SPECIAL MESSAGE.

DECEMBER 30, 1808.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States:— I LAY before the legislature a letter from Governor Claiborne, on the subject of a small tribe of Alabama Indians, on the western side of the Mississippi, consisting of about a dozen families. Like other erratic tribes in that country, it is understood that they have hitherto moved from place to place, according to their convenience, without appropriating to themselves exclusively any particular territory. But having now become habituated to some of the occupations of civilized life, they wish for a fixed residence. I suppose it will be the interest of the United States to encourage the wandering tribes of that country to reduce themselves to fixed habitations, whenever they are so disposed. The establishment of towns, and growing attachments to them, will furnish, in some degree, pledges of their peaceable and friendly conduct. The case of this particular tribe is now submitted to the consideration of Congress.

SPECIAL MESSAGE.

JANUARY 6, 1809.

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States :

I Now lay before Congress a statement of the works of defence which it has been thought necessary to provide in the first instance, for the security of our seaports, towns, and harbors, and of the progress toward their completion; their extent has been adapted to the scale of the appropriation, and to the circumstances of the several places.

The works undertaken at New York are calculated to annoy and endanger any naval force which shall enter the harbor, and, still more, one which should attempt to lie before the city. To prevent altogether the entrance of large vessels, a line of blocks across the harbor has been contemplated, and would, as is believed, with the auxiliary means already provided, render that city safe against naval enterprise. The expense, as well as the importance of the work, renders it a subject proper for the special consideration of Congress.

At New Orleans, two separate systems of defence are necessary; the one for the river, the other for the lake, which, at present, can give no aid to one another. The canal now leading from the lake, if continued into the river, would enable the armed vessels in both stations to unite, and to meet in conjunction an attack from either side; half the aggregate force would then have the same effect as the whole; or the same force double the effect of what either can have. It would also enable the vessels stationed in the lake, when attacked by superior force, to retire to a safer position in the river. The same considerations of expense and importance renders this also a question for the special decision of Congress.

ADMINISTRATION OF JEFFERSON.

On the day of his inauguration as president of the United States, March 4, 1801, Mr. Jefferson was in the 58th year of his age. He delivered his inaugural address in the new capitol at Washington, in presence of the vice-president, the senators, many members of the house of representatives, the foreign ministers, and a large concourse of citizens. The oath of office was administered by Chief-Justice Marshall, after the address was delivered. The vice-president, Colonel Burr, took his seat in the senate the same day. He had taken no part in the election of president by the house of representatives, having been in Albany during that contest. The democratic party in the house were pledged to persevere in voting for Mr. Jefferson to the end, whatever might be the consequence, and none of them varied from that pledge. Colonel Burr, on the 16th of December, 1800, addressed a letter to General S. Smith, of Baltimore, who was then a member of the house of representatives, in which he disclaimed all competition with Mr. Jefferson. "As to my friends," he says, "they would dishonor my views, and insult my feelings, by a suspicion that I would submit to be instrumental in counteracting the wishes and the expectations of the people of the United States. And I now consti

tute you my proxy to declare these sentiments, if the occasion should require." Notwithstanding this course of Colonel Burr, the contest in Congress produced, almost immediately after the election, strong feelings of dissatisfaction between some of the friends of the president and vice-president. Jealousies and distrust had previously existed between these different sections of the democratic party, now triumphant in the possession of the power of the federal government. These feelings were suppressed for a time, but circumstances subsequently occurred which renewed them, and the result was the political prostration of the vice-president, before his term of office had expired.

The senate having been called together by President Adams, Mr. Jefferson commenced the organization of his cabinet by the appointment, with the consent of the senate, on the 5th of March, of James Madison, secretary of state, Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, secretary of war, and Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, attorney-general. The secretaries of the

treasury and navy, Samuel Dexter and Benjamin Stoddert, who had been appointed by Mr. Adams, were continued in office a short time; but before the meeting of Congress, Albert Gallatin, of Pennsylvania, was appointed secretary of the treasury, and Robert Smith, of Maryland, secretary of the navy. At the same time with the last, Gideon Granger, of Connecticut, was appointed postmaster-general, in place of Joseph Habersham, of Geor gia. This officer was not made a member of the cabinet until the administration of President Jackson. The nominations of Gallatin, Smith, and Granger, were confirmed by the senate on the 26th of January, 1802.

In his inaugural speech, Mr. Jefferson soothed the serious apprehensions, which were entertained by his political opponents, as to the manner in which he might exercise executive power. From his declarations in that address, the federalists hoped that he would not disturb those of their party who were in office, or cause any radical change in the administration of the government. They were soon made to understand that political tolerance was not to be expected in all cases toward office holders. In June, 1801, Mr. Jefferson removed Elizur Goodrich, a federalist, from the office of collector of the port of New Haven, and appointed Samuel Bishop, a democrat, in his place. In reply to a remonstrance from the merchants and other citizens of New Haven, in which they assert Mr. Goodrich's promptness, integrity, and ability; and better qualifications than those of Mr. Bishop, who was nearly seventy-eight years of age, and quite infirm, Mr. Jefferson said, among other things, in his answer, dated 12th of July: "Declarations by myself, in favor of political tolerance, exhortations to harmony. and affection in social intercourse, and respect for the equal rights of the minority, have, on certain occasions, been quoted and misconstrued into assurances that the tenure of offices was not to be disturbed. But could candor apply such a construction? When it is considered that, during the late administration, those who were not of a particular sect of politics were excluded from all office; when, by a steady pursuit of this measure, nearly the whole offices of the United States were monopolized by that sect; when the public sentiment at length declared itself, and burst open the doors of honor and confidence to those whose opinions they approved; was it to be imagined that this monopoly of office was to be continued in the hands of the minority ? Does it violate their equal rights to assert some rights in the majority also? Is it political intolerance to claim a proportionate share in the direction of the public affairs? If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few, by resignation none. Can any other mode than that of removal be proposed? This is a painful office; but it is made my duty, and I meet it as such. I proceed in the operation with deliberation and inquiry, that it may injure the best men least, and effect the purposes of justice and public utility with the least private distress; that it may be

thrown as much as possible on delinquency, on oppression, on intolerance, on anti-revolutionary adherence to our enemies.

"I lament sincerely that unessential differences of opinion should ever have been deemed sufficient to interdict half the society from the rights and the blessings of self-government, to proscribe them as unworthy of every trust. It would have been to me a circumstance of great relief, had I found a moderate participation of office in the hands of the majority. I would gladly have left to time and accident to raise them to their just share. But their total exclusion calls for prompter corrections. I shall correct the procedure; but that done, return with joy to that state of things when the only questions concerning a candidate shall be, Is he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the constitution?"

It should be borne in mind that most of the persons who were in office when Mr. Jefferson came into power, were those who had been appointed by General Washington, and continued in their places by Mr. Adams, who made very few removals, and none for party reasons. If there was anything sectarian, then, in the system of appointments to office, it was chargeable more to General Washington than to Mr. Adams. The democratic party, however, had scarcely a name or an existence when Washington's administration commenced; and when the first appointments were made under the general government, reference could not have been had to political distinctions. Those who received appointments from Washington were doubtless preferred for their integrity, capacity, and fidelity to the constitution.

But Mr. Jefferson had been elected by a party, and was under the necessity of rewarding his supporters with offices and incomes; and in his letter, quoted above, may be found the origin of the doctrine, " to the victors belong the spoils." But it is due to him to say, that although he confined his appointments to office to his political friends, as did generally his successors, Presidents Madison and Monroe, his removals of political opponents from office, during the eight years of his administration, were but few in number, compared with those of more recent administrations.

The implied invitation given by Mr. Jefferson to all political adversaries, to abandon their creeds and adopt his own, with the expectation and implied promises of reward for apostaey, induced many of the federalists to join the triumphant party of the administration, some of whom were appointed to office under the general government. To prove their sincerity, they resorted to the bitterest condemnation of their former principles and associates. Sustained by the salaries of office, and raised by titles above those they had deserted, they could clearly see how base, plotting, and traitorous, some of their fellow-citizens were, with whom, but yesterday, they were proud to rank, and most zealous to uphold, as worthy patriots. There were instances of departure from the federal side distinguishable from such as have been mentioned, and which did not deserve reproach.

There were timid men who did not entirely approve of federal views of the national policy; others, who thought themselves not to have been sufficiently valued by their federal associates; and some were by nature and inclination Jeffersonians, and who originally mistook their side, and very properly went over where they belonged.*

Mr. Jefferson said that he regarded all the appointments made by Mr. Adams after the 14th of February, while the house of representatives was balloting for president, as absolutely void. This must be understood to mean that, though Mr. Adams was constitutionally president up to the midnight hour of the 3d of March, yet he ought to have submitted his will to that of his successor. On the same principle, Mr. Jefferson withheld the commissions of certain magistrates whom Mr. Adams had appointed, in the District of Columbia. The commissions were made out, and ready for delivery, but Mr. Jefferson ordered them to be suppressed. One of these magistrates (Mr. Marbury) applied to the supreme court for a writ of mandamus to Mr. Madison, the new president's secretary of state, to deliver his commission. But, after an able investigation of constitutional law, the court did not grant the motion. Mr. Jefferson found a commission duly made out, and signed by Mr. Adams, appointing a gentleman district judge in Rhode Island. This commission he suppressed, and appointed one in whom he could confide.†

The following extracts from Mr. Jefferson's letters, written soon after his election, are interesting, as showing his views and feelings at that time, with regard to events, and on questions of public policy. To Governor M.Kean, March 9, 1801, he writes: "I thank you for congratulations on the event of the election. Had it terminated in the elevation of Mr. Burr, every republican would, I am sure, have acquiesced in a moment; because, however it might have been varient from the intentions of the vo ters, yet it would have been agreeable to the constitution. No man would more cheerfully have submitted than myself, because I am sure the administration would have been republican, and the chair of the senate permitting me to be at home eight months in the year, would, on that account, have been much more consonant to my real satisfaction. But in the event of a usurpation, I was decidedly with those who were determined not to permit it. Because that precedent, once set, would be artificially reproduced, and end soon in a dictator." An explanation of his meaning may be found in a previous letter to James Monroe, dated February 15, before the question of election of president by the house was decided: "Four days of balloting have produced not a single change of a vote. Yet it is confidently believed that to-morrow there is to be a coalition. I know of no foundation for this belief. If they could have been permitted to pass a law for putting the government into the hands of an officer, they would certainly have prevented an election. But we thought it best to declare † Ibid.

• Sullivan.