from hostilities among themselves, and maintaining friendly relations between them and the United States. An interesting account of one of these excursions accompanies the report of the secretary of war. Under the directions of the war department, Brevet Captain Fremont, of the corps of topographical engineers, has been employed since 1842 in exploring the country west of the Mississippi, and beyond the Rocky mountains. Two expeditions have already been brought to a close, and the reports of that scientific and enterprising officer have furnished much interesting and valuable information. He is now engaged in a third expedi tion; but it is not expected that this arduous service will be completed in season to enable me to communicate the result to Congress at the present session.

Our relations with the Indian tribes are of a favorable character. The policy of removing them to a country designed for their permanent residence, west of the Mississippi and without the limits of the organized states and territories, is better appreciated by them than it was a few years ago; while education is now attended to, and the habits of civilized life are gaining ground among them.

Serious difficulties of long standing continue to distract the several parties into which the Cherokees are unhappily divided. The efforts of the government to adjust the difficulties between them, have heretofore proved unsuccessful; and there remains no probability that this desirable object can be accomplished without the aid of further legislation by Congress. I will, at an early period of your session, present the subject for your consideration, accompanied with an exposition of the complaints and claims of the several parties into which the nation is divided, with a view to the adoption of such measures by Congress as may enable the executive to do justice to them respectively, and to put an end, if possible, to the dissensions which have long prevailed, and still prevail, among them.

I refer you to the report of the secretary of the navy for the present condition of that branch of the national defence; and for grave suggestions, having for their object the increase of its efficiency, and a greater economy in its management. During the past year the officers and men have performed their duty in a satisfactory manner. The orders which have been given, have been executed with promptness and fidelity. A larger force than has often formed one squadron under our flag was readily concentrated in the gulf of Mexico, and apparently without unusual effort. It is especially to be observed, that, notwithstanding the union of so considerable a force, no act was committed that even the jealousy of an irritated power could construe as an act of aggression; and that the commander of the squadron, and his officers, in strict conformity with their instructions, holding themselves ever ready for the most active duty, have achieved the still purer glory of contributing to the preservation of peace. It is believed that at all our foreign stations the honor of our flag has been maintained, and that generally our ships-of-war have been distinguished for their good discipline and order. I am happy to add, that the display of maritime force which was required by the events of the summer has been made wholly within the usual appropriations for the service of the year, so that no additional appropriations are required.

The commerce of the United States, and with it the navigating interests, have steadily and rapidly increased since the organization of our government, until, it is believed, we are now second to but one power in the world, and at no distant day we shall probably be inferior to none.

Ex

posed as they must be, it has been a wise policy to afford to these important interests protection with our ships-of-war, distributed in the great highways of trade throughout the world. For more than thirty years appropriations have been made, and annually expended, for the gradual increase of our naval forces. In peace, our navy performs the important duty of protecting our commerce; and in the event of war, will be, as it has been, a most efficient means of defence.

The successful use of steam navigation on the ocean has been followed by the introduction of war-steamers in great and increasing numbers into the navies of the principal maritime powers of the world. A due regard to our own safety, and to an efficient protection to our large and increasing commerce, demands a corresponding increase on our part. No country has greater facilities for the construction of vessels of this description than ours, or can promise itself greater advantages from their employment. They are admirably adapted to the protection of our commerce, to the rapid transmission of intelligence, and to the coast defence. In pusuance of the wise policy of a gradual increase of our navy, large supplies of live-oak timber, and other materials for ship-building, have been collected, and are now under shelter and in a state of good preservation, while iron steamers can be built with great facility in various parts of the Union. The use of iron as a material, especially in the construction of steamers, which can enter with safety many of the harbors along our coast, now inaccessible to vessels of greater draught, and the practicability of constructing them in the interior, strongly recommends that liberal appropriations should be made for this important object. Whatever may have been our policy in the earlier stages of the government, when the nation was in its infancy, our shipping interests and commerce comparatively small, our resources limited, our population sparse, and scarcely extending beyond the limits of the original thirteen states, that policy must be essentially different, now that we have grown from three to more than twenty millions of people-that our commerce, carried in our own ships, is found in every sea, and that our territorial boundaries and settlements have been so greatly expanded. Neither our commerce, nor our long line of coast on the ocean and on the lakes, can be successfully defended against foreign aggressions by means of fortifications alone. These are essential at important commercial and military points, but our chief reliance for this object must be on a well-organized, efficient navy. The benefits resulting from such a navy are not confined to the Atlantic states. The productions of the interior which seek a market abroad, are directly dependent on the safety and freedom of our commerce. occupation of the Balize, below New Orleans, by a hostile force, would embarrass, if not stagnate, the whole export trade of the Mississippi, and affect the value of the agricultural products of the entire valley of that mighty river and its tributaries.

The

It has never been our policy to maintain large standing armies in time of peace. They are contrary to the genius of our free institutions, would impose heavy burdens on the people, and be dangerous to public liberty. Our reliance for protection and defence on the land, must be mainly on our citizen-soldiers, who will be ever ready, as they have ever been ready in times past, to rush with alacrity, at the call of their country, to her defence. This description of force, however, can not defend our coast, harbors, and inland seas, nor protect our commerce on the ocean or the lakes. These must be protected by our navy.

Considering an increased naval force, and especially of steam-vessels, corresponding with our growth and importance as a nation, and proportioned to the increased and increasing naval power of other nations, of vast importance as regards our safety, and the great and growing interests to be protected by it, I recommend the subject to the favorable consideration of Congress.

The report of the postmaster-general herewith communicated, contains a detailed statement of the operations of his department during the past year. It will be seen that the income from postages will fall short of the expenditures for the year between one and two millions of dollars. This deficiency has been caused by the reduction of the rates of postage, which was made by the act of the 3d of March last. No principle has been more generally acquiesced in by the people, than that this department should sustain itself by limiting its expenditures to its income. Congress has never sought to make it a source of revenue for general purposes, except for a short period during the last war with Great Britain, nor should it ever become a charge on the general treasury. If Congress shall adhere to this principle, as I think they ought, it will be necessary either to curtail the present mail service, so as to reduce the expenditures, or so to modify the act of the third of March last as to improve its revenues. The extension of the mail service, and the additional facilities which will be demanded by the rapid extension and increase of population on our western frontier, will not admit of such curtailment as will materially reduce the present expenditures. In the adjustment of the tariff of postages, the interests of the people demand that the lowest rates be adopted, which will produce the necessary revenue to meet the expenditures of the department. I invite the attention of Congress to the suggestions of the postmaster-general on this subject, under the belief that such a modification of the late law may be made, as will yield sufficient revenue, without further calls on the treasury, and with very little change in the present rates of postage.

Proper measures have been taken, in pursuance of the act of the third of March last, for the establishment of lines of mail-steamers between this and foreign countries. The importance of this service commends itself strongly to favorable consideration.

With the growth of our country, the public business which devolves on the heads of the several executive departments has greatly increased. In some respects, the distribution of duties among them seems to be incongruous, and many of these might be transferred from one to another with advantage to the public interests. A more auspicious time for the consideration of this subject by Congress, with a view to system in the organization of the several departments, and a more appropriate division of the public business, will not probably occur.

The most important duties of the state department relate to our foreign affairs. By the great enlargement of the family of nations, the increase of our commerce, and the corresponding extension of our consular system, the business of this department has been greatly increased. In its present organization, many duties of a domestic nature, and consisting of details, are devolved on the secretary of state, which do not appropriately belong to the foreign department of the government, and may properly be transferred to some other department. One of these grows out of the present state of the law concerning the patent office, which, a few years since, was a subordinate clerkship, but has become a distinct bureau of

great importance. With an excellent internal organization, it is still connected with the state department. In the transaction of its business, questions of much importance to inventors, and to the community, frequently arise, which, by existing laws, are referred for decision to a board, of which the secretary of state is a member. These questions are legal, and the connexion which now exists between the state department and the patent office, may, with great propriety and advantage, be transferred to the attorney-general.

In his last annual message to Congress, Mr. Madison invited attention to a proper provision for the attorney-general, as "an important improvement in the executive establishment." This recommendation was repeated by some of his successors. The official duties of the attorneygeneral have been much increased within a few years, and his office has become one of great importance. His duties may be still further increased, with advantage to the public interests. As an executive officer, his residence and constant attention at the seat of government are required. Legal questions, involving important principles, and large amounts of public money, are constantly referred to him by the president and executive departments, for his examination and decision. The public business under his official management, before the judiciary, has been so augmented by the extension of our territory, and the acts of Congress authorizing suits against the United States for large bodies of valuable public lands, as greatly to increase his labors and responsibilities. I therefore recommend that the attorney-general be placed on the same footing with the heads of the other executive departments, with such subordinate officers, provided by law for his department, as may be required to discharge the additional duties which have been or may be devolved upon him.

Congress possess the power of exclusive legislation over the district of Columbia, and I commend the interests of its inhabitants to your favorable consideration. The people of this district have no legislative body of their own, and must confide their local as well as their general interests to representatives in whose election they have no voice, and over whose official conduct they have no control. Each member of the national legislature should consider himself as their immediate representative, and should be the more ready to give attention to their interests and wants, because he is not responsible to them. I recommend that a liberal and generous spirit may characterize your measures in relation to them. I shall be ever disposed to show a proper regard for their wishes, and, within constitutional limits, shall at all times cheerfully co-operate with you for the advancement of their welfare.

I trust it may not be deemed inappropriate to the occasion for me to dwell for a moment on the memory of the most eminent citizen of our country, who, during the summer that is gone by, has descended to the tomb. The enjoyment of contemplating, at the advanced age of near fourscore years, the happy condition of his country, cheered the last hours of Andrew Jackson, who departed this life in the tranquil hope of a blessed immortality. His death was happy, as his life had been eminently useful. He had an unfaltering confidence in the virtue and capacity of the people, and in the permanence of that free government which he had largely contributed to establish and defend. His great deeds had secured to him the affections of his fellow-citizens, and it was his happiness to witness the growth and glory of his country, which he loved so well. He departed amid the benedictions of millions of freemen. The nation

paid its tribute to his memory at his tomb. Coming generations will learn from his example the love of country and the rights of man. In his language on a similar occasion to the present, "I now commend you, fellowcitizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, with a full reliance on his merciful providence for the maintenance of our free institutions; and with an earnest supplication, that whatever errors it may be my lot to commit, in discharging the arduous duties which have devolved on me, will find a remedy in the harmony and wisdom of your counsels."

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 9, 1845.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:I COMMUNICATE, herewith, a letter received from the president of the existing government of the state of Texas, transmitting duplicate copies of the constitution formed by the deputies of the people of Texas in convention assembled, accompanied by official information that the said constitution had been ratified, confirmed, and adopted, by the people of Texas themselves, in accordance with the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, and in order that Texas might be admitted as one of the states of that Union.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 19, 1845.

To the House of Representatives of the United States:

I COMMUNICATE to the house of representatives, in reply to their resolution of the 25th of February last, a report from the secretary of state, together with the correspondence of George W. Slacum, late consul of the United States at Rio de Janeiro, with the department of state, relating to

the African slave-trade.

I TRANSMIT to the senate a report of the secretary of the navy, communicating the information called for by their resolution of the 18th of December, 1845, in relation to the " number of agents now employed for the preservation of timber, their salaries, the authority of law under which they are paid, and the allowances of every description made within the last twenty years in the settlement of the accounts of said agents."