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• f not absolutely , the solitary power of Christendom having o surplus revenue , drawn immediately from imposts on commprce arid therefore measured by the spontaneous enterprise and national prosperity of the country , with such indirect relation Jo agriculture , manufactures , and the products of the earth and sea , as to violate no constitutional doctrine , and yet vigorously - promote the general welfare . Neither as to the sources of the public treasure , nor as to the manner of keeping and managing it , does any grave controversy now prevail , there being a general acquiescence in tie wisdom of the present system . » The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will exhibit in detail the state of the public finances ; and the condition of the various branches of the public service administered by that department of the Government .
" The revenue of the country , levied almost insensibly to the tax payer , ' goes on from year to year increasing beyond either the interests or the prospective wants of the Govern"At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30 , 1852 , there remained in the treasury a balance of fourteen million six hundred and tbirry-two thousand one hundred and thirty-sis dollars . The public revenue for' the fiscal year ending June 30 , 1853 , amounted to fifty-eight million nine hundred and thirty-one thousand eight hundred and sixtylive dollars from customs , and to two million four hundred and five thousand :- seven hundred and . eight dollars from public lands and-other miscellaneous sources , amounting to-Tnillion three hundred and
gether to sixty-OHe ^ thirty-seven thousand fire hundred and seventy-four dollars ; ' while . the public expenditures -for the same period , exclusive of payments on account of the public debt , amounted to forty-three million five hundred fchoVfifty-fonr thousand two hundred and sixty-two dollars ; leaving a balance of thirty-two million four hundred arid twenty ^ five thousand four hundred and forty-seven dollars of receipts above expenditures . " This fact , ' of increasing surplus in the treasury , became the subject of anxious consideration at a very early period of my administration , arid ' the path of duty in regard to it seemed to me obvious and clear , namel y ^ first , to apply the surplus revenue to the discharge of the public debt , so far as it could judiciously be done ; and , secondly , to devise means for the gradnarreductiou of the revenue to the standard of
the public exigencies : - " Of these objects , the first has been in thexourse of accomplishment , in a mariner and to-a degree highly satisfactory . The - amount of the public debt , of all classes , was , on the 4 th of March , 1853 , sixty-nine million one hundred and ninety thousand and thirty-seven thousand dollars ; payments on account of which have been made since that period to the amount of twelve million seven hundred and three thousand three hundred and twenty-nine dollars , leaving unpaid , and in the continuous course of liquidation , the sum of fifty-six million four hundred and eighty-six thousand seven hundred and eight dollars . These payments , although made at -the market price of the respective classes of stocks , have been effected readily , and to the general advantage of the treasury , and have at the same time proved of signal utility in the relief they have incidentally afforded to the money market and to the industrial and commercial pursuits of the
country . " The second of the above-mentioned objects , that of the tariff , is of great importance ,-and the plan suggested by the Secretary of the Treasury , which is to reduce the duties on certain articles , and to add to the free lists many articles now taxed , and especially such as enter in manufactures , and are not largely , or at all , produced in the country , is commended to your candid and careful consideration . " AUGMENTATION OF ARMY AND NAVY . " Among the objects meriting your attention will be important recommendations from the Secretaries of War and Navy . I am fully satisfied that the navy of tho United
htates is not in a condition of strength and efficiency commensurate with the magnitude of your commercial and other interests ; and commend to your especial attention the suggestions on this subject made by tho Secretary of the Navy . I respectfully submit that the army , which , under our system , must always bo regarded with tho highest interest , as a nucleus around which tho volunteer forces of the nation gather in tho hour of danger , requires augmentation , or modification , to adapt it to the present oxtended limits and frontier relations of the country , and tho condition ° f the Indian tribes in the interior of the continent ; tho necessit y of which will appear in the communications of tho Secretaries of War and tho Interior . "
The report on the public lands shows tho usual Progress in their survey and salo ; and ' also that hitherto they have formed a source of rovenue . During tho past year upwards of ten millions of j ^ res have been brought into the public market ; and * w all purposes upwards of twenty-live millions of jj cres have been disposed of . The President does not lu vour tho grant of public lands for roads and railways . INTERNATIONAL . IMPUOVKMKNT POMCY . "Tho subject of intcrnid improvements , claiming alike '" o interest ' and goodwill of all , has nevertheless been tho Kul ycet of much political discussion , and has stood as a \ , ? P graven lino of division botween statesmen of groat construction oi
"" iiuy and patriotism . Tho rnlo of . strict ; < m powora delegated by tho states to tho general govern"ont lnia arraypd itself from timo to timo against tho rapid Fogroas of expenditures from tho national treasury on dories of a local character within tho states . Memorable » s nn epoch in tho history of this subject is tho message of * resident Jackson , of tho 27 th of May . IBM , which mot no system of internal improvements m its comparative . " « n « y ; but Ho rapid had been its growth that tho profited appropriations in that , yoar for works of tins character tnli ' tho alarming amount of more than one luuulml »»» lions of dollars .
, In that inoHsago tho President admitted tho difficulty of Blrn . "lK lmok tho oporationa of tho Government to tho oimi-. " wstton of the coiiHtitulion set up in 171 ) 8 , and murkid m admonitory proof of tho necessity of guarding that
instrument with sleepless vigilance against the authority of precedents ,-which had not the sanction of its most plainly defined powers . " Our Government exists under a written compact between sovereign states , uniting for specific objects , and with specific g ,-ants to their general agent . If , then , in the progress , of its administration , there have been departures from the terms and intent of the compact , it is , and will ever be , proper to refer back to the fixed standard which our fathers left us , and to make a stern effort to conform our action to it . It would seem that the fact of a principle having been resisted from the first by many of the wisest and most patriotic men of the republic , and a policy having provoked constant strife , without arriving at a conclusion which can be regarded as satisfactory to its most earnest
advocates , should suggest the inquiry whether there may not be a plan likely to be crowned with happier results . Without perceiving any sound distinction , or intending to assert any principle as opposed to improvements heeded for the protection- of internal commerce , which does not equally apply to improvements upon the seaboard for the protection of foreign commerce , I submit to you , whether it may not be safely anticipated that , if the policy were once settled against appropriations by the general government for local improvements for the benefit of commerce , localities requiring expenditures would not , by modes and 'means clearlv legitimate and proper , raise the fund necessary for such construction as ' -the safety or other interests of their commerce might require . "If that can be regarded as a system , which in the experience of more than thirty years , has at no time so commanded the public judgment as to give it the character of a
settled policy—which , though it has produced some worksof conceded importance , has been attended with an expenditure quite disproportionate to their value—and has resulted in squandering large sums upon objects which have answered no valuable purpose—the interests of all the states require it to be abandoned , unless hopes maybe indulged for the future which find no warrant from the past . " With an anxious desire for the completion of the works which are regarded by all-good citizens with sincere interest , I have deemed it my duty to ask at your hands a deliberate reconsideration of the question , with a hope that , animated by a desire to promote the permanent and substantial interests of the country , your wisdom may prove eq ual to the task of devising and maturing a plarij which , applied to this subject , may promise some tiling better than constant strife , the suspension of the powers of local enterprise , the exciting of vain hopes , and the disappointment of cherished expectations . "
The Message discusses the Pacific Railway in a friendly spirit , but holds out no other hope of assistance than such as can be given consistently ; with the provisions of the Constitution ; and , indeed , throughout the President inculcates a rigid adherence to the dictates of the fundamental law . America can afford to wait for a railway to the Pacific , he says , but cannot afford to neglect the " ark of her security , " the constitution . In this special case he admits the necessity of the contemplated road ; but points rather to private enterprise as the means than state aid . Two other sections of the Message we quote
entire . rARTIES . —¦ NORTH AND SOUTH . —THE UNION . " It is no part of my purpose to give prominence to any subject which may properly be regarded as set _ at rest by tho deliberate judgment of tho people . Cut whilo the present is'bright with promiso , and the future full of demand and inducement for the exorcise of active intelligence , the past can never be without useful lessons of admonition and instruction . If its dangers servo not as beacons , they will evidently fail to fulfil tho object of a wise design . When the grave shall have closed over all , who are now endeavouring to meet the obligations of duty , the year 1850 will be recurred to as a poriod filled with anxious apprehension . A successful war had just terminated . Peace brought with it a vast augmentation of territory . Disturbing questions
arose , bearing upon tho domestic institutions of one portion of the confederacy , and involving the constitutional rights of tho states . But , notwithstanding differences . of opinion and sentiment , which then existed in relation to details and specific provisions , the acquiescence of distinguished citizens , whose devotion to the union can never bo doubted , has given renewed vigour to our institutions , and restored , a sense of repose and security to tho public mind throughout tho confederacy . That this rcposo is to . suffer no shock during my officiul term , if I have power to avert it , thoso who placed mo here may bo assured . Tho wisdom of men , who know what independence cost—who had put all at stake upon tho issue of tho revolutionary struggle—disposed of the subject to which I refer , in tho only way consistent with . tho
union of theso states , and with tho inarch of power and ' prosperity which , has made , us what wo arc It is a significant fact , that from tho adoption of tho constitution until t , lio officers and soldiers of tho revolution had passed . to their graves , or , through the inttrmitios of ago and wounds , had ccasod to participate actively in public affairs , there was not merely a quit t acquiescence- in , but a prompt vindication of , tho constitutional rights of tho states . Tho reserved powers wore scrupulously respected . No statoainnn put forth tho narrow views of casuists to justify interference and agitation ,, but tho spirit of compact was regarded as sacred in the oyo
of honour and indispensable- for Mm grout experiment of civil liberty , which , environed with inherent difficulties , was ycit borno forward in apparent weakness b y a power superior to all obstacles . There is no condemnation which tho voice of freedom will not pronounce upon us should we prove faithless to this great trust . Whilo men inhabiting different purls of this great continent can no more bo expected to hold tho name opinions or entertain tho wuno soutirnonts fian every variety of climate or . soil can bo expected to furnish tho same agricultural products , they can unilo in h common object and sustain common principles essential to tho in . aiulcimnco of" that object . Tho gallant men of tho
south and the north could stand together during the straggle * of the revolution ; they could stand together in the mor # trying period : which succeeded the clangour of arms . As their united valour was adequate to . all . the trialsi of the camp and dangers of the field , so their united wisdom proved equal to the greater task of founding , upon a deep and broad bas ^ institutions , which it has been our privilege to enjoy , and wilt ever be our most sacred duty to sustain . It k bnfc the feeble expression of a faith strong and universalto say that their sons , whose blood mingled so often upon the same field during the war of 1812 , and who had more recently borne in triumph the flag of the country upon a foreign soil , will never permit alienation of feeling to weaken the power of their United efforts , nor internal dissensions to paralyse " the great arm of freedom , uplifted for the vindication of selfgovernment . "
PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE REPUBLIC . " I have thus briefly presented such suggestions as seemto me especially worthy of your consideration . In providingfor the present , you can hardly fail to avail yourselves or the light which the experience o ' f the past casts upon the futures ; - * V The growth of our population has now brought us , in the destined career of our national history , to a point at which it well behoves us to expand our vision over the vast perspective . " The successive decennial returns of the census since the adoption of the constitution have revealed a law of steady progressive development , which may be stated , in general terms , as a duplication every-quarter century .: Carried forward , front the point already reached , for only a short period of time as applicable to the existence of a nation , this law of progress , if unchecked , will bring us to almost incredible results . A large allowance for a diminished
proportional effect of emigration would not very materially reduce the estimate , while the increased average duration of human , life , known to have already resulted from the . scientific and hygienic improvements of the past fifty years , will tend to keep up through the next fifty , or perhaps hundred , the same ratio of growth which has been thus revealed in our past progress ; and to the influence of these causes may headded the influx of labouring masses from eastern Asiato the Pacific side of our possessions , together with the probable accession of the populations already existing ia other parts of our hemisphere , which , within the period in question , will feel , with yearly increasing force , the natural attraction of so vast , powerful , and prosperous a confederation of self-governing : republics , and seek the privilege of being admitted within its safe and happy bosom , transferring with themselves * by a peaceful and healthy process of incorporation , spacious regions of virgin and exuberant soil , which are destined to swarm with the fast-growing and fast-spreading millions of
our race . " These considerations seem fully to justify the presumption that the law of population above stated will continue ' to act with undiminished effect , through at least the next hah ? century . ; and that thousands of persons who have already arrived at maturity , and are now exercising the rights of freemen , will close their eyes on the spectacle of more than one hundred millions of population embraced within the majestic proportions of the American Union . It is not merely as an interesting topic of speculation that I present these views for your consideration . They have important practical bearings upon all the political duties we are called upon to perform . Heretofore , our system of government has worked on what may bo termed a miniature scale , in comparison with
the development , which it must thus assume , within a future so near at f land , as scarcely to be beyond the present of tho existing generation . 11 " It is evident that a confederation so vast and so varied , both in numbers and in territorial extent , in habits and in . interests , could only bo kept in national cohesion by tho strictest fidelity to the principles of the constitution , as understood by those who have adhered to tllo most restricted construction of tho powers granted b y the people and tho states . Interpreted and applied according to those principles , tho great compact adapts itself with healthy ease and freedom to an unlimited extension of that benign system of federative self-government of which it is our glorious and , I trust , immortal charter . Lot ua , then , with redoubled
vigilance , bo on our guard against yielding to tho temptation of the exercise of doubtful powers , even under tho pressure of the motives of conceded temporary advantage and apparent temporary expediency . " The minimum of federal government , compatible with tho maintenance of national unity and efficient action in our relations with tho rest-of the world ,. should afford tho rnlo and measure-of construction of our powers under tho general clauses of tho constitution . A spirit of strict deference to tho sovereign rights and dignity of every state , rather than a disposition to subordinate tlw . states into a provincial relation to . tho central authority , should characterise all our exorciso of the respective powers temporarily vosted in us as & sacred trust from tho miorous confidence of our
constituents . ...... ,, 15 .. "In HIco manner , as a manifestly indispensable condition of tho perpetuation of union , and of tho realisation of that magnificent national futuro adverted to , doos tho duty become yearly stronger and clo . 'trer upon us , na cilfeons of tho sovoral states , to cultivate a fraternal and afleotionato spirit , language , and conduct in regard to othor states , tmd in rolation to tho varied interests , institutions , and hubits of sciitimont "'" I opinion , which may respectively clmrjiotorisQ thorn . Mutual Torbearanco , respect , and non-intorfoj-eiujo in our personal action as citi / . ons , and an enlarged oxerciso
of tho most liberal principles of comity in tho public , dealing of stuto with state , whether in legislation or in the execution of laws , « r « tho means to perpetuate that confidence ) and fraternity , tho decay of which , a more political union , on . oo vjihI ; a scale could not long survive . "In still another point ; of view , is an important practical duly Hiiggest ' . id hv this consideration of tho magnitude of dimensions , to winch our political system , with its corresponding machinery of government , ia so rapidly expanding . With increased vigilance < looa it require \ m to cultivate tho , cardinal virtues of nubile frugality and official integrity and purity . Public afl ' aira ought to bo bo conducted that a
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Je ^ embeR 24 , 1853 ] THE LEA PER / ' ' 1 * 227
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 24, 1853, page 1227, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2018/page/3/
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