have been shipped by the manufacturers to the United States, and in many instances sold at a price below their current value at the place of manufacture. Although this practice may from its nature be considered temporary or contingent, it is not on that account less injurious in its effects. Uniformity in the demand and price of an article is highly desirable to the domestic manufacturer.

It is deemed of great importance to give encouragement to our domestic manufactures. In what manner the evils adverted to may be remedied, and how far it may be practicable, in other respects, to afford to them further encouragement, paying due regard to all the other great interests of the nation, is submitted to the wisdom of Congress.

The survey of the coast for the establishment of fortifications is now nearly completed, and considerable progress has been made in the collection of materials for the construction of fortifications in the gulf of Mexico and in the Chesapeake bay. The works on the eastern bank of the Potomac below Alexandria, and on the Peapatch, in the Delaware, are much advanced, and it is expected that the fortifications at the Narrows, in the harbor of New York, will be completed the present year. To derive all the advantages contemplated from these fortifications, it was necessary that they should be judiciously posted, and constructed with a view to permanency. The progress hitherto has, therefore, been slow; but as the difficulties in parts hitherto the least explored and known are surmounted, it will in future be more rapid. As soon as the survey of the coast is completed, which it is expected will be done early in the next spring, the engineers employed in it will proceed to examine for like purposes, the northern and northwestern frontiers.

The troops intended to occupy a station at the mouth of the St. Peter's on the Mississippi, have established themselves there, and those which were ordered to the mouth of the Yellowstone, on the Missouri, have ascended that river to the Council Bluffs, where they will remain until next spring, when they will proceed to the place of their destination. I have the satisfaction to state that this measure has been executed in amity with the Indian tribes, and that it promises to produce, in regard to them, all the advantages which were contemplated by it.

Much progress has likewise been made in the construction of ships-ofwar, and in the collection of timber and other materials for ship-building. It is not doubted that our navy will soon be augmented to the number, and placed in all respects on the footing, provided for by law.

The board, consisting of engineers and naval officers, have not yet made their final report of sites for two naval depôts, as instructed, according to the resolution of March 18th and April 20th, 1818, but they have examined the coast therein designated, and their report is expected in the next month.

For the protection of our commerce in the Mediterranean, along the southern Atlantic coast, in the Pacific and Indian oceans, it has been found necessary to maintain a strong naval force, which it seems proper for the present to continue. There is much reason to believe that if any portion of the squadron heretofore stationed in the Mediterranean should be withdrawn, our intercourse with the powers bordering on that sea would be much interrupted, if not altogether destroyed. Such, too, has been the growth of a spirit of piracy in the other quarters mentioned, by adventurers from every country, in abuse of the friendly flags which they have assumed, that not to protect our commerce there would be to abandon it

as a prey to their rapacity. Due attention has likewise been paid to the suppression of the slave-trade, in compliance with a law of the last session. Orders have been given to the commanders of all our public ships, to seize all vessels navigated under our flag engaged in that trade, and to bring them in, to be proceeded against in the manner prescribed by that law. It is hoped that these vigorous measures, supported by like acts by other nations, will soon terminate a commerce so disgraceful to the civilized world.

In the execution of the duty imposed by these acts, and of a high trust connected with it, it is with deep regret I have to state the loss which has been sustained by the death of Commodore Perry. His gallantry in a brilliant exploit in the late war added to the renown of his country. His death is deplored as a national misfortune.

FOURTH ANNUAL MESSAGE.

NOVEMBER 14, 1820.

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives :

In communicating to you a just view of public affairs at the commencement of your present labors, I do it with great satisfaction, because, taking all circumstances into consideration which claim attention, I see much cause to rejoice in the felicity of our situation. In making this remark, I do not wish to be understood to imply that an unvaried prosperity is to be seen in every interest of this great community. In the progress of a nation inhabiting a territory of such vast extent and great variety of climate, every portion of which is engaged in foreign commerce, and liable to be affected in some degree by the changes which occur in the condition and regulations of foreign countries, it would be strange if the produce of our soil and the industry and enterprise of our fellow-citizens received, at all times and in every quarter, a uniform and equal encouragement. This would be more than we would have a right to expect under circumstances the most favorable. Pressures on certain interests, it is admitted, have been felt; but allowing to these their greatest extent, they detract but little from the force of the remarks already made. In forming a just estimate of our present situation, it is proper to look at the whole in the outline as well as in the detail. A free, virtuous, and enlightened people know well the great principles and causes on which their happiness depends, and even those who suffer most occasionally in their transitory concerns, find great relief under their sufferings from the blessings which they otherwise enjoy, and in the consoling and animating hope which they administer. From whence do these pressures come? Not from a government which is founded by, administered for, and supported by the people. We trace them to the peculiar character of the epoch in which we live, and to the extraordinary occurrences which have signalized it. The convulsions with which several of the powers of Europe have been shaken, and the long and destructive wars in which all were engaged, with their sudden transition to a state of peace, presenting in the first instance unusual encouragement to our commerce, and withdrawing it in the second, even within its wonted limit, could not fail to be sensibly felt here. The sta

tion, too, which we had to support through this long conflict, compelled as we were, finally, to become a party to it with a principal power, and to make great exertions, suffer heavy losses, and to contract considerable debts, disturbing the ordinary course of affairs by augmenting to a vast amount the circulating medium, and thereby elevating at one time the price of every article above a just standard, and depressing it at another below it, had likewise its due effect.

It is manifest that the pressures of which we complain have proceeded in a great measure from these causes. When, then, we take into view the prosperous and happy condition of our country in all the great circumstances which constitute the felicity of a nation-every individual in the full enjoyment of all his rights-the Union blessed with plenty, and rapidly rising to greatness under a national government which operates with complete effect in every part without being felt in any, except by the ample protection which it affords, and under state governments which perform their equal share according to a wise distribution of power between them, in promoting the public happiness-it is impossible to behold so gratifying, so glorious a spectacle, without being penetrated with the most profound and grateful acknowledgments to the Supreme Author of all good for such manifold and inestimable blessings. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, I can not regard the pressures to which I have adverted otherwise than in the light of mild and instructive admonitions; warning us of dangers to be shunned in future; teaching us lessons of economy corresponding with the simplicity and purity of our institutions, and best adapted to their support; evincing the connexion and dependence which the various parts of our happy Union have on each other, thereby augmenting daily our social incorporation, and adding by its strong ties new strength and vigor to the political; opening a wider range, and with new encouragement, to the industry and enterprise of our fellow-citizens at home and abroad; and more especially by the multiplied proofs which it has accumulated of the great perfection of our most excellent system of government, the powerful instrument in the hands of an All-merciful Creator, in securing to us these blessings.

Happy as our situation is, it does not exempt us from solicitude and care for the future. On the contrary, as the blessings which we enjoy are great, proportionably great should be our vigilance, zeal, and activity to preserve them. Foreign wars may again expose us to new wrongs, which would impose on us new duties for which we ought to be prepared. The state of Europe is unsettled, and how long peace may be preserved is altogether uncertain; in addition to which, we have interests of our own to adjust, which will require particular attention. A correct view of our relations with each power will enable you to form a just idea of existing difficulties, and of the measures of precaution best adapted to them.

Respecting our relations with Spain, nothing explicit can now be communicated. On the adjournment of Congress in May last, the minister plenipotentiary of the United States at Madrid was instructed to inform the government of Spain, that if his catholic majesty should then ratify the treaty, this government would accept the ratification so far as to submit to the decision of the senate the question whether such ratification should be received in exchange for that of the United States heretofore given. By letters from the minister of the United States to the secretary of state, it appears that a communication in conformity with his instructions had been made to the government of Spain, and that the Cortes had the sub

ject under consideration. The result of the deliberations of that body, which is daily expected, will be made known to Congress as soon as it is received. The friendly sentiment which was expressed on the part of the United States, in the message of the 9th of May last, is still entertertained for Spain. Among the causes of regret, however, which are inseparable from the delay attending this transaction, it is proper to state that satisfactory information has been received that measures have been recently adopted, by designing persons, to convert certain parts of the province of East Florida into dépôts for the reception of foreign goods, from whence to smuggle them into the United States. By opening a port within the limits of Florida, immediately on our boundary, where there was no settlement, the object could not be misunderstood. An early accommodation of differences will, it is hoped, prevent all such fraudulent and pernicious practices, and place the relations of the two countries on a very amicable and permanent basis.

The commercial relations between the United States and the British colonies in the West Indies and on this continent, have undergone no change, the British government still preferring to leave that commerce under the restriction heretofore imposed on it on each side. It is satisfactory to recollect that the restraints resorted to by the United States were defensive only, intended to prevent a monopoly, under British regulations, in favor of Great Britain, as it likewise is to know that the experiment is advancing in a spirit of amity between the parties.

The question depending between the United States and Great Britain, respecting the construction of the first article of the treaty of Ghent, has been referred by both governments to the decision of the emperor of Russia, who has accepted the umpirage.

An attempt has been made with the government of France to regulate, by treaty, the commerce between the two countries, on the principle of reciprocity and equality. By the last communication from the minister plenipotentiary of the United States at Paris, to whom full power had been given, we learn that the negotiation had been commenced there, but serious difficulties having occurred, the French government had resolved to transfer it to the United States, for which purpose the minister plenipotentiary of France had been ordered to repair to this city, and whose arrival might soon be expected. It is hoped that this important interest may be arranged on just conditions and in a manner equally satisfactory to both parties. It is submitted to Congress to decide, until such arrangement is made, how far it may be proper on the principle of the act of the last session which augmented the tonnage duty on French vessels, to adopt other measures for carrying more completely into effect the policy of that act.

The act referred to, which imposed new tonnage duty on French vessels, having been in force from and after the first day of July, it has happened that several vessels of that nation, which had been despatched from France before its existence was known, have entered the ports of the United States, and been subject to its operation, without that previous notice which the general spirit of our laws gives to individuals in similar cases. The object of that law having been merely to countervail inequalities which existed to the disadvantage of the United States in their commercial intercourse with France, it is submitted also to the consideration of Congress, whether, in the spirit of amity and conciliation which it is no less the inclination than the policy of the United States to pre

serve in their intercourse with other powers, it may not be proper to extend relief to the individuals interested in those cases, by exempting from the operation of the law all those vessels which have entered our ports without having had the means of previously knowing the existence of the additional duty.

The contest between Spain and the colonies, according to the most authentic information, is maintained by the latter with improved success. The unfortunate divisions which were known to exist some time since at Buenos Ayres, it is understood, still prevail. In no part of South America has Spain made any impression on the colonies, while in many parts, and particularly in Venezuela and New Granada, the colonies have gained strength and acquired reputation, both for the management of a war in which they have been successful and for the order of the internal administration. The late change in the government of Spain, by the reestablishment of the constitution of 1812, is an event which promises to be favorable to the revolution. Under the authority of the Cortes, the Congress of Angostura was invited to open a negotiation for the settlement of differences between the parties; to which it was replied, that they would willingly open the negotiation, provided the acknowledgment of their independence was made its basis, but not otherwise. Of further proceedings between them we are uninformed. No facts are known to this government to warrant the belief that any of the powers of Europe will take a part in the contest; whence it may be inferred, considering all circumstances which must have weight in producing the result, that an adjustment will finally take place on the basis proposed by the colonies. To promote that result by friendly counsels with other powers, including Spain herself, has been the uniform policy of this government.

In looking to the internal concerns of our country, you will, I am persuaded, derive much satisfaction from a view of the several objects to which, in the discharge of your official duties, your attention will be drawn. Among these, none hold a more important place than the public revenue, from the direct operation of the power by which it is raised on the people, and by its influence in giving effect to every other power of the gov crnment. The revenue depends on the resources of the country, and the facility by which the amount required is raised, is a strong proof of the extent of the resources and of the efficiency of the government. A few prominent facts will place this great interest in a just light before you. On the 30th of September, 1815, the funded and floating debt of the United States was estimated at one hundred and nineteen millions six hundred and thirty-five thousand five hundred and fifty-eight dollars. If to this sum be added the amount of five per cent. stock subscribed to the Bank of the United States, the amount of Mississippi stock, and of the stock which was issued subsequently to that date, the balances ascer tained to be due to certain states for military services, and to individuals for supplies furnished and services rendered during the late war, the public debt may be estimated as amounting, at that date, and as afterward liquidated, to one hundred and fifty-eight millions seven hundred and thirteen thousand and forty-nine dollars. On the 30th of September, 1820, it amounted to ninety-one millions one hundred and ninety-three thousand eight hundred and eighty-three dollars, having been reduced, in that interval, by payments of sixty-six millions eight hundred and seventy-nine thousand one hundred and sixty-five dollars. During this term the expenses of the government of the United States were likewise defrayed in every