Evening Star Newspaper, January 1, 1856, Page 1

FUBLISHED EVERY AFTERNOON, ° (EXCEPT SUNDAY,) At the Star Pabonge aoa Pennsylvania By W. D. WALLACH, WI be served to subscribers by carriers at SIX AND A QUARTER CENTS, payable weekly 2 fo the Agents; papers served in packages at 37} 3 mription price is THREE DOLLARS AND FIF- 3 . TY CENTS a year in advance, TWO DOLLARS 3 4 for six months, and ONE DOLLAR for three pesoetetente months; for less than three months at the rate of THE WEEKLY STAR. | talning 8 greater variety of interesting reading ean be found im any other—is published on Satur- xy morning. Single COPY, Pr ARR ,e.eeeseeerrenerneesOl 26 TO CL¥Bs. i ‘Twenty copies... 1” Casz, invaniaaiy in apvancs. aie counter, Treniataraly efter the tone of the Paper. Prico—Tuzas Cunrs. a commission of twenty per President’s M This reply substitutes a partial issue, in the | and sanction ; but it al red that the | consideration of the Sound dues shall be com- | lion seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, tary scrip or Jand warrants, } © eS: t's essage. ace of tin general one presented by the public agents eaxagad in it ad “stringent | mingled with, and made subordinate to, a | and reduce the spesiens actual or osti- for roads, and selected ax SdlicwctiomechitieSenciaans nited States. The British government passes | instructions” not to violate the municipal law | matter wholly extraneous, the balance of | mated, for ordinary objects of the year, to the | by States, is twenty-four million five hundred orw-ctleze: e 1 over the question of the rights of Great Bri- | of the United States. owor among the governments of Europe. of the House of Representatives tain, need or supposed, in Ventral America, | It is difficult to understand how it should P While, we Bg ae ing this proposition, sum of sixty million four hundred and seven- ee ; -six thousand dollars. The constitution of the United States pro- | gn4 assumes that she had such rights at the| have beer supposed that troops could be raised | and insisting on the right of free transit. into ; The amount of the public debt at the com- mencement of the present fiscal year, was forty million five hundred and eighty-three thousand six hundred and thirty-one dollars, and, deduction being made of su uent pay- ments, the whole public debt of the federal vernment remaining at this time isless than forty million dollars. The remnant of certain other government stocks, amounting to two hund and forty- three thousand dollars, referred ta in my last message as outstanding, has since been paid. I am full pareaded’ thatit would be diffi- Vides that Congress shall assemble annually | ato of the treaty, and that those rights com- | here by Groat Britain, without violation of the | and from the Baltic, I have expressed to Den- on the first Monday of December, and it has |) hended the Proteotorehip of the Mosquito Sinsicioal law. The unmistakable object of | mark a willingness, on the part of the United been usual for the President to make no com- dians, the extended jurisdiction and limits | the law was to prevent every such act, which, | States, to share liberally with other powers in munication of a public character to the Sen-| of the » and the colony of the Bay | if performed, must be either in violation of | com her for any advantages, which ate and House of Representatives yoryet Islands, and thereupon proceeds by implica- | the law, or in studied evasion of it; and, in | commerce shall hereafter derive from expen- _— of ree eer Hehe al x res = Bs or ape os the Ry gps of fo either alternative, the act dono would be alike eed ae by a el ooo “ey Pr trod usage Teal merely future fect, Great Bri- | injurious to the sovereigaty of the United © navigation 6 or Belts. = | first month of the session, but my convictions | ;,:, Ley still ouiaee to hold the contested ‘Seace 4 meet. S 3 Thy before sin » herewith, sundry docu- in consideration of the quantity already sub- of duty will not permit me longer to ed be ortions of Central America. The United| In the meantime, the matter acquired addi- | ments on the subject, in which my views are es to entry, no additional tracts have been the = the obligation en; by g rought into market. The liar relation of the Z pian ym 4 District of Oolaitis se rs | | a - tates cannot admit either the inferences or | tional im tance, by the recruitments in the | more fully disclosed. Should no satisfactory orien -- —- epee he the | ‘he premises. We steadily deny, that, at the | United States not belug discontinued, and the | arrangement be soon conoluded, I shall again Union, and recommend to their consideration | ‘*t¢ of the treaty, Great Britain had any pos- | fact that they were prosecuted upon a syste- | call your attention to the subject; with recom- : sessions there, other than the limited and pe- | matic plan devised by official authority ; that.| mendation of such measures os may appear to | cult to d @ system superior to that, by 4 it proper to commend to your care not only its such measures as he shall judge necessary | culiar establishment at the Balize, and ads poe eden had been pscresen inour | be required in order to assert secure the | which the fiscal buriness of the government material, but aiso its moral interests, inclu- and expedient.” gratulation that the Re- | ‘2 that if she had any they were surren | principal cities, and depots for the reception of ee of the United States, so far as they are | now conducted. Notwithstanding, the ren ding education, more especially in those Ic is matter of congratulation tl @ *e- | dered by the convention. recruits established on our frontier; and the by the pretensions of Denmark. number of public agents of collection and dis- | of the district outside of the citiesof W: . Public is tranquilly advancing in a career of This government, recognising the obliga- | whole business conducted under the su; vie | raawen. bursement, it‘is believed that the checks and | ton and Georgetown. Prosperity and peace. tions of the treaty, has of course desired to | sion and by the regular co-operation of British | ~ | announce wi! The commissioners appointed to revise and codify the laws of the District have made such progression in the performance of their tag, 4s to insure its completion in the time pre- seribed by the act of Congress. Information has recentiy been received that the peace of the settlements in the Territories of Oregon and Washington is disturbed by ostilities on the part of the Indians, with in- dications of extensive combinations of a hos tile character among the tribes in that quar- ter, the more serious in their possible effect by Treason of the undetermined foreign interests existing in those Territories, to,which rat- tention has already been especially invited Efficient measures have been taken, which, it is believed will restore quict, and afford pro- tection to our citizens. {n the Territory of Kansas, there have been ayts prejudicial to good order; but as yet none e occurred under circumstances to justify terposition of the federal Executive. ThaBcould only be in case of obstruction to federal Jaw, or of organized resistance to ter- ritoral law, assuming the character of insur- rection, which, if it should occur, it would be my duty tly to overcome and suppress. I cherish the Itope, bowever, that the occur- rence of any such untoward event will be pre vented by the sound sense of the people of the Territory, who, by its organic law, possessing the right to determine their own domestic in stitutions, are entitled, while deporting them- selves peacefully, to the free exercise of that right, and must be protetted in the enjoy- ment of it, without ofthe Sake on the partof ith much gratification, tha FOREIGN RELATIONS—CENTRAL AMERICA. see it executed in good faith by both parties, | officers, civil and military, some in the North | since the adjournment of & last Ootareat ‘Whilst relations of amity continue to exist | and in the discussion, therefore, has not looked American provinces, and some ia the United | the question, then existing between this gov- between tha United States and all foreign | to rights which we might assert independently | States. The complicity of those officers injan | ernment and that of Franco, respecting the powers, with some of them grave questions | of the treaty, in consideration of our geogra- undertaking. which could only be accomplishod French consul at San Francisco, has been are depending, which may require the con- | phical position and of other circumstances, | by defying our laws, throwing suspicion over satisfactorily determined, and that the relations sideration of Congress. which create for us relations to the Central | our attidude of neutrality, and disregarding | of the two governments continue to be of the Of such questions, the most important is | American States different from those of any | our territorial rights, is conclusively prov: most friendly nature. that which has arisen out of the a oo of Europe. vai the ereienee oi paesig ae the iat Spe i by ae with Great Britain in reference to Central ‘he British government, in its last commu- | their agents as have been apprehended an snd . America. nication, although well :knewing the views of | convicted. Some of the officers thus implica- fo oe rt rekon eesere eee By the convention concluded between the | the United States, still declares that it sees no | ted are of high official position, and many of pa Nhe Kieete pbs © United 8 “f two governments on the 19th of April, 1850, | reason why a conciliatory spirit may not ena- | them beyond our jurisdiction, so that legal ths sen aeeteess na ut mebte pie ip ee ce both parties covenanted, that ‘neither will | ble the two governments to overcome all ob- | proceedings eould not reach the source of the 4 IO apc ant tis My guards agers including the requirement of monthly returns, render it scarcely possible for any considerable fraud on the part of those agents, or neglect involving hazard of serious ublic loss, to escape detection. I renew, owever, the recommendation, heretofore made by me, of the enactment of a law declaring it felony on the part of the public officers to.in- sert false entries in their books of record ‘or account, or to make false returns, and also re- quiring them on the termination of their ser- vice to deliver to their successors all books, records, and other subjects of public nature in their custody, Derived as our public revenue is, in chie’ part, from duties on imports, its magnitude. affords gratifying evidence of the prosperity, not only of our commerce, but of the other reat interests upon which that depends. The principle that all moneys not required for thecurrent expenses of the government should remain for active employment in the hands of the people, and the conspicuous fact that the annual revenue from all sources ex- ceeds, by many millions of dollars, the amount needed for a prudent and economical adminis- tration of public affairs, cannot fail to suggest the propriety of an early revision and redue- tion of the tariff of duties on imports. It is now so generally conceded that the purpose of Tevenue alone can justify the imposition of duties on imports, that, in readjusting the im- post tables and schedules, which unquestion- ably require essential modifications, a depar- ture from the principles of tho present tariff is not anticipated. ARMY. The army, during the past year, has been actively engaged in defending the Indian fron- tier, the state of the service permitting but few and smail garrisons in our permanent fortifi- cations. The additional regimeats authorized at the last session of Congress have been re- cruited and organized, and a large portion of the We have already been sent to the field. Ali the duties which devolved on the military establishment. have been satisfactorily per- formed, and the dangers and privations inci- dent to the charactor of the service required of our troops, have furnished additional evi- dence of their courage, zeal, and capacity to meet any requisition which their country may make upon oka: For the details of the mil- itary operations, the distribution of the troops, and additional provisions required for the mil- 7 “ 2 rate bases hat country, of property belonging to the ever »coupy, or fortify, or colonize, or as- | stacles to a satisfactory adjustment of the sub- | mischief. t ty, of property ging sume or ae an deaisten over, Nicar- | ject : ‘These coneiderations, and the fact that the Seite ee apemaas nae at peorecages and agua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any] Assured of the correctness of the construc- | cause of complaint was not a mere casual oc- hi cee h oon. a nee yjeet ee cid Kear oe part of Central America.” tion of the treaty constantly adhered to by | currence, but a deliberate design, entered to the satieona or as recently been sott! It was the undoubted understanding of the | this government, and resolved to insist on the | upon with full knowledge of our laws and na- tb vhs action of the party interested and United States, in making this treaty, that all | rights of tho United States, yet actuated also | t'onal policy, and conducted by responsible | °f both governments. the prescat States of the former republic of | by the same desire which is avowed by the | functionaries, impelled mo to present the case ae . SPAIN. J 3 Central America, and the entire territory of | British government, to remove all causes of | to tho British government, in order to secure,} With Spain, peaceful relations are still each, would thenceforth enjoy complete inde- | serious misunderstanding between two nations | not only a cessation of the ‘eee but its rep- | maintained, and some progress has been made pendence; and that both contracting parties | associated by so many ties of interest and | aration. The subject is etill under discussion, | in securing the redress of Wrongs complained engaged equally, and to the same extent, for | kindred, it has Sppeared to me proper not to | the result of which will be communicated to | of by this government. Spain has not only the present and for the future, that if either | consider an amicable olution of the contro- | you in due time. divavowed and disapproved the conduct of the then had any claim of right in Central Amer- | versy hopeless. I repeat the recommendation submitted to | officers, who sr egally seized and detained the ica, such claim, and all ocoupation or authori-| There is, however, reason to apprehend, | the last Congress, that provision be made for | steamer Black Warrior at Havana, but hgs ty under it, were unreservedly <elinquizhed | that, with Great Britain in the actual occupa- | the appointment of a commissionor, in con- | 2/80 paid the sum claimed as indemnity for | by the stipulations of the convention; and | tion of the disputed territories, and the treaty | nexion with Great Britain, to survey and es- | the loss thereby inflicted on citizens of the that no dominion was thereafter to be exer- | therefore practically null, so far as regards | tablish the boundary line, which divides the | United States. cised or med in any part of Central Amer- | our rights, this imternational difficulty cannot Territory of Washington from the contiguous In consequence of a destructive hurricane, ica. by Great Britain or the United States. | long remain undetermined, without involving | British possessions. By reason of the extent | which visited Cuba in 1844, the supreme i This government consented to restrietions | in serious danger the friendly relations which | and importance of tho country in = authority of that island issued a decree, per- in regard to a region of country, wherein we | it is the interest as well as the duties of both | there has been imminent danger of collision | witting the importation, for the period of six fic and peculiar interests only upon | countries to cherish and preserve. It will | between the subjects of Great Britain and the months, of certain building materials and pro- had sp ay ad sp visions, free of duty, but revoked it when about the conviction that the like restrictions were | afford me sincere gratification, if future efforts | citizons of the United States, including their ( in the same sense obligatory on Great Britain. | shall result in the success, cei oom here- | respective authorities in that quartor. The | half the period only had elapsed, to the injury Bui for this understanding of the force and | tofore with more confidence than the aspect of pee of a speedy arrangement has contri- | of citizens of the United States, who had pro- effect of the convention, it would never have | the case permits me now to entertain. utedjhitherto toinduce on both sides forbear- eccded to act on the faith of that degree. been concluded by us RECRUITMENT. ance to aseert by force what each claims as a | The Spanish government refused indemnifi- So clear was this understanding on the part One other subject of discussion between the | Tisht- Continuance of iclay on the part of the | eation to the parties aggrieved until recently, of the United States, that, in correspondence | United States and Great Britain has grown out | (9 sovernments, to act in the matter will in- | when it was assented to, payment being prom: contemporsneous with the ratification of the | of an attempt, which the exigencies of the war | Ct the dangers ind difficulties of the con- | ised to be made so soon as the amount due convention, it was distinctly expressed, that | in which she is engaged with Russia indueed . can be ascertained. the mutual covenants of non-oceupation were | her to make, to draw recruits from the United nding exists as to the extent, 8 \tistaction claimed for the arrest and search not intended to apply to the British establish- | States. id value of the possessor rights of | of the steamer El Dorado has not yet deen ment at the Balize. This qualification is to It is the tradjtional and settled policy of } the Ifudson’s Bay Company and the property | aecorded, but there is reason to believe that be ascribed to the fact, that, in virtue of suc- | the United States to maintain impartial neu- | °f the Puget’s Sound Agricultural Company, | it will be, and that case, with others, con- cessive treaties with previous sovereigns of the trality during the wars, which from time to | ‘served in our treaty with Great Britain rel- tinues to be urged on the attention of the country, Great Britain had obtained acon-| time occur among the great powers of the ive to the Territory of Oregon. I have rea- | Spanish government. I do not abandon the cession of the right to cut mahogany or dye-| world. Performing all the dutiesof ncutrality | 2% to believe that '& cession of the rights of | hope of concluding with Spain some general woods at the Balize, but with positive exclu- | towards the respeetive Lelligerent states, we | Poth companies to the United States, which | arrangement, which, if it do not wholly pre- sion of all domain or soveignty; and thusit| pa: reasonably expect them not to interfere | Would be the readiest means of terminating | vent the recurrence of difficulties in Cuba, confirms the natural construction and under- | with our lawful enjoyment of its benefits | #!! questions, can be obtained on reasonable | will render them less frequent, and whenever stood import of the treaty as to all the rest of | Notwithstanding the cxistenco of such hostil- | tetms; and with a view to this end, I present | they shall occur, facilitate their more speedy the citizens of any of the States The southern boundary lin®.of this Terri- tory has never been surveyed and\established. The rapidly extending settlement im that re- gion, and the fact thatthe main route be- tween Independence in the State of Missouri, and New Mexico, is contiguous to this line, suggests the probability that embarrassing questions of jurisdiction may censequentl arise. For these and other considerations, commend the subject to your early attention. CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY OF THE GOVERNMENT. I have thus passed in review the state of the Union, including such particular concerns of the federal government, whether of domestic or foreign reiation, as it — to me desirable and useful to bring to the spe- cial notice of yen GES Unlike the great states of Europe and Asia, and many of those 3 y h itary service, I refer to the report of the Sec- | of Awerica, these United States are wasting th region to which the stipulation applied. ities, our citizens retain the individual right Sean to ee of Congress, | settlement. ; retary of War and the accompanying docu- | their strength neither in foreign war nor do t It, however, boeame apparent, at an early | to continue all their accustomed pursuits, by he colony of Newfoundland having enac- MEXICO. ments. mestic strite. Whatever of discontent or pub- lic dissatisfaction exists, is attributable to the imperfections of human nature, or is incident to all governments, however perfect, which human wisdom candevise. Such subjects of political agitation, as occupy the public mind consist, to a great extent, of exaggeration of inevitable evils, or over zeal in social improve ment, or mere imagination of grievance, hav- ing but remote connexion with any of theeon stitutiona] functions or duties of the federal government. To whatever extent these ques- tions exhibit a tendency menacing to the sta- bility of the constitution, or the integrity of the Union, and no farther, they demand the consideration of the Executive, and require to be presented by him to Congress. Before the Thirteen Colonies became a con- federation of independent States, they were associated only by community of trans-atlan- tic origin, by geographical position, and by the mutual tie of common dependence on Great Britain. When that tie was sundered, they severally assumed the powers and rights of absolute self government. The municipal day after entering upon the discharge of my | jand or by sea, at home orabroad, subject only | te the laws required by the treaty of the 5th The interposition of this government has oe ent fanctions that Great Britain still con- | to such tine in this reletiaa as the of June, 1854, is now placed on the same foot- | been invoked by many of its citizens, on ac- tinued in the exercise er assertion of large au- | laws of war, the usage of nations, or special | 17g, in Tespect to commercial intercourse with | count of injuries done to their persons and thority in all that part Central America | treaties, may impose; and it is our sovereign the United States, as the other British North property, for which the Mexican republic is commonly called the Mosquito coast, and cov- right that our territory and jurisdiction shall | American provinces, . responsible. The unhappy situation of that ering the entire length of the State of Nicara- | not be invaded by either of the belligerent The commission which that treaty contem- | country, for some time past, has not allowed gua, and = part of Costa Rica; that she re- parties, for the transit of their armics, the | Plated, for determining the rights of fishery in | its Sovernment to give due consideration to garded the Balize ag her absolute domain, and operations of their fleets, the levy of troops for | Vers and mouths of rivers on the coasts of | claims of private re aration, and has ap- was gradually extending its limits at the ex- | their service, the fitting out of cruisers by or the United States and the British North Amer- peared to call for and justify some forbearance { enze ofthe State of Honduras; and that she against either, or any other act or incident of | #8" provinees, has been organized and has | in euch Matters on the part of this govern- i formally colonized a considerable insular | war. And these undeniable rights of neutral- | Commenced its labors: to complete which ment. But, if the revolutionary movements, | group known as the Bay Islands, and belong- ity, individual and national, the United States | ‘bere is needed further appropriations for the which have lately occurred in that republic, i ing. of right, to that State. will under no circumstances surrender. service of another season end in the organization of a stable goyern- All these acts or pretensions of Great Bri In pursuance of this policy, the laws of the SOUND DvES. ment, urgent appeals to its justice will then tain, being contrary to the rights of the States | United Statesdo not forbid their citizens to In pursuance of the authority conferred by be made, and, it imay be hoped, with success, of Central America, and to the manifest tenor | sell to either of the belligerent powers articles, | a resolution of the Senate of the United States, | for the redress of all complaints of our citi- ofher stipulations with the United States, as| contraband of war. or to take mnnitions of passed on the 3d of March last, notice was | #°28- : E understood by this government, have been] war or soldiers on board their private ships | given to Denmark, on the 14th day of April, CENTEAL ARABICA.) ‘i made the subject of negotiation through the | for transportation; and although, in so doing, | of the intention of this government to avail | _ 12 regard tothe American republics, which, American Minister endon. I transmit | the individual citizen exposes hig property or | ilself of the stipulation of the subsisting con from their proximity and other considera- herewith the instruct to him on the sub- person to some of the hazards of war, his acts | vention of friendship, commerce, and naviga tions, have peculiar relations to this govern- ject, and the correspondence between him and | do not involve any breach of national neutral- | tion between that Kingdom and the United | ™eut, while it has been my constant aim | the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, by | ity, nor of themselves implicate the govern- | States, whereby either party might, after ten | *ttictly to observe all the obligations of politi- | which you will perceive that the two govern | ment. Thus, during the progress of the pres- | years, terminate the-samo at the expiration cal friendship and of good neighborhood, ob- ments differ widely andirreconcileably as to} ent war in Europe, our citizens have, without | of one year from the date of notice for that | Stacles have arisen in some of them, from their Experience, gathered from events which have transpired since my last annual message, has but served to confirm the opinion then expressed of the Leng of making provi- sion, by a retired list, for disabled officers, and for the increased compensation for the officers retained on the list for active duty All the reasons which existed, when these measures were recommended on former occv- sions, continue without modification, except so far as circumstances bave given to some of them additional force The recommendations, heretofore made for a partial reorganization of the army, are also renewed. The thorough elementary educa- tion given to those officers, who commence their service with the grade of cadet, quali- fies thom, to aconsiderablefextent, to perform the duties of every arm of the service; but to give the highest efficiency to artillery require: the practice and special study of many years; and it is not, therefore, believed to be advisa- ble to maintain, in time of peace, a larger force of that arm than caa be usually em- e J 1 ployed in the duties appertaining to the ser- | aud oe a soaks its laws of pro- the ecanhrasti the convention, and its ef-| national responsibility therefor, sold gun- | purpose. own insufficient power to check lawless irrup- | vice of field and siege artillery. The duties | perty an , of personal relation, even its politi- tock on taote qepesiine relations to Central powder and phe to all buyers, Sexandilea of y The considerations which led mo to call the | tions, which in effect throws most of the task | of the staff in all its various branches belong | cal organization, were such only as anh ses America. the destinatiou of those articles. Our mer- | attention of Congress to that convention, and | ©" the United States. Thus it is that the dis- Great Britain so construes the convention as | chantmen have been, and étiil continue to be, | induced the Seuute to adopt the resolution re- | ‘racted internal condition of the State of to maintain unchanged all her previous pre-| largely employed, by Great Britain and by | ferred to, still continue in full force. The Rissragun has serps Me incumbent on me hd tensions over the Mosquito cuast, and in differ- | Franco, in transporting troops, provisions, and | oonvcntion contains an article which, although | @ppeal to the & se of our citizens to ab- ent parts of Central America. The preten- | munitions of war to the principal seat of mil- | it does not directly engage the United States | Stain from ‘ad awful intervention in its af- $ to the Mosquito coast, are founded on | itary operations, and in bringing home their | to submit to the i .position of tolls on the ye. | firs, and to cues preventive measures Ca sumption of political relation between | sick and wounded’soldiers; and such use of our | sels and cargoes of Americans passing into or | **m¢ end, which, ona similar oceasion, had Great Britain and the remnant of a tribe of | mercantile marine is not interdicted either by | from the Baitic sea, during the continuance of | the best results in reassuring the peace of the Indians on that coast, entered into at a time | the international, or by our municipal law, | the treaty, yet may, by possibility, be con- | Mexivan States of Sonora and Lower Califor- when the whoje country was a colonial pos- | and therefore does not compromit our neu- | strued as implying such submission The ex- | 214 to the movements of troops, and the efficiency of an army inthe field would materially de- pend upon the ability with which those duties are discharged. It is not, as in the case of the artillery, a speciality, but requires also an intimate knowledge of the duties of an of- ficer of the line, and it is not doubted that, to complete the education of an officer for either the line or the general staff, it is desirable that he shall have served in both. With this choose to establish, wholly witbout interfer- ence from any other. In the language of the Declaration of Independence. each State had “« falltpower to levy war, conclude peace, con- tract alliances, estabish commere, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of rightdo ’ The several colonies differed in climate, in soil, in natural produc - tions, in religion, in «ystems of education, in legislation, and ~ ase forms of itieal ad- i Spai i i acti ing justi Ss. iew, i . istration ; tinued to differ in sex f Spa It cannot be successfully | tral relations with Russia. action of those tolls not being justified by an a _, TREATIES view, it was recommended on a former occa: | ministration; and they con! J centampentans aes, by the public law of Eu-} But our municipal law, in accordance with | principle of international law, it becuse the Since the last session of Congress a treaty of | sion that the duties of the staff should be | these respects when they voluntarily allie? rope and America, no possible act of such In- | the law of nations, peremptorily forbids, not | right and the duty of the United States to re. | amity, oommerve and navigation, and for t.e mainly performed by details from the line; and, with conviction of the advantages which would result from such a chango, it is again presented for the consideration of Congress. NAVY. The report of the Secrétary of the Nav. herewith submitted, exhibits in full the nav operations of the past year, together with the psesent condition of the service, and it makus suggestions of further legislation, to which your attention is invited. The construction of the six steam frigates, for which appropriations were made by the last,Congress, has proceeded in the most sat- themselves as States to carry on the war of the revolution. The object of that war was to disenthral the United Colonies from foreign rule, which hod proved to be oppressive, and to separate ‘thom permanently from the mother country: the political result was the foundation of a federal republic of the free white men of the Colonies, constituted, as they were, in dis- tinct, and reciprocally independent State gov- ernments. As for the subject races, whether ery _ wise and ae states- men of that . being engaged in no cx- travagant scheme of social change, left them dians or their predecessors could confer on | only foreigners, but our owncitizens, to fit out, | lieve themselves from the implication of en- | Surrender . fugitive | efiminals, with the Great Britain any political rights within the limits of the United States, a ves- | gagement on the subject, so as to be perfeotly | kingdom of t ie Two Sicilies; a treaty of friend- Great Britain does not allege the assent of | sel to commit hostilities against any state | free to act in the premises in such way as | Ship, commerce, and navigation with Nicara- Spain as the origin of her claims on the Mos- | with which the United States are at peace, or | their public interests and honor shall demand, | 644; and a ee of commercial recipro- quite coast. She bas, on the contrary, by re- | to increase the force of any foreign armed I remain of the opinion that the United | city with ia awaiin kingdom, have been peated and successive treaties, renounced | vessel intended for such hostilities against a | States age not to submit to the payment of | Negotiated. The latter Slee and the and relinquished ali pretensions of ber owa, | friendly stato. the Sound dues, not so much because of their | State of Nicaragua have also acceded to a and recoguized the full and sovereign rights] Whatever concern may have been felt by amount, which is a secondary matter, but be- seca bps smetrod 1h thence ny Tights of Spain in the most unequivocal terms. Yet | either of the belligerent powers lest private | cause it is in effect the recognition of the right | the Ee Union bee a t naar be- these pretensions, without so zolid foundation | armed cruisers, or other vessels, in the service of Donmark to treat one of the great maritime | tween ee The byt and Russia of the 22d in the beginning, and thus repeatedly ab- | of one, might be fitted out in the ports of this highways of uations asa close sea, and the | July, tees f th oe and conventions jured, were, at a recent period, revived by | country todepredate on the property of the navigation of it as a privilege for which tribute | Will be taid before the Senate for ratification. Great Britain egainst the Central American | other, all such fears have proeed to bo utterly | may be imposed upon those who have occasion TREASURY. States, the legitimate successors to all the au-| groundless. Our citizens have been withhold | to use it. , i Py z and thus preserved themselves The statements made, in my last annual | isfactory manner, and with such expedition as | *S they were, an Pp cient jurisdiction of Spain in that region. | from any such act or purpose by good faith,| This government, on a former occasion not message, respecting the anticipated receipts | to warrant the belief that they will be ready pasa tele — sage i enniongnr gy Lhagelny ‘They were first applied only to a defined part | and by respect for the law. unlike the present, signalized its determina- | and expenditures of the Treasury, have been | for service early in the coming spring Im- | ¢Ver-recurring . of the coast of Nicaragua, afterwards to the While the laws of the Union are thus pe- | tion to maintain the freedom of the Seas, and | substantially verified. whole of its Atlantic coast, and lastly to a] remptory in their prohibition of the equip- | of the great natural channels of navigation. it appears from the report of the Secretary part of the coast of Cesta Rica; and they are} ment or armament of belligerent cruisers in | The Barbary States had, for a long time, co- | of the Treasury, that the receipts during the now reasserted to this extent, notwithstanding | our ports, they provide not less absolutely | erced the payment of tribute froin all nations, | last fiscal year este | June 30, 1855, from all engagements to the United States, that no’ persou shall, within§the territory of | whose ships freyuented the Mediterraean. ‘To | sources, were sixty-five million three thous- Sn the eastern coast of Nicaragua and Costa | jurisdiction of the United States, enlist or en- | the last demand of such payment made by | and nine hundred and ‘thirty dollars; and Rica, the interferences of Great Britain, | ter himself, or hire or retain any person to | them, the United States, although suffering | that the public expenditures for the same though exerted at one time in the form of mil- | enlist or onter himself, or to go beyond the | less by their depredations than many other | period, exclusive of payments on account itary oceupaticn of the port of San Juan del | limits or jurisdiction of the United States with | nations, returned the explicit answer, that | the public debt, amounted to fifty-six millio) Norte then in the peaceful possession of the | intent to be enlisted or entered, in the ser- | we preferred war to tribute, and thus opened | three hundred and sixty-five thousand three appropriate authorities of the Central Ameri- | vice of any foreign state, either as a soldier, | the way to the relief of the commerce of the | hundred and ninety-three dollars can States, is new presented by her as the] or « marine or seaman on board of any ves- | world trom an ignominious tax, so long sub- | the same period, the Bagments made in re rightful exercise ts protectorship over the | sel-of-war, lotter of marque, or privateer. | mitted to by the more powerful nations of demption of the public debt, including interest Mosquito tribe of Indians. And these enactments are also in strict con- | Eu \. and Lerpery amounted to nine million eight, But the establishment at the Balize, now | formity with the law of nations, whieh de-| If the manner of paren of the Sound | hun red and forty-four thousand five hundred reachinz far beyond its treaty limits into the | clares, that no state has the right to raise | dues differ from that of the tribute formerly | and twenty-eight dollars. State cf Honduras, and that of the Bay islands, | troops for land or sea service in another state conceded to the Barbary States, still their ex- The balance in the Treasury at the begin appettaining of right to the same State, are | without its consent, and that, whether forbid- | action by Denmark has no better foundation | ning of the present fiscal year, July 1, 1855, as distinctly colonial governments as those of | den by the mutual law or not, the very at-|in right. Each was, in its origin, nothing but | was eighteen million nine hundred and aude Jamaica or Canada, and therefore contrary to | tempt to do it without such consent, is an at- | a tax on @ common natural right, extorted by | one thousand nine hundred and seventy- the very letter as well as the spirit of the con- | tack on the natienal sovereignty those, who were ut that time able to obstruct | dollars; the receipts for the first quarter, and ‘ vention with the United States, as it was at Such being the public rights andthe muni | the free and secure enjoyment of it, but who | the estimated receipts for the remaining three the time of ratification, and now is, under- | cipal law of the United States, no solivitude | no longer se<3 that power. quarters, amount, together, to sixty-seven stood by this government. - on the subject was entertained by this goy- Denmark, whilo resisting our assertion of | million nine hundred and eighteen thousand The interpretation which the British gov- | ernment, when, a year since, the British Par- the freedom of the Baltic Sound and Belts, has | seven hundred and thirty-four dollars; thus ernment, thus in assertion and act, persists in | liament passed an act to provide for the on- | indicated a readiness to make some new ar- | affording in all, as the available resources of ascribing to the convention, entirely changes | listment of foreigners in the military service | rangement on the subject, and has invited the | the current fiscal ear, the sum of yer, itscharacter While it holds us to ali ourvb- | of Great Britain. Nothing on the face of the bth pari interested, including the United | million eight hun and fifty-six thousand ligations, il in a great measure releases Great | act, or in its public history, indicated that the | States, to be represented in a convention to | seven hundred and ten dollars. Britain from those which constituted the con-| British government proposed to attempt re- assemble for the purpose of receiving and con-| If, to the actual expenditures of the first sideration of this government for entering | cruitment in the United States; nor did it sidering a proposition, which she intends to | quarter of the current fiscal year, be added into the convention. [tis impossible, in my | ever give intimation of such intention to this | submit, for tho capitalization of the Sound | the probable expenditures for the remaining judgment, for the United States to acquiesce | government. It was a matter of surprise, } dues, and the distribution of the sum to be | three quarters as estimated by the Secretary in such a construction of the respective rela- | therefore, to find, subse: uently, that the en- | paid as commutation among the governments, | of the Treasury, the sum total will be seven- vailed in other revolutionized European colo- nies of America. When the confederated States found it con- venient to modify the conditions of their as- sociation, by giving to the general government direct access, in some respects, to the people of the States, instead of confining it to action on the States as such, wah “nae eet to frame the existing constitution, adhering steadily to one guiding thought, which was, to delegate only such power as was necessary and proper to the execution of specific purposes, or, in other words, to oe as much -" ae cunsistently with those purposes, e- pendent powers of the individual States. For objects of common defence and security, they intrusted to the general government certain carefully-defined functions, leaving all others as the undelegated rights of the separate in- mg a sovereignties. uch is the constitutional theory of our wernment, the practical observance of which 4 a = a ae among modern republics, t! nearly three generations of time without the cost of one drop of blood shed in civil war. With freedom and concert of action, it has enabled us to contend suc- cessfully on the battle-field against foreign foes, has elevated the feeble colonies into powerful States, and has raised our industrial productions, and our commerce which trans- ports them, to the level of the richest and the greatest nations of Europe. And the admir- able adaptation of our political institutions to portant as this addition to our nayal force is, it still remains inadequate to the contingent exigencies of the protection of the extensive sea eoast and vast commercial interests of the United States. In view of this fact, and of the acknowledged wisdom of the policy of a gradual and systematic increase of the navy, appropriation is recommended for the con- Struction of six steam ay aap In regard to the steps taken in execution of ‘the act of Congress to promote the efficiency ‘of the navy, it is unnecessary for me to say re than to express entire concurrence in observations on that subject presented by the Secretary in his report POST OFFICE. It will be perceived, by the report of the Pestmaster General, that the gross expendit- ure of the department for the last jfiscal year was nine million nine hundred and sixty-eight thousand three hundred and forty-two dollars, and the gross receipts seven million three hun- dred forty-two thousand one hundred and thirty-six dollars, making an excess of expen- diture over receipts of two million six hundred and twenty-six thousand two hundred and six dollars; and that the cost of mail transports during that year was six hundred and seven- ty-four thousand nine hundred and ap 4 ollars greater thanthe previousyear. Much of the heavy expenditures to which the Treas- ury is thus subjected, is to be ascribed to the large quantity of printed matter conveyed by ithi: i 7 ji . ili i franked, or liable to no post- | their objects, combining local self- ions of thet ts to Central Amer- ent of ns within the United States | according to the respective proportions of their | ty-ene million two hundred and twenty six the mails, either . 4 me pees Rowan ‘ sto to Halifax, in the British province | maritime pomstgeroste and satay the Baltic, I omens eight hundred and forty-six dollars, | #8° i or Ba Drip low an of por pe hirer ad cy » has — — ‘To a renewed call by this government upon | of fiers Scotia, and there enlist in the service | have declined in behalf of the United States. thereby leaving an estimated balance in the | Compared with arged ttors ; P ramen! Great Britain, to abide by, and carry into ef- | of Great Britain, was going on extensively, | to accept this invitation, for the most cogent | treasury on J) 1, 1856, of fifteen million feet, the stipulations of the eouveanti acoord-| with little or no disguise. Ordinary Tage reasons. One is, that Denmark does not offer | six hundred twenty-three thousand eight ing to its obvious import, by withdrawing | steps were immediately taken to arrest and | to submit to the conyention the question of } hundred and sixty-three dollars and forty-one from the possession or cvlonization of portions | punish parties concerned, and so put an end | her right to.levy the Sound dues. A second | cents. ‘ of the Central American States of Honduras, | to acts infringing the munici w and de- | is, that, if the convention were allowed totake| In the above estimated Ce a gin of the Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, the British gov- atory to our sovereignty. Meanwhile suit- | cognizance of that particular nee. still it este fiscal year are incl three million a to the great cost of mail service on railroads and by ocean steamers. The suggestions of the r General on the subject deserve the consideration of Congress. INTERIOR. ‘The report of the Secretary of the Interior cover a continent with confederate States. Peg a mnie ha Notend. ivtes in, a= wl good men in the Old World hate, sought for, could never attain, and which imparts to ‘ica an exemption from the mutable a j for common action, from the wars, the a 4 replied, effirming that | able representations on the subject were ad- | would not be competent todeal with the great | dollars to meet the last instalment of the ten | will our attention, as well for useful eagues tha apertion ‘er pe "te ~ is Prospective drossed to the British government. international rinipte involved which affects mulllions provided for in the late treaty with | s Fd contains, as for the interest and — . pms gos i Ye Pe eran ny ae — only, and did not Require, Greed Britain to| Thereupon it became known, by the admis- | the right in other cases of navigation and com- | Me: and seven million seven and | importance of the subjects to which they re- pendent’ cateat oun abaslon or contract any possessions held by | sion of the British government itself. that the | mercial freedom, as well as that of access to fifty thousand dollars ap on ac- | fer. - er sper — of her in Central America at the date of its con-| attempt to draw recruits from this country | the Baltic, Above all, by the ress terms | count of the debt due to » Which two The aggregate amount of public land sold | ©e-operati A clusion. originated with it, or at least had its approval | of the proposition it is contemplated, that the | sums make an aggregate Smount of Pe during the last fiscal year, located with mili- (Continued on fourh page.]