Journal of the Senate of the United States of America,
TUESDAY, December 8, 1835.

The following written message was received from the President of the United States, by Mr. Donelson, his secretary:

Fellow-citizens of the Senate
and House of Representatives:

(Excerpts)

In the discharge of my official duty, the task again devolves upon me of communicating with a new Congress. The reflection that the representation of the Union has been recently renewed, and that the constitutional term of its service will expire with my own, heightens the solicitude with which I shall attempt to lay before it the state of our national concerns, and the devout hope which I cherish, that its labors to improve them may be crowned with success.

You are assembled at a period of profound interest to the American patriot. The unexampled growth and prosperity of our country having given us a rank in the scale of nations, which removes all apprehension of danger to our integrity and independence from external foes, the career of freedom is before us, with an earnest from the past, that, if true to ourselves, there can be no formidable obstacle in the future to its peaceful and uninterrupted pursuit. Yet, in proportion to the disappearance of those apprehensions which attended our weakness, as once contrasted with the power of some of the states of the old world, should we now be solicitous as to those which belong to the conviction that it is to our own conduct we must look for the preservation of those causes on which depend the excellence and the duration of our happy system of government.

In the example of other systems, founded on the will of the people, we trace to internal dissension the influences which have so often blasted the hopes of the friends of freedom. The social elements, which were strong and successful when united against external danger, failed in the more difficult task of properly adjusting their own internal organization, and thus gave way the great principle of self-government. Let us trust that this admonition will never be forgotten by the Government or the people of the United States; and that the testimony which our experience thus far holds out to the great human family, of the practicability and the blessings of free government, will be confirmed in all time to come.

We have but to look at the state of our agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and the unexampled increase of our populations to feel the magnitude of the trust committed to us. Never, in any former period of our history, have we had greater reason than we now have, to be thankful to Divine Providence for the blessings of health and general prosperity. Every branch of labor we see crowned with the most abundant rewards: in every element of national resources and wealth, and of individual comfort, we witness the most rapid and solid improvements. With no interruptions to this pleasing prospect at home, which will not yield to the spirit of harmony and good-will that so strikingly pervades the mass of the people in every quarter, amidst all the diversity of interest and pursuits to which they are attached, and with no cause of solicitude in regard to our external affairs, which will not, it is hoped, disappear before the principles of simple justice and the forbearance that mark our intercourse with foreign Powers, we have every reason to feel proud of our beloved country....

...Unfortunately, many of the nations of this hemisphere are still self-tormented by domestic dissensions: revolution succeeds revolution; injuries are committed upon foreigners engaged in lawful pursuits; much time elapses before a Government sufficiently stable is erected to justify expectation of redress. Ministers are sent and received, and, before the discussions of past injuries are fairly begun, fresh troubles arise; but too frequently new injuries are added to the old, to be discussed together with the existing Government, after it has proved its ability to sustain the assaults made upon it, or with its successor, if overthrown. If this unhappy condition of things continues much longer, other nations will be under the painful necessity of deciding whether justice to their suffering citizens does not require a prompt redress of injuries by their own power, without waiting for the establishment of a Government competent and enduring enough to discuss and to make satisfaction for them....

...The condition of the public finances was never more flattering than at the present period.

Since my last annual communication, all the remains of the public debt have been redeemed, or money has been placed in deposite for this purpose, whenever the creditors choose to receive it. All the other pecuniary engagements of the Government have been honorably and promptly fulfilled, and there will be a balance in the Treasury, at the close of the present year, of about nineteen millions of dollars. It is believed that, after meeting all outstanding and unexpended appropriations, there will remain near eleven millions to be applied to any new objects which Congress may designate, or to the more rapid execution of the works already in progress. In aid of these objects, and to satisfy the current expenditures of the ensuing year, it is estimated that there will be received, from various sources, twenty millions more in 1836....

...It is certainly our duty to diminish, as far as we can, the burdens of taxation, and to regard all the restrictions which are imposed on the trade and navigation of our citizens as evils which we shall mitigate whenever we are not prevented by the adverse legislation and policy of foreign nations, or those primary duties which the defence and independence of our country enjoin upon us. That we have accomplished much towards the relief of our citizens by the changes which have accompanied the payment of the public debt, and the adoption of the present revenue laws, is manifest from the fact that, compared with 1833, there is a diminution of near twenty-five millions in the last two years, and that our expenditures, independently of those for the public debt, have been reduced near nine millions during the same period. Let us trust that, by the continued observance of economy, and by harmonizing the great interests of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, much more may be accomplished to diminish the burdens of Government, and to increase still further the enterprise and the patriotic affection of all classes of our citizens, and all the members of our happy confederacy. As the data which the Secretary of the Treasury will lay before you, in regard to our financial resources, are full and extended, and will afford a safe guide in your future calculations, I think it unnecessary to offer any further observations on that subject here....

...In considering the means of obtaining so important an end, we must set aside all calculations of temporary convenience, and be influenced by those only which are in harmony with the true character and the permanent interests of the republic. We must recur to first principles, and see what it is that has prevented the legislation of Congress and the States, on the subject of currency, from satisfying the public expectation, and realizing results corresponding to those which have attended the action of our system when truly consistent with the great principle of equality upon which it rests, and with that spirit of forbearance, and mutual concession, and generous patriotism, which was originally, and must ever continue to be, the vital element of our Union.

On this subject I am sure that I cannot be mistaken in ascribing our want of success to the undue countenance which has been afforded to the spirit of monopoly. All the serious dangers which our system has yet encountered may be traced to the resort to implied powers, and the use of corporations clothed with privileges, the effect of which is to advance the interests of the few at the expense of the many. We have felt but one class of these dangers exhibited in the contest waged by the Bank of the United States against the Government for the last four years. Happily, they have been obviated, for the present, by the indignant resistance of the people; but we should recollect that the principle whence they sprung is an ever-active one, which will not fail to renew its efforts in the same and in other forms, so long as there is a hope of success, founded either on the inattention of the people, or the treachery of their representatives, to the subtle progress of its influence. The bank is, in fact, but one of the fruits of a system at war with the genius of all our institutions--a system founded upon a political creed, the fundamental principle of which is a distrust of the popular will as a safe regulator of political power, and whose great ultimate object and inevitable result, should it prevail, is the consolidation of all power in our system in one central government. Lavish public disbursements, and corporations with exclusive privileges, would be its substitutes for the original, and, as yet, sound checks and balances of the constitution--the means by whose silent and secret operation a control would be exercised by the few over the political conduct of the many, by first acquiring that control over the labor and earnings of the great body of the people. Wherever this spirit has effected an alliance with political power, tyranny and despotism have been the fruit. If it is ever used for the ends of government, it has to be incessantly watched, or it corrupts the sources of the public virtue, and agitates the country with questions unfavorable to the harmonious and steady pursuit of its true interests.

We are now to see whether, in the present favorable condition of the country, we cannot take an effectual stand against this spirit of monopoly, and practically prove, in respect to the currency as well as other important interests, that there is no necessity for so extensive a resort to it as that which has been heretofore practised. The experience of another year has confirmed the utter fallacy of the idea that the Bank of the United States was necessary as a fiscal agent of the Government. Without its aid, as such--indeed, in despite of all the embarrassment it was in its power to create--the revenue has been paid with punctuality by our citizens; the business of exchange, both foreign and domestic, has been conducted with convenience; and the circulating medium has been greatly improved. By the use of the State banks, which do not derive their charters from the General Government, and are not controlled by its authority, it is ascertained that the moneys of the United States can be collected and disbursed without loss or inconvenience, and that all the wants of the community, in relation to exchange and currency, are supplied as well as they have ever been before. If, under circumstances the most unfavorable to the steadiness of the money market, it has been found that the considerations on which the Bank of the United States rested its claims to the public favor were imaginary and groundless, it cannot be doubted that the experience of the fixture will be more decisive against them.

It has been seen that, without the agency of a great moneyed monopoly the revenue can be collected, and conveniently and safely applied to all the purposes of the public expenditure. It is also ascertained that, instead of being necessarily made to promote the evils of an unchecked paper system, the management of the revenue can be made auxiliary to the reform which the Legislatures of several of the States have already commenced in regard to the suppression of small bills and which has only to be fostered by proper regulations on the part of Congress to secure a practical return, to the extent required for the Security of the currency, to the constitutional medium. Severed from the Government as political engines, and not susceptible of dangerous extension and combination, the State banks will not be tempted, nor will they have the power which we have seen exercised, to divert the public funds from the legitimate purposes of the Government. The collection and custody of the revenue being, on the contrary, a source of credit to them, will increase the security which the States provide for a faithful execution of their trusts, by multiplying the scrutinies to which their operations and accounts will be subjected. Thus disposed, as well from interest as the obligations of their charters, it cannot be doubted that such conditions as Congress may see fit to adopt respecting the deposites in these institutions, with a view to the gradual disuse of the small bills, will be cheerfully complied with; and that we shall soon gain, in place of the Bank of the United States, a practical reform in the whole paper system of the country. If, by this policy, we can ultimately witness the suppression of all bank bills below twenty dollars, it is apparent that gold and silver will take their place, and become the principal circulating medium in the common business of the farmers and mechanics of the country. The attainment of such a result will form an era in the history of our country which will be dwelt upon with delight by every true friend of its liberty and independence. It will lighten the great tax which our paper system has so long collected from the earnings of labor, and do more to revive and perpetuate those habits of economy and simplicity which are so congenial to the character of republicans, than all the legislation which has yet been attempted.

To this subject I feel that I cannot too earnestly invite the especial attention of Congress, without the exercise of whose authority the opportunity to accomplish so much public good must pass unimproved. Deeply impressed with its vital importance, the Executive has taken all the steps, within his constitutional power to guard the public revenue and defeat the expectation which the Bank of the United States indulged of renewing and perpetuating its monopoly on the ground of its necessity as a fiscal agent, and as affording a sounder currency than could be obtained without such an institution. In the performance of this duty much responsibility was incurred, which would have been gladly avoided if the stake which the public had in the question could have been otherwise preserved. Although clothed with the legal authority, and supported by precedent, I was aware that there was, in the act of the removal of the deposites, a liability to excite that sensitiveness to executive power which it is the characteristic and the duty of freemen to indulge; but I relied on this feeling also, directed by patriotism and intelligence, to vindicate the conduct which, in the end, would appear to have been called for by the best interests of my country. The apprehensions natural to this feeling, that there may have been a desire, through the instrumentality of that measure, to extend the executive influence, or that it may have been prompted by motives not sufficiently free from ambition, were not overlooked.

Under the operation of our institutions, the public servant who is called on to take a step of high responsibility should feel, in the freedom which gives rise to such apprehensions, his highest security. When unfounded, the attention which they arouse, and the discussions they excite, deprive those who indulge them of the power to do harm; when just, they but hasten the certainty with which the great body of our citizens never fail to repel an attempt to procure their sanction to any exercise of power inconsistent with the jealous maintenance of their rights. Under such convictions, and entertaining no doubt that my constitutional obligations demanded the steps which were taken in reference to the removal of the deposites, it was impossible for me to be deterred from the path of duty by a fear that my motives could be misjudged, or that political prejudices could defeat the just consideration of the merits of my conduct. The result has shown how safe is this reliance upon the patriotic temper and enlightened discernment of the people. That measure has now been before them, and has stood the test of all the severe analysis which its general importance, the interests it affected, and the apprehensions it excited, were calculated to produce; and it now remains for Congress to consider what legislation has become necessary in consequence.

I need only add to what I have, on former occasions, said on this subject generally, that, in the regulations which Congress may prescribe respecting the custody of the public moneys, it is desirable that as little discretion as may be deemed consistent with their safe-keeping should be given to the executive agents. No one can be more deeply impressed than I am with the soundness of the doctrine which restrains and limits, by specific provisions, executive discretion, as far as it can be done consistently with the preservation of its constitutional character. In respect to the control over the public money, this doctrine is peculiarly applicable, and is in harmony with the great principle which I felt I was sustaining in the controversy with the Bank of the United States, which has resulted in severing, to some extent, a dangerous connexion between a moneyed and political power. The duty of the Legislature to define, by clear and positive enactments, the nature and extent of the action which it belongs to the Executive to superintend, springs out of a policy analogous to that which enjoins upon all the branches of the Federal Government an abstinence from the exercise of powers not clearly granted. In such a Government, possessing only limited and specific powers, the spirit of its general administration cannot be wise or just when it opposes the reference of all doubtful points to the great source of authority, the States and the people, whose number and diversified relations, securing them against the influences and excitements which may mislead their agents, make them the safest depository of power. In its application to the Executive, with reference to the legislative branch of the Government, the same rule of action should make the President ever anxious to avoid the exercise of any discretionary authority which can be regulated by Congress. The biases which may operate upon him will not be so likely to extend to the representatives of the people in that body....

...Occurrences, to which we as well as all other nations are liable, both in our internal and external relations, point to the necessity of an efficient organization of the militia. I am again induced, by the importance of the subject, to bring it to your attention. To suppress domestic violence, and to repel foreign invasion, should these calamities overtake us, we must rely, in the first instance, upon the great body of the community, whose will has instituted, and whose power must support, the Government. A large standing military force is not consonant to the spirit of our institutions, nor to the feelings of our countrymen; and the lessons of former days, and those also of our own times, show the danger as well as the enormous expense of these permanent and extensive military organizations. That just medium which avoids an inadequate preparation on one hand, and the danger and expense of a large force on the other, is what our constituents have a right to expect from their Government. This object can be attained only by the maintenance of a small military force, and by such an organization of the physical strength of the country as may bring this power into operation whenever its services are required. A classification of the population offers the most obvious means of effecting this organization. Such a division may be made as will be just to all, by transferring each, at a proper period of life, from one class to another; and by calling first for the services of that class, whether for instruction or action, which, from age, is qualified for the duty, and may be called to perform it with least injury to themselves or to the public. Should the danger ever become so imminent as to require additional force, the other classes in succession would be ready for the call. And if, in addition to this organization, voluntary associations were encouraged, and inducements held out for their formation, our militia would be in a state of efficient service. Now, when we are at peace, is the proper time to digest and establish a practicable system. The object is certainly worth the experiment, and worth the expense. No one appreciating the blessings of a republican Government can object to his share of the burden which such a plan may impose. Indeed, a moderate portion of the national funds could scarcely be better applied than in carrying into effect and continuing such an arrangement, and in giving the necessary elementary instruction. We are happily at peace with all the world. A sincere desire to continue so, and a fixed determination to give no just cause of offence to other nations, furnish, unfortunately, no certain grounds of expectation that this relation will be uninterrupted. With this determination to give no offence is associated a resolution, equally decided, tamely to submit to none. The armor and the attitude of defence afford the best security against those collisions which the ambition, or interest, or some other passion of nations not more justifiable, is liable to produce. In many countries it is considered unsafe to put arms into the hands of the people, and to instruct them in the elements of military knowledge. That fear can have no place here, when it is recollected that the people are the sovereign power. Our Government was instituted, and is supported, by the ballot-box, not by the musket. Whatever changes await it, still greater changes must be made in our social institutions, before our political system can yield to physical force. In every aspect, therefore, in which I can view the subject, I am impressed with the importance of a prompt and efficient organization of the militia.

...The plan for their removal and re-establishment is founded upon, the knowledge we have gained of their character and habits, and has been dictated by a spirit of enlarged liberality. A territory exceeding in extent that relinquished has been granted to each tribe. Of its climate, fertility, and capacity to support an Indian population, the representations are highly favorable. To these districts the Indians are removed at the expense of the United States; and, with certain supplies of clothing, arms, ammunition, and other indispensable articles, they are also furnished gratuitously with provisions for the period of a year after their arrival at their new homes. In that time, from the nature of the country, and of the products raised by them, they can subsist themselves by agricultural labor, if they choose to resort to that mode of life; if they do not, they are upon the skirts of the great prairies, where Countless herds of buffalo roam, and a short time suffices to adapt their own habits to the changes which a change of the animals destined for their food may require. Ample arrangements have also been made for the support of schools; in some instances, council-houses and churches are to be erected, dwellings constructed for the chiefs, and mills for common use. Funds have been set apart for the maintenance of the poor; the most necessary mechanical arts have been introduced, and blacksmiths, gunsmiths, wheelwrights, millwrights, &c. are supported among them. Steel and iron, and sometimes salt, are purchased for them; and ploughs and other farming utensils, domestic animals, looms, spinning wheels, cards, &c. are presented to them. And besides these beneficial arrangements, annuities are, in all cases, paid, amounting, in some instances, to more than thirty dollars for each individual of the tribe, and in all cases sufficiently great, if justly divided and prudently expended, to enable them, in addition to their own exertions, to live comfortably. And, as a stimulus for exertion, it is now provided by law that, "in all cases of the appointment of interpreters, or other persons employed for the benefit of the Indians, a preference shall be given to persons of Indian descent, if such can be found who are properly qualified for the discharge of the duties."

...I felt it to be my duty, in the first message which I communicated to Congress, to urge upon its attention the propriety of amending that part of the constitution which provides for the election of the President and the Vice President of the United States. The leading object which I had in view was the adoption of some new provisions which would secure to the people the performance of this high duty, without any intermediate agency. In my annual communications since, I have enforced the same views, from a sincere conviction that the best interests of the country would be promoted by their adoption. If the subject were an ordinary one, I should have regarded the failure of Congress to act upon it as an indication of their judgment, that the disadvantages which belong to the present system were not so great as those which would result from any attainable substitute that had been, submitted to their consideration. Recollecting, however, that propositions to introduce a new feature in our fundamental laws cannot be too patiently examined, and ought not to be received with favor until the great body of the people are thoroughly impressed with their necessity and value as a remedy for real evils, I feel that, in renewing the recommendation I have heretofore made on this subject, I am not transcending the bounds of a just deference to the sense of Congress or to the disposition of the people. However much we may differ in the choice of the measures which should guide the administration of the Government, there can be but little doubt in the minds of those who are really friendly to the republican features of our system, that one of its most important securities consists in the separation of the legislative and executive powers, at the same time that each is held responsible to the great source of authority, which is acknowledged to be supreme--in the will of the people, constitutionally expressed. My reflection and experience satisfy me that the framers of the constitution, although they were anxious to mark this feature as a settled and fixed principle in the structure of the Government, did not adopt all the precautions that were necessary to secure its practical observance, and that we cannot be said to have carried into complete effect their intentions until the evils which arise from this organic defect are remedied.

Considering the great extent of our confederacy, the rapid increase of its population, and the diversity of their interests and pursuits, it cannot be disguised that the contingency by which one branch of the Legislature is to form itself into an electoral college cannot become one of ordinary occurrence without producing incalculable mischief. What was intended as the medicine of the constitution in extreme cases, cannot be frequently used without changing its character, and sooner or later producing incurable disorder.

Every election by the House of Representatives is calculated to lessen the force of that security which is derived from the distinct and separate character of the legislative and executive functions; and while it exposes each to temptations adverse to their efficiency as organs of the constitution and laws, its tendency will be to unite both in resisting the will of the people, and thus give a direction to the Government, anti-republican and dangerous. All history tells us that a free people should be watchful of delegated power, and should never acquiesce in a practice which will diminish their control over it. This obligation, so universal in its application to all the principles of a republic, is peculiarly so in ours, where the formation of parties founded on sectional interests is so much fostered by the extent of out territory. These interests, represented by candidates for the Presidency, are constantly prone, in the zeal of party and selfish objects, to generate influences unmindful of the general good, and forgetful of the restraints which the great body of the people would enforce, if they were, in no contingency, to lose the right of expressing their will. The experience of our country, from the formation of the Government to the present day, demonstrates that the people, cannot too soon adopt some stronger safeguard for their right to elect the highest officers known to the constitution, than is contained in that sacred instrument as it now stands.

It is my duty to call the particular attention of Congress to the present condition of the District of Columbia. From whatever cause the great depression has arisen which now exists in the pecuniary concerns of this District, it is proper that its situation should be fully understood, and such relief or remedies provided as are consistent with the powers of Congress. I earnestly recommend the extension of every political right to the citizens of the District which their true interests require, and which does not conflict with the provisions of the constitution. It is believed that the laws for the government of the District require revisal and amendment, and that much good may De done by modifying the penal code so as to give uniformity to its provisions.

Your attention is also invited to the defects which exist in the judicial system of the United States. As at present organized, the States of the Union derive unequal advantages from the Federal Judiciary, which have been so often pointed out that I deem it unnecessary to repeat them here. It is hoped that the present Congress will extend to all the States that equality in respect to the benefits of the laws of the Union which can only be secured by the uniformity and efficiency of the judicial system.

With these observations on the topics of general interest which are deemed worthy of your consideration, I leave them to your care, trusting that the legislative measures they call for will be met as the wants and the best interests of our beloved country demand.

ANDREW JACKSON.

Washington, December 7, 1835.