Chapter VIII: Section 2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by (5)

Thus much, however, as to grain and flour may be attempted. There has
not long since been a considerable duty laid on them in Spain. This
was while a treaty on the subject of commerce was pending between us
and Spain, as that Court considers the matter. It is not generally
thought right to change the state of things pending a treaty
concerning them. On this consideration and on the motive of
cultivating our friendship, perhaps the commissioners may induce them
to restore this commodity to the footing on which it was on opening
the conferences with Mr. Gardoqui, on the 26th day of July, 1785. If
Spain says, "Do the same by your tonnage on our vessels," the answer
may be that "Our foreign tonnage affects Spain very little and other
nations very much; whereas the duty on flour in Spain affects us very
much and other nations very little; consequently there would be no
equality in reciprocal relinquishment, as there had been none in the
reciprocal innovation; and Spain, by insisting on this, would in fact
only be aiding the interests of her rival nations, to whom we should
be forced to extend the same indulgence." At the time of opening the
conferences, too, we had as yet not erected any system, our Government
itself being not yet erected. Innovation then was unavoidable on our
part, if it be innovation to establish a system. We did it on fair and
general ground, on ground favorable to Spain; but they had a system,
and therefore innovation was avoidable on their part.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

ARTICLES PROPOSED BY DON DIEGO GARDOQUI TO BE INSERTED IN THE TREATY WITH THE UNITED STATES.

First. That all commercial regulations affecting each other shall be founded in perfect reciprocity. Spanish merchants shall enjoy all the commercial privileges of native merchants in the United States, and American merchants shall enjoy all the commercial privileges of native merchants in the Kingdom of Spain and in the Canaries and other islands belonging to and adjacent thereto. The same privileges shall extend to their respective vessels and merchandise consisting of the manufactures and products of their respective countries.

Second. Each party may establish consuls in the countries of the other (excepting such provinces in Spain into which none have heretofore been admitted, viz, Bilboa and Guipusca), with such powers and privileges as shall be ascertained by a particular convention.

Third. That the bona fide manufactures and productions of the United States (tobacco only excepted, which shall continue under its present regulation) may be imported in American or Spanish vessels into any parts of His Majesty's European dominions and islands aforesaid in like manner as if they were the productions of Spain, and, on the other hand, that the bona fide manufactures and productions of His Majesty's dominions may be imported into the United States in Spanish or American vessels in like manner as if they were the manufactures and productions of the said States. And further, that all such duties and imposts as may mutually be thought necessary to lay on them by either party shall be ascertained and regulated on principles of exact reciprocity by a tariff, to be formed by a convention for that purpose, to be negotiated and made within _one_ year after the exchange of the ratification of this treaty; and in the meantime that no other duties or imposts shall be exacted from each other's merchants and ships than such as may be payable by natives in like cases.

Fourth. That inasmuch as the United States, from not having mines of gold and silver, may often want supplies of specie for a circulating medium, His Catholic Majesty, as a proof of his good will, agrees to order the masts and timber which may from time to time be wanted for his royal navy to be purchased and paid for in specie in the United States, provided the said masts and timber shall be of equal quality and when brought to Spain shall not cost more than the like may there be had for from other countries.

Fifth. It is agreed that the articles commonly inserted in other treaties of commerce for mutual and reciprocal convenience shall be inserted in this, and that this treaty and every article and stipulation therein shall continue in full force for ----- years, to be computed from the day of the date hereof.

UNITED STATES, _March 9, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I now lay before you a general account rendered by the bankers of the United States at Amsterdam of the payments they had made between the 1st of July, 1790 and 1791, from the fund deposited in their hands for the purposes of the act providing the means of intercourse between the United States and foreign nations, and of the balance remaining in their hands, together with a letter from the Secretary of State on the subject.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _March 20, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

The several acts which have been passed relatively to the military establishment of the United States and the protection of the frontiers do not appear to have made provision for more than one brigadier-general. It is incumbent upon me to observe that, with a view merely to the organization of the troops designated by those acts, a greater number of officers of that grade would, in my opinion, be conducive to the good of the public service. But an increase of the number becomes still more desirable in reference to a different organization which is contemplated, pursuant to the authority vested in me for that purpose, and which, besides other advantages expected from it, is recommended by considerations of economy. I therefore request that you will be pleased to take this subject into your early consideration and to adopt such measures thereon as you shall judge proper.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _March 23, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

At the conferences which Colonel Pickering had with the Five Nations at the Painted Post the last year ideas were then held out of introducing among them some of the primary principles of civilization, in consequence of which, as well as more firmly to attach them to the interests of the United States, they have been invited to the seat of the General Government.

As the representation now here is respectable for its character and influence, it is of some importance that the chiefs should be well satisfied of the entire good faith and liberality of the United States.

In managing the affairs of the Indian tribes generally it appears proper to teach them to expect annual presents, conditioned on the evidence of their attachment to the interests of the United States. The situation of the Five Nations and the present crisis of affairs would seem to render the extension of this measure to them highly judicious. I therefore request the advice of the Senate whether an article shall be stipulated with the Five Nations to the following purport, to wit:

The United States, in order to promote the happiness of the Five Nations of Indians, will cause to be expended annually the amount of $1,500 in purchasing for them clothing, domestic animals, and implements of husbandry, and for encouraging useful artificers to reside in their villages,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

APRIL 13, 1792.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I have thought it proper to lay before you a communication of the 11th instant from the minister plenipotentiary of Great Britain to the Secretary of State, relative to the commerce of the two countries, together with their explanatory correspondence and the Secretary of State's letter to me on the subject,

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _April 16, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you a copy of a letter from the judges of the circuit court of the United States held for the New York district, and of their opinion and agreement respecting the "Act to provide for the settlement of the claims of widows and orphans barred by the limitations heretofore established, and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions."

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _April 21, 1792_.

_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 judges of the circuit court of the United States held for the Pennsylvania district relatively to the "Act to provide for the settlement of the claims of widows and orphans barred by the limitations heretofore established, and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions."

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _May 8, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

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 $40,000, 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 $25,000, paid at the signature, and a like sum to be paid annually afterwards 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 limits beyond which they would not approve of such treaty?

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

VETO MESSAGE.

UNITED STATES, _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 1 for every 30,000, 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 1 for every 30,000.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

PROCLAMATION.

[From Sparks's Washington, Vol. X, p. 532.]

Whereas certain violent and unwarrantable proceedings have lately taken place tending to obstruct the operation of the laws of the United States for raising a revenue upon spirits distilled within the same, enacted pursuant to express authority delegated in the Constitution of the United States, which proceedings are subversive of good order, contrary to the duty that every citizen owes to his country and to the laws, and of a nature dangerous to the very being of a government; and

Whereas such proceedings are the more unwarrantable by reason of the moderation which has been heretofore shown on the part of the Government and of the disposition which has been manifested by the Legislature (who alone have authority to suspend the operation of laws) to obviate causes of objection and to render the laws as acceptable as possible; and

Whereas it is the particular duty of the Executive "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," and not only that duty but the permanent interests and happiness of the people require that every legal and necessary step should be pursued as well to prevent such violent and unwarrantable proceedings as to bring to justice the infractors of the laws and secure obedience thereto:

Now, therefore, I, George Washington, President of the United States, do by these presents most earnestly admonish and exhort all persons whom it may concern to refrain and desist from all unlawful combinations and proceedings whatsoever having for object or tending to obstruct the operation of the laws aforesaid, inasmuch as all lawful ways and means will be strictly put in execution for bringing to justice the infractors thereof and securing obedience thereto.

And I do moreover charge and require all courts, magistrates, and officers whom it may concern, according to the duties of their several offices, to exert the powers in them respectively vested by law for the purposes aforesaid, hereby also enjoining and requiring all persons whomsoever, as they tender the welfare of their country, the just and due authority of Government, and the preservation of the public peace, to be aiding and assisting therein according to law.

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 this 15th of September, A.D. 1792, and of the Independence of the United States the seventeenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

FOURTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.

UNITED STATES, _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 accomplish these desirable purposes; in making which efforts I consulted less my own anticipations of the event, or the scruples which some considerations were calculated to inspire, than the wish to find the object attainable, or if not attainable, to ascertain unequivocally that such is the case.

A detail of the measures which have been pursued and of their consequences, which will be laid before you, while it will confirm to you the want of success thus far, will, I trust, evince that means as proper and as efficacious as could have been devised have been employed. The issue of some of them, indeed, is still depending, but a favorable one, though not to be despaired of, is not promised by anything that has yet happened.

In the course of the attempts which have been made some valuable citizens have fallen victims to their zeal for the public service. A sanction commonly respected even among savages has been found in this instance insufficient to protect from massacre the emissaries of peace. It will, I presume, be duly considered whether the occasion does not call for an exercise of liberality toward the families of the deceased.

It must add to your concern to be informed that, besides the continuation of hostile appearances among the tribes north of the Ohio, some threatening symptoms have of late been revived among some of those south of it.

A part of the Cherokees, known by the name of Chickamaugas, inhabiting five villages on the Tennessee River, have long been in the practice of committing depredations on the neighboring settlements.

It was hoped that the treaty of Holston, made with the Cherokee Nation in July, 1791, would have prevented a repetition of such depredations; but the event has not answered this hope. The Chickamaugas, aided by some banditti of another tribe in their vicinity, have recently perpetrated wanton and unprovoked hostilities upon the citizens of the United States in that quarter. The information which has been received on this subject will be laid before you. Hitherto defensive precautions only have been strictly enjoined and observed.

It is not understood that any breach of treaty or aggression whatsoever on the part of the United States or their citizens is even alleged as a pretext for the spirit of hostility in this quarter.

I have reason to believe that every practicable exertion has been made (pursuant to the provision by law for that purpose) to be prepared for the alternative of a prosecution of the war in the event of a failure of pacific overtures. A large proportion of the troops authorized to be raised have been recruited, though the number is still incomplete, and pains have been taken to discipline and put them in condition for the particular kind of service to be performed. A delay of operations (besides being dictated by the measures which were pursuing toward a pacific termination of the war) has been in itself deemed preferable to immature efforts. A statement from the proper department with regard to the number of troops raised, and some other points which have been suggested, will afford more precise information as a guide to the legislative consultations, and among other things will enable Congress to judge whether some additional stimulus to the recruiting service may not be advisable.

In looking forward to the future expense of the operations which may be found inevitable I derive consolation from the information I receive that the product of the revenues for the present year is likely to supersede the necessity of additional burthens on the community for the service of the ensuing year. This, however, will be better ascertained in the course of the session, and it is proper to add that the information alluded to proceeds upon the supposition of no material extension of the spirit of hostility.

I can not dismiss the subject of Indian affairs without again recommending to your consideration the expediency of more adequate provision for giving energy to the laws throughout our interior frontier and for restraining the commission of outrages upon the Indians, without which all pacific plans must prove nugatory. To enable, by competent rewards, the employment of qualified and trusty persons to reside among them as agents would also contribute to the preservation of peace and good neighborhood. If in addition to these expedients an eligible plan could be devised for promoting civilization among the friendly tribes and for carrying on trade with them upon a scale equal to their wants and under regulations calculated to protect them from imposition and extortion, its influence in cementing their interest with ours could not but be considerable.

The prosperous state of our revenue has been intimated. This would be still more the case were it not for the impediments which in some places continue to embarrass the collection of the duties on spirits distilled within the United States. These impediments have lessened and are lessening in local extent, and, as applied to the community at large, the contentment with the law appears to be progressive.

But symptoms of increased opposition having lately manifested themselves in certain quarters, I judged a special interposition on my part proper and advisable, and under this impression have issued a proclamation warning against all unlawful combinations and proceedings having for their object or tending to obstruct the operation of the law in question, and announcing that all lawful ways and means would be strictly put in execution for bringing to justice the infractors thereof and securing obedience thereto.

Measures have also been taken for the prosecution of offenders, and Congress may be assured that nothing within constitutional and legal limits which may depend upon me shall be wanting to assert and maintain the just authority of the laws. In fulfilling this trust I shall count entirely upon the full cooperation of the other departments of the Government and upon the zealous support of all good citizens.

I can not forbear to bring again into the view of the Legislature the subject of a revision of the judiciary system. A representation from the judges of the Supreme Court, which will be laid before you, points out some of the inconveniences that are experienced. In the course of the execution of the laws considerations arise out of the structure of that system which in some cases tend to relax their efficacy. As connected with this subject, provisions to facilitate the taking of bail upon processes out of the courts of the United States and a supplementary definition of offenses against the Constitution and laws of the Union and of the punishment for such offenses will, it is presumed, be found worthy of particular attention.

Observations on the value of peace with other nations are unnecessary. It would be wise, however, by timely provisions to guard against those acts of our own citizens which might tend to disturb it, and to put ourselves in a condition to give that satisfaction to foreign nations which we may sometimes have occasion to require from them. I particularly recommend to your consideration the means of preventing those aggressions by our citizens on the territory of other nations, and other infractions of the law of nations, which, furnishing just subject of complaint, might endanger our peace with them; and, in general, the maintenance of a friendly intercourse with foreign powers will be presented to your attention by the expiration of the law for that purpose, which takes place, if not renewed, at the close of the present session.

In execution of the authority given by the Legislature measures have been taken for engaging some artists from abroad to aid in the establishment of our mint. Others have been employed at home. Provision has been made of the requisite buildings, and these are now putting into proper condition for the purposes of the establishment. There has also been a small beginning in the coinage of half dimes, the want of small coins in circulation calling the first attention to them.

The regulation of foreign coins in correspondency with the principles of our national coinage, as being essential to their due operation and to order in our money concerns, will, I doubt not, be resumed and completed.

It is represented that some provisions in the law which establishes the post-office operate, in experiment, against the transmission of newspapers to distant parts of the country. Should this, upon due inquiry, be found to be the fact, a full conviction of the importance of facilitating the circulation of political intelligence and information will, I doubt not, lead to the application of a remedy.

The adoption of a constitution for the State of Kentucky has been notified to me. The Legislature will share with me in the satisfaction which arises from an event interesting to the happiness of the part of the nation to which it relates and conducive to the general order.

It is proper likewise to inform you that since my last communication on the subject, and in further execution of the acts severally making provision for the public debt and for the reduction thereof, three new loans have been effected, each for 3,000,000 florins--one at Antwerp, at the annual interest of 4-1/2 per cent, with an allowance of 4 per cent in lieu of all charges, and the other two at Amsterdam, at the annual interest of 4 per cent, with an allowance of 5-1/2 per cent in one case and of 5 per cent in the other in lieu of all charges. The rates of these loans and the circumstances under which they have been made are confirmations of the high state of our credit abroad.

Among the objects to which these funds have been directed to be applied, the payment of the debts due to certain foreign officers, according to the provision made during the last session, has been embraced.

_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

I entertain a strong hope that the state of the national finances is now sufficiently matured to enable you to enter upon a systematic and effectual arrangement for the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt, according to the right which has been reserved to the Government. No measure can be more desirable, whet her viewed with an eye to its intrinsic importance or to the general sentiment and wish of the nation.

Provision is likewise requisite for the reimbursement of the loan which has been made of the Bank of the United States, pursuant to the eleventh section of the act by which it is incorporated. In fulfilling the public stipulations in this particular it is expected a valuable saving will be made.

Appropriations for the current service of the ensuing year and for such extraordinaries as may require provision will demand, and I doubt not will engage, your early attention.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I content myself with recalling your attention generally to such objects, not particularized in my present, as have been suggested in my former communications to you.

Various temporary laws will expire during the present session. Among these, that which regulates trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes will merit particular notice.

The results of your common deliberations hitherto will, I trust, be productive of solid and durable advantages to our constituents, such as, by conciliating more and more their ultimate suffrage, will tend to strengthen and confirm their attachment to that Constitution of Government upon which, under Divine Providence, materially depend their union, their safety, and their happiness.

Still further to promote and secure these inestimable ends there is nothing which can have a more powerful tendency than the careful cultivation of harmony, combined with a due regard to stability, in the public councils.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

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

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Accept, sir, our grateful acknowledgments for your address at the opening of the present session. We participate with you in the satisfaction arising from the continuance of the general prosperity of the nation, but it is not without the most sincere concern that we are informed that the reiterated efforts which have been made to establish peace with the hostile Indians have hitherto failed to accomplish that desired object. Hoping that the measures still depending may prove more successful than those which have preceded them, we shall nevertheless concur in every necessary preparation for the alternative, and should the Indians on either side of the Ohio persist in their hostilities, fidelity to the Union, as well as affection for our fellow-citizens on the frontiers, will insure our decided cooperation in every measure which shall be deemed requisite for their protection and safety.

At the same time that we avow the obligation of the Government to afford its protection to every part of the Union, we can not refrain from expressing our regret that even a small portion of our fellow-citizens in any quarter of it should have combined to oppose the operation of the law for the collection of duties on spirits distilled within the United States, a law repeatedly sanctioned by the authority of the nation, and at this juncture materially connected with the safety and protection of those who oppose it. Should the means already adopted fail in securing obedience to this law, such further measures as may be thought necessary to carry the same into complete operation can not fail to receive the approbation of the Legislature and the support of every patriotic citizen.

It yields us particular pleasure to learn that the productiveness of the revenue of the present year will probably supersede the necessity of any additional tax for the service of the next.

The organization of the government of the State of Kentucky being an event peculiarly interesting to a part of our fellow-citizens and conducive to the general order, affords us particular satisfaction.

We are happy to learn that the high state of our credit abroad has been evinced by the terms on which the new loans have been negotiated.

In the course of the session we shall proceed to take into consideration the several objects which you have been pleased to recommend to our attention, and keeping in view the importance of union and stability in the public councils, we shall labor to render our decisions conducive to the safety and happiness of our country.

We repeat with pleasure our assurances of confidence in your Administration and our ardent wish that your unabated zeal for the public good may be rewarded by the durable prosperity of the nation, and every ingredient of personal happiness.

JOHN LANGDON,

_President pro tempore_.

NOVEMBER 9, 1792.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

I derive much pleasure, gentlemen, from your very satisfactory address. The renewed assurances of your confidence in my Administration and the expression of your wish for my personal happiness claim and receive my particular acknowledgments. In my future endeavor for the public welfare, to which my duty may call me, I shall not cease to count upon the firm, enlightened, and patriotic support of the Senate.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NOVEMBER 9, 1792.

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

SIR: The House of Representatives, who always feel a satisfaction in meeting you, are much concerned that the occasion for mutual felicitation afforded by the circumstances favorable to the national prosperity should be abated by a continuance of the hostile spirit of many of the Indian tribes, and particularly that the reiterated efforts for effecting a general pacification with them should have issued in new proofs of their persevering enmity and the barbarous sacrifice of citizens who, as the messengers of peace, were distinguishing themselves by their zeal for the public service. In our deliberations on this important department of our affairs we shall be disposed to pursue every measure that may be dictated by the sincerest desire, on one hand, of cultivating peace and manifesting by every practicable regulation our benevolent regard for the welfare of those misguided people, and by the duty we feel, on the other, to provide effectually for the safety and protection of our fellow-citizens.

While with regret we learn that symptoms of opposition to the law imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United States have manifested themselves, we reflect with consolation that they are confined to a small portion of our fellow-citizens. It is not more essential to the preservation of true liberty that a government should be always ready to listen to the representations of its constituents and to accommodate its measures to the sentiments and wishes of every part of them, as far as will consist with the good of the whole, than it is that the just authority of the laws should be steadfastly maintained. Under this impression every department of the Government and all good citizens must approve the measures you have taken and the purpose you have formed to execute this part of your trust with firmness and energy; and be assured, sir, of every constitutional aid and cooperation which may become requisite on our part. And we hope that, while the progress of contentment under the law in question is as obvious as it is rational, no particular part of the community may be permitted to withdraw from the general burthens of the country by a conduct as irreconcilable to national justice as it is inconsistent with public decency.

The productive state of the public revenue and the confirmation of the credit of the United States abroad, evinced by the loans at Antwerp and Amsterdam, are communications the more gratifying as they enforce the obligation to enter on systematic and effectual arrangements for discharging the public debt as fast as the conditions of it will permit, and we take pleasure in the opportunity to assure you of our entire concurrence in the opinion that no measure can be more desirable, whether viewed with an eye to the urgent wish of the community or the intrinsic importance of promoting so happy a change in our situation.

The adoption of a constitution for the State of Kentucky is an event on which we join in all the satisfaction you have expressed. It may be considered as particularly interesting since, besides the immediate benefits resulting from it, it is another auspicious demonstration of the facility and success with which an enlightened people is capable of providing, by free and deliberate plans of government, for their own safety and happiness.

The operation of the law establishing the post-office, as it relates to the transmission of newspapers, will merit our particular inquiry and attention, the circulation of political intelligence through these vehicles being justly reckoned among the surest means of preventing the degeneracy of a free government, as well as of recommending every salutary public measure to the confidence and cooperation of all virtuous citizens.

The several other matters which you have communicated and recommended will in their order receive the attention due to them, and our discussions will in all cases, we trust, be guided by a proper respect for harmony and stability in the public councils and a desire to conciliate more and more the attachment of our constituents to the Constitution, by measures accommodated to the true ends for which it was established.

NOVEMBER 10, 1792.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: It gives me pleasure to express to you the satisfaction which your address affords me. I feel, as I ought, the approbation you manifest of the measures I have taken and the purpose I have formed to maintain, pursuant to the trust reposed in me by the Constitution, the respect which is due to the laws, and the assurance which you at the same time give me of every constitutional aid and cooperation that may become requisite on your part.

This is a new proof of that enlightened solicitude for the establishment and confirmation of public order which, embracing a zealous regard for the principles of true liberty, has guided the deliberations of the House of Representatives, a perseverance in which can alone secure, under the divine blessing, the real and permanent felicity of our common country.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

NOVEMBER 12, 1792.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

UNITED STATES, _November 7, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

In pursuance of the law, I now lay before you a statement of the administration of the funds appropriated to certain foreign purposes, together with a letter from the Secretary of State explaining the same.

I also lay before you a copy of a letter and representation from the Chief Justice and associate judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, stating the difficulties and inconveniences which attend the discharge of their duties according to the present judiciary system.

A copy of a letter from the judges attending the circuit court of the United States for the North Carolina district in June last, containing their observations on an act, passed during the last session of Congress, entitled "An act to provide for the settlement of the claims of widows and orphans barred by the limitations heretofore established, and to regulate the claims to invalid pensions;" and

A copy of the constitution formed for the State of Kentucky.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _November 9, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I now lay before you a letter from the Secretary of State, covering the copy of one from the governor of Virginia, with the several papers therein referred to, on the subject of the boundary between that State and the territory of the United States south of the Ohio. It will remain with the Legislature to take such measures as it shall think best for settling the said boundary with that State, and at the same time, if it thinks proper, for extending the settlement to the State of Kentucky, between which and the same territory the boundary is as yet undetermined.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _November 22, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I send you herewith the abstract of a supplementary arrangement which has been made by me, pursuant to the acts of the 3d day of March, 1791, and the 8th day of May, 1792, for raising a revenue upon foreign and domestic distilled spirits, in respect to the subdivisions and officers which have appeared to me necessary and to the allowances for their respective services to the supervisors, inspectors, and other officers of inspection, together with the estimates of the amount of compensations and charges.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _December 6, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

The several measures which have been pursued to induce the hostile Indian tribes north of the Ohio to enter into a conference or treaty with the United States at which all causes of difference might be fully understood and justly and amicably arranged have already been submitted to both Houses of Congress.

The papers herewith sent will inform you of the result.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _December 7, 1792_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you two letters, with their inclosures, from the governor of the Southwestern territory, and an extract of a letter to him from the Department of War.

These and a letter of the 9th of October last, which has been already communicated to you, from the same Department to the governor, will shew in what manner the first section of the act of the last session which provides for calling out the militia for the repelling of Indian invasions has been executed. It remains to be considered by Congress whether in the present situation of the United States it be advisable or not to pursue any further or other measures than those which have been already adopted. The nature of the subject does of itself call for your immediate attention to it, and I must add that upon the result of your deliberations the future conduct of the Executive will on this occasion materially depend.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _January 23, 1793_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

Since my last communication to you on the subject of the revenue on distilled spirits it has been found necessary, on experience, to revise and amend the arrangements relative thereto in regard to certain surveys and the officers thereof in the district of North Carolina, which I have done accordingly in the manner following:

First. The several counties of the said district originally and heretofore contained within the first, second, and third surveys have been allotted into and are now contained in two surveys, one of which (to be hereafter denominated the first) comprehends the town of Wilmington and the counties of Onslow, New Hanover, Brunswick, Robertson, Sampson, Craven, Jones, Lenox, Glascow, Johnston, and Wayne, and the other of which (to be hereafter denominated the second) comprehends the counties of Kurrituck, Camden, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan, Gates, Hartford, Tyrrel, Bertie, Carteret, Hyde, Beaufort, and Pitt.

Secondly. The several counties of the said district originally and heretofore contained within the fifth survey of the district aforesaid has been allotted into and is contained in two surveys, one of which (to be hereafter denominated the third) comprehends the counties of Mecklenburg, Rowan, Iredell, Montgomery, Guilford, Rockingham, Stokes, and Surrey, and the other of which (to be hereafter denominated the fifth) comprehends the counties of Lincoln, Rutherford, Burke, Buncombe, and Wilkes.

Thirdly. The duties of the inspector of the revenue in and for the third survey as constituted above is to be performed for the present by the supervisor.

Fourthly. The compensations of the inspector of the revenue for the first survey as above constituted are to be a salary of $250 per annum and commissions and other emoluments similar to those heretofore allowed to the inspector of the late first survey as it was originally constituted.

Fifthly. The compensations of the inspector of the revenue for the second survey as above constituted are to be a salary of $100 per annum and the commissions and other emoluments heretofore allowed to the inspector of the late third survey as it was originally constituted.

Sixthly. The compensations of the inspector of the revenue for the fifth survey as above constituted are to be a salary of $120 per annum and the commissions and other emoluments similar to those heretofore allowed to the inspector of the late fifth survey as it was originally constituted.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _January 25, 1793_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you an official statement of the expenditure to the year 1792 from the sum of $10,000, granted to defray the contingent expenses of Government by an act passed on the 26th of March, 1790.

Also an abstract of a supplementary arrangement made in the district of North Carolina in regard to certain surveys to facilitate the execution of the law laying a duty on distilled spirits.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _February 13, 1793_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I lay before you for your consideration and advice a treaty of peace and friendship made and concluded on the 27th day of September, 1792, by Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam, in behalf of the United States, with the Wabash and Illinois tribes of Indians, and also the proceedings attending the said treaty, the explanation of the fourth article thereof, and a map explanatory of the reservation to the French inhabitants and the general claim of the said Indians.

In connection with this subject I also lay before the Senate the copy of a paper which has been delivered by a man by the name of John Baptiste Mayeé, who has accompanied the Wabash Indians at present in this city.

It will appear by the certificate of Brigadier-General Putnam that the Wabash Indians disclaimed the validity of the said paper, excepting a certain tract upon the Wabash, as mentioned in the proceedings.

The instructions to Brigadier-General Putnam of the 22d of May, together with a letter to him of the 7th of August, 1792, were laid before the Senate on the 7th of November, 1792.

After the Senate shall have considered this treaty, I request that they would give me their advice whether the same shall be ratified and confirmed; and if to be ratified and confirmed, whether it would not be proper, in order to prevent any misconception hereafter of the fourth article, to guard in the ratification the exclusive preemption of the United States to the lands of the said Indians.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _February 18, 1793_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I now lay before you a report and plat of the territory of the United States on the Potomac as given in by the commissioners of that territory, together with a letter from the Secretary of State which accompanied them. These papers, being original, are to be again deposited with the records of the Department of State after having answered the purpose of your information.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _February 19, 1793_.

_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:

It has been agreed on the part of the United States that a treaty or conference shall be held at the ensuing season with the hostile Indians northwest of the Ohio, in order to remove, if possible, all causes of difference and to establish a solid peace with them.

As the estimates heretofore presented to the House for the current year did not contemplate this object, it will be proper that an express provision be made by law as well for the general expenses of the treaty as to establish the compensation to be allowed the commissioners who shall be appointed for the purpose.

I shall therefore direct the Secretary of War to lay before you an estimate of the expenses which may probably attend this measure.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _February 27, 1793_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

I lay before you a copy of an exemplification of an act of the legislature of New York ceding to the United States the jurisdiction of certain lands on Montauk Point for the purpose mentioned in said act, and the copy of a letter from the governor of New York to the Secretary of State, which accompanied said exemplification.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES, _February 28, 1793_.

_Gentlemen of the Senate_:

I was led by a consideration of the qualifications of William Patterson, of New Jersey, to nominate him an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. It has since occurred that he was a member of the Senate when the law creating that office was passed, and that the time for which he was elected is not yet expired. I think it my duty, therefore, to declare that I deem the nomination to have been null by the Constitution.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

PROCLAMATIONS.

[From Freneau's National Gazette of December 15, 1792.]

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Whereas I have received authentic information that certain lawless and wicked persons of the western frontier in the State of Georgia did lately invade, burn, and destroy a town belonging to the Cherokee Nation, although in amity with the United States, and put to death several Indians of that nation; and

Whereas such outrageous conduct not only violates the rights of humanity, but also endangers the public peace, and it highly becomes the honor and good faith of the United States to pursue all legal means for the punishment of those atrocious offenders:

I have therefore thought fit to issue this my proclamation, hereby exhorting all the citizens of the United States and requiring all the officers thereof, according to their respective stations, to use their utmost endeavors to apprehend and bring those offenders to justice. And I do moreover offer a reward of $500 for each and every of the above-named persons who shall be so apprehended and brought to justice and shall be proved to have assumed or exercised any command or authority among the perpetrators of the crimes aforesaid at the time of committing the same.

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 12th day of December, A.D. 1792, and of the Independence of the United States the seventeenth.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President:
THOMAS JEFFERSON.

[From Annuals of Congress, Second Congress, 666.]

MARCH 1, 1793.

_The President of the United States to the President of the Senate_:

Certain matters touching the public good requiring that the Senate shall be convened on Monday, the 4th instant, I have desired their attendance, as I do yours, by these presents, at the Senate Chamber, in Philadelphia, on that day, then and there to receive and deliberate on such communications as shall be made to you on my part.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Fellow-citizens: I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united America.

Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take, and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.

MARCH 4, 1793.

FIFTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.

PHILADELPHIA, _December 3, 1793_.

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

Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again called into office no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my fellow-citizens at large the deep and respectful sense which I feel of the renewed testimony of public approbation. While on the one hand it awakened my gratitude for all those instances of affectionate partiality with which I have been honored by my country, on the other it could not prevent an earnest wish for that retirement from which no private consideration should ever have torn me. But influenced by the belief that my conduct would be estimated according to its real motives, and that the people, and the authorities derived from them, would support exertions having nothing personal for their object, I have obeyed the suffrage which commanded me to resume the Executive power; and I humbly implore that Being on whose will the fate of nations depends to crown with success our mutual endeavors for the general happiness.

As soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers with whom the United States have the most extensive relations there was reason to apprehend that our intercourse with them might be interrupted and our disposition for peace drawn into question by the suspicions too often entertained by belligerent nations. It seemed, therefore, to be my duty to admonish our citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade and of hostile acts to any of the parties, and to obtain by a declaration of the existing legal state of things an easier admission of our right to the immunities belonging to our situation. Under these impressions the proclamation which will be laid before you was issued.

In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved to adopt general rules which should conform to the treaties and assert the privileges of the United States. These were reduced into a system, which will be communicated to you. Although I have not thought myself at liberty to forbid the sale of the prizes permitted by our treaty of commerce with France to be brought into our ports, I have not refused to cause them to be restored when they were taken within the protection of our territory, or by vessels commissioned or equipped in a warlike form within the limits of the United States.

It rests with the wisdom of Congress to correct, improve, or enforce this plan of procedure; and it will probably be found expedient to extend the legal code and the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States to many cases which, though dependent on principles already recognized, demand some further provisions.

Where individuals shall, within the United States, array themselves in hostility against any of the powers at war, or enter upon military expeditions or enterprises within the jurisdiction of the United States, or usurp and exercise judicial authority within the United States, or where the penalties on violations of the law of nations may have been indistinctly marked, or are inadequate--these offenses can not receive too early and close an attention, and require prompt and decisive remedies.

Whatsoever those remedies may be, they will be well administered by the judiciary, who possess a long-established course of investigation, effectual process, and officers in the habit of executing it.

In like manner, as several of the courts have doubted, under particular circumstances, their power to liberate the vessels of a nation at peace, and even of a citizen of the United States, although seized under a false color of being hostile property, and have denied their power to liberate certain captures within the protection of our territory, it would seem proper to regulate their jurisdiction in these points. But if the Executive is to be the resort in either of the two last-mentioned cases, it is hoped that he will be authorized by law to have facts ascertained by the courts when for his own information he shall request it.

I can not recommend to your notice measures for the fulfillment of our duties to the rest of the world without again pressing upon you the necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defense and of exacting from them the fulfillment of their duties toward us. The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance those painful appeals to arms with which the history of every other nation abounds. There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. The documents which will be presented to you will shew the amount and kinds of arms and military stores now in our magazines and arsenals; and yet an addition even to these supplies can not with prudence be neglected, as it would leave nothing to the uncertainty of procuring of warlike apparatus in the moment of public danger.