Chapter VII: Section 2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by (4)

By the President:
TH: JEFFERSON.

[From a broadside in the archives of the Department of State.]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it hath been represented to me that James O'Fallon is levying an armed force in that part of the State of Virginia which is called Kentucky, disturbs the public peace, and sets at defiance the treaties of the United States with the Indian tribes, the act of Congress intituled "An act to regulate trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes," and my proclamations of the 14th and 26th days of August last founded thereon; and it is my earnest desire that those who have incautiously associated themselves with the said James O'Fallon may be warned of their danger, I have therefore thought fit to publish this proclamation, hereby declaring that all persons violating the treaties and act aforesaid shall be prosecuted with the utmost rigor of the law.

And I do, moreover, require all officers of the United States whom it may concern to use their best exertions to bring to justice any persons offending in the premises.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents and signed the same with my hand.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 19th day of March, A.D. 1791, and of the Independence of the United States the fifteenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President:
TH: JEFFERSON.

[From the Washington Papers (Executive Proceedings), vol. 20, p. 191.]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas by a proclamation bearing date the 24th day of January of this present year, and in pursuance of certain acts of the States of Maryland and Virginia and of the Congress of the United States, therein mentioned, certain lines of experiment were directed to be run in the neighborhood of Georgetown, in Maryland, for the purpose of determining the location of a part of the territory of 10 miles square for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States, and a certain part was directed to be located within the said lines of experiment on both sides of the Potomac and above the limit of the Eastern Branch prescribed by the said act of Congress;

And Congress by an amendatory act passed on the 3d day of the present month of March have given further authority to the President of the United States "to make any part of the territory below the said limit and above the mouth of Hunting Creek a part of the said district, so as to include a convenient part of the Eastern Branch and of the lands lying on the lower side thereof, and also the town of Alexandria":

Now, therefore, for the purpose of amending and completing the location of the whole of the said territory of 10 miles square in conformity with the said amendatory act of Congress, I do hereby declare and make known that the whole of the said territory shall be located and included within the four lines following, that is to say:

Beginning at Jones's Point, being the upper cape of Hunting Creek, in Virginia, and at an angle in the outset of 45 degrees west of the north, and running in a direct line 10 miles for the first line; then beginning again at the same Jones's Point and running another direct line at a right angle with the first across the Potomac 10 miles for the second line; then from the termination of the said first and second lines running two other direct lines of 10 miles each, the one crossing the Eastern Branch aforesaid and the other the Potomac, and meeting each other in a point.

And I do accordingly direct the commissioners named under the authority of the said first-mentioned act of Congress to proceed forthwith to have the said four lines run, and by proper metes and bounds defined and limited, and thereof to make due report under their hands and seals; and the territory so to be located, defined, and limited shall be the whole territory accepted by the said acts of Congress as the district for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States.

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be affixed to these presents and signed the same with my hand.

[SEAL.]

Done at Georgetown aforesaid, the 30th day of March, A.D. 1791, and of the Independence of the United States the fifteenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

THIRD ANNUAL ADDRESS.

UNITED STATES, _October 25, 1791_.

_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I meet you upon the present occasion with the feelings which are naturally inspired by a strong impression of the prosperous situation of our common country, and by a persuasion equally strong that the labors of the session which has just commenced will, under the guidance of a spirit no less prudent than patriotic, issue in measures conducive to the stability and increase of national prosperity.

Numerous as are the providential blessings which demand our grateful acknowledgments, the abundance with which another year has again rewarded the industry of the husbandman is too important to escape recollection.

Your own observations in your respective situations will have satisfied you of the progressive state of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation. In tracing their causes you will have remarked with particular pleasure the happy effects of that revival of confidence, public as well as private, to which the Constitution and laws of the United States have so eminently contributed; and you will have observed with no less interest new and decisive proofs of the increasing reputation and credit of the nation. But you nevertheless can not fail to derive satisfaction from the confirmation of these circumstances which will be disclosed in the several official communications that will be made to you in the course of your deliberations.

The rapid subscriptions to the Bank of the United States, which completed the sum allowed to be subscribed in a single day, is among the striking and pleasing evidences which present themselves, not only of confidence in the Government, but of resource in the community.

In the interval of your recess due attention has been paid to the execution of the different objects which were specially provided for by the laws and resolutions of the last session.

Among the most important of these is the defense and security of the Western frontiers. To accomplish it on the most humane principles was a primary wish.

Accordingly, at the same time that treaties have been provisionally concluded and other proper means used to attach the wavering and to confirm in their friendship the well-disposed tribes of Indians, effectual measures have been adopted to make those of a hostile description sensible that a pacification was desired upon terms of moderation and justice.

Those measures having proved unsuccessful, it became necessary to convince the refractory of the power of the United States to punish their depredations. Offensive operations have therefore been directed, to be conducted, however, as consistently as possible with the dictates of humanity. Some of these have been crowned with full success and others are yet depending. The expeditions which have been completed were carried on under the authority and at the expense of the United States by the militia of Kentucky, whose enterprise, intrepidity, and good conduct are entitled to peculiar commendation.

Overtures of peace are still continued to the deluded tribes, and considerable numbers of individuals belonging to them have lately renounced all 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 their lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so defined and regulated as to obviate imposition 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 compensations, 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 the 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 objections 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 a 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 10 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 placed 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 4,000,000 persons.

It is proper also to inform you that a further loan of 2,500,000 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 6,000,000 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 Cherokees 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 anticipate 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 cooperation 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 making provision for the debt of the United States having expired, statements from the proper department will as soon as possible apprise you of the exact result. Enough, however, is known already 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 occurs, to supersede for the present the necessity of any new burthens 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 definitive 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 post-office and post-roads, 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 connection 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 post-office and post-roads on a plan sufficiently liberal and comprehensive, as they respect the expedition, safety, and facility 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.

An 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 of burthening 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.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

ADDRESS OF THE SENATE TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: The Senate of the United States have received with the highest satisfaction the assurances of public prosperity contained in your speech to both Houses. The multiplied blessings of Providence have not escaped our notice or failed to excite our gratitude.

The benefits which flow from the restoration of public and private confidence are conspicuous and important, and the pleasure with which we contemplate them is heightened by your assurance of those further communications which shall confirm their existence and indicate their source.

While we rejoice in the success of those military operations which have been directed against the hostile Indians, we lament with you the necessity that has produced them, and we participate the hope that the present prospect of a general peace on terms of moderation and justice may be wrought into complete and permanent effect, and that the measures of Government may equally embrace the security of our frontiers and the general interests of humanity, our solicitude to obtain which will insure our zealous attention to an object so warmly espoused by the principles of benevolence and so highly interesting to the honor and welfare of the nation.

The several subjects which you have particularly recommended and those which remain of former sessions will engage our early consideration. We are encouraged to prosecute them with alacrity and steadiness by the belief that they will interest no passion but that for the general welfare, by the assurance of concert, and by a view of those arduous and important arrangements which have been already accomplished.

We observe, sir, the constancy and activity of your zeal for the public good. The example will animate our efforts to promote the happiness of our country.

OCTOBER 28, 1791.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: This manifestation of your zeal for the honor and the happiness of our country derives its full value from the share which your deliberations have already had in promoting both.

I thank you for the favorable sentiments with which you view the part I have borne in the arduous trust committed to the Government of the United States, and desire you to be assured that all my zeal will continue to second those further efforts for the public good which are insured by the spirit in which you are entering on the present session.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

OCTOBER 31, 1791.

ADDRESS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: In receiving your address at the opening of the present session the House of Representatives have taken an ample share in the feelings inspired by the actual prosperity and flattering prospects of our country, and whilst with becoming gratitude to Heaven we ascribe this happiness to the true source from which it flows, we behold with an animating pleasure the degree in which the Constitution and laws of the United States have been instrumental in dispensing it.

It yields us particular satisfaction to learn the success with which the different important measures of the Government have proceeded, as well those specially provided for at the last session as those of preceding date. The safety of our Western frontier, in which the lives and repose of so many of our fellow-citizens are involved, being peculiarly interesting, your communications on that subject are proportionally grateful to us. The gallantry and good conduct of the militia, whose services were called for, is an honorable confirmation of the efficacy of that precious resource of a free state, and we anxiously wish that the consequences of their successful enterprises and of the other proceedings to which you have referred may leave the United States free to pursue the most benevolent policy toward the unhappy and deluded race of people in our neighborhood.

The amount of the population of the United States, determined by the returns of the census, is a source of the most pleasing reflections whether it be viewed in relation to our national safety and respectability or as a proof of that felicity in the situation of our country which favors so unexampled a rapidity in its growth. Nor ought any to be insensible to the additional motive suggested by this important fact to perpetuate the free Government established, with a wise administration of it, to a portion of the earth which promises such an increase of the number which is to enjoy those blessings within the limits of the United States.

We shall proceed with all the respect due to your patriotic recommendations and with a deep sense of the trust committed to us by our fellow-citizens to take into consideration the various and important matters falling within the present session; and in discussing and deciding each we shall feel every disposition whilst we are pursuing the public welfare, which must be the supreme object with all our constituents, to accommodate as far as possible the means of attaining it to the sentiments and wishes of every part of them.

OCTOBER 27, 1791.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: The pleasure I derive from an assurance of your attention to the objects I have recommended to you is doubled by your concurrence in the testimony I have borne to the prosperous condition of our public affairs.

Relying on the sanctions of your enlightened judgment and on your patriotic aid, I shall be the more encouraged in all my endeavors for the public weal, and particularly in those which may be required on my part for executing the salutary measures I anticipate from your present deliberations.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

OCTOBER 28, 1791.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

UNITED STATES, _October 26, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you copies of the following acts, which have been transmitted to me during the recess of Congress, viz:

An act passed by the legislature of New Hampshire for ceding to the United States the fort and light-house belonging to the said State.

An act of the legislature of Pennsylvania ratifying on behalf of said State the first article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States as proposed by Congress; and

An act of the legislature of North Carolina granting the use of the jails within that State to the United States.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _October 26, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I have directed the Secretary of War to lay before you for your consideration all the papers relative to the late negotiations with the Cherokee Indians, and the treaty concluded with that tribe on the 2d day of July last by the superintendent of the southern district, and I request your advice whether I shall ratify the same.

I also lay before you the instructions to Colonel Pickering and his conferences with the Six Nations of Indians. These conferences were for the purpose of conciliation, and at a critical period, to withdraw those Indians to a greater distance from the theater of war, in order to prevent their being involved therein.

It might not have been necessary to have requested your opinion on this business had not the commissioner, with good intentions, but incautiously, made certain ratifications of lands unauthorized by his instructions and unsupported by the Constitution.

It therefore became necessary to disavow the transaction explicitly in a letter written by my orders to the governor of New York on the 17th of August last.

The speeches to the Complanter and other Seneca chiefs, the instructions to Colonel Proctor, and his report, and other messages and directions are laid before you for your information and as evidences that all proper lenient measures preceded the exercise of coercion.

The letters to the chief of the Creeks are also laid before you, to evince that the requisite steps have been taken to produce a full compliance with the treaty made with that nation on the 7th of August, 1790.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _October 27, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you a copy of a letter and of sundry documents which I have received from the governor of Pennsylvania, respecting certain persons who are said to have fled from justice out of the State of Pennsylvania into that of Virginia, together with a report of the Attorney-General of the United States upon the same subject.

I have received from the governor of North Carolina a copy of an act of the general assembly of that State, authorizing him to convey to the United States the right and jurisdiction of the said State over 1 acre of land in Occacock Island and 10 acres on the Cape Island, within the said State, for the purpose of erecting light-houses thereon, together with the deed of the governor in pursuance thereof and the original conveyances made to the State by the individual proprietors, which original conveyances contain conditions that the light-house on Occacock shall be built before the 1st day of January, 1801, and that on the Cape Island before the 8th day of October, 1800. And I have caused these several papers to be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State.

A statement of the returns of the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States which have been received will at this time be laid before you.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _October 27, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I have directed the Secretary of War to lay before you, for your information, the reports of Brigadier-General Scott and Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant Wilkinson, the officers who commanded the two expeditions against the Wabash Indians in the months of June and August last, together with the instructions by virtue of which the said expeditions were undertaken. When the operations now depending shall be terminated, the reports relative thereto shall also be laid before you.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _October 31, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I send you herewith the arrangement which has been made by me, pursuant to the act entitled "An act repealing after the last day of June next the duties heretofore laid upon distilled spirits imported from abroad and laying others in their stead, and also upon spirits distilled within the United States, and for appropriating the same," in respect to the subdivision of the several districts created by the said act into surveys of inspection, the appointment of officers for the same, and the assignment of compensations.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _November 1, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I received yesterday from the judge of the district of South Carolina a letter, inclosing the presentments of the grand jury to him, and stating the causes which have prevented the return of the census from that district, copies of which are now laid before you.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _November 10, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

The resolution passed at the last session of Congress, requesting the President of the United States to cause an estimate to be laid before Congress at their next session of the quantity and situation of the lands not claimed by the Indians nor granted to nor claimed by any of the citizens of the United States within the territory ceded to the United States by the State of North Carolina and within the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, has been referred to the Secretary of State, a copy of whose report on that subject I now lay before you, together with the copy of a letter accompanying it.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _November 11, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I have received from the governor of Virginia a resolution of the general assembly of that Commonwealth, ratifying the first article of the amendments proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States, a copy of which and of the letter accompanying it I now lay before you.

Sundry papers relating to the purchase by Judge Symmes of the lands on the Great Miami having been communicated to me, I have thought it proper to lay the same before you for your information on that subject.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _December 12, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

It is with great concern that I communicate to you the information received from Major-General St. Clair of the misfortune which has befallen the troops under his command.

Although the national loss is considerable according to the scale of the event, yet it may be repaired without great difficulty, excepting as to the brave men who have fallen on the occasion, and who are a subject of public as well as private regret.

A further communication will shortly be made of all such matters as shall be necessary to enable the Legislature to judge of the future measures which it may be proper to pursue.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _December 13, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I place before you the plan of a city that has been laid out within the district of 10 miles square, which was fixed upon for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _December 20, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you the copy of a letter which I have received from the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and of sundry documents which accompanied it, relative to a contract for the purchase of a certain tract of land bounding on Lake Erie, together with a copy of a report of the Secretary of State on the same subject.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _December 30, 1791_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you a copy of the ratification by the Commonwealth of Virginia of the articles of amendment proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States, and a copy of a letter which accompanied said ratification from the governor of Virginia.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _January 11, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I lay before you the following report, which has been made to me by the Secretary of State:

DECEMBER 22, 1791.

The Secretary of State reports to the President of the United States
that one of the commissioners of Spain, in the name of both, has lately
communicated to him verbally, by order of his Court, that His Catholic
Majesty, apprised of our solicitude to have some arrangements made
respecting our free navigation of the river Mississippi and the use
of a port thereon, is ready to enter into treaty thereon at Madrid.

The Secretary of State is of opinion that this overture should be
attended to without delay, and that the proposal of treating at Madrid,
though not what might have been desired, should yet be accepted, and a
commission plenipotentiary made out for the purpose.

That Mr. Carmichael, the present chargé d'affaires of the United States
at Madrid, from the local acquaintance which he must have acquired with
persons and circumstances, would be an useful and proper member of the
commission, but that it would be useful also to join with him some
person more particularly acquainted with the circumstances of the
navigation to be treated of.

That the fund appropriated by the act providing the means of
intercourse between the United States and foreign nations will
insufficiently furnish the ordinary and regular demands on it, and is
consequently inadequate to the mission of an additional commissioner
express from hence.

That therefore it will be advisable on this account, as well as for
the sake of dispatch, to constitute some one of the ministers of the
United States in Europe, jointly with Mr. Carmichael, commissioners
plenipotentiary for the special purpose of negotiating and concluding
with any person or persons duly authorized by His Catholic Majesty a
convention or treaty for the free navigation of the river Mississippi
by the citizens of the United States under such accommodations with
respect to a port and other circumstances as may render the said
navigation practicable, useful, and free from dispute, saving to the
President and Senate their respective rights as to the ratification
of the same, and that the said negotiation be at Madrid, or such
other place in Spain as shall be desired by His Catholic Majesty.

TH. JEFFERSON.

In consequence of the communication from the Court of Spain, as stated in the preceding report, I nominate William Carmichael, present chargé d'affaires of the United States at Madrid, and William Short, present chargé d'affaires of the United States at Paris, to be commissioners plenipotentiary for negotiating and concluding with any person or persons who shall be duly authorized by His Catholic Majesty a convention or treaty concerning the navigation of the river Mississippi by the citizens of the United States, saving to the President and Senate their respective rights as to the ratification of the same.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _January 11, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you, in confidence, two reports, made to me by the Secretary for the Department of War, relatively to the present state of affairs on the Western frontiers of the United States.

In these reports the causes of the present war with the Indians, the measures taken by the Executive to terminate it amicably, and the military preparations for the late campaign are stated and explained, and also a plan suggested of such further measures on the occasion as appear just and expedient.

I am persuaded, gentlemen, that you will take this important subject into your immediate and serious consideration, and that the result of your deliberations will be the adoption of such wise and efficient measures as will reflect honor on our national councils and promote the welfare of our country.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _January 18, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you a copy of an exemplified copy of an act of the legislature of Vermont, ratifying on behalf of that State the articles of amendment proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States together with a copy of a letter which accompanied said ratification.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _January 18, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I lay before you the communications of a deputation from the Cherokee Nation of Indians now in this city, and I request your advice whether an additional article shall be made to the Cherokee treaty to the following effect, to wit:

That the sum to be paid annually by the United States to the Cherokee Nation of Indians in consideration of the relinquishment of lands as stated in the treaty made with them on the 2d day of July, 1791, shall be $1,500 instead of $1,000 mentioned in the said treaty.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _January 23, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

Having received from the governor of Virginia a letter, inclosing a resolution of the general assembly of that State and a report of a committee of the House of Delegates respecting certain lands located by the officers and soldiers of the Virginia line under the laws of that State, and since ceded to the Chickasaw Indians, I lay copies of the same before you, together with a report of the Secretary of State on this subject.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _February 8, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

An article of expense having occurred in the Department of Foreign Affairs for which no provision has been made by law, I lay before you a letter from the Secretary of State explaining the same, in order that you may do thereon what you shall find to be right.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _March 3, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you a copy of a return of the number of inhabitants in the district of South Carolina as made to me by the marshal thereof, and a copy of a letter which accompanied said return.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _March 5, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

Knowing the friendly interest you take in whatever may promote the happiness and prosperity of the French nation, it is with pleasure that 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 him by his nation.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

_Very Dear Great Friends and Allies_:

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.

The UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA.

UNITED STATES, _March 6, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I lay before you the following report, which has been submitted to me by the Secretary of State:

JANUARY 10, 1792.

The Secretary of State having received information that the merchants and merchandise of the United States are subject in Copenhagen and other ports of Denmark to considerable extra duties, from which they might probably be relieved by the presence of a consul there--

Reports to the President of the United States that it would be expedient to name a consul to be resident in the port of Copenhagen; that he has not been able to find that there is any citizen of the United States residing there; that there is a certain Hans Rudolph Saaby, a Danish subject and merchant of that place, of good character, of wealth and distinction, and well qualified and disposed to act there for the United States, who would probably accept the commission of consul; but that that of vice-consul, hitherto given by the President to foreigners in ports where there was no proper American citizen, would probably not be accepted because in this, as in some other ports of Europe, usage has established it as a subordinate grade.

And that he is therefore of the opinion that the said Hans Rudolph Saaby should be nominated consul of the United States of America for the port of Copenhagen and such other places within the allegiance of His Danish Majesty as shall be nearer to the said port than to the residence of any other consul or vice-consul of the United States within the same allegiance.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

With a view to relieve the merchants and merchandise of the United States from the extra duties to which they are or may be subjected in the ports of Denmark, I have thought it for the interest of the United States that a consul be appointed to reside at Copenhagen. I therefore nominate Hans Rudolph Saaby, a Danish subject and merchant of Copenhagen, to be consul for the United States of America at the port of Copenhagen and for such other places within the allegiance of His Danish Majesty as shall be nearer to the said port than to the residence of any other consul or vice-consul of the United States within the same allegiance.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _March 7, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I submit to your consideration the report of the Secretary of State, which accompanies this, stating the reasons for extending the negotiation proposed at Madrid to the subject of commerce, and explaining, under the form of instructions to the commissioners lately appointed to that Court, the principles on which commercial arrangements with Spain might, if desired on her part, be acceded to on ours; and I have to request your decision whether you will advise and consent to the extension of the powers of the commissioners as proposed, and to the ratification of a treaty which shall conform to those instructions should they enter into such a one with that Court.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

MARCH 7, 1792.

The Secretary of State having understood from communications with the
commissioners of His Catholic Majesty, subsequent to that which he
reported to the President on the 22d of December last, that though they
considered the navigation of the Mississippi as the principal object
of negotiation between the two countries, yet it was expected by their
Court that the conferences would extend to all the matters which were
under negotiation on the former occasion with Mr. Gardoqui, and
particularly to some arrangements of commerce, is of opinion that to
renew the conferences on this subject also, since they desire it, will
be but friendly and respectful, and can lead to nothing without our
own consent, and that to refuse it might obstruct the settlement of
the questions of navigation and boundary; and therefore reports to
the President of the United States the following observations and
instructions to the commissioners of the United States appointed to
negotiate with the Court of Spain a treaty or convention relative to
the navigation of the Mississippi, which observations and instructions
he is of opinion should be laid before the Senate of the United States,
and their decision be desired whether they will advise and consent that
a treaty be entered into by the commissioners of the United States with
Spain conformably thereto.

After stating to our commissioners the foundation of our rights to
navigate the Mississippi and to hold our southern boundary at the
thirty-first degree of latitude, and that each of these is to be a
sine qua non, it is proposed to add as follows:

On the former conferences on the navigation of the Mississippi, Spain
chose to blend with it the subject of commerce, and accordingly
specific propositions thereon passed between the negotiators. Her
object then was to obtain our renunciation of the navigation and to
hold out commercial arrangements perhaps as a lure to us. Perhaps,
however, she might then, and may now, really set a value on commercial
arrangements with us, and may receive them as a consideration for
accommodating us in the navigation, or may wish for them to have the
appearance of receiving a consideration. Commercial arrangements, if
acceptable in themselves, will not be the less so if coupled with
those relating to navigation and boundary. We have only to take care
that they be acceptable in themselves.

There are two principles which may be proposed as the basis of a
commercial treaty: First, that of exchanging the privileges of native
citizens, or, second, those of the most favored nation.

First. With the nations holding important possessions in America we
are ready to exchange the rights of native citizens, provided they
be extended through the whole possessions of both parties; but the
propositions of Spain made on the former occasion (a copy of which
accompanies this) were that we should give their merchants, vessels,
and productions the privileges of native merchants, vessels, and
productions through the whole of our possessions, and they give the
same to ours only in Spain and the Canaries. This is inadmissible,
because unequal; and as we believe that Spain is not ripe for an
equal exchange on this basis, we avoid proposing it.

Second. Though treaties which merely exchange the rights of the most
favored nations are not without all inconvenience, yet they have their
conveniences also. It is an important one that they leave each party
free to make what internal regulations they please, and to give what
preferences they find expedient to native merchants, vessels, and
productions; and as we already have treaties on this basis with
France, Holland, Sweden, and Prussia, the two former of which are
perpetual, it will be but small additional embarrassment to extend it
to Spain. On the contrary, we are sensible it is right to place that
nation on the most favored footing, whether we have a treaty with them
or not, and it can do us no harm to secure by treaty a reciprocation
of the right.

Of the four treaties before mentioned, either the French or the
Prussian might be taken as a model; but it would be useless to
propose the Prussian, because we have already supposed that Spain
would never consent to those articles which give to each party
access to all the dominions of the other; and without this equivalent
we would not agree to tie our own hands so materially in war as would
be done by the twenty-third article, which renounces the right of
fitting out privateers or of capturing merchant vessels. The French
treaty, therefore, is proposed as the model. In this, however, the
following changes are to be made:

We should be admitted to all the dominions of Spain to which any
other foreign nation is or may be admitted.

Article 5, being an exemption from a particular duty in France,
will of course be omitted as inapplicable to Spain.

Article 8 to be omitted as unnecessary with Morocco, and
inefficacious and little honorable with any of the Barbary powers;
but it may furnish occasion to sound Spain on the project of a
convention of the powers at war with the Barbary States to keep
up by rotation a constant cruise of a given force on their coasts
till they shall be compelled to renounce forever and against all
nations their predatory practices. Perhaps the infidelities of the
Algerines to their treaty of peace with Spain, though the latter
does not choose to break openly, may induce her to subsidize _us_
to cruise against them with a given force.

Articles 9 and 10, concerning fisheries, to be omitted as
inapplicable.

Article 11. The first paragraph of this article respecting the
droit d'aubaine to be omitted, that law being supposed peculiar
to France.

Article 17, giving asylum in the ports of either to the armed vessels
of the other with the prizes taken from the enemies of that other,
must be qualified as it is in the nineteenth article of the Prussian
treaty, as the stipulation in the latter part of the article that
"no shelter or refuge shall be given in the ports of the one to such
as shall have made prize on the subjects of the other of the parties"
would forbid us, in case of a war between France and Spain, to give
shelter in our ports to prizes made by the latter on the former,
while the first part of the article would oblige us to shelter those
made by the former on the latter--a very dangerous covenant, and which
ought never to be repeated in any other instance.

Article 29. Consuls should be received at all the ports at which the
vessels of either party may be received.

Article 30, concerning free ports in Europe and America, free ports in
the Spanish possessions in America, and particularly at The Havannah,
are more to be desired than expected. It can therefore only be
recommended to the best endeavors of the commissioners to obtain them.
It will be something to obtain for our vessels, flour, etc., admission
to those ports during their pleasure. In like manner, if they could be
prevailed on to reestablish our right of cutting logwood in the Bay of
Campeachy on the footing on which it stood before the treaty of 1763,
it would be desirable and not endanger to us any contest with the
English, who by the revolution treaty are restrained to the
southeastern parts of Yucatan.

Article 31. The _act_ of ratification on our part may require a
twelvemonth from the date of the treaty, as the Senate meets regularly
but once a year; and to return it to Madrid for _exchange_ may require
four months more.

The treaty must not exceed ---- years' duration, except the clauses
relating to boundary and the navigation of the Mississippi, which must
be perpetual and final. Indeed, these two subjects had better be in a
separate instrument.

There might have been mentioned a third species of arrangement--that
of making special agreements on every special subject of commerce,
and of settling a tariff of duty to be paid on each side on every
particular article; but this would require in our commissioners a
very minute knowledge of our commerce, as it is impossible to foresee
every proposition of this kind which might be brought into discussion
and to prepare them for it by information and instruction from hence.
Our commerce, too, is as yet rather in a course of experiment, and
the channels in which it will ultimately flow are not sufficiently
known to enable us to provide for it by special agreement; nor
have the exigencies of our new Government as yet so far developed
themselves as that we can know to what degree we may or must have
recourse to commerce for the purposes of revenue. No common
consideration, therefore, ought to induce us as yet to arrangements
of this kind. Perhaps nothing should do it with any nation short
of the privileges of natives in all their possessions, foreign and
domestic.

It were to be wished, indeed, that some positively favorable
stipulations respecting our grain, flour, and fish could be obtained,
even on our giving reciprocal advantages to some of the commodities
of Spain, say her wines and brandies; but,

First. If we quit the ground of the _most favored nation_ as to
certain articles for our convenience, Spain may insist on doing
the same for other articles for her convenience, and thus our
commissioners will get themselves on the ground of _a treaty of
detail_, for which they will not be prepared.

Second. If we grant favor to the wines and brandies of Spain, then
Portugal and France will demand the same; and in order to create an
equivalent Portugal may lay a duty on our fish and grain, and France
a prohibition on our whale oils, the removal of which will be proposed
as an equivalent.