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