves constitute a formidable force in order to repel attacks from abroad. We can not be blind to the fact that other nations have already added large num bers of steamships to their naval armaments and that this new and powerful agent is destined to revolutionize the condition of the world. It becomes the United States, therefore, looking -to their security, to adopt a similar policy, and the plan suggested will enable them to do so at a small comparative cost. I transmit (December io, 1844) copies of dispatches received from our minister at Mexico since the commencement of your present session, which claim from their importance, and I doubt not will re ceive, your calm and deliberate consideration. The extraordinary and highly offensive language which the Mexican Government has thought proper to employ in reply to the remonstrance of the Executive, through Mr. Shannon, against the renewal of the war with Texas while the question of annexation was pending before Congress and 278 History of the United States. the people, and also the proposed manner of conducting that war, will not fail to arrest your attention. Such remonstrance, urged in no unfriendly spirit to Mexico, was called for by considerations of an imperative character, having relation as well to the peace of this country and honor of this Government as to the cause of humanity and civilization. Texas had entered into the treaty of annexation upon the invitation of the Executive, and when for that act she was threatened with a renewal of the war on the part of Mexico she naturally looked to this Government to interpose its efforts to ward off the threatened blow. But one course was left the Executive, acting within the limits of its constitutional competency, and that was to protest in respectful, but at the same time strong and decided, terms against it. The war thus threatened to be renewed was pro mulgated by edicts and decrees, which ordered on the part of the Mexican military the desolation of whole tracts of country and the destruction without discrimination of all ages, sexes, and conditions of existence. Over the manner of conducting war Mexico possesses no exclusive control. She has no right to violate at pleasure the principles which an enlightened civilization has laid down for the con duct of nations at war, and thereby retrograde to a period of barbarism, which happily for the world has long since passed away. All nations are interested in enforcing an observance of those principles, and the United States, the oldest of the American Republics and the nearest of the civilized powers to the theater on which these enormities were proposed to be enacted, could not quietly content themselves to witness such a state of things. They had through the Executive on another occasion, and, as was believed, with the appro bation of the whole country, remonstrated against oarages similar but even less inhuman than those which by her new edicts and decrees she has threatened to perpetrate, and of which the late inhuman massacre at Tabasco was but the precursor. The Executive, with the evidence of an intention on the part of Mexico to renew scenes so revolting to humanity, could do no less than renew remonstrances formerly urged. For fulfilling duties so imperative Mexico has thought proper, through her accredited organs, because she has had represented to her the inhumanity of such pro ceedings, to indulge in language unknown to the courtesy of diplo matic intercourse and offensive in the highest degree to this Govern ment and people. Nor has she offended in this only. She has not only violated existing conventions between the two countries by John Tyler. 279 arbitrary and unjust decrees against our trade and intercourse, but withholds installments of debt due to our citizens which she solemnly pledged herself to pay under circumstances which are fully explained by the accompanying letter from Mr. Green, our secretary of legation. And when our minister has invited the attention of her Government to wrongs committed by her local authorities, not only on the property but on the persons of our fellow-citizens engaged in prosecuting fair and honest pursuits, she has added insult to injury by not even deign ing for months together to return an answer to his representations. Still further to manifest her unfriendly feelings toward the United States, she has issued decrees expelling from some of her Provinces American citizens engaged in the peaceful pursuits of life, and now denies to those of our citizens prosecuting the whale fishery on the northwest coast of the Pacific the privilege, which has through all time heretofore been accorded to them, of exchanging goods of a small amount in value at her ports in California for supplies indispensable to their health and comfort. The subject of annexation (of Texas) addresses itself, most fortu nately, to every portion of the Union. The Executive would have been unmindful of its highest obligations if it could have adopted a course of policy dictated by sectional interests and local feelings. On the con trary, it was because the question was neither local nor sectional, but made its appeal to the interests of the whole Union, and of every State in the Union, that the negotiation, and finally the treaty of annexation, was entered into; and it has afforded me no ordinary pleasure to per ceive that so far as demonstrations have been made upon it by the people they have proceeded from all portions of the Union. Mexico may seek to excite divisions amongst us by uttering unjust denuncia tions against particular States, but when she comes to know that the invitations addressed to our fellow-citizens by Spain, and afterward by herself, to settle Texas were accepted by emigrants from all the States, and when, in addition to this, she refreshes her recollection with the fact that the first effort which was made to acquire Texas was dur ing the Administration of a distinguished citizen from an Eastern State, which was afterward renewed under the auspices of a Presi dent from the Southwest, she will awake to a knowledge of the futility of her present purpose of sowing dissensions among us or producing distraction in our councils by attacks either on particular States or on persons who are now in the retirement of private life. 280 History of the United States. A course of conduct such as has been described on the part of Mexico, in violation of all friendly feeling and of the courtesy which should characterize the intercourse between the nations of the earth, might well justify the United States in a resort to any measures to vindicate their national honor; but, actuated by a sincere desire to pre serve the general peace, and in view of the present condition of Mexico, the Executive, resting upon its integrity, and not fearing but that the judgment of the world will duly appreciate its motives, abstains from recommending to Congress a resort to measures of redress and con tents itself with reurging upon that body prompt and immediate ac tion on the subject of annexation. By adopting that measure the United States will be in the exercise of an undoubted right; and if Mexico, not regarding their forbearance, shall aggravate the in justice of her conduct by a declaration of war against them, upon her head will rest all the responsibility. I communicate an abstract (January 22, 1845) of the treaty between the United States of America and the Chinese Empire concluded at Wang-Hiya on the 3d of July last, and ratified by the Senate on the 16th instant, and which, having also been ratified by the Emperor of China, now awaits only the exchange of the ratifications in China, from which it will be seen that the special mission authorized by Congress for this purpose has fully succeeded in the accomplishment so far of the great objects for which it was appointed, and in placing our relations with China on a new footing eminently favorable to the commerce and other interests of the United States. In view of the magnitude and importance of our national concerns, actual and prospective, in China, I submit to Congress the expediency of providing for the preservation and cultivation of the subsisting relations of amity between the United States and the Chinese Govern ment, either by means of a permanent minister or commissioner with diplomatic functions, as in the case of certain of the Mohammedan States.- It appears by one of the extracts annexed that the establish ment of the British Government in China consists both of a pleni potentiary and also of paid consuls for all the five ports, one of whom has the title and exercises the functions of consul-general; and France has also a salaried consul-general, and the interests of the United TROUBLED treasures j» Tlf8)r ivtrrzl l*n-wK, SJTiTT mi»lto »g»*rd* CARTOON ON TROUBLED TREASURES. CARTOON ON THE TIMES. John Tyler. 283 States seem in like manner to call for some representative in China of a higher class than an ordinary commercial consulate. I also submit to Congress the expediency of making some special provision by law for the security of the independent and honorable position which the treaty of Wang-Hiya confers on citizens of the United States residing or doing business in China. By the twenty- first and twenty-fifth articles of the treaty, copies of which are sub joined in extenso, citizens of the United States in China are wholly exempted, as well in criminal as in civil matters, from the local juris diction of the Chinese Government and made amenable to the laws and subject to the jurisdiction of the appropriate authorities of the United States alone. Some action on the part of Congress seems de sirable in order to give full effect to these important concessions of the Chinese Government. LIFE OF JOHN TYLER. JOHN TYLER was born at Greenway, Va., March 29, 1790. He was son of Judge John Tyler, governor of Virginia, from 1808 to 181 1, and Mary Armistead. In 1807 he graduated at William and Mary College. He was fond of literature and poetry, and was a skilled performer on the violin. He was admitted to the bar in 1809, and had gained quite a practice when elected to the legislature in December, 181 1. He staunchly supported President Madison's Administration, and the war with Great Britain which followed brought him out conspicuously as an orator. He married Letitia, daughter of Robert Christian, March 29, 1813, and shortly after led a company of militia to the defense of Richmond, which was threatened by the English. This service engaged him but a month. He was yearly re-elected to the legislature until November, 1816, when he was chosen to fill a vacancy in the United States House of Representatives. He was re-elected to Congress until 1821, when he retired on account of his health. In 1825 an attempt was made to remove William and Mary College to Richmond, which Mr. Tyler opposed, and he was successively rector and chancellor of the college which prospered greatly under his management. In February, 1830, he returned to the United States Senate, and supported Jackson in the Presidential election of 1832, but on the question of removing the deposits from the United States Bank, broke with the Administration. 284 History of the United States. The State-rights Whigs ran him for Vice-President in 1835, and at the election November, 1836, he received 47 electoral votes, but no candi date having a majority of electoral votes, the Senate elected Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. November 10, 1840, he was elected Vice- President on the ticket with William Henry Harrison and by the death of the latter, April 4, 1841, became President. He was nomi nated for re-election. May 27, 1844, but declined to run. His first wife having died September 9, 1842, Mr. Tyler married Miss Julia Gardiner of New York, June 26, 1844. He resided on his estate, Sherwood Forest, near Greenway, Va., on the banks of the James River, and died at Richmond, January 18, 1862, and was buried, in Flollywood Cemetery, in that city. James K. Polk. 285 HOME OF JAMES K. POLK, AT NASHVILLE, TENN. CHAPTER XI. WHAT PRESIDENT POLK WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR. By Senator Marion Butler. JAMES K. POLK will be remembered for the war that he did not fight as much as for the war he made against Mexico. The prominent issues presented in the famous Presidential campaign be tween Polk and Clay were the Texas and Oregon questions. Clay, who had always been a compromise man, occupied a compromise position in the campaign. He was in favor of the acquisition of Texas, provided it could be done without a war with Mexico, but probably a majority of his party did not 286 History of the United States. go even that far. On the other hand Polk was strongly in favor of the imme diate annexation of Texas and of the acquisition of the whole of Oregon up to 54° 40" north latitude, and was in favor of war in both cases, if necessary to accomplish these results. It will be remembered that one of the campaign slogans was " Fifty-four Forty or Fight." The result of such a campaign was 170 electoral votes for Polk and only 105 for Clay. Polk in his inaugural address commended the late action of Congress in relation to Texas, providing for the introduction of the Republic into the Federal Union as a separate State, and strongly asserted the title of the United States to the whole of Oregon, regardless of the claim of Great Britain, and intimated his intention to maintain it by force if necessary. Texas was promptly admitted into the Union, which resulted in the breaking off of diplomatic negotiations between this Republic and the Republic of Mexico. Mexico having never recognized -the independence of Texas, and still claiming that territory as belonging to her dominion. The Mexican War followed,_ which was prosecuted not only to defend and maintain the status of Texas, but even to a war of conquest. The war was pushed until the flag of the United States floated over the Mexican capital, and the immense territory from New Mexico to Oregon west of the Mississippi river, excluding the Louisiana purchase acquired by Jefferson, was taken as a war indemnity by the peace of Guadaloupe Hidalgo. Next to the acquisition of the Louisiana territory this was the most important acquisition of territory that our government has ever made. Thus while Polk, as a result of the war, was acquiring most valuable and important territory in the South and Southwest, and in this respect going even further than his campaign promises and pledges, yet he was pursuing an entirely different, just the opposite course in fact, with reference to the other important question of the memorable campaign which won him the Presidency, with reference to Oregon and the Northwest. There was nothing further heard of " fifty-four forty or fight, regardless of the claims of England." President Polk unfortunately surrendered and compromised away the rights and contention of the United States, where the people had declared they were clear and indisputable. All of Oregon north of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude was quietly and peaceably surrendered, thus surrendering a great territory rich in minerals and agricultural resources, and very important to the welfare and defense of the United States in many ways. It was a territory out of which could have been carved a number of States as large as Washington ond equally as rich and valuable. Besides, it would have saved the island of Vancouver and adjacent waters with their stragetic military and commercial advantages, within our borders. James K. Polk. 287 If the public had not had its attention so sharply drawn to the great acquisitions in the South and Southwest, as a result of the Mexican war, Polk and his administration would have met overwhelming condemnation for the surrender of the Northwest. So President Polk will be remembered not only for the war that he did fight and the great and valuable territory acquired as the result of it, but will each year, as time goes on, be remembered more and more for the war that he did not fight and the territory he did not acquire, or rather fight to hold. Even at the time of the Mexican War there was a strong sentiment in the country against the acquisition of territory by conquest, though the same sentiment would have indorsed the Administration in fighting to maintain our rights in the territory of Oregon. In 1845 a meeting of the citizens of New York city declared that a war for conquest against Mexico would be an unjust war, and a war in which the nation would be sustained by no sense of right, but condemned by the unanimous voice of the civilization of the Christian ¦ world." That the cost in American blood was fearful, was instanced by the fact that at the roll-call of one company of 100 men who had started in at the beginning, but one man answered the roll-call at the fall of the Mexican capitol. The rest had perished by bullets and disease. In the ardor of the moment and when flushed with victory we are prone to confuse might with right. It is not a pleasant duty, no matter how great the provocation, to prostrate a sister Republic in the dust. A conflict of arms does not determine the justice of a cause. It only determines the relative strength of the con testants. Napoleon said that Providence was on the side of the heavy artillery. Neither Mr. Polk nor Mr. Lincoln would wish to be handed down in history in the same class as the Corsican God of War. Even at this day it is hard to tell whether or not future generations will fully justify Mr. Polk as a man who did the true, wise, and great thing in perpe trating the war with Mexico and afterward pushed it to a war of conquest. At the same time it seems clear that future generations will blame Mr. Polk more and more for his needless surrender of the Oregon territory between the forty-ninth degree and fifty-four forty. To-day we look at the great territory which he acquired in the United States in the South and Southwest, and point with pride to the development and progress which it has made as compared with that territory which is now under Mexican rule. Possibly it would have remained always under Mexican rule had not the War of 1846 wiLh Mexico have brought it immediately under the dominion of the United States, but if we are to judge of that territory by the case of Texas the chances are that this territory would have fought for its independence as Texas did and then asked for admission into the Union. At the same time we will each year look with 2§8 History of the United States. regret at the great and important territory in the northwest, that it is not carved into States and advancing with the same progress and development under the stars and stripes as California. Polk will also be remembered as a Jeffersonian Democrat. In his mode of life he was plain; in his dealings and speech, straightforward and honest. In his convictions he was strong and preferred rather to stand for the right as he saw it than to curry popular favor as a trimmer. He stood for a strict con struction of the Constitution and held that great compact in the utmost reverence. He was a friend and follower of Jackson, and his career resembles that of the great Democrat in many ways. An honest man and of humble parentage, he arose from obscurity to the highest station in the gift of the American people. Like Jackson he stood unalterably opposed to the National Bank which monopolists of his day were trying to fasten on the American people. As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House, and later as Speaker of the same body, and as Governor of the State of Tennessee, his course calls for little adverse comment, and for general commendation. However historians and posterity may differ about his course as President with reference to the two great questions before him for solution, yet no man will question that Polk believed he was right in the course that he pursued, but ever and anon the immortal words of the great Kentuckian, whom Polk defeated for the Presidency, will recur to the impartial student of history: " I would rather be right than be President." James K. Polk. 289 ADMINISTRATION OF 1845-1849. By James K. Polk. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1845. WITHOUT solicitation on my part, I have been chosen by the free and voluntary suffrages of my countrymen to the most honorable and most responsible office on earth. I am deeply impressed with gratitude for the confidence reposed in me. Honored with this distinguished consideration at an earlier period of life than any of my predecessors, I can not disguise the diffidence with which I am about to enter on the discharge of my official duties. The Constitution itself, plainly written as it is, the safeguard of our federative compact, the offspring of concession and compromise, bind ing together in the bonds of peace and union this great and increasing family of free and independent States, will be the chart by which 1 shall be directed. Andrew Jackson is no more. He departed this life on Sunday, the 8th of June, 1845, ^u^ °f days and fvill of honors. Flis country deplores his loss, and will ever cherish his memory. Whilst a nation mourns it is proper that business should be suspended, at least for one day, in the Executive Departments, as a tribute of respect to the illustrious dead. I accordingly direct that the Departments of State, the Treasury, War, the Navy, the Post-Office, the office of the Attorney-General, and the Executive Mansion be instantly put into mourning, and that they be closed during the whole day to-morrow (June 16, 1845). FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 2, 1 845. In pursuance of the joint resolution of Congress " for annexing Texas to the United States," my predecessor, on the 3d day of March, 1845, elected to submit the first and second sections of that resolution 290 History of the United States. to the Republic of Texas as an overture on the part ot the United States for her admission as a State into our Union. This election I approved, and accordingly the charge d'affaires of the United States in Texas, under instructions of the 10th of March, 1845, presented these sections of the resolution for the acceptance of that Republic. The executive government, the Congress, and the people of Texas in convention have successively complied with all the terms and con ditions of the joint resolution. A constitution for the government of the State of Texas, formed by a convention of deputies, is herewith laid before Congress. It is well known, also, that the people of Texas at the polls have accepted the terms of annexation and ratified the Constitution. The terms of annexation which were offered by the United States having been accepted by Texas, the public faith of both parties is solemnly pledged to the compact of their union. Nothing remains to consummate the event but the passage of an act by Congress to admit the State of Texas into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States. Strong reasons exist why this should be done at an early period of the session. I regret to inform you that our relations with Mexico since your last session have not been of the amicable character which it is out desire to cultivate with all foreign nations. On the 6th day of March last the Mexican envoy extraordinary and minister pleni potentiary to the United States made a formal protest in the name of his Government against the joint resolution passed by Congress " for the annexation of Texas to the United States," which he chose to regard as a violation of the rights of Mexico, and in consequence of it he demanded his passports. He was informed that the Govern ment of the United States did not consider this joint resolution as a violation of any of the rights of Mexico, or that it afforded any just cause of offense to his Government; that the Republic of Texas was an independent power, owing no allegiance to Mexico and constitut ing no part of her territory. or rightful sovereignty and jurisdiction. He was also assured that it was the sincere desire of this Govern ment to maintain with that of Mexico relations of peace and good understanding. That functionary, however, notwithstanding these ' representations and assurances, abruptly terminated his mission and shortly afterward left the country. Our envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Mexico was refused all official intercourse with that Government, and, after remaining several months, by the ¦ James K. Polk. 291 permission of his own Government he returned to the United States. Thus, by the acts of Mexico, all diplomatic intercourse between the two countries was suspended. Since that time Mexico has until recently occupied an attitude of hostility toward the United States — has been marshalling and organ izing armies, issuing proclamations, and avowing the intention to make war on the United States, either by an open declaration or by invading Texas. Both the Congress and convention of the people of Texas invited this Government to send an army into that territory to protect and defend them against the menaced attack. The moment the terms of annexation offered by the United States were accepted by Texas the latter became so far a part of our own country as to make it our duty to afford such protection and defense. I, therefore, deemed it proper, as a precautionary measure, to order a strong squadron to the coasts of Mexico and to concentrate an efficient military force on the western frontier of Texas. Our Army was ordered to take position in the country between the Nueces and the Del Norte, and to repel any invasion of the Texan territory which might be attempted by the Mexican forces. Our squadron in the Gulf was ordered to co-operate with the Army. But though our Army and Navy were placed in a position to defend our own and the rights of Texas, they were ordered to commit no act of hostility against Mexico unless she declared war or was herself the aggressor by striking the first blow. Though entertaining the settled conviction that the British pre tensions of title could not be maintained to any portion of the Oregon Territory upon any principle of public law recognized by nations, yet in deference to what had been done by my predecessors, and especially in consideration that propositions of compromise had been thrice made by two preceding Administrations to adjust the question on the parallel of 490, and in two of them yielding to Great Britain the free navigation of the Columbia, and that the pending negotiation had been commenced on the basis of compromise, I deemed it to be my duty not abruptly to break it off. In consideration, too, that under the conventions of 1818 and 1827 the citizens and subjects of the two powers held a joint occupancy of the country, I was induced to make another effort to settle this long-pending controversy in the spirit of moderation which had given birth to the renewed discussion. A propo sition was accordingly made, which was rejected by the British plenipotentiary, who, without submitting any other proposition, suf- 292 History of the United States. fered the negotiation on his part to drop, expressing his trust that the United States would offer what he saw fit to call " some further pro posal for the settlement of the Oregon question more consistent with fairness and equity and with the reasonable expectations of the British Government." The proposition thus offered and rejected repeated the offer of the parallel of 490 of north latitude, which had been made by two preceding Administrations, but without proposing to sur render to Great Britain, as they had done, the free navigation of the Columbia River. The right of any foreign power to the free naviga tion of any of our rivers through the heart of our country was one which I was unwilling to concede. It also embraced a provision to make free to Great Britain any port or ports on the cap of Quadra and Vancouvers Island south of this parallel. Had this been a new question, coming under discussion for the first time, this proposition would not have been made. The extraordinary and wholly inad missible demands of the British Government and the rejection of the proposition made in deference alone to what had been done by my predecessors and the implied obligation which their acts seemed to impose afford satisfactory evidence that no compromise which the United States ought to accept can be effected. With this conviction the proposition of compromise which had been made and rejected was by my direction subsequently withdrawn and our title to the whole Oregon Territory asserted, and, as is believed, maintained by irre fragable facts and arguments. All attempts at compromise having failed, it becomes the duty of Congress to consider what measures it may be proper to adopt for the security and protection of our citizens now inhabiting or who may hereafter inhabit Oregon, and for the maintenance of our just title to that Territory. In adopting measures for this purpose care should be taken that nothing be done to violate the stipulations of the convention of 1827, which is still in force. For the protection of emigrants whilst on their way to Oregon against the attacks of the Indian tribes occupying the country through which they pass, I recommend that a suitable number of stockades and blockhouse forts be erected along the usual route between our frontier settlements on the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, and that an adequate force of mounted riflemen be raised to guard and protect them on their journey. The immediate adoption of these recommendations by Congress will not violate the provisions of the existing treaty. It will be doing nothing more for American citizens James K. Polk. 293 than British laws have long since done for British subjects in the same territory. It requires several months to perform the voyage by sea from the Atlantic States to Oregon, and although we have a large number of whaleships in the Pacific, but few of them afford an opportunity of interchanging intelligence without great delay between our settle ments in that distant region and the United States. An overland mail is believed to be entirely practicable, and the importance of estab lishing such a mail at least once a month is submitted to Congress. In accordance with the resolution (June 16, 1846) of the Senate of the 12th instant, that " the President of the United States be, and he is hereby, advised to accept the proposal of the British Government accompanying his message to the Senate dated ioth June, 1846, for a convention to settle boundaries, etc., between the United States and Great Britain west of the Rocky or Stony Mountains," a convention was concluded and signed on the 15th instant by the Secretary of State, on the part of the United States, and the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty, on the part of Great Britain. This convention I now lay before the Senate, with a view to its ratification. Entertaining the opinion that " the separation of the moneys of the Government from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety of the funds of the Government and the rights of the people," I recom mend to Congress that provision be made by law for such separation, and that a constitutional treasury be created for the safe-keeping of the public money. The constitutional treasury recommended is de signed as a secure depository for the public money, without any power to make loans or discounts or to issue any paper whatever as a currency or circulation. I can not doubt that such a treasury as was contemplated by the Constitution should be independent of all bank ing corporations. The money of the people should be kept in the Treasury of the people created by law, and be in the custody of agents of the people chosen by themselves according to the forms cf the Constitution. Texas, by the final action of our Congress (December 31, 1845), had become an integral part of our Union. The Congress of Texas. 294 History of the United States. by its act of December 19, 1836, had declared the Rio del Norte to be the boundary of that Republic. Its jurisdiction had been extended and exercised beyond -the Nueces. The country between that river and the Del Norte had been represented in the Congress and in the convention of Texas, had thus taken part in the act of annexation itself, and is now included within one of our Congressional districts. The movement of the troops to the Del Norte was made by the commanding general under positive instructions to abstain from all aggressive acts toward Mexico or Mexican citizens and to regard the relations between that Republic and the United States as peaceful unless she should declare war or commit acts of hostility indicative of a state. of war. He was specially directed to protect private property and respect personal rights. The Army moved from Corpus Christi on the nth of March, 1846, and on the 28th of that month arrived on the left bank of the Del Norte opposite to Matamoras, where it encamped on a commanding position, which has since been strengthened by the erection of field- works. A depot has also been established at Point Isabel, near the Brazos Santiago, thirty miles in rear of the encampment. The selec tion of his position was necessarily confided to the judgment of the general in command. The Mexican forces at Matamoras assumed a belligerent attitude, and on the 12th of April, 1846, General Ampudia, then in command, notified General Taylor to break up his camp within twenty-four hours and to retire beyond the Nueces River, and in the event of his failure to comply with these demands announced that arms, and arms alone, must decide the question. But no open act of hostility was committed until the 24th of April. On that day General Arista, who had succeeded to the command of the Mexican forces, communicated to General Taylor that " he .considered hostilities commenced and should prosecute them." A party of dragoons of sixty-three men and officers were on the same day dispatched from the American camp up the Rio del Norte, on its left bank, to ascertain whether the Mexi can troops had crossed or were preparing to cross the river, " became engaged with a large body of these troops, and after a short affair, in which some sixteen were killed and wounded, appear to have been surrounded and compelled to surrender." In further vindication of our rights and defense of our territory, I invoke the prompt action of Congress to recognize the existence of the war, and to place at the disposition of the Executive the means James K. Polk. 295 of prosecuting the war with vigor, and thus hastening the restoration of peace. Whereas the Congress (May 13, 1846) of the United States, by virtue of the constitutional authority vested in them, have declared by their act bearing date this day that " by the act of the Republic of Mexico a state of war exists between that Government and the United States : " Now, therefore, I, James K. Polk, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the same to all whom it may concern; and I do specially enjoin on all persons holding offices, civil or mili tary, under the authority of the United States that they be vigilant and zealous in discharging the duties respectively incident thereto; and I do, moreover, exhort all the good people of the United States, as they love their country, as they feel the wrongs which have forced on them the last resort of injured nations, and as they consult the best means, under the blessing of Divine Providence, of abridging its calamities, that they exert themselves in preserving order, in promoting concord, in maintaining the authority and the efficacy of the laws, and in sup porting and invigorating all the measures which may be adopted by the constituted authorities for obtaining a speedy, a just, and an honorable peace. Upon the commencement of hostilities by Mexico against the United States the indignant spirit of the nation was at once aroused. Congress promptly responded to the expectations of the country, and by the act of the 13th of May, 1846, recognized the fact that war ex isted, by the act of Mexico, between the United States and that Repub lic, and granted the means necessary for its vigorous prosecution. Being involved in a war thus commenced by Mexico, and for the justice of which on our part we may confidently appeal to the whole world, I resolved to prosecute it with the utmost vigor. Accordingly the ports of Mexico on the Gulf and on the Pacific have been placed under blockade and her territory invaded at several important points. The reports from the Departments of War and of the Navy will inform you more in detail of the measures adopted in the emergency in which our country was placed and of the gratifying results which have been accomplished. The various columns of the Army have performed their duty under great disadvantages with the most distinguished skill and courage. 296 History of the United States. The victories of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and of Monterey, won against greatly superior numbers and against most decided ad vantages in other respects on the part of the enemy, were brilliant in their execution, and entitle our brave officers and soldiers to the grateful thanks of their country. The nation deplores the loss of the brave officers and men who have gallantly fallen while vindicating and defending their country's rights and honor. It is a subject of pride and satisfaction that our volunteer citizen soldiers, who so promptly responded to their country's call, with an experience of the discipline of a camp of only a few weeks, have borne their part in the hard-fought battle of Monterey with a constancy and courage equal to that of veteran troops and worthy of the highest admiration. The privations of long marches through the enemy's country and through a wilderness have been borne without a murmur. By rapid movements the Province of New Mexico, with Santa Fe, its capital, has been captured without bloodshed. The Navy has co operated with the Army and rendered important services; if not so brilliant, it is because the enemy had no force to meet them on their own element and because of the defenses which nature has interposed in the difficulties of the navigation on the Mexican coast. Our squadron in the Pacific, with the co-operation of a gallant officer of the Army and a small force hastily collected in that distant country, has acquired bloodless possession of the Californias, and the American flag has been raised at every important point in that Province. I communicate herewith a letter received from the president (Janu ary 20, 1847) of the convention of delegates of the people of Wis consin, transmitting a certified copy of the Constitution adopted by the delegates of the people of Wisconsin in convention assembled, also a copy of the act of the legislature of the Territory of Wisconsin pro viding for the calling of said convention, and also a copy of the last census, showing the number of inhabitants in said Territory, request ing the President to " lay the same before the Congress of the United States with the request that Congress act upon the same at its present session." I transmit to the Senate (February 10, 1847), for their advice with regard to its ratification, " a general treaty of peace, amity, navigation, James K. Polk. 297 and commerce between the United States of America ancl the Republic of New Granada," concluded at Bogota on the 12th December last by Benjamin A. Bidlack, charge d'affaires of the United States, on their part, and by Manuel Maria Mallarino, Secretary of State and Foreign Relations, on the part of that Republic. It will be perceived by the thirty-fifth article of this treaty that New Granada proposes to guarantee to the Government and citizens of the United States the right of passage across the Isthmus of Panama over the natural roads and over any canal or railroad which may be con structed to unite the two seas, on condition that the United States shall make a similar guaranty to New Granada of the neutrality of this portion of her territory and her sovereignty over the same. The reasons which caused the insertion of this important stipulation in the treaty will be fully made known to the Senate by the accom panying documents. From these it will appear that our charge d'affaires acted in this particular upon his own responsibility and without instructions. Under such circumstances it became my duty to decide whether I would submit the treaty to the Senate, and after mature consideration I have determined to adopt this course. The importance of this concession to the commercial and political interests of the United States can not easily be overrated. The route by the Isthmus of Panama is the shortest between the two oceans, and from the information herewith communicated it would seem to be the most practicable for a railroad or canal. The vast advantages to our commerce which would result from such a communication, not only with the west coast of America, but with Asia and the islands of the Pacific, are too obvious to require any detail. Such a passage would relieve us from a long and dangerous navigation of more than 9,000 miles around Cape Horn and render our communication with our possessions on the northwest coast of America comparatively easy and speedy. I communicate to Congress (April 3, 1848) a copy of a dispatch, with the accompanying documents, received at the Department of State from the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris, giving official information of the overthrow of the French Monarchy, and the establishment in its stead of a " pro visional government based on republican principles." 298 History of the United States. This great event occurred suddenly, and was accomplished almost without bloodshed. The world has seldom witnessed a more interest ing or sublime spectacle than the peaceful rising of the French people, resolved to secure for themselves enlarged liberty, and to assert, in the majesty of their strength, the great truth that in this enlightened age man is capable of governing himself. The prompt recognition of the new Government by the repre sentative of the United States at the French Court meets my full and unqualified approbation, and he has been authorized in a suitable man ner to make known this fact to the constituted authorities of the French Republic. Whereas a treaty (July 4, 1848) of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic was concluded and signed at the city of Guadalupe Hidalgo on the 2d day of February, 1848. And whereas the said treaty, as amended, has been duly ratified on both parts, and the respective ratifications of the same were exchanged at Queretaro on the 30th day of May last by Ambrose H. Sevier and Nathan Clifford, commissioners on the part of the Government of the United States, and by Senor Don Luis de la Rosa, minister of relations of the Mexican Republic, on the part of that Government: Now, therefore, be it known that I, James K. Polk, President of the United States of America, have caused the said treaty to be made public, to the end that the same and every clause and article thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof. It has pleased Divine Providence (February 24, 1848), to call hence a great and patriotic citizen. John Quincy Adams is no more. At the advanced age of more than fourscore years, he was suddenly stricken from his seat in the House of Representatives by the hand of disease on the 21st, and expired in the Capitol a few minutes after 7 o'clock on the evening of the 23d of February, 1848. He had for more than half a century filled the most important public stations, and among them that of President of the United States. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 1848. Within less than four years the annexation of Texas to the Union has been consummated; all conflicting title to the Oregon Territory ELEVENTH president of the united states. pSL 6^- /^Le^aUfJ- 0^.&£* /^sfy^ MjrJeS t?f'*X,< <***&£> tsT ,y/L^eAex-77i- &.& •rfftfit-i.jyxy/ £fce> &0r^&tf~&fr &f CH^s £6*ic&d, tAfftzyCcS &y zs&iy Aft A^y^ #f t^cv ^tifrt-a^ti iZysty&is-s'cAy Zs'd^C^-^C ^n- ^yGv**^ /La** A£< c£&s*-*-0f~ P*f C&4*sL, t2-c£f O^S AXsC****.^ ^-eaAi- 6fuy O^Uyf Aft.A& ¦&-C4 ttfiy aus6 j?f ££'- ^rZ-A^-^-VAy-*' #f- *-/f&tys£A-' si.- g/tK^ /?/- f^Sdty^- £-X44*ff~ ^-e^Cis^e^-n^ £$-J6cA&X A*-^ a&- <^tL <&*r-r^t ^A^ft^ ^ &£n/*ey &*s &t-e*Cit*f&*f dsW&r <4K-?Ww4i^ ff>. $**««£, $L £c*yL ^^ U^^&pL Jk&7 &ifL ^Cl^C £&L~ -^ rs^^^- ^^^ -ed^c*^^^-fiO £*f&U6- faf^aducjC a^?^rr^t^^D '¦-/'. \ . — amt ty/&£, Jk^yA^et^^^ *ff #£. &*+& JkA " 4CeT £e^&*iZXi.tZACA . I DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST MEXICO BY PRESIDENT POLK. James K. Polk. 301 south of the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, being all that was insisted on by any of my predecessors, has been adjusted, and New Mexico and Upper California have been acquired by treaty. The area of these several Territories, according to a report carefully prepared by the Commissioner of the General Land Office from the most authentic information in his possession, and which is herewith trans mitted, contains 1,193,061 square miles, or 763,559,040 acres; while the area of the remaining twenty-nine States and the territory not yet organized into States east of the Rocky Mountains contains 2,059,513 square miles, or 1,318,126,058 acres. These estimates show that the territories recently acquired, and over which our exclusive jurisdiction and dominion have been extended, constitute a country more than half as large as all that which was held by the United States before their acquisition. If Oregon be excluded from the estimate, there will still remain within the limits of Texas, New Mexico, and California 851,598 square miles, or 545,012,720 acres, being an addition equal to more than one-third of all the territory owned by the United States before their acquisition, and, including Oregon, nearly as great an extent of territory as the whole of Europe, Russia only excepted. The Mississippi, so lately the frontier of our country, is now only its center. With the addition of the late acquisitions, the United States are now estimated to be nearly as large as the whole of Europe. It is estimated by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey in the accom panying report that the extent of the seacoast. of Texas on the Gulf of Mexico is upward of 400 miles; of the coast of Upper California on the Pacific, of 970 miles, and of Oregon, including the Straits of Fuca, of 650 miles, making the whole extent of seacoast on the Pacific 1,620 miles and the whole extent on both the. Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico 2,020 miles. The length of the coast on the Atlantic from the northern limits of the United States around the capes of Florida to the Sabine, on the eastern boundary of Texas, is estimated to be 3,100 miles; so that the addition of seacoast, including Oregon, is very nearly two- thirds as great as all we possessed before, and, excluding Oregon, is an addition of 1,370 miles, being nearly equal to one-half of the extent of coast which we possessed before these acquisitions. We have now three great maritime fronts — on the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific — making in the whole an extent of seacoast exceeding 5,000 miles. This is the extent of the seacoast of the United States, not including bays, sounds, and small irregularities of the main shore and of the sea islands. If these be included, the length of the shore 302 History of the United States. line of coast, as estimated by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey in his report, would be 33,063 miles. New Mexico, though situated in the interior and without a sea coast, is known to contain much fertile land, to abound in rich mines of the precious metals, and to be capable of sustaining a large popu lation. From its position it is the intermediate and connecting terri tory between our settlements and our possessions in Texas and those on the Pacific Coast. Upper California, irrespective of the vast mineral wealth recently developed there, holds at this day, in point of value and importance, to the rest of the Union the same relation that Louisiana did when that fine territory was acquired from France forty-five years ago. Extending nearly ten degrees of latitude along the Pacific, and em bracing the only safe and commodious harbors on that coast for many hundred miles, with a temperate climate and an extensive interior of fertile lands, it is scarcely possible to estimate its wealth until it shall be brought under the government of our laws and its resources fully developed. From its position it must command the rich com merce of China, of Asia, of the islands of the Pacific, of western Mexico, of Central America, the South American States, and of the Russian possessions bordering on that ocean. A great emporium will doubtless speedily arise on the Californian coast which may be des tined to rival in importance New Orleans itself. The depot of the vast commerce which must exist on the Pacific will probably be at some point on the Bay of San Francisco, and will occupy the same relation to the whole western coast of that ocean as New Orleans does to the valley of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. To this depot our numerous whale ships will resort with their cargoes to trade, refit, and obtain supplies. This of itself will largely contribute to build up a city, which would soon become the center of a great and rapidly in creasing commerce. Situated on a safe harbor, sufficiently capacious for all the navies as well as the marine of the world, and convenient to excellent timber for shipbuilding, owned by the United States, it must become our great Western naval depot. It was known that mines of the precious metals existed to a con siderable extent in California at the time of its acquisition. Recent discoveries render it probable that these mines are more extensive and valuable than was anticipated. The accounts of the abundance of gold in that territory are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the James K. Polk. 303 authentic reports of officers in the public service who have visited the mineral district and derived the facts which they detail from personal observation. Reluctant to credit the reports in general circulation as to the quantity of gold, the officer commanding our forces in California visited the mineral district in July last for the purpose of obtaining accurate information on the subject. His report to the War Depart ment of the result of his examination i.nd the facts obtained on the spot is herewith laid before Congress. When he visited the country there were about 4,000 persons engaged in collecting gold. There is every reason to believe that the number of persons so employed has since been augmented. The explorations already made warrant the belief that the supply is very large and that gold, is found at various places in an extensive district of country. Information received from officers of the Navy and other sources, though not so full and minute, confirms the accounts of the com mander of our military force in California It appears also from these reports that mines of quicksilver are found in the vicinity of the gold region. One of them is now being worked, and is believed to be among the most productive in the world. The effects produced by the discovery of these rich mineral de posits and the success which has attended the labors of those who have resorted to them have produced a surprising change in the state of affairs in California. Labor commands a most exorbitant price, and all other pursuits but that of searching for the precious metals are abandoned. Nearly the whole of the male population of the country have gone to the gold districts. Ships arriving on the coast are de serted by their crews and their voyages suspended for want of sailors. Our commanding officer there entertains apprehensions that soldiers can not be kept in the public service without a large increase of pay. Desertions in his command have become frequent, and he recom mends that those who shall withstand the strong temptation and re main faithful should be rewarded. This abundance of gold and the all-engrossing pursuit of it have already caused in California an unprecedented rise in the price of all the necessaries of life. That we may the more speedily and fully avail ourselves of the un developed wealth of these mines, it is deemed of vast importance that a branch of the Mint of the United States be authorized to be established at your present session in California. Among other signal advantages which would result from such an establishment would be 304 History of the United States. that of raising the gold to its par value in that territory. A branch mint of the United States at the great commercial depot on the west coast would convert into our own coin not only the gold derived from our own rich mines, but also the bullion and specie which our com merce may bring from the whole west coast of Central and South America. The west coast of America and the adjacent interior em brace the richest and best mines of Mexico, New Granada, Central America, Chili, and Peru. The bullion and specie drawn from these countries, and especially from those of western Mexico and Peru, to an amount in value of many millions of dollars, are now annually diverted and carried by the ships of Great Britain to her own ports, to be recoined or used to sustain her national bank, and thus con tribute to increase her ability to command so much of the commerce of the world. If a branch mint be established at the great commercial point upon that coast, a vast amount of bullion and specie would flow thither to be recoined, and pass thence to New Orleans, New York, and other Atlantic cities. The amount of our constitutional currency at home would be greatly increased, while its circulation abroad would be promoted. It is well known to our merchants trad ing to China and the west coast of America that great inconvenience and loss are experienced from the fact that our coins are not current at their par value in those countries. The acquisition of California and New Mexico, the settlement of the Oregon boundary, and the annexation of Texas, extending to the Rio Grande, are results which, combined, are of greater consequence and will add more to the strength and wealth of the nation than any which have preceded them since the adoption of the Constitution. But to effect these great results not only California, but New Mexico, must be brought under the control of regularly organized governments. The existing condition of California and of that part of New Mexico lying west of the Rio Grande and without the limits of Texas imperiously demands that Congress should at its present session organize Territorial governments over them. The question is believed to be rather abstract than practical, whether slavery ever can or would exist in any portion of the acquired territory even if it were left to the option of the slaveholding States themselves. From the nature of the climate and productions in much the larger portion of it it is certain it could never exist, and in the remainder the probabilities are it would not. But however this may be, the question, involving, as it does, a principle of equality of rights James K. Polk. 305 of the separate and several States as equal copartners in the Con federacy, should not be disregarded. In organizing governments over these territories no duty imposed on Congress by the Constitution requires that they should legislate on the subject of slavery, while their power to do so is not only seriously questioned, but denied by many of the soundest expounders of that instrument. Whether Congress shall legislate or not, the people of the acquired territories, when assembled in convention to form State constitutions, will possess the sole and exclusive power to determine for themselves whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits. It is fortunate for the peace and harmony of the Union that this question is in its nature temporary and can only continue for the brief period which will intervene before California and New Mexico may be admitted as States into the Union. From the tide of popula tion now flowing into them it is highly probable that this will soon occur. Considering the several States and the citizens of the several States as equals and entitled to equal rights under the Constitution, if this were an original question it might well be insisted on that the principle of noninterference is the true doctrine and that Congress could not, in the absence of any express grant of power, interfere with their relative rights. Upon a great emergency, however, and under menacing dangers to the Union, the Missouri compromise line in re spect to slavery was adopted. The same line was extended farther west in the acquisition of Texas. After an acquiescence of nearly thirty years in the principle of compromise recognized and established by these acts, and to avoid the danger to the Union which might fol low if it were now disregarded, I have heretofore expressed the opin ion that that line of compromise should be extended on the parallel of 360 30' from the western boundary of Texas, where it now terminates, to the Pacific Ocean. This is the middle ground of compromise, upon which the different sections of the Union may meet, as they have here tofore met. If this be done, it is confidently believed a large ma jority of the people of every section of the country, however widely their abstract opinions on the subject of slavery may differ, would cheerfully and patriotically acquiesce in it, and peace and harmony would again fill our borders. The restriction north of the line was only yielded to in the case of Missouri and Texas upon a principle of compromise, made necessary 306 .History of the United States. for the sake of preserving the harmony and possibly the existence of the Union. It was upon these considerations that at the close of your last session I gave my sanction to the principle of the Missouri com promise line by approving and signing the bill to establish " the Territorial government of Oregon." From a sincere desire to pre serve the harmony of the Union, and in deference for the acts of my predecessors, I felt constrained to yield my acquiescence to the ex tent to which they had gone in compromising this delicate and dangerous question. But if Congress shall now reverse the decision by which the Missouri compromise was effected, and shall propose to extend the restriction over the whole territory, south as well as north of the parallel of 360 30', it will cease to be a compromise, and must be regarded as an original question. The operations of the constitutional Treasury established by the act of the 6th of August, 1846, in the receipt, custody, and disbursement of the public money have continued to be successful. Under this- system the public finances have been carried through a foreign war, involving the necessity of loans and extraordinary expenditures and requiring distant transfers and disbursements, without embarrassment, and no loss has occurred of any of the public money deposited under its provisions. Whilst it has proved to be safe and useful to the Government, its effects have been most beneficial upon the business of the country. It has tended powerfully to secure an exemption from that inflation and fluctuation of the paper currency so injurious to domestic industry and rendering so uncertain the reward's of labor, and, it is believed, has largely contributed to preserve the whole country from a serious commercial revulsion, such as often occurred under the bank deposit system. In the year 1847 there was a revulsion in the business of Great Britain of great extent and intensity, which was followed by failures in that Kingdom unprecedented in number and amount of losses. This is believed to be the first instance when such disastrous bankruptcies, occurring in a country with which we have such extensive commerce, produced little or no injurious effect upon our trade or currency. We remained but little affected in our money market, and our business and industry were still prosperous and progressive. The contracts for the transportation of the mail in steamships, con vertible into war steamers, promise to realize all the benefits to our commerce and to the Navy which were anticipated. The first steamer James K. Polk. 307 thus secured to the Government was launched in January, 1847. There are now seven, and in another year there will, probably, be not less than seventeen afloat. While this great national advantage is secured, our social and commercial intercourse is increased and pro moted with Germany, Great Britain, and other parts of Europe, with all the countries on the west coast of our continent, especially with Oregon and California, and between the northern and southern sec tions of the United States. Considerable revenue may be expected from postages, but the connected line from New York to Chagres, and thence across the Isthmus to Oregon, can not fail to exert a beneficial influence, not now to be estimated, on the interests of the manu factures, commerce, navigation, and currency of the United States. As an important part of the system, I recommend to your favorable consideration the establishment of the proposed line of steamers be tween New Orleans and Vera Cruz. It promises the most happy results in cementing friendship between the two Republics and ex tending reciprocal benefits to the trade and manufactures of both. LIFE OF JAMES K. POLK. JAMES K. POLK was born November 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg county, N. C. His father was Samuel Polk, son of Ezekiel Polk, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Inde pendence. His mother was Jane Knox, daughter of Janies Knox, a captain in the War of the Revolution, and a resident of North Caro lina. In the fall of 1806 his father moved to the Duck River valley in Tennessee; he died in 1827. The young James was reared on a farm. He was an industrious student and entered the sophomore class at the University of North Carolina in 181 5. He graduated in 1818 -and delivered the Latin salutatory. The University conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. in 1847, while studying law in the office of Felix Grundy, the head of the Tennessee bar in 1819. About this time he formed a friendship with Andrew Jackson which was never broken. He was admitted to the bar and began to practice in 1820. He married Miss Sarah Childress in 1824, and in 1825 was sent to Congress from the Duck River district and continued to represent this district until 1839 when he became governor of Tennessee. Mr. Polk was peculiarly gifted as a speaker and early won the name of the 308 History of the United States. " Napoleon of the Stump." He supported the Jackson Administra tion warmly and was one of its main reliances, particularly in the contest between President Jackson and the United States Bank, caused by the removal of the deposits in October, 1833. He was Speaker of the House from 1835 to 1839. He was also a loyal sup porter of the Van Buren Administration. He was the Democratic nominee for President in 1844, and was elected November 12th. He was inaugurated March 4, 1845. He refused to be a candidate for re-election, and retired to his home in Nashville, Tenn., where he died June 15, 1849. He was buried at Polk Place, in Nashville, but his remains were, in September, 1893, removed by the State to Capitol Square. TWELFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Zachary Taylor. 3" f*?%1 ,UL l-fi1 HOME OF ZACHARY TAYLOR AT BATON R0UQE, LOUISIANA. CHAPTER XII ZACHARY TAYLOR AS SOLDIER AND PRESIDENT. By Henry Clay Evans, Pension Commissioner. r\ URING Zachary Taylor's brief incumbency of the great office of Presi- ¦^"^ dent, for which he never thought himself well qualified, he was a tower of strength to the Union and blocked all the ambitious projects of the slave power. In considering the admission of new States to the Union, he recom mended that they be admitted on their merits, and that the question of slavery be left to them for settlement. This position provoked much opposition in Congress and became! the subject that agitated the public mind during almost the entire time that he was in executive control. Having information as to the fitting out of an armed expedition with the intention of evidently invading the island of Cuba, on August II, 1849, he 312 History of the United States. issued a proclamation of warning against engaging in such an enterprise so grossly in violation of our laws and our treaty obligations, and calling upon every officer of the Government, civil or military, to use all efforts in his power to arrest for trial and punishment every such offender against the laws providing for the performance of our sacred obligations to friendly powers. His term of office was too short, and the questions that came before him too much of one general character to enable us to form an adequate opinion of his abilities as a civil administrator. He was open and direct in his methods; his state papers are models of pure and virile English, and the honesty of his purpose is beyond cavil. In the single year of his Administration he advocated some great improve ments, the wisdom of which is only beginning to be fully appreciated. One of these measures was a canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He worked earnestly to secure a location for such a canal, either Nicaragua or by way of Tehuantepec or across the Isthmus of Panama. His views on that subject, in stating the objects of that treaty, are well worth quoting at the present time. He said: "This treaty has been negotiated in accordance with the general views expressed in my message to Congress in December last. Its object is to establish a commercial alliance with all great maritime states for the pro tection of a contemplated ship canal through the territory of Nicaragua to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and at the same time to insure the same protection to the contemplated railways or canals by the Tehuantepec and Panama routes, as well as to every other interoceanic communication which may be adopted to shorten the transit to or from our territories on the Pacific. It will be seen that this treaty does not propose to take money from the public Treasury to effect any object contemplated by it. It yields pro tection to the capitalists who may undertake to construct any canal or railway across the Isthmus, commencing in the southern part of Mexico and terminat ing in the territory of New Granada. It gives no preference to any one route over another, but proposes the same measure of protection for all which ingenuity and enterprise can construct." The Clayton,-Bulwer treaty, concluded in his Administration, had this for its purpose and object. President Taylor also saw the necessity of a transcontinental railroad to the Pacific coast. At his direction the first steps were taken for making the pre liminary surveys. Equally broad-minded and far-seeing was President Taylor in reference to the Hawaiian Islands. He declared that no foreign power should be allowed to get control of them. He pointed out their usefulness to our vessels engaged in commerce and whaling in the Pacific. Self-interest as well as humanity, he declared, directed that the people and government of the Zachary Taylor. 313 United States should extend every encouragement to the Hawaiian people to improve their government and raise themselves to a higher plane of civilization. In domestic affairs President Taylor was equally zealous in the line of progress and development. He urged the establishment of an agricultural department by the Government to foster and advance what he considered was the greatest industry of this country. He also started the geological surveys in California and other Western States, which have been of such incalculable value in developing their mineral resources. Known as a soldier as " Old Rough and Ready," he carried those qualities of fearlessness and decision into executive affairs and diplomacy. What he might have accomplished had Providence not cut short his career so early in his Administration, can be imagined from the vigorous governmental policy which he began. 314 History of the United States. ADMINISTRATION OF 1849-1850. By Zachary Taylor. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 5, 1849. CHOSEN by the body of the people under the assurance that my Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole country, and not to the support of any particular section or merely local interest, I this day renew the declarations I have hereto fore made and proclaim my fixed determination to maintain to the extent of my ability the Government in its original purity and to adopt as the basis of my public policy those great republican doctrines which constitute the strength of our national existence. To command the Army and Navy of the United States; with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties and to appoint ambassadors and other officers; to give to Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend such measures as shall be judged to be necessary; and to take care that the laws shall be faith fully executed. It is to be hoped that no international question can now arise which a government confident in its own strength and resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by wise negotiation ; and it eminently becomes a government like our own, founded on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and upheld by their affections, to exhaust every resort of honorable diplomacy before appealing to arms. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 4, 1849. A slight interruption of diplomatic intercourse which occurred between this Government and France, I am happy to say, has been terminated, and our minister there has been received. It is, therefore, unnecessary to refer now to the circumstances which led to that interruption. I need not express to you the sincere satisfaction with which we shall welcome the arrival of another envoy extraordinary Zachary Taylor. 315 and minister plenipotentiary from a sister Republic to which we have so long been, and still remain, bound by the strongest ties of amity. Shortly after I had entered upon the discharge of the Executive duties I was apprised that a war steamer belonging to the German Empire was being fitted out in the harbor of New York with the aid of some of our naval officers, rendered under the permission of the late Secretary of the Navy. This permission was granted during an armistice between that Empire and the Kingdom of Denmark, which had been engaged in the Schleswig-Holstein war. Apprehensive that this act of intervention on our part might be viewed as a violation of our neutral obligations incurred by the treaty with Denmark and of the provisions of the act of Congress of the 20th of April, 18 18, I directed that no further aid should be rendered by any agent or officer of the Navy; and I instructed the Secretary of State to apprise the minister of the German Empire accredited to this Government of my determination to execute the law of the United States and to maintain the faith of treaties with all nations. The correspondence which ensued between the Department of State and the minister of the German Empire is herewith laid before you. The execution of the law and the observance of the treaty were deemed by me to be due to the honor of the country, as well as to the sacred obligations of the Constitution. I shall not fail to pursue the same course should a similar case arise with any other nation. Having avowed the opinion on taking the oath of office that in disputes between conflicting foreign governments it is our interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral, I shall not abandon it. You will perceive from the cor respondence submitted to you in connection with this subject that the course adopted in this case has been properly regarded by the belligerent powers interested in the matter. Although a minister of the United States to the German Empire was appointed by my predecessor in August, 1848, and has for a long time been in attendance at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and although a minister appointed to represent that Empire was received and accredited here, yet no such government as that of the German Empire has been definitively constituted. Mr. Donelson, our repre sentative at Frankfort, remained there several months in the expecta tion that a union of the German States under one constitution or form of government might at length be organized. It is believed by those well acquainted with the existing relations between Prussia and the States of Germany that no such union can be permanently established 3i6 History of the United States. without her co-operation. In the event of the formation of such a union and the organization of a central power in Germany of which she should form a part, it would become necessary to withdraw our minister at Berlin; but while Prussia exists as an independent kingdom and diplomatic relations are maintained with her there can be no necessity for the continuance of the mission to Frankfort. I have, therefore, recalled Mr. Donelson and directed the archives of the legation at Frankfort to be transferred to the American legation at Berlin. Having been apprised that a considerable number of adventurers were engaged in fitting out a military expedition within the United States against a foreign country, and believing from the best informa tion I could obtain that it was destined to invade the island of Cuba, I deemed it due to the friendly relations existing between the United States and Spain, to the treaty between the two nations, to the laws of the United States, and, above all, to the American honor to exert the lawful authority of this Government in suppressing the expedition and preventing the invasion. To this end I issued a proclamation enjoining it upon the officers of the United States, civil and military, to use all lawful means within their power. The expedition has been suppressed. The routes across the Isthmus at Tehuantepec and Panama are worthy of our serious consideration. They did not fail to engage the attention of my predecessor. The negotiator of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was instructed to offer a very large sum of money for the right of transit across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The Mexican Government did not accede to the proposition for the pur chase of the right of way, probably because it had already contracted .with private individuals for the construction of a passage from the Guasacualco River to Tehuantepec. I shall not renew any proposition to purchase for money a right which ought to be equally secured to all nations on payment of a reasonable toll to the owners of the improve ment, who would doubtless be well contented with that compensation and the guaranties of the maritime states of the world in separate treaties negotiated with Mexico, binding her and them to protect those who should construct the work. Such guaranties would do more to secure the completion of the communication through the territory of Mexico than any other reasonable consideration that could be offered; and as Mexico herself would be the greatest gainer by the opening of this communication between the Gulf and the Pacific Ocean, it is pre- Zachary Taylor. 317 sumed that she would not hesitate to yield her aid in the manner proposed to accomplish an improvement so important to her own best interests. We have reason to hope that the proposed railroad across the Isthmus at Panama will be successfully constructed under the protec tion of the late treaty with New Granada, ratified and exchanged by my predecessor on the ioth day of June, 1848, which guarantees the perfect neutrality of the Isthmus and the rights of sovereignty and property of New Granada over that territory, " with a view that the free transit from ocean to ocean may not be interrupted or em barrassed " during the existence of the treaty. It is our policy to encourage every practicable route across the Isthmus which connects North and South America, either by railroad or canal, which the energy and enterprise of our citizens may induce them to complete, and I consider it obligatory upon me to adopt that policy, especially in consequence of the absolute necessity of facilitating intercourse with our possessions on the Pacific. The position of the Sandwich Islands with reference to the territory of the United States on the Pacific, the success of our persevering and benevolent citizens who have repaired to that remote quarter in Chris tianizing the natives and inducing them to adopt a system of govern ment and laws suited to their capacity and wants, and the use made by our numerous whale ships of the harbors of the islands as places of resort for obtaining refreshments and repairs all combine to render their destiny peculiarly interesting to us. It is our duty to encourage the authorities of those islands in their efforts to improve and elevate the moral and political condition of the inhabitants, and we should make reasonable allowances for the difficulties inseparable from this task. We desire that the islands may maintain their independence and that other nations should concur with us in this sentiment. We could in no event be indifferent to their passing under the dominion of any other power. The principal commercial states have in this a common interest, and it is to be hoped that no one of them will attempt to inter pose obstacles to the entire independence of the islands. No direct aid has been given by the General Government to the improvement of agriculture except by the expenditure of small sums for the collection and publication of agricultural statistics and for some chemical analyses, which have been thus far paid for out of the patent fund. This aid is, in my opinion, wholly inadequate. To give to this leading branch of American industry the encouragement which 318 History of the United States. it merits, I respectfully recommend the establishment of an agricultural bureau, to be connected with the Department of the Interior. To elevate the social condition of the agriculturist, to increase his pros perity, and to extend his means of usefulness to his country, by multiplying his sources of information, should be the study of every statesman and a primary object with every legislator. No civil government having been provided by Congress for Cali fornia, the people of that Territory, impelled by the necessities of their political condition, recently met in convention for the purpose of form ing a constitution and State government, which the latest advices give me reason to suppose has been accomplished; and it is believed they will shortly apply for the admission of California into the Union as a sovereign State. Should such be the case, and should their constitu tion be conformable to the requisitions of the Constitution of the United States, I recommend their application to the favorable con sideration of Congress. A collector has been appointed at San Fran cisco under the act of Congress extending the revenue laws over California, and measures have been taken to organize the custom houses at that and the other ports mentioned in that act at the earliest period practicable. The collector proceeded overland, and advices have not yet been received of his arrival at San Francisco. Mean while, it is understood that the customs have continued to be collected there by officers acting under the military authority, as they were during the Administration of my predecessor. It will, I think, be expedient to confirm the collections thus made, and direct the avails, after such allowances as Congress may think fit to authorize, to be expended within the Territory or to be paid into the Treasury for the purpose of meeting appropriations for the improvement of its rivers and harbors. A party engaged on the coast survey was dispatched to Oregon in January last. According to the latest advices, they had not left Cali fornia; and directions have been given to them, as soon as they shall have fixed on the sites of the two light-houses and the buoys authorized to be constructed and placed in Oregon, to proceed without delay to make reconnoissances of the most important points on the coast of California, and especially to examine and determine on sites for light houses on that coast, the speedy erection of which is urgently demanded by our rapidly increasing commerce. I have transferred the Indian agencies from upper Missouri and Council Bluffs to Santa Fe and Salt Lake, and have caused to be ap- /ZSL:LSS ¦nz.-f ,A A-sz^s-c //.,-czzzjcAs /e£ te*\ y /-Ac tcaA sA Aic ZAvlcXcA. XAaAey & iy zLi.irCA /.. Ols/slc zlj- Ma \l.Z,iA.'- /zctS7-Lv/l C^C \s?A ¦ sfn^ /AziAiz-stC AAi /Ay Als.s^zzSc^.,A A i-Ay~..yx AcCZzAsls! „ s'f /Aii. SIGNATURE OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR ON A STATE DOCUMENT. '''¦X.JX. / ¦ ' .. _ s ¦A ' ' s' ' 'A -¦'. .; i < Lie ,'.\'y i ; . ,-s .< , t XX' ss -s Xi ot-s.t?A?J. - // ' - V ' // /,„. .A,./y-, ,'! .Xt>z>i,,-\ , Qf fss> 'yy&fc H£ &/A si,,',/ y //,-,/,/., A./ ' ' 7 i (,'.': < fiX'n i/iaurA, '-.'. ¦',- / ;¦ - ' xA / • /¦ -.'< ., s.'r., V.z77/its.r.y//sL Ctud A.-i,s- fe. i en, if,, szs/s^.-yj 1 ¦/ zn-y v> '.-,>,< Ly ..... A. /,',',¦ , ,rf ft's-i y A. ,. y A A ' // ¦ / V s .' ¦ . '¦'¦¦¦ /ir,.y/sy/rz£ z X f FINAL PAGE OF CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY, RATIFIED IN PRESIDENT TAYLOR'S ADMINISTRATION. Zachary Taylor. 321 pointed subagents in the valleys of the Gila, the Sacramento, and the San Joaquin rivers. Still further legal provisions will be necessary for the effective and successful extension of our system of Indian intercourse over the new territories. I recommend the establishment of a branch mint in California, as it will, in my opinion, afford important facilities to those engaged in mining, as well as to the Government in the disposition of the mineral lands. I also recommend that commissions be organized by Congress^to examine and decide upon the validity of the present subsisting land titles in California and New Mexico, and that provision be made for the establishment of offices of surveyor-general in New Mexico, California, and Oregon and for the surveying and bringing into market the public lands in those Territories. Those lands, remote in position and difficult of access, ought to be disposed of on terms liberal to all, but especially favorable to the early emigrants. In order that the situation and character of the principal mineral deposits in California may be ascertained, I recommend that a geo logical and mineralogical exploration be connected with the linear surveys, and that the mineral lands be divided into small lots suitable for mining and be disposed of by sale or lease, so as to give our citizens an opportunity of procuring a permanent right of property in the soil. This would seem to be as important to the success of mining as of agricultural pursuits. The great mineral -wealth of California and the advantages which its ports and harbors and those of Oregon afford to commerce, especially with the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans and the populous regions of eastern Asia, make it certain that there will arise in a few years large and prosperous communities on our western coast. It, therefore, becomes important that a line of communication, the best and most expeditious which the nature of the country will admit, should be opened within the territory of the United States from the navigable waters of the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Opinion, as elicited and expressed by two large and respectable con ventions lately assembled at St. Louis and Memphis, points to a rail road as that which, if practicable, will best meet the wishes and wants of the country. But while this, if in successful operation, would be a work of great national importance and of a value to the country which it would be difficult to estimate, it ought also to be regarded as an undertaking of vast magnitude and expense, and one which must, if it 322 History of the United States. be indeed practicable, encounter many difficulties in its construction and use. Therefore, to avoid failure and disappointment; to enable Congress to judge whether in the condition of the country through which it must pass the work be feasible, and, if it be found so, whether it should be undertaken as a national improvement or left to individual enterprise, and in the latter alternative what aid, if any, ought to be extended to it by the Government, I recommend as a preliminary measure a careful reconnoissance of the several proposed routes by a scientific corps and a report as to the practicability of making such a road, with an estimate of the cost of its construction and support. I invite attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy on the subject of a reorganization of the Navy in its various grades of officers, and the establishing of a retired list for such of the officers as are disqualified for active and effective service. Should Congress adopt some such measure as is recommended, it will greatly increase the efficiency of the Navy and reduce its expenditures. I also ask your attention to the views expressed by him in reference to the employment of war steamers and in regard to the contracts for the transportation of the United States mails and the operation of the system upon the prosperity of the Navy. By an act of Congress passed August 14, 1848, provision was made for extending post-office and mail accommodations to California and Oregon. Exertions have -been made to execute that law, but the limited provisions of the act, the inadequacy -of the means it author izes, the ill adaptation of our post-office laws to the situation of that country, and the measure of compensation for services allowed by those laws, compared with the prices of labor and rents in California, render those exertions in a great degree ineffectual. More particular and efficient provision by law is required on this subject. The act of 1845 reducing postage has now, by its operation during four years, produced results fully showing that the income from such reduced postage is sufficient to sustain the whole expense of the service of the Post-Office Department, not including the cost of transporta tion in mail steamers on the lines from New York to Chagres and from Panama to Astoria, which have not been considered by Congress as properly belonging to the mail service. It is submitted to the wisdom of Congress whether a further re duction of postage should not now be made, more particularly on the letter correspondence. This should be relieved from the unjust burden of transporting and delivering the franked matter of Congress, for Zachary Taylor. 323 which public service provision should be made from the Treasury. I confidently believe that a change may safely be made reducing all single-letter postage to the uniform rate of five cents, regardless of distance, without thereby imposing any greater tax on the Treasury that would constitute a very moderate compensation for this public service; and I, therefore, respectfully recommend such a reduction. Should Congress prefer to abolish the franking privilege entirely, it seems probable that no demand on the Treasury would result from the proposed reduction of postage. Whether any further diminution should now be made, or the result of the reduction to five cents, which I have recommended, should be first tested, is submitted to your decision. The President with deep regret announces (June 19, 1849) to the American people the death of James K. Polk, late President of the United States, which occurred at Nashville on the 15th instant. A nation is suddenly called upon to mourn the loss of one the recol lection of whose long services in its councils will be forever preserved on the tablets of history. As a mark of respect to the memory of a citizen who has been dis tinguished by the highest honors which his country could bestow, it is ordered that the Executive Mansion and the several Departments at Washington be immediately placed in mourning and all business be suspended during to-morrow. It is further ordered that the War and Navy Departments cause suitable military and naval honors to be paid on this occasion to the memory of the illustrious dead. I herewith transmit to the Senate (April 22, 1850), for their ad vice with regard to its ratification, a convention between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at Washington on the 19th in stant by John M. Clayton, Secretary of State, on the part of the United States, and by the Right Hon. Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, on the part of Great Britain. This treaty has been negotiated in accordance with the general views expressed in my message to Congress in December last. Its object is to establish a commercial alliance with all great maritime 324 History of the United States. states for the protection of a contemplated ship canal through the territory of Nicaragua to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and at the same time to insure the same protection to the contemplated railways or canals by the Tehuantepec and Panama routes, as well as to every other interoceanic communication which may be adopted to shorten the transit to or from our territories on the Pacific. It will be seen that this treaty does not propose to take money from the public Treasury to effect any object contemplated by it. It yields protection to the capitalists who may undertake to construct any canal or railway across the Isthmus, commencing in the southern part of Mexico and terminating in the territory of New Granada. It gives no preference to any one route over another, but proposes the same measure of protection for all which ingenuity and enterprise can construct. Should this treaty be ratified, it will secure in future the liberation of all Central America from any kind of foreign aggres sion. At the time negotiations were opened with Nicaragua for the con struction of a canal through her territory I found Great Britain in possession of nearly half of Central America, as the ally and protector of the Mosquito King. It has been my object in negotiating this treaty not only to secure the passage across the Isthmus to the Gov ernment and citizens of the United States by the construction of a great highway dedicated to the use of all nations on equal terms, but to maintain the independence and sovereignty of all the Central American Republics. The Senate will judge how far these objects have been effected. If there be any who would desire to seize and annex any portion of the territories of these weak sister republics to the American Union, or to extend our dominion over them, I do not concur in their policy; and I wish it to be understood in reference to that subject that I adopt the views entertained, so far as I know, by all my predecessors. The principles by which I have been regulated in the negotiation of this treaty are in accordance with the sentiments well expressed by my immediate predecessor on the ioth of February, 1847, when he communicated to tbe Senate the treaty with New Granada for the protection of the railroad at Panama. It is in accordance with the whole spirit of the resolution of the Senate of the 3d of March, 1835, referred to by President Polk, and with the policy adopted by Presi dent Jackson immediately after the passage of that resolution, who dispatched an agent to Central America and New Granada " to open Zachary Taylor. 325 negotiations with those Governments for the purpose of effectually protecting, by suitable treaty stipulations with them, such individuals or companies as might undertake to open a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by the construction of a ship canal across the Isthmus which connects North and South America, and of securing forever by such stipulations the free and equal right of navigating such canal to all such nations on the payment of such reasonable tolls as might be established to compensate the capitalists who should engage in such undertaking and complete the work." I -have good reason to believe that France and Russia stand ready to accede to this treaty, and that no other great maritime state will refuse its accession to an arrangement so well caiculated to diffuse the blessings of peace, commerce, and civilization, and so honorable to all nations which may enter into the engagement. LIFE OF ZACHARY TAYLOR. ZACHARY TAYLOR was born November 24, 1784, in Orange county, Va. He was a son of Richard Taylor, one of the most valiant colonels of the Revolutionary War. When he was a year old his father moved to Kentucky, near the present site of Louisville, where he died. In this newly-settled country Zachary had few educational advantages, but the conditions and environs about him formed his sturdy character, and led up to his illustrious career. He was appointed lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry in 1808, and was made captain of the same regiment in 1810. About this time he married Miss Margaret Smith, of Maryland. In 1814 he led an ex pedition against the Indians and their British allies on Rock River. He became lieutenant-colonel of the First Infantry in 1819, and colonel in 1832. He was engaged in fighting in the Black Hawk and other Indian campaigns until 1836, when he was ordered to Florida for serwce in the Seminole War, where he distinguished him self and was brevetted brigadier-general, and finally given the chief command in Florida. He was assigned to the command of the southern division of the western department of the Army in 1840, and at this time made his home at Baton Rouge, La. He was ordered to the defense of Texas, which had been annexed to the United States, in 1845. He proceeded to Corpus Christi, met and engaged 326 History of the United States. the enemy, drove them across the Rio Grande, and on May 18th, occupied Matamoras, where he remained until he obtained reinforce ments. He took Monterey in September, then came his victories at Palo Alto, and Resaca de la Palma. The February after he won the battle of Buena Vista, which aroused great enthusiasm through out the Union. He was appointed major-general, June 27, 1846, and made commander-in-chief of all the American forces in Mexico, until General Scott was ordered there in 1846. He returned to his home in Louisiana, in November, and was greeted, wherever he appeared, with an ovation from the people. He was nominated for President by the Whigs, June 7, 1848, and was elected November 7th. He was inaugurated March 5, 1849, and died in the White House, July 9, 1850. He was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Ky. Millard Fillmore. 327 OLD HOME OF MILLARD FILLMORE, AT BUFFALO, NEW YORK. CHAPTER XIII. MILLARD FILLMORE'S RISE TO FAME. By Congressman W. F. Aldrich, of Alabama. THE Republic has not had a President who was a more typical American than Millard Fillmore. His parents were Nathaniel F. Fillmore and Phoebe Millard, who were married in their native Vermont and moved into the wilds of Cayuga county, New York, in 1799. Millard was born at the town of Summer Hill, January 7, 1800, and was the eldest of nine children. That section of New York was then a wilderness, the nearest house to the Fillmore's being four miles away. The lands acquired by the family had a defective title and a few years later they were driven from their home. 328 History of the United States. Millard, from his early boyhood, showed a deep love of learning, and was always found reading or studying when other boys of his age were at play. But owing to the meagre resources of his father, and the steady and rapid increase of the family, Millard became an apprentice to a carder and cloth finisher in Sparta, when he was 15 years old, in order to aid in the support of the household. All his leisure was spent in study. Books were scarce in those days, and school advantages out of reach. But the poor lad had a spirit within him which soared above all obstacles. Having mastered his trade and attained to the position of a master workman, he decided to study law. His employer tried to dissuade him from a course which the latter regarded as foolish, but Fillmore carried out his intention and in time became one of the noted lawyers of the State. As a boy he was above reproach, and he became a model man, a lover of peace and concord, the soul of honor, and the speaker of truth. The Fillmore family moved to Buffalo in 1820, and Millard was admitted to practice at the bar in 1823, though he had not performed the regular term of study. He went to Aurora to begin his law practice, and was put to many shifts to earn a livelihood until his shingle should draw clients to his door. He taught school and did any work that presented. But such persistence and ability were sure to win, and in three years he was able to marry Abigail, the daughter of the Rev. Lemuel Powers, of Erie county. In 1829 he was elected to the legislature. Fearlessly opposing the Democratic majority in that body, he ran counter to their most cherished schemes and made a record" for sterling worth and high principle. He became known as the " Young member from Erie," but he sought rather to conciliate than to stir up strife. He thought more of right action than of party expediency. When his term was ended he went back to his law practice. He had learned " the ropes " at Albany, but his constituents believed him capable of doing much more. He was, consequently, re-elected, and was placed on the " Committee of Public Defense." This was supposed to be a sinecure in time of peace, but Fillmore took another view of it. He thought the people wanted defending from some of the laws, and he set to work to have the imprisonment of debtors made illegal. This law had filled the jails of the State with men who had committed no other offense than that of being unable to pay their debts. Thurlow Weed and Francis Granger supported Fillmore in his movement for its repeal, and despite the fiercest opposition the barbarous provision of imprisonment for debt was wiped from the statute books. Fillmore brought into his political career an unfaltering trust in truth and goodness. His mind was too simple, and his honesty too rugged to permit him to profit by any of the chicanery of politics which was as prevalent in his day as it is now. THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT 01' the united states. TARIFF AGITATION OF 1846, WITH CARICATURES OF POLK, BUCHANAN, CALHOUN AND OTHER POLITICAL LEADERS OF THE PERIOD. yr- x^\.J yl Jkk <*2*S CARTOON ON BUCHANAN'S CURRENCY POLICY. Millard Fillmore. 331 In 1832 he was sent to Congress by the same constituents whom he had served so well in the legislature. There he frankly avowed his opposition to slavery, favored the right of petition for the abolition of the slave trade, and advocated the doing away with slavery in the District of Columbia. In the Twenty-seventh Congress he was chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and was the first man to propose a banking system, based on the bonds of the Government. He was unalterably opposed to the United States Bank, and believed that its charter should be repealed. With these principles well known to the people of the country, he became Vice-President with General Taylor, and at the death of the latter, entered on his duties as President of the United States. Like other Presidents who succeeded him, he upheld the Fugitive Slave Law though himself opposed to slavery. He felt it his duty to accept the con struction put upon the Constitution by the Supreme Court, and saw no im mediate prospect of that instrument being modified to meet his views. The public interests were subserved by his Administration, and at its end there was a feeling of harmony among the people. The country was never more happy or prosperous. Not a note of discord broke the tranquillity of -Fillmore's term of office, and when he retired definitely from public life he was twice brought forward by his friends for re-election to the presidency. John Quincy Adams has left on record as his opinion that Fillmore was " one of the ablest, most faithful and fairest-minded men with whom he had ever served in public life." b$.t&0U*uf^ 332 History of the United States. ADMINISTRATION OF 1850-1853. By Millard Fillmore. I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing (July 10, 1850) to you that it has pleased Almighty God to remove from this life Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States. He deceased last evening at the hour of half-past 10 o'clock, July 9, 1850, in the midst of his family and surrounded by affectionate friends, calmly and in the full possession of all his faculties. Among his last words were these, which he uttered with emphatic distinctness: " I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me." Having announced to you, fellow-citizens, this most afflicting be reavement, and assuring you that it has penetrated no heart with deeper grief than mine, it remains for me to say that I propose this day at 12 o'clock, in the Hall of the House of Representatives, in the presence of both Houses of Congress, to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution,, to enable me to enter on the execution of the office which this event has devolved on me. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 2, 1850. Being suddenly called in the midst of the last session of Con gress by a painful dispensation of Divine Providence to the re sponsible station which I now hold, I contented myself with such communications to the Legislature as the exigency of the moment seemed to require. The country was shrouded in mourning for the loss of its venerable Chief Magistrate and all hearts were penetrated with grief. Neither the time nor the occasion appeared to require or to justify on my part any general expression of political opinions or any announcement of the principles which would govern me in the discharge of the duties to the performance of which I had been so Millard Fillmore. 333 unexpectedly called. I trust, therefore, that it may not be deemed inappropriate if I avail myself of this opportunity of the reassembling of Congress to make known my sentiments in a general manner in re gard to the policy which ought to be pursued by the Government both in its intercourse with foreign nations and its management and ad ministration of internal affairs. In our domestic policy the Constitution will be my guide, and in questions of doubt I shall look for its interpretation to the judicial decisions of that tribunal which was established to expound it and to the usage of the Government, sanctioned by the acquiescence of the country. I regard all its provisions as equally binding. In all its parts it is the will of the people expressed in the most solemn form, and the constituted authorities are but agents to carry that will into effect. Every power which it has granted is to be exercised for the public good; but no pretense of utility, no honest conviction, even, of what might be expedient, can justify the assumption of any power not granted. The powers conferred upon the Government and their distribution to the several departments are as clearly expressed in that sacred instrument as the imperfection of human language will allow, and I deem it my first duty not to question its wisdom, add to its pro visions, evade its requirements, or nullify its commands. A convention was negotiated between the United States and Great Britain in April last for facilitating and protecting the construction of a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and for other purposes. The instrument has since been ratified by the contracting parties, the exchange of ratifications has been effected and proclama tion thereof has been duly made.- In addition to the stipulations contained in this convention, two other objects remain to be accomplished between the contracting powers : First. The designation and establishment of a free port at each end of the canal. Second. An agreement fixing the distance from the shore within which belligerent maritime operations shall not be carried on. On these points there is little doubt that the two Governments will come to an understanding. The company of citizens of the United States who have acquired from the State of Nicaragua the privilege of constructing a ship canal between the two oceans through the territory of that State have made progress in their preliminary arrangements. The treaty be- 334 History of the United States. tween the United States and Great Britain of the 19th of April, 1850, above referred to, being now in operation, it is to be hoped that the guaranties which it offers will be sufficient to secure the completion of the work with all practicable expedition. It is obvious that this result would be indefinitely postponed if any other than peaceful measures for the purpose of harmonizing conflicting claims to territory in that quarter should be adopted. It will consequently be my endeavor to cause any further negotiations on the part of this Government which may be requisite for this purpose to be so conducted as to bring them to a speedy and successful close. The treaty between the United States and His Majesty the King of the Hawaiian Islands, which has recently been made public, will, it is believed, have a beneficial effect upon the relations between the two countries. The relations between those parts of the island of St. Domingo which were formerly colonies of Spain and France, respectively, are still in an unsettled condition. The proximity of that island to the United States and the delicate questions involved in the existing con troversy there render it desirable that it should be permanently and speedily adjusted. The interests of humanity and of general com merce also demands this; and as intimations of the same sentiment have been received from other governments, it is hoped that some plan may soon be devised to effect the object in a manner likely to give general satisfaction. The Government of the United States will not fail, by the exercise of all proper friendly offices, to do all in its power to put an end to the destructive war which has raged between the different parts of the island and tp secure to them both the benefits of peace and commerce. All experience has demonstrated the wisdom and policy of raising a large portion of revenue for the support of Government from duties on goods imported. The power to lay these duties is unquestionable, and its chief object, of course, is to replenish the Treasury. But if in doing this an incidental advantage may be gained by encouraging the industry of our own citizens, it is our duty to avail ourselves of that advantage. A duty laid upon an article which can not be produced in this coun try, such as tea or coffee, adds to the cost of the article, and is chiefly or wholly paid by the consumer. But a duty laid upon an article which may be produced here stimulates the skill and industry of our own country to produce the same article, which is brought into the Millard Fillmore. 335 market in competition with the foreign article, and the importer is thus compelled to reduce his price to that at which the domestic article can be sold, thereby throwing a part of the duty upon the producer of the foreign article. The continuance of this process creates the skill and invites the capital which finally enable us to produce the article much cheaper than it could have been procured from abroad, thereby benefiting both the producer and the consumer at home. The consequence of this is that the artisan and the agriculturist are brought together, each effords a ready market for the produce of the other, the whole country becomes prosperous, and the ability to produce every necessary of life renders us independent in war as well as in peace. There being no mint in California, I am informed that the laborers in the mines are compelled to dispose of their gold dust at a large discount. This appears to me to be a heavy and unjust tax upon the labor of those employed in extracting this precious metal, and I doubt not you will be disposed at the earliest period possible to relieve them from it by the establishment of a mint. In the meantime, as an assayer's office is established there, I would respectfully submit for your consideration the propriety of authorizing gold bullion which has been assayed and stamped to be received in payment of Govern ment dues. I can not conceive that the Treasury would suffer any loss by such a provision, which will at once raise bullion to its par value, and thereby save (if I am rightly informed) many millions of dollars to the laborers which are now paid in brokerage to convert this precious metal into available funds. This discount upon their hard earnings is a heavy tax, and every effort should be made by the Government to relieve them from so great a burden. A revision of the code for the government of the Navy seems to require the immediate consideration of Congress. Its system of crimes and punishments have undergone no change for half a century un til the last session, though its defects have been often and ably pointed out; and the abolition of a particular species of corporal punishment, which then took place, without providing any substitute, has left the service in a state of defectiveness which calls for prompt correction. I therefore recommend that the whole subject be revised without de lay and such a system established for the enforcement of discipline as shall be at once humane and effectual. At the close of the last fiscal year the length of the inland mail routes in the United States, not embracing the service in Oregon and 336 History of the United States. California, was 178,672 miles, the annual transportations thereon 46,541,423 miles, and the annual cost of such transportation $2,724,426. I am happy to find that the fiscal condition of the Department is such as to justify the Postmaster-General in recommending the re duction of our inland letter postage to 3 cents the single letter when prepaid and 5 cents when not prepaid. He also recommends that the prepaid rate shall be reduced to 2 cents whenever the revenues of the Department, after the reduction, shall exceed its expenditures by more than 5 per cent, for two consecutive years; that the postage upon California and other letters sent by our ocean steamers shall be much reduced, and that the rates of postage on newspapers, pamphlets, periodicals, and other printed matter shall be modified and some re duction thereon made. I entertain no doubt of the authority of Congress to make appro priations for leading objects in that class of public works com prising what are usually called works of internal improvement. The magnificent Mississippi and its tributaries and the vast lakes of the North and Northwest appear to me to fall within the exercise of the power as justly and as clearly as the ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It is a mistake to regard expenditures judiciously made for these objects as expenditures for local purposes. The position or sight of the work is necessarily local, but its utility is general. A ship canal around the Falls of St. Mary of less than a mile in length, be tween Lakes Superior and Huron, would yet be national in its purpose and its benefits, as it would remove the only obstruction to a naviga tion of more than 1,000 miles, affecting several States, as well as our commercial relations with Canada. So, too, the breakwater at the mouth of the Delaware is erected, not for the conclusive benefit of the States bordering on the bay and river of that name, but for that of the whole coastwise navigation of the United States and, to a considerable extent, also of foreign commerce. If a ship be lost on the bar at the entrance of a Southern port for want of sufficient depth of water, it is very likely to be a Northern ship; and if a steamboat be sunk in any part of the Mississippi on account of its channel not having been prop erly cleared of obstructions, it may be a boat belonging to either of eight or ten States. I may add, as somewhat remarkable, that among all the thirty-one States there is none that is not to a greater or less extent bounded on the ocean, or the Gulf of Mexico, or one of the Great Lakes, or some navigable river. Millard Fillmore. 337 It was hardly to have been expected that the series of measures passed at your last session with the view of healing the sectional differences which had sprung from the slavery and territorial questions should at once have realized their beneficent purpose. All mutual concession in the nature of a compromise must necessarily be unwel come to men of extreme opinions. And though without such con cessions our Constitution could not have been formed, and can not be permanently sustained, yet we have seen them made the subject of bitter controversy in both sections of the Republic. It required many months of discussion and deliberation to secure the concurrence of a majority of Congress in their favor. It would be strange if they had been received with immediate approbation by people and States prejudiced and heated by the exciting controversies of their representa tives. I believe those measures to have been required by the cir cumstances and condition of the country. I believe they were neces sary to allay asperities and animosities that were rapidly alienating one section of the country from another and destroying those fraternal sentiments which are the strongest supports of the Constitution. They were adopted in the spirit of conciliation and for the purpose of conciliation. I believe that a great majority of our fellow-citizens sympathize in that spirit and that purpose, and in the main approve and are prepared in all respects to sustain these enactments. I can not doubt that the American people, bound together by kindred blood and common traditions, still cherish a paramount regard for the Union of their fathers, and that they are ready to rebuke any attempt to violate its integrity, to disturb the compromises on which it is based, or to resist the laws which have been enacted under its au thority. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 2, 185I. Since tbe close of the last Congress certain Cuban and other for eigners resident in the United States, who were more or less concerned in the previous invasion of Cuba, instead of being discouraged by its failure have again abused the hospitality of this country by making it the scene of the equipment of another military expedition against that possession of Her Catholic Majesty, in which they were countenanced, aided, and joined by citizens of the United States. On receiving in telligence that such designs were entertained, I lost no time in issuing such instructions to the proper officers of the United States as seemed to be called for by the occasion. By the proclamation a copy of 338 History of the United States. which is herewith submitted I also warned those who might be in danger of being inveigled into this scheme of its unlawful character and of the penalties which they would incur. For some time there was reason to hope that these measures had sufficed to prevent any such attempt. This hope, however, proved to be delusive. Very early in the morning of the 3d of August a steamer called the " Pampero " departed from New Orleans for Cuba, having on board upward of 400 armed men with evident intentions to make war upon the au thorities of the island. This expedition was set on foot in palpable violation of the laws of the United States. Its leader was a Spaniard, and several of the chief officers and some others engaged in it were foreigners. The persons composing it, however, were mostly citi zens of the United States. Before the expedition set out, and probably before it was organized, a slight insurrectionary movement, which appears to have been soon suppressed, had taken place in the eastern quarter of Cuba. The importance of this movement was, unfortunately, so much exaggerated in the accounts of it published in this country that these adventurers seem to have been led to believe that the Creole population of the island not only desired to throw off the authority of the mother country, but had resolved upon that step and had begun a well-concerted enterprise for effecting it. The persons engaged in the expedition were generally young and ill-informed. The steamer in which they embarked left New Orleans stealthily and without clearance. After touching at Key West, she proceeded to the coast of Cuba, and on the night between the nth and 12th of August landed the persons on board at Playtas, within about 20 leagues of Havana. The main body of them proceeded to and took possession of an inland village six leagues distant, leaving others to follow in charge of the baggage as soon as the means of transportation could be obtained. The latter, having taken up their line of march to connect themselves with the main body, and having proceeded about four leagues into the country, were attacked on the morning of the 13th by a body of Spanish troops, and a bloody conflict ensued, after which they re treated to the place of disembarkation, where about fifty of them ob tained boats and re-embarked therein. They were, however, inter cepted among the keys near the shore by a Spanish steamer cruising on the coast, captured and carried to Havana, and after being exam ined before a military court were sentenced to be publicly executed, and the sentence was carried into effect on the 16th of August. ( ( ¦s? -¦ iX^AX/.X/y/ s-X'AA- yf-Z/'s/ssA J'^ysA/X' fy iAA AsXsf y/i Ais. S?i sz sissy, /fy . 7 yAf/// JS SISS /i/s/y AAs>X .'// SI sX/SS ./sSss-S.r Af /?/s}/ssk/ / sA/ i ' nssy'/.i s's'i ',- A's-ysi.' // ,Sy/r?- , (f's/si AsS/lfs/ s'UsS (fs7i..Asts ?sz A's- As-,/sX//s/ sX-i Xsi' A? st/,. As A A' s.-si~s's.sys,s- . Ss S/S .-X A/'.- ' '' s .'. 'i is- Ass Sy's-, ' ' y > ¦ s s ' ' > / . / y s ' <,S/Sl.-,7 S'v './.- AfA/yA.-' JA-Xy, s'Ass/ , a A AJy/A-s,., s.-i .Xss.fiy/i./.-X/., #?, s Sf . '7 X /,s"3 ,-,-' /x'- A %s/ss, As, .A/?. if. As J., X ys :',/.-. A , .1 /As //X/tsA-sS '..'¦<- A/ /,•-, A'- .¦A . -''issy/,7 - i../.- X- s- X/f- n A.-. -X SSS7sA.sAs.si' /¦/'/>, ,'ssst e A/.- -.'/Sir' . ¦'¦¦'' SsusX sXA, -J- f- ¦¦ :J/ys,r s'/ss, XX Asss/ss,, yiiA A/s / As? S.S- A/i.7 'is S7'-7sX,-ss Ass /As /'. , ¦ /' Xs LA j>lz-y2!n blessings to mankind. These are some of the points of outlook from the old era that have been 350 History of the United States. reached in the new periods, without any deviation from lines of National policy that were established by Mr. Jefferson in the year that Mr. Pierce was born. This policy has never put the slightest strain upon our institutions of government and never will. Other interesting initiatives of our present wise and worthy policies in the Pacific ocean were planted during Mr. Pierce's Administration, as Democratic measures on Jefferson's plan. ' Through his great Secretary of State, William S. Marcy, he conducted the first commercial treaty with Japan, negotiated by Commodore Perry. That treaty opened the door of a real civilization to Japan, through which a light has entered a darkened nation, and within the life of a generation, has lifted that people into recognized equality with the great powers of the world. And the same broad and sagacious statesmanship has aided in civilizing and American izing the Hawaiian Islands, and has gathered that people into the nurturing bosom of our Great Republic. A still broader and more generous policy was ordained in that Administration as to Cuba, in the Ostend conference, which has ripened into the noblest results of National benevolence, through the redemption of that fair island from the oppressions of the last and worst form of Bourbon despotism. These events were fixed in the wise councils of Mr. Pierce and his great Cabinet, and time has brought all of them"into speedy realization. Such men were never afraid that our Government would be weakened by honest and generous efforts to extend the blessings of its influence and protection to oppressed peoples. In the second half of this century, the consummation of the work laid out in the first has been accomplished on the true lines of American policy, with out any deviation from the strictest Democratic construction of the Constitu tion of the United States. The Cabinet of Mr. Pierce was composed of Marcy, Guthrie, Jefferson Davis, Dobbin, McLelland, James Campbell and Caleb Cushing, and was the peer of any Cabinet in American history. Some of the great measures of that administration were the settling of the Mexican boundary, the adjustment of the fishery questions with Great Britain, the repeal of the Missouri compromise, the organization of the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and a treaty of commercial reciprocity with Great Britain, as to Canada. A notable incident to illustrate the spirit of that administration, was the dismissal of the British minister and the British consuls at New York, Philadelphia and Cincinnati, because of their complicity in the illegal enlist ment of recruits in the British army for the Crimean war. Franklin Pierce. 351 No reproach has attended the history of that presidential term. Its work has been accepted and still stands as the law of the land in many wise measures, such as the reorganization of the consular and diplomatic service, the organiza tion of the Court of Claims, and a retired list for the Navy. Mr. Pierce's life was fashioned in the company of excellent people, from his youth, and their influence was manifest in all his history. His college mates at Bowdoin College, where he graduated third in his class, were such men as John P. Hale, Prof. Calvin Stone, Sergeant Prentiss, Henry W. Longfellow, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was a " Jackson Democrat " in the legislature of New Hampshire, and in the House of Representatives. In 1837 he was the youngest member of the Senate and resigned from that body in 1842. In 1845 he declined appointment by the Governor, to return to the Senate. In 1846 he declined the office of Attorney-General, tendered to him by President Polk. He declined a Demo cratic nomination for Governor of New Hampshire. He went to the Mexican war as colonel of a regiment and was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. In 1850 he presided over the Constitutional Convention of New Hampshire, and in 1852 was nominated for President, on the forty-ninth ballot, at Baltimore, over Douglas, Cass, Marcy, and Buchanan, and was elected by a strong majority. His political career was not marked by an aggressive ambition. He won success through the confidence of the country in his wisdom and patriotism. His views of the constitutional powers of the Federal Government were strict and conservative, but within those lines of construction his policies were aggressive and measured up to the full assertion of every power that was useful in promoting the influence and establishing the rights of the Great Republic. Mr. Pierce was thoroughly conscientious in his dealing with all questions and all men in the conduct of public affairs, and abided by his convictions of duty on all occasions. The people recognized and valued these worthy motives in their criticism of his public career and considered the wisdom of his course without prejudice or excitement. The judgment of his contemporaries was that he was a great American President, and this is more than confirmed by the present generation who witness the splendid development of his policies relating to Cuba, Hawaii, and Japan, and the grand commercial, military and moral power that we are beginning to exert on both shores and in the islands of the Pacific ocean. It is now seen, as he saw it, that it strengthens the course of free govern ment and makes its hold firmer upon the affections of mankind to extend its blessings to all who can be taught to understand them. 352 History of the United States Other Presidents, better endowed with brilliant talents, or having better opportunities to prove their powers, were greater than Mr. Pierce in the esteem and admiration of the world, but few of them have graven upon the history of the United States so clean a chart of the wonderful progress we have made in the last half of this century. We have followed the lines of his policy until we have emerged upon that grand field of National development which was the hope of our fathers, that in the institutions of free government which they ordained, would be found peace, security and prosperity for our own people, and the ultimate redemption of millions of oppressed people throughout the world $^U-*-~ ^0/ ^ffAU^vr-^ Franklin Pierce. 353 ADMINISTRATION OF 1853-1857. By Franklin Pierce. inaugural address, march 4, 1853. THE policy of my Administration will not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil from expansion. Indeed, it is not to be disguised that our attitude as a nation and our position on the globe render the acquisition of certain possessions not within our jurisdiction eminently important for our protection, if not in the future essential for the preservation of the rights of commerce and the peace of the world. Should they be obtained, it will be through no grasping spirit, but with a view to obvious national interest and security, and in a manner entirely consistent with the strictest observance of national faith. To every theory of society or government, whether the offspring of feverish ambition or of morbid enthusiasm, calculated to dissolve the bonds of law and affection which unite us, I shall interpose a ready and stern resistance. I believe that involuntary servitude, as it exists in different States of this Confederacy, is recognized by the Constitu tion. I believe that it stands like any other admitted right, and that the States where it exists are entitled to efficient remedies to enforce the constitutional provisions. I hold that the laws of 1850, commonly called the " compromise measures," are strictly constitutional and to be unhesitatingly carried into effect. I believe that the constituted authorities of this Republic are bound to regard the rights of the South in this respect as they would view any other legal and constitu tional right, and that the laws to enforce them should be respected and obeyed, not with a reluctance encouraged by abstract opinions as to their propriety in a different state of society, but cheerfully and according to the decisions of the tribunal to which their exposition belongs. Such have been, and are, my convictions, and upon them I shall act. I fervently hope that the question is at rest, and that no sectional or ambitious or fanatical excitement may again threaten the durability of our institutions or obscure the light of our prosperity. 354 History op the United States. The President has, with deep sorrow, received information that the Vice-President of the United States, William R. King, died on the 1 8th (April, 1853) instant at his residence in Alabama. In testimony of respect for eminent station, exalted character, and, higher and above all station, for a career of public service and devotion to this Union which for duration and usefulness' is almost without a parallel in the history of the Republic, the labors of the various Departments will be suspended. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 1853. The act of Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution pro vided that the President of the United States and other persons therein designated should constitute an " establishment " by that name, and that the members should hold stated and special meetings for the supervision of the affairs of the Institution. The organization not having taken place, it seemed to me proper that it should be effected without delay. This has been done; and an occasion was thereby pre sented for inspecting the condition of the Institution and appreciating its successful progress thus far and its high promise of great and general usefulness. The bill entitled "An act making a grant (May 3, 1854) of public lands to the several States for the benefit of indigent insane persons," which was presented to me on the 27th ultimo, has been maturely con sidered, and is returned to the Senate, the house in which it originated, with a statement of the objections which have required me to with hold from it my approval. In the performance of this duty, prescribed by the Constitution, I have been compelled to resist the deep sympathies of my own heart in favor of the humane purpose sought to be accomplished and to overcome the reluctance with which I dissent from the conclusions of the two Houses of Congress, and present my own opinions in oppo sition to the action of a co-ordinate branch of the Government which possesses so fully my confidence and respect. If in presenting my objections to this bill, I should say more than strictly belongs to the measure or is required for this discharge of my official obligation, let it be attributed to a sincere desire to justify my act before those whose good opinion I so highly value and to that earnestness which springs from my deliberate conviction that a strict adherence to the terms and purposes of the federal compact offers the Franklin Pierce. 355 best, if not the only, security for the preservation of our blessed in heritance of representative liberty. It can not be questioned that if Congress has power to make pro vision for the indigent insane without the limits of this District it has the same power to provide for the indigent who are not insane, and thus to transfer to the Federal Government the charge of all the poor in all the States. It has the same power to provide hospitals and other local establishments for the care and cure of every species of human infirmity, and thus to assume all that duty of either public philanthropy or public necessity to the dependent, the orphan, the sick, or the needy which is now discharged by the States themselves or by corporate institutions or private endowments existing under the legislation of the States. The whole field of public beneficence is thrown open to the care and culture of the Federal Government. Generous impulses no longer encounter the limitations and control of our imperious fundamental law; for however worthy may be the present object in itself, it is only one of a class. It is n'ot exclusively worthy of benevolent regard. Whatever considerations dictate sympathy for this particular object apply in like manner, if not in the same degree, to idiocy, to physical disease, to extreme destitution. The framers of the Constitution, in refusing to confer on the Federal Government any jurisdiction over these purely local objects, in my judgment manifested a wise forecast and broad comprehension of the true interests of these objects themselves. It is clear that public charities within the States can be efficiently administered only by their authority. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER z\, 1854. Since the adjournment of Congress the ratifications of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain relative to coast fisheries and to reciprocal trade with the British North American Provinces have been exchanged, and some of its anticipated advantages are already enjoyed by us, although its full execution was to abide certain acts of legislation not yet fully performed. So soon as it was ratified Great Britain opened to our commerce the free navigation of the river St. Lawrence and to our fishermen unmolested access to the shores and bays, from which they had been previously excluded, on the coasts of her North American Provinces; in return for which she 356 History of the United States. asked for the introduction free of duty into the ports of the United States of the fish caught on the same coast by British fishermen. This being the compensation stipulated in the treaty for privileges of the highest importance and value to the United States, which were thus voluntarily yielded before it became effective, the request seemed to me to be a reasonable one; but it could not be acceded to from want of authority to suspend our laws imposing duties upon all foreign' fish. In the meantime the Treasury Department issued a regulation for ascertaining the duties paid or secured by bonds on fish caught on the coasts of the British Provinces and brought to our markets by British subjects after the fishing grounds had been made fully accessible to the citizens of the United States. I recommend to your favorable consideration a proposition, which will be submitted to you, for authority to refund the duties and cancel the bonds thus received. The Provinces of Canada and New Brunswick have also anticipated the full operation of the treaty by legislative arrangements, re spectively, to admit free bf duty the products of the United States mentioned in the free list of the treaty; and an arrangement similar to that regarding British fish has been made for duties now chargeable on the products of those Provinces enumerated in the same free list and introduced therefrom into the United States, a proposition for refunding which will, in my judgment, be in like manner entitled to your favorable consideration. There is difference of opinion between the United States and Great Britain as to the boundary line of the Territory of Washington ad joining the British possessions on the Pacific, which has already led to difficulties on the part of the citizens and local authorities of the two Governments. I recommend that provision be made for a com mission, to be joined by one on the part of Her Britannic Majesty, for the purpose of running and establishing the line in controversy. Certain stipulations of the third and fourth articles of the treaty con cluded by the United States and Great Britain in 1846, regarding possessory rights of the Fludsons Bay Company and property of lie Pugets Sound Agricultural Company, have given rise to serious dis putes, and it is important to all concerned that summary means of settling them amicably should be devised. I have reason to believe that an arrangement can be made on just terms for the extinguish ment of the rights in question, embracing also the right of the Hud- sons Bay Company to the navigation of the river Columbia; and I, therefore, suggest to your consideration the expediency of making a contingent appropriation for that purpose. fffM^) fourteenth president of the united states. TEMPERANCE CRAZE OF 1854, DURING FRANKLIN PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. TEMPERANCE AGITATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE'S TERM. Franklin Pierce. 359 third annual message, december 31, 1855. Denmark, while resisting our assertion of the freedom of the Baltic Sound and Belts, has indicated a readiness to make some new arrange ment on the subject, and has invited the governments interested, in cluding the United States, to be represented in a convention to as semble for the purpose of receiving and considering a proposition which she intends to submit for the capitalization of the Sound dues and the distribution of the sum to be paid as commutation among the governments according to the respective proportions of their maritime commerce to and from the Baltic. I have declined, in behalf of the United States, to accept this invitation, for the most cogent reasons. One is that Denmark does not offer to submit to the convention the question of her right to levy the Sound dues. The second is that if the convention were allowed to take cognizance of that particular question, still it would not be competent to deal with the great inter national principle involved, which affects the right in other cases of navigation and commercial freedom, as well as that of access to the Baltic. Above all, by the express terms of the proposition it is contemplated that the consideration of the Sound dues shall be com mingled with and made subordinate to a matter wholly extraneous — the balance of power among the Governments of Europe. While, however, rejecting this proposition and insisting on the right of free transit into and from the Baltic, I have expressed to Den mark a willingness on the part of the United States to share liberally with other powers in compensating her for any advantages which commerce shall hereafter derive from expenditures made by her for the improvement and safety of the navigation of the Sound or Belts. In the Territory of Kansas there have been acts prejudicial to good order, but as yet none have occurred under circumstances to justify the interposition of the Federal Executive. That could only be in case of obstruction to Federal law or of organized resistance to Territorial law, assuming the character of insurrection, which, if it should occur, it would be my duty promptly to overcome and suppress. I cherish the hope, however, that the occurrence of any such untoward event will be prevented by the sound sense of the people of the Terri tory, who by its organic law, possessing the right to determine their own domestic institutions, are entitled while deporting themselves peacefully to the free exercise of that right, and must be protected in the enjoyment of it without interference on the part of the citizens of any of the States. 360 History of the United States. When, recently, it became requisite to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas, it was the natural and legitimate, if not the inevitable, consequence of previous events and legislation that the same great and sound principle which had already been applied to Utah and New Mexico should be applied to them — that they should stand exempt from the restrictions proposed in the act relative to the State of Missouri. These restrictions were, in the estimation of many thoughtful men, null from the beginning, unauthorized by the Constitution, contrary to the treaty stipulations for the cession of Louisiana, and inconsistent with the equality of these States. They had been stripped of all moral authority by persistent efforts to procure their indirect repeal through contradictory enactments. They had been practically abrogated by the legislation attending the organization of Utah, New Mexico, and Washington. If any vitality remained in them it would have been taken away, in effect, by the new Territorial acts in the form originally proposed to the Senate at the first session of the last Congress. It was manly and ingenuous, as well as patriotic and just, to do this directly and plainly, and thus relieve the statute book of an act which might be of possible future injury, but of no possible future benefit; and the measure of its repeal was the final consummation and complete recognition of the principle that no portion of the United States shall undertake through assump tion of the powers of the General Government to dictate the social institutions of any other portion. The scope and effect of the language of repeal were not left in doubt. It was declared in terms to be " the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, sub ject only to the Constitution of the United States." The measure could not be withstood upon its merits alone. It was attacked with violence on the false or delusive pretext that it constituted a breach of faith. Never was objection more utterly desti tute of substantial justification. When before was it imagined by sensible men that a regulative or declarative statute, whether enacted ten or forty years ago, is irrepealable ; that an act of Congress is above the Constitution? If, indeed, there were in the facts any cause to impute bad faith, it would attach to those only who have never ceased, from the time of the enactment of the restrictive provision to Franklin Pierce. 361 the present day, to denounce and condemn it; who have constantly refused to complete it by needful supplementary legislation; who have spared no exertion to deprive it of moral force; who have themselves again and again attempted its repeal by the enactment of incompatible provisions, and who, by the inevitable reactionary effect of their own violence on the subject, awakened the country to perception of the true constitutional principle of leaving the matter involved to the discretion of the people of the respective existing or incipient States. It is not pretended that this principle or any other precludes the possibility of evils in practice, disturbed, as political action is liable to be, by human passions. No form of government is exempt from inconveniences; but in this case they are the result of the abuse, and not of the legitimate exercise, of the powers reserved or conferred in the organization of a Territory. They are not to be charged to the great principle of popular sovereignty. On the contrary, they dis appear before the intelligence and patriotism of the people, exerting through the ballot-box their peaceful and silent but irresistible power. If the friends of the Constitution are to have another struggle, its enemies could not present a more acceptable issue than that of a State whose constitution clearly embraces " a republican form of gov ernment " being excluded from the Union because its domestic in stitutions may not in all respects comport with the ideas of what is wise and expedient entertained in some other State. Fresh from groundless imputations of breach of faith against others, men will commence the agitation of this new question with indubitable viola tion of an express compact between the independent sovereign powers of the United States and of the Republic of Texas, as well as of the older and equally solemn compacts which assure the equality of all the States. But deplorable as would be such a violation of compact in itself and in all its direct consequences, that is the very least of the evils in volved. When sectional agitators shall have succeeded in forcing on this issue, can their pretensions fail to be met by counter pre tensions? Will not different. States be compelled, respectively, to meet extremes with extremes? And if either extreme carry its point, what is that so far forth but dissolution of the Union? If a new State, formed from the territory of the United States, be absolutely excluded from admission therein, that fact of itself constitutes the disruption of union between it and the other States. But the process of dissolution could not stop there. Would not a sectional decision producing such 362 History of the United States. result by a majority of votes, either Northern or Southern, of necessity drive out the oppressed and aggrieved minority and place in presence of each other two irreconcilably hostile confederations? It is necessary to speak thus plainly of projects the offspring of that sectional agitation now prevailing in some of the States, which are as impracticable as they are unconstitutional, and which if per severed in must and will end calamitously. It is either disunion and civil war or it is mere angry, idle, aimless disturbance of public peace and tranquillity. Disunion for what? If the passionate rage of fa naticism and partisan spirit did not force the fact upon our attention, it would be difficult to believe that any considerable portion of the people of this enlightened country could have so surrendered them selves to a fanatical devotion to the supposed interests of the relatively few Africans in the United States as totally to abandon and disregard the interests of the 25,000,000 Americans; to trample under foot the injunctions of moral and constitutional obligation, and to engage in plans of vindictive hostility against those who are associated with them in the enjoyment of the common heritage of our national in stitutions. Nor is it hostility against their fellow-citizens of one section of the Union alone. The interests, the honor, the duty, the peace, and the prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and im periled in this question. And are patriotic men in any part of the Union prepared on such issue thus madly to invite all the consequen ces of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements? It is im possible. The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the Constitution. I shall never doubt it. I know that the Union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild and chimerical schemes of social change which are gen erated one after another in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested agitators. I rely confidently on the patriotism of the people, on the dignity and self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of Congress, and, above all, on the continued gracious favor of Al mighty God to maintain against all enemies, whether at home or abroad, the sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the Union. It is the undoubted right of the peaceable and orderly people of the Territory of Kansas to elect their own legislative body, make their own Franklin Pierce. 363 laws, and regulate their own social institutions, without foreign or do mestic molestation. Interference on the one hand to procure the abolition or prohibition of slave labor in the Territory has produced mischievous interference on the other for its maintenance or introduc tion. One wrong begets another. Statements entirely unfounded, or grossly exaggerated, concerning events within the Territory are sedulously diffused through remote States to feed the flame of sec tional animosity there, and the agitators there exert themselves inde- fatigably in return to encourage and stimulate strife within the Ter ritory. The inflammatory agitation, of which the present is but a part, has for twenty years produced nothing save unmitigated evil, North and South. But for it the character of the domestic institutions of the future new State would have been a matter of too little interest to the inhabitants of the contiguous States, personally or collectively, to pro duce among them any political emotion. Climate, soil, production, hopes of rapid advancement and the pursuit of happiness on the part of the settlers themselves, with good wishes, but with no interference from without, would have quietly determined the question which is at this time of such disturbing character. But we are constrained to turn our attention to the circumstances of embarrassment as they now exist. It is the duty of the people of Kansas to discountenance every act or purpose of resistance to its laws. Above all, the emergency appeals to the citizens of the States, and especially of those contiguous to the Territory, neither by intervention of nonresidents in elections nor by unauthorized mititary force to at tempt to encroach upon or usurp the authority of the inhabitants of the Territory. No citizen of our country should permit himself to forget that he is a part of its Government and entitled to be heard in the determination of its policy and its measures, and that therefore the highest consid eration of personal honor and patriotism require him to maintain by whatever of power or influence he may possess the integrity of the laws of the Republic. Entertaining these views, it will be my imperative duty to exert the whole power of the Federal Executive to support public order in the Territory; to vindicate its laws, whether Federal or local, against all attempts of organized resistance, and so to protect its people in the establishment of their own institutions, undisturbed by encroachment from without, and in the full enjoyment of the rights of self -govern- 364 History of the United States. ment assured to them by the Constitution and the organic act of Con gress. Although serious and threatening disturbances in the Territory of Kansas, announced to me by the governor in December last, were speedily quieted without the effusion of blood and in a satisfactory manner, there is, I regret to say, reason to apprehend that disorders will continue to occur there, with increasing tendency to violence, until some decisive measure be taken to dispose of the question itself which constitutes the inducement or occasion of internal agitation and of external interference. This, it seems to me, can best be accomplished by providing that when the inhabitants of Kansas may desire it and shall be of sufficient number to constitute a State, a convention of delegates, duly elected by the qualified voters, shall assemble to frame a constitution, and thus to prepare through regular and lawful means for its admission into the Union as a State. I respectfully recommend the enactment pf a law to that effect. I recommend also that a special appropriation be made to defray any expense which may become requisite in the execution of the laws or the maintenance of public order in the Territory of Kansas. Whereas indications exist February 11, 1856, that public tran quillity and the supremacy of law in the Territory of Kansas are en dangered by the reprehensible acts or purposes of persons, both within and without the same, who propose to direct and control its political organization by force. It appearing that combinations have been formed therein to resist the execution of the Territorial laws, and thus in effect subvert by violence all present constitutional and legal author ity; it also appearing that persons residing without the Territory, but near its borders, contemplate armed intervention in the affairs thereof; it also appearing that other persons, inhabitants of remote States, are collecting money, engaging men, and providing arms for the same purpose; and it further appearing that combinations within the Terri tory are endeavoring, by the agency of emissaries and otherwise, to induce individual States of the Union to intervene in the affairs thereof, in violation of the Constitution of the United States ; and Whereas all such plans for the determination of the future institu tions of the Territory, if carried into action from within the same, will constitute the fact of insurrection, and if from without that of in- Franklin Pierce. 365 vasive aggression, and will in either case justify and require the for cible interposition of the whole power of the General Government, as well to maintain the laws of the Territory as those of the Union: Now, therefore, I, Franklin Pierce, President of the United States, do issue this my proclamation to command all persons engaged in unlawful combinations against the constituted authority of the Ter ritory of Kansas or of the United States to disperse and retire peace ably to their respective abodes, and to warn all such persons that any attempted insurrection in said Territory or aggressive intrusion into the same will be resisted not only by the employment of the local militia, but also by that of any available forces of the United States, to the end of assuring immunity from violence and full protection to the persons, property, and civil rights of all peaceable and law-abiding inhabitants of the Territory. If, iii any part of the Union, the fury of faction or fanaticism, in flamed into disregard of the great principles of popular sovereignty which, under the Constitution, are fundamental in the whole structure of our institutions is to bring on the country the dire calamity of an arbitrament of arms in that Territory, it shall be between lawless violence on the one side and conservative force on the other, wielded by legal authority of the General Government. I call on the citizens, both of adjoining and of distant States, to ab stain from unauthorized intermeddling in the local concerns of the Territory, admonishing them that its organic law is to be executed with impartial justice, that all individual acts of illegal interference will incur condign punishment, and any endeavor to intervene by or ganized force will be firmly withstood. I invoke all good citizens to promote order by rendering obedience to the law, to seek remedy for temporary evils by peaceful means, to discountenance and repulse the counsels and the instigations of agi tators and of disorganizers, and to testify their attachment to their country, their pride in its greatness, their appreciation of the blessings they enjoy, and their determination that republican institutions shall not fail in their hands by co-operating to uphold the majesty of the laws and to vindicate the sanctity of the Constitution. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 2, 1856. Imputed irregularities in the elections had in Kansas, like oc casional irregularities of the same description in the States, were be yond the sphere of action of the Executive. But incidents of actual 366 History of the United States. violence or of organized obstruction of law, pertinaciously renewed from time to time, have been met as they occurred by such means as were available and as the circumstances required, and nothing of this character now remains to affect the general peace of the Union. The attempt of a part of the inhabitants of the Territory to erect a revolu tionary government, though sedulously encouraged and supplied with pecuniary aid from active agents of disorder in some of the States, has completely failed. Bodies of armed men, foreign to the Territory, have been prevented from entering or compelled to leave it; predatory bands, engaged in acts of rapine under cover of the existing political disturbances, have been arrested or dispersed, and every well-disposed person is now enabled once more to devote himself in peace to the pur suits of prosperous industry, for the prosecution of which he under took to participate in the settlement of the Territory. It affords me unmingled satisfaction thus to announce the peace ful condition of things in Kansas, especially considering the means to which it was necessary to have recourse for the attainment of the end, namely, the employment of a part of the military force of the United States. The withdrawal of that force from its proper duty of defending the country against foreign foes or the savages of the frontier to employ it for the suppression of domestic insurrection is, when the exigency occurs, a matter of the most earnest solicitude. On this occasion of imperative necessity it has been done with the best results, and my satisfaction in the attainment of such results by such means is greatly enhanced by the consideration that, through the wisdom and energy of the present executive of Kansas and the pru dence, firmness, and vigilance of the military officers on duty there tranquillity has been restored without one drop of blood having been shed in its accomplishment by the forces of the United States. The restoration of comparative tranquillity in that Territory fur nishes the means of observing calmly and appreciating at their just value the events which have occurred there and the discussions of which the government of the Territory has been the subject. We perceive that controversy concerning its future domestic insti tutions was inevitable ; that no human prudence, no form of legislation, no wisdom on the part of Congress, could have prevented it. It is idle to suppose that the particular provisions of their organic law were the cause of agitation. Those provisions were but the occa sion, or the pretext, of an agitation which was inherent in the nature of things. Congress legislated upon the subject in such terms as C- AAs &r- >"f'7 f '7 As, fA.sfA XA, /.J '// / fs // / " Xs s yt -.-SSfSSy AAsi-C- As 'As , si st- s ,.'.- •" ¦ Ant St., s S, , st s-a-t-s I I,,, ./.-./ st, ,s.,. ¦ .¦t/t.s-, ' . //. AAs,,A. ,' -Tii.A.y ,,s,z/ sA/ss I .s A,... XSt/i.ii, ,lss . ... ,i... sA Si , i Ii t t ll itsi Sts. ./ /s /Tzit , ,i,,/iA,,,, j./././i..., /is AA Li- ,,-ssss, s/AAJs X/Az^sA A f Az./' i./i,. t-i Sj,. .',,..( I, ¦,,/.¦ i A, As i ly CS fs-s/.Ars^ss ix A yA/..y,A^,y XVsst.A/,-.! XiA.-cssi / XAs Xi,, A/A. .AA, As C ./i.it ., , isAs, .-,.. A,,. -A Aa sA'^^cAsy ,-/ /A/,,' s,,,/t,'i si.X in s i, s,, As, sl. ,¦/ AA s At t s '^<7 As^A&y (¦ ' / ¦osnat s / A.r,> Az. .;,¦ , A, t//, .ty ,, i, .s /,./,.,. 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As s ss Y> .-AAtAz./ z-ti A>,/ti',i.AiL XAJ.- AAsiAi/Jtyf' ft' Xav zrf zAAzti, s,, AAls Us it s ,./ 's si i As is/ ZSLS A/til..',. ,.,-/- ,/"A AAi- Ss,-.-.-,Asy:si,/tAsJ ,Jjl AAJ ,/J,/y„ / sW. f. -fcc-T. r. '7 / 1 ¦¦/,„.. .A.-f(t^. LAST PAGE OF PROCLAMATION AGAINST FILIBUSTERING BY PRESIDENT PIERCE. Franklin Pierce. 367 were most consonant with the principle of popular sovereignty which underlies our Government. It could not have legislated otherwise without doing violence to another great principle of our institutions — the imprescriptible right of equality of the several States. We perceive also that sectional interests and party passions have been the great impediment to the salutary operation of the organic principles adopted and the chief cause of the successive disturbances in Kansas. The assumption that because in the organization of the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas Congress abstained from impos ing restraints upon them to which certain other Territories had been subject, therefore disorders occurred in the latter Territory, is em phatically contradicted by the fact that none have occurred in the former. Those disorders were not in consequence, in Kansas, of the freedom of self-government conceded to that Territory by Congress, but of unjust interference on the part of persons not inhabitants of the Territory. Such interference, wherever it has exhibited itself by acts of insurrectionary character or of obstruction to process of law, has been repelled or suppressed by all the means which the Constitu tion and the laws place in the hands of the Executive. LIFE OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. FRANKLIN PIERCE was born November 23, 1804, in. Hills boro, N. H. He was the son of Benjamin Pierce, a major in the Revolutionary War, and twice governor of New Hampshire. His mother was Anna Kendrick. Franklin Pierce had a careful early training and excellent educational advantages. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1824. Among his college friends were Longfel low and Hawthorne. He became a lawyer in 1827 and began to prac tice in Hillsboro. He was a warm supporter of the Jackson Adminis tration. He represented his district in Congress four years, beginning in 1833. He was married in 1834 to Jane Means Appleton, daughter of the president of Bowdoin College. He was sent to the United States Senate in 1837, but resigned in 1842. A year later he moved from Hillsboro to Concord. In 1845 he declined the appointment of At torney-General of the United States tendered by President Polk. He served through the Mexican War, enlisting as a private in a volunteer company formed at Concord, but was soon after made colonel of the 368 History of the United Sta'tes. Ninth Regiment of Infantry, and was commissioned March 3, 1847, brigadier-general in the volunteer army, and soon set out for the scene of activity. Before the battle of Molino del Rey, he was appointed one of the commissioners to effect peace, a truce having been declared for that purpose. This failed, and the fighting went on. He took part in the battle and remained on duty until peace was declared, when he resigned his commission and returned home. For his gallantry in this war the State of New Hampshire presented him with a sword. He was the Democratic candidate for President in 1852, was elected in November, and inaugurated March 4, 1853. On his retirement from the White House he returned to his home at Concord, where he died October 8, 1869, and was buried there. James Buchanan. 369 y -. - .¦-.:¦ 1 ¦ - -,/yJA 'X:,:. XiAihjAA1'- ss,y:\\ y ¦S :fSl"^S^As-, HOME OF JAMES BUCHANAN AT WHEATLAND, PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER XV, JAMES BUCHANAN'S WISDOM AND PATRIOTISM. By General Horatio C. King, LL. D. T N 1858, when I received my diploma from Dickinson College, two grad- uates of that venerable and honored seat of learning held the highest official positions in the United States, that of President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. James Buchanan was in the White House and Roger B. Taney was in tbe Capitol. No high officials in this country were ever more bitterly assailed by partisan rancor or more unjustly maligned. Both had an almost idolatrous reverence for the Constitution. Taney, who ranks next 370 History of the United States. to Chief Justice Marshall in legal acumen, interpreted, in the Dred Scott decision, the Constitution as he found it and in the light of the precedents of Marshall. For this he incurred unmerited odium. The Constitution, which recognized slaves as chattels, was alone responsible. Buchanan in like manner held that while he could find in the Constitution no authority to coerce the States as States, he did assert and execute as far as was in his power the authority of the President to enforce the Federal laws against those in revolt. My home was in Washington and I returned from college to become a student at law in the office of Edwin M. Stanton, the Assistant Attorney-General and afterward the great War Secretary in President Lincoln's Cabinet. I had frequent opportunity to see President Buchanan, and also to imbibe from others very near to him, my impressions of him. My father was acting and postmaster-general during the closing months of Mr. Buchanan's Administra tion and from him, as well as from Mr. Stanton, I learned much of the motives which controlled the course of the President in the most trying period in the history of the Republic since the days of the Revolution. Mr. Buchanan came to the Presidency through gradual promotion; first the Pennsylvania legislature, then Congress, next minister to Russia, then the United States Senate for three terms, next Secretary of State, then minister to England from which he returned to assume the reins of government. It was at his inauguration that I first saw him. His personal appearance was striking. He was a little over six feet in height, broad shouldered and admirably proportioned; dignified without austerity, gracious to all and especially courteous to women. His complexion was fair, his forehead massive; he wore no beard, while his abundant silky white hair, scrupulous neatness in dress, with the old-fashioned standing collar and large white cravat stamped him as a gentleman of the old school. His eyes were blue, one near and one far-sighted, because of which defect he habitually inclined his head to one side to favor the better eye. He was essentially a courtly and handsome man, and reached more nearly my ideal of how a President should look than any President I have seen. His moral character and personal virtue were above • reproach and, so far as I know, were never assailed. He was of an eminently religious turn and was always a regular attendant at the Presbyterian church in Washington, although it was not until late in life that he formally connected himself with any church. It is related by Reverend William M. Paxton, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in New York city how this came about. While both were at Bedford Springs, Pa., in i860, Mr. Buchanan sent for Dr. Paxton and conversed with him freely on the subject of religion, and then and there declared his intention to make a public profession upon his retirement from the presidential chair. When urged to take the step at once, James Buchanan. 371 his reply was, with deep feeling: " I must delay for the honor of religion. If I were to join the church now, they would say hypocrite from Maine to Georgia." He carried out his purpose immediately upon his retirement and return to his home in Lancaster, Pa. Of his scrupulous integrity and exactness in public affairs, I recall this incident. During his Administration, the revenue cutter " Harriet Lane," named in honor of his niece, an uncrowned queen, was sent to Washington. Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, seized the opportunity to invite all the public officials and many prominent citizens in Washington to an excursion on this recent and handsomest addition to the revenue marine. The trip down the Potomac proved a brilliant success. After it was over, Mr. Buchanan, who did not go, desired to know who was to foot the bill. The Secretary was somewhat embarrassed when informed that it must not be paid from the Treas ury, but that he, the President, would, if necessary, draw his own check for the amount. Mr. Cobb managed the matter without taking it from the public funds. It would be interesting if Congress would now institute an inquiry how frequently this precedent has since been ignored, and how many millions have been squandered in official junketing. Space is not given me to speak of Mr. Buchanan's attitude after the acts of secession were committed. It is necessary only to say that a purer or more loyal patriot did not exist, but he had an antagonistic and partly disloyal Congress which absolutely refused to heed his messages of December, i860, and January, 1861, and provide him the men and means to stamp out the rising and most formidable insurrection. It alone had the constitutional right to do so. The President was at all times ready to execute the laws, but Congress neglected to exercise its constitutional prerogative. The little regular army was scattered along our exposed frontier. It was with much difficulty that the President could get a regular battery to Washington in time for the inaugura tion. The Capitol was filled with secessionists, organized and ready to over throw the Government. The district militia hastily formed was a mob. The North was greatly divided and New York city peculiarly so, with scarcely a prominent newspaper that was not opposed to a civil conflict. Mr. Buchanan, therefore, as did Mr. Lincoln for six weeks after his inauguration, bent all his energies to a peaceful solution of the difficulties. He, as very few did, appre ciated the extent and horror of an internecine struggle, and the last words he said to my father as he bade him farewell at the depot, was the expression of his great relief that his Administration has closed without bloodshed. The gun at Sumter which consolidated the North and West made it easy for Mr. Lincoln to meet force with force. Says James Buchanan Henry, his faithful ward and private secretary: "Mr. Buchanan, to the day of his death, ex- 372 History of the United States. pressed to me his abiding conviction that the American people would, in due time, come to regard his course as the only one which at that time promised any hope of saving the Nation from a bloody and devastating war, and would recognize the integrity and wisdom of his course in administering the Govern ment for the good of the whole people, whether North or South. His con viction on this point was so genuine that he looked forward serenely to the future, and never seemed to entertain a misgiving or a doubt." And they will. As to his constancy there can be no question. In looking over the minutes of the Union Philosophical Society at Dickinson, I found these entries: " Constitution signed by James Buchanan, March 29, 1801." " March 25, 1803, Mr. Buchanan read an essay on ' The dangers of the fair sex.' " " November 24, 1803. On application of James Buchanan, he was honorably dismissed and a diploma granted him." " November 24, 1803, Mr. Buchanan read an essay on ' The influence of the fair sex.' " His partiality for the society of refined ladies continued throughout his life, the trend of which was wholly changed by a sad event. About 1816, after a very successful advancement in the law, he returned from the legislature with the determination to thereafter devote himself exclusively to his profession and eschew politics altogether. He then became engaged to a beautiful younJJ girl, who is described as of singularly attractive and gentle disposition bu; retiring and sensitive. This relation continued for some time, with the ap proval of her parents, when she suddenly broke off the engagement. This was in the latter part of the summer of 1819. In December the young lady died suddenly while on a visit to Philadelphia. I: is now known that the separation was due to a misundersianding on the part of the lady, a lover's quarrel which would have ended in reconciliation had she lived. The occurrence made a deep and lasting wound. Mr. Buchanan remained forever true to his first and only love, plunging again into politics to seek relief from his great sorrow. \ James Buchanan. 373 ADMINISTRATION OF 1857-1861. By James Buchanan. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1857. THE whole Territorial question being settled upon the principle of popular sovereignty — -a principle as ancient as free gov ernment itself — everything cf a practical nature has been dscided. No other ques lion remains for adjustment, because all agree that under the Constitution slavery in the States is beyond the reach of any human power except that of the respective States themselves wherein it exists. May we not, then, hope that the long agitation on this sub ject is approaching its end, and that the geographical parties to which it has given birth, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country, will rpeedily become extinct? Most happy will it be for the country whe.i the public mind shall be diverted from this question to others of more pressing and practical importance. Throughout the whole progress of this agitation, which has scarcely known any intermission for more than twenty years, whilst it has bsen producti/e of no positive good to any human being it Las been the prolific source of great evils to the master, to the slave, and to the whole country. It has alienated and estranged the people of the sister States i:>m each other, and has even seriously endangered the very existence of the Union. Nor has the danger yet entirely ceased. Under our system there is a remedy for all mere political evils in the sound sense and sober judgment of the people. Time is a great corrective. Political subjects which but a few years ago excited and exasperated the public mind have passed away and are now nearly forgotten. But this question of domestic slavery is of far graver importance than any mere political question, because should the agitation continue it may eventually endanger the personal safety of a large portion of our countrymen where the insti tution exists. In that event no form of government, however admir able in itself and however productive of material benefits, can compen sate for the loss of peace and domestic security around the family altar. Let every Union-loving man, therefore, exert his best influence to suppress this agitation, which since the recent legislation of Congress is without any legitimate object. 374 History of the United States. first annual message, december 8, 1857. Our difficulties with New Granada which a short time since bore so threatening an aspect, are, it is to be hoped, in a fair train of set tlement in a manner just and honorable to both parties. The Isthmus of Central America, including that of Panama, is the great highway between the Atlantic and Pacific over which a large portion of the commerce of the world is destined to pass. The United States are more deeply interested than any other nation in preserving the freedom and security of all the communications across this Isthmus. It is our duty, therefore, to take care that they shall not be interrupted either by invasions from our own country or by wars between the independent States of Central America. Under our treaty with New Granada of the 12th December 1846, we are bound to guarantee the neutrality of the Isthmus of Panama, through which tbr Panama Railroad passes, " as well as the rights of sovereignty and property which New Granada has and possesses over the said ter ritory." This obligation is founded upon equivalents granted by the treaty to the" Government and people of the United States. Under these circumstances I recommend to Congress the passage of an act authorizing the President, in. case of necessity, to employ the land and naval forces of the United States to carry into effect this guaranty of neutrality and protection. I also recommend similar leg islation for the security of any other route across the Isthmus in which we may acquire an interest by treaty. A Territorial government was established for Utah by act of Con gress approved the 9th September, 1850, and the Constitution and laws of the United States were thereby extended over it " so far as the same or any provisions thereof may be applicable." This act pro vided for the appointment by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, of a governor, who was to be ex officio superin tendent of Indian affairs, a secretary, three judges of the supreme court, a marshal, and a district attorney. Subsequent acts provided for the appointment of the officers necessary to extend our land and our Indian system over the Territory. Brigham Young was ap pointed the first governor on the 20th September, 1850, and has held the office ever since. Whilst Governor Young has been both gov ernor and superintendent of Indian affairs throughout this period, he has been at the same time the head of the church called the Latter- day Saints, and professes to govern its members and dispose of their FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. CONFEDERATE MONUMENT AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. James Buchanan. 377 property by direct inspiration and authority from the Almighty. His power has been, therefore, absolute over both church and state. The people of Utah almost exclusively belong to this church, and believing with a fanatical spirit that he is governor of the Territory by divine appointment, they obey his commands as if these were direct revelations from Heaven. If, therefore, he chooses that his govern ment shall come into collision with the Government of the United States, the members of the Mormon Church will yield implicit obe dience to his will. Unfortunately, existing facts leave but little doubt that such is his determination. Without entering upon a minute his tory of occurrences, it is sufficient to say that all the officers of the United States, judicial and executive, with the single exception of two Indian agents, have found it necessary for their own personal safety to withdraw from the Territory, and there no longer remains any Government in Utah but the despotism of Brigham Young. This being the condition of affairs in the Territory, I could not mistake the path of duty. As Chief Executive Magistrate I was bound to restore the supremacy of the Constitution and laws within its limits. In order to effect this purpose, I appointed a new governor and other Federal officers for Utah and sent with them a military force for their protection and to aid as a posse comitatus in case of need in the execu tion of the laws. With the religious opinions of the Mormons, as long as they re mained mere opinions, however deplorable in themselves and revolting to the moral and religious sentiments of all Christendom, I had no right to interfere. Actions alone, when in violation of the Consti tution and laws of the United States, become the legitimate subjects for the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate. My instructions to Gov ernor Cumming have therefore been framed in strict accordance with these principles. At their date a hope was indulged that no necessity might exist for employing the military in restoring and maintaining the authority of the law, but this hope has now vanished. Governor Young has by proclamation declared his determination to maintain his power by force, and has already committed acts of hostility against the United States. Unless he should retrace his steps the Territory of Utah will be in a state of open rebellion. He has committed these acts of hostility notwithstanding Major Van Vliet, an officer of the Army, sent to Utah by the Commanding General to purchase provisions for the troops, had given him the strongest assurances of the peaceful in tentions of the Government, and that the troops would only be em- 378 History of the United States. ployed as a posse comitatus when called on by the civil authority to aid in the execution of the laws. No wise government will lightly estimate the efforts which may be inspired by such frenzied fanaticism as exists among the Mormons in Utah. This is the first rebellion which has existed in our Terri tories, and humanity itself requires that we should put it down in such a manner that it shall be the last. To trifle with it would be to en courage it and to render it formidable. We ought to go there with such an imposing force as to convince these deluded people that resistance would be vain, and thus spare the effusion of blood. In order to accomplish this object it will be neces sary, according to the estimate of the War Department, to raise four additional regiments; and this I earnestly recommend to Congress. I recommend to Congress the establishment of a Territorial gov ernment over Arizona, incorporating with it such portions of New Mexico as they may deem expedient. I need scarcely adduce ar guments in support of this recommendation. We are bound to pro tect the lives and the property of our citizens inhabiting Arizona, and these are now without any efficient protection. Their present number is already considerable, and is rapidly increasing, notwithstanding the disadvantages under which they labor. Besides, the proposed Ter ritory is believed to be rich in mineral and agricultural resources, es pecially in silver and copper. The mails of the United States to Cal ifornia are now carried over it throughout its whole extent, and this route is known to be the nearest and believed to be the best to the Pacific. I have received (January II, 1858), from Samuel Medary, governor of the Territory of Minnesota, a copy of the Constitution of Minnesota, " together with an abstract of the votes polled for and against said Constitution " at the election held in that Territory on the second Tues day of October last, certified by the governor in due form, which I now lay before Congress in the manner prescribed by that instrument. Having received but a single copy of the Constitution, I transmit this to the Senate. The Territory of Utah was settled by certain emigrants from the States and from foreign countries who have for several years past manifested a spirit of insubordination to the Constitution and laws of the United States. The great mass of those settlers, acting under James Buchanan. 379 the influence of leaders to whom they seem to have surrendered their judgment, refuse to be controlled by any other authority. They have been often advised to obedience, and these friendly counsels have been answered with defiance. The officers of the Federal Government have been driven from the Territory for no offense but an effort to do their sworn duty; others have been prevented from going there by threats of assassination; judges have been violently interrupted in the per formance of their functions, and the records of the courts have been seized and destroyed or concealed. Many other acts of unlawful violence have been perpetrated, and the right to repeat them has been openly claimed by the leading inhabitants, with at least the silent ac quiescence of nearly all the others. Their hostility to the lawful gov ernment of the country has at length become so violent that no officer bearing a commission from the Chief Magistrate of the Union can enter the Territory or remain there with safety, and all those officers recently appointed have been unable to go to Salt Lake or anywhere else in Utah beyond the immediate power of the Army. Indeed, such is believed to be the condition to which a strange system of terror ism has brought the inhabitants of that region that no one among them could express an opinion favorable to this Government, or even propose to obey its laws, without exposing his life and property to peril. After carefully considering this state of affairs and maturely weigh ing the obligation I was under to see the laws faithfully executed, it seemed to me right and proper that I should make such use of the military force at my disposal as might be necessary to protect the Federal officers in going into the Territory of Utah and in perform ing their duties after arriving there. I accordingly ordered a detach ment of the Army to march for the city of Salt Lake, or within reach of that place, and to act in case of need as a posse for the enforcement of the laws. But in the meantime the hatred of that misguided people for the just and legal authority of the Government had become so in tense that they resolved to measure their military strength with that of the Union. They have organized an armed force far from contemp tible in point of numbers and trained it, if not with skill, at least with great assiduity and perseverance. While the troops of the United States were on their march a train of baggage wagons, which hap pened to be unprotected, was attacked and destroyed by a portion of the Mormon forces and the provisions and stores with which the train was laden were wantonly burnt. In short, their present attitude is 380 History of the United States. one of decided and unreserved enmity to thr United States and to all their loyal citizens. Their determination to oppose the authority of the Government by military force has not only been expressed in words, but manifested in overt acts of the most unequivocal character. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1858. It has been made known to the world by my predecessors that the United States have on several occasions endeavored to acquire Cuba from Spain by honorable negotiation. If this were accomplished, the last relic of the African slave trade would instantly disappear. We would not, if we could, acquire Cuba in any other manner. This is due to our national character. All the territory which we have ac quired since the origin of the Government has been by fair purchase from France, Spain, and Mexico or by the free and voluntary act of the independent State of Texas in blending her destinies with our own. This course we shall ever pursue, unless circumstances should occur which we do not now anticipate, rendering a departure from it clearly justifiable under the imperative and overruling law of self-preserva tion. The island of Cuba, from its geographical position, commands the mouth of the Mississippi and the immense and annually increasing trade, foreign and coastwise, from the valley of that noble river, now embracing half the sovereign States of the Union. With that island under the dominion of a distant foreign power this trade, of vital im portance to these States, is exposed to the danger of being destroyed in time of war, and it has hitherto been subjected to perpetual injury and annoyance in time of peace. Our relations with Spain, which ought to be of the most friendly character, must always be placed in jeopardy whilst the existing colonial government over the island shall remain in its present condition. Whilst the possession of the island would be of vast importance to the United States, its value to Spain is comparatively unimportant. Such was the relative situation of the parties when the great Napoleon transferred Louisiana to the United States. Jealous as he ever was of the national honor and interests of France, no person throughout the world has imputed blame to him for accepting a pecuniary equiva lent for this cession. The publicity which has been given to our former negotiations upon this subject and the large appropriation which may be required to effect the purpose render it expedient before making another attempt James Buchanan. 381 to renew the negotiation that I should lay the whole subject before Congress. This is especially necessary, as it may become indispensa ble to success that I should be intrusted with the means of making an advance to the Spanish Government immediately after the signing of the treaty, without awaiting the ratification of it by the Senate. I am encouraged to make this suggestion by the example of Mr. Jefferson previous to the purchase of Louisiana from France and by that of Mr. Polk in view of the acquisition of territory from Mexico. I refer the whole subject to Congress and commend it to their careful consid eration. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, i860. The long-continued and intemperate interference of the Northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States has at length produced its natural effects. The different sections of the Union are now arrayed against each other, and the time has arrived, so much dreaded by the Father of his Country, when hostile geographical parties have been formed. But let us take warning in time and remove the cause of danger. It can not be denied that for five and twenty years the agitation at the North against slavery has been incessant. In 1835 pictorial handbills and inflammatory appeals were circulated extensively throughout the South of a character to excite the passions of the slaves, and, in the language of General Jackson, " to stimulate them to insurrection and produce all the horrors of a servile war." This agitation has ever since been continued by the public press, by the proceedings of State and county conventions and by abolition sermons and lectures. The time of Congress has been occupied in violent speeches on this never- ending subject, and appeals, in pamphlet and other forms, indorsed by distinguished names, have been sent forth from this central point and spread broadcast over the Union. How easy would it be for the American people to settle the slavery question forever and to restore peace and harmony to this distracted country! They, and they alone, can do it. All that is necessary to accomplish the object, and all for which the slave States have ever con tended, is to be let alone and permitted to manage their domestic insti tutions in their own way. As sovereign States, they and they alone, are responsible before God and the world for the slavery existing among them. For this the people of the North are not more re sponsible and have no more right to interfere than with similar institu tions in Russia or in Brazil. 382 History of the United States. Upon their good sense and patriotic forbearance I confess I still greatly rely. Without their aid it is beyond the power of any Presi dent, no matter what may be his own political proclivities, to restore peace and harmony among the States. Wisely limited and restrained as is his power under our Constitution and laws, he alone can accom plish but little for good or for evil on such a momentous question At the period of my inauguration I was confronted in Kansas by a revolutionary government existing under what is called the " Topeka constitution." Its avowed object was to subdue the Territorial gov ernment by force and to inaugurate what was called the " Topeka gov ernment " in its stead To accomplish this object an extensive mili tary organization was formed, and its command intrusted to the most violent revolutionary leaders. Under these circumstances it became my imperative duty to exert the whole constitutional power of the Executive to prevent the flames of civil war from again raging in Kan- * sas, which in the excited state of the public mind, both North and South, might have extended into the neighboring States. The hostile parties in Kansas had been inflamed against each other by emissaries both from the North and the South to a degree of malignity without parallel in our history. To prevent actual collision and to assist the civil magistrates in enforcing the laws, a strong detachment of the Army was stationed in the Territory, ready to aid the marshal and his deputies when lawfully called upon as a posse comitatus in the execution of civil and criminal process. Still, the troubles in Kan sas could not have been permanently settled without an election by the people. The ballot-box is the surest arbiter of disputes among freemen. Under this conviction every proper effort was employed to induce the hostile parties to vote at the election of delegates to frame a State constitution, and afterward at the election to decide whether Kansas should be a slave or free State. The insurgent party refused to vote as either, lest this might be considered a recognition on their part of the Territorial government established by Congress. A better spirit, however, seemed soon after to prevail, and the two parties met face to face at the third election, held on the first Monday of January, 1858, for members of the legisla ture and State officers under the Lecompton constitution. The result was the triumph of the anti-slavery party at the polls. This decision of the ballot-box proved clearly that this party were in the majority, and removed the danger of civil war. From that time we have heard James Buchanan. 383 little or nothing of the Topeka government, and all serious danger of revolutionary troubles in Kansas was then at an end. The Lecompton constitution, which had been thus recognized at this State election by the votes of both political parties in Kansas, was transmitted to me with the request that I should present it to Con gress. This I could not have refused to do without violating my clearest and strongest convictions of duty. The constitution and all the proceedings which preceded and followed its formation were fair and regular on their face. I then believed, and experience has proved, that the interests of the people of Kansas would have been best con sulted by its admission as a State into the Union, especially as the majority within a brief period could have amended the constitution according to their will and pleasure. If fraud existed in all or any of these proceedings, it was not for the President but for Congress to investigate and determine the question of fraud and what ought to be its consequences. If at the first two elections the majority refused to vote, it can not be pretended that this refusal to exercise the elective franchise could invalidate an election fairly held under lawful authority, even if they had not subsequently voted at the third election. It is true that the whole constitution had not been submitted to the people, as I always desired; but the precedents are numerous of the admission of States into the Union without such submission. It would not comport with my present purpose to review the proceedings of Congress upon the Lecompton constitution. It is sufficient to observe that their final action has removed the last vestige of serious revolutionary troubles. The desperate band recently assembled under a notorious outlaw in the southern portion of the Territory to resist the execution of the laws and to plunder peaceful citizens will, I doubt not, be speedily sub dued and brought to justice. Had I treated the Lecompton constitution as a nullity and refused to transmit it to Congress, it is not difficult to imagine, whilst recall ing the position of the country at that moment, what would have been the disastrous consequences, both in and out of the Territory, from such a dereliction of duty on the part of the Executive. Peace has also been restored within the Territory of Utah, which at the commencement of my Administration was in a state of open re bellion. This was the more dangerous, as the people, animated by a fanatical spirit and intrenched within their distant mountain fastnesses, might have made a long and formidable resistance. Cost what it might, it was necessary to bring them into subjection to the Constitu tion and the laws. 384 History of the United States. SPECIAL MESSAGE, JANUARY 8, l86l. At the opening of your present session I called your attention to the dangers which threatened the existence of the Union. I expressed my opinion freely concerning the original causes of those dangers, and recommended such measures as I believed would have the effect of tranquilizing the country and saving it from the peril in which it had been needlessly and most unfortunately involved. Those opin ions and recommendations I do not propose now to repeat. My own convictions upon the whole subject remain unchanged. The fact that a great calamity was impending over the nation was even at that time acknowledged by every intelligent citizen. It had already made itself felt throughout the length and breadth of the land. The necessary consequences of the alarm thus produced were most deplorable. The imports fell off with a rapidity never known be fore, except in time of war, in the history of our foreign commerce; the Treasury was unexpectedly left without the means which it had reasonably counted upon to meet the public engagements; trade was paralyzed; manufactures were stopped; the best public securities sud denly sunk in the market; every species of property depreciated more or less, and thousands of poor men who depended upon their daily labor for their daily bread were turned out of employment. I deeply regret that I am not able to give you any information upon the state of the Union which is more satisfactory than what I was then obliged to communicate. On the contrary, matters are still worse at present than they then were. When Congress met, a strong hope pervaded the whole public mind that some amicable adjustment of the subject would speedily be made by the representatives of the States and of the people which might restore peace between the con flicting sections of the country. That hope has been diminished by every hour of delay, and as the prospect of a bloodless settlement fades away the public distress becomes more and more aggravated. As evidence of this it is only necessary to say that the Treasury notes authorized by the act of 17th of December last were advertised ac cording to the law and that no responsible bidder offered to take any considerable sum at par at a lower rate of interest than 12 per cent. From these facts it appears that in a government organized like ours domestic strife, or even a well-grounded fear of civil hostilities, is more destructive to our public and private interests than the most formid able foreign war. rmi^zsfy-ifzfu./ri XstuAstir Aft,. Ct,„,u,i..„ /, 'A- / 77. si.,, /.Am*,,..-.,, ,u £,,.,„Z.,„. „,t7„* -.;,,. ,tt ,7.y 1/ .',-.... I.ytf I„, ,/„. iy s sS7i,s i/.^.syi/^,y,i .,..-. st, „ s„.„- ..,,.,. „/.. s,.,„„„.~rtsa 7,.,,.,,1/7,,,,/y ti.X .../..,;. " i "- --X-- yy ,/-'- -'¦--- 77*. W '3f£r*1A& ... ,//,„ Jt;,. gys.),/.,,..'...-., p-*-t„„ ..„.,...„., t. H.,,y,i.,.L -.,/. 7JH/...IS \.s I7,u t*. "• ¦iimrAfitiXfrt 77,: ft;,,,, ¦ A**- tLJ!.« i//,.i.u,„i\ i„.,s A,,., /?,„„*S ¦ :,.., ,,lj. ,ll7i„..,y/.,t,/7l^., ,/tt, ...„.,T-y7.% fj/S/ 9 /?/.iri-z«,-.- sk .,- &.Jrl~-.. I,- ysu.*7s.,tr U^kJA. :. .f3..y.,-:-7 ft S L.^S£t9i. | e/./Sii.tii I -'i's:'., A f &/„ 7:.s \, jja.-sy. Zj> amx- J . S&*#7%. %AA^Xys>iy*,.,rfr/iA*£ Jft./s-fyl fs- AT .? /<¦¦¦ ..i.-^d.l,....,,. ¦sJ y ,¦/¦-¦' ~ VXAX r> l,„S.Sri.S3n V/f^, sz.*s y,.~. 11, SIL- 'SS,. A//7(s„., f&k /j rA-4*+> A~ - /^-syjL/y. Me-.jr-c . Ata->~*te ' 'AZ> o / -ty_ /y,^.^ .v '¦$ iAA* At/SL^X, . :.« >;.. ,y yy%~s&„ . ,% X rt~ x.~~~-y&.^*,yf\ J Ji/,sy/,*/^.n^. "& . , zs-~ ..z.*.rS..~ i*y~- Mi A.* iZy/zZz/Tty, ttl.t.si,. *7 6*rf* -A- ^fW, m-ii 5 T '" v'"' -ru M, ¦¦¦¦« fl SOUTH CAROLINA'S ORDINANCE TO SECEDE FROM THE UJNION, DECEMBER 20. i860, DURING BUCHANAN'S AD MINISTRATION. 'lis \ s /, 71.A1: i/t tltl'flil's/IK ,r,A ffi.- tsy/fti -¦fit a Ai' *fii,itf.' , t.tfft/.f.. Jfsttlt Vf f, /< i>c, f,,i/j'l7l /,/' fl' 7'z S l'S> ftr/iti , It ' f 'A 'Ut I In I' ' I' I '(ft e. if ./t t, J" tt r A (ru A si/ in, A 'I fn > ?7/7tjJ'ii'i'J M f/'/ Ifl? Ilfl't fly 'I, iff 7,111 /,, fl , ,, I . ftf lim 17,71, f sf/A ¦*&>,/,. ,„¦ r/ A, . it.Acus/ Ai,A-t,7„r iti--- x/y,sf( I (ff/Ll. f/i "'f//JI/l///'"" ssy ..^-,yJ^y/Ss^ yJifis~s/ysfS/s?s{y' O 'r,,-i, Ai t -¦¦ ff« xXt-A., * PRESIDENT BUCHANAN'S NOTE TO SENATE RELATING TO UTAH MASSACRES James Buchanan. 387 In my annual message I expressed the conviction, which I have long deliberately held, and which recent reflection has only tended to deepen and confirm, that no State has a right by its own act to secede from the Union or throw off its Federal obligations at pleasure. I also declared my opinion to be that even if that right existed and should be exercised by any State of the Confederacy the executive de partment of this Government had no authority under the Constitu tion to recognize its validity by acknowledging. the independence of such State. This left me no alternative, as the chief executive officer under the Constitution of the United States, but to collect the public revenues and to protect the public property so far as this might be practicable under existing laws. This is still my purpose. My province is to execute and not to make the laws. It belongs to Con gress exclusively to repeal, to modify, or to enlarge their provisions to meet exigencies as they may occur. I possess no dispensing power. I certainly had no right to make aggressive war upon any State, and I am perfectly satisfied that the Constitution has wisely withheld that power even from Congress. But the right and the duty to use military force defensively against those who resist the Federal officers in the execution of their legal functions and against those who assail the property of the Federal Government is clear and undeniable. But the dangerous and hostile attitude of the States toward each other has already far transcended and cast in the shade the ordinary executive duties already provided for by law, and has assumed such vast alarming proportions as to place the subject entirely above and beyond Executive control. The fact can not be disguised that we are in the midst of a great revolution. In all its various bearings, therefore, I commend the question to Congress as the only human tribunal under Providence possessing the power to meet the existing emergency. To them exclusively belongs the power to declare war or to authorize the employment of military force in all cases contem plated by the Constitution, and they alone possess the power to re move grievances which might lead to war and to secure peace and union to this distracted country. On them, and on them alone, rests the responsibility. Even now the danger is upon us. In several of the States which have not yet seceded the forts, arsenals, and magazines of the United States have been seized. This is by far the most serious step which has been taken since the commencement of the troubles. This public property has long been left without garrisons and troops for its pro- 388 History of the United States. tection, because no person doubted its security under the flag of the country in any State of the Union. Besides, our small Army has scarcely been sufficient to guard our remote frontiers against Indian incursions. The seizure of this property, from all appearances, has been purely aggressive, and not in resistance to any attempt to coerce a State or States to remain in the Union. At the beginning of these unhappy troubles I determined that no act of mine should increase the excitement in either section of the country. If the political conflict were to end in a civil war, it was my determined purpose not to commence it nor even to furnish an excuse for it by any act of this Government. My opinion remains unchanged that justice as well as sound policy requires us still to seek a peaceful solution of the questions at issue between the North and the South. It is said that serious apprehensions are to some extent entertained (in which I do not share) that the peace of this District may be dis turbed before the 4th of March next. In any event, it will be my duty to preserve it, and this duty shall be performed. In conclusion it may be permitted to me to remark that I have often warned my countrymen of the dangers which now surround us. This may be the last time I shall refer to the subject officially. I feel that my duty has been faithfully, though it may be imperfectly, performed, and, whatever the result may be, I shall carry to my grave the con sciousness that I at least meant well for my country. In answer to their resolution of the nth instant (March I, 1861), "that the President of the United States furnish to the Flouse, if not incompatible with the public service, the reasons that have in duced him to assemble so large a number of troops in this city, and why they are kept here; and whether he has any information of a conspiracy upon the part of any portion of the citizens of this country to seize upon the capital and prevent the inauguration of the President elect," the President submits that the number of troops assembled in this city is not large, as the resolution presupposes, its total amount being 653 men exclusive of the marines, who are, of course, at thenavy- yard as their appropriate station. These troops were ordered here to act as a posse comitatus, in strict subordination to the civil authority, for the purpose of preserving peace and order in the city of Wash- James Buchanan. 389 ington should this be necessary before or at the period of the inaugu ration of the President elect. Since the date of the resolution Hon. Mr. Howard, from the select committee, has made a report to the House on this subject. It was thoroughly investigated by the committee, and although they have expressed the opinion that the evidence before them does not prove the existence of a secret organization here or elsewhere hostile to the Government that has for its object, upon its own responsibility, an attack upon the capital or any of the public property here, or an inter ruption of any of the functions of the Government, yet the House laid upon the table by a very large majority a resolution expressing the opinion " that the regular troops now in this city ought to be forth with removed therefrom." This of itself was a sufficient reason for not withdrawing the troops. But what was the duty of the President at the time the troops were ordered to this city? Ought he to have waited before this precaution ary measure was adopted until he could obtain proof that a secret organization existed to seize the capital? In the language of the select committee, this was " in a time of high excitement consequent upon revolutionary events transpiring all around us, the very air filled with rumors and individuals indulging in the most extravagant ex pressions of fear and threats." Under these and other circumstances, which I need not detail, but which appear in the testimony before the select committee, I was convinced that I ought to act. The safety of the immense amount of public property in this city and that of the archives of the Government, in which all the States, and especially the new States in which the public lands are situated, have a deep interest; the peace and order of the city itself and the security of the inauguration of the President-elect, were objects of such vast import ance to the whole country that I could not hesitate to adopt pre cautionary defensive measures. At the present moment, when all is quiet, it is difficult to realize the state of alarm which prevailed when the troops were first ordered to this city. This almost instantly subsided after the arrival of the first company, and a feeling of com parative peace and security has since existed both in Washington and throughout the country. Had I refused to adopt this precautionary measure, and evil consequences, which many good men at the time apprehended, had followed, I should never have forgiven myself. 390 History of the United States. LIFE OF JAMES BUCHANAN. JAMES BUCHANAN was born at Cove Gap, Penn., April 23, 1791. His father, James Buchanan, was Scotch-Irish and emi grated to this country in 1783. His mother was Elizabeth Speer. He graduated from Dickinson College, Penn., in 1809, and three years later began to practice law in Lancaster. His first political affiliation was with the Federalists, who sent him to Congress De cember, 1821. He remained in the House ten years. In 1829 he became chairman of the Judiciary committee of the House. In March, 1 83 1, he was sent by President Jackson on a special mission to Russia. He returned in 1833, and was the following year elected to the United States Senate, and re-elected in 1837. He declined the ap pointment of Attorney-General, which President Van Buren tendered him. He was again sent to the Senate in 1843, and was made Sec retary of State under the Polk Administration in 1845. He was ap pointed minister to England, by President Pierce, April, 1853, but was, by his own request, recalled in 1855. He was the Democratic nominee for President in 1856, and elected on November 4th of that year. He was inaugurated March 4, 1857. He declined a renomina tion in i86o,_and retired to his home at Wheatland, Penn., where he died June 1, 1868, and was buried there. ' Abraham Lincoln 39i HOME OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. CHAPTER XVI. ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S GREATNESS. By Colonel A. K. McClure, Editor of " The Philadelphia Times. ' I " ESTED by the standard of many other great men, Lincoln was not great, but tested by the only true standard of his own achievements, he may justly appear in history as one of the greatest American statesmen. Indeed, in some most essential attributes of greatness I doubt whether any of our public men ever equalled him. If there are yet any intelligent Americans who believe that Lincoln was an innocent, rural, unsophisticated character, it is time that they should be un- 392 History of the United States. deceived. I venture the assertion, without fear of successful contradiction, that Abraham Lincoln was the most sagacious of all the public men of his day in either political party. He was, therefore, the master-politician of his time. He was not a politician as the term is now commonly applied and understood; he knew nothing about the countless methods which are employed in the details of political effort; but no man knew better, indeed, I think no man knew so well as he did, how to summon and dispose of political ability to attain great political results; and this work he performed with unfailing wisdom and discretion in every contest for himself and for the country. Lincoln's intellectual organization has been portrayed by many writers, but so widely at variance as to greatly confuse the general reader. Indeed, he was the most difficult of all men to analyze. He did not rise above the average man by escaping a common mingling of greatness and infirmities. I believe he was very well described in a single sentence by Mr. Herndon when he said: " The truth about Mr. Lincoln is, that he read less and thought more than any man in his sphere in America." We have had men who could take a higher intellectual grasp of any abstruse problem of statesmanship, but few have ever equalled, and none excelled, Lincoln in the practical, common- sense, and successful solution of the gravest problems ever presented in American history. He possessed a peculiarly receptive and analytical mind. He sought information from every attainable source. He sought it per sistently, weighed it earnestly, and in the end reached his own conclusions. When he had once reached a conclusion as to a public duty, there was no human power equal to the task of changing his purpose. He was self-reliant to an uncommon degree, and yet as entirely free from arrogance of opinion as any public man I have ever known. Unlike all Presidents who had preceded him, he came into office without a fixed and accepted policy. Civil war plunged the Government into new and most perplexing duties. The people were unschooled to the sad necessities which had to be accepted to save the Republic. Others would have rushed in to offend public sentiment by the violent acceptance of what they knew must be accepted in the end. These men greatly vexed and embarrassed Lincoln in his sincere efforts to advance the people and the Government to the full measure of the sacrifices which were inevitable; but Lincoln waited patiently — waited until in the fullness of time the judgment of the people was ripened for action, and then, and then only, did Lincoln act. Had he done otherwise, he would have involved the country in fearful peril both at home and abroad, and it was his constant study of, and obedience to, the honest judgment of the people of the Nation that saved the Republic and that enshrined him in history as the greatest of modern rulers. Abraham Lincoln. 393 While Lincoln had little appreciation of himself as candidate for President as late as 1859, the dream of reaching the Presidency evidently took possession of him in the early part of i860, and his efforts to advance himself as a candidate were singularly awkward and infelicitous. He had then no ex perience whatever as a leader of leaders, and it was not until he had made several discreditable blunders that he learned how much he must depend upon others if he would make himself President. Some Lincoln enthusiast in Kansas, with much more pretensions than power, wrote him in March, i860, proposing to furnish a Lincoln delegation from that State to the Chicago convention, and suggesting that Lincoln should pay the legitimate expenses of organizing, electing, and taking to the convention the promised Lincoln dele gates. To this Lincoln replied that " in the main, the use of money is wrong, but for certain objects in a political contest the use of some is both right and indispensable." And he added, " If you shall be appointed a delegate to Chicago I will furnish $100 to bear the expenses of the trip." He heard nothing further from the Kansas man until he saw an announcement in the newspapers that Kansas had elected delegates and instructed them for Seward. This was Lincoln's first disappointment in his effort to organize his friends to attain the presidential nomination, but his philosophy was well maintained. Without waiting to hear from his friend who had contracted to bring a Lincoln delega tion from Kansas he wrote him, saying, " I see by the dispatches that since you wrote Kansas has appointed delegates instructed for Seward. Don't stir them up to anger, but come along to the convention, and I will do as I said about expenses." It is not likely that that unfortunate experience cost Lincoln his $100, but it is worthy of note that soon after his inauguration as President he gave the man a Federal office with a comfortable salary. There were no political movements of National importance during Lincoln's Administration in which he did not actively, although often hiddenly, par ticipate. It was Lincoln who finally, after the most convulsive efforts to get Missouri into line with the Administration, effected a reconciliation of dis puting parties which brought Brown and Henderson into the Senate, and it was Lincoln who in 1863 took a leading part in attaining the declination of Curtin as a gubernatorial candidate that year. Abraham Lincoln was not a sentimental Abolitionist. Indeed, he was not a sentimentalist on any subject. He was a man of earnest conviction and of sublime devotion to his faith. In many of his public letters and state papers he was as poetic as he was epigrammatic, and he was singularly felicitous in the pathos that was so often interwoven with his irresistible logic. But he never contemplated the abolition of slavery until the events of the war not only made it clearly possible, but made it an imperious necessity. As the 394 History Of the United States. sworn Executive of the Nation, it was his duty to obey the Constitution in all its provisions, and he accepted that duty without reservation. He knew that slavery was the immediate cause of the political disturbance that culminated in civil war, and I know that he believed from the beginning that if war should be persisted in, it could end only in the severance of the Union or the destruction of slavery. His supreme desire was peace, alike before the war, during the war, and in closing the war. He exhausted every means within his power to teach the Southern people that slavery could not be disturbed by his Administration as long as they themselves obeyed the Constitution and laws which protected slavery, and he never uttered a word or did an act to justify, or even excuse, the South in assuming that he meant to make any warfare upon the institution of slavery beyond protecting the free territories from its desolating tread. It was not until the war had been in progress for nearly two years that Lincoln decided to proclaim the policy of Emancipation, and then he was care ful to assume the power as warranted under the Constitution only by the supreme necessities of war. There was no time from the inauguration of Lincoln until the ist of January, 1863, that the South could not have returned to the Union with slavery intact in every State. His preliminary proclamation, dated September 22, 1.862, gave notice that on the ist of January, 1863, he would by public proclamation, " warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity," declare that " all persons held as slaves within any State, or desig nated part of the State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be thenceforward and forever free." Every insurgent State had thus more than three months' formal notice that the war was not prosecuted for the abolition of slavery, but solely for the restoration of the Union, and that they could, by returning and accepting the authority of the National Government at any time before the ist of January, 1863, preserve slavery indefinitely. SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATEF / fry a > >.jf<-€^. A/?i- cf r / s C%rTr-z^44^<-*v*-^' ifA^-A-€s^y>6f £fa£ &Ce-xz<,^c-6^t^6 6Avts— k-fXA^CC- (s^. /t&^1~4£.+ A£fy?£f> '. *//# <72t-p fSAts-^-f' A/b-titAy- Afs*tj\j£ fs^Jyf, CKs/^yX-J^d-^'-^y^' fr^C/iXf 4-^X<&^Cs fftfC^ifA ' f ' ' C/LbisA- AiK.L, Aiy%scAz--^fl-^ t A.fu- tis^s? tsCmfif ^/iV~~ ¦£/£*. <£ AluHsLi-r^s^iL-- L-rw/t fs-c-Aitm^ l--^x ^^^A-Ci^eXp rf^t*/ C&l£ .¦ . / Hu* s ' "¥¦' -/ At -CA. £ 2 - Ce^iAtiyCA^rfye^A) Ah*T^t-cY. £jLo-£*!y. :¦ i- '' s - ¦ ¦ s- A /. 6*-A(yf &i~ &L4*~c£-A! <-fef> C#~ A^-yx^A!.€.£ ^£~ SJUAy./ t^£yC£fy*J**&JtS,- ^^/t-c. ( At £<£/&??! A ¦y r&iscx A,* fty-tA'ay^ AfjfuL 'iU- -£AXs*1H~€/ £tT€- sftfrJ ftny &&?ijA~-i LINCOLN'S EXHORTATION TO THE PEOPLE OF THE U. S. NOT TO PLUNGE INTO CIVIL WAR. Abraham Lincoln. 397 ADMINISTRATION OF 1861-1865. By Abraham Lincoln. FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, l86l. I DO not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement. Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that — I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them ; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read : Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic in stitutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes. I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is 398 History of the United States. susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in anywise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitu tion and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause — as cheerfully to one section as to another. There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Constitution as any other of its provisions: No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to which such service or labor may be due. It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves ; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution — to this provision as much as to any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause " shall be delivered up " their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath? There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by National or by State authority, but surely that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done. And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on a merely unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept? Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be intro duced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that " the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and im munities of citizens in the several States? " I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical Abraham Lincoln. 399 rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be uncon stitutional. It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitu tional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A dis ruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it — break it, so to speak — but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Con stitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Inde pendence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was " to form a more perfect Union." But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before the Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity. 400 History of the United States. It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out ofthe Union; that resolves and ordinances to that eftect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances. I, therefore, consider that in view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and I shall perform it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national authority. Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to com pose a new union as to produce harmony only and prevent renewed secession? Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible. The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left. My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty. Abraham Lincoln. 401 In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggres sors. You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the Govern ment, while / shall have the most solemn one to " preserve, protect, and defend it." I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. Whereas the laws (April 15, 1861) of the United States have been for some time past and now are opposed and the execution thereof obstructed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings or by the powers vested in the marshals by law: Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union to the aggregate number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations and to cause the laws to be duly executed. The details of this object will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, ancl the existence of our National Union and the perpetuity of popular government and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. I deem it proper to say that the first services assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the objects afore said, to avoid any devastation, any destruction of or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country. 402 History of the United States. And I hereby command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from this date. Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an ex traordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both Houses of Congress. Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their re spective chambers at 12 o'clock noon on Thursday, the 4th day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem to demand. Whereas an insurrection against the Government (April 19, 1861) of the United States has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States for the collection of the revenue can not be effectually executed therein conformably to that provision of the Con stitution which requires duties to be uniform throughout the United States; and, Whereas a combination of persons engaged in such insurrection have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque to authorize the bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, and property of good citizens of the country lawfully engaged in commerce on the high seas and in waters of the United States; and Whereas an Executive proclamation has been already issued requir ing the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of repressing the same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate and determine thereon: Now, therefore, 1, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, with a view to the same purposes before mentioned and to the protection of the public peace and the lives and property of quiet and orderly citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall have assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceed ings or until the same shall have ceased, have further deemed it ad visable to set on foot a blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of the laws of the United States and of the law of nations in such case provided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports Abraham Lincoln. 403 aforesaid. If, therefore, with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach or shall attempt to leave either of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her register the fact and date of such warning, and if the same vessel shall again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port she will be captured and sent to the nearest con venient port for such proceedings against her and her cargo as prize as may be deemed advisable. And I hereby proclaim and declare that if any person, under the pretended authority of the said States or under any other pretense, shall molest a vessel of the United States or the persons or cargo on board of her, such person will be held amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy. On the ist day of November, A. D. 1861, upon his own applica tion to the President of the United States, Brevet Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, is ordered to be placed, and hereby is placed, upon the list of retired officers of the Army of the United States, without reduction in his current pay, subsistence, or allowances. The American people will hear with sadness and deep emotion that General Scott has withdrawn from the active control of the Army, while the President and a unanimous Cabinet express their own and the nation's sympathy in his personal affliction and their profound sense of the important public services rendered by him to his country during his long and brilliant career, among which will ever be grate fully distinguished his faithful devotion to the Constitution, the Union, and the flag when assailed by parricidal rebellion. The President is pleased (November 1, 1861) to direct that Major- General George B. McClellan assume the command of the Army of the United States. The headquarters of the Army will be established in the city of Washington. All communications intended for the Commanding General will hereafter be addressed direct to the Ad jutant-General. The duplicate returns, orders, and other papers heretofore sent to the Assistant Adjutant-General, Headquarters of the Army, will be discontinued. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, l86l. The Territories of Colorado, Dakota, and Nevada, created by the last Congress, have been organized, and civil administration has been in augurated therein under auspices especially gratifying when it is con- 404 History of the United States. sidered that the leaven of treason was found existing in some of these new countries when the Federal officers arrived there. I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of east Tennessee and western North Carolina should be connected with Kentucky and other faithful parts of the Union by railroad. I therefore recommend, as a military measure, that Congress provide for the construction of such road as speedily as possible. Kentucky no doubt will co-operate, and through her legislature make the most judicious selection of a line. The northern terminus must connect with some existing railroad, and whether the route shall be from Lexington or Nicholasville to the Cumberland Gap, or from Lebanon to the Tennessee line, in the direc tion of Knoxville, or on some still different line, can easily be deter mined. Kentucky and the General Government co-operating, the work can be completed in a very short time, and when done it will be not only of vast present usefulness, but also a valuable permanent im provement, worth its cost in all the future. The last ray of hope for preserving the Union peaceably expired at the assault upon Fort Sumter, and a general review of what has occurred since may not be unprofitable. What was painfully uncer tain then is much better defined and more distinct now, and the prog ress of events is plainly in the right direction. The insurgents confidently claimed a strong support from north of Mason and Dixon's line, and the friends of the Union were not free from appre hension on the point. This, however, was soon settled definitely, and on the right side. South of the line noble little Delaware led off right from the first. Maryland was made to seem against the Union. Our soldiers were assaulted, bridges were burned, and railroads torn up within her limits, and we were many days at one time without the ability to bring a single regiment over her soil to the capital. Now her bridges and railroads are repaired and open to the Government; she already gives seven regiments to the cause of the Union, and none to the enemy; and her people, at a regular election, have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a larger aggregate vote than thev ever before gave to any candidate or any question. Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is now decidedly and, I think, unchangeably ranged on the side of the Union. Missouri is comparatively quiet, and, I believe, can not again be overrun by the insurrectionists. These three States of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, neither of which would promise a single soldier at first, have now an aggregate of not less than 40,000 in the field for the Union, while of their citizens 0V ffu i, '. ttA.t'. 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LINCOLN'S SIGNATURE TO EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. Abraham Lincoln. 409 certainly not more than a third of that number, and they of doubtful whereabouts and doubtful existence, are in arms against us. After a somewhat bloody struggle of months, winter closes on the Union people of western Virginia, leaving them masters of their own country. An insurgent force of about 1,500, for months dominating the nar row peninsular region constituting the counties of Accomac and Northampton, and known as Eastern Shore of Virginia, together with some contiguous parts of Maryland, have laid down their arms, and the people there have renewed their allegiance to and accepted the protection of the old flag. This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of the Potomac or east of the Chesapeake. Also we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated points on the southern coast of Hatteras, Port Royal, Tybee Island (near Savan nah), and Ship Island; and we likewise have some general accounts of popular movements in behalf of the Union in North Carolina and Tennessee. These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing steadily and certainly southward. It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not exclu sively, a war upon the first principle of popular government — the rights of the people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most grave and maturely considered public documents, as well as in the general tone of the insurgents. In those documents we find the abridgment of the existing right of suffrage and the denial to the people of all right to participate in the selection of public officers ex cept the legislative boldly advocated, with labored arguments to prove that large control of the people in government is the source of all political evil. Monarchy itself is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people. In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to omit raising a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism. It is not needed nor fitting here that a general argument should be made in favor of popular institutions, but there is one point, with its connections, not so hackneyed as most others, to which I ask a brief attention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in the structure of government. It is assumed that labor is available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless somebody else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor. This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that capital shall hire laborers, and thus induce them 41© History of the United States. to work by their own consent, or buy them and drive them to it with out their consent. Having proceeded so far, it is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired laborers or what we call slaves. And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a hired laborer is fixed in that conditon of life. Now there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed, nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and ali inferences from them are groundless. Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first ex isted. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protec tion as any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between labor and capital producing mutual benefits. The error is in assuming that the whole labor of community exists within that relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid labor themselves, and with their capital hire or buy another few to labor for them. A large majority belong to neither class — neither work for others nor have others working for them. In most of the Southern States a majority of the whole people of all colors are neither slaves nor masters, while in the Northern a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men, with their families — wives, sons, and daugh ters — work for themselves on their farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the whole product to themselves, and asking no favors of capital on the one hand nor of hired laborers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a considerable number of persons mingle their own labor with capital; that is, they labor with their own hands and also buy or hire others to labor for them; but this is only a mixed and not a distinct class. No principle stated is disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. Again, as has already been said, there is not of necessity any such thing as the free hired labor being fixed to that condition for life. Many independent men everywhere in these States a few years back in their lives were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and generous and prosperous system which opens the way to all, gives hope to all, and consequent energy and progress and im- Abraham Lincoln. 411 provement of condition to all. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty; none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them be ware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door of ad vancement against such as they and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty shall be lost. From the first taking of our national census to the last are seventy years, and we find our population at the end of the period eight times as great at it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things which men deem desirable has been even greater. We thus have at one view what the popular principle, applied to Government through the machinery of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time, and also what if firmly maintained it promises for the future. There are already among us those who if the Union be preserved will live to see it contain 250,000,000. The struggle of to-day is not al together for to-day; it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us. I recommend the adoption (March 6, 1862) of a joint resolution by your honorable bodies, which shall be substantially as follows: Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system. If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the ap proval of Congress and the country, there is the end; but if it does command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and people immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a measure, as one of the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the hope that this Govern ment will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the slave States north of 412 History of the United States. such part will then say, " The Union for which we have struggled being already gone, we now choose to go with the Southern section." To deprive them of this hope substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of emancipation completely deprives them of it as to all the States initiating it. The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation; but that while the offer is equally made to all, the more northern shall by such initia tion make it certain to the more southern that in no event will the former ever join the latter in their proposed confederacy. I say " ini tiation " because, in my judgment, gradual and not sudden emancipa tion is better for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view any member of Congress with the census tables and Treasury reports before him can readily see for himself how very soon the current ex penditures of this war would purchase, at fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State. Such a proposition on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a right by Federal authority to inter fere with slavery within State limits, referring, as it does, the absolute control of the subject in each case to the State and its people imme diately interested. It is proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them. In the annual message last December I thought fit to say " the Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed." I said this not hastily, but deliberately. War has been made and continues to be an indispensable means to this end. A practical reacknowledgment of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, and it would at once cease. If, however, resist ance continues, the war must also continue; and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may attend and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable or may obviously promise great efficiency toward ending the struggle must and will come. The proposition now made (though an offer only), I hope it may be esteemed no offense to ask whether the pecuniary consideration ten dered would not be of more value to the States and private persons con cerned than are the institution and property in it in the present aspect of affairs. While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important practi cal results. In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject. Abraham Lincoln. 413 It is recommended (February 19, 1862) to the people of the United States that they assemble in their customary places of meeting for pub lic solemnities on the 22d day of February, 1862, instant and celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the Father of his Country by causing to be read to them his immortal Farewell Address. I, Abraham Lincoln, President (September 22, 1862) of the United States of America and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and each of the States and the people thereof in which States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed. That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tending pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may voluntarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the effort to colonize persons of African descent with their consent upon this continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, will be continued. That on the ist day of January, A. D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evi- 414 History of the United States. dence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States. That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled " An act to make an additional article of war," approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figure following: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the Army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as such: Art. — . All officers or persons in the military or navai service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service. § 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage. Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled "An act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures fol lowing : § 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of the Government of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found on [or] being within any place occupied by rebel forces and afterward occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war and shall be forever free of their servitude and not again held as slaves. § 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Terri tory, or the District of Columbia from any other State shall be delivered up or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty except for crime or some offense against the laws, unless the person claiming said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to v/hom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner and has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, Abraham Lincoln. 415 under any pretense whatever, assume to decide on the validity 0/ the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person or surrender up any such person to the claimant on pain of being dismissed from the service. And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce within their respective spheres of service the act and sections above recited. And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall, upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respective States and people, if that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed, be compensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. The President with deep regret announces (July 25, 1862) to the -people of the United States the decease, at Kinderhook, N. Y., on the 24th instant, of his honored predecessor Martin Van Buren. This event will occasion mourning in the nation for the loss of a citizen and a public servant whose memory will be gratefully cher ished. Although it has occurred at a time when his country is inflicted with division and civil war, the grief of his patriotic friends will measurably be assuaged by the consciousness that while suffering with disease and seeing his end approaching his prayers were for the restoration of the authority of the Government of which he had been the head and for peace and good will among his fellow-citizens. By direction (November 5, 1862) of the President, it is ordered that Major-General McClellan be relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and that Major-General Burnside take command of that army; also that Major-General Hunter take command of the corps in said army which is now commanded by General Burnside; that Major-General Fitz John Porter be relieved from the command of the corps he now commands in said army, and that Major-General Hooker take command of said corps. The General in Chief is authorized, in [his] discretion, to issue an order substantially as the above forthwith, or so soon as he may deem proper. 416 History of the United States. emancipation proclamation, january i, 1863. Whereas on the 22d day of September, A. D. 1862, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to- wit: That on the ist day of January, A. D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. That the Executive will on the ist day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any Stats or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith repre sented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States. Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed re bellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this ist day of January, A. D. 1863, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respect-' ively, are this day in rebellion against the United States the follow ing, to-wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Or leans, including the city of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, J/sAAlz- t-yss./sss fsi. //it /A .- '4f/y„/y/rtz A. y / '/' ''Ss Af. f erf fJ^-i. , ssss/sSs-yy/ysi-iy ' / Ay/ XXsy "~r?~ :'.,- y Sss,?/i s.yrsy tysssyy f xA.- A / / / S fy^ j?fh? yt,.*/? yjf /¦ c. f- -AS. ¦ X ^ iS?C) CO €*€- Z^IA?-- AAsf fyf^JsA- C%y?7. A"C-! tAC'X7C-^A yr tyC^ p lysAA'fyyyfAA x>^ ' A XA ¦ / zXw ss// istys.Aszys/ syXsz/z-sye'Sf ss//s!ss-l- a y y, Ass-issss A. C-C-A ' .-y. A ' -ts^i &ey£f AP: JA^-^A^ cC- --/, Ay f/t/rr Aa A/ 1 cAAt&j/tyr^Z'C^f&U/C/?^-^^ i <2y X'A A' yX > y//csfyyy c &¦? ^-- rfcx? i- yf 7/1. -. StS A / A X y s/- ¦ ' s-y A'-snyS try &:.. sy*>-r7-yiy:z s-Siszsy ¦ Si's-/./, y 7/ ¦ A AA ss" XA' s AA ,., -I, ¦,/ .-i, zs ,/ -yss. s.s -c -iss/j €-'!/¦ y/ts •¦ tis^-i, zS, yes: Ss ss. yy t,'e / ' ,-t Asf'sti ¦',./.-• Az.-t.ii A/.s-,s yzAsi-zsJA/cA/ Az." yt 1-,17-s-lS yy s S/.zi, Stcf il.Az.ff ft, A 7 Sltfy .Si,/. /A. ;/ / , 1 st sA / s , , SSttr.S. A ' :j€a • s tsASszy — s > ssr /ft. /A ,y£./ss AA - /i/c/s i-tfis , s? s~s-s cr '/. trtZ / As/ ,, xa",/ /A i 7yi , y y ¦ A ¦ £>?-> ' ¦' y y r. 'sz-ii x / y A y y ) , t - f/x PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S PROCLAMATION ADMITTING WEST VIRGINIA INTO THE UNION. PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S SIGNATURE TO PROCLAMATION AD MITTING WEST VIRGINIA INTO THE UNION. Abraham Lincoln. 419 York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left pre cisely as if this proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves w'thin said designated States and parts of States are and henceforward shall be free, and that the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recom mend to them that in all cases when allowed they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons of suit able condition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, war ranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. thanksgiving proclamation, july 15, 1863. It has pleased Almighty God to (July 15, 1863) hearken to the sup plications and prayers of an afflicted people and to vouchsafe to the Army and the Navy of the United States victories on land and en the sea so signal and so effective as to furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confidence that the Union of these States will be main tained, their Constitution preserved, and their peace and prosperity permanently restored. But these victories have been accorded not without sacrifices of life, limb, health, and liberty, incurred by brave, loyal, and patriotic citizens. Domestic affliction in every part of the country follows in the train of these fearful bereavements. It is meet and right to recognize and confess the presence of the Almighty Father and the power of His hand equally in these triumphs and in these sorrows : Now, therefore, be it known that I do set apart Thursday, the 6th day of August next, to be observed as a day for national thanksgiving, piaise, and prayer, and I invite the people of the United States to as semble on that occasion in their customary places of worship and in 420 History of the United States. the forms approved by their own consciences render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the nation's behalf and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion, to change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so great a national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consolation throughout the length and breadth of our land all those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles, and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate, and finally to lead the whole nation through the paths of repentance and submission to the divine will back to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace. It is the duty of every government (July 30, 1863) to give protec tion to its citizens, of whatever class, color, or condition, and especially to those who are duly organized as soldiers in the public service. The law of nations and the usages and customs of war, as carried on by civilized powers, permit no distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as public enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person on account of his color, and for no offense against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism and a crime against the civilization of the age. The Government of the United States will give the same protection to all its soldiers, and if the enemy shall sell or enslave anyone because of his color the offense shall be punished by retaliation upon the enemy's prisoners in our possession. It is therefore ordered, That for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war a rebel soldier shall be executed, and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works and con tinued at such until the other shall be released and receive the treat ment due to a prisoner of war. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 8, 1863. We remain in peace and friendship with foreign powers. The efforts of disloyal citizens of the United States to involve us in foreign wars to aid an inexcusable insurrection have been unavail ing. Her Britannic Majesty's Government, as was justly expected, have exercised their authority to prevent the departure of new hostile expeditions from British ports. The Emperor of France has by a like proceeding promptly vindicated the neutrality which he pro- Abraham Lincoln. 421 claimed at the beginning of the contest. Questions of great intricacy and importance have arisen out of the blockade and other belligerent operations between the Government and several of the maritime powers, but they have been discussed and, as far as was possible, accommodated in a spirit of frankness, justice, and mutual good will. It is especially gratifying that our prize courts, by the impartiality of their adjudications, have commanded the respect and confidence of maritime powers. Satisfactory arrangements have been made with the Emperor of Russia, which, it is believed, will result in effecting a continuous line of telegraph through that Empire from our Pacific coast. I recommend to your favorable consideration the subject of an international telegraph across the Atlantic Ocean, and also of a tele graph between this capital and the national forts along the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. Such communications, established with any reasonable outlay, would be economical as well as effective aids to the diplomatic, military, and naval service. The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great interest. It consists of — 1. The military operations of the year, detailed in the report of the General-in-Chief. 2. The organization of colored persons into the war service. 3. The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter of General Hitchcock. 4. The operations under the act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, detailed in the report of the Provost-Marshal-General. 5. The organization of the invalid corps, and 6. The operation of the several departments of the Quartermaster- General, Commissary-General, Paymaster-General, Chief of Engi neers, Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon-General. It has appeared impossible to make a valuable summary of this report, except such as would be too extended for this place, and hence I content myself by asking your careful attention to the report itself. The duties devolving on the naval branch of the service during the year and throughout the whole of this unhappy contest have been discharged with fidelity and eminent success. The extensive blockade has been constantly increasing in efficiency as the Navy has expanded, yet on so long a line it has so far been impossible to entirely suppress illicit trade. From returns received at the Navy Department it ap pears that more than 1,000 vessels have been captured since the 422 History of the United States. blockade was instituted, and that the value of prizes already sent in for adjudication amounts to over $13,000,000. The naval force of the United States consists at this time of 588 vessels completed and in the course of completion, and of these 75 are ironclad or armored steamers. The events of the war give an in creased interest and importance to the Navy which will probably ex tend beyond the war itself. The armored vessels in our Navy completed and in service, or which are under contract and approaching completion, are believed to exceed in number those of any other power; but while these may be relied upon for harbor defense and coast service, others of greater strength and capacity will be necessary for cruising purposes and to maintain our rightful position on the ocean. When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had already lasted nearly twenty months, and there had been many conflicts on both land and sea, with varying results; the rebellion had been pressed back into reduced limits; yet the tone of public feeling and opinion, at home and abroad, was not satisfactory. With other signs, the popular elections then just past indicated uneasiness among ourselves, while, amid much that was cold and menacing, the kindest words coming from Europe were uttered in accents of pity that we were too blind to surrender a hopeless cause. Our commerce was suffer ing greatly by a few armed vessels built upon and furnished from foreign shores, and we were threatened with such additions from the same quarter as would sweep our trade from the sea and raise our blockade. We had failed to elicit from European Governments any thing hopeful upon this subject. The preliminary emancipation proclamation, issued in September, was running its assigned period to tbe beginning of the new year. A month later the final proclamation came, including the announcement that colored men of suitable condi tion would be received into the war service. The policy of emancipa tion and of employing black soldiers gave to the future a new aspect, about which hope and fear and doubt contended in uncertain conflict. According to our political system, as a matter of civil administration, the General Government had no lawful power to effect emancipation in any State, and for a long time it had been hoped that the rebellion could be suppressed without resorting to it as a military measure. It was all the while deemed possible that the necessity for it might come, and that if it should, the crisis of the contest would then be pre sented. It came, and, as was anticipated, it was followed by dark and Abraham Lincoln. 423 doubtful days. Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to take another review. The rebel borders are pressed still farther back, and by the complete opening of the Mississippi the country dominated by the rebellion is divided into distinct parts, with no practical communication between them. Tennessee and Arkansas have been substantially cleared of insurgent control, and influential citizens in each, owners of slaves and advocates of slavery at the be ginning of the rebellion, now declare openly for emancipation in their respective States. Of course States not included in the emancipation proclamation, Maryland and Missouri, neither of which three years ago would tolerate any restraint upon the extension of slavery into new Territories, only dispute now as to the best mode of removing it within their own limits. Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion full 100,000 are now in the United States military service, about one-half of which number actuallv bear arms in the ranks, thus giving the double advantage of taking so much labor from the insurgent cause and supplying the places which otherwise must be filled with so many white men. So fai* as tested, it is difficult to say they are not as good soldiers as any. No servile insurrection or tendency to violence or cruelty has marked the measures of emancipation and arming the blacks. These measures have been much discussed in foreign coun tries, and, contemporary with such discussion, the tone of public sentiment there is much improved. At home the same measures have been fully discussed, supported, criticised, and denounced, and the annual elections following are highly encouraging to those whose official duty it is to bear the country through this great trial. Thus we have the new reckoning. The crisis which threatened to divide the friends of the Union is past. I nominate (February 29, 1864) Ulysses S. Grant, now a major- general in the military service, to be lieutenant-general in the Army of the United States. Whereas the Congress of the United States passed an act, which was approved on the 21st day of March last, 1864, entitled " An act to enable the people of Nevada to form a constitution and State gov ernment and for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States: " and 424 History of the United States. Whereas the said constitution and State government have been formed, pursuant to the conditions prescribed by the fifth section of the act of Congress aforesaid, and the certificate required by the said act and also a copy of the constitution and ordinances have been sub mitted to the President of the United States: Now, therefore, be. it known that (October 31, 1864) I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in accordance with the duty imposed upon me by the act of Congress aforesaid, do hereby declare and proclaim that the said State of Nevada is admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States. Under the authority of an act of Congress (March 10, 1864) to re vive the grade of lieutenant-general in the United States Army, approved February 29, 1864, Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant, United States Army, is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1864. The public debt on the ist day of July last, as aopears by the books of the Treasury, amounted to $1,740,690,489.49. Probably, should the war continue for another year, that amount may be increased by not far from five hundred millions. Held, as it is, for the most part by our own people, it has become a substantial branch of national, though private, property. For obvious reasons the more nearly this property can be distributed among all the people the better. To favor such general distribution, greater inducements to become owners might, perhaps, with good effect and without injury be presented to persons of limited means. With this view I suggest whether it might not be both competent and expedient for Congress to provide that a limited amount of some future issue of public securities might be held by any bona fide purchaser exempt from taxation and from seizure for debt, under such restrictions and limitations as might be necessary to guard against abuse of so important a privilege. This would enable every prudent person to set aside a small annuity against a possible day of want. The great enterprise of connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific States by railways and telegraph lines has been entered upon with a vigor that gives assurances of success, notwithstanding the embarrass ments arising from the prevailing high prices of materials and labor. The route of the main line of the road has been definitely located for 100 miles westward from the initial point of Omaha City, Nebr,, and a Abraham Lincoln 425 preliminary location of the Pacific Railroad of California has been made from Sacramento eastward to the great bend of the Truckee River in Nevada. Numerous discoveries of gold, silver, and cinnabar mines have been added to the many heretofore known, and the country occupied by the Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountains and the subordinate ranges now teems with enterprising labor, which is richly remunerative. It is believed that the product of the mines of precious metals in that region has during the year reached, if not exceeded, one hundred mil lions in value. The most remarkable feature in the military operations of the year is General Sherman's attempted march of 300 miles directly through the insurgent region. It tends to show a great increase of our relative strength that our General-in-Chief should feel able to confront and hold in check every active force of the enemy, and yet to detach a well- appointed large army to move on such an expedition. The result not yet being known, conjecture in regard to it is not here indulged. Important movements have also occurred during the year to the effect of molding society for durability in the Union. Although short of complete success, it is much in the right direction that 12,000 citizens in each of the States of Arkansas and Louisiana have organ ized loyal State governments, with free constitutions, and are earnestly struggling to maintain and administer them. The movements in the same direction, more extensive though less definite, in Missouri, Ken tucky, and Tennessee should not be overlooked. But Maryland pre sents the example of complete success. Maryland is secure to liberty and union for all the future*. The genius of rebellion will no more claim Maryland. Like another foul spirit being driven out, it may seek to tear her, but it will woo her no more. At the last session of Congress a proposed amerdment of the Con stitution abolishing slavery throughout the United States passed the Senate, but failed for lack of the requisite two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives. Although the present is the same Congress and nearly the same members, and without questioning the wisdom or patriotism of those who stood in opposition, I venture to recommend the reconsideration and passage of the measure at the present session. Of course the abstract question is not changed; but an intervening election shows almost certainly that the next Congress will pass the measure if this does not. Hence there is only a question of time as to when the proposed amendment will go to the States for their 426 History of the United States. action. And as it is to so go at all events, may we not agree that the sooner the better? It is not claimed that the election has imposed a duty on members to change their views or their votes any further than, as an additional element to be considered, their judgments may be affected by it. It is the voice of the people now for the first time heard upon the question. In a great national crisis like ours unanimity of action among those seeking a common end is very desirable — almost indispensable. And yet no approach to such unanimity is attainable unless some deference shall be paid to the will of the majority simply because it is the will, of the majority. In this case the common end is the maintenance of the Union, and among the means to secure that end such will, through the election, is most clearly declared in favor of such constitutional amendment. The most reliable indication of public purpose in this country is de rived through our popular elections. Judging by the recent canvass and its result, the purpose of the people within the loyal States to maintain the integrity of the Union was never more firm nor more nearly unanimous than now. The extraordinary calmness and good order with which the millions of voters met and mingled at the polls give strong assurance of this. Not only all those who supported the Union ticket, so called, but a great majority of the opposing party also may be fairly claimed to entertain and to be actuated by the same purpose. It is an unanswerable argument to this effect that no candidate for any office whatever, high or low, has ventured to seek votes on the avowal that he was for giving up the Union. There have been much impugning of motives and much heated controversy as to the proper means and best mode of advancing the Union cause, but on the distinct issue of Union or no Union the politicians have shown their instinctive knowledge that there is no diversity among the people. In affording the people the fair opportunity of showing one to another and to the world this firmness and unanimity of purpose, the election has been of vast value to the national cause. The national resources are unexhausted, and, as we believe, in exhaustible. The public purpose to re-establish and maintain the national authority is unchanged, and, as we believe, unchangeable. The manner of continuing the effort remains to choose. On care ful consideration of all the evidence accessible it seems to me that no attempt at negotiation with the insurgent leader could result in any good. He would accept nothing short of severance of the Union, precisely what we will not and can not give. His declarations to HOUSE IN WASHINGTON WHERE LINCOLN DIED. CARTOON OF THE " NEW WOMAN " OF LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. BEGINNING OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS AGITATION IN LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. Abraham Lincoln. 429 this effect are explicit and oft repeated. He does not attempt to de ceive us. He affords us no excuse to deceive ourselves. He can not voluntarily reaccept the Union; we can not voluntarily yield it. Between him and us the issue is distinct, simple, and in flexible. It is an issue which can only be tried by war and decided by victory. If we yield, we are beaten; if the Southern people fail him, he is beaten. Either way it would be the victory and defeat following war. What is true, however, of him who heads the insurgent cause is not necessarily true of those who follow. Although he can not reaccept the Union, they can. Some of them, we know, already de sire peace and reunion. The number of such may increase. They can at any moment have peace simply by laying down their arms and submitting to the national authority under the Constitution. After so much the Government could not, if it would, maintain war against them. The loyal people would not sustain or allow it. If questions should remain, we would adjust them by the peaceful means of legislation, conference, courts, and votes, operating only in constitu tional and lawful channels. Some certain, and other possible, ques tions are and would be beyond the Executive power to adjust; as, for instance, the admission of members into Congress and whatever might require the appropriation of money. The Executive power itself would be greatly diminished by the cessation of actual war. Pardons and remissions of forfeitures, however, would still be within Execu tive control. In what spirit and temper this control would be exer cised can be fairly judged of by the past. A year ago. general pardon and amnesty, upon specified terms, were offered to all except certain designated classes, and it was at the same time made known that the excepted classes were still within contemplation of special clemency. During the year many availed themselves of the general provision, and many more would, only that the signs of bad faith in some led to such precautionary measures as rendered the practical process less easy and certain. During the same time also special pardons have been granted to individuals of the excepted classes, and no voluntary application has been denied. Thus practically the door has been for a full year open to all except such as were not in condition to make free choice; that is, such as were in custody or under constraint. It is still so open to all. But the time may come, probably will come, when public duty shall de mand that it be closed and that in lieu more rigorous measures than heretofore shall be adopted. 43° History of the United States. In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the national authority on the part of the insurgents as the only indispensable con dition to ending the war on the part of the Government, I retract noth ing heretofore said as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that " while I remain in my present position I shall not at tempt to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclama tion or by any of the acts of Congress." If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an Executive duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their instrument to per form it. In stating a single condition of peace I mean simply to say that the war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall have ceased on the part of those who began it. second inaugural address, march 4, 1865. At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, dur ing which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of that great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war — seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distrib uted generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, Abraham Lincoln. 431 perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the in surgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlarge ment of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Al mighty has His own purposes. " Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that Ameri can slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine at tributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge- of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said " the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our selves and with all nations. Andrew Johnson, Vice-President of the United States: Sir: Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was shot by an assassin last evening at Ford's Theater, in this city, and died at the hour of twenty-two minutes after 7 o'clock. April 15, 1865. 432 History of the United States. About the same time at which the President was shot an assassin entered the sick chamber of the Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary 01 State, and stabbed him in several places — in the throat, neck and face — severely if not mortally wounding him. Other members of the Secretary's family were dangerously wounded by the assassin while making his escape. By the death of President Lincoln the office of President has devolved, under the Constitution, upon you. The emergency of the Government demands that you should immediately qualify, according to the requirements of the Constitution, and enter upon the duties of President of the United States. If you will please make known your pleasure, such arrangements as you deem proper will be made. Your obedient servants, hugh Mcculloch, w. dennison, Secretary of the Treasury. Postmaster-General. EDWIN M. STANTON, J. P. USHER, Secretary of War. Secretary of the Interior. GIDEON WELLES, JAMES SPEED, Secretary of Navy. Attorney-General. A LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. \ BRAHAM LINCOLN was born in Hardin county, Ky., Feb ruary 12, 1809. He was the second son of Thomas Lincoln, whose ancestor came from England and settled in Hingham, Mass. His mother was Miss Nancy Hanks, a woman, according to Holland, out of place among her primitive surroundings with her sensitive, heroic nature. " My early history," said Lincoln, " is per fectly characterized by a single line of Gray's Elegy : ' The short and simple annals of the poor.' " In 1816 his father moved to In diana and settled on Little Pigeon Creek, not far from the Ohio River, where Abraham applied himself with avidity to acquiring an education. His father remained there until 1830, when he located in Macon county, 111., and soon after went to Coles county, 111., where he died in 1 85 1. While employed as clerk in a pioneer store at New Salem, he acquired the soubriquet of " Honest Abe," an abbreviation that he never outgrew. He also studied surveying and law. President Abraham Lincoln. 433 Jackson appointed him postmaster of New Salem in 1833. He held this office three years, and was the same time deputy county surveyor. He served in the legislature from 1834 to 1840, when he declined further election. He went to Springfield in 1837, entered into part nership with John T. Stuart, and began to practice law. He married Miss Mary Todd, November 4, 1842. He was member of Congress in 1846, and served one term, but declined re-election. While member he advocated abolitioning of slavery in the District of Columbia. When the Republican party was organized he became its leader in Illinois. He was nominated by the Republicans for President in May, i860, and elected the 6th of the November following. He was re elected November, 1864, and inaugurated March 4, 1865, and shot by an assassin at Ford's Theater in Washington, April 14, 1865, and died at twenty-two minutes past seven on the morning of April 15th, at the house of a Mr. Peterson in Tenth street. He was buried at Oak Ridge, Springfield, 111. 434 History of the United States. -//yy BIRTHPLACE OF ANDREW JOHNSON, AT RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA. CHAPTER XVII ANDREW JOHNSON AS A PATRIOT. By Hon. Champ Clark, Congressman from Missouri. rY~* WO American Presidents have received an exceedingly cold deal in history, John Tyler and Andrew Johnson. This grows largely out oi the fact that the New Englanders write all the histories. The three facts which will forever keep Andrew Johnson's name alive are that he rose from a tailor's bench to be chief magistrate of the Republic: that he was the only Senator of the United States from any seceding State that remained faithful to the Union, and that he was the only President of the United States that was ever impeached, although bills of impeachment were prepared against John Tyler, a fact not generally known. Not only is there great prejudice against Andrew Johnson in the public mind, but his talents are also greatly underrated. In integrity of purpose, in Andrew Johnson. 435 personal and moral courage, in intensity of patriotism he has had no superior among our Presidents. That his impeachment marks one of the most danger ous epochs of American history there can now be no question among people whose opinion is at all worthy of respect. Even intelligent Republicans now take this view of the matter. Not long since in a lecture delivered before a college in this city, Mr. Justice John M. Harlan, of the Supreme Court of the United States, stated that as his opinion. He is certainly a competent witness. The people of the North have never realized, and, perhaps, never will realize, the courage that was required for a man to stand for the Union in 1861 in Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia or Maryland. It was as easy as falling off a log, a slippery log at that, for a man to be for the Union in Massa chusetts. It was unprofitable to be anything else. It was easy to be a Confederate in South Carolina. It was dangerous to be otherwise. But in what are known as the " border States,'- including Tennessee, it was ex tremely hazardous to be one or the other. The truth is, that there really was no civil war anywhere to any considerable extent outside of these " border States." So far as the extreme Northern States or the extreme Southern States were concerned what we term Civil war was to all intents and purposes a war between two countries foreign to each other. But in the " border States " it was not only neighborhood against neighborhood, but family against family, father against son, husband against wife, slave against master. That Johnson or any other man had, the moral and physical courage to stand up against an overwhelming sentiment in his own State in that critical era is one of the marvels of history. At the time of the firing on Fort Sumter he was not only one of the ablest men in the Senate from the South, but was also one of the most popular. At that time it appeared that by going with the Soutn there was no station beyond his reach, and that by going with the North he had absolutely nothing to hope for in the way of political preferment. But man proposes and God disposes, and by adhering to the Union he became President of the United States. It is a fact known of all men who have turned their minds to a contemplation of the subject that for a man to sever his political relations or to run counter on any great question to the sentiments of the community or State in which he lived was, is and must always be a most painful performance. That Johnson felt this there can be no question; but his love of the Union outweighed all other considerations, and he gave it a courageous, consistent and powerful support. . His position probably fixed the position of thousands of Ten- nesseeans for that State furnished nearly 40,000 white soldiers for the Union 436 History of the United States. armies, most of them recruited from that portion of the State in which Johnson resided, and in which he had always had his greatest political in fluence. His love of the Union was supreme. He always said in his stump speeches that when he died he wanted to be buried with the stars and stripes for a winding sheet, and his wishes in this regard were gratified. My own opinion about the matter is that he was impeached for under taking to carry out the policy of reconciliation which Abraham Lincoln would have successfully carried out if he had lived. Lincoln would not have been impeached for doing what Johnson tried to do, because he was too strong in the hearts of what he affectionately called " the plain people of America,'' but that he would have suffered in popularity for so doing, there can be no question. But Johnson, being a Southerner, was under suspicion of radical Republicans from the start. If a true history of the United States is ever written, while Andrew Johnson will not stand in the front rank of American statesmen, he will unquestionably stand in the front rank of American patriots. He did more, and risked more, to preserve the Union than was done by all the men combined who voted for his conviction. I love to remember that General John B. Henderson of Missouri, a Republican Senator, saved the Republic from that stupendous 6alamity and burning shame. SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Andrew Johnson. 439 ADMINISTRATION OF 1865-1869. By Andrew Johnson. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, APRIL 1 5, 1865. I MUST be permitted to say that I have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event which has so recently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform duties so important and responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me. As to an indication of any policy which may be pursued by me in the administration of the Government, I have to say that that must be left for development as the Administration progresses. The message or declaration must be made by the acts as they tran spire. The only assurance that I can now give of the future is refer ence to the past. The course which I have taken in the past in con nection with this rebellion must be regarded as a guaranty of the future. My past public life, which has been long and laborious, has been founded, as I in good conscience believe, upon a great principle of right, which lies at the basis of all things. The best energies of my life have been spent in endeavoring to establish and perpetuate the principles of free government, and I believe that the Government in passing through its present perils will settle down upon principles consonant with popular rights more permanent and enduring than heretofore. I must be permitted to say, if I understand the feelings of my own heart, that I have long labored to ameliorate and elevate the condition of the great mass of the American people. Toil and an honest advocacy of the great principles of free government have been my lot. Duties have been mine; consequences are God's. This has been the foundation of my political creed, and I feel that in the end the Government will triumph and that these great principles will be permanently established. Whereas, by my direction (April 25, 1865) the Acting Secretary of State, in a notice to the public of the 17th, requested the various religious denominations to assemble on the 19th instant, on the occa- 440 History of the United States. sion of the obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, and to observe the same with appropriate ceremonies; but Whereas our country has become one great house of mourning, where the head of the family has been taken away, and believing that a special period should be assigned for again humbling ourselves before Almighty God, in order that the bereavement may be sancti fied to the nation: Now, therefore, in order to mitigate that grief on earth which can only be assuaged by communion with the Father in Heaven, and in compliance with the wishes of Senators and Representatives in Con gress, communicated to me by resolutions adopted at the National Capitol, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby appoint Thursday, the 25th day of May next, to be observed, wherever in the United States the flag of the country may be respected, as a day of humiliation and mourning, and I recommend my fellow-citizens then to assemble in their respective places of worship, there to unite in solemn service to Almighty God in memory of the good man who has been removed, so that all shall be occupied at the same time in contemplation of his virtues and in sorrow for his sudden and violent end. Whereas it appears (May 2, 1865) from evidence in the Bureau of Military Justice that the atrocious murder of the late President, Abraham Lincoln, and the attempted assassination of the Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, were incited, concerted, and procured by and between Jefferson Davis, late of Richmond, Va., and Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay, Beverley Tucker, George N. Sanders, William C. Cleary, and other rebels and traitors against the Govern ment of the United States harbored in Canada: Now, therefore, to the end that justice may be done, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do offer and promise foi the arrest of ,said persons, or either of them, within the limits of the United States, so that they can be brought to trial, the following rewards : One hundred thousand dollars for the arrest of Jefferson Davis. Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of Clement C. Clay. Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of Jacob Thompson, late of Mississippi. Andrew Johnson. 441 Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of George N. Sanders. Twenty-five thousand dollars for the arrest of Beverley Tucker. Ten thousand dollars for the arrest of William C. Cleary, late clerk of Clement C. Clay. The Provost-Marshal-General of the United States is directed to cause a description of said persons, with notice of the above rewards, to be published. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 4, 1865.. The Constitution is the work of " the people of the United States," and it should be as indestrmctible as the people. It is not strange that the framers of the Constitution, which had no model in the past, should not have fully comprehended the excellence of their own work. Fresh from a struggle against arbitrary power, many patriots suffered from harassing fears of an absorption of the State governments by the General Government, and many from a dread that the States would break away from their orbits. But the very greatness of our country should allay the apprehension of en croachments by the General Government. The subjects that come unquestionably within its jurisdiction are so numerous that it must even naturally refuse to be embarrassed by questions that lie beyond it. Were it otherwise the Executive would sink beneath the burden, the channels of justice would be choked, legislation would be obstructed by excess, so that there is a greater temptation to exercise some of the functions of the General Government through the States than to trespass on their rightful sphere. The " absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority " was at the beginning of the century en forced by Jefferson as "the vital principle of Republics;" and the events of the last four years have established, we will hope forever, that there lies no appeal to force. The maintenance of the Union brings with it " the support of the State governments in all their rights," but it is not one of the rights of any State government to renounce its own place in the Union or to nullify the laws of the Union. The largest liberty is to be main tained in the discussion of the acts of the Federal Government, but there is no appeal from its laws except to the various branches of that Government itself, or to the people, who grant to the members of the legislative and of the executive departments no tenure but a limited one, and in that manner always retain the powers of redress. 442 History of the United States. " The sovereignty of the States " is the language of the Confederacy, and not the language of the Constitution. The latter contains the emphatic words — • This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United State's, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. Certainly the Government of the United States is a. limited govern ment, and so is every State government a limited government. With us this idea of limitation spreads through every form of administra tion — general, State, and municipal — ¦ and rests on the great distin guishing principle of the recognition of the rights of man. The ancient republics absorbed the individual in the state — prescribed his religion and controlled his activity. The American system rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to freedom of conscience, to the culture and ex ercise of all his faculties. As a consequence the State government is limited — as to the General Government in the interest of union, as to the individual citizen in the interest of freedom. States, with proper limitations of power, are essential to the ex istence of the Constitution of the United States. At the very com mencement, when we assumed a place among the powers of the earth, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by States; so also were the Articles of Confederation ; and when " the people of the United States " ordained and established the Constitution it was the assent of the States, one by one, which gave it vitality. In the event, too, of any amendment to the Constitution, the proposition of Congress needs the confirmation of States. Without States one great branch of the legislative government would be wanting. And if we look beyond the letter of the Constitution to the character of our country, its capacity for comprehending within its jurisdiction a vast continental empire is due to the system of States. The best security for the per petual existence of the States is the " supreme authority " of the Con stitution of the United States. The perpetuity of the Constitution brings with it the perpetuity of the States ; their mutual relation makes us what we are, and in our political system their connection is indis soluble. The whole can not exist without the parts, nor the parts Andrew Johnson. 443 without the whole. So long as the Constitution of the United States endures, the States will endure. The destruction of the one is the destruction. of the other; the preservation of the one is the preservation of the other. I have thus explained my views of the mutual relations of the Con stitution and the States, because they unfold the principles on which I have sought to solve the momentous questions and overcome the ap palling difficulties that met me at the very commencement of my Ad ministration. It has been my steadfast object to escape from the sway of momentary passions and to derive a healing policy from the funda mental and unchanging principles of the Constitution. I found the States suffering from the effects of a civil war. Re sistance to the General Government appeared to have exhausted itself. The United States had recovered possession of their forts and arsenals, and their armies were in the occupation of every State which had at tempted to secede. Whether the territory within the limits of those States should be held as conquered territory, under military authority emanating from the President as the head of the Army, was the first question that presented itself for decision. Now military governments, established for an indefinite period, would have offered no security for the early suppression of discontent, would have divided the people into the vanquishers and the van quished, and would have envenomed hatred rather than have restored affection. Once established, no precise limit to their continuance was conceivable. They would have occasioned an incalculable and ex hausting expense. Peaceful emigration to and from that portion of the country is one of the best means that can be thought of for the res toration of harmony, and that emigration would have been prevented; for what emigrant from abroad, what industrious citizen at home, would place himself willingly under military rule? The chief persons who would have followed in the train of the Army would have been dependents on the General Government or men who expected profit from the miseries of their erring fellow-citizens. The powers of pat ronage and rule which would have been exercised, under the Presi dent, over a vast and populous and naturally wealthy region are greater than, unless under extreme necessity, I should be willing to intrust to any one man. They are such as, for myself, I could never, unless on occasions of great emergency, consent to exercise. The willful use of such powers, if continued through a period of years, would have endangered the purity of the general administration and the liberties of the States which remained loyal. 444 History of the United States. Besides, the policy of military rule over a conquered territory would have implied that the States whose inhabitants may have taken part in the rebellion had by the act of those inhabitants ceased to exist. But the true theory is that all pretended acts of secession were from the beginning null and void. The States can not commit treason nor screen the individual citizens who may have committed treason any more than they can make valid treaties or engage in lawful com merce with any foreign power. The States attempting to secede placed themselves in a condition where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished; their functions suspended, but not destroyed. The next step which I have taken to restore the constitutional rela tions of the States has been an invitation to them to participate in the high office of amending the Constitution. Every patriot must wish for a general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent with public safety. For this great end there is need of a concurrence of all opinions and the spirit of mutual conciliation. I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the immediate real ization of its remotest aims; but time is always an element in reform. It is one of the greatest acts on record to have brought 4,000,000 peo ple into freedom. The career of free industry must be fairly opened to them, and then their future prosperity and condition must, after all, rest mainly on themselves. If they fail, and so perish away, let U5 be careful that the failure shall not be attributable to any denial of jus tice. In reply to the resolution adopted December 18, 1865, by the Sen ate on the 12th instant, I have the honor to state that the Rebellion waged by a portion of the people against the properly constituted au thority of the Government of the United States has been suppressed; that the United States are in possession of every State in which the insurrection existed, and that, as far as it could be done, the courts of the United States have been restored, post-offices re-established, and steps taken to put into effective operation the revenue laws of the country. As the result of the measures instituted by the Executive with the view of inducing a resumption of the functions of the States compre hended in the inquiry of the Senate, the people of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee have reorganized their respective State governments, Andrew Johnson. 445 and " are yielding obedience to the laws and Government of the United States " with more willingness and greater promptitude than under the circumstances could reasonably have been anticipated. The proposed amendment to the Constitution, providing for the aboli tion of slavery forever within the limits of the country, has been ratified by each one of those States, with the exception of Mississippi, from which no official information has been received, and in nearly all of them measures have been adopted or are now pending to confer upon freedmen the privileges which are essential to their comfort, protec tion, and security. In Florida and Texas the people are making com mendable progress in restoring their State governments, and no doubt is entertained that they will at an early period be in a condition to re sume all of their practical relations with the General Government. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, 1866. In my message of the 4th of December, 1865, Congress was in formed of the measures which had been instituted by the Executive with a view to the gradual restoration of the States in which the in surrection occurred to their relations with the General Government. Provisional governors had been appointed, conventions called, gov ernors elected, legislatures assembled, and Senators and Representa tives chosen to the Congress of the United States. Courts had been opened for the enforcement of laws long in abeyance. The blockade had been removed, custom-houses re-established, and the internal revenue laws put in force, in order that the people might contribute to the national income. Postal operations had been renewed, and efforts were being made to restore them to their former condition of efficiency. The States themselves had been asked to take part in the high function of amending the Constitution, and of thus sanction ing the extinction of African slavery as one of the legitimate results of our internecine struggle. Having progressed thus far, the Executive Department found that it had accomplished nearly all that was within the scope of its constitu tional authority. One thing, however, yet remained to be done be fore the work of restoration could be completed, and that was the admission to Congress of loyal Senators and Representatives from the States whose people had rebelled against the lawful authority of the General Government. This question devolved upon the respective Houses, which by the Constitution are made the judges of the elec- 446 History of the United States. tions, returns, and qualifications of their own members, and its con sideration at once engaged the attention of Congress. In the meantime the Executive Department — no other plan having been proposed by Congress — continued its efforts to perfect, as far as was practicable, the restoration of the proper relations between the citizens of the respective States, the States, and the Federal Govern ment, extending from time to time, as the public interests seemed to require, the judicial, revenue, and postal systems of the country. With the advice and consent of the Senate, the necessary officers were appointed and appropriations made by Congress for the payment of their salaries. The proposition to amend- the Federal Constitution, so as to prevent the existence of slavery within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction, was ratified by the requisite number of States, and on the 18th day of December, 1865, it was officially declared to have become valid as a part of the Constitution of the United States. All of the States in which the insurrection had existed promptly amended their constitutions so as to make them con form to the great change thus effected in the organic law of the land; declared null and void all ordinances and laws of secession; repudiated all pretended debts and obligations created for the revolutionary pur poses of the insurrection, and proceeded in good faith to the enact ment of measures for the protection and amelioration of the condition of the colored race. Congress, however, yet hesitated to admit any of these States to representation, and it was not until toward the close of the eighth month of the session that an exception was made in favor of Tennessee by the admission of her Senators and Representatives. I deem it a subject of profound regret that Congress has thus far failed to admit to seats loyal Senators and Representatives from the other States whose inhabitants, with those of Tennessee, had engaged in the rebellion. Ten States — more than one-fourth of the whole number — remain without representation; the seats of fifty members in the House of Representatives and of twenty members in the Senate are yet vacant, not by their own consent, not by a failure of election, but by the refusal of Congress to accept their credentials. Their ad mission, it is believed, would have accomplished much toward the renewal and strengthening of our relations as one people and re moved serious cause for discontent on the part of the inhabitants of those States. It would have accorded with the great principle enun ciated in the Declaration of American Independence that no people ought to bear the burden of taxation and yet be denied the right of representation. It would have been in consonance with the express -/ft s y ffU AJy-./ySl ¦/S> _ y S S f. t'/t / s ys /s s / / . /' f- s 7.- y/ s> 'SS' SS/f '//l -I Sty yf /f? AA/Xf y/f. ,,/,/¦ Af.'f /S/S,./- //-/ty/ /.j -/lyrysy f ' '" - ' i''s7/iii,s f /' / 1 yytyf f /pXts 7/ yyy.y f/ffsv/ ~.S?7 /' s- ' ¦ £¦/¦ / f'St-l. t //.' X / 7 7 / / I Af( 7 f/y, ; , , y, A V / 7 A ?yct y'f/j.yt // Az" ft/si/-/ st s fis/s/.t's^fs-'- fj/S sff (f J 7/ 7 f/f / f't/fS . ?7 j/ffts yy Si Sf- fXf-/S/7y/j7., -,/:,;./ yf Si 7-7 A ffffsfXA AAt s- sfy/i.t ifs /Aif '-" -zy s- i S I S S! J-'? /f 77 7 7 7 / S- if S /; X/f S \ ¦¦ I f I / I /7_ S ¦ fyf ? i i/AfAA,y S; s/SC t S7 tsf: St.-ii-ffs ' ¦ y) ' s 1/ (/'sfs-yy.7Sf?J 'J t./l /' , Ail's AJt . 7/7-S 7/ 7 7 S'/Sf I 7 7SSCJ , '/ifitf? sy/ s: r:t y t /// / ts.y /.yr fsy.fi Ay -sfff -f/tttf ys yt / 1 x ft t / t/fst t/ A 'f y ' /-j ffyt J/tsf /ff y. /, y. '¦77 Sf / , / 7S -7 ft 7 7 7/ SirA e'W? Ct ytSfAAiy/ s y S(s/l.ii/ fsyyfszfi Ay.ty s.s 7 1 sy /' ys,y;'//ir. AAAAff GAfjcryr- ffA/yz/y/t -xAs/AyfA/yyr/ryt AXi/sA.fff THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. ¦' :i. Z*yXtf fz (St Ctyys/ ^/fiAy^yy^. ¦'¦¦ /sSs A? s sis// 77,7 sf-Af/s Afyyyyyy • tX.Ay sf'Xs/y'/'Uy/.rt rss v — y: -yf^-y , .- ry /-/ y ,. A?i s A r ~yi A ^ ////st,- y /yy/yy/syy. '1-— S 7) A if/J/ i^Ayrs/A/.//X- ff,:fl^. AffAlc^_^r cytsff/n-/ A¥ Jsfff~ SIGNATURE OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON TO THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION. Andrew Johnson. 449 provisions of the Constitution that " each State shall have at least one Representative " and " that no State, without its consent, shall be de prived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." The admission of loyal members from the States now excluded from Congress, by allaying doubt and apprehension would turn capital now awaiting an opportunity for investment into the channels of trade and industry. It would alleviate the present troubled condition of those States, and by inducing emigration aid in the settlement of fertile re gions now uncultivated and lead to an increased production of those staples which have added so greatly to the wealth of the nation and commerce of the- world. New fields of enterprise would be opened to our progressive people, and soon the devastations of war would be repaired and all traces of our domestic differences effaced from the minds of our countrymen. In our efforts to preserve " the unity of government which consti tutes us one people " by restoring the States to the condition which they held prior to the rebellion, we should be cautious, lest, having rescued our nation from perils of threatened disintegration, we resort to consolidation, and in the end absolute despotism, as a remedy for the recurrence of similar troubles. The war having terminated, and with it all occasion for the exercise of powers of doubtful constitu tionality, we should hasten to bring legislation within the boundaries prescribed by the Constitution and to return to the ancient landmarks established by our fathers for the guidance of succeeding generations. The District of Columbia under existing laws is not entitled to that representation in the National councils which from our earliest history has been uniformly accorded to each Territory established from time to time within our limits. It maintains peculiar relations to Congress, to whom the Constitution has granted the power of exercising ex clusive legislation over the seat of Government. Our fellow-citizens residing in the District, whose interests are thus confided to the special guardianship of Congress, exceed in number the population of several of our Territories, and no just reason is perceived why a Delegate of their choice should not be admitted to a seat in the House of Repre sentatives. No mode seems so appropriate and effectual of enabling them to make known their peculiar condition and wants and of secur ing the local legislation adapted to them. I therefore recommend the passage of a law authorizing the electors of the District of Columbia to choose a Delegate, to be allowed the same rights and privileges as a Delegate representing a Territory. The increasing enterprise and rapid progress of improvement in the District are highly gratifying, 45° History of the United States. and I trust that the efforts of the municipal authorities to promote the prosperity of the national metropolis will receive the efficient and gen erous co-operation of Congress. The entire success of the Atlantic telegraph between the coast of Ireland and the Province of Newfoundland is an achievement which has been justly celebrated in both hemispheres as the opening of an era in the progress of civilization. There is reason to expect that equal success will attend and even greater results follow the enterprise for connecting the two continents through the Pacific Ocean by the projected line of telegraph between Kamchatka and the Russian pos sessions in America. The West India islands were settled and colonized by European States simultaneously with the settlement and colonization of the Amer ican continent. Most of the colonies planted here became independent nations in the close of the last and the beginning of the present cen tury. Our own country embraces communities which at one period were colonies of Great Britain, France, Spain, Holland, Sweden, and Russia. The people in the West Indies, with the exception of those of the island of Hayti, have neither attained nor aspired to independ ence, nor have they become prepared for self-defense. Although pos sessing considerable commercial value, they have been held by the sev eral European States which colonized or at some time conquered them, chiefly for purposes of military and naval strategy in carrying out European policy and designs in regard to this continent. In our Rev olutionary War ports and harbors in the West India islands were used by our enemy, to the great injury and embarrassment of the United States. We had the same experience in our second war with Great Britain. The same European policy for a long time excluded us even from trade with the West Indies, while we were at peace with all nations. In our recent Civil war the rebels and their piratical and blockade-breaking allies found facilities in the same ports for the work, which they too successfully accomplished, of injuring and de vastating the commerce which we are now engaged in rebuilding. We labored especially under this disadvantage, that European steam vessels employed by our enemies found friendly shelter, protection, and supplies in West Indian ports, while our naval operations were necessarily carried on from our own distant shores. There was then a universal feeling of the want of an advanced naval outpost between the Atlantic coast and Europe. The duty of obtaining such an out post peacefully and lawfully, while neither doing nor menacing in- Andrew Johnson. 451 jury to other states, earnestly engaged the attention of the executive department before the close of the war, and it has not been lost sight of since that time. A not entirely dissimilar naval want revealed itself during the same period on the Pacific coast. The required foothold there was fortunately secured by our late treaty with the Emperor of Russia, and it now seems imperative that the more obvious necessities of the Atlantic coast should not be less carefully provided for. A good and convenient port and harbor, capable of easy defense, will supply that want. With the possession of such a station by the United States, neither we nor any other American nation need longer apprehend in jury or offense from any transatlantic enemy. I agree with our early statesmen that the West Indies naturally gravitate to, and may be ex pected ultimately to be absorbed by, the continental States, including our own. I agree with them also that it is wise to leave the question of such absorption to this process of natural political gravitation. The islands of St. Thomas and St. John, which constitute a part of the group called the Virgin Islands, seemed to offer us advantages imme diately desirable, while their acquisition could be secured in harmony with the principles to which I have alluded. A treaty has therefore been concluded with the King of Denmark for the cession of those islands, and will be submitted to the Senate for consideration. It will hardly be necessary to call the attention of Congress to the subject of providing for the payment to Russia of the sum stipulated in the treaty for the cession of Alaska. Possession having been formally delivered to our commissioner, the territory remains for the present in care of a military force, awaiting such civil organization as shall be directed by Congress. The President with deep regret announces (June 2, 1868) to the peo ple of the United States the decease, at Wheatland, Pa., on the ist instant, of his honored predecessor James Buchanan. This event will occasion mourning in the nation for the loss of an eminent citizen and honored public servant. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 9, l868. The proportion which the currency of any country should bear to the whole value of the annual produce circulated by its means is a question upon which political economists have not agreed. Nor can r452' History of the United States. it be controlled by legislation, but must be left to the irrevocable laws which everywhere regulate commerce and trade. The circulating medium will ever irresistibly flow to those points where it is in greatest demand The law of demand and supply is as unerring as that which regulates the tides of the ocean; and, indeed, currency, like the tides, has its ebbs and flows throughout the commercial world. At the beginning of the Rebellion the bank-note circulation of the country amounted to not much more than $200,000,000; now the circu lation of national-bank notes and those known as " legal-tenders " is nearly seven hundred millions. While it is urged by some that this amount should be increased, others contend that a decided reduction is absolutely essential to the best interests of the country. In view of these diverse opinions, it may be well to ascertain the real value of our paper issues when compared with a metallic or convertible cur rency For this purpose let us inquire how much gold and silver could be purchased by the seven hundred millions of paper money now in circulation. Probably not more than half the amount cf the latter; showing that when our paper currency is compared with gold and silver its commercial value is compressed into three hundred and fifty millions. This striking fact makes it the obvious duty of the Govern ment, as early as may be consistent with the principles of sound politi cal economy, to take such measures as will enable the holders of its notes and those of the national banks to convert them, without loss, into specie or its equivalent. A reduction of our paper circulating medium need not necessarily follow. This, however, would depend upon the law of demand and supply, though it should be borne in mind that by making legal-tender and bank notes convertible into coin or its equivalent their present specie value in the hands of their holders would be enhanced 100 per cent. Legislation for the accomplishment of a result so desirable is de manded by the highest public considerations. The Constitution con templates that the circulating medium of the country shall be uniform in quality and value. At the time of the formation of that instrument the country had just emerged from the War of the Revolution, and was suffering from the effects of a redundant and worthless paper cur rency. The sages of that period were anxious to protect their posterity from the evils which they themselves had experienced. Hence in pro viding a circulating medium they conferred upon Congress the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof, at the same time pro hibiting the States from making anything but gold and silver a tender in payment of debts. ~ Andrew Johnson. 453 The anomalous condition of our currency is in striking contrast with that which was originally designed. Our circulation now em braces, first, notes of the national banks, which are made receivable for all dues to the Government, excluding imposts, and by all its creditors, excepting in payment of interest upon its bonds and the securities themselves; second, legal tender, issued by the United States, and which the law requires shall be received as well in payment of all debts between citizens as of all Government dues, excepting imposts; and, third, gold and silver coin. By the operation of our present system of finance, however, the metallic currency, when collected, is reserved only for one class of Government creditors, who, holding its bonds, semi-annually receive their interest in coin from the National Treasury. There is no reason which will be accepted as satisfactory by the people why those who defend us on the land and protect us on the sea; the pensioner upon the gratitude of the nation, bearing the scars and wounds received while in its service; the public servants in the various departments of the Government; the farmer who supplies the soldiers of the Army and the sailors of the Navy; the artisan who toils in the nation's workships, or the mechanics and laborers who build its edi fices and construct its forts and vessels of war, should, in payment of their just and hard-earned dues, receive depreciated paper, while another class of their countrymen, no more deserving, are paid in coin of gold and silver. Equal and exact justice requires that all the creditors of the Government should be paid in a currency possessing a uniform value. This can only be accomplished by the restoration of the currency to the standard established by the Constitution, and by this means we would remove a discrimination which may, if it has not already done so, create a prejudice that may become deep-rooted and widespread and imperil the national credit. The feasibility of making our currency correspond with the constitu tional standard may be seen by reference to a few facts derived from our commercial statistics. The aggregate product of precious metals in the United States from 1849 to l%&7 amounted to $1,174,000,000, while for the same period the net exports of specie were $741,000,000. This shows an excess of product over net exports of $433,000,000. There are in the Treasury $103,407,985 in coin; in circulation in the States on the Pacific Coast about $40,000,000, and a few millions in the national and other banks — in all less than $160,000,000. Taking into consideration the specie in the country prior to 1849 and that produced since 1867, and we 454 History of the United States. have more than $300,000,000 not accounted for by exportation or by returns of the Treasury, and therefore most probably remaining in the country. These are important facts, and show how completely the inferior currency will supersede the better, forcing it from circulation among the masses and causing it to be exported as a mere article of trade, to add to the money capital of foreign lands. They show the necessity of retiring our paper money, that the return of gold and silver to the avenues of trade may be invited and a demand created which will cause the retention at home of at least so much of the productions of our rich and inexhaustible gold-bearing fields as may be sufficient for purposes of circulation. It is unreasonable to expect a return to a sound currency so long as the Government and banks, by continuing to issue irredeemable notes, fill the channels of circulation with de preciated paper. Notwithstanding a coinage by our mints since 1849 of $874,000,000, the people are now strangers to the currency which was designed for their use and benefit, and specimens of the precious metals bearing the national device are seldom seen, except when pro duced to gratify the interest excited by their novelty. If depreciated paper is to be continued as the permanent currency of the country, and all our coin is to become a mere article of traffic and speculation, to the enhancement in price of all that is indispensable to the comfort of the people, it would be wise economy to abolish our mints, thus saving the nation the care and expense incident to such establish ments, and let our precious metals be exported in bullion. The time has come, however, when the Government and national banks should be required to take the most efficient steps and make all necessary ar rangements for a resumption of specie payments. Let specie pay ments once be earnestly inaugurated by the Government and banks, and the value of the paper circulation would directly approximate a specie standard. Specie payments having been resumed by the Government and banks, all notes or bills of paper issued by either of a less denomina tion than $20 should by law be excluded from circulation, so that the people may have the benefit and convenience of a gold and silver cur rency which in all their business transactions will be uniform in value at home and abroad. The acquisition of Alaska was made with the view of extending national jurisdiction and republican principles in the American hemi sphere. Believing that a further step could be taken in the same direc- Andrew Johnson. 455 tion, I last year entered into a treaty with the King of Denmark for the purchase of the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, on the best terms then attainable, and with the express consent of the people of those islands. This treaty still remains under consideration in the Senate. A new convention has been entered into with Denmark, enlarging the time fixed for final ratification of the original treaty. The attention of the Senate and of Congress is again respectfully invited to the treaty for the establishment of commercial reciprocity with the Hawaiian Kingdom entered into last year, and already rati fied by that Government. The attitude of the United States toward these islands is not very different from that in which they stand toward the West Indies. It is known aHd felt by the Hawaiian Government and people that their Government and institutions are feeble and precarious; that the United States, being so near a neighbor, would be unwilling to see the islands pass under foreign control. Their prosperity is continually disturbed by expectations and alarms of un friendly political proceedings, as well from the United States as from other foreign powers. A reciprocity treaty, while it could not mate rially diminish the revenues of the United States, would be a guaranty of the good will and forbearance of all nations until the people of the islands shall of themselves, at no distant day, voluntarily apply for admission into the Union. A LIFE OF ANDREW JOHNSON. \ NDREW JOHNSON was born December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, N. C. His father died from injuries received in saving a per son from drowning, when Andrew was but four years old. When ten years of age he was apprenticed to a tailor. He was entirely self-educated, and went through many privations and much labor in order to satisfy his craving for knowledge. In 1826 he went to Green ville, Tenn., where he worked as a tailor, and where he married Eliza McCardle, a woman of education and refinement, who at once became his teacher. He was mayor of Greenville from 1830 to 1833. . In 1835 he was sent to the State legislature from Green and Wash ington counties, and was re-elected in 183c* In 1849 he was elected to the State senate of Tennessee, and in 1843 was sent to Congress, and was regularly returned until 1853. While there he made his cele- 45^ History of the United States. brated defense of the veto power and advocated the Homestead Law. He became governor of Tennessee in 1853, and enacted many meas ures to benefit the working people. In 1857 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he at once became prominent. His steadfast adherence to the Union estranged him from the supporters of the South, and in a speech, December, i860, he declared his un yielding opposition to secession, and his fixed determination to stand by the Constitution. He remained in the Senate until Lincoln made him military governor of Tennessee, in March, 1862. He proceeded to Nashville, where he organized a provisional gov ernment for the State. He appealed to the people to uphold the law, and to return to their allegiance to the Union. He held Union meet ings through the State, and raised twenty-five regiments for service. He finished the railroad from Nashville to the Tennessee River. He levied a tax on the rich Southern supporters as he said " in behalf of the many helpless widows, wives and children in the city of Nashville, who have been reduced to poverty and wretchedness in consequence of their husbands, sons and fathers having been forced into the armies of this unholy and nefarious rebellion." He was elected to the Vice- Presidency on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln, November 8, 1864. President Lincoln died on the morning of April 15, 1865, and Mr. Johnson became President. Articles of impeachment were prepared and a trial was held when to the honor of the country a verdict of ac quittal was entered. • He went to his Tennessee home on retiring from the White House, and was elected to the United States Senate in 1875, took his seat at the extra session of that year. While at the home of his daughter, near Elizabethton, Tenn., he was seized with paralysis, July 30, 1875, and died the following day. He was buried in Greenville, Tenn. eighteenth president of the united states. Jfh/ /' f is, 11 f si / , Aft AA17A77A Ass Ass .,f l„ (fit up |' \: I CM I if fan,., . Jt.S ,. ,,zS„sjS f, As ffi /is/ J/ss/.l ityit'.s y/Jti? ?/,', Jiitss't. 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Ay „/ fit/filly// AX,-,y/t yy "; f/t/'f CM- As l/7"7 if IZSI fs' .-,s 7/ .,„,,. / f / / s/tzf/f A'tf.l'ltS iz,y/ yy/y ,i,y.snitf S- ' 'f At.-y .ititt^t'i' ,, //i AA/77 //? yAAsAs i-,' ,yf/////t/iit ' . / / / j ' //ll „;.,. f 7/„„l -Ay ./A/I fyf? // ff/y/s/sn/ , -«-iL-Aly ¦J--kXS> yA ,l Xs A/^e -., y 4-4n.-._^^Z<±^ s. .^y ytX^siL/ yy -,i-t^HLXJ~s - -^ *-=-^ . ^/X/^jj ^~^r-/L ^ - - ,-.4 ,. „ ^sysCyss* U U^-^- «. c/^-^-^-o vj^ " -^c ,. , .ifjUjfyf, ^.....ii^„„. ^t^Ayy. cAAas..^^LaA^ a -c Le. <-+Jk. KA y&.-*-< 'fs ytiX a. O^t -K« y .x: ti < ( ^ ^ AyA. C^JLt-^.r-- ^.-y^^^syLti+.yi.A^y -oLc*~*./ ic*--^y-' jA^A. 3^/trrcc^i ¦> ^JCs. i£i~ cM y s^jr--' i . o ¦ 4 PRESIDENT GRANT'S CENTENNIAL PROCLAMATION /y.-,^ ,y .^.~ J-- s\/ll.L jJL-li. L-..iA..A.xlsJo hU y A.f(.y/..-..X.,- -l .lit t .A-. y j.io /I « (j *' // "Ah? (> ,.,,«., (I „.t,.,,. -A <.iJ.xA..i..y.,J,i (I X is, .-*. /, X, j y ^. ./ ../ / l,l,y„tyLy/dfflA.t \/.xJ,iL C( L« ATx,./-.L.ul, S A I't.ys^sA Qii/>i.,..i PRESIDENT GRANT'S SIGNATURE TO CENTENNIAL PROCIA- MATION. Ulysses S. Grant. 469 In his first annual message to Congress the same views are forcibly presented, and are again urged in his eighth message. I repeat that the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Consti tution completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the most important event that has occurred since the nation came into life. The change will be beneficial in proportion to the heed that is given to the urgent recommendations of Washington. If these recommenda tions were important then, with a population of but a few millions, how much more important now, with a population of 40,000,000, and increasing in a rapid ratio. I would therefore call upon Congress to take all the means within their constitutional powers to promote and encourage popular education throughout the country, and upon the people everywhere to see to it that all who possess and exercise politi cal rights shall have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge which will make their share in the Government a blessing and not a danger. By such means only can the benefits contemplated by this amendment to the Constitution be secured. I transmit (March 31, 1870), for consideration with a view to its ra tification, a treaty between the United States and the United States of Colombia for the construction of an interoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Panama or Darien, signed at Bogota on the 26th of January last. A copy of a dispatch of the first ultimo to the Secretary of State from General Hurlbut, the United States minister at Bogota, relative to the treaty, is also transmitted for the information of the Senate. SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 187O. Soon after the existing war broke out in Europe the protection of the United States minister in Paris was invoked in favor of North Germans domiciled in French territory. Instructions were issued to grant the protection. This has been followed by an extension of American protection to citizens of Saxony, Hesse and Saxe-Coburg, Gotha, Colombia, Portugal, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Ecua dor, Chile, Paraguay, and Venezuela in Paris. The charge was an onerous one, requiring constant and severe labor, as well as the exer cise of patience, prudence, ancl good judgment. It has been per formed to the entire satisfaction of this Government, and, as I am offi- 470 History of the United States. cially informed, equally so to the satisfaction of the Government of North Germany. As soon as I learned that a Republic had been proclaimed at Paris and that the people of France had acquiesced in the change, the min ister of the United States was directed by telegraph to recognize it and to tender my congratulations and those of the people of the United States. The re-establishment in France of a system of government dis connected with the dynastic traditions of Europe appeared to be a proper subject for the felicitations of Americans. During the last session of Congress a treaty for the annexation of the Republic of San Domingo to the United States failed to receive the requisite two-thirds vote of the Senate. I was thoroughly con vinced then that the best interests of this country, commercially and materially, demanded its ratification. Time has only confirmed me iu this view. I now firmly believe that the moment it is known that the United States have entirely abandoned the project of accepting as a part of its territory the island of San Domingo a free port will be negotiated for by European nations in the Bay of Samana. A large commercial city will spring up, to which we will be tributary without receiving corresponding benefits, and then will be seen the folly of our rejecting so great a prize. The Government of San Domingo has voluntarily sought this annexation. It is a weak power, number ing probably less than 120,000 souls, and yet possessing one of the rich est territories under the sun, capable of supporting a population of 10,000,000 people in luxury. The people of .San Domingo are not capa ble of maintaining themselves in their present condition, and must look for outside support. They yearn for the protection of our free institutions and laws, our progress and civilization. Shall we refuse them? The acquisition of San Domingo is desirable because of its geo graphical position. It commands the entrance to the Caribbean Sea and the Isthmus transit of commerce. It possesses the richest soil, best and most capacious harbors, most salubrious climate, and the most valuable products of the forests, mine, and soil of any of the West India Islands. Its possession by us will in a few years build up a coastwise commerce of immense magnitude, which will go far toward restoring to us our lost merchant marine. It will give to us those articles which we consume so largely and do not produce, thus equal izing our exports and imports. In case of foreign war it will give us command of all the islands referred to, and thus prevent an enemy Ulysses S. Grant. 471 from ever again possessing himself of rendezvous upon our very coast. At present our coast trade between the States bordering on the Atlan tic and those bordering on the Gulf of Mexico is cut into by the Ba hamas and the Antilles. Twice we must, as it were, pass through foreign countries to get by sea from Georgia to the west coast of Florida. San Domingo, with a stable government, under which her immense resources can be developed, will give remunerative wages to tens of thousands of laborers not now upon the island. This labor will take advantage of every available means of transportation to abandon the adjacent islands and seek the blessings of freedom and its sequence — each inhabitant receiving the reward of his own labor. Porto Rico and Cuba will have to abolish slavery, as a measure of self-preserva tion, to retain their laborers. San Domingo will become a large consumer of the products of Northern farms and manufactories. The cheap rate at which her citi zens can be furnished with food, tools, and machinery will make it necessary that contiguous islands should have the same advantages in order to compete in the production of sugar, coffee, tobacco, tropi cal fruits, etc. This will open to us a still wider market for our prod ucts. The production of our own supply of these articles will cut off more than one hundred millions of our annual imports, besides largely increasing our exports. With such a picture it is easy to see how our large debt abroad is ultimately to be extinguished. With a bal ance of trade against us, including interest on bonds held by foreign ers and money spent by our citizens in traveling in foreign lands, equal to the entire yield of the precious metals in this country, it is not so easy to see how this result is to be otherwise accomplished. The acquisition of San Domingo is an adherence to the " Monroe doctrine;" it is a measure of national protection; it is asserting our just claim to a controlling influence over the great commercial traffic soon to flow from west to east by way of the Isthmus of Darien; it is to build up our merchant marine; it is to furnish new markets for the products of our farms, shops, and manufactories; it is to make slavery insupportable in Cuba and Porto Rico at once, and ultimately so in Brazil; it is to settle the unhappy condition of Cuba and end an exterminating conflict ; it is to provide an honest means of paying our honest debts without overtaxing the people; it is to furnish our citizens with the necessaries of everyday life at cheaper rates than ever before ; and it is, in fine, a rapid stride toward that greatness which the intelli- 472 History of the United States. gence, industry, and enterprise of the citizens of the United States en title this country to assume among nations. In view of the importance of this question, I earnestly urge upon Congress early action expressive of its views as to the best means of acquiring San Domingo. My suggestion is that by joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress the Executive be authorized to appoint a commission to negotiate a treaty with the authorities of San Do mingo for the acquisition of that island, and that an appropriation be made to defray the expenses of such a commission. In Utah there still remains a remnant of barbarism, repugnant to civilization, to decency, and to the laws of the United States. Ter ritorial officers, however, have been found who are willing to perform their duty in a spirit of equity and with a due sense of the necessity of sustaining the majesty of the law. Neither polygamy nor any other violation of existing statutes will be permitted within the territory of the United States. It is not with the religion of the self-styled Saints that we are now dealing, but with their practices. They will be pro tected in the worship of God according to the dictates of their con sciences, but they will not be permitted to violate the laws under the cloak of religion. More than six years having elapsed since the last hostile gun was fired between the armies then arrayed against each other — one for the perpetuation, the other for the destruction, of the Union — it may well be considered whether it is not now time that the disabilities im posed by the Fourteenth Amendment should be removed. That amendment does not exclude the ballot, but only imposes the disability to hold offices upon certain classes. When the purity of the ballot is secure, majorities are sure to elect officers reflecting the views of the majority. I do not see the advantage or propriety of excluding men from office merely because they were before the rebellion of standing and character sufficient to be elected to positions requiring them to take oaths to support the Constitution, and admitting to eligibility those entertaining precisely the same views, but of less standing in their communities. It may be said that the former violated an oath, while the latter did not; tbe latter did not have it in their power to do so. If they had taken this oath, it can not be doubted they would have broken it as did the former class. If there are any great crimi nals, distinguished above all others for the part they took in opposition to the Government, they might, in the judgment of Congress, be ex cluded from such an amnesty. Ulysses S. Grant. 473 This subject is submitted for your careful consideration. The condition of the Southern States is, unhappily, not such as all true patriotic citizens would like to see. Social ostracism for opinion's sake, personal violence or threats toward persons entertaining politi cal views opposed to those entertained by the majority of the old citi zens, prevents immigration and the flow of much-needed capital into the States lately in rebellion. It will be a happy condition of the country when the old citizens of these States will take an interest in public affairs, promulgate ideas honestly entertained, vote for men rep resenting their views, and tolerate the same freedom of expression and ballot in those entertaining different political convictions. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 4, 187I. In my message to Congress one year ago I urgently recommended a reform in the Civil Service of the country. In conformity with that recommendation Congress, in the ninth section of " An act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government, and for other purposes," approved March 3, 1871, gave the necessary au thority to the Executive to inaugurate a civil service reform, and placed upon him the responsibility of doing so. Under the authority of said act I convened a board of gentlemen eminently qualified for the work to devise rules and regulations to effect the needed reform. Their labors are not yet complete, but it is believed that they will succeed in devising a plan that can be adopted to the great relief of the Execu tive, the heads of Departments, and members of Congress, and which will redound to the true interest of the public service. At all events, the experiment shall have a fair trial. SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH \, 1873. I acknowledge before this assemblage, representing, as it does, every section of our country, the obligation I am under to my country men for the great honor they have conferred on me by returning me to the highest office within their gift, and the further obligation resting on me to render to them the best services within my power. This I promise, looking forward with the greatest anxiety to the day when I shall be released from responsibilities that at times are almost over whelming, and from which I scarcely had a respite since the eventful firing upon Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, to the present day. My ser- 474 History of the United States. vices were then tendered and accepted under the first call for troops growing out of that event. I did not ask for place or position, and was entirely without influ ence or the acquaintance of persons of influence, but was resolved to perform my part in a struggle threatening the very existence of the Nation. I performed a conscientious duty without asking promotion or command, and without a revengeful feeling toward any section or individual. Notwithstanding this, throughout the war, and from my candidacy for my present office in 1868 to the close of the last Presidential campaign, I have been the subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equaled in political history, which to-day I feel that I can afford to disregard in view of your verdict, which I gratefully accept as my vindication. FIFTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER I, 1873. The steamer " Virginius " was on the 26th day of September, 1870, duly registered at the port of New York as a part of the commercial marine of the United States. On the 4th of October, 1870, having re ceived the certificate of her register in the usual legal form, she sailed from the port of New York and has not since been within the terri torial jurisdiction of the United States. On the 31st day of October last, while sailing under the flag of the United States on the high seas, she was forcibly seized by the Spanish gunboat " Tornado," and was carried into the port of Santiago de Cuba, where fifty-three of her passengers and crew were inhumanly, and, so far at least as relates to those who were citizens of the United States, without due process of law, put to death. It is a well-established principle, asserted by the United States from the beginning of their national independence, recognized by Great Britain and other maritime powers, and stated by the Senate in a reso lution passed unanimously on the 16th of June, 1858, that — American vessels on the hign seas in time ot peace, bearing the American flag, remain under the jurisdiction of the country to which they belong, and, therefore, any visitation, molestation, or detention of such vessel by force, or by the exhibition of force, on the part of a foreign power is in derogation of the sovereignty of the United States. Ulysses S. Grant. 475 In accordance with this principle, the restoration of the " Vir ginius " and the surrender of the survivors of her passengers and crew, and a due reparation to the flag, and the punishment of the authorities who had been guilty of the illegal acts of violence, were demanded The Spanish Government has recognized the justice of the demand, and has arranged for the immediate delivery of the vessel, and for the surrender of the survivors of the passengers and crew, and for a salute to the flag, and for proceedings looking to the punishment of those who may be proved to have been guilty of illegal acts of violence toward citizens of the United States. I would recommend for your favorable consideration the passage of an enabling act for the admission of Colorado as a State in the Union. It possesses all the elements of a prosperous State, agricul tural and mineral, and, I believe, has a population now to justify such admission. In connection with this I would also recommend the encouragement of a canal for purposes of irrigation from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains to the Missouri River. As a rule I am opposed to further donations of public lands for internal improve ments owned and controlled by private corporations, but in this in stance I would make an exception. Between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains there is an arid belt of public land from 300 to 500 miles in width, perfectly valueless for the occupation of man, for the want of sufficient rain to secure the growth of any product. An irrigating canal would make productive a belt as wide as the supply of water could be made to spread over across this entire country, and would secure a cordon of settlements connecting the present popula tion of the mountain and mining regions with that of older States. All the land reclaimed would be clear gain. If alternate sections are retained by the Government, I would suggest that the retained sections be thrown open to entry under the Homestead Laws, or sold to actual settlers for a very low price. It is with deep regret that the President announces (March 9, 1874) to the people of the United States the death of Millard Fillmore, one of his honored predecessors, who died at Buffalo, N. Y., last evening. The long-continued and useful public service and eminent purity of character of the deceased ex-President will be remembered beyond the days of mourning in which a nation will be thrown by the event which is thus announced. 476 History of the United States. It becomes the painful duty of the President to announce (July 31, 1875) to the people of the United States the death of Andrew Johnson the last survivor of his honored predecessors, which occurred in Carter country, East Tennessee, at an early hour this morning. The solemnity of the occasion which called him to the Presidency, with the varied nature and length of his public services, will cause him to be long remembered and occasion mourning for the death of a dis tinguished public servant. It is with profound sorrow that the President has (November 22, 1875) to announce to the people of the United States the death of the Vice-President, Henry Wilson, who died in the Capitol of the nation this morning. The eminent station of the deceased, his high character, his long career in the service of his State and of the Union, his devotion to the cause of freedom, and the ability which he brought to the discharge of every duty stand conspicuous and are indelibly impressed on the hearts and affections of the American people. SEVENTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 7, 1875. I look upon as vital to the best interests of the whole people — com ing within the purview of " Treasury ; " specie resumption. Too much stress can not be laid upon this question, and I hope Congress may be induced, at the earliest day practicable, to insure the consum mation of the act of the last Congress, at its last session, to bring about specie resumption " on and after the ist of January, 1879," at furthest. It would be a great blessing if this could be consummated even at an earlier day. Nothing seems to me more certain than that a full, healthy, and per manent reaction can not take place in favor of the industries and finan cial welfare of the country until we return to a measure of values recog- ized throughout the civilized world. While we use a currency not equivalent to this standard the world's recognized standard, specie, becomes a commodity like the products of the soil, the surplus seeking a market wherever there is a demand for it. Under our present system we should want none, nor would we have any, were it not that customs dues must be paid in coin and because of the pledge to pay interest on the public debt in coin. The yield of precious metals would flow out for the purchase of foreign produc- GENERAL GRANT'S TOMB ON MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NEW YORK CITY. Ulysses S. Grant. 479 tions and leave the United States " hewers of wood and drawers of water," because of wiser legislation on the subject of finance by the nations with whom we have dealings. I am not prepared to say that I can suggest the best legislation to secure the end most heartily rec ommended. It will be a source of great gratification to me to be able to approve any measure of Congress looking effectively toward secur ing " resumption." Unlimited inflation would probably bring about specie payments more speedily than any legislation looking to redemption of the legal- tenders in coin; but it would be at the expense of honor. The legal tenders would have no value beyond settling present liabilities, or, properly speaking, repudiating them. They would buy nothing after debts were all settled. There are a few measures which seem to me important in this con nection and which I recommend to your earnest consideration: A repeal of so much of the legal-tender act as makes these notes receivable for debts contracted after a date to be fixed in the act itself, say not later than the ist of January, 1877. We should then have quotations at real values, not fictitious ones. Gold would no longer be at a premium, but currency at a discount. A healthy reaction would set in at once, and with it a desire to make the currency equal to what it purports to be. The merchants, manufacturers, and tradesmen of every calling could do business on a fair margin of profit, the money to be received having an unvarying value. Laborers and all classes who work for stipulated pay or salary would receive more for their in come, because extra profits would no longer be charged by the capital ists to compensate for the risk of a downward fluctuation in the value of the currency. EIGHTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 1876. Taxes have been reduced within the last seven years nearly $300,000,000, and the national debt has been reduced in the same time over $435,000,000. By refunding the 6 per cent, bonded debt for bonds bearing 5 and Ak per cent, interest, respectively, the annual interest has been reduced from over $130,000,000 in 1869 to but little over $100,000,000 in 1876. The balance of trade has been changed from over $130,000,000 against the United States in 1869 to more than $120,000,000 in our favor in 1876. The Court of Commissioners of Alabama Claims, whose functions were continued by an act of the last session of Congress until the ist 480 History of the United States. day of January, 1877, has carried on its labors with diligence and gen eral satisfaction. By a report from the clerk of the court, transmitted herewith, bearing date November 14, 1876, it appears that within the time now allowed by law the court will have disposed of all the claims presented for adjudication. This report also contains a statement of the general results of the labor of the court to the date thereof. It is a cause of satisfaction that the method adopted for the satisfaction of the classes of claims submitted to the court, which are of long stand ing and justly entitled to early consideration, should have proved suc cessful and acceptable. It is with satisfaction that I am enabled to state that the work of the joint commission for determining the boundary line between the United States and British possessions from the northwest angle of the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, commenced in 1872, has been completed. The final agreements of the commissioners, with the maps, have been duly signed, and the work of the commission is complete. LIFE OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. ("LYSSES S. GRANT was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April _J 27, 1822. His father, Jesse R. Grant, was of Scotch ancestry, and descended from Mathew Grant, who emigrated to Dor chester, Mass., in 1630. His mother was Hannah Simpson. When about a year old, his parents moved to Georgetown, Ohio, where his early life was spent, until he reached his seventeenth year, when he entered the Military Academy at West Point, as a cadet. He grad uated in 1843 and was attached to the Fourth United States Infantry as second lieutenant He served through the Mexican War, and dis tinguished himself for gallant conduct, and was appointed September 16, 1847, first lieutenant. He married Miss Julia Dent of St. Louis, Mo., August 22, 1848, and was stationed on the Pacific Coast in 1852. He was made a captain the next year, but resigned his commission in 1854, and re turned to the east, living in St. Louis until May, i860, when he went to Galena, 111., and entered his father's store as a clerk. When Presi dent Lincoln issued his first call for troops in April, 1861, Grant re sponded by raising and drilling a company of volunteers. He also offered his service to the Government by letter, May 24, 1861, but Ulysses S. Grant. 481 no reply was ever made to it. The following June he was appointed colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, and served until Au gust 7th, when Lincoln made him brigadier-general of volunteers. He was assigned September ist, to command the District of Southern Missouri, with headquarters at Cairo, and on February 6, 1862, cap tured Fort Henry, and on the 16th of February, Fort Donelson. His war record thenceforward was a series of brilliant victories, carefully planned and ably conducted campaigns, until on March 12, 1864, he assumed command of all the armies of the United States with the rank of lieutenant-general. On May 4, 1864, he began his celebrated campaign which terminated the war and brought the Confederates to surrender in April, 1865. His grateful fellow countrymen vied with each other in showing their gratitude and honoring him. His neighbors in Galena gave him a pretty home in their town, the people of New York, a check for $105,000, the residents of Philadelphia a fine residence in that city. The Republicans nominated him for President May 20, 1868. He was elected the following November, and re-elected in 1872. He retired March 4, 1877, and traveled around the world, being received everywhere with great distinction and honor. He died at Mount Mc Gregor, N. Y., July 22, 1885. His remains lie in the magnificent mausoleum erected by the con tributions of the nation on Riverside Drive on the banks of the Hud son River, in New York city. Jmm iyy- r-t of the land or naval force of the United States as shall be judged necessary, having first observed all the prerequisites of the law in that respect. By this act it will be seen that the scope of the law of 1795 was extended so as to authorize the National Government to use not only the militia, but the Army and Navy of the United States, in " causing the laws to be duly executed." 496 History of the United States. The important provision of the acts of 1792, 1795, and 1807, modi fied in its terms from time to time to adapt it to the existing emer gency, remained in force until, by an act approved by President Lincoln July 29, 1861, it was rerenacted substantially in the same language in which it is now found in the Revised Statutes, viz. : Sec 298. Whenever, by reason of unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages of persons, or rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States, it shall become impracticable, in the judgment of the President, to enforce by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings the laws of the United States within any State or Territory, it shall be lawful for the President to call forth the militia of any or all the States and to employ such parts of the land and naval forces of the United States as he may deem necessary to enforce the faithful execution of the laws of the United States or to suppress such rebellion, in whatever State or Territory thereof the laws of the United States may be forcibly opposed or the execution thereof forcibly obstructed. This ancient and fundamental law has been in force from the founda tion of the Government. It is now proposed to abrogate it on certain days and at certain places. In my judgment no fact has been pro duced which tends to show that it ought to be repealed or suspended for a single hour at any place in any of the States or Territories of the Union. All the teachings of experience in the course of our history are in favor of sustaining its efficiency unimpaired. On every occasion when the supremacy of the Constitution has been resisted and the perpetuity of our institutions imperiled the principle of this statute, enacted by the fathers, has enabled the Government of the Union to maintain its authority and to preserve the integrity of the nation. At the most critical periods of our history my predecessors in the executive office have relied on this great principle. It was on this principle that President Washington suppressed the whisky rebellion in Pennsylvania in 1794. In 1806, on the same principle, President Jefferson broke up the Burr conspiracy by issuing " orders for the employment of such force, either of the regulars or of the militia, and by such proceedings of the civil authorities, * * * as might enable them to suppress effectually the further progress of the enterprise." And it was under the same authority that President Jackson crushed nullification in South Caro lina and that President Lincoln issued his call for troops to save the ^tiLct.,i,..t....iA.f/f ^ j ... ,. , - . - ( 0. I.I1 I • --/: ./ ( , t . t . , , , ¦ < I fy ...... . ¦ ff .. >„ j >« , /' / f i ¦ /, . , ,, .r. f ¦ I !. . (' A.-, ¦ (I I (h f/X/L I t. '/,. o Of.. ¦ X '¦¦ ¦ ii. . ,i j /.. /.- •. X. si...'...,. „;*... !¦• • « I ) / FIRST PAGE OF PRESIDENT HAYES' PROCLAMATION TO SUPPRESS RAILROAD STRIKE IN MARYLAND. c ¦- 1 .- -<- - r < I * i As... .y/y suiy^_^AJL dUz~ A • y CL I, < ku/y^^-i -" ^'--* -i J^-^-fcjou^^ „ fl ¦ 0 , -j ¦ i- ..A ,.., j .-_..,., ,„. j, . AI^.a.v.-Xs J ( / ; /,. y. A. yX y.,, .'/. U ¦. jy / y/ '•'¦¦ '-I t. (/.(/, / '-A^^jcL ¦ . ii . ¦ .ul d o i o i , 15- / i C ft t o 0 LAST PAGE AND SIGNATURE OF PRESIDENT HAYES' PROC LAMATION TO SUPPRESS MARYLAND RAILROAD STRIKE. Rutherford B. Hayes. 499 Union in 1861. On numerous other occasions of less significance, under probably every Administration, and certainly under the present, this power has been usefully exerted to enforce the laws, without objection by any party in the country, and almost without attracting public attention. The great elementary constitutional principle which was the founda tion of the original statute of 1792, and which has been its essence in the various forms it has assumed since its first adoption, is that the Government of the United States possesses under the Constitution, in full measure, the power of self-protection by its own agencies, alto gether independent of State authority, and, if need be, against the hostility of State governments. It should remain embodied in our statutes unimpaired, as it has been from the very origin of the Government. It should be regarded as hardly less valuable or less sacred than a provision of the Constitution itself. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER I, 1879. I congratulate Congress on the successful execution of the resump tion act. At the time fixed, and in the manner contemplated by law, United States notes began to be redeemed in coin. Since the ist of January last they have been promptly redeemed on presentation, and in all business transactions, public and private, in all parts of the country, they are received and paid out as the equivalent of coin. The demand upon the Treasury for gold and silver in exchange for United States notes has been comparatively small, and the voluntary deposit of coin and bullion in exchange for notes has been very large. The excess of the precious metals deposited or exchanged for United States notes over the amount of United States notes redeemed is about $40,000,000. The resumption of specie payments has been followed by a very great revival of business. With a currency equivalent in value to the money of the commercial world, we are enabled to enter upon an equal competition with other nations in trade and production. The increasing foreign demand for our manufactures and agricultural products has caused a large balance of trade in our favor, which has been paid in gold, from the ist of July last to November 15th, to the amount of about $59,000,000. Since the resumption of specie pay ments there has also been a marked and gratifying improvement of the public credit. The bonds of the Government bearing only 4 per 500 History of the United States. cent, interest have been sold at or above par, sufficient in amount to pay off all of the national debt which was redeemable under present laws. The amount of interest saved annually by the process of re funding the debt since March i, 1877, is $14,297,177. The bonds sold were largely in small sums, and the number of our citizens now holding the public securities is much greater than ever before. The amount of the national debt which matures within less than two years is $792,121,700, of which $500,000,000 bear interest at the rate of 5 per cent., and the balance is in bonds bearing 6 per cent, interest. It is believed that this part of the public debt can be refunded by the issue of 4 per cent, bonds, and, by the reduction of interest which will thus be effected, about $11,000,000 can be annually saved to the Treasury. To secure this important reduction of interest to be paid by the United States further legislation is required, which it is hoped will be provided by Congress during its present session. The coinage of gold by the mints of the United States during the last fiscal year was $40,986,912. The coinage of silver dollars since the passage of the act for that purpose up to November 1, 1879, was $45,000,850, of which $12,700,344 have been issued from the Treasury and are now in circulation, and $32,300,506 are still in the possession of the Government. The third article of the treaty with Russia of March 30, 1867, by which Alaska was ceded to the United States, provides that the in habitants of the ceded territory, with the exception of the uncivilized native tribes, shall be admitted to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States and shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion. The un civilized tribes are subject to such laws and regulations as the United States may from time to time adopt in regard to the aboriginal tribes of that country. Both the obligations of this treaty and the necessities of the people require that some organized form of government over the Territory of Alaska be adopted. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, l88o. The power of Congress to enact suitable laws to protect the Terri tories is ample. It is not a case for halfway measures. The political power of the Mormon sect is increasing. It controls now one of our Rutherford B. PIayes. 501 wealthiest and most populous Territories. It is extending steadily into other Territories. Wherever it goes it establishes polygamy and sectarian political power. The sanctity of marriage and the family relation are the corner-stone of our American society and civilization. Religious liberty and the separation of church and state are among the elementary ideas of free institutions. To re-establish the interests and principles which polygamy and Mormonism have imperiled, and to fully reopen to intelligent and virtuous immigrants of all creeds that part of our domain which has been in a great degree closed to general immigration by intolerant and immoral institutions, it is recommended that the government of the Territory of Utah be reorganized. I recommend that Congress provide for the government of Utah by a governor and judges, or commissioners, appointed by the Presi dent and confirmed by the Senate — a government analogous to the provisional government established for the territory northwest of the Ohio by the ordinance of 1787. If, however, it is deemed best to continue the existing form of local government, I recommend that the right to vote, hold office, and sit on juries in the Territory of Utah be confined to those who neither practice nor uphold polygamy. If thorough measures are adopted, it is believed that within a few years the evils which now afflict Utah will be -eradicated, and that this Territory will in good time become one of the most prosperous and attractive of the new States of the Union. The collections of books, specimens, and records constituting the Army Medical Museum and Library are of national importance. The library now contains about 51,500 volumes and 57,000 pamphlets re lating to medicine, surgery, and allied topics. The contents of the Army Medical Museum consist of 22,000 specimens, and are unique in the completeness with which both military surgery and the diseases of armies are illustrated. Their destruction would be an irreparable loss, not only to the United States, but to the world. There are filed in the Record and Pension Division over 16,000 bound volumes of hospital records, together with a great quantity of papers, embracing the original records of the hospitals of our armies during the civil war. Aside from their historical value, these records are daily searched for evidence needed in the settlement of large numbers of pension and other claims, for the protection of the Government against attempted frauds, as well as for the benefit of honest claimants. These valuable collections are now in a building which is peculiarly exposed to the danger of destruction by fire. It is, therefore, earnestly recommended 502 History of the United States. that an appropriation be made for a new fireproof building, adequate for the present needs and reasonable future expansion of these valuable collections. Such a building should be absolutely fireproof; no ex penditure for mere architectural display is required. It is believed that a suitable structure can be erected at a cost not to exceed $250,000. I concur with the Secretary of the Interior in expressing the earnest hope that Congress will at this session take favorable action on the bill providing for the allotment of lands on the different reservations in severalty to the Indians, with patents conferring fee-simple title inalienable for a certain period, and the eventual disposition of the residue of the reservations for general settlement, with the consent and for the benefit of the Indians, placing the latter under the equal protection of the laws of the country. This measure, together with a vigorous prosecution of our educational efforts, will work the most important and effective advance toward the solution of the Indian problem, in preparing for the gradual merging of our Indian popula tion in the great body of American citizenship. LIFE OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES was born October 4, 1822, in Delaware, Ohio. In July, 1822, his father died. He entered Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, in 1838, and graduated in 1842. He then began to study law and entered the Harvard Law School, August, 1843, where he remained until January, 1845. He was admitted to the bar of Ohio the next May and began to practice at Fremont, but moved to Cincinnati in 1849. He married Miss Lucy Ware Webb of Chillicothe, Ohio, December 30, 1852. He became a Republican as soon as that party had an existence, and advocated the election of Lincoln in i860. He became major of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers, June 7, 1861, and the following September was ap pointed by General Rosecrans judge-advocate of the Department of the Ohio. He served through the war and was universally considered as a leader of men, to be both intrepid and skilful, a brave officer and a humane commander. For the distinguished part he took in the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, he was breveted major-gen eral. While in service, in August, 1864, he was elected to Congress, and on the termination of the war took his seat December 4, 1865. Rutherford B. Hayes. 503 He became governor of Ohio, 1867, and was re-elected 1869, and in 1875. He ran for President against Samuel J. Tilden, in 1876. The election resulted in a bitter dispute, each party claiming to have carried Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. By a special act advocated by both parties, the case was referred to a commission, which declared in favor of Mr. Hayes, and he was inaugurated March 5, 1877. On the expiration of his term he retired to his home at Fremont, Ohio. He became active in all educational and benevolent enterprises. He died at Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893, and was buried there. 5°4 History of the United States. HOME OF JAMES A. GARFIELD AT HIRAM OHIO. CHAPTER XX. GARFIELD, GREAT IN LIFE AND IN DEATH. By Charlfs Dick, Congressman from Ohi T N one of his speeches delivered in the National House of Representatives in 1866, Garfield said: " To all our means of culture is added that powerful incentive to personal ambition which springs from the genius of our Government. The pathway to honorable distinction lies open to all. No post of honor is so high but the poorest may hope to reach it. It is the. pride of every American that many distinguished names at whose mention our hearts beat with a quicker bound were worn by the sons of poverty, who conouered obscurity and became fixed stars in our firmament" James A. Garfield. 505 These words, uttered at a time when Garfield's splendid career was not yet in its opening stages, impart a forcible intimation of one of the marked characteristics of his earnest and determined nature, namely, his clear con ception of the opportunities afforded to young men of the present time by our Republican form of government and the guaranty it gives of equal rights to all. By these words he evidenced the fact that he had grasped the possibilities of individual attainment, and was imbued with the spirit of our institutions. He knew the possibilities of his own life, and possessed a serene confidence that his country would offer opportunities for their realization. He never underestimated, and was always quick to see the value of an opportunity. Whatever he set out to do, he did it with his might. He did not believe in luck. His estimate of a man was based upon his capacity for hard work. Every effort of life, whether public or private, was to him an opportunity for the emulation of a lofty ideal. On entering Congress he was immediately recognized as a political force. His first utterance secured the attention of every member. Not possessing the tricks of oratory, he had what is better, the profoundness of logic. Sweep ing aside the misty film which shrouded a subject under discussion, he made plain and bare the intricate matter it contained, and in terse, eloquent sentences he forced his conclusions. When he had finished, the discussion was ended. He was a recognized leader. He was master of all subjects. While he adorned every discussion with his eloquence, he enforced his views with in controvertible argument. He saw and improved opportunities as they came, and day after day he grew in intellectual vigor and political strength until his reputation became national and his ability commanded universal confidence and respect. In reaching this eminence he never crawled an inch. He moved upward as the eagle goes to the mountain top. Dignified, but not ostentatious, frank but not blunt, reserved but not austere, patient and laborious, he conquered all conditions, surmounted all obstacles and survived all vicissitudes. When the hand of the assassin laid him low, the characteristics that made him great in life gave the touch of beauty and sublimity to his noble spirit through the closing hours that resulted in death. Throughout his life he had ever aimed to merit his own self-respect and the approval of his Maker. Accepting his election as United States Senator, in a speech to the Ohio legislature he said: " I have represented for many years a district in Congress whose approbation I greatly desired; but, though it may seem, perhaps, a little egotistical to say it, I yet desired still more the approba tion of one person and his name is Garfield." 506 History of the United States. The abrupt and untimely ending of his career was a sad blow to the country, and a most bitter affliction to his many friends. It removed from our midst in the very prime of usefulness and ability one of the most complete and representative types of human character that our immediate civilization has produced. As we scan the eventful life of this Colossus of men, and consider the unrealized possibilities of his magnificent career, had fate decreed for him the usual span of earthly existence, we can not but feel that an irreparable loss was sustained in his death. By reason of the exalted station he had attained and the extraordinary force and energy of his splendid manhood, great expectations were entertained by all, and especially by those who knew him best, of the good that would come to the country at large as well as to its individual citizens as the result of his further public services. It is not too much to say that President Garfield's Administration, had his term of office extended the full period, by reason of thd policies he represented, and the plans contemplated, for the development of our resources and the advancement of our position as a commercial nation, would have been one of the most notable and progressive in American history. W twentieth president of the united states. /A / ~ yr^Aifi. /> ¦Ayfs^AjA) o^_ C-^ yAVfAA^rysOstT^sf yheAtytsts/isfst/ sk/JbAAl a-/ yisfjij. ydxyys^ytJfii/is o-fA yQjf/fJf' S^wtXi tXyytsTi^-^ls^si^fiisLsy Jya^Azut^, , /LuA '- ~/6r~ yOfA y/yyyyfy.A^ ty^/xtf /-Z/^ ^£AJAXA yL-G~Pii&yAJsjis? JtJsfJJtf Qa-4-* *-T^ /^- < C^C\ tXseA?. (yff Wi/AnrifJiiAiAi _ AJ " i Jdkifhs^ cAa. sify^AyA cyy/A-/ A/*y1~' & ftL.yL&sific^ 522 History of the United States. ADMINISTRATION OF 1881-1885. By Chester A. Arthur. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, SEPTEMBER 22, l88l. FOR the fourth time in the history of the Republic its Chief Magistrate has been removed by death. All hearts are filled with grief and horror at the hideous crime which has darkened our land, and the memory of the murdered President, his protracted sufferings, his unyielding fortitude, the example and achievements of his life, and the pathos of his death will forever illumine the pages of our history. For the fourth time the officer elected by the people and ordained by the Constitution to fill a vacancy so created is called to assume the Executive chair. The wisdom of our fathers, foreseeing even the most dire possibilities, made sure that the Government should never be imperiled because of the uncertainty of human life. Men may die, but the fabrics of our free institutions remain unshaken. No higher or more assuring proof could exist of the strength and permanence of popular government than the fact that though the chosen of the people be struck down his constitutional successor is peacefully installed without shock or strain except the sorrow which mourns the bereave ment. All the noble aspirations of my lamented predecessor which found expression in his life, the measures devised and suggested during his brief Administration to correct abuses, to enforce economy, to advance prosperity, and to promote the general welfare, to insure domestic security and maintain friendly and honorable relations with the nations of the earth, will be garnered in the hearts of the people; and it will be my earnest endeavor to profit, and to see that the nation shall profit, by his example and experience. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, l88l. The questions growing out of the proposed interoceanic waterway across the Isthmus of Panama are of grave national importance. This Government has not been unmindful of the solemn obligations Chester A. Arthur. 523 imposed upon it by its compact of 1846 with Colombia, as the in dependent and sovereign mistress of the territory crossed by the canal, and has sought to render them effective by fresh engagements with the Colombian Republic looking to their practical execution. The negotiations to this end, after they had reached what appeared to be a mutually satisfactory solution here, were met in Colombia by a disavowal of the powers which its envoy had assumed and by a proposal for renewed negotiation on a modified basis. Meanwhile this Government learned that Colombia had proposed to the European powers to join in a guaranty of the neutrality of the proposed Panama canal — a guaranty which would be in direct con travention of our obligation as the sole guarantor of the integrity of Colombian territory and of the neutrality of the canal itself. My lamented predecessor felt it his duty to place before the European powers the reasons which make the prior guaranty of the United States indispensable, and for which the interjection of any foreign guaranty might be regarded as a superfluous and unfriendly act. Foreseeing the probable reliance of the British Government on the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 as affording room for a share in the guaranties which the United States covenanted with Colombia four years before, I have not hesitated to supplement the action of my predecessor by proposing to Her Majesty's Govern ment the modification of that instrument and the abrogation of such clauses thereof as do not comport with the obligations of the United States toward Colombia or with the vital needs of the two friendly parties to the compact. Prominent among the matters which challenge the attention of Congress at its present session is the management of our Indian affairs. First. I recommend the passage of an act making the laws of the various States and Territories applicable to the Indian reservations within their borders and extending the laws of the State of Arkansas to the portion of the Indian Territory not occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes. The Indian should receive the protection of the law. He should be allowed to maintain in court his rights of person and property. He has repeatedly begged for this privilege. Its exercise would be very valuable to him in his progress toward civilization. Second. Of even greater importance is a measure which has been frequently recommended by my precedessor in office, and in further- 524 History of the United States. ance of which several bills have been from time to time introduced in both Houses of Congress. The enactment of a general law permitting the allotment in severalty, to such Indians, at least, as desire it, of a reasonable quantity of land secured to them by patent, and for their own protection made inalienable for twenty or twenty-five years, is demanded for their present welfare and their permanent advancement. In return for such considerate action on the part of the Govern ment, there is reason to believe that the Indians in large numbers would be persuaded to sever their tribal relations and to engage at once in agricultural pursuits. Many of them realize the fact that their hunting days are over and that it is now for their best interests to conform their manner of life to the new order of things. By no greater inducement than the assurance of permanent title to the soil can they be led to engage in the occupation of tilling it. The well-tested reports of their increasing interest in husbandry justify the hope and belief that enactment of such a statute as I recommend would be at once attended with gratifying results. A resort to the allotment system would have a direct and powerful in fluence in dissolving the tribal bond, which is so prominent a feature of savage life, and which tends so strongly to perpetuate it. Third. I advise a liberal appropriation for the support of Indian schools, because of my confident belief that such a course is consistent with the wisest economy. Even among the most uncultivated Indian tribes there is reported to be a general and urgent desire on the part of the chiefs and older members for the education of their children. It is unfortunate, in view of this fact, that during the past year the means which have been at the command of the Interior Department for the purpose of Indian instruction has proved to be utterly inadequate. The success of the schools which are in operation at Hampton, Carlisle, and Forest Grove should not only encourage a more generous provision for the support of those institutions, but should prompt the establishment of others of a similar character. After careful consideration (April 4, 1882) of Senate bill No. 71, en titled "An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese," I herewith return it to the Senate, in which it originated, with my objections to its passage. -fyty\r twenty-first president of the united states / ' ...' S { . I . ., ¦ X f x , .. . ,(;,-,',,(.. . , I .. ! ,f.y. ;,, >. i :¦¦•¦ '¦"/, ..„,', / j ( . ', " ;-/, . -.', If.,. -yf ¦ ' '., uA(„ i t Lx ,., t I; i f, A- ¦ A i j (;' J .,...,, f .( i ./,(.A..-.,J.y.u.-..i.i. ¦ .¦ f ?„..,,,- f. , , I, < k s v m .. (,-f. < ,. ,. j ,.¦¦<<:.¦„ I /. . ... ,. , u.. ' >- ' ¦'-<¦¦" PRESIDENT ARTHUR'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRESIDENT GAR FIELD'S DEATH. {. (. II,., IV '• A : 'ztCi-z AzJt^ , A PRESIDENT ARTHUR'S SIGNATURE TO OFFICIAL ANNOUNCE MENT OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD'S DEATH. Chester A. Arthur. 529 A nation is justified in repudiating its treaty obligations only when they are in conflict with great paramount interests. Even then all possible reasonable means for modifying or changing those obligations by mutual agreement should be exhausted before resorting to the supreme right of refusal to comply with them. These rules have governed the United States in their past inter course with other powers as one of the family of nations. I am persuaded that if Congress can feel that this act violates the faith of the nation as pledged to China it will concur with me in rejecting this particular mode of regulating Chinese immigration, and will en deavor to find another which shall meet the expectations of the people of the United States without coming in conflict with the rights of China. The present treaty relations between that power and the United States spring from an antagonism which arose between our paramount domestic interests and our previous relations. The treaty commonly known as the Burlingame treaty conferred upon Chinese subjects the right of voluntary emigration to the United States for the purposes of curiosity or trade or as permanent residents, and was in all respects reciprocal as to citizens of the United States in China. It gave to the voluntary emigrant coming to the United States the right to travel there or to reside there, with all the privileges, immunities, or exemptions enjoyed by the citizens or sub jects of the most favored nation. Under the operation of this treaty it was found that the institutions of the United States and the character of its people and their means of obtaining a livelihood might be seriously affected by the unrestricted introduction of Chinese labor. Congress attempted to alleviate this condition by legislation, but the act which it passed proved to be in violation of our treaty obligations, and, being returned by the Presi dent with his objections, failed to become a law. Diplomatic relief was then sought. A new treaty was concluded with China. Without abrogating the Burlingame treaty, it was agreed to modify it so far that the Government of the United States might regulate, limit, or suspend the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States or their residence therein, but that it should not absolutely prohibit them, and that the limitation or suspension should be reasonable and should apply only to Chinese who might go to the United States as laborers, other classes not being included in the limitations. This treaty is unilateral, not reciprocal. It is a con- 530 History of the United States. cession from China to the United States in limitation of the rights which she was enjoying under the Burlingame treaty. It leaves us by our own act to determine when and how we will enforce those limitations. China may therefore fairly have a right to expect that in enforcing them we will take good care not to overstep the grant and take more than has been conceded to us. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 4, 1883. The Secretary of the Navy reports that under the authority of the acts of August 5, 1882, and March 3, 1883, the work of strengthening our Navy by the construction of modern vessels has been auspiciously begun. Three cruisers are in process of construction — the " Chicago," of 4,500 tons displacement, and the " Boston " and " Atlanta," each of 2,500 tons. They are to be built of steel, with the tensile strength and ductility prescribed by law, and in the combination of speed, en durance, and armament are expected to compare favorably with the best unarmored war vessels of other nations. A fourth vessel, the" " Dolphin," is to be constructed of similar material, and is intended to serve as a fleet dispatch boat. The double-turreted monitors " Puritan," " Amphitrite," and " Ter ror " have been launched on the Delaware River and a contract has been made for the supply of their machinery. A similar monitor, the " Monadnock," has been launched in California. The Naval Advisory Board and the Secretary recommend the com pletion of the monitors, the construction of four gunboats, and also of three additional steel vessels like the " Chicago," " Boston," and " Dolphin." As an important measure of national defense, the Secretary urges also the immediate creation of an interior coast line of waterways across the peninsula of Florida, along the coast from Florida to Hampton Roads, between the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River, and through Cape Cod. I feel bound to impress upon the attention of Congress the neces sity of continued progress in the reconstruction of the Navy. The condition of the public Treasury, as I have already intimated, makes the present an auspicious time for putting this branch of the service in a state of efficiency. That our naval strength should be made adequate for the defense of our harbors, the protection of our commercial interests, and the Chester A. Arthur. 531 maintenance of our national honor is a proposition from which no patriotic citizen can withhold his assent. Whereas both Houses of Congress did on the 20th instant (Decem ber, 1883) request the commemoration, on the 23d instant, of the one hundredth anniversary of the surrender by George Washington, at Annapolis, of his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the patriot forces of America; and Whereas it is fitting that this memorable act, which not only signal ized the termination of the heroic struggle of seven years for in dependence, but also manifested Washington's devotion to the great principle that ours is a civic government of and by the people, should be generally observed throughout the United States: Now, therefore, I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States, do hereby recommend that either by appropriate exercises in connection with the religious services of the 23d instant or by such public observances as may be deemed proper on Monday, the 24th instant, this signal event in the history of American liberty be com memorated; and further, I hereby direct that at 12 o'clock noon on Monday next the national salute be fired from all the forts throughout the country. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER I, 1884. On the 29th of February last (1884), I transmitted to the Congress the first annual report of the Civil Service Commission, together with communications from the heads of the several Executive Departments of the Government respecting the practical workings of the law under which the Commission had been acting. The good results therein. foreshadowed have been more than realized. The system has fully answered the expectations of its friends in securing competent and faithful public servants and in protecting the appointing officers of the Government from the pressure of personal importunity and from the labor of examining the claims and preten sions of rival candidates for public employment. I transmit herewith to the Senate (December 10, 1884), for con sideration with a view to ratification, a treaty signed on the ist of De cember with the Republic of Nicaragua, providing for the construc tion of an interoceanic canal across the territory of that State. The negotiation of this treaty was entered upon under a conviction that it was imperatively demanded by the present and future political and material interests of the United States, 532 History of the United States. The establishment of water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Union is a necessity, the accomplishment of which, however, within the territory of the United States is a physi cal impossibility. While the enterprise of our citizens has responded to the duty of creating means of speedy transit by rail between the two oceans, these great achievements are inadequate to supply a most important requisite of national union and prosperity. For all maritime purposes the States upon the Pacific are more distant from those upon the Atlantic than if separated by either ocean alone. Europe and Africa are nearer to New York, and Asia nearer to California, than are these two great States to each other by sea. Weeks of steam voyage or months under sail are consumed in the passage around the Horn, with the disadvantage of traversing tem pestuous waters or risking the navigation of the Straits of Magellan. A nation like ours can not rest satisfied with such a separation of its mutually dependent members. We possess an ocean border of considerably over 10,000 m41es on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and, including Alaska, of some 10,000 miles on the Pacific. Within a generation the western coast has developed into an empire, with a large and rapidly growing population, with vast, but partially de veloped, resources. At the present rate of increase the end of the century will see us a commonwealth of perhaps nearly 100,000,000 inhabitants, of which the West should have a considerably larger and richer proportion than now. Forming one nation in interests and aims, the East and the West are more widely disjoined for ali purposes of direct and economical intercourse by water and of national defense against maritime aggression than are most of the colonies of other powers from their mother country. The problem of establishing such water communication has long attracted attention. Many projects have been formed and surveys have been made of all possible available routes. As a knowledge of the true topical conditions of the Isthmus was gained, insuperable difficulties in one case and another became evident, until by a process of elimination only two routes remained within range of profitable achievement, one by way of Panama and the other across Nicaragua. The treaty now laid before you provides for such a waterway through the friendly territory of Nicaragua. I invite your special attention to the provisions of the convention itself as best evidencing its scope. From respect to the independent sovereignty of the Republic, through whose co-operation the project can alone be realized, the Chester A. Arthur. 533 stipulations of the treaty look to the fullest recognition and protection of Nicaraguan rights in the premises. The United States have no motive or desire for territorial acquisition or political control beyond the present borders, and none such is contemplated by this treaty. The two Governments unite in framing this scheme as the sole means by .which the work, as indispensable to the one as to the other, can be accomplished under such circumstances as to prevent alike the possi bility of conflict between them and of interference from without. The canal is primarily a domestic means of water communication between the Atlantic and Pacific shores of the two countries which unite for its construction, the one contributing the territory and the other furnishing the money therefor. Recognizing the advantages which the world's commerce must derive from the work, appreciating the benefit of enlarged use to the canal itself by contributing to its maintenance and by yielding an interest return on the capital invested therein, and inspired by the belief that any great enterprise which inures to the general benefit of the world is in some sort a trust for the common advancement of mankind, the two Governments have by this treaty provided for its peaceable use by all nations on equal terms, while reserving to the coasting trade of both countries, in which none but the contracting parties are interested, the privilege of favoring tolls. The treaty provides for the construction of a railway and telegraph Hne, if deemed advisable, as accessories to the canal, as both may be necessary for the economical construction of the work and probably. in its operation when completed. The terms of the treaty as to the protection of the canal, while scrupulously confirming the sovereignty of Nicaragua, amply secure that State and the work itself from possible contingencies of the future which it may not be within the sole power of Nicaragua to meet. From a purely commercial point of view the completion of such a waterway opens a most favorable prospect for the future of our country. The nations of the Pacific coast of South America will by its means be brought into close connection with our Gulf States. The relation of those American countries to the United States is that of a natural market, from which the want of direct communication has hitherto practically excluded us. By piercing the Isthmus the hereto fore insuperable obstacles of time and sea distance disappear, and our vessels and productions will enter upon the world's competitive field with a decided advantage, of which they will avail themselves. 534 History of the United States. When to this is joined the large coasting trade between the Atlantic and Pacific States, which must necessarily spring up, it is evident that this canal affords, even alone, an efficient means of restoring our flag to its former place on the seas. Such a domestic coasting trade would arise immediately, for even the fishing vessels of both seaboards, which now lie idle in the winter months, could then profitably carry goods between the Eastern and the Western States. The political effect of the canal will be to knit closer the States now depending upon railway corporations for all commercial and personal intercourse, and it will not only cheapen the cost of trans portation, but will free individuals from the possibility of unjust discriminations. It will bring the European grain markets of demand within easy distance of our Pacific States, and will give to the manufacturers on the Atlantic seaboard economical access to the cities of China, thus breaking down the barrier which separates the principal manufactur ing centers of the United States from the markets of the vast popula tion of Asia, and placing the Eastern States of the Union for all purposes of trade midway between Europe and Asia. In point of time the gain for sailing vessels would be great, amounting from New York to San Francisco to a saving of seventy-five days; to Hong kong, of twenty-seven days; to Shanghai, of thirty-four days, and to Callao, of fifty-two days. I may add that the canal can be constructed by the able Engineer Corps of our Army, under their thorough system, cheaper and better than any work of such magnitude can in any other way be built. I nominate (March 3, 1885) Ulysses S. Grant, formerly command ing the armies of the United States, to be general on the retired list of the Army, with the full pay of such rank. Chester A. Arthur. 535 LIFE OF CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR. CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR was born in Fairfield, Vt., Octo ber 5, 1830. His father, Rev. William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman, was born in Ireland. His mother was Malvina Stone. Mr. Arthur entered the sophomore class of Union College in 1845 and graduated in 1848 at the age of 18 years. He shortly after began the study of law and in 1853 entered the law office of Erastus D. Culver, in New York city. During that year he was admitted to the bar and became a member of the firm of Culver, Parker and Arthur. He married Miss Ellen Lewis Herndon, of Fredericksburg, Va., in 1859. The next year he was appointed on Governor Edward D. Mor gan's staff as engineer-in-chief, ranking as brigadier-general. In April, 1861, on the outbreak of the war, he became Quartermaster-General aud at once began in New York city to prepare and send forward the State's troops required. He became Inspector-General February 10, 1862. He retired from office December 31, 1862, when Horatio Seymour became governor, and resumed his law practice. In 1871 he was appointed Collector of the Port of New York and held that office until 1878. He was nominated for Vice-President on the ticket with James A. Garfield and elected November 2, 1880. On the death of President Garfield, September 19, 1881, Mr. Arthur succeeded to the Presidency and took the oath of office on the 20th of Septem ber, at his residence in New York city, and again in Washington at the Capitol, on the 22d of September. On leaving the White House he returned to New York city where, at his home, he died suddenly, November 18, 1886. He was buried in the Rural Cemetery at Albany. 536 History of the United States. • I'i'Ai-fX-: s ) . /./ ;::r-:r-r-'' !'A" r*' sTf^-C-*^ -'•¦=-•-¦ - BIRTHPLACE OF GROVER CLEVELAND AT CALDWELL, NEW JERSEY, CHAPTER XXII. GROVER CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION. By Holmes Conrad, ex-Attorney-General of the United States. ]\ /T R. CLEVELAND is said to have declared, when elected Governor oi A the State of New York, that it was his purpose " to make the matter a business engagement between the people of the State and myself, in which the obligation on my side is to perform the duties assigned me with an eye single to the interests of my employers.'' And in bis first inaugural address as President of the United States, he said: " In the discharge of my official duty, I shall endeavor to be guided by a just and unstrained construction of the Constitution, a careful observance of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the Grover Cleveland. 537 people, and by a cautious appreciation of those functions which by the Con stitution and laws have been especially assigned to the Executive branch of the Government." In his adherence to these rules of official conduct, in his Administration of the affairs of the Federal Government, Mr. Cleveland evinced a loftiness of courage, an unswerving fidelity to conviction, and an unvarying disregard of his own mere personal interests that compels the admiration and approval of all fair-minded and unprejudiced men. He sincerely desired, and cordially invited, the co-operation of the members of the legislative branch, in his endeavors to prevent lavish waste of the public money, debasement of the national currency, injury to the public credit, and mercenary intrusion upon the affairs or territory' of foreign powers, but, deeply as he was convinced of the folly and mischief of these maasures, and of his own inability to avert them without the co-operation of the Senators and Representatives, he steadfastly refused to acquire that aid, at the expense of his sense of official duty and responsibility, by surrendering to others the power of appointment to public offices, by approving acts for the payment of fraudulent pension claims, or for the erection of public buildings, at points where public need did not require them, or by perverting to mere party uses the powers confided to him for the public good. He vetoed scores of bills for the payment of pension claims, which he be lieved to be fraudulent, and assigned in his messages the reasons for his action, and these remained unanswered. He vetoed bills for the erection of public buildings, on grounds which can not be shaken. He withheld his hand from measures which he believed to be vicious, when he knew that his resolute adherence to duty would alienate his party associates and inflame the hostile zeal of party opponents. Perhaps in no other course of policy has his judgment been so fully vindicated and his strenuous intrepidity been so conspicuously displayed, as in his persistent antagonism to the dangerous heresy of foreign conquest, and impudent intermeddling with the affairs of foreign powers. Selfish greed masked in the garb of ardent patriotism, employed the Federal Navy to over throw the Government of Hawaii and set up a provisional government in its stead. A treaty of annexation had been negotiated, and was pending in the Senate when Mr. Cleveland entered upon his second Administration. He withdrew that treaty, and sent a commissioner to Hawaii to investigate the matter. In his annual message to Congress he said: "After a thorough and exhaustive examination Mr. Blount submitted to me his report, showing beyond all question that the constitutional government of Hawaii had been subverted with the active aid of our representative to that Government and through the 538 History of the United States. intimidation caused by the presence of an armed naval force of the United States which was landed for that purpose at the instance of our minister." And in his special message of December 18, 1893, he said: "Thus it appears that Hawaii was taken possession of by the United States forces without the consent or wish of the Government of the islands, or of anybody else so far as shown, except the United States minister." And referring to the treaty, said: "Additional importance attached to this particular treaty of annexation, because it contemplated a departure from unbroken American traditions in providing for the addition to our territory of islands of the sea more than 2,000 miles removed from our nearest coast.'' The motive of the United States minister who had precipitated the revolution in the islands is disclosed in his letter of February 1, 1893, to the State Department, in which he declared: " The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the United States to pluck it." Referring to the troubles then existing in Samoa, he said, in his second annual message of December, 1894: " Our participation in its establishment against the wishes of the natives was in plain defiance of the conservative teachings and warnings of the wise and patriotic men who laid the foundations of our free institutions, and I invite an expression of the judgment of Congress on the propriety of steps being taken by this Govern ment looking to the withdrawal from its engagements with other powers on some reasonable terms not prejudicial to any of our existing rights." We are passing to-day through painful experiences, resulting from the disregard of his wise admonitions as to continued entanglement in the foreign alliance which involved us in the troubles in Samoa, which are adding nothing to the credit or renown of the United States. The disturbances in Cuba had become the subject of anxiety and alarm to the Government and people of the United States. Our citizens had large in vestments of capital in that island, which were seriously imperilled by the war then raging between Spain and her colonists, and deep and earnest sympathy was felt and expressed for a people struggling for liberty. In his message of December 2, 1895, Mr. Cleveland said: * * * " The plain duty of their, our, Government is to observe in good faith the recognized obligations of inter national relationship. The performance of this duty should not be made more difficult by a disregard on the part of our citizens of the obligations growing out of their allegiance to their country, which should restrain them from violating, as individuals, the neutrality which the nation of which they are members, is bound to observe in its relations to friendly sovereign States." And referring to the same subject in his message of December 7, 1896, he there said: "It is urged finally that, all other methods failing, the existing internecine strife in Cuba should be terminated by our intervention, even at the Grover Cleveland. 539 cost of a war between the United States and Spain — a war, which its advo cates confidently prophesy could neither be large in its proportions nor doubt ful in its issue. The correctness of this forecast need neither be affirmed nor denied. -The United States has, nevertheless, a character to maintain as a nation, which plainly dictates that right and not might should be the rule of its conduct." And so on, to the end of his Administration, when the halls of Congress were resonant with clamorous cries for war with Spain, its precipitation sought to be justified on grounds of " humanity," and the event forestalled by appeals to " manifest destiny," when his judgment was sought to be swerved by intimida tions of popular vengeance, and allurements of popular applause and reward, Mr. Cleveland stood firm, with his " eye single to the interests of his em ployers," and still guided by a " just and unstrained construction of the Con stitution," he withstood the ravings of the multitude, and standing alone at the helm, he kept the ship, of State true to the chart which he had sworn to follow. 540 History of the United States. FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF GROVER CLEVELAND, 1 885- 1 889. IT seems to me there is little more to be said, In addition to my official documents, which are already on record, of my two Administrations. Passing over those things in my Administrations that stand out most prominently in the public mind, and may be termed epoch mak ing, namely the Venezuela affair, the tariff, and the currency, — the matters which I now take the most satisfaction in are the home duties or parochial affairs. Among these lesser affairs were the protecting the rights of the settlers on the public lands against the aggressions of the railroad companies; maintaining the rights of the Indians against land grabbers and boomers, who would drive the natives from their home soil; and preventing the wasting of public funds as far as I could in unworthy pensions. However I may be judged in other respects, I believe that it will be admitted that there never was an Administration, in which there was so much attention given to saving the people's money. The general idea that has prevailed before and since seems to be that the Govern ment is like a goose from which everyone wants to get a quill. I be lieve that one-third of the pension list is fraudulent. In getting money from the Government in that way widespread perjury has been done. It has been demoralizing to the whole people. I sought to put a stop to this during my two terms by wholesale vetoing of such measures. But Congress crowded them upon me so fast that many cases went into effect simply because I could not write vetoes fast enough to stop them within the time limit allowed the President. To save the people's money also I directed the Attorney-General to begin action against the Union Pacific Railroad Company to return to the National Treasury the many millions of Government funds that had been spent in building that road. I am happy to know that that has been accomplished since my last term. This is still the government of all the people. It is the duty of those serving the people in public place to closely limit public ex penditures to the actual needs of the Government economically admin istered, because this bounds the right of the Government to exact tribute from the earnings of labor or the property of the citizen, and Grover Cleveland. 541 because public extravagance begets extravagance among the people. We should never be ashamed of the simplicity and prudential econo mies which are best suited to the operation of a Republican form of government and most compatible with the mission of the American people. It is the policy of independence, favored by our position and de fended by our known love of justice and by our power. It is the policy of peace suitable to our interests. It is the policy of neutrality, rejecting any share in foreign broils and ambitions upon other conti nents and repelling their intrusion here. It is the policy of Monroe and of Washington and Jefferson — " Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations ; entangling alliance with none." One of my first acts after entering upon the duties of my first Ad ministration was the issuing of a far-reaching civil service order on March 18, 1885, which was as follows: In the exercise of the power vested in the President by the Constitution, and by virtue of the seventeen hundred and fifty-third section of the Revised Statutes and of the civil service act approved January 16, 1883, the following rule for the regulation and improvement of the executive civil service is hereby amended and promulgated, as follows: RULE XXII. Any person who has been in the classified departmental service for one year or more immediately previous may, when the needs of the service require it, be transferred or appointed to any other place therein upon producing a cer tificate from the Civil Service Commission that such person has passed at the required grade one or more examinations which are together equal to that necessary for original entrance to the place which would be secured by the transfer or appointment; and any person who has for three years last preceding served as a clerk in the office of the President of the United States may be transferred or appointed to any place in the classified service without examination. I do not wish to take undue credit for reorganizing the Army and Navy, but I look back with satisfaction upon the steps, which I took in that direction at the beginning of my first Administration. In the Navy Department I found the wheels of progress clogged. Heads of departments had fallen into ruts, from which they could not be dragged, except by radical measures. My most able Secretary of the Navy, W. C. Whitney, went at this work with a wonderful zeal. 542 History of the United States. He set things going in new lines. He familiarized himself so thor oughly with details of modern naval construction that I believe he could have designed and built a warship himself. In my message of 1885 I said that all must admit the importance of an effective Navy to a nation like ours, having such an extended seacoast to protect. And yet we had not a single vessel of war that could keep the seas against a first-class vessel of any important power. Such a condition, I said, ought not longer to continue. The nation that can not resist aggression is constantly exposed to it. Its foreign policy is of necessity weak, and its negotiations are conducted with disadvantage, because it is not in condition to enforce the terms dic tated by its sense of right and justice. Inspired, as I was, by the hope, shared by all patriotic citizens, that the day was not very far distant when our Navy would be such as befitted our standing among the nations of the earth, and rejoiced at every step that leads in the direction of such a consummation, I deemed it my duty to especially direct the attention of Congress to the close of the report of the Secretary of the Navy, in which the humiliating weakness of the organization of his Department was exhibited, and the startling abuses and waste of its prevailing methods were exposed. The conviction was forced upon us with the certainty of mathemati cal demonstration, that before we proceeded further in the restoration of a Navy we needed a thoroughly reorganized Navy Department. The fact that within seventeen years more than seventy-five millions of dollars had been spent in the construction, repair, equipment, and armament of vessels, and the further fact that, instead of an effective and creditable fleet, we had only the discontent and apprehension of a nation undefended by war vessels, added to the disclosures now made did not permit us to doubt that every attempt to revive our Navy had thus far, for the most part, been misdirected, and all our efforts in that direction had been little better than blind gropings, and expensive, aimless follies. Unquestionably if we were content with the maintenance of a Navy Department simply as a shabby ornament to the Government, a con stant watchfulness might prevent some of the scandal and abuse which had found their way into our prevailing organization, and its incurable waste might be reduced to the minimum. But if we desired to build ships for usefulness instead of naval reminders of the days that were past, we needed a Department organized for the work, supplied with all the talent and ingenuity our country afforded, prepared to take Grover Cleveland. 543 advantage of the experience of other nations, systematized so that all effort should unite and lead in one direction, and fully imbued with the conviction that war vessels, though new, were useless unless they combined all that the ingenuity of man had up to that dav brought forth relating to their construction. I earnestly commended the portion of the Secretary's report de voted to this subject to the attention of Congress, in the hope that his suggestions touching the reorganization of his Department could be adopted as the first step toward the reconstruction of our Navy. In the message to Congress of December, 1885, the report of the Secretary of War was submitted, calling attention of Congress to the detailed account which it contained of the administration of his De partment, and his recommendations and suggestions for the improve ment of .the service. The Army consisted, at that time, of 2,154 officers and 24,705 en listed men. The expenses of the Department for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1885, including $13,164,394.60 for public, works and river and harbor improvements, were $45,850,999.54. The acting Judge-Advocate-General reported that the number of trials by general courts-martial during the year was 2,328, and that 11,851 trials took place before garrison and regimental courts-martial. The suggestion that probably more than half the Army have been tried for offenses, great and small, in one year, may well arrest atten tion. Of course many of these trials before garrison and regimental courts-martial were for offenses almost frivolous; and I recommended that a way be devised to dispose of these in a more summary and less inconvenient manner than by court-martial. If some of the proceedings of courts-martial which I had occasion to examine presented the ideas of justice which generally prevail in these tribunals, I was satisfied that they should be much reformed, if the honor and the honesty of the Army and Navy were by their in strumentality to be vindicated and protected. I called attention then to the emergencies growing out of civil war in the United States of Colombia. This demanded of the Govern ment at the beginning of my Administration the employment of armed forces to fulfill its guaranties under the thirty-fifth article of the treaty of 1846, in order to keep the transit open across the Isthmus of Pan ama. Desirous of exercising only the powers expressly reserved to us by the treaty, and mindful of the rights of Colombia, the forces 544 History of the United States. sent to the Isthmus were instructed to confine their action to " posi tively and efficaciously " preventing the transit and its accessories from being " interrupted or embarrassed." The restoration of peace on the Isthmus by the re-establishment of the constituted government there being accomplished, the forces of the United States were withdrawn. The interest of the United States in a practicable transit for ships across the strip of land separating the Atlantic from the Pacific has been repeatedly manifested during the last half century. My immediate predecessor caused to be negotiated with Nicaragua a treaty for the construction, by and at the sole cost of the United States, of a canal through Nicaraguan territory, and laid it before the Senate. Pending the action of that body thereon, I withdrew the treaty for re-examination. Attentive consideration of its provisions led me to withhold it from resubmission to the Senate. Maintaining, as I did, the tenets of a line of precedents from Wash ington's day, which proscribe entangling alliances with foreign states, I did not favor a policy of acquisition of new and distant territory or the incorporation of remote interests with our own. The laws of progress are vital and organic, and we must be con scious of that irresistible tide of commercial expansion which, as the concomitant of our active civilization, day by day is being urged on ward by those increasing facilities of production, transportation, and communication to which steam and electricity have given birth; but our duty in the present instructs us to address ourselves mainly to the development of the vast resources of the great area committed to our charge and to the cultivation of the arts of peace within our own bor ders, though jealously alert in preventing the American hemisphere from being involved in the political problems and complications of distant governments. Therefore I was unable to recommend propo sitions involving paramount privileges of ownership or right outside of ous- own territory, when coupled with absolute and unlimited engage ments to defend the territorial integrity of the state where such inter ests lie. While the general project of connecting the two oceans by means of a canal is to be encouraged, I am of opinion that any scheme to that end to be considered with favor should be free from the features alluded to. The Argentine Government having revived the long dormant ques tion of the Falkland Islands by claiming from the United States in demnity for their loss, attributed to the action of the commander of the sloop of war " Lexington " in breaking up a piratical colony on twenty-second and twenty-fourth president of the united states. Uu -tL' YmfAjuJ. of, /. ihL.Uzk, fkm ajkKAJ crh c5)TVti_£/l^cx;c_ 4->' ifivAL^.^ lXcC"K J yiUwusjU tt: f,n„y,jj of- tiCi 'IIll,LJL, fl/XLi d.y l>y- o^j CUitT i\kkho\u,Jl> (r\*_, (Ka Uyt,U,t Jc,v^,C i/rtM. a/- 'J aisiAssASLiiy -I a-MLes ljk c/lI., ,l»rt™«j( Aaovu^J tfcct ~Cfec~- toJLyyy/Jy of, ~uy ,/£VuX5w- A Ld cAa^-^/s^. /w^y^iy y^n^ ~cfcjr (ZcLLzAcunAi* hn£it<7Ly<-y, rvvu yjtLsJL ayy , o^tffv^vji _rtiCe. yyjjL. y UJcyy^iynZ e/bALi a/*jlill^_J CC ti.yaj MnssLSLAAL Ins- /aAL a^JZ "TfcSCfc— > -±n M^X'crf, .wK^-^c ob zwA. Ji.-L-L.cttj ¦ ,,y, cfcf, Js*; /(&!, ,L^/J (WC o~X JVj,™yi ,-fL„ /^«A, d^JLcLTvzs .bf> Jc^JL ,^yr -Cty'dy fptruZXAaXC^ Ao astlrf-Xt. AtLfL^l' Ll, n£]fJMy^s^ u~ jns^i a~/, rv^Jlu ik« ziAA^yA^ 1^ e<*rAL om krAsfxAL nAgtCG ow a^^^yy oj tu^s> csl. exter-, juf e^ftr ^ ~G JUt^c~* *"& 439>6o9 1 1 For Indians 6,552,494 63 548 History of the United States. For pensions $56,102,267 49 For the military, including river and harbor improvements and arsenals 42,670,578 47 For the Navy, including vessels, machinery, and improvements of navy-yards 16,021,079 69 For interest on the public debt 51,386,256 47 For the District of Columbia 3.499,650 95 For miscellaneous expenditures, including public buildings, light-houses, and collecting the revenue 54,728,056 21 The amount paid on the public debt during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1885, was $45,993,235.43, and there has been paid since that date and up to November 1, 1885, the sum of $369,828, leaving the amount of the debt at the last-named date $1,514,475,860.47. There was, however, at that time in the Treasury, applicable to the general purposes of the Government, the sum of $66,818,292.38. I then stated my conviction that nothing more important than the prevailing condition of our currency and coinage could claim your at tention. Since February, 1878, the Government had, under the compulsory provisions of law, purchased silver bullion and coined the same at the rate of more than $2,000,000 every month. By this process up to that date, December 8, 1885, 215,759,431 silver dollars had been coined. A reasonable appreciation of a delegation of power to the General Government would limit its exercise, without express restrictive words, to the people's needs and the requirements of the public welfare. Upon this theory the authority to " coin money " given to Congress by the Constitution, if it permits the purchase by the Government of bullion for coinage in any event, does not justify such purchase and coinage to an extent beyond the amount needed for a sufficient circu lating medium. The desire to utilize the silver product of the country should not lead to a misuse or the perversion of this power. The necessity for such an addition to the silver currency of the nation as was compelled by the silver coinage act was negatived by the fact that up to that time only about 50,000,000 of the silver dol lars so coined had actually found their way into circulation, leaving more than 165,000,000 in the possession of the Government, the cus tody of which entailed a considerable expense for the construction of Grover Cleveland. 549 vaults for its deposit. Against this latter amount there were outstand ing silver certificates amounting to about $93,000,000. Every month two millions of gold in the public Treasury were paid out for two millions or more of silver dollars, to be added to the idle mass already accumulated. If continued long enough, this operation would result in the sub stitution of silver for all the gold the Government owns applicable to it general purposes. It would not do to rely upon the customs re ceipts of the Government to make good this drain of gold, because the silver thus coined having been made legal tender for all debts and dues, public and private, at times 58 per cent, of the receipts for duties would have been in silver or silver certificates, while the average within that period was 20 per cent. The proportion of silver and its certificates received by the Government would probably increase as time went on, for the reason that the nearer the period approaches when it will be obliged to offer silver in payment of its obligations the greater inducement there will be to hoard gold against depreciation in the value of silver or for the purpose of speculating. This hoarding of gold had already begun. When the time comes that gold has been withdrawn from circula tion, then will be apparent the difference between the real value of the silver dollar and a dollar in gold, and the two coins will part company. Gold, still the standard of value and necessary in our dealings with other countries, will be at a premium over silver; banks which have substituted gold for the deposits of their customers may pay them with silver bought with such gold, thus making a handsome profit; rich speculators will sell their hoarded gold to their neighbors who need it to liquidate their foreign debts, at a ruinous premium over silver, and the laboring men and women of the land, most defenseless of all, will find that the dollar received for the wage of their toil has sadly shrunk in its purchasing power. The most intricate and difficult subject in charge of the Interior Department at the outset of my first Administration was the treatment and management of the Indians. I was satisfied that some progress might be noted in their condition as a result of a prudent administra tion of the present laws and regulations for their control. But there was lack of a fixed purpose or policy on this subject, which should be supplied. It was useless to dilate upon the wrongs of the Indians, and as useless to indulge in the heartless belief that be cause their wrongs were revenged in their own atrocious manner, therefore they should be exterminated. 550 History of the United States. They are within the care of our Government and their rights are, or should be, protected from invasion by the most solemn obligations. They are properly enough called the wards of the Government; and it should be borne in mind that this guardianship involves on our part efforts for the improvement of their condition and the enforcement of their rights. There seems to be general concurrence in the proposi tion that the ultimate object of their treatment should be their civiliza tion and citizenship. Fitted by these to keep pace in the march of progress with the advanced civilization about them, they will readily assimilate with the mass of our population, assuming the responsibili ties and receiving the protection incident to this condition. The difficulty appears to be in the selection of the means to be at present employed toward the attainment of this result. Our Indian population, exclusive of those in Alaska, was reported in 1885, as numbering 260,000, nearly all being located on lands set apart for their use and occupation, aggregating over 134,000,000 acres. These lands were included in the boundaries of 171 reservations of dif ferent dimensions, scattered in 21 States and Territories. One of the first actions I took for the preservation of the rights of Indians to the exclusive use of their own reservations, was on July 23, 1885, when I issued the following proclamation: Whereas certain portions of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indian Reservation, in the Indian Territory, are occupied by persons other than Indians, who claim the right to keep and graze cattle thereon by agreement made with the Indians for whose special possession and occupancy the said lands have been reserved by the Government of the United States, or under other pretexts and licenses; and Whereas all such agreements and licenses are deemed void and of no effect, and the persons so occupying said lands with cattle are con sidered unlawfully upon the domain of the United States so reserved as aforesaid; and Whereas the claims of such persons under said leases and licenses and their unauthorized presence upon such reservation have caused complaint and discontent on the part of the Indians located thereon, and are likely to cause serious outbreaks and disturbances: Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, do hereby order and direct that all persons other than Indians who are now upon any part of said reservation for the purpose of grazing cat tle thereon, and their servants and agents, and all other unauthorized persons now upon said reservation, do, within forty days from the date Grover Cleveland. 551 of this proclamation, depart and entirely remove therefrom with their cattle, horses, and other property. In my second annual message, December 6, 1886, I stated that the ordinary receipts of the Government for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1886, were $336,439,727.06. Of this amount $192,905,023.41 was received from customs and $1 16,805,936.48 from internal revenue. The total receipts, as here stated, were $13,749,020.68 greater than for the previous year, but the increase from customs was $11,434,084.10 and from internal revenue $4,407,210.94, making a gain in these items for the last year of $15,841,295.04, a falling off in other resources, reduc ing the total increase to the smaller amount mentioned. The total ordinary expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1886, were $242,483,138.50, being less by $17,788,797 than such expenditures for the year preceding, and leaving a surplus in the Treasury at the close of the last fiscal year of $93,956,588.56, as against $63,463,771.27 at the close of the previous year, being an in crease in such surplus of $30,492,817.29. The sum paid upon the public debt during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1886, was $44,551,043.36. During the twelve months ended October 31, 1886, 3 per cent. bonds were called for redemption amounting to $127,283,100, of which $80,643,200 was so called to answer the requirements of the law relating to the sinking fund and $46,639,900 for the purpose of reduc ing the public debt by application of a part of the surplus in the Treas ury to that object. Of the bonds thus called $102,269,450 became subject under such calls to redemption prior to November 1, 1886. The remainder, amounting to $25,013,650, matured under the calls after that date. In addition to the amount subject to payment and cancellation prior to November 1st, there were also paid before that day certain of these bonds, with the interest thereon, amounting to $5,072,350, which were anticipated as to their maturity, of which $2,664,850 had not been called. Thus $107,341,800 had been actually applied prior to the 1st of November, 1886, to the extinguishment of our bonded and interest- bearing debt, leaving on that day still outstanding the sum of $1,153,443,112. Of this amount $86,848,700 were still represented by 3 per cent, bonds. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1886, there were coined, under the compulsory silver coinage act of 1878, 29,838,905 silver dollars, and the cost of the silver used in such coinage was $23,448,960.01. There 552 History of the United States. had been coined up to the close of the previous fiscal year under the provisions of the law 203,882,554 silver dollars, and on the ist day of December, 1886, the total amount of such coinage was $247,131,549. The Director of the Mint reported that at the time of the passage of the law of 1878 directing this coinage the intrinsic value of the dollars thus coined was 94^ cents each, and that on the 31st day of July, 1886, the price of silver reached the lowest stage ever known, so that the intrinsic or bullion price of our standard silver dollar at that date was less than 72 cents. The price of silver on the 30th day of November last was such as to make these dollars intrinsically worth 78 cents each. These differences in value of the coins represent the fluctuations in the price of silver, and they certainly do not indicate that compulsory coinage by the Government enhances the price of that commodity or secures uniformity in its value. Every fair and legal effort had been made by the Treasury Depart ment to distribute this currency among the people. The withdrawal of United States Treasury notes of small denominations and the is suing of small silver certificates had been resorted to in the endeavor to accomplish this result, in obedience to the will and sentiments of the representatives of the people in the Congress. At the time of my third annual message, December 6, 1887, the country was confronted with a condition of the national finances which imperatively demands immediate and careful consideration. I, therefore, devoted myself to treating that subject, and consequently that document has become known as my " Tariff Message." The fol lowing are its essential features, which as it has become more or less historic, I do not change in any particular, except to slightly abridge: The amount of money annually exacted through the operation of present laws, from the industries and necessities of the people, largely exceeds the sum necessary to meet the expenses of the Government. When we consider that the theory of our institutions guarantees to every citizen the full enjoyment of all the fruits of his industry and enterprise, with only such deduction as may be his share toward the careful and economical maintenance of the Government which pro tects him, it is plain that the exaction of more than this is indefensible extortion and a culpable betrayal of American fairness and justice. This wrong inflicted upon those who bear the burden of national taxa tion, like other wrongs, multiplies a brood of evil consequences. The public Treasury, which should only exist as a conduit conveying the Grover Cleveland. 553 people's tribute to its legitimate objects of expenditure, becomes a hoarding place for the money needlessly withdrawn from trade and the people's use, thus crippling our national energies, suspending our country's development, preventing investment in productive enter prise, threatening financial disturbance, and inviting schemes of pub lic plunder. This condition of our Treasury is not altogether new, and it has more than once of late been submitted to the people's representatives in the Congress, who alone can apply a remedy. And yet the situation still continues, with aggravated incidents, more than ever presaging financial convulsion and widespread disaster. It will not do to neglect this situation because its dangers are not now palpably imminent and apparent. They exist none the less cer tainly, and await the unforeseen and unexpected occasion when sud denly they will be precipitated upon us. On the 30th day of June, 1885, the excess of revenues over public expenditures, after complying with the annual requirement of the sinking-fund act, was $17,859,735.84; during the year ended June 30, 1886, such excess amounted to $49,405,545.20, and during the year ended June 30, 1887, it reached the sum of $55,567,849.54. The annual contributions to the sinking fund during the three years above specified, amounting in the aggregate to $138,058,320.94, and deducted from the surplus as stated, were made by calling in for that purpose outstanding 3 per cent, bonds of the Government. During the six months prior to June 30, 1887, the surplus revenue had grown so large by repeated accumulations, and it was feared the withdrawal of this great sum of money needed by the people would so affect the business of the country, that the sum of $79,864,100 of such surplus was applied to the payment of the principal and interest of the 3 per cent, bonds still outstanding, and which were then payable at the option of the Government. The precarious condition of financial affairs among the people still needing relief, immediately after the 30th day of June, 1887, the remainder of the 3 per cent, bonds then outstanding, amounting with principal and interest to the sum of $18,877,500, were called in and applied to the sinking fund contribution for the current fiscal year. Notwithstanding these operations of the Treasury De partment, representations of distress in business circles not only con tinued, but increased, and absolute peril seemed at hand. In these cir cumstances the contribution to the sinking fund for the current fiscal year was at once completed by the expenditure of $27,684,283.55 in the 554 History of the United States. purchase of Government bonds not yet due bearing 4 and 4^ per cent. interest, the premium paid thereon averaging about 24 per cent, for the former and 8 per cent, for the latter. In addition to this, the in terest accruing during the current year upon the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the Government was to some extent anticipated, and banks selected as depositories of public money were permitted to some what increase their deposits. While the expedients thus employed to release to the people the money lying idle in the Treasury served to avert immediate danger, our surplus revenues have continued to accumulate, the excess for the present year amounting on the ist day of December to $55,258,701.19, and estimated to reach the sum of $113,000,000 on the 30th of June next, at which date it is expected that this sum, add?cl to prior accumulations, will swell the surplus in the Treasury to $140,000,000. There seems to be no assurance that, with such a withdrawal from use of the people's circulating medium, our business community may not in the near future be subjected to the same distress which was quite lately produced from the same cause. And while the functions of our National Treasury should be few and simple, and while its best condition would be reached, I believe, by its entire disconnection with private business interests, yet when, by a perversion of its pur poses, it idly holds money uselessly- subtracted from the channels of trade, there seems to be reason for the claim that some legitimate means should be devised by the Government to restore in an emer gency, without waste or extragagance, such money to its place among the people. If such an emergency arises, there now exists no clear and un doubted executive power of relief. Heretofore the redemption of 3 per cent, bonds, which were payable at the option of the Government, has afforded a means for the disbursement of the excess of our reve nues; but these bonds have all been retired, and there are no bonds outstanding the payment of which we have a right to insist upon. The contribution to the sinking fund which furnishes the occasion for expenditure in the purchase of bonds has been already made for the current year, so that there is no outlet in that direction. In the present state of legislation the only pretense of any existing executive power to restore at this time any part of our surplus reve nues to the people by its expenditures consists in the supposition that the Secretary of the Treasury may enter the market and purchase the / Zs y'y I P-. '/>.. Af-t// -'AA/A ,-»U-7^l StS H^y ' > tp ' y - y] - •¦ i^'~*~/ A' '/yf y/AsiAu •- ,,-,/ " ' / -/¦ ' * S -S * i 'I' sit-i. u^-l it^t^-i- -•¦'S.' .C/z it-A-c^. ^--i - i«i ct^tiLyy,y,-i. zests zy y-zu^^ 'isify-t- At-t-^Ai/sL s-s-sC TiytAy ^.t, tssiluX-/ AApt. AuA & AA\. y_^ ijys^'uy, -t./ ftzut. fs -t-y-.--^ y L~z"-scA^ziysi. Szi^zrC ff yA/AcAyfu- As fy fy.A^y. yf J.A X-ssfs-^LsJ- ef&xfc. ass^i ¦fysts^s* sl- Ctniy£ZuZiA.-/. A -X* ' • ix . s* * " r -. -;t . l«_ uy^.iZ-1. sir-f s-zsl- -y.y>Ti: UZV^- liU- ¦u^stsn-A — dAftis^ Xtss^.s(-%X^rC .tsy./ ¦¦ysf ts^, tu-Lscy. Ay &ft.stffMu.L ex. X-A Au. Airiiftst-Ofy/ft of- - ' " /•/"¦/ *£ A'yf -vi* t-/ U^i^*s(y \, l. O i / C y^ii-y/L-Sii-^s- st*-£ f/yz. ZZ. , PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S SIGNATURE TO A STATE DOCUMENT. Grover Cleveland. 557 bonds of the Government not yet due, at a rate of premium to be agreed upon. The only provision of law from which such a power could be derived is found in an appropriation bill passed a number of years ago, and it is subject to the suspicion that it was intended as temporary and limited in its application, instead of conferring a con tinuing discretion and authority. No condition ought to exist which would justify the grant of power to a single official, upon his judg ment of its necessity, to withhold from or release to the business of the people, in an unusual manner, money held in the Treasury, and thus affect at his will the financial situation of the country; and if it is deemed wise to lodge in the Secretary of the Treasury the authority in the present juncture to purchase bonds, it should be plainly vested, and provided, as far as possible, with such checks and limitations as will define this official's right and discretion and at the same time re lieve him from undue responsibility. In considering the question of purchasing bonds as a means of re storing to circulation the surplus money accumulating in the Treasury, it should be borne in mind that premiums must of course be paid upon such purchase, that there may be a large part of these bonds held as investments which can not be purchased at any price, and that combinations among holders who are willing to sell may unreasonably enhance the cost of such bonds to the Government. It has been suggested that the present bonded debt might be re funded at a less rate of interest and the difference between the old and new security paid in cash, thus finding use for the surplus in the Treasury. The success of this plan, it is apparent, must depend upon the volition of the holders of the present bonds ; and it is not entirely certain that the inducement which must be offered them would result in more financial benefit to the Government than the purchase of bonds, while the latter proposition would reduce the principal of the debt by actual payment instead of extending it. The proposition to deposit the money held by the Government in banks throughout the country for use by the people is, it seems to me, exceedingly objectionable in principle, as establishing too close a relationship between the operations of the Government Treasury and the business of the country and too extensive a commingling of their money, thus fostering an unnatural reliance in private business upon public funds. If this scheme should be adopted, it should only be done as a temporary expedient to meet an urgent necessity. Legisla tive and executive effort should generally be in the opposite direc- 558 History of the United States. tion, and should have a tendency to divorce, as much and as fast as can be safely done, the Treasury Department from private enter prise. Of course it is not expected that unnecessary and extravagant ap propriations will be made for the purpose of avoiding the accumula tion of an excess of revenue. Such expenditure, besides the de moralization of all just conceptions of public duty which it entails, stimulates a habit of reckless improvidence not in the least consistent with the mission of our people or the high and beneficent purposes of our Government. I have deemed it my duty to thus bring to the knowledge of my countrymen, as well as to the attention of their representatives charged with the responsibility of legislative relief, the gravity of our financial situation. The failure of the Congress heretofore to provide against the dangers which it was quite evident the very nature of the diffi culty must necessarily produce caused a condition of financial distress and apprehension since your last adjournment which taxed to the ut most all the authority and expedients within executive control; and these appear now to be exhausted. If disaster results from the con tinued inaction of Congress, the responsibility must rest where it belongs. Though the situation thus far considered is fraught with danger which should be fully realized, and though it presents features of Wrong to the people as well as peril to the country, it is but a result growing out of a perfectly palpable and apparent cause, constantly reproducing the same alarming circumstances — a congested National Treasury and a depleted monetary condition in the business of the country. It need hardly be stated that while the present situation demands a remedy, we can only be saved from a like predicament in the future by the removal of its cause. Our scheme of taxation, by means of which this needless surplus is taken from the people and put into the public Treasury, consists of a tariff or duty levied upon importations from abroad and. internal revenue taxes levied upon the consumption of tobacco and spirituous and malt liquors. It must be conceded that none of the things subjected to internal revenue taxation are, strictly speaking, necessaries. There appears to be no just complaint of this taxation by the consumers of these articles, and there seems to be nothing so well able to bear the burden without hardship to any portion of the people. But our present tariff laws, the vicious, inequitable, and illogical Grover Cleveland. 559 source of unnecessary taxation, ought to be at once revised and amended. These laws, as their primary and plain effect, raise the price to consumers of all articles imported and subject to duty by pre cisely the sum paid for such duties. Thus the amount of the duty measures the tax paid by those who purchase for use these imported articles. Many of these things, however, are raised or manufactured in our own country, and the duties now levied upon foreign goods and products are called protection to these home manufactures, because they render it possible for those of our people who are manufacturers to make these taxed articles and sell them for a price equal to that demanded for the imported goods that have paid customs duty. So it happens that while comparatively a few use the imported articles, millions of our people, who never used and never saw any of the foreign products, purchase and use things of the same kind made in this country, and pay therefor nearly or quite the same enhanced price which the duty adds to the imported articles. Those who buy imports pay the duty charged thereon into the public Treasury, but the great majority of our citizens, who buy domestic articles of the same class, pay a sum at least approximately equal to this duty to the home manufacturer. This reference to the operation of our tariff laws is not made by way of instruction, but in order that we may be con stantly reminded of the manner in which they impose a burden upon those who consume domestic products as well as those who consume imported articles, and thus create a tax upon all our people. It is not proposed to entirely relieve the country of this taxation. It must be extensively continued as the source of the Government's income; and in a readjustment of our tariff the interests of American labor engaged in manufacture should be carefully considered, as well as the preservation of our manufacturers. It may be called protection 01 by any other name, but relief from the hardships and dangers of our present tariff laws should be devised with especial precaution against imperiling the existence of our manufacturing interests. But this existence should not mean a condition which, without regard to the public welfare or a national exigency, must always insure the realization of immense profits instead of moderately profitable returns. As the volume and diversity of our national activities increase, new recruits are added to those who desire a continuation of the advantages which they conceive the present system of tariff taxation directly affords them. So stubbornly have all efforts to reform the present condition been resisted by those of our fellow-citizens thus engaged 560 History of the United States. that they can hardly complain of the suspicion, entertained to a cer tain extent, that there exists an organized combination all along the line to maintain their advantage. We are in the midst of centennial celebrations, and with becoming pride we rejoice in American skill and ingenuity, in American energy and enterprise, and in the wonderful natural advantages and resources developed by a century's national growth. Yet when an attempt is made to justify a scheme which permits a tax to be laid upon every consumer in the land for the benefit of our manufacturers, quite be yond a reasonable demand for governmental regard, it suits the pur poses of advocacy to call our manufactures infant industries still needing the highest and greatest degree of favor and fostering care that can be wrung from Federal legislation. It is also said that the increase in the price of domestic manufactures resulting from the present tariff is necessary in order that higher wages may be paid to our workingmen employed in manufactories than are paid for what is called the pauper labor of Europe. All will acknowledge the force of an argument which involves the welfare and liberal compensation of our laboring people. Our labor is honor able in the eyes of every American citizen ; and as it lies at the founda tion of our development and progress, it is entitled, without affectation or hypocrisy, to the utmost regard. The standard of our laborers' life should not be measured by that of any other country less favored, and they are entitled to their full share of all our advantages. By the last census it is made to appear that of the 17,392,099 of our population engaged in all kinds of industries, 7,670,493 are employed in agriculture, 4,074,238 in professional and personal service, 2,934,876 of whom are domestic servants and laborers, while 1,810,256 are employed in trade and transportation, and 3,837,112 are classed as employed in manufacturing and mining. For present purposes, however, the last number given should be considerably reduced. -Without attempting to enumerate all, it will be conceded that there should be deducted from those which it includes 375,143 carpenters and joiners, 285,401 milliners, dressmakers, and seamstresses, 172,726 blacksmiths, 133,756 tailors and tailoresses, 102,473 masons, 76,241 butchers, 41,309 bakers, 22,083 plasterers, and 4,891 engaged in manufacturing agricultural implements, amounting in the aggregate to 1,214,023, leaving 2,623,089 persons employed in such manufacturing industries as are claimed to be benefited by a high tariff. Grover Cleveland. 561 The simple and plain duty which we owe the people is to reduce tax ation to the necessary expenses of an economical operation of the Government and to restore to the business of the country the money which we hold in the Treasury through the perversion of govern mental powers. These things can and should be done with safety to all our industries, without danger to the opportunity for remunerative labor which our workingmen need, and with benefit to them and all our people by cheapening their means of subsistence and increasing the measure of their comforts. In my fourth annual message, December 3, 1888, I called Congress' attention to an interesting and impressive incident. With the expira tion of that session of the Congress the first century of our con stitutional existence as a nation would be completed. Our survival for one hundred years was not sufficient to assure us that we no longer have dangers to fear in the maintenance, with all its promised blessings, of a government founded upon the freedom of the people. The time rather admonished us to soberly inquire whether in the past we have always closely kept in the course of safety, and whether we have before us a way plain and clear which leads to happiness and perpetuity. When the experiment of our Government was undertaken, the chart adopted for our guidance was the Constitution. Departure from the lines there laid down is failure. It is only by a strict adherence to the direction they indicate and by restraint within the limitations they fix that we can furnish proof to the world of the fitness of the American people for self-government. In 1888 Persia had established diplomatic representation at this capital, and evinced very great interest in the enterprise and achieve ments of our citizens. I was therefore hopeful that beneficial com mercial relations between the two countries may be brought about. A comprehensive treaty of amity and commerce with Peru was proclaimed on November 7, 1888, and it was expected that under its operation mutual prosperity and good understanding will be promoted. Proclamation was duly made on the 9th day of November, 1887, of the conventional extensions of the treaty of June 3, 1875, w'th Hawaii, under which relations of such special and beneficent inter course have been created. 562 History of the United States. The Empire of Brazil, in abolishing the last vestige of slavery among Christian nations, called forth the earnest congratulations of this Government in expression of the cordial sympathies of our people. Preparations for the centennial celebration, on April 30, 1889, of the inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States, at the city of New York, had been made by a voluntary organi zation of the citizens of that locality, and believing that an opportunity should be afforded for the expression of the interest felt throughout the country in this event, I recommended in 1889 the fitting and co operative action by Congress on behalf of the people of the United States. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury exhibited in detail the condition of our national finances and the operations of the several branches of the Government related to his Department at that time. The total ordinary revenues of the Government for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1888, amounted to $379,266,074.76, of which $219,091,173.63 was received from customs duties and $124,296,871.98 from internal revenue taxes. The total receipts from all sources exceeded those for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1887, by $7,862,797.10. The ordinary expenditures of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, were $259,653,958.67, leaving a surplus of $119,612,116.09. The decrease in these expenditures as compared with the fiscal year ended June 30, 1887, was $8,278,221.30, notwithstanding the payment of more than $5,000,000 for pensions in excess of what was paid for that purpose in the latter-mentioned year. The revenues of the Government for the year ending June 30, 1889, ascertained for the quarter ended September 30, 1888, and estimated for the remainder ofthe time, amount to $377,000,000, and the actual and estimated ordinary expenditures for the same year are $273,000,000, leaving an estimated surplus of $104,000,000. The estimated receipts for the year ending June 30, 1890, are $377,000,000, and the estimated ordinary expenditures for the same time are $275,767,488.34, showing a surplus of $101,232,511.66. The foregoing statements of surplus do not take into account the sum necessary to be expended to meet the requirements of the sinking fund act, amounting to more than $47,000,000 annually. The requirements of the sinking fund act have been met for the year ended June 30, 1888, and for the current year also, by the pur- Grover Cleveland. 563 chase of, bonds. After complying with this law as positively required, and bonds sufficient for that purpose had been bought at a premium, it was not deemed prudent to further expend the surplus in such pur chases until the authority to do so should be more explicit. A resolu tion, however, having been passed by both Houses of Congress re moving all doubt as to Executive authority, daily purchases of bonds were commenced on the 23d day of April, 1888, and have continued until the present time. By this plan bonds of the Government not yet due have been purchased up to and including the 30th day of November, 1888, amounting to $94,700,400, the premium paid thereon amounting to $17,508,613.08. The premium added to the principal of these bonds represents an investment yielding about 2 per cent, interest for the time they still had to run, and the saving to the Government represented by the difference between the amount of interest at 2 per cent, upon the sum paid for principal and premium and what it would have paid for interest at the rate specified in the bonds if they had run to their maturity is about $27,165,000. At first sight this would seem to be a profitable and sensible trans action on the part of the Government, but, as suggested by the Secre tary of the Treasury, the surplus thus expended for the purchase of bonds was money drawn from the people in excess of any actual need of the Government and was so expended rather than allow it to re main idle in the Treasury. If this surplus, under the operation of just and equitable laws, had been left in the hands of the people, it would have been worth in their business at least 6 per cent, per annum. Deducting from the amount of interest upon the principal and premium of these bonds for the time they had to run at the rate of 6 per cent, the saving of 2 per cent, made for the people by the pur chase of such bonds, the loss will appear to be $55,760,000. This calculation would seem to demonstrate that if excessive and unnecessary taxation is continued and the Government is forced to pursue this policy of purchasing its own bonds at the premiums which it will be necessary to pay, the loss to the people will be hundreds of millions of dollars. Since the purchase of bonds was undertaken as mentioned nearly all that have been offered were at last accepted. It has been made quite apparent that the Government was in danger of being subjected to combinations to raise their price, as appears by the instance cited by the Secretary of the offering of bonds of the par value of only $326,000 564 History of the United States. so often that the aggregate of the sums demanded for their purchase amounted to more than $19,700,000. Notwithstanding the large sums paid out in the purchase of bonds, the surplus in the Treasury on the 30th day of November, 1888, was $52,234,610.01, after deducting about $20,000,000 just drawn out for the payment of pensions. At the close of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1887, there had been coined under the compulsory silver coinage act $266,988,280 in silver dollars, $55,504,310 of which were in the hands of the people. On the 30th day of June, 1888, there had been coined $299,708,790; and of this $55,829,303 was in circulation in coin, and $200,387,376 in silver certificates, for the redemption of which silver dollars to that amount were held by the Government. On the 30th day of November, 1888, $312,570,990 had been coined, $60,970,990 of the silver dollars were actually in circulation, and $237,418,346 in certificates. The Secretary recommends the suspension of the further coinage of silver, and in such recommendation I earnestly concur. The report for 1888 of the Secretary of the Navy demonstrated very intelligent management in that important Department, and disclosed the most satisfactory progress in the work of reconstructing the Navy made during that year. Of the ships in course of construction five, viz. : the " Charleston," " Baltimore," " Yorktown," " Vesuvius," and the " Petrel," had in that time been launched and were rapidly ap proaching completion ; and in addition to the above, the " Phila delphia," the " San Francisco," the " Newark," the " Bennington," the " Concord," and the " Herreshoff " torpedo boat were all under con tract for delivery to the Department during the next year. One of the last acts of my first Administration, on January 19, 1889, related to the Samoan question, when I sent the following message to Congress : On the 2d day of April, 1888, I transmitted to the House of Repre sentatives, in response to a resolution passed by that body, a report from the Secretary of State relating to the condition of affairs in the Samoan Islands, together with numerous letters, dispatches, and docu ments connected with the subject, which gave a history of all dis orders in that locality up to that date. On the 21st day of December, 1888, this information was supple mented by the transmission to the Congress of such further corre spondence and documents as extended this history to that time. Grover Cleveland. 565 I submitted a report from the Secretary of State, with later cor respondence and dispatches exhibiting the progress of the disturb ances in Samoa up to that time. The information thus laid before the Congress is of much import ance, since it has relation to the preservation of American interests and the protection of American citizens and their property in a distant locality and under an unstable and unsatisfactory government, and is as follows: In the midst of the disturbances which have arisen at Samoa, such powers have been exercised as seemed to be within Executive control under our Constitution and laws, and which appear to accord with our national policy and traditions, to restore tranquillity and secure the safety of our citizens. Through negotiation and agreement with Great Britain and Ger many, which, with our own Government, constitute the treaty powers interested in Samoan peace and quiet, the attempt has been made to define more clearly the part which these powers should assume in the government of that country, while at the same time its autonomy has been insisted upon. These negotiations were at one time interrupted by such action on the part of the German Government as appeared to be inconsistent with their further continuance. Germany, however, still asserts, as from the first she has done, that she has no desire or intention to overturn the native Samoan Govern ment or to ignore our treaty rights, and she still invites our Govern ment to join her in restoring peace and quiet. But thus far her propositions on this subject seem to lead to such a preponderance of German power in Samoa as was never contemplated by us and is in consistent with every prior agreement or understanding, while her recent conduct as between native warring factions gives rise to the suspicion that she is not content with a neutral position. Acting within the restraints which our Constitution and laws have placed upon Executive power, I have insisted that the autonomy and independence of Samoa should be scrupulously preserved according to the treaties made with Samoa by the powers named and their agree ments and understanding with each other. I have protested against every act apparently tending in an opposite direction, and during the existence of internal disturbance one or more vessels of war have been kept in Samoan waters to protect American citizens and property. 566 History of the United States. These things will abundantly appear from the correspondence and papers which have been submitted to the Congress. A recent collision between the forces from a German man-of-war stationed in Samoan waters and a body of natives rendered the situ ation so delicate and critical that the warship " Trenton," under the immediate command of Admiral Kimberly, was ordered to join the " Nipsic," already at Samoa, for the better protection of the persons and property of our citizens, and in furtherance of efforts to restore order and safety. SECOND ADMINISTRATION, 1893-1897. In my second Inaugural address, March 4, 1893, I expressed how deeply moved I was by the expression of confidence and personal attachment which again called me to their service. I was sure my gratitude could make no better return than the pledge I then gave before God, of unreserved and complete devotion to the interests and welfare of those who had so honored me. In my annual message of December 4, 1893, I called attention to the fact that on April 18, 1890, the International American Conference at Washington by resolution expressed the wish that all controversies between the republics of America and the nations of Europe might be settled by arbitration, and recommended that the government of each nation represented in that conference should communicate this wish to all friendly powers. A favorable response had been received from Great Britain in the shape of a resolution adopted by Parliament July 16, 1893, cordially sympathizing with the purpose in view and ex pressing the hope that Her Majesty's Government will lend ready co operation to the Government of the United States upon the basis of the concurrent resolution above quoted. It afforded me signal pleasure to lay this parliamentary resolution before the Congress and to express my sincere gratification that the sentiment of two great and kindred nations was thus authoritatively manifested in favor of the rational and peaceable settlement of inter national quarrels by honorable resort to arbitration. Since the passage of the act of March 3, 1893, authorizing the Presi dent to raise the grade of our envoys to correspond with the rank in which foreign countries accredit their agents here. Great Britain, Grover Cleveland. 567 France, Italy, and Germany had conferred upon their representatives at this capital the title of ambassador, and I responded by accrediting the agents of the United States in those countries with the same title. A like elevation of mission was announced by Russia. This step fittingly comports with the position the United States holds in the family of nations. One hundred and nineteen national banks were organized during the year ending October 31, 1893, with a capital of $11,230,000. Forty-six went into voluntary liquidation and 158 suspended. Sixty- five of the suspended banks were insolvent, 86 resumed business, and 7 remain in the hands of the bank examiners, with prospects of speedy resumption. Of the new banks organized, 44 were located in the Eastern States, 41 west of the Mississsippi River, and 34 in the Central and Southern States. The total number of national banks in existence on October 31, 1893, was 3,796, having an aggregate capital of $695,558,120. The net increase in the circulation of these banks during the year was $36,886,972. The recent repeal of the provision of law requiring the purchase of silver bullion by the Government as a feature of our monetary scheme had made an entire change in the complexion of our currency affairs. I did not doubt that the ultimate result of this action will be most salutary and far-reaching. A great injustice was done to Secretary of the Treasury Carlisle in the currency affairs of August, 1893, by saying he precipitated a panic in announcing the Government's position on the silver question. But he simply told the plain truth. When the Chicago railroad strike occurred in July, 1894, Federal troops were sent to Chicago in strict accordance with the Constitution and laws of the United States, upon the demand of the Post-Office Department that the obstruction of the mails should be removed, and upon the representations of the judicial officers of the United States that process of the Federal courts could not be executed through the ordinary means, and upon abundant proof that conspiracies existed against commerce between the States. To meet these conditions, which were clearly within the province of Federal authority, the presence of Federal troops in the city of Chicago was deemed not only proper but necessary, and there was no intention of thereby interfering with the plain duty of the local authorities to preserve the peace of the city. 568 History of the United States. Upon receiving a protest from Governor John P. Altgeld of Illinois, against these military proceedings, I sent him this message: Washington, D. C, July 6, 1894. Executive Mansion, While I am still persuaded that I have neither transcended my authority nor duty in the emergency that confronts us, it seems to me that in this hour of danger and public distress discussion may well give way to active effort on the part of all in authority to restore obedience to law and to protect life and property. Previous to the admission of Utah as a State, I appointed as territorial governor Caleb W. West of Kentucky. I gave him charge of bringing the Territory into a condition to make it fit for statehood. My directions to him were: " I want those Mormons prosecuted in the proper manner, but not persecuted. I want individual justice to be done." The Congress of the United States passed an act, which was ap proved on the 16th day of July, 1894, entitled "An act to enable the people of Utah to form a constitution and State government and to be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States," which act provided for the election of delegates to a con stitutional convention to meet at the seat of government of the Terri tory of Utah on the first Monday in March, 1895, for the purpose of declaring the adoption of the Constitution of the United States by the people of the proposed State and forming a constitution and State government for such State. Delegates were accordingly elected, who met, organized, and declared on behalf of the people of said proposed State their adoption of the Constitution of the United States, all as provided in said act. The convention, so organized, did, by ordinance irrevocable without the consent of the United States and the people of said State, as required by said act, provide that perfect toleration of religious sentiment shall be secured and that no inhabitant of said State shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship, but that polygamous or plural mar riages are forever prohibited, and did also by said ordinance make the other various stipulations recited in section 3 of said act. The con vention thereupon formed a constitution and State government for Grover Cleveland. 569 said proposed State, which constitution, including said ordinance, was duly submitted to the people thereof at an election held on the Tues day next after the first Monday of November, 1895, as directed by said act. The return of said election had been made and canvassed and the result thereof certified to me, together with a statement of the votes cast and a copy of said constitution and ordinance, all as pro vided in said act, showing that a majority of the votes lawfully cast at such election was for the ratification and adoption of said constitution and ordinance. The constitution and government of said proposed State were republican in form, said constitution was not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Inde pendence, and all the provisions of said act have been complied with in the formation of said constitution and government: I, as President of the United States of America, January 4, 1896, in accordance with the act of Congress aforesaid and by authority thereof, announced the result of said election to be as so certified and did declare and proclaim that the terms and conditions prescribed by the Congress of the United States entitling the State of Utah to admis sion into the Union had been duly complied with and that the creation of said State and its admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original States was then accomplished. In my annual message of December 3, 1894, I stated that on the ist day of November, 1894, the total stock of money of all kinds in the country was $2,240,773,888, as against $2,204,651,000 on the ist day of November, 1893, and the money of all kinds in circulation, or not included in the Treasury holdings, was $1,672,093,422, or $24.27 per capita upon an estimated population of 68,887,000. At the same date there was held in the Treasury . gold bullion amounting to $44,615,177.55, and silver bullion which was purchased at a cost of $127,772,988. The purchase of silver bullion under the act of July 14, 1890, ceased on the ist day of November, 1893, and up to that time there had been purchased during the fiscal year 11,917,658.78 fine ounces, at a cost of $8,715,521.32, an average cost of $0.7313 per fine ounce. The total amount of silver purchased from the time that law took effect until the repeal of its purchasing clause, on the date last mentioned, was 168,674,682.53 fine ounces, which cost $155,931,002.25, the average price per fine ounce being $0.9244. The total amount of standard silver dollars coined at the mints of the United States since the passage of the act of February 28, 1878, is $421,776,408, of which $378,166,793 were coined under the provisions 570 History of the United States. of that act, $38,531,143 under the provisions of the act of July 14, 1890, and $5,078,472 under the act providing for the coinage of trade-dollar bullion. The total coinage of all metals at our mints during the last fiscal year consisted of 63,485,220 pieces, valued at $106,216,730.06, of which there were $99,474,912.50 in gold coined, $758 in standard silver dol lars, $6,024,140.30 in subsidiary silver coin, and $716,919.26 in minor coin. On May 28, 1895, it became my sad duty to announce that Walter Q. Gresham, Secretary of State of the United States, was dead. In making this distressing announcement to my fellow-country men, I spoke from the depths of a personal affliction to remind them that they too had lost a pure and able public servant, a wise and patriotic guardian of all their rights and interests, a manly and loyal American, and a generous and lovable man. I called attention to the pending boundary controversy, December 17, 1895, between Great Britain and the Republic of Venezuela and recited the substance of a representation made by this Government to Her Britannic Majesty's Government suggesting reasons why such dispute should be submitted to arbitration for settlement and inquir ing whether it would be so submitted. The answer of the British Government was received later. Such reply was embodied in two communications. One of these communications is devoted exclusively to observations upon the Mon roe doctrine, and claims that in this instance a new and strange ex tension and development of this doctrine is insisted on by the United States ; that the reasons justifying an appeal to the doctrine enunciated by President Monroe are generally inapplicable " to the state of things in which we live at the present day," and especially inapplicable to a controversy involving the boundary line between Great Britain and Venezuela. Without attempting extended argument in reply to these positions, it was not amiss to suggest that the doctrine upon which we stood was strong and sound, because its enforcement was important to our peace and safety as a nation and essential to the integrity of our free institutions and the tranquil maintenance of our distinctive form of government. It was intended to apply to every stage of our national life and can not become obsolete while our Republic endures. If the balance of power is justly a cause for jealous anxiety among the Gov ernments of the Old World and a subject for our absolute noninter- Grover Cleveland. 571 ference, none the less is an observance of the Monroe doctrine of vital concern to our people and their Government. Assuming that we may properly insist upon this doctrine without regard to " the state of things in which we live " or any changed con ditions here or elsewhere, it was not apparent why its application should not be invoked in the Venezuelan controversy. If a European power by an extension of its boundaries took pos session of the territory of one of our neighboring Republics against its will and in derogation of its rights, it was difficult to see why to that extent such European power did not thereby attempt to extend its system of government to that portion of this continent thus taken. This was the precise action which President Monroe declared to be " dangerous to our peace and safety," and it could make no difference whether the European system be extended by an advance of frontier or otherwise. It was also suggested in the British reply that we should not seek to apply the Monroe doctrine to the pending dispute because it did not embody any principle of international law which " is founded on the general consent of nations," and that " no statesman, however emi nent, and no nation, however powerful, are competent^to insert into the code of international law a novel principle which was never recog nized before and which has not since been accepted by the government of any other country." Practically the principle for which we contended had peculiar, if not exclusive, relation to the United States. It may not have been ad mitted in so many words to the code of international law, but since in international councils every nation is entitled to the rights belonging to it, if the enforcement of the Monroe doctrine was something we might justly claim, it has its place in the code of international law as certainly and as securely as if it were specifically mentioned ; and when the United States is a suitor before the high tribunal that administers international law the question to be determined is whether or not we present claims which the justice of that code of law can find to be right and valid. The Monroe doctrine finds its recognition in those principles of international law which are based upon the theory that every nation shall have its rights protected and its just claims enforced. Of course this Government was entirely confident that under the sanction of this doctrine we had clear rights and undoubted claims. Nor was this ignored in the British reply. The prime minister, while 572 History of the United States. not admitting that the Monroe doctrine was applicable to present con ditions, stated: In declaring that the United States would resist any such enterprise if it was contemplated, President Monroe adopted a policy which received the entire sympathy of the English Government of that date. He further declared: Though the language of President Monroe is directed to the attainment of objects which most Englishmen would agree to be salutary, it is impossible to admit that they have been inscribed by any adequate authority in the code of international law. Again he said : They [Her Majesty's Government] fully concur with the view which Presi dent Monroe apparently entertained, that any disturbance of the existing territorial distribution in that hemisphere by any such acquisitions on the part of any European State would be a highly inexpedient change. In the belief that the doctrine for which we contended was clear and definite, that it was founded upon substantial considerations and involved our safety and welfare, that it was fully applicable to our present conditions and to the state of the world's progress, and that it was directly related to the pending controversy, and without any conviction as to the final merits of the dispute, but anxious to learn in a satisfactory and conclusive manner whether Great Britain sought under a claim of boundary to extend her possessions on this continent without right, or whether she merely sought possession of territory fairly included within her lines of ownership, this Government pro posed to the Government of Great Britain a resort to arbitration as the proper means of settling the question, to the end that a vexatious boundary dispute between the two contestants might be determined and our exact standing and relation in respect to the controversy might be made clear. It will be seen from the correspondence submitted .that this propo sition had been declined by the British Government upon grounds which in the circumstances seem to me to be far from satisfactory. It is deeply disappointing that such an appeal, actuated by the most [\ /// I I 0 Q fc"O HOfcX < < W U I-H fa OWh< t/iWH 589>784 produced in the preceding fiscal year, being an increase of 2,269,466 barrels. The total amount of gold exported during the last fiscal year was $112,409,947 and of silver $60,541,670, being an increase of $45,941,466 of gold and $13,246,384 of silver over the exportations of the preceding fiscal year. The imports of gold were $33,525,065 and of silver $28,777,186, being $2,859,695 less of gold and $8,566,007 more of silver than during the preceding year. The total stock of metallic money in the United States at the close of the last fiscal year, ended on the 30th day of June, 1896, was $1,228,326,035, of which $599,597,964 was in gold and $628,728,071 in silver. On the ist day of November, 1896, the total stock of money of all kinds in the country was $2,285,410,590, and the amount in circulation, not including that in the Treasury holdings, was $1,627,055,641, be ing $22.63 Per capita upon an estimated population of 71,902,000. The production of the precious metals in the United States during the calendar year 1895 is estimated to have been 2,254,760 fine ounces of gold, of the value of $46,610,000, and 55,727,000 fine ounces of silver, of the commercial value of $36,445,000 and the coinage value of $72,051,000. The estimated production of these metals throughout the world during the same period was 9,688,821 fine ounces of gold, amounting to $200,285,700 in value, and 169,189,249 fine ounces of sil ver, of the commercial value of $110,654,000 and of the coinage value of $218,738,100 according to our ratio. The total coinage at the mints of the United States during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1896, amounted to $71,188,468.52, of which $58,878,490 was in gold coins and $12,309,978.52 in standard silver dollars, subsidiary coins, and minor coins. In one of my last state papers in 1897, I pointed out at that time that in Cuba, when the inability of Spain to deal successfully with the insurrection had become manifest and it was demonstrated that her sovereignty was extinct in Cuba for all purposes of its rightful exist ence, and when a hopeless struggle for its re-establishment has de generated into a strife which means nothing more than the useless sacrifice of human life and the utter destruction of the very subject- matter of the conflict, a situation will be presented in which our obliga tions to the sovereignty of Spain will be superseded by higher obliga- 578 History of the United States. tions, which we can hardly hesitate to recognize and discharge. Deferring the choice of ways and methods until the time for action ar rived, we should make them depend upon the precise conditions then existing; and they should not be determined upon without giving care ful heed to every consideration involving our honor and interest or the international duty we owe to Spain. Until we faced the contin gencies suggested or the situation was by other incidents imperatively changed we should continue in the line of conduct previously pursued, thus in all circumstances exhibiting our obedience to the requirements of public law and our regard for the duty enjoined upon us by the position we occupy in the family of nations. A contemplation of emergencies that may arise should plainly lead us to avoid their creation, either through a careless disregard of present duty or even an undue stimulation and ill-timed expression of feeling. But I deemed it not amiss to remind the Congress that a time might arrive when a correct policy for our interests, as well as a regard for the interests of other nations and their citizens, joined by considerations of humanity and a desire to see a rich and fertile country intimately related to us saved from complete devastation, would constrain our Government to such action as would subserve the interests thus involved and at the same time promise to Cuba and its inhabitants an opportunity to enjoy the blessings of peace. GROVER CLEVELAND. Princeton, New Jersey, May 27, 1899. LIFE OF GROVER CLEVELAND. GROVER CLEVELAND was born March 18, 1837, at Caldwell, New Jersey. He was the son of Rev. Richard Falley Cleve land, who was of English descent, and Ann Neal, daughter of a Baltimore merchant, of Irish birth. When he was four years old, his parents removed to Fayetteville, near Syracuse, N. Y., where he received a common and academic schooling. He afterward attended the acad emy in Clinton, N. Y. In his seventeenth year he became a clerk and an assistant teacher in the New York Institution for the Blind, in New York City, in which his elder brother, William, a Presbyterian clergyman, was then a teacher. In 1855 he assisted his Uncle Lewis F. Allen in the compilation of a volume of the American Herd Book. Grover Cleveland. 579 Afterward, while studying law, he assisted in the preparation of sev eral other volumes of this work, and the preface to the fifth volume, 1861, acknowledges his services. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and was appointed assistant district attorney of Erie County, Jan uary 1, 1863, and held the office for three years. In 1865, he was Democratic candidate for district attorney, but was defeated by the Republican candidate, his friend, Lyman K. Bass. He then became the law partner of Isaac V. Vanderpool, and in 1869 a member of the firm of Lanning, Cleveland & Folsom. He successfully practiced until 1870, when he was elected sheriff of Erie County. At the ex piration of this office he formed a law partnership with Lyman K. Bass, the firm being Bass, Cleveland & Bissell, and after the retire ment of Mr. Bass, Cleveland & Bissell. In 1881, he was elected mayor of Buffalo by the Democratic vote. He entered upon office January 1, 1882, and soon became known as the " Veto Mayor," using that prerogative fearlessly in checking illegal and extravagant expendi tures. He was elected Governor of New York, November, 1882. On July 11, 1884, he was nominated Democratic candidate for President and elected November 4, 1884. He was renominated for the Presi dency by the Democrats June 6, 1888, but was defeated by Benjamin Harrison, the Republican candidate. On March 4, 1889, he returned to New York City, where he resumed the practice of law. He was again nominated by the Democratic convention in Chicago, June 21, 1892, and elected November 4th. He retired from office, March 4, 1897, and has since resided at Princeton, New Jersey. President Cleveland was married in the White House, June 2, 1886, to Miss Frances Folsom, daughter of his deceased law partner, Oscar Folsom, of Buffalo. Mrs. Cleveland was the first wife of a President married in the White House, and the first to give birth to a child there, their second daughter, Esther, having been born in the Executive Mansion in 1893. 58o History of the United States. HOME OF EX-PRESIDENT BENJAMIN HARRISON, AT INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. CHAPTER XXIII. BENJAMIN HARRISON AS A STATESMAN. By Horace A. Taylor, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. T T is easy to write of a friend. The reader willingly makes generous al- lowance for the partialities of personal friendship. But to write discrimi natingly of a living public man, correctly estimating and fairly presenting his character, attainments and achievements, is a delicate and difficult task. Somebody has well said that there is nothing more inspiring than the story of a triumphant life. Men never tire of it and it can not be too often told. There are grades in greatness. Some men are born great; upon their shoulders God has dropped the mantle of genius, giving them moral worth and intel lectual power, and unfolding to their keen conceptions the wonderful mysteries of life. There are other men less richly endowed by nature's partial hands, who by will and work, animated and guided by noble purposes and lofty virtues, Benjamin Harrison. 581 have climbed to the highest peaks of power and fame, and calmly trod the dizzy heights, admired and honored by all the world. Benjamin Harrison is a self-made and a well-made man. Though coming from a distinguished ancestry, he was in youth poor and comparatively ob scure. Yet by the power of his intellect and the nobility of his character, he rose to the highest rank among the rulers of the world, the Presidency of the United States of America. As a man and citizen Benjamin Harrison presents a model of our best man hood and citizenship — industrious, frugal, sincere and unpretending. As a public official he has been able, painstaking and courageous. Few men have had a life more remarkable or attained dignity and honor more striking. He has won his illustrious way by his great abilities, his splendid accomplish ments and the heroic virtue and manliness of his character. The higher he rose, the more strikingly were displayed his remarkable abilities and sterling virtues. He put brains and conscience into all his work, and the more prodigious the tasks that confronted him, the more brilliancy and bravery he displayed in their accomplishment. It is a long road from the office of a country lawyer to the White House. It is full of struggles and beset with temp tations. It takes keen eyes, steady nerves and fearless feet to safely find the way. Benjamin Harrison trod this dangerous road in hope, honor and bravery. He rarely faltered or stumbled. He moved upward with the sturdy tread of conscious strength and honesty. He made politics statesmanship, and showed that the successful office-seeker may be the dignified and christian gentleman. It may be safely said that no man who ever occupied the Presidential chair was more familiar with all the details of government than was President Har rison. He knew the functions and was informed as to the duties of every department and bureau. He could have taken any cabinet portfolio or any bureau or commissionership and discharged the duties of the positions without hesitation. His accurate knowledge as to departmental matters was a constant surprise to those who had occasion to consult him with reference to any branch of the public service. He not only knew all about the business of the Government, but he insisted that it be transacted with intelligence and fidelity. He had little toleration for carelessness or incapacity in public officials and employes. He conscientiously believed in the motto that, " public office is a public trust." He often in private and public utterances emphasized the fact that stronger and better men were needed in the public service. He believed that in the affairs of government, as in private business, that the rule of the survival of the fittest should hold absolute and inexorable sway. He was eminently practical in directing the administration of public affairs. He 582 > History of the United States. realized that facts and not theories must be the moving forces in government — that in the logic of events there is the highest wisdom. Benjamin Harrison was not only able, intelligent and practical in the dis charge of his duties as a local and State official, an United States Senator and President, but was thoroughly conscientious and always showed the courage of his convictions. He never hesitated to say or do what he thought ought to be said or done. He is a deeply religious man and believes that religion is for everyday use in all the duties of life. In his private life and in his public acts and utterances he exhibited the virtues of the christian as conspicuously as he displayed those of the statesman and patriot. As an example of his sense of duty and fearlessness in the expression of opinions, no matter how distasteful they might be to his hearers, I call atten tion to some of his utterances while making a trip to California during his Presidential term. He was first given a reception at Atlanta. The people came out in force to see what a Republican President looked like, and to hear what he had to say. He might have made a speech altogether pleasing to them — no living American can surpass him in speech-making — but he felt it his duty to his audience, mostly ex-Confederates, to exhort them to loyalty to the Government, and so he told them that the first and highest duty of citizenship was to respect and obey the Constitution and the laws. He was at Salt Lake, and for the first time the Mormons raised the American flag over their new temple, and turned out in great numbers to greet the President. Instead of confining his speech to matters pleasant for them to hear, he felt it his duty to rebuke the revolting sin of polygamy, and so he told them that the foundation of the Government was the home, and that there could be no honest or happy home with more than one wife and mother in it. He was at Denver on Sunday, and a reception was gotten up for him, although it was feared that he would decline to attend. He did not decline, but attended and devoted a con siderable part of his speech to rebuking violations of the Sabbath and exhorting his audience to a better observance of it. Only a great man and a good man has the moral courage exhibited by President Harrison upon the occasions referred to. In all his speeches and state papers President Harrison showed the broadest statesmanship, the most fervent patriotism and the most sincere Christianity. He is a great orator, though he lacks distinguished presence and the mag netism of physique, his grasp of thought is so comprehensive and his command of language so masterful, that he fixes attention and compels conviction. No time is so inopportune, no subject so profound as to embarrass or bewilder him. His resources of information and expression are truly wonderful. No matter what the occasion or the audience he always says the right thing in the right way. Benjamin Harrison. 583 In his official intercourse Mr. Harrison was always courteous, but dignified and decided. In personal relations he appears somewhat cool and reserved, but his friends know that although there may be an apparent lack of cordiality, beneath is a warm heart that responds to all that is good and true. The people of the United States honor and respect Benjamin Harrison. They believe in him. They admire his great talents and sterling virtues. They know he is honest, wise and brave. His Administration will go into history as one of the wisest and best that the country has ever enjoyed. Benjamin Harrison as a citizen, a soldier and the Nation's Highest Official, has filled the measure of his duty full. American history can furnish few parallels to his useful and exalted record. As has been well said of another illustrious American — the immortal Lincoln: " None but himself can be his parallel." /fn«& A* cft^A1*- 584 History of the United States. ADMINISTRATION OF 1889-1893. By Benjamin Harrison. INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1889. MY promise is spoken; yours is unspoken, but not the less real and solemn. The people of every State have here their rep resentatives. Surely I do not misinterpret the spirit of the occasion when I assume that the whole body of the people covenant with me and with each other to-day to support and defend the Con stitution and the Union of the States, to yield willing obedience to all the laws and each to every other citizen his equal civil and political rights. Entering thus solemnly into covenant with each other, we may reverently invoke and confidently expect the favor and help of Almighty God — ¦ that He will give to me wisdom, strength, and fidelity, and to our people a spirit of fraternity and a love of righteous ness and peace. This occasion derives peculiar interest from the fact that the Presi dential term which begins this day is the twenty-sixth under our Con stitution. The first inauguration of President Washington took place in New York, where Congress was then sitting, on the 30th day of April, 1789, having been deferred by reason of delays attending the organization of the Congress and the canvass of the electoral vote. Our people have already worthily observed the centennials of the Declaration of Independence, the battle of Yorktown, and of the adop tion of the Constitution, and will shortly celebrate in New York the institution of the second great department of our constitutional scheme of government. When the centennial of the institution of the judicial department, by the organization of the Supreme Court, shall have been suitably observed, as I trust it will be, our nation will have fully entered its second century. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 3, 1889. It is a matter of high significance and no less of congratulation that the first year of the second century of our constitutional existence finds as honored guests within our borders the representatives of all Benjamin Harrison. 585 the independent States of North and South America met together in earnest conference touching the best methods of perpetuating and ex panding the relations of mutual interest and friendliness existing among them. That the opportunity thus afforded for promoting closer international relations and the increased prosperity of the States represented will be used for the mutual good of all I can not permit myself to doubt. Our people will await with interest and confidence the results to flow from so auspicious a meeting of allied and in large part identical interests. The recommendations of this International Conference of enlight ened statesmen will doubtless have the considerate attention of Con gress and its co-operation in the removal of unnecessary barriers to beneficial intercourse between the nations of America. But while the commercial results which it is hoped will follow this conference are worthy of pursuit and of the great interests they have excited, it is believed that the crowning benefit will be found in the better securities which may be devised for the maintenance of peace among all Ameri can nations and the settlement of all contentions by methods that a Christian civilization can approve. While viewing with interest our national resources and products, the delegates will, I am sure, find a higher satisfaction in the evidences of unselfish friendship which every where attend their intercourse with our people. Another International Conference having great possibilities for good has lately assembled and is now in session in this capital. An invi tation was extended by the Government, under the act of Congress of July 9, 1888, to all maritime nations to send delegates to confer touching the revision and amendment of the rules and regulations governing vessels at sea and to adopt a uniform system of marine signals. The response to this invitation has been very general and very cordial. Delegates from twenty-six nations are present in the conference, and they have entered upon their useful work with great zeal and with an evident appreciation of its importance. So far as the agreement to be reached may require legislation to give it effect, the co-operation of Congress is confidently relied upon. It is an interesting, if not, indeed, an unprecedented, fact that the two international confsrences have brought together here the ac credited representatives of thirty-three nations. Bolivia, Ecuador, and Honduras are now represented by resident envoys of the plenipotentiary grade. All the States of the American system now maintain diplomatic representation at this capital. 586 History of the United States. In this connection it may be noted that all the nations of the West ern Hemisphere, with one exception, sent to Washington envoys ex traordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, being the highest grade accredited to this Government. The United States, on the contrary, sends envoys of lower grades to some of our sister Republics. Our representative in Paraguay and Uruguay is a minister resident, while to Bolivia we send a minister resident and consul-general. In view of the importance of our relations with the States of the American system, our diplomatic agents in those countries should be of the uni form rank of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary Cer tain missions were so elevated by the last Congress with happy effect, and I recommend the completion of the reform thus begun, with the inclusion also of Hawaii and Hayti, in view of their relations to the American system of states. During the fiscal year there was applied to the purchase of bonds, in addition to those for the sinking fund, $90,456,172.35, and during the first quarter of the current year the sum of $37,838,937.77, all of which were credited to the sinking fund. The revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891, are estimated by the Treasury Department at $385,000,000, and the expenditures for the same period, including the sinking fund, at $341,430,477.70. This shows an estimated sur plus for that year of $43,569,522.30, which is more likely to be in creased than reduced when the actual transactions are written up. The existence of so large an actual and anticipated surplus should have the immediate attention of Congress, with a view to reducing the receipts of the Treasury to the needs of the Government as closely as may be. The collection of moneys not needed for public uses im poses an unnecessary burden upon our people, and the presence of so large a surplus in the public vaults is a disturbing element in the con duct of private business. It has called into use expedients for putting it into circulation of very questionable propriety. We should not collect revenue for the purpose of anticipating our bonds beyond the requirements of the sinking fund, but any unappropriated surplus in the Treasury should be so used, as there is no other lawful way of re turning the money to circulation, and the profit realized by the Gov ernment offers a substantial advantage. The loaning of public funds to the banks without interest upon the security of Government bonds I regard as an unauthorized and dan gerous expedient. It results in a temporary and unnatural increase of the banking capital of favored localities and compels a cautious and Benjamin Harrison. 587 gradual recall of the deposits to avoid injury to the commercial inter ests. It is not to be expected that the banks having these deposits will sell their bonds to the Treasury so long as the present highly bene ficial arrangement is continued. They now practically get interest both upon the bonds and their proceeds. No further use should be made of this method of getting the surplus into circulation, and the deposits now outstanding should be gradually withdrawn and applied to the purchase of bonds. It is fortunate that such a use can be made of the existing surplus, and for some time to come of any casual sur plus that may exist after Congress has taken the necessary steps for a reduction of the revenue. Such legislation should be promptly but very considerately enacted. I recommend a revision of our tariff law both in its administrative features and in the schedules. The need of the former is generally conceded, and an agreement upon the evils and inconveniences to be remedied and the best methods for their correction will probably not be difficult. Uniformity of valuation at all our ports is essential, and effective measures should be taken to secure it. It is equally desirable that questions affecting rates and classifications should be promptlv decided. y The preparation of a new schedule of customs duties is a matter of great delicacy because of its direct effect upon the business of the country, and of great difficulty by reason of the wide divergence of opinion as to the objects that may properly be promoted by such legislation. Some disturbance of business may perhaps result from the consideration of this subject by Congress, but this temporary ill effect will be reduced to the minimum by prompt action and by the as surance which the country already enjoys that any necessary changes will be so made as not to impair the just and reasonable protection of our home industries. The inequalities of the law should be adjusted, but the protective principle should be maintained and fairly applied to the products of our farms as well as of our shops. These duties nec essarily have relation to other things besides the public revenues. We can not limit their effects by fixing our eyes on the public Treas ury alone. They have a direct relation to home production, to work, to wages, arid to the commercial independence of our country, and the wise and patriotic legislator should enlarge the field of his vision to include all of these. The necessary reduction in our public revenues can, I am sure, be made without making the smaller burden more onerous than the larger by reason of the disabilities and limitations 5S8 History of the United States. which the process of reduction puts upon both capital and labor. The free list can very safely be extended by placing thereon articles that do not offer injurious competition to such domestic products as our home labor can supply. The removal of the internal tax upon tobacco would relieve an important agricultural product from a burden which was imposed only because our revenue from customs duties was in sufficient for the public needs. If safe provision against fraud can be devised, the removal of the tax upon spirit used in the arts and in manufactures would also offer an unobjectionable method of reducing the surplus. A table presented by the Secretary of the Treasury showing the amount of money of all kinds in circulation each year from 1878 to the present time is of interest. It appears that the amount of national bank notes in circulation has decreased during that period $114,109,- 729, of which $37,799,229 is chargeable to the last year. The with drawal of bank circulation will necessarily continue under existing conditions. It is probable that the adoption of the suggestions made by the Comptroller of the Currency, namely, that the minimum deposit of bonds for the establishment of banks be reduced and that an issue oi notes to the par value of the bonds be allowed, would help to main tain the bank circulation. But while this withdrawal of bank notes has been going on there has been a large increase in the amount of gold and silver coin in circulation and in the issues of gold and silver certificates. The total amount of money of all kinds in circulation on March 1, 1878, was $805,793,807, while on October 1, 1889, the total was $1,405,018,000. There was an increase of $293,417,552 in gold coin, of $57,554,100 in standard silver dollars, of $72,311,249 in gold cer tificates, of $276,619,715 in silver certificates, and of $14,073,787 in United States notes, making a total of $713,976,403. There was dur ing the same period a decrease of $114,109,729 in bank circulation and of $642,481 in subsidiary silver. The net increase was $599,224,193. The circulation per capita has increased about $5 during the time ' covered by the table referred to. The total coinage of silver dollars was on November 1, 1889, $343- 638,001, of which $283,539,521 were in the Treasury vaults and $60,- 098,480 were in circulation. Of the amount in the vaults $277,319,944 were represented by outstanding silver certificates, leaving $6,219,577 not in circulation and not represented by certificates. The law requiring the purchase by the Treasury of $2,000,000 worth Benjamin Harrison. 589 of silver bullion each month, to be coined into silver dollars of 412^ grains, has been observed by the Department, but neither the present Secretary nor any of his predecessors has deemed it safe to exercise the discretion given by law to increase the monthly purchases to $4,000,000. When the law was enacted (February 28, 1878) the price of silver in the market was $1,204 per ounce, making the bullion value of the dollar 93 cents. Since that time the price has fallen as low as 91.2 cents per ounce, reducing the bullion value of the dollar to 70.6 cents. Within the last few months the market price has somewhat advanced, and on the 1st day of November last the bullion value of the silver dollar was 72 cents. The evil anticipations which have accompanied the coinage and use of the silver dollar have not been realized. As a coin it has not had general use, and the public Treasury has been compelled to store it. But this is manifestly owing to the fact that its paper representative is more convenient. The general acceptance and the use of the silver certificate show that silver has not been otherwise discredited. Some favorable conditions have contributed to maintain this practical equality in their commercial use between the gold and silver dollars; but some of these are trade conditions that statutory enactments do not control and of the continuance of which we can not be certain. I think it is clear that if we should make the coinage of silver at the present ratio free we must expect that the difference in the bullion values of the gold and silver dollars will be taken account of in com mercial transactions ; and I fear the same result would follow any con siderable increase of the present rate of coinage. Such a result would be discreditable to our financial management and disastrous to all business interests. We should not tread the dangerous edge of such a peril. And, indeed, nothing more harmful could happen to the silver interests. Any safe legislation upon this subject must secure the equality of the two coins in their commercial uses. I have always been an advocate of the use of silver in our currency. We are large producers of that metal and should not discredit it. Provision should be made for the acquisition of title to town lots in the towns now established in Alaska, for locating town sites, and for the establishment of municipal governments. Only the mining laws have been extended to that Territory, and no other form of title to lands can now be obtained. The general land laws were framed with reference to the disposition of agricultural lands, and it is doubtful if their operation in Alaska would be beneficial. 59° History of the United States. We have fortunately not extended to Alaska the mistaken policy of establishing reservations for the Indian tribes, and can deal with them from the beginning as individuals with, I am sure,. better results; but any disposition of the public lands and any regulations relating to timber and to the fisheries should have a kindly regard to their interests. Having no power to levy taxes, the people of Alaska are wholly dependent upon the General Government, to whose revenues the seal fisheries make a large annual contribution. An appropria tion for education should neither be overlooked nor stinted. The smallness of the population and the great distances between tbe settlements offer serious obstacles to the establishment of the usUal Territorial form of government. Perhaps the organization of several sub-districts with a small municipal council of limited powers for each would be safe and useful. Attention is called in this connection to the suggestions of the Sec retary of the Treasury relating to the establishment of another port of entry in Alaska and of other needed customs facilities and regu lations. The advent of four new States — South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Washington — into the Union under the Constitution in the same month, and the admission of their duly chosen represen tatives to our National Congress at the same session, is an event as unexampled as it is interesting. The creation of an Executive Department to be known as the De partment of Agriculture by the act of February 9th last was a wise and timely response to a request which had long been respectfully urged by the farmers of the country; but much remains to be done to per fect the organization of the Department so that it may fairly realize the expectations which its creation excited. In this connection at tention is called to the suggestions contained in the report of the Sec retary, which is herewith submitted. The need of a law officer for the Department such as is provided for the other Executive Departments is manifest. The failure of the last Congress to make the usual pro vision for the publication of the annual report should be promptly remedied. The public interest in the report and its value to the farming community, I am sure, will not be diminished under the new organization of the Department. I recommend that the weather service be separated from the War Department and established as a bureau in the Department of Agri culture. This will involve an entire reorganization both of the TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. ..«..'¦ , , u- ii,, ty-s, L~~u\*£', ,,,.: ..yi,, , ,...¦.' X, ti, • „,i, /,. y \1 Huy-X Ay, BUl U,i„J.A c/siASz., fitJhjXzLH.l, Ot /!¦. I SIGNATURE OF PRESIDENT HARRISON TO A STATE DOCUMENT Benjamin Harrison. 593 Weather Bureau and of the Signal Corps, making of the first a purely civil organization and of the other a purely military staff corps. The report of the Chief Signal Officer shows that the work of the corps on its military side has been deteriorating. The interests of the people of the District of Columbia should not be lost sight of in the pressure for consideration of measures affect ing the whole country. Having no legislature of its own, either municipal or general, its people must look to Congress for the regu lation of all those concerns that in the States are the subject of local control. Our whole people have an interest that the national capital should be made attractive and beautiful, and, above all, that its repute for social order should be well maintained. The laws regulating the sale of intoxicating drinks in the District should be revised with a view to bringing the traffic under stringent limitations and control. -SECOND ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER I, 189O. The admission of the States of Wyoming and Idaho to the Union are events full of interest and congratulation, not only to the people of those States now happily endowed with a full participation in our privileges and responsibilities, but to all our people. Another belt of States stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Whereas satisfactory proof has been presented (December 24, 1890) : to me that provision has been made for adequate grounds and build- s ings for the uses of the World's Columbian Exposition, and that a sum not less than $10,000,000, to be used and expended for the pur- \ poses of said exposition, has been provided in accordance with the 1 conditions and requirements of section 10 of an act entitled "An act ; to provide for celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the dis covery of America by "Christopher Columbus by holding an interna tional exhibition of arts, industries, manufactures, and the products i0f the soil, mine, and sea, in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illi nois," approved April 25, 1890: Now therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States by virtue of the authority vested in me by said act, do hereby 594 History of the United States. declare and proclaim that such international exhibition will be opened on the ist day of May, in the' year 1893, in the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, and will not be closed before the last Thursday in October of the same year. And in the name of the Government and of the people of the United States I do hereby invite all the nations of the earth to take part in the commemoration of an event that is pre eminent in human history and of lasting interest to mankind by ap pointing representatives thereto and sending such exhibits to the World's Columbian Exposition as will most fitly and fully illustrate their resources, their industries, and their progress in civilization. THIRD ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 9, 189I. On the 1 6th of October an event occurred in Valparaiso so serious and tragic in its circumstances and results as to very justly excite the indignation of our people and to call for prompt and decided action on the part of this Government. A considerable number of the sailors of the United States steamship " Baltimore," then in the harbor of Valparaiso, being upon shore leave and unarmed, were assaulted by armed men nearly simultaneously in different localities in the city. One petty officer was killed outright and seven or eight seamen were seriously wounded, one of whom has since died. So savage and brutal was the assault that several of our sailors received more than two and one as many as eighteen stab wounds. An investigation of the affair was promptly made by a board of officers of the " Balti more," and their report shows that these assaults were unprovoked, that our men were conducting themselves in a peaceable and orderly manner, and that some of the police of the city took part in the assault and used their weapons with fatal effect, while a few others, with some well-disposed citizens, endeavored to protect our men. Thirty-six of our sailors were arrested, and some of them while being taken to prison were cruelly beaten and maltreated. The fact that they were all discharged, no criminal charge being lodged against any one of them, shows very clearly that they were innocent of any breach of the peace. So far as I have yet been able to learn no other explanation of this bloody work has been suggested than that it had its origin in hos tility to those men as sailors of the United States, wearing the uniform of their Government, and not in any individual act or personal ani mosity. The attention of the Chilean Government was at once called Benjamin Harrison. 595 to this affair, and a statement of the facts obtained by the investigation we had conducted was submitted, accompanied by a request to be advised of any other or qualifying facts in the possession of the Chilean Government that might tend to relieve this affair of the appearance of an insult to this Government. The Chilean Government was also advised that if such qualifying facts did not exist this Government would confidently expect full and prompt reparation. It is to be regretted that the reply of the Secretary for Foreign Af fairs of the Provisional Government was couched in an offensive tone. To this no response has been made. This Government is now await ing the result of an investigation which has been conducted by the criminal court at Valparaiso. It is reported unofficially that the in vestigation is about complete, and it is expected that the result will soon be communicated to this Government, together with some ade quate and satisfactory response to the note by which the attention of Chile was called to this incident. If these just expectations should be disappointed or further needless delay intervene, I will by a special message bring this matter again to the attention of Congress for such action as may be necessary. Whereas by a joint resolution approved June 29, 1892, it was re solved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled — That the President of the United States be authorized and directed to issue a proclamation recommending to the people the observance in all their localities of the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America, on the 21st of October, 1892, by public demonstrations and by suitable exercises in their schools and other places of assembly. Now, therefore (July 21, 1892), I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of" America, in pursuance of the aforesaid joint reso lution, do hereby appoint Friday, October 21, 1892, the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, as a General Holiday for the people of the United States. On that day let the people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appre ciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life. 596 History of the United States. Columbus stood in his age as the pioneer of progress and enlight enment. The system of universal education is in our age the most prominent and salutary feature of the spirit of enlightenment, and it is peculiarly appropriate that the schools be made by the people the center of the day's demonstration. Let the national flag float over every schoolhouse in the country and the exercises be such as shall impress upon our youth the patriotic duties of American citizenship. In the churches and in the other places of assembly of the people let there be expressions of gratitude to Divine Providence for the devout faith of the discoverer and for the divine care and guidance which has directed our history and so abundantly blessed our people. FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1892. There never has been a time in our history- when work was so abundant or when wages were as high, whether measured by the currency in which they are paid or by their power to supply the necessaries and comforts of life. It is true that the market prices of cotton and wheat have been low. It is one of the unfavorable inci dents of agriculture that the farmer can not produce upon orders. He must sow and reap in ignorance of the aggregate production of the year, and. is peculiarly subject to the depreciation which follows over production. But while the fact I have stated is true as to the crops mentioned, the general average of prices has been such as to give to agriculture a fair participation in the general prosperity. The value of our total farm products has increased from $1,363,646,866 in i860 to $4,500,000,000 in 1891, as estimated by statisticians, an increase of 230 per cent. The number of hogs January 1, 1891, was 50,625,106 and their value $210,193,925; on January 1, 1892, the number was 52,398,019 and the value $241,031,415. On January 1, 1891, the num ber of cattle was 36,875,648 and the value $544,127,908; on January 1, 1892, the number was 37,651,239 and the value $570,749,155. If any are discontented with their state here, if any believe that wages or prices, the returns for honest toil, are inadequate, they should not fail to remember that there is no other country in the world where the conditions that seem to them hard would not be accepted as highly prosperous. The English agriculturist would be glad to ex change the returns of his labor for those of the American farmer and the Manchester workmen their wages for those of their fellows at Fall River. Benjamin Harrison. 597 I believe that the protective system, which has now for something more than thirty years continuously prevailed in our legislation, has been a mighty instrument for the development of our national wealth and a most powerful agency in protecting the homes of our working- men from the invasion of want. I have felt a most solicitous interest to preserve to our working people rates of wages that would not only give daily bread, but supply a comfortable margin for those home at tractions and family comforts and enjoyments without which life is neither hopeful nor sweet. They are American citizens — a part of the great people for whom our Constitution and Government were framed and instituted — and it can not be a perversion of that Consti tution to so legislate as to preserve in their homes the comfort, in dependence, loyalty, and sense of interest in the Government which are essential to good citizenship in peace, and which will bring this stalwart throng, as in 1861, to the defense of the flag when it is as sailed. The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will attract' especial in terest in view of the many misleading statements that have been made as to the state of the public revenues. Three preliminary facts should not only be stated but emphasized before looking into details: First, that the public debt has been reduced since March 4, 1889, $259,074,200, and the annual interest charge $11,684,469; second, that there have been paid out for pensions during this Administration up to November 1, 1892, $432,564,178.70, an excess of $114,466,386.09 over the sum expended during the period from March 1, 1885, to March 1, 1889; and, third, that under the existing tariff up to Decem ber ist about $93,000,000 of revenue which would have been collected upon imported sugars if the duty had been maintained has gone into the pockets of the people, and not into the public Treasury, as be fore. If there are any who still think that the surplus should have been kept out of circulation by hoarding it in the Treasury, or de posited in favored banks without interest while the Government con tinued to pay to these very banks interest upon the bonds deposited as security for the deposits, or who think that the extended pension legislation was a public robbery, or that the duties upon sugar should have been maintained, I am content to leave the argument where it now rests while we wait to see whether these criticisms will take the form of legislation. Ever since our merchant marine was driven from the sea by the rebel cruisers during the War of the Rebellion the United States has been 598 History of the United States. paying an enormous annual tribute to foreign countries in the shape of freight and passage moneys. Our grain and meats have been taken at our own docks and our large imports there laid down by foreign shipmasters. An increasing torrent of American travel to Europe has contributed a vast sum annually to the dividends of foreign ship owners. The balance of trade shown by the books of our custom houses has been very largely reduced and in many years altogether extinguished by this constant drain. In the year 1892 only 1213 per cent, of our imports were brought in American vessels. These great foreign steamships maintained by our traffic are many of them under contracts with their respective Governments by which in time of war they will become a part of their armed naval establishments. Profiting by our commerce in peace, they will become the most formidable destroyers of our commerce in time of war. I have felt, and have before expressed the feeling, that this condition of things was both intolerable and disgraceful. A wholesome change of policy, and one having in it much promise, as it seems to me, was begun by the law of March 3, 1891. Under this law contracts have been made by the Postmaster-General for eleven mail routes. The expenditure in volved by these contracts for the next fiscal year approximates $954,123.33. As one of the results already reached sixteen American steamships, of an aggregate tonnage of 57,400 tons, costing $7,400,000, have been built or contracted to be built in American shipyards. The estimated tonnage of all steamships required under existing contracts is 165,802, and when the full service required by these con tracts is established there will be forty-one mail steamers under the American flag, with the probability of further necessary additions in the Brazilian and Argentine service. The contracts recently let for transatlantic service will result in the construction of five ships of. 10,000 tons each, costing $9,000,000 to $10,000,000, and will add, with the City of New York and City of Paris, to which the Treasury De partment was authorized by legislation at the last session to give American registry, seven of the swiftest vessels upon the sea to our naval reserve. The contracts made with the lines sailing to Central and South American ports have increased the frequency and shortened the time of the trips, added new ports of call, and sustained some lines that otherwise would almost certainly have been withdrawn. The service to Buenos Ayres is the first to the Argentine Republic under the American flag. The service to Southampton, Boulogne, and Antwerp is also new, and is to be begun with the steamships City of New York and City of Paris in February next. Benjamin Harrison. 599 I earnestly urge the continuance of the policy inaugurated by this legislation, and that the appropriations required to meet the obligations of the Government under the contracts may be made promptly, so that the lines that have entered into these engagements may not be embarrassed. We have had, by reason of connections with the trans continental railway lines constructed through our own territory, some advantages in the ocean trade of the Pacific that we did not possess on the Atlantic. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the establishment under large subventions from Canada and England of fast steamship service from Vancouver with Japan and China seriously threaten our shipping interests in the Pacific. This line of English steamers receives, as is stated by the Commissioner of Navigation, a direct subsidy of $400,000 annually, or $30,767 per trip for thirteen voyages, in addition to some further aid from the Ad miralty in connection with contracts under which the vessels may be used for naval purposes. The competing American Pacific mail line under the act of March 3, 1891, receives only $6,389 per round trip. At the beginning of Secretary Tracy's administration several difficult problems remained to be grappled with and solved before the efficiency in action of our ships could be secured. It is believed that as the result of new processes in the construction of armor plate our later ships will be clothed with defensive plates of higher resisting power than are found on any war vessels afloat. We were without torpedoes. Tests have been made to ascertain the relative efficiency of different con structions, a torpedo has been adopted, and the work of construction is now being carried on successfully. We were without armor-piercing shells and without a shop instructed and equipped for the construction of them. We are now making what is believed to be a projectile su perior to any before in use. A smokeless powder has been developed and a slow-burning powder for guns of large caliber. A high explosive capable of use in shells fired from service guns has been found, and the manufacture of gun cotton has been developed so that the question of supply is no longer in doubt. The development of a naval militia, which has been organized in eight States and brought into cordial and co-operative relations with the Navy, is another important achievement. There are now en listed in these organizations 1,800 men, and they are likely to be greatly extended. I recommend such legislation and appropriations as will encourage and develop this movement. 600 History of the United States. I transmit, with a view to its ratification, a treaty, February 15, 1893, of annexation concluded on the 14th day of February, 1893, between John W. Foster, Secretary of State, who was duly empowered to act in that behalf on the part of the United States, and Lorin A. Thurston, W. R. Castle, W. C. Wilder, C. L. Carter, and Joseph Marsden, the commissioners on the part of the Government of the Hawaiian Islands. The provisional treaty, it will be observed, does not attempt to deal in detail with the questions that grow out of the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States. The commissioners repre senting the Flawaiian Government have consented to leave to the future and to the just and benevolent purposes of the United States the adjustment of all such questions. I do not deem it necessary to discuss at any length the conditions which have resulted in this decisive action. It has been the policy of the" Administration not only to respect but to encourage the contin uance of an independent goverment in the Hawaiian Islands so long as it afforded suitable guaranties for the protection of life and property and maintained a stability and strength that gave adequate security against the domination of any other power. The moral support of this Government has continually manifested itself in the most friendly diplomatic relations and in many acts of courtesy to the Hawaiian rulers. The overthrow of the monarchy was not in any way promoted by this Government, but had its origin in what seems to have been a re actionary and revolutionary policy on the part of Queen Liliuokalani, which put in serious peril not only the large and preponderating inter ests of the United States in the islands, but all foreign interests, and, indeed, the decent administration of civil affairs and the peace of the islands. It is quite evident that the monarchy had become effete and the Queen's Government so weak and inadequate as to be the prey of designing and unscrupulous persons. The restoration of Queen Liliuokalani to her throne is undesirable, if not impossible, and unless actively supported by the United States would be accompanied by serious disaster and the disorganization of all business interests. The influence and interest of the United States in the islands must be in creased and not diminished. Only two courses are now open — one the establishment of a pro tectorate by the United States, and the other annexation full and com plete; I think the latter course, which has been adopted in the treaty, will be highly promotive of the best interests of the Hawaiian people, Benjamin Harrison. 6oi and is the only one that will adequately secure the interests of the United States. These interests are not wholly selfish. It is essential that none of the other great powers shall secure these islands. Such a possession would not consist with our safety and with the peace of the world. This view of the situation is so apparent and conclusive that no protest has been heard from any government against proceed ings looking to annexation. Every foreign representative at Hono lulu promptly acknowledged the Provisional Government, and I think there is a general concurrence in the opinion that the deposed Queen ought not to be restored. Prompt action upon this treaty is very desirable. If it meets the ap proval of the Senate, peace and good order will be secured in the islands under existing laws until such time as Congress can provide by legislation a permanent form of government for the islands. This legislation should be, and I do not doubt will be, not only just to the natives and all other residents and citizens of the islands, but should be characterized by great liberality and a high regard to the rights of all people and of all foreigners domiciled there. The correspondence which accompanies the treaty will put the Senate in possession of all the facts known to the Executive. Whereas (January 4, 1893), Congress by a statute approved March 22, 1882, and by statutes in furtherance and amendment thereof de fined the crimes of bigamy, polygamy, and unlawful cohabitation in the Territories and other places within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States and prescribed a penalty for such crimes; and Whereas on or about the 6th day of October, 1890, the Church of the Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church, through its president issued a manifesto proclaiming the purpose of said church no longer to sanction the practice of polygamous mar riages and calling upon all members and adherents of said church to obey the laws of the United States in reference to said subject-matter; and Whereas it is represented that since the date of said declaration the members and adherents of said church have generally obeyed said laws and have abstained from plural marriages and polygamous cohabita tion; and Whereas by a petition dated December 19, 1891, the officials of said church, pledging the membership thereof to a faithful obedience to the laws against plural marriage and unlawful cohabitation, have ap plied to me to grant amnesty for past offenses against said laws, which 6o2 History of the United States. request a very large number of influential non-Mormons residing in the Territories have also strongly urged ; and Whereas the Utah Commission in their report bearing date Sep tember 15, 1892, recommend that said petition be granted and said amnesty proclaimed, under proper conditions as to the future ob servance of the law, with a view to the encouragement of those now disposed to become law-abiding citizens; and Whereas during the past two years such amnesty has been granted to individual applicants in a very large number of cases, conditioned upon the faithful observance of the laws of the United States against unlawful cohabitation, and there are now pending many more such ap plications : Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, by virtue of the powers in me vested, do hereby declare and grant a full amnesty and pardon to all persons liable to the penalties of said act by reason of unlawful cohabitation under the color of polyg amous or plural marriage who have since November 1, 1890, ab stained from such unlawful cohabitation, but upon the express con dition that they shall in the future faithfully obey the laws of the United States hereinbefore named, and not otherwise. Those who shall fail to avail themselves of the clemency hereby offered will be vigorously prosecuted. LIFE OF BENJAMIN HARRISON. BENJAMIN HARRISON was born at North Bend, Ohio, Au gust 20, 1823. He is grandson of General William Henry Har rison, who became President of the United States in 1841. His father, John Scott Harrison, was married the second time to Eliza beth Irwin. Benjamin was a son of this marriage. He was care fully instructed by a private teacher at home and then sent to a school near Cincinnati, where he was fitted for Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, which he graduated from in 1852. The next year he married Miss Caroline Scott, daughter of Dr. John W. Scott, of Oxford. He was admitted to the bar in 1854, and began to- practice at Indianapolis, Ind., which he continued until the Civil War began, when he at once became active in raising the Seventieth Indiana Regiment of Volun teers. He was commissioned its colonel. He fought through the war, and at its close went with his regiment to Washington, and took part Benjamin Harrison. 603 in the grand review of the armies. He was brevetted brigadier-general January 23, 1865, and mustered out of service the following June. He stumped the State of Indiana in support of General Grant in the Presidential campaigns of 1868 and 1872. He was early noted as a most effective impromptu speaker, never using notes. President Gar field offered him an appointment in his Cabinet, which he declined, preferring to serve the State of Indiana, which had elected him to the United States Senate, which office he held from 1881 to 1887. He was elected to the Presidency November, 1888. He was renominated in 1892, but was defeated at the November election. On leaving the White House he returned to his home at Indianapolis, where he still resides, his first wife having died. He married Mrs. Dimmick, a niece of his first wife. 604 History of the United States. CHAPTER XXIV. PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION. By Congressman Joseph G. Cannon, of Illinois. \T O two years of our national history, since the close of the Civil War, have * been so big with great events or have seen such masterful treatment of the same as the two years covered by the first half of William McKinley's Administration and by the Fifty-fifth Congress. Administration and legislation have been both wise and efficient. The history of the country shows that in time of war, when public attention is directed chiefly to military matters, the expenditures of the Government are apt to do without proper attention, and, what is of far greater consequence, enterprising individuals or interests attempt to utilize public sentiment and commit the Government to expenditures from the Treasury to carry out policies meeting with public favor without properly safeguarding the machinery necessary to accomplish the end in view. But, the Congress that has just expired has been peculiarly fortunate; first,- in having been able to maintain a close scrutiny of appropriations; and, second, in having successfully resisted projects prompted by selfish interests that were claimed to be proper for carrying out public sentiment, but which would, in reality, have defeated the realization of such sentiment, or would have at least delayed the construction ¦ of great works necessary for the national welfare. A case in point was the proposition to construct the Nicaragua canal. There is an almost universal public sentiment demanding the construction of an Isthmian canal that will unite the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific, oceans. The public defense, on the one hand, and the interests of the commerce of the United States and of the world, on the other, demand such a canal. A bill was proposed and passed by the Senate committing the United States to the con struction of the Nicaragua canal and the practical acquirement, at a cost of $5,000,000, of an alleged concession from Nicaragua and Costa Rica to the William McKinley. 605 Maritime Canal Company for the construction thereof, while in truth and fact, if said concession has not already expired, it will expire in October next,' and even if it had not expired the United States could not afford to construct a canal under its provisions. If the Senate bill or any measure proposed had been enacted, the United States would have paid $5,000,000 for a worthless concession and would have been committed by law to the construction of a canal along the Nicaragua route, and under such conditions it would have been compelled, before we threw a spadeful of earth or in any way began actual construction, to have acquired by treaty from Nicaragua and Costa Rica the territory whereon to construct the canal and the right to construct it. Such legislation would have delayed and embarrassed the construction of an isthmian canal. The United States can not afford to enter upon this great work until it has acquired, by treaty, a zone of territory whereon to construct the same. Fortunately the House of Representatives resisted the enactment of the pro posed legislation, and the contest between the Senate and the House resulted finally in the only practical provision possible, viz., the appropriation of $1,000,000 to enable the President to make a full and complete investigation of the Isthmus, with a view to the future construction of a canal across the same, particularly the Panama and Nicaragua routes, and to report to Congress the result, with his recommendations in the premises. In addition to this, the President already has the sole power to negotiate treaties for a site for said canal, which treaties must be made and ratified before the Government can begin construction. During the whole of the four years covered by Mr. Cleveland's second Ad ministration the material and industrial condition of the country was calam itous, and its contemplation does not bring satisfaction to any American citizen. But the Fifty-fifth Congress, beginning with ihe Administration of William McKinley, and promptly called in extraordinary session, as promptly enacted legislation which has yielded the additional revenues needed to pay the ordinary expenses of the Government, and has at the same time protected American labor. With the enactment of that legislation hope and confidence struck hands, and the condition of the whole country improved and has con tinued to improve from that time to the present. Labor is now universally employed with increasing wage, and with such employment the means are supplied for increased consumption. In addition, without taking time to discuss in detail the causes that led thereto Congress declared war against Spain; and the prompt and decisive successes of the Army and Navy upon land and sea have never been equalled anywhere in history. The great expenditures rendered necessary by the war 606 History of the United States. required the enactment of additional revenue legislation, and that legislation is now bringing into our Treasury an additional $100,000,000 per annum. The vast increase of the navy and the creation of an army of a quarter of a million men, together with the increase of taxation, have not in any appreciable degree checked our industrial advance, which began coincidentally with the incoming of the present Administration and the Fifty-fifth Congress. As a logical sequence of war, outlying territories formerly belonging to Spain have by the treaty of peace and by the occupation of our Army and Navy, come under the jurisdiction of the United States, and a military government under the direction of the President, and in conformity with the peace treaty, is established in those outlying territories and will continue until Congress ir the future shall provide by legislation such civil government as the interests of the United States and the condition and well being of the people therein may demand. The Administration of William McKinley and the Fifty-fifth Congress have grappled successfully and wisely with all questions of peace and war that they have been called upon to consider. And in passing let me call attention to our great success in securing the adjustment of the large indebtedness due to the Government from the Pacific railroads. Under the Administration of Mr. Cleveland, in the then depressed condition of the country, the large indebted ness due from those railroads was regarded as practically lost, and we would have been glad to have secured its settlement by the payment of one-half of it. But, with the return of prosperity, so wisely promoted by sound legislation and administration, the indebtedness of the Union Pacific, amounting in round numbers to $59,000,000, has been collected and paid into the Treasury, while the principal of the indebtedness of the Kansas Pacific, amounting to over $6,000,000, has also been collected and paid into the Treasury. Under legisla tion enacted by the second session of the Congress just expired, the Administra tion has settled and secured the whole of the debt, both principal and interest, due from the Central Pacific, likewise amounting, in round numbers, to $59,000,000. If any one had predicted at the beginning of this Administration that it would be possible to collect and secure these great sums to the United States he would have been laughed at as a prophet abounding in neither inspiration nor wisdom. It is not my purpose now to discuss questions connected with legislation hereafter to be enacted. I prefer rather to await the logic of events and the full information that will doubtless come, as I hope, between now and the organiza tion in December next of the newly-elected Congress. But I venture the assertion and the prediction that the United States could not, if it would, and William McKinley. 607 would not if it could, part with the territories acquired from Spain by the treaty of peace, or shirk its duties and responsibilities touching them. Turning our faces toward the new problems that will be presented for our consideration and action, I am confident that we shall in the future, as we have solved other problems in the past, solve them successfully, bringing to our aid in their solution courage, wisdom, and patriotism. ffi. &* ftfV-r^ 608 History of the United States. ADMINISTRATION BEGINNING 1897. By William McKinley. T> INAUGURAL ADDRESS, MARCH 4, 1897. 'HE responsibilities of the high trust to which I have been called I — always of grave importance — are augmented by the prevail ing business conditions, entailing idleness upon willing labor and loss to useful enterprises. The country is suffering from industrial disturbances from which speedy relief must be had. Our financial sys tem needs some revision; our money is all good now, but its value must not further be threatened. It should all be put upon an endur ing basis, not subject to easy attack, nor its stability to doubt or dis pute. Our currency should continue under the supervision of the Government. The several forms of our paper money offer, in my judgment, a constant embarrassment to the Government and a safe balance in the Treasury. Therefore, I believe it necessary to devise a system which, without diminishing the circulating medium or of fering a premium for its contraction, will present a remedy for those arrangements which, temporary in their nature, might well in the years of our prosperity have been displaced by wiser provisions. With adequate revenue secured, but not until then, we can enter upon such changes in our fiscal laws as will, while insuring safety and volume to our money, no longer impose upon the Government the necessity of maintaining so large a gold reserve, with its attend ant and inevitable temptation to speculation. Most of our financial laws are the outgrowth of experience and trial, and should not be amended without investigation and demonstration of the wisdom of the proposed changes. We must be both " sure we are right " and " make haste slowly.' If, therefore, Congress in its wisdom shall deem it expedient to create a commission to take under early con sideration the revision of our coinage, banking, and currency laws, and give them that exhaustive, careful, and dispassionate examina tion that their importance demands, I shall cordially concur in such action. ^^Vr^... ^U^7L twenty-fifth president of the united states. ¦-¦ ¦ ¦¦¦ y~:.-y. X0 f0H H« Si William McKinley. 6ii It has been the policy of the United States since the foundation of the Government to cultivate relations of peace and amity with all the nations of the world, and this accords with my conception of our duty now. We have cherished the policy of noninterference with the affairs of foreign Governments wisely inaugurated by Washing ton, keeping ourselves free from entanglement, either as allies or foes, content to leave undisturbed with them the settlement of their own domestic concerns. It will be our aim to pursue a firm and dignified foreign policy, which shall be just, impartial, ever watchful of our national honor, and always insisting upon the enforcement of the lawful rights of American citizens everywhere. Our diplomacy should seek nothing more and accept nothing less than is due us. We want no wars of conquest; we must avoid the temptation of territorial ag gression. War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed; peace is preferable to war in almost every contin gency. Arbitration is the true method of settlement of international as well as local or individual differences. It was recognized as the best means of adjustment of differences between employers and employees by the Forty-ninth Congress in 1886, and its application was extended to our diplomatic relations by the unanimous concurrence of the Sen ate and House of the Fifty-first Congress in 1890. The latter resolu tion was accepted as the basis of negotiations with us by the British House of Commons in 1893, and upon our invitation a treaty of ar bitration between the United States and Great Britain was signed at Washington and transmitted to the Senate for its ratification in Jan uary last. Since this treaty is clearly the result of our own initiative; since it has been recognized as the leading feature of our foreign policy throughout our entire national history — the adjustment of difficulties by judicial methods rather than force of arms; and since it presents to the world the glorious example of reason and peace, not passion and war, controlling the relations between two of the greatest nations in the world, an example certain to be followed by others, I respectfully urge the early action of the Senate thereon, not merely as a matter of policy, but as a duty to mankind. The im portance and moral influence of the ratification of such a treaty can hardly be overestimated in the cause of advancing civilization. It may well engage the best thought of the statesmen and people of every country, and I can not but consider it fortunate that it was reserved to the United States to have the leadership in so grand a work. 612 History of the United States. special cession message to congress, march 1 5, 1897. Regretting the necessity which has required me (March 15, 1897) to call you together, I feel that your assembling in extraordinary ses sion is indispensable because of the condition in which we find the revenues of the Government. It is conceded that its current expendi tures are greater than its receipts, and that such a condition has ex isted for now more than three years. With unlimited means at our command, we are presenting the remarkable spectacle of increasing our public debt by borrowing money to meet the ordinary outlays incident upon even an economical and prudent administration of the Government. An examination of the subject discloses this fact in every detail and leads inevitably to the conclusion that the condition of the revenue which allows it is unjustifiable and should be cor rected. We find by the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury that the revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, from all sources were $425,868,260.22, and the expenditures for all purposes were $415,953,806.56, leaving an excess of receipts over expenditures of $9,914,453.66. During that fiscal year $40,570,467.98 were paid upon the public debt, which had been reduced since March 1, 1889, $259,076,890, and the annual interest charge decreased $11,684,576.60. The receipts of the Government from all sources during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, amounted to $461,716,561.94, and its expendi tures to $459,374,887.65, showing an excess of receipts over expendi tures of $2,341,674.29. Since that time the receipts of no fiscal year, and with but few exceptions of no month of any fiscal year, have exceeded the expendi tures. The receipts of the Government, from all sources, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, were $372,802,498.29, and its ex penditures $442,605,758.87, leaving a deficit, the first since the resump tion of specie payments, of $69,803,260.58. Notwithstanding there was a decrease of $16,769,128.78 in the ordinary expenses of the Gov ernment, as compared with the previous fiscal year, its income was still not sufficient to provide for its daily necessities, and the gold re serve in the Treasury for the redemption of greenbacks was drawn upon to meet them. But this did not suffice, and the Government then resorted to loans to replenish the reserve. In February, 1894, $50,000,000 in bonds were issued, and in No vember following, a second issue of $50,000,000 was deemed necessary. ! 1 11 William McKinley. 613 The sum of $117,171,795 was realized by the sale of these bonds, but the reserve was steadily decreased until, on February 8, 1895, a third sale of $62,315,400 in bonds, for $65,116,244, was announced to Con gress. The receipts of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895, were $390,373,203.30, and the expenditures $433,178,426.48, showing a deficit of $42,805,223.18. A further loan of $100,000,000 was negotiated by the Government in February, 1896, the sale netting $111,166,246, and swelling the aggregate of bonds issued within three years to $262,315,400. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, the revenues of the Government from all sources amounted to $409,475,408.78, while its expenditures were $434,678,654.48, or an excess of expenditures over receipts of $25,203,245.70. In other words, the total receipts for the three fiscal years ending June 30, 1896, were insufficient by $137,811,729.46 to meet the total expenditures. Nor has this condition since improved. For the first half of the present fiscal year, the receipts of the Government, exclusive of postal revenues, were $157,507,603.76, and its expenditures, exclusive of postal service, $195,410,000.22, or an excess of expenditures over re ceipts of $37,902,396.46. In January of this year, the receipts, ex clusive of postal revenues, were $24,316,994.05, and the expenditures, exclusive of postal service, $30,269,389.29, a deficit of $5,952,395.24 for the month. In February of this year, the receipts, exclusive of pos tal revenues, were $24,400,997.38, and expenditures, exclusive of postal service, $28,796,056.66, a deficit of $4,395,059.28; or a total deficiency of $186,061,580.44 for the three years and eight months ending March 1, 1897. Not only are we without a surplus in the Treasury, but with an increase in the public debt there has been a corresponding increase in the annual interest charge, from $22,893,883.20 in 1892, the lowest of any year since 1862, to $34,387,297.60 in 1896, or an increase of $11,493,414.40. It may be urged that even if the revenues of the Government had been sufficient to meet all its ordinary expenses during the past three years, the gold reserve would still have been insufficient to meet the demands upon it, and that bonds would necessarily have been issued for its repletion. Be this as it may, it is clearly manifest, without denying or affirming the correctness of such a conclusion, that the debt would have been decreased in at least the amount of ihe de ficiency, and business confidence immeasurably strengthened through out the country. 614 History of the United States. Congress should promptly correct the existing condition. Ample revenues must be supplied not only for the ordinary expenses of the Government, but for the prompt payment of liberal pensions and the liquidation of the principal and interest of the public debt. In raising revenue, duties should be so levied upon foreign products as to pre serve the home market, so far as possible, to our own producers; to revive and increase manufactures; to relieve and encourage agricul ture; to increase our domestic and foreign commerce; to aid and develop mining and building; and to render to labor in every field of useful occupation the liberal wages and adequate rewards to which skill and industry are justly entitled. The necessity of the passage of a tariff law which shall provide ample revenue, need not be further urged. The imperative demand of the hour is the prompt enactment of such a measure, and to this object I earnestly recommend that Con gress shall make every endeavor. Before other business is transacted, let us first provide sufficient revenue to faithfully administer the Gov ernment without the contracting of further debt, or the continued dis turbance of our finances. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE, DECEMBER 6, 1897. Tariff legislation having been settled by the extra session of Con gress, the question next pressing for consideration is that of the cur rency. The work of putting our finances upon a sound basis, difficult as it may seem, will appear easier when we recall the financial opera tions of the Government since 1866. On the 30th day of June of that year we had outstanding demand liabilities in the sum of $728,868,447.41. On the ist of January, 1879, these liabilities had been reduced to $443,889,495.88. Of our interest-bearing obligations, the figures are even more striking. On July 1, 1866, the principal of the interest-bearing debt of the Government was $2,332,331,208. On the 1st day of July, 1893, the sum had been reduced to $585,037,100, or an aggregate reduction of $1,747,294,108. The interest-bearing debt of the United States on the ist day of December, 1897, was $847,365,620. The Government money now outstanding (December 1) consists of $346,681,016 of United States notes, $107,793,280 of Treasury notes issued by authority of the law of 1890, $384,963,504 of silver certificates, and $61,280,761 of standard silver dollars. With the great resources of the Government and with the honor able example of the past before us, we ought not to hesitate to enter j William McKinley. 615 upon a currency revision which will make our demand obligations less onerous to the Government and relieve our financial laws from ambiguity and doubt. The brief review of what was accomplished from the close of the war to 1893, makes unreasonable and groundless any distrust either of our financial ability or soundness; while the situation from 1893 to 1897 must admonish Congress of the immediate necessity of so legislating as to make the return of the conditions then prevailing impossible. There are many plans proposed as a remedy for the evil. Before we can find the true remedy we must appreciate the real evil. It is not that our currency of every kind is not good, for every dollar of it is good; good because the Government's pledge is out to keep it so, and that pledge will not be broken. However, the guaranty of our purpose to keep the pledge will be best shown by advancing toward its fulfillment. The evil of the present system is found in the great cost to the Government of maintaining the parity of our different • forms of money, that is, keeping all of them at par with gold. We surely can not be longer heedless of the burden this imposes upon the peo ple, even under fairly prosperous conditions, while the past four years have demonstrated that it is not only an expensive charge upon the Government, but a dangerous menace to the National credit. It is manifest that we must devise some plan to protect the Govern ment against bond issues for repeated redemptions. We must either curtail the opportunity for speculation, made easy by the multiplied redemptions of our demand obligations, or increase the gold reserve for their redemption. We have $900,000,000 of currency which the Government by solemn enactment has undertaken to keep at par with gold. Nobody is obliged to redeem in gold but the Government. The banks are not required to redeem in gold. The Government is obliged to keep equal with gold all its outstanding currency and coin obligations, while its receipts are not required to be paid in gold. They are paid in every kind of money but gold, and the only means by which the Government can with certainty get gold is by borrowing. It can get it in no other way when it most needs it. The Government without any fixed gold revenue is pledged to maintain gold redemp tion which it has steadily and faithfully done and which under the authority now given it will continue to do. The law which requires the Government after having redeemed 616 History of the United States. its United States notes to pay them out again as current funds de mands a constant replenishment of the gold reserve. This is es pecially so in times of business panic and when the revenues are in sufficient to meet the expenses of the Government. At such times the Government has no other way to supply its deficit and maintain redemption but through the increase of its bonded debt, as during the Administration of my predecessor when $262,315,400 of four-and-a- half per cent, bonds were issued and sold and the proceeds used to pay the expenses of the Government in excess of the revenues and sus tain the gold reserve. While it is true that the greater part of the proceeds of these bonds were used to supply deficient revenues, a con siderable portion was required to maintain the gold reserve. With our revenues equal to our expenses, there would be no deficit requiring the issuance of bonds. But if the gold reserve falls below $100,000,000, how will it be replenished except by selling more bonds? Is there any other way practicable under existing law? The serious question then is, shall we continue the policy that has been pursued in the past; that is, when the gold reserve reaches the point of danger, issue more bonds and supply the needed gold, or shall we provide other means to prevent these recurring drains upon the gold reserve? If no further legislation is had and the policy of selling bonds is to be continued, then Congress should give the Secretary of the Treasury authority to sell bonds at long or short periods, bearing a less rate of interest than is now authorized by law. I earnestly recommend as soon as the receipts of the Government are quite sufficient to pay all the expenses of the Government, that when any of the United States notes are presented for redemption in gold and are redeemed in gold, such notes shall be kept and set apart, and only paid out in exchange for gold. This is an obvious duty. If the holder of the United States note prefers the gold and gets it from the Government, he should not receive back from the Government a United States note without paying gold in exchange for it. The reason for this is made all the more apparent when the Government issues an interest-bearing debt to provide gold for the redemption of United States notes — a noninterest-bearing debt. Surely it should not pay them out again except on demand and for gold. If they are put out in any other way, they may return again to be followed by another bond issue to redeem them — another in terest-bearing debt to redeem a noninterest-bearing debt. I concur with the Secretary of the Treasury in his recommendation William McKinley. 617 that National banks be allowed to issue notes to the face value of the bonds which they have deposited for circulation, and that the tax on circulating notes secured by deposit of such bonds be reduced to one- half of 1 per cent, per annum. I also join him in recommending that authority be given for the establishment of National banks with a minimum capital of $25,000. This will enable the smaller villages and agricultural regions of the country to be supplied with currency to meet their needs. I recommend that the issue of National bank notes be restricted to the denomination of $10 and upward. If the suggestions I have herein made shall have the approval of Congress, then I would recom mend that National banks be required to redeem their notes in gold. By a special message dated the 16th day of June last (1897), I laid before the Senate a treaty signed that day by the plenipotentiaries of the United States and of the Republic of Hawaii, having for its pur pose the incorporation of the Hawaiian Island as an integral part of the United States and under its sovereignty. The Senate having re moved the injunction of secrecy, although the treaty is still pending before that body, the subject may be properly referred to in this message because the necessary action of the Congress is required to determine by legislation many details of the eventual union should the fact of annexation be accomplished, as I believe it should be. While consistently disavowing from a very early period any ag gressive policy of absorption in regard to the Hawaiian group, a long series of declarations through three-quarters of a century has pro claimed the vital interest of the United States in the independent life of the islands and their intimate commercial dependence upon this country. At the same time it has been repeatedly asserted that in no event could the entity of Hawaiian statehood cease by the passage of the islands under the domination or influence of another power than the United States. Under these circumstances, the logic of events required that annexation, heretofore offered but declined, should in the ripeness of time come about as the natural result of the strength ening ties that bind us to those islands, and be realized by the free will of the Hawaiian State. That treaty was unanimously ratified without amendment by the Senate and President of the Republic of Hawaii on the ioth of Sep tember last, and only awaits the favorable action of the American Senate to effect the complete absorption of the islands into the domain of the United States. What the conditions of such a union shall be, 618 History of the United States. the political relation thereof to the United States, the character of the local administration, the quality and degree of the elective franchise of the inhabitants, the extension of the federal laws to the territory or the enactment of special laws to fit the peculiar condition thereof, the regulation if need be of the labor system therein, are all matters which the treaty has wisely relegated to the Congress. If the treaty is confirmed as every consideration of dignity and honor requires, the wisdom of Congress will see to it that, avoiding abrupt assimilation of elements perhaps hardly yet fitted to share in the highest franchises of citizenship, and having due regard to the geographical conditions, the most just provisions for self-rule in local matters with the largest political liberties as an integral part of our Nation will be accorded to the Hawaiians. No less is due to a people who, after nearly five years of demonstrated capacity to fulfill the obli gations of self-governing statehood, come of their free will to merge their destinies in our body-politic. SPECIAL MESSAGE, MAY 17, 1897, RECOMMENDING RELIEF FOR DESTITUTE AMERICANS IN CUBA. Official information from our consuls (May 17, 1897), in Cuba, es tablishes the fact that a large number of American citizens in the island are in a state of destitution, suffering for want of food and medi cines. This applies particularly to the rural districts of the central and eastern parts. The agricultural classes have been forced from their farms into the nearest towns, where they are without work or money. The local authorities of the several towns, however kindly disposed, are unable to relieve the needs of their own people and are altogether powerless to help our citizens. .The latest report of Consul-General Lee estimates six to eight hun dred Americans are without means of support. I have assured him that provision would be made at once to relieve them. To that end I recommend that Congress make an appropriation of not less than $50,000, to be immediately available, for use under the direction of the Secretary of State. It is desirable that a part of the sum which may be appropriated by Congress should, in the discretion of the Secretary of State, also be used for the transportation of American citizens who, desiring to re turn to the United States, are without means to do so, William McKinley. 619 special message on the destruction of the maine. For some time prior to the visit of the "Maine" to Havana harbor, our consular representatives pointed out the advantages to flow from the visit of national ships to the Cuban waters, in accus toming the people to the presence of our flag as the symbol of good will and of our ships in the fulfillment of the mission of protec tion to American interests, even though no immediate need therefor might exist. Accordingly on the 24th of January last (1898), after conference with the Spanish minister in which the renewal of visits of our war vessels to Spanish waters was discussed and accepted, the peninsular authorities at Madrid and Havana were advised of the purpose of this Govern ment to resume friendly naval visits at Cuban ports, and that in that view the " Maine " would forthwith call at the port of Havana. This announcement was received by the Spanish Government with appreciation of the friendly character of the visit of the " Maine," and with notification of intention to return the courtesy by sending Spanish ships to the principal ports of the United States. Meanwhile the " Maine " entered the port of Havana on the 25th of January, her arrival being marked with no special incident besides the exchange of customary salutes and ceremonial visits. The " Maine " continued in the harbor of Havana during the three ]iveeks following her arrival. No appreciable excitement attended her stay; on the contrary, a feeling of relief and confidence followed the resumption of the long-interrupted friendly intercourse. So noticeable was this immediate effect of her visit that the consul-general strongly urged that the presence of our ships in Cuban waters should be kept up by retaining the " Maine " at Havana or, in the event of her recall, by sending another vessel there to take her place. At forty minutes past 9 in the evening of the 15th of February the " Mairre '' was destroyed by an explosion, by which the entire forward part of the ship was utterly wrecked. In this catastrophe two officers and two hundred and sixty-four of her crew perished, those who were not killed outright by her explosion being penned between decks by the tangle of wreckage and drowned by the immediate sinking of the hull. Prompt assistance was rendered by the neighboring vessels anchored in the harbor, aid being especially given by the boats of the Spanish cruiser "Alfonso XII " and the Ward Line steamer " City of Wash- 620 History of the United States. ington," which lay not far distant. The wounded were generously cared for by the authorities of Havana, the hospitals being freely opened to them, while the earliest recovered bodies of the dead were interred by the municipality in a public cemetery in the city. Tributes of grief and sympathy were offered from all official quarters of the island. The appalling calamity fell upon the people of our country with crushing force, and for a brief time an intense excitement prevailed, which in a community less just and self-controlled than ours might have led to hasty acts of blind resentment. This spirit, however, soon gave way to the calmer processes of reason and to the resolve to inves tigate the facts and await material proof before forming a judgment as to the cause, the responsibility, and, if the facts warranted, the remedy due. This course necessarily recommended itself from the outset to the Executive, for only in the light of a dispassionately ascertained certainty could it determine the nature and measure of its full duty in the matter. The usual procedure -was followed, as in all cases of casualty or dis aster to national vessels of any maritime State. A naval court of inquiry was at once organized, composed of officers well qualified by rank and practical experience to discharge the onerous duty imposed upon them. Aided by a strong force of wreckers and divers, the court proceeded to make a thorough investigation on the spot, employing every available means for the impartial and exact determination of the causes of the explosion. Its operations have been conducted with the utmost deliberation and judgment, and while independently pursued no attainable source of information was neglected, and the fullest op portunity was allowed for a simultaneous investigation by the Spanish authorities. The finding of the court of inquiry was reached, after twenty-three days of continuous labor, on the 21st of March, instant, and, having been approved on the 22d by the commander-in-chief of the United States naval force on the North Atlantic Station, was transmitted to the Executive. Its purport is, in brief, as follows: When the " Maine " arrived at Havana she was conducted by the regular Government pilot to buoy No. 4, to which she was moored in from 577- Of fhe Navy: Killed, 17; wounded, 67; died as result of wounds, 1; invalided from service, 6; total, 91. It will be observed that while our Navy was engaged in two great battles and in numerous perilous undertakings in blockade and bom bardment, and more than 50,000 of our troops were transported to William McKinley. 643 distant lands and were engaged in assault and siege and battle and many skirmishes in unfamiliar territory, we lost in both arms of the service a total of 1,668 killed and wounded; and in the entire campaign by land and sea we did not lose a gun or a flag or a transport or a ship, and with the exception of the crew of the " Merrimac " not a soldier or sailor was taken prisoner. On August 7th, forty-six days from the date of the landing of General Shaffer's army in Cuba and twenty-one days from the sur render of Santiago, the United States troops commenced embarkation for home, and our entire force was returned to the United States as early as August 24th. They were absent from the United States only two months. It is fitting that I should bear testimony to the patriotism and devotion of that large portion of our Army which, although eager to be ordered to the post of greatest exposure, fortunately was not re quired outside of the United States. They did their whole duty, and like their comrades at the front have earned the gratitude of the Nation. In like manner, the officers and men of the Army and of the Navy who remained in their departments and stations faithfully per forming most important duties connected with the war, and whose requests for assignment in the field and at sea I was compelled to refuse because their services were indispensable here, are entitled to the highest commendation. It is my regret that there seems to be no provision for their suitable recognition. In this connection it is a pleasure for me to mention in terms of cordial appreciation the timely and useful work of the American National Red Cross both in relief measures preparatory to the campaigns, in sanitary assistance at several of the camps of assem blage, and later, under the able and experienced leadership of the president of the society, Miss Clara Barton, on the fields of battle and in the hospitals at the front in Cuba. Working in conjunction with the governmental authorities and under their sanction and ap proval, and with the enthusiastic co-operation of many patriotic women and societies in the various States, the Red Cross has fully maintained its already high reputation for intense earnestness and ability to exercise the noble purpose of its international organization, thus justifying the confidence and support which it has received at the hands of the American people. To the members and officers of this society and all who aided them in their philanthropic work, the sincere and lasting gratitude of the soldiers and the public is due and is freely accorded. 644 History of the United States. ' In tracing these events we are constantly reminded of our obliga tions to the Divine Master for His watchful care over us and His safe guidance, for which the Nation makes reverent acknowledgment and offers humble prayer for the continuance of His favor. The annihilation of Admiral Cervera's fleet, followed by the capit ulation of Santiago, having brought to the Spanish Government a realizing sense of the hopelessness of continuing a struggle now be come wholly unequal, it made overtures of peace through the French ambassador, who with the assent of his Government had acted as the friendly representative of Spanish interests during the war. On the 26th of July, M. Cambon presented a communication signed by the Duke of Almodovar, the Spanish Minister of State, inviting the United States to state the terms upon which it would be willing to make peace. On the 30th of July, by a communication addressed to the Duke of Almodovar and handed to M. Cambon, the terms of this Government were announced, substantially as in the protocol after ward signed. On the ioth of August the Spanish reply, dated August 7th, was handed by M. Cambon to the Secretary of State. It accepted unconditionally the terms imposed as to Cuba, Porto Rico, and an island of the Ladrones group, but appeared to seek to introduce inad missible reservations in regard to our demand as to the Philippine Islands. Conceiving that discussion on this point could neither be practical nor profitable, I directed that in order to avoid misunder standing the matter should be forthwith closed by proposing the embodiment in a formal protocol of the terms upon which the nego tiations for peace were to be undertaken. The vague and inexplicit suggestions of the Spanish note could not be accepted, the only reply being to present as a verbal ultimatum a draft of protocol embodying the precise terms tendered to Spain in our note of July 30th, with added stipulations of detail as to the appointment of commissioners to arrange for the evacuation of the Spanish Antilles. On August 12th, M. Cambon announced his receipt of full powers to sign the protocol so submitted. Accordingly on the afternoon of August 12th, M. Cambon, as the plenipotentiary of Spain, and the Secretary of State, as the plenipotentiary of the United States, signed a protocol providing: Article I. Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. Article II. Spain will cede to the United States the Island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and also an island in the Ladrones to be selected by the United States. William McKinley. 645 Article III. The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbor of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines. The fourth article provided for the appointment of joint commis sions on the part of the United States and Spain, to meet in Havana and San Juan, respectively, for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the details of the stipulated evacuation of Cuba, Porto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies. The fifth article provided for the appointment of not more than five commissioners on each side, to meet at Paris not later than October ist, and to proceed to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, subject to ratification according to the respective constitutional forms of the two countries. The sixth and last article provided that upon the signature of the protocol hostilities between the two countries should be suspended and that notice to that effect should be given as soon as possible by each Government to the commanders of its military and naval forces. Immediately upon the conclusion of the protocol I issued a proc lamation of August 1 2th suspending hostilities on the part of the United States. The necessary orders to that end were at once given by telegraph. The blockade of the ports of Cuba and San Juan de Porto Rico was in like manner raised. On the 18th of August the muster out of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that number as was found to be practicable, was ordered. On the ist of December, 1898, 101,165 officers and men had been mustered out and discharged from the service and 9,002 more will be mustered out by the ioth of this month. Also a corresponding num ber of general and general staff officers have been honorably dis charged from the service. The military commissions to superintend the evacuation of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the adjacent islands were forthwith appointed: for Cuba, Major-General James F. Wade, Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, Major-General Matthew C. Butler; for Porto Rico, Major- General John R. Brooke, Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, Brigadier- General William W. Gordon, who soon afterward met the Spanish commissioners at Havana and San Juan, respectively. The Porto Rican joint commission speedily accomplished its task, and by the 18th of October the evacuation of the island was completed. The United States flag was raised over the island at noon on that day. 646 History of the United States. The administration of its affairs has been provisionally intrusted to a military governor until the Congress shall otherwise provide. The Cuban Joint Commission has not yet terminated its labors. Owing to the difficulties in the way of removing the large numbers of Spanish troops still in Cuba, the evacuation can not be completed before the ist of January next. Pursuant to the fifth article of the protocol, I appointed William R. Day, lately Secretary of State, Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, and George Gray, Senators of the United States, and Whitelaw Reid, to be the Peace Commissioners on the part of the United States. Proceeding in due season to Paris, they there met on the ist of Octo ber five commissioners, similarly appointed on the part of Spain. Their negotiations have made hopeful progress, so that I trust soon to be able to lay a definite treaty of peace before the Senate, with a review of the steps leading to its signature. I do not discuss at this time the government or the future of the new possessions which will come to us as the result of the war with Spain. Such discussion will be appropriate after the treaty of peace shall be ratified. In the meantime and until the Congress has legis lated otherwise it will be my duty to continue the military govern ments which have existed since our occupation and give to the people security in life and property and encouragement under a just and beneficent rule. As soon as we are in possession of Cuba and nave pacified the island it will be necessary to give aid and direction to its people to form a government for themselves. This should be undertaken at the earliest moment consistent with safety and assured success. It is important that our relations with this people shall be of the most friendly character and our commercial relations close and reciprocal. It should be our duty to assist in every proper way to build up the waste places of the ispand, encourage the industry of the people, and assist them to form a government which shall be free and independent, thus realizing the best aspirations of the Cuban people. Spanish rule must be replaced by a just, benevolent, and numane government, created by the people of Cuba, capable of performing all international obligations and which shall encourage thrift, industry, and prosperity, and promote peace and good-will among all of the inhabitants, whatever may have been their relations in the past. Neither revenge nor passion should have a place in the new govern ment. Until there is complete tranquillity in the Island and a stable government inaugurated military occupation will be continued. William McKinley. 647 With the one exception of the rupture with Spain the intercourse of the United States with the great family of nations has been marked with cordiality, and the close of the eventful year finds most of the issues that necessarily arise in the complex relations of sovereign states adjusted or presenting no serious obstacle to a just and honor able solution by amicable agreement. As a consequence (February 10, 1899) of the ratification of the treaty of peace between the United States and Spain, and its expected ratification by the Spanish Government, the United States will come into possession of the Philippine Islands, on the farther shores of the Pacific. The Hawaiian Islands and Guam becoming United States territory, and forming convenient stopping places on the way across the sea, the necessity for speedy cable communication between the United States and all these Pacific islands has become imperative. Such communication should be established in such a way as to be wholly under the control of the United States, whether in time of peace or of war. At present the Philippines can be reached only by cables which pass through many foreign countries, and the Hawaiian Islands and Guam can only be communicated with by steamers, in volving delays in each instance of at least a week. The present con dition should not be allowed to continue for a moment longer than is " absolutely necessary. So long ago as 1885 reference was made in an Executive message to Congress to the necessity for cable communication between the United States and Hawaii. This necessity has greatly increased since then. The question has been discussed in the Fifty-second, Fifty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Congresses, in each of which some effort has been made looking toward laying a cable, at least as far as the Hawaiian Islands. The time has now arrived when a cable in the Pacific must extend at least as far as Manila, touching at the Hawaiian Islands and Guam on the way. Two methods of establishing this cable communication at once suggest themselves: First, construction and maintenance of such a cable by and at the expense of the United States Government; and second, construction and maintenance of such a cable by a private United States corporation, under such safeguards as Congress shall impose. I do not make any recommendations to Congress as to which of these methods would be the more desirable. A cable of the length of 648 History of the United States. that proposed requires so much time for construction and laying that it is estimated that at least two years must elapse after giving the order for the cable before the entire system could be successfully laid and put in operation. Further deep-sea soundings must be taken west of the Hawaiian Islands before the final route for the cable can be selected. Under these circumstances it becomes a paramount neces sity that measures should be taken before the close of the present Congress to provide such means as may seem most suitable for the establishment of a cable system, The Peace Proclamation. Whereas, A treaty of peace between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, in the name of her august son, Don Alfonso XIII, was concluded and signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at Paris on the ioth day of December, 1898, the original of which convention being in the English and Spanish languages; and, Whereas, The said convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the ratifications of the two governments were exchanged in the city of Washing ton, on the eleventh day of April, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine; Now, therefore, be it known that I, William McKinley, President of the United States of America, have caused the said convention to be made public, to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, and of the inde pendence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-third. WILLIAM McKINLEY. LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. WILLIAM McKINLEY was born at Niles, Ohio, January 29, 1843. He was educated at the Poland Academy and Allegheny College. For some time after leaving college he taught in public schools. On the outbreak of the Civil War, he en listed as a private at the age of 18 years in the Twenty-third Ohio William McKinley. 649 Volunteer Infantry, in 1861. In 1862 he was promoted to commissary sergeant and then second lieutenant. The following year his faith fulness and bravery won him a first lieutenancy. By another year he had risen to the rank of captain, and served on the staffs of General Rutherford B. Hayes, General George Crook, and General Winfield S. Hancock. He was brevetted major of volunteers by President Lincoln for gallantry in battle, March 13, 1865. He was mustered out of service, July 26, 1865. He then took up the study of law in Mahoning county, and completed his course at the Albany Law School, New York, in 1867. He was admitted to the bar in the same year. He also settled at Canton, Ohio, in 1867, and began the practice of law. He has made Canton his home ever since. He married Miss Ida Saxton. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Stark county in 1869. In 1876 he was elected as Congressman from his district. He continued to represent this district in Congress for fourteen years. As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he reported the tariff law of 1890. In that year he was defeated for re-election to Congress. But in the following year he was elected governor of Ohio, in 1891, by a plurality of 21,511. He was re-elected governor in 1893, by a plurality of 80,995. At the Republican National Convention of 1892, to which he was delegate, he supported the renomination of Benjamin Harrison. But he himself then received 182 votes for President, although he had refused to have his name considered. On June 18, 1896, at St. Louis, he was nominated for President, receiving 661 out of a total of 905 votes. He was elected President at the fol lowing November elections, receiving a popular plurality of 600,000 votes, and 271 votes in the electoral college, against 176 for his opponent, William J. Bryan of Nebraska. y*LE UNlVERSlTv ^a39002^^ffff L8Jtb