further opposition, removed from their former situations, and placed themselves under the immediate protection of the United States.

It is sincerely to be desired that all need of coercion in future may cease, and that an intimate intercourse may succeed, calculated to advance the happiness of the Indians and to attach them firmly to the United States.

In order to this, it seems necessary

That they should experience the benefits of an impartial dispensation of justice.

That the mode of alienating the lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so defined and regulated as to obviate impositions, and, as far as may be practicable, controversy concerning the reality and extent of the alienations which are made.

That commerce with them should be promoted under regulations tending to secure an equitable deportment toward them, and that such rational experiments should be made for imparting to them the blessings of civilization as may from time to time suit their condition.

That the executive of the United States should be enabled to employ the means to which the Indians have been long accustomed for uniting their immediate interests with the preservation of peace.

And that efficacious provision should be made for inflicting adequate penalties upon all those who, by violating their rights, shall infringe the treaties and endanger the peace of the Union.

A system corresponding with the mild principles of religion and philanthropy toward an unenlightened race of men, whose happiness materially depends on the conduct of the United States, would be as honorable to the national character as conformable to the dictates of sound policy.

The powers specially vested in me by the act laying certain duties on distilled spirits, which respect the subdivisions of the districts into surveys, the appointment of officers, and the assignment of compensation, have likewise been carried into effect. In a matter in which both materials and experience were wanting to guide the calculation, it will be readily conceived that there must have been difficulty in such an adjustment of the rates of compensation as would conciliate a reasonable competency with a proper regard to the limits prescribed by law. It is hoped that the circumspection which has been used will be found, in the result, to have secured the last of the two objects; but it is probable that, with a view to the first, in some instances a revision of the provision will be found advisable.

The impressions with which this law has been received by the community have been, upon the whole, such as were to be expected among enlightened and well-disposed citizens, from the propriety and necessity of the measure. The novelty, however, of the tax, in a considerable part of the United States, and a misconception of some of its provisions, have given occasion in particular places to some degree of discontent. But it is satisfactory to know that this disposition yields to proper explanations and more just apprehensions of the true nature of the law. And I entertain a full confidence that it will, in all, give way to motives which arise out of a just sense of duty and a virtuous regard to the public welfare.

If there are any circumstances in the law which, consistently with its main design, may be so varied as to remove any well-intentioned objec tions that may happen to exist, it will consist with a wise moderation to make the proper variations. It is desirable, on all occasions, to unite.

with a steady and firm adherence to constitutional and necessary acts of government, the fullest evidence of disposition, as far as may be practicable, to consult the wishes of every part of the community, and to lay the foundations of the public administration in the affections of the people.

Pursuant to the authority contained in the several acts on that subject, a district of ten miles square, for the permanent seat of the government of the United States, has been fixed and announced by proclamation; which district will comprehend lands on both sides of the river Potomac, and the towns of Alexandria and Georgetown. A city has also been laid out agreeably to a plan which will be laid before congress. And as there is a prospect, favored by the rate of sales which have already taken place, of ample funds for carrying on the necessary public buildings, there is every expectation of their due progress.

The completion of the census of the inhabitants, for which provision was made by law, has been duly notified (excepting one instance, in which the return has been informal-and another in which it has been omitted or miscarried), and the returns of the officers who were charged with this duty, which will be laid before you, will give you the pleasing assurance that the present population of the United States borders on four millions of persons.

It is proper, also, to inform you that a further loan of two millions and a half of florins has been completed in Holland, the terms of which are similar to those of the one last announced, except as to a small reduction of charges. Another, on like terms, for six millions of florins, had been set on foot under circumstances that assured an immediate completion.

Gentlemen of the Senate:

Two treaties which have been provisionally concluded with the Chero kees and Six Nations of Indians will be laid before you for your consideration and ratification.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

In entering upon the discharge of your legislative trust, you must anti cipate with pleasure that many of the difficulties necessarily incident to the first arrangements of a new government for an extensive country have been happily surmounted by the zealous and judicious exertions of your predecessors, in co-operation with the other branch of the legislature. The important objects which remain to be accomplished will, I am persuaded, be conducted upon principles equally comprehensive and equally well calculated for the advancement of the general weal.

The time limited for receiving subscriptions to the loans proposed by the act for making provisions for the debt of the United States having expired, statements from the proper department will, as soon as possible, apprize you of the exact result. Enough, however, is already known to afford an assurance that the views of that act have been substantially fulfilled. The subscription, in the domestic debt of the United States, has embraced by far the greatest proportion of that debt; affording, at the same time, proof of the general satisfaction of the public creditors with the system which has been proposed to their acceptance, and of the spirit of accommodation to the convenience of the government with which they are actuated. The subscriptions in the debts of the respective states, as far as the provisions of the law have permitted, may be said to be yet more general. The part of the debt of the United States which remains unsubscribed will naturally engage your further deliberations.

It is particularly pleasing to me to be able to announce to you that the revenues which have been established promise to be adequate to their objects, and may be permitted, if no unforeseen exigency occur, to supersede for the present the necessity of any new burdens upon our constituents.

An object which will claim your early attention is a provision for the current service of the ensuing year, together with such ascertained demands upon the treasury as require to be immediately discharged, and such casualties as may have arisen in the execution of the public business, for which no specific appropriation may have yet been made; of all which a proper estimate will be laid before you.

Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I shall content myself with a general reference to former communications for several objects upon which the urgency of other affairs has hitherto postponed any definite resolution. Their importance will recall them to your attention; and I trust that the progress already made in the most arduous arrangements of the government will afford you leisure to resume them with advantage.

There are, however, some of them of which I can not forbear a more particular mention. These are the militia; the postoffice and postroads; the mint; weights and measures; a provision for the sale of the vacant lands of the United States.

The first is certainly an object of primary importance, whether viewed in reference to the national security, to the satisfaction of the community. or to the preservation of order. In connexion with this, the establishment of competent magazines and arsenals, and the fortification of such places as are peculiarly important and vulnerable, naturally present themselves to consideration. The safety of the United States, under divine protection, ought to rest on the basis of systematic and solid arrangements, exposed as little as possible to the hazards of fortuitous circumstances.

The importance of the postoffice and postroads, on a plan sufficiently liberal and comprehensive, as they respect the expedition, safety, and fa cility of communication, is increased by their instrumentality in diffusing a knowledge of the laws and proceedings of the government, which, while it contributes to the security of the people, serves also to guard them against the effects of misrepresentation and misconception. The establishment of additional cross-posts, especially to some of the important points in the western and northern parts of the Union, can not fail to be of material utility.

The disorders in the existing currency, and especially the scarcity of small change, a scarcity so peculiarly distressing to the poorer classes, strongly recommend the carrying into immediate effect the resolution already entered into concerning the establishment of a mint. Measures have been taken pursuant to that resolution for procuring some of the most necessary artists, together with the requisite apparatus.

A uniformity in the weights and measures of the country is among the important objects submitted to you by the constitution, and if it can be derived from a standard at once invariable and universal, must be no less honorable to the public councils than conducive to the public convenience. A provision for the sale of the vacant lands of the United States is particularly urged, among other reasons, by the important considerations that they are pledged as a fund for reimbursing the public debt; that, if timely

and judiciously applied, they may save the necessity for burdening our citizens with new taxes for the extinguishment of the principal; and that, being free to discharge the principal but in a limited proportion, no opportunity ought to be lost for availing the public of its right.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

MARCH 5, 1792.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:KNOWING the friendly interest you take in whatever may promote the happiness and prosperity of the French nation, it is with pleasure I lay before you the translation of a letter which I have received from his most Christian majesty, announcing to the United States of America his acceptance of the constitution presented to his nation.

The translation of the letter above referred to.

VERY DEAR GREAT FRIENDS AND ALLIES:

September 19, 1791.

We make it our duty to inform you that we have accepted the constitution which has been presented to us in the name of the nation, and according to which France will be henceforth governed.

We do not doubt that you take an interest in an event so important to our kingdom and to us, and it is with real pleasure we take this occasion to renew to you assurances of the sincere friendship we bear you. Whereupon we pray God to have you, very dear great friends and allies, in his just and holy keeping. Written at Paris, the 19th of September, 1791 Your good friend and ally,

LOUIS
MONTMORIN.

FIRST VETO MESSAGE.

APRIL 5, 1792.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:

I HAVE maturely considered the act passed by the two houses, entitled "An act for an apportionment of representatives among the several states, according to the first enumeration;" and I return it to your house, wherein it originated, with the following objections:

First. The constitution has prescribed that representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers; and there is no one proportion or divisor, which, applied to the

respective numbers of the states, will yield the number and allotment of representatives proposed by the bill.

Second. The constitution has also provided, that the number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand; which restriction is, by the context, and by fair and obvious construction, to be applied to the separate and respective numbers of the states. And the bill has allotted to eight of the states more than one for every thirty thousand.

SPECIAL MESSA G E.

MAY 8, 1792.

To the Senate of the United States :—

If the president of the United States should conclude a convention or treaty with the government of Algiers for the ransom of the thirteen Americans in captivity there, for a sum not exceeding forty thousand dollars, all expenses included, will the senate approve the same? Or is there any and what greater or lesser sum which they would fix on as the limit beyond which they would not approve the ransom?

If the president of the United States should conclude a treaty with the government of Algiers for the establishment of peace with them, at an expense not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars paid at the signature, and a like sum to be paid annually afterward during the continuance of the treaty, would the senate approve the same? Or are there any greater or lesser sums which they would fix on as the limit beyond which they would not approve of such treaty ?

FOURTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.

NOVEMBER 6, 1792.

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:It is some abatement of the satisfaction with which I meet you on the present occasion, that, in felicitating you on a continuance of the national prosperity generally, I am not able to add to it information that the Indian hostilities, which have for some time past distressed our northwestern frontier, have terminated.

You will, I am persuaded, learn with no less concern than I communicate it, that reiterated endeavors toward effecting a pacification have hitherto issued only in new and outrageous proofs of persevering hostility on the part of the tribes with whom we are in contest. An earnest desire to procure tranquillity to the frontier, to stop the further effusion of blood, to arrest the progress of expense, to forward the prevalent wish of the nation for peace, has led to strenuous efforts through various channels, to ac