52

where reason is left free to combat it; and therefore indulging no apprehension from the influence of any language or creed among an enlightened people, I desire the education of the entire rising generation in all the elements of knowledge we possess, and in that tongue which is the universal language of our countrymen. To me the most interesting of all our republican institutions, is the common School. I seek not to disturb, in any manner, its peaceful and assiduous exercises, and least of all, with contentions about faith or forms. I desire the education of all the children in the commonwealth in morality and virtue, leaving matters of conscience where, according to the principles of civil and religious liberty established by our Constitution and laws, they rightfully belong.

Internal Improvements.

The policy of the State in regard to Internal Improvements has been a subject of much difficulty. In 1839, the State having completed the Erie and Champlain, the Chenango, the Oswego, the Cayuga and Seneca, the Chemung and the Crooked Lake Canals, and thus opened to the city of New York an inland navigation of four thousand five hundred miles; was found engaged in enlarging the Erie Canal to the dimensions of seventy feet in width by seven feet in depth, in making the Genesce Valley and Black River Canals, and in aiding by the loan of its credit the construction of the New York and Erie, the Auburn and Syracuse, the Ithaca and Oswego, and the Catskill and Canahojarie railroads.

The report of the Comptroller showed that the debt which had been contracted for the construction of the Erie and Champlain Canals was virtually paid, that the liabilities for the completed lateral canals were about three and a half millions of dollars, which added to the remaining debt of the State, exclusive of debts assumed for the unfinished works, made an aggregate of four and a half millions of dollars.The estimated expense of the works in progress, as appeared by the report of the Canal Commissioners, was about fifteen and a half millions of dollars, which, if added to the existing debt, would have made an aggregate of about twenty millions, the annual interest of which would be one million. The tolls of the Erie and Champlain canals after deducting the expenses of collection, had increased from $839,925, in 1826, to $1,504,384 in 1836, and although the tolls were diminished during the commercial revulsion of 1837 and 1838, yet their future increase could not be a matter of question, and it was equally certain that they would be accelerated and augmented by the growth of the trade from the western States, and by the reduction of the expense of navigating the Erie canal when it should be enlarged. The Canal Commissioners communicated to the Legislature their opinion, that in a few years after the completion of the enlargement, the tolls would amount to three millions of dollars. If from this sum even one million of dollars were to be allowed for the expense of superintendence and repairs, the enlarged Erie canal would yield a revenue of two millions of dollars, double the amount required to pay the interest on the debt of twenty millions of dollars. The annual nett revenue of the State, after the completion of the enlargement, would therefore be one million of dollars. The view thus taken in 1839, of the existing and anticipated condition of the State, was regarded by me as justifying the vigorous prosecution of the public works, and the expression of a confident hope, that the time had come when the State might realize the long cherished expectation of an extension of her system of internal improvements. Experience has fully confirmed the positions then assumed, so far as they depended on the revenue from the canals. The tolls during the season of navigation in 1840, were $1,775,747 57.

The Legislature in 1836, had directed stock to be issued to the amount of two millions eight hundred thousand dollars for the construction of the Genesee Valley and Black River Canals; and the Legislature of 1838, under an earnest recommendation by my predecessor of a vigorous and speedy prosecution of the enlargement of the Erie Canal, had ap. propriated four millions of dollars to that object. The Canal Commissioners under the express direction of the Legislature to put under contract with as little delay as possible, such

portions as would best secure the completion of the entire
enlargement, with double locks on the whole line, had made
contracts for one half of the whole improvement.

Those who in 1859 came into the conduct of public af-
fairs addressed themselves in good faith to the performance
of their duties in regard to the public works. A sudden
change, however, then occurred. The official report of the
retiring Comptroller, instead of the glowing view of the fis-
cal condition of the State, which had in 1836 induced the
Legislature to undertake the construction of three stupen-
dous works, and had impelled the Legislature of 1838 to
expedite the prosecution of that one which was more expen-
sive than all the improvements which the State had made,
exhibited a dark picture of irredeemable debt and perpetual
taxation. The policy to which, under the auspices of the
previous administration, the State was committed and to
which it had already devoted twenty millions of dollars, be-
sides pledging its credit in aid of associated enterprise to
the extent of four and a half millions, was now represented
as involving the people in a debt of forty millions of dollars,
and what was still more extraordinary, all the responsibility
of the policy was assigned, not to the administration under
whose auspices it had been adopted, or to the Legislatures
of 1835 and 1836 by whom all the appropriations had been
made, but to an administration upon which had devolved the
duty of finishing works long before begun, by which no money
had been expended, and under which no appropriations had
been made. In his report of 1839 the discovery was pro-
mulgated by the late Comptroller, that the Erie and Cham-
plain canals, whose revenues had been relied upon by the
Legislatures of 1836 and 1838 as justifying an expenditure
of twenty millions of dollars in new enterprises, had never
yielded a revenue equal to the interest on their cost. Al-
though the dimensions of the enlarged canal had in 1835
been fixed at seventy feet in width by seven feet in depth,
and although one half of this great work was under con-
tract, it was pretended to be further discovered that the en-
largement had been undertaken upon a scale absurd in mag-
nitude and profligate in expense. It was proposed to reduce
the dimensions of the enlargement to sixty feet in width and
six feet in depth, and it was contended that no enlargement
whatever would be necessary for the purpose of trade for a
period of ten, twenty or thirty years, It was maintained by
the opponents of internal improvements that the construction
of the Black River and Genesee Valley canals, and the
maintenance of the faith of the Legislature, pledged in 1838
to the New York and Erie Railroad Company, were in policy
as inconsistent with the true interests of the State, and as
useless and dangerous as would be the creation of titles of
nobility with patents of numerous landed estates requiring
an outlay of twenty-five millions of dollars, and an annual
stipend of more than one million to be raised by taxes upon
the people. It was also insisted that the first business of
legislation should be to repeal the laws authorizing the con-
struction of the Genesee Valley and Black River canals, and
also the laws authorizing loans to canal and railroad compa-
nies to stop the enlargement of the Erie canal or circum-
scribe it within reasonable bounds, to raise the tolls on the
lateral canals so that the revenues from those canals might
pay the interest on their cost and the annual expense of
And all this was urged as if the sudden
their repairs, and to relinquish such of them as could not
be made to do so.
abandonment of those enterprises would not involve in
wretchedness thousands of families, and as if our State,
whose successful policy had been adopted as a model by
other States, and had elicited the admiration of mankind,
bad suddenly become destitute of wisdom, honor and good
faith. History may safely be charged with the duty of as-
signing the reasons for such singular inconsistencies. It is
necessary, however, for the present purpose, to observe that
the same Canal Commissioners who had in 1836 estimated
the cost of the works which the State then assumed at fif-
teen and a half millions of dollars, when required in 1839
to re-examine their estimates reported the cost of the same
works at thirty and a half millions, and that consequently
the debt to which the State had become committed arose
from twenty millions to thirty-five millions, requiring an an

nual expenditure for interest of one million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The discovery of this extraordinary error in the estimates of the Commissioners happened in a conjuncture when, although the credit of many of the States was brought to a crisis, the spirit of internal improvement pervaded the community, and our fellow-citizens, relying upon the views of our resources before presented, were looking confidently to the public treasury for appropriations to various improvements in which they justly felt an absorbing interest. The immediate results at home and abroad were a severe shock to confidence in the faith of the State, and alarm for its ultimate solvency, jealousies in each region in regard to improvements immediately beneficial to others, and impatience in every portion of the State for such immediate and large appropriations as would secure the construction of favored works before the apprehended catastrophe should take place. It was doubted for a time whether the tendency of all this was to a desperate compromise, by reckless expenditure, or to an immediate suspension of all the public works.

seven thousand nine hundred and four bushels of wheat entered the canal from Lake Erie. Of the flour and wheat which entered the canal at Buffalo, five hundred and five thousand two hundred and sixty-two barrels of flour, and seven hundred and twenty-five thousand and twenty-five bushels of wheat were received from the State of Ohio, one hundred and twelve thousand two hundred and fifteen barrels of flour, and ninety-seven thousand two hundred and forty-nine bushels of wheat from the State of Michigan, thirteen thousand seven hundred and twenty-six barrels of flour, and forty-eight thousand two hundred and seventynine bushels of wheat from the State of Indiana, two thousand two hundred and fifty-nine barrels of flour, and ten thousand six hundred and thirty-four bushels of wheat, from the State of Illinois, and one hundred and sixty-six barrels of flour from the territory of Wisconsin.

These facts serve to show, not only how safely we may rely upon a continued increase of revenue, but also how much we are indebted to our system of internal improvement for the supply of our markets. If such benefits are enjoyed while the Erie canal is in an imperfect condition, and while the western States are yet in their infancy, no estimates heretofore made have approximated to the results which will be exhibited, when the Erie canal shall have been enlarged, the western States fully settled and their improvements completed.

The earliest practicable notice should be given of the time when the enlargement will be finished. The capital invested in boats and other property used in navigating the canal, exceeds three millions of dollars. Very extensive business arrangements among our fellow-citizens will be affected by the improvement in navigation, and time should be allowed to prepare for the change.

The policy recommended in this emergency was to retrench expenditures, and persevere in the construction of the public works with moderation and economy, to refer the plans of all the unfinished improvements, including the enlargement of the Erie Canal, to competent engineers to ascertain what portions of the same might be delayed without detriment to the public interest, and what expense might be saved by executing other portions in a manner equally effective, but more plain and economical, and to establish a Canal Board for the purpose of preventing erroneous estimates and inconsiderable legislation. It was moreover especially insisted, that, with a view to guard against a dangerous increase of debt and the possibility of taxation, all issues of stock should thenceforth be so limited that the whole debt of the State should at all times be kept within such bounds, that the interest on it should not exceed the nett revenue from canal tolls, and that the increase of that revenue should be devoted to the extinguishment of the public debt. It was assumed, that although the adoption of this rule might seem to delay for a season the progress, it would ensure the completion of the great works in contem-system; that moderation and economy are required even plation in different parts of the State, and it was maintained that the retardation, which had from such obvious causes become necessary, ought by no means to be considered as an abandonment of the policy of internal improvement, but that on the contrary such retardation was indispensable, and was indeed the only mode of carrying it forward with certainty and success. This policy which in its more important parts prevailed in the Legislature of 1840, is respectfully recommended to your favor.

I tender you my congratulations upon the happy termination of the embarrassments to which it has been my duty to refer. The people of the State have stood firm by the pillars of her strength and glory. Time enough has elapsed to show that our fiscal condition is sound; that, although, the expense of our improvements was erroneously estimated, our revenues are abundantly adequate, and that, with judicious management, we may persevere firmly in the policy of internal improvement, with a confident expectation of accomplishing ultimately all that has been contemplated.

It is the peculiar and rightful province of the Legislature to determine the amount to which the appropriations can be carried, and to give them their direction. I may be permitted, however, to observe that the object of internal improvement is not to confer local advantages, but to promote the general welfare; that, although revenue is necessarily an intermediate, it ought not to be the ultimate purpose of the

less to save us from the effects of improvidence, than because they are necessary to render the system as comprehensive as the wants of the State. Legislative action should, therefore, always have in view the improvement of every region. Although some portions of the State may excel others in producing one staple, no portion is without fertility and resources of wealth. There are some regions in which canals would be impracticable or unprofitable, but there are none in which some form of modern improvement cannot be successfully introduced. No one who studies the general welfare should wish to have the productions of one district dependent for a market upon the precarious navigation of fordable rivers, while those of another are transported upon an enlarged canal or by steam-power; to see mails carried weekly through one portion of the State by the slow postwagon, while other portions of our citizens are receiving daily intelligence, transmitted by railroads. Those who suppose that natural obstacles, wherever existing cannot be overcome or removed, and that the course of trade cannot be Trade of the eastern section of the Erie Canal. affected by artificial improvements, may contemplate with advantage the success which has crowned the efforts of our The eastern section of the Erie canal has, during the last State in encountering, in its own market, the trade of its season, been subjected to a test of its ability. From the northern, southern and western counties, which thirty years opening to the close of navigation, a period of seven months ago had no other channels of trade than rivers flowing toand a half, there was an average lockage at each lock of one wards widely distant ports. Another example will soon be boat in eleven minutes. The irregular arrival of boats has afforded, in the successful attempt of the citizens of Massacaused much detention and often delays of several days.-chusetts to divert from the valley of the Hudson, at least the The immediate enlargement, therefore, of this portion of the canal, is indispensable to the public convenience, and to the security of trade. One million eight hundred and five thousand one hundred and thirty-five barrels of flour, and one million three hundred and ninety-five thousand one hundred and ninety-five bushels of wheat were delivered at the eastern termination of the canal during the past season. Six hundred and forty-six thousand nine hundred and se- Although seventeen millions of people have founded their venty barrels of flour, and one million four hundred and sixty- | cities and established their homes, under our laws, less than

winter travel and trade between this city and the sea-shore; an enterprise which they are prosecuting firmly and rapidly, while in regard to that particular interest we are relying upon the sublime but hazardous theory of leaving the course of trade to the laws impressed by God upon mind and matter. The National Domain.

54

one-third of the territory within the boundaries of the con-
federacy is occupied or appropriated. What remains is the
national domain. Every acre of it has a value-for its fu-
ture improvement is as certain as the present cultivation of
the lands we occupy. At the close of the revolution, the
failure of the public credit effectually prevented the pros-
perity expected to follow the establishment of independence
and the return of peace, while the efforts of the States to
establish a more perfect Union were embarrassed by their
conflicting claims to the vast wilderness, lying beyond the
western settlements. With magnanimity, characteristic of the
revolutionary period, each State ceded its interest to the
Federal Government as a trustee. The whole domain was
thus made the common property of all, and it was pledged
to the public creditors as a basis for the redemption of the
funded debts of the Union. In 1833 those debts were dis-
charged. The revenues, derived from imposts upon import-
ed merchandise, are or ought always to be, adequate to the
ordinary expenses of the government. Although those re-
venues may be temporarily disturbed and diminished by er-
rors in the laws regulating them, or by foreign war, or com-
mercial revulsion, yet they soon regain their regularity and
fullness, and the chief difficulty in conducting the affairs of
the Federal Government has heretofore been, and is likely
always to be, how to keep the revenues within the bounds
of reasonable expenditure, without withdrawing all protec-
tion from national industry. The reason is obvious. The
States have reserved the chief responsibilities and powers of
legislation for the public welfare, but have yielded to the
General Government an undue proportion of the taxes.-
The maintenance of public defence is sometimes made a
pretext for withholding from the States the proceeds of the
national domain. But extensive military preparations in
time of peace are generally preparations to compel subjec-
tion at home, and to subvert free institutions. It may safely
be left to the people to decide, which are the best defences
of liberty, common schools or fortifications, canals and rail-
roads, or standing armies. Danger from foreign aggression
is manifestly diminishing, and if unhappily the scourge of
nations should fall upon us, the ability of the States to main-
tain the public defence would be increased, by the distribu-
tion among them of the revenues from the public domain.
Experience has proved that the organization of the General
Government is ill adapted to secure accountability at least on
The Executive, from
the part of its subordinate agents.
whom all such agents derive their power, is too independent
of Congress, and every department is quite too far removed
from the people to allow that popular supervision, which is
salutary in its operation upon similar functionaries in the
several States. The distribution of the avails of the public
lands was resisted last year by misrepresenting it as a mea-
sure by which the General Government was to assume or
guaranty the debts of the several States. So far as I am in-
formed, no such proposition has been contemplated by any
one of the States. But the occasion and the motive for this
misrepresentation having passed, it is hoped that the true
question may now be brought before the people on its merits.
When we remember that the distribution, heretofore made
of the surplus revenue was attained with much difficulty,
and then only escaped an executive veto, by receiving the
form of a loan to the States; when we remember that a bill
which had passed both houses of Congress, directing an ap-
portionment of the avails of the sales of the public lands,
was lost for want of approval by the President, and that
subsequently a bill to release without equivalent, a large
portion of the domain to the new States within which it
lies, was passed by the Senate, and that a similar bill is now
before that body, we shall be satisfied that the true form of
the question is whether those revenues shall now be distri-
buted, or be lost for ever.

Surplus Revenues.

So long ago as 1806, the discharge of the national debt, and the constant accumulation of surplus revenues from imposts and the public lands, were foreseen by the enlightened and sagacious statesman who then occupied the Executive Department of the Federal Government. In two

annual messages, he earnestly insisted that the anticipated
surplus should be appropriated to the improvement of roads,
canals, rivers, education and other great foundations of pros-
The accumulation foreseen
perity and union, and he suggested an amendment of the
Constitution for this purpose.
by President Jefferson, was delayed by interruptions of our
commerce until 1833. The eminent citizen, who in 1829
entered upon the duties of the Executive Department, ob-
served, in his first message, that every member of the Union,
in peace and in war, would be benefited by the improve-
Let us then," he added "endeavor to
ment of inland navigation and the construction of highways
in the several States.
attain this benefit in a mode that will be satisfactory to all.
That hitherto adopted has, by many of our fellow-citizens,
been deprecated as an infraction of the constitution, while
has been viewed as inexpedient. All feel that
by others
it has been employed at the expense of harmony in the
legislative councils. To avoid these evils it appears to me
the most safe, just and federal disposition, which could be
made of the surplus revenue, would be its apportionment
among the several States, according to the ratio of repre-
sentation." This suggestion by President Jackson met a
favorable response throughout the Union, and was especially
approved in this State. The Governor, in his message of
1830, observed, "Our funds applicable to the extension of
our public works may be augmented at no distant day, from

a new source.

The duties upon the importation of merchandise are secured, by the Constitution of the United States, to the General Government, and have been its greatest source of revenue for all purposes. In a very few years the national debt will be paid off, and but a small portion of the revenue will be consumed in conducting the affairs of the Union within the constitutional limits, and as there are prudential reasons for continuing the duties to a certain extent, there can be no valid objection to a distribution of the surplus revenues among the States, to be disposed of at their discretion. If constitutional obstacles exist against the measure, they may be removed by constitutional means." knowledge my inability to present a full view of the benefits, this great measure would confer upon the people of this State. Our seminaries of learning are now enjoying an annual endowment of two hundred and eight thousand dollars, arising from the apportionment heretofore made. The amount of the revenues from the public lands for the present year, as estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, will be three and a half millions of dollars, of which the share of this State would be nearly six hundred thousand dollars.

I ac

An imperfect idea of the rapid settlement of the public lands may be conceived from the fact that the population of the State of Indiana has increased, within the last ten years, from three hundred and forty-one thousand to six hundred and eighty-three thousand, and that of the State of Michigan from thirty-one thousand to two hundred and eleven thousand. What the actual value of our share of such a distribution would be, cannot be estimated, but it may safely be assumed that it would far exceed all that we have expended in the construction of canals and roads, the foundation of charities, the erection of penitentiaries, and the endowment of colleges, academies and schools. After such an accession to our revenues, the various enterprises of internal improvement would no longer be rivals, prosecuted against the influence of local jealousies and alarms of taxation. The present generation would anticipate the blessings in store for posterity, and every portion of the State would be admitted immediately to their enjoyment. It would be in our power, not only to extend our system of improvement but also to increase in various other ways the general happiness. We are now obliged to practice a cold and calculating charity. We have more than twenty-three hundred lunatics in the State, yet we have made provision for the relief of only two hundred and fifty. We have more than a thousand deaf and dumb persons, yet we are obliged to select by favor from among them, instead of pouring the light of truth and know. ledge into the minds of all. Our almshouses are perhaps sufficiently convenient for those who are brought into them by idleness and vice, but do they afford all the enjoyments

Lake Country.

improvements, to connect their interior regions with these inland seas. The Ohio canal, three hundred and twenty miles in length, reaching from Lake Erie to the great river which separates the States of Ohio and Kentucky, secures trade of the central portion of the West will be given to us to us the trade of the nearer regions of the great West. The by two other improvements, to wit, the Wabash and Erie ing from Lake Erie through the States of Ohio and Indiana canal, two hundred and thirty-four miles in length, extendto the navigable waters of the Wabash river; and the Miami canal, two hundred and ten miles in length, reaching from

we would be happy to yield to the aged, the sick, the widow and the orphan, whose afflictions are the result of providential visitation, unattended by vice or error of their own?- of our lateral canals, the States situated upon the shores of Following the policy which has dictated the construction Should we longer contend about the apportionment of mo- those lakes, have severally undertaken the construction of neys devoted to education, if our funds were ample for the full endowment of all our seminaries of learning? Would there not be an end to the great fault of our common schools, the small compensation paid to teachers, if we could adequately increase the Common School Fund, upon which we rely for the education of more than half a million of children? But if it be maintained that enough has been done for the relief of wretchedness and the improvement of the foundation of prosperity and union, what reason can be assigned why, with the revenues in question, acknowledged to be the property of the people, the burthens of the people should not be diminished? Let us bring annually into the treasury of the State, her proportion of these revenues, and our fellow-the lake to the north bend of the Ohio river, and connecting with the Wabash canal at Fort Defiance. The canal of citizens can be relieved of the burthen of repairing common Illinois will extend to the Mississippi the navigation we now roads, and of paying tolls upon canals, railroads, and turnpikes, and from the heavy expenses of the administration of enjoy, and thus bring to us the trade of the remotest western settlements. Of these canals the Ohio is already completed. justice and the support of schools and charities. We are That portion of the Wabash and Erie canal, one hundred sometimes called by the adversaries of internal improvement and forty-four miles long, lying within the State of Indiana, to contemplate a condition of exhausting taxation. Who is finished, and the remaining portion ninety miles in length, can object to a measure which would almost secure a general which lies within the State of Ohio, is yet incomplete, but exemption from the burthens of government? the late Governor of that State, in his last message, gave the Advantages from a distribution of the surplus revenues. assurance that it would be ready for navigation during the But we shall derive from a distribution of the surplus rev- der contract, and more than one hundred miles have been present year. Of the Miami canal, nearly the whole is unenues, other advantages than those resulting directly. Wo are to participate largely in the benefits conferred upon other completed. Of the Illinois canal, which will cost about eight millions of dollars, about one half is finished, and the conStates. Our system of internal improvement is only a part struction of the remainder, unhappily retarded by financial of that entire system, contemplated by the Father of our embarrassment, might be hastened by the aid which the country, and relied upon by him to accomplish the object of State of Illinois has a right to claim from the General Govhis earnest solicitude-the binding of the States together in an indissoluble union of affection and interest. Not to dwell ernment, or by a speedy distribution of the proceeds of the upon the importance of thus securing the ark of our politi- of the agricultural productions received from the Ohio canal public lands. When we consider the vast amount and value cal safety against the storms to which it must sooner or later alone, the only one of those canals yet in full operation, we be exposed, we have interests of a subordinate character, in the completion of the public works of our sister States. If may form some imperfect conception of the interest we have in the success of the system of internal improvement in the such a distribution should be made, we should be able, if Western States. And when such conceptions become as are not now, to connect the Chenango, the Chemung, and familiar as they are just, we shall manifest more of wisdom the Genesee Valley canals with the railroads and canals of Pennsylvania; render them productive of revenue, and at all the aid in our power to complete what none but free and than even of philanthropy, by lending our western brethren the same time give a new impulse to our domestic trade.-enlightened States could ever have undertaken. Views Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river would no longer similar to these were commended to your predecessors and be separated from the central valley through which our com- received their approval. If they accord with your own, I remerce flows, but the vast territory which intervenes would

we

vocated.

quillity, chosen by free suffrage, and with universal acquiescence, the magistrates by whom all the powers of government shall be exercised under legal responsibilities, until those powers shall again return to themselves. However been considered, all will agree that the peacefulness and we may have differed concerning the questions which have good order which have attended the proceeding, furnish ample proof that the people may safely be allowed to discuss every measure that concerns their welfare; and that neither force nor fraud is necessary to secure submission to rulers, where power is limited, reason enlightened, and suffrage universal.

be traversed by railroads and canals, its forests would dis-spectfully suggest the propriety of renewing the expression appear, its soil would be rendered productive, and its mineral heretofore made in favor of the great measure I have adwealth be no longer left among the neglected resources of the State. Ohio proceeds in her system slowly. Michigan in a manner prescribed by their own laws, in perfect tranThe people of the United States have, within the last year, labors under great difficulties in her efforts to construct roads that will establish a connexion between her inland regions and Lake Erie. Indiana and Illinois are struggling with extreme embarrassment in the prosecution of works upon a scale of equal magnitude with our own. It is not surpris ing that the financial difficulties of those States are magnified and their credit traduced in the stock markets of Europe. But it is strange indeed, when we reflect that they are members of this confederacy, parts seeking closer union with the great whole, that they should be visited with the censure of the Federal Government, in a season of embarrassment, and that the Senate of the United States should, in the face of the world, gratuitously refuse to grant in their behalf, a guarantee which they have never solicited and never desired.One might suppose, from the cold speculation, sometime The chief Magistrate of the Union will enter upon his heard among ourselves concerning the improvidence of those trust with favorable auspices. The public good requires, and States, that they were hostile or at least rival powers, and the public mind consents to repose. Fortunate in experience that our security and prosperity rose with the decline of of public services in the Senate and the field, in executive theirs. Yet it is far otherwise. They are communities and diplomatic stations; fortunate in exemption from prejubound to us by interest, as well as by consanguinity between dice in favor of any erroneous policy hitherto pursued; fortheir citizens and our own; their prosperity is our prosperity, tunate in the enjoyment of his country's veneration and no calamity falls upon them by which we do not suffer although we may withhold our sympathy. The great lakes, about twenty-five hundred miles in length, may be regarded as a prolongation of the canal we have made across the isthmus which separates their waters from those of the Atlantic.

The Chief Magistrate of the Union.

gratitude, and especially fortunate in having at once defined and reached the boundary of his ambition, the President can have no other objects than the public welfare and an honorable fame. The people expect that he will preserve peace, maintain the integrity of our territory and the invio

Finances U. S.--Drawbacks.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 2
December 21, 1840.

}

Sir:-I perceive that a new appropriation bill has passed at this session for sums exceeding $400,000, considerable portions of which will probably be called from the Treasury during the present year.

lability of our flag, co-operate with Christian nations in suppressing piracy and the slave trade, avoid alliances for every other purpose, conduct our foreign relations with firmness and fairness, terminate our controversies with the Indian tribes, regain their confidence and protect them against cupidity and fraud; confine the actions of the Executive Department within constitutional bounds; abstain from interference with elections and the domestic concerns of the States; defer to the wisdom of Congress, and submit to the Another appropriation bill appears to have been reported, will of the people; observe equal and exact justice to all with a view to its immediate passage, which is supposed to men and classes of men, and conduct public affairs with be nearly double the amount of the other, and an addition steadiness, that enterprise may not be disappointed; with proposed to it, on account of navy pensions, of a sum beeconomy, that labor may not be deprived of its rewards; and tween $150,000 and $.00,000, entirely new in its character. with the due accountability of public agents, that republican Much of this addition, if made, is likely to be drawn for the institutions may suffer no reproach. If he shall endeavor present month, as it may be needed on or before the first to meet these expectations, no discontents can effect-no day of January, and probably some portions of the original opposition can embarrass him; for he will act in harmony bill as reported. These new charges on the present year are with the spirit of the Constitution and with the sentiments of such magnitude as (with the circumstances hereafter speof the people. And when, like him whose fame is unap-cified, and others referred to in the second, tenth, and eleproachable, but whose wisdom and moderation this distin- venth pages of my recent annual report) to render it proper, guished citizen has adopted as his great example, he shall in the opinion of the undersigned, that he should repeat the have healed his country's wounds and restored her happi- recommendation contained in that report-that they be acness and prosperity, he will enjoy the rare felicity of a re-companied by some early provision of additional means to tirement more honored than even his distinguished station. meet the whole of them with promptitude.

Wisdom of De Witt Clinton.

When called two years since to survey the State for the purpose of submitting the result to the Legislature, I could not fail to observe everywhere enduring impressions of the wisdom of De Witt Clinton. When considering how I could in any way contribute to diminish the burthens of the people, to promote public prosperity, to diffuse knowledge, to favor agriculture and encourage the arts, to develop, the resources of the State extend its interior communications by land and water, and equalize the advantages of free government among all my fellow-citizens, I could not fail to see that his genius had marked out in all these respects the policy which the State in the emulous spirit expressed by her noble motto, could pursue to a higher and happier social condition than had ever yet been attained by any community When reflecting upon the misapprehensions, difficulties and embarrassments to be encountered, I found in his great fame an evidence that such a policy might be pursued with safety, although it must sometimes come in conflict with local jealousies and temporary interests. Under the influence of feelings inspired by the occasion, I ventured to express a hope that the time had arrived when the State was prepared to acknowledge her obligations to so distinguished a benefactor. In this suggestion I confess that I anticipated, but I trust not by any very long period, the justice of my fellowcitizens. W. H. SEWARD.

Albany, January 5, 1841.

Fishing Bounties. From the Barnstable Patriot we learn that the amount paid at the custom house in that district this winter falls about $7,000 short of what was paid last. The amount paid thus far is $53,000. The cod-fishing was so unprofitable, year before last, that many vessels were put into other employment. There was a great falling off in the number from Provincetown last year; and the prospect is that there will be a greater for the present. The same paper states that the enterprising citizens of that port are turning their attention to the whaling business; and is informed that there will be no less than thirteen vessels the coming season, (two schrs. and the balance barks and brigs,) which will fit at and sail directly from Provincetown, or be fitted and sailed by Provincetown crews from some other port. These will give employment to from 250 to 300 men.-N. Y. Sun.

Fires in Boston in 1840.-The amount of property lost is as follows: Lost on buildings about $50,000. Loss on stock, furniture, fixtures &c. about $78,000 Insurance on buildings about $17,000. Insurance on stock, furniture, &c. about $31,000. Total loss $128,000. Total insurance $48, 000.

The letters annexed, just received, show likewise some recent decisions of the courts, that appear to require the refunding of more duties from the Treasury, to a considerable amount.

Another communication is also annexed, which reached the Department to-day, and shows the extraordinary drawbacks about to be demanded in a single case, on refined sugars, extending probably to $75,000 or $80,000; a sum nearly equal to half of the nett revenue often collected in a week in the whole Union.

To meet calls like these, in addition to those first specified by the new appropriations, will probably much reduce the balance heretofore anticipated at the close of the year.

Under these circumstances, coupled with those referred to in my annual report rendering some provision proper, not only to cover ordinary contingencies and fluctuations, but especially to provide adequate means for meeting seasonably the large charges then explained to be imposed on the first quarter of the year 1841, and several of them as soon as the 1st of January, the hope is entertained that some such temporary provision will be made at the earliest day practicable.

Looking to the security and high standing of our national credit, it was deemed prudent, when that report was prepared, that it be done by the commencement of the year; and the occurrences since tend strongly to confirm the opinion then expressed, and are, therefore, now promptly and respectfully submitted to the consideration of the Committees of Ways and Means and on Finance in the two Houses.

The amount of means authorized might judiciously extend to the five or six millions which have usually been kept on hand in former years, as a balance to cover all contingencies and fluctuations, and it might be used as a substitute for that balance whenever the public wants should require during the year, and be all reimbursed before its close, if the revenue increases in the latter part of the year as is anticipated in the annual report.

My opinion, formerly expressed, on the most convenient and economical mode of making such a temporary provision, remains unchanged in favor of an issue of Treasury notes, to be redeemed out of the revenue received before the end of the year, and to be provided for either by an amendment to some appropriate bill, or by a separate act of Congress. Respectfully,

LEVI WOODBURY,
Secretary of the Treasury.

To Hon. J. W. Jones,
Chairman Committee of Ways and Means, H. R.

Treasury Department, Comptroller's Office, December 17, 1840. Sir: The Circuit Court of the United States for the district of Maryland having at the November term, 1840, declared "soda ash" to be exempt from duty, I have to inform