positive enactments, the nature and extent of the action which it belongs to the Executive to superintend, springs out of a policy analogous to that which enjoins upon all the branches of the Federal Government an abstinence from the exercise of powers not clearly granted. In such a Government, possessing only limited and specific powers, the spirit of its general administration cannot be wise or just when it opposes the reference of all doubtful points to the great source of authority, the States and the people, whose number and diversified relations, securing them against the influences and excitements which may mislead their agents, make them the safest depository of power. In its application to the Executive, with reference to the legislative branch of the Government, the same rule of action should make the President ever anxious to avoid the exercise of any discretionary authority which can be regulated by Congress. The biases which may operate upon him will not be so likely to extend to the representatives of the people in that body.

In my former messages to Congress, I have repeatedly urged the propriety of lessening the discretionary authority lodged in the various departments, but it has produced no effect as yet, except the discontinuance. of extra allowances in the army and navy, and the substitution of fixed salaries in the latter. It is believed that the same principles could be advantageously applied in all cases, and would promote the efficiency and economy of the public service, at the same time that greater satisfaction and more equal justice would be secured to the public officers generally.

The accompanying report of the Secretary of War will put you in possession of the operations of the Department confided to his care, in all its diversified relations, during the past year.

I am gratified in being able to inform you that no occurrence has required any movement of the military force, except such as is common to a state of peace. The services of the army have been limited to their usual duties at the various garrisons upon the Atlantic and inland frontier, with the exceptions stated by the Secretary of War. Our small military establishment appears to be adequate to the purposes for .hich it is maintained, and it forms a nucleus around which any additional force may be collected, should the public exigencies unfortunately require any increase of our military means.

The various acts of Congress which have been recently passed in relation to the array-have improved its condition, and have rendered its organization more useful and efficient. It is at all times in a state for prompt and vigorous action, and it contains within itself the power of extension to any useful limit; while, at the same time, it preserves that knowledge, both theoretical and practical, which education and experience alone can give, and which, if not acquired and preserved in time of peace, must be sought under great disadvantages in time of war.

The duties of the engineer corps press heavily upon that branch of the service; and the public interest requires an addition to its strength. The nature of the works in which the officers are engaged render necessary professional knowledge and experience; and there is no economy in committing to them more duties than they can perform, or in assigning these to other persons temporarily employed, and too often, of necessity, without all the qualifications which such service demands. I recommend

this subject to your attention, and also the proposition submitted at the last session of Congress, and now renewed, for a reorganization of the topographical corps. This reorganization can be effected without any addition to the present expenditure, and with much advantage to the public service. The branch of duties which devolves upon these officers is at all times interesting to the community, and the information furnished by them is useful in peace and war.

Much loss and inconvenience have been experienced in consequence of the failure of the bill containing the ordinary appropriations for fortifications, which passed one branch of the National Legislature at the last session, but was lost in the other. This failure was the more regretted, not only because it necessarily interrupted and delayed the progress of a system of national defence, projected immediately after the last war, and since steadily pursued, but also because it contained a contingent appropriation inserted in accordance with the views of the Executive in aid of this important object, and other branches of the national defence, some portions of which might have been most usefully applied during the past season. I invite your early attention to that part of the report of the Secretary of War which relates to this subject, and recommend an appropriation sufficiently liberal to accelerate the armament of the fortifications agreeably to the propositions submitted by him, and to place our whole Atlantic seaboard in a complete state of defence. A just regard to the permanent interests of the country evidently requires this measure, but there are also other reasons which, at the present juncture, give it peculiar force, and make it my duty to call to the subject your special consideration.

The present system of military education has been in operation sufficiently long to test its usefulness, and it has given to the army a valuable body of officers. It is not alone in the improvement, discipline, and operation of the troops, that these officers are employed. They are also extensively engaged in the administrative and fiscal concerns of the various matters confided to the War Department: in the execution of the staff duties usually appertaining to military organization; in the removal of the Indians, and in the disbursement of the various expenditures growing out of our Indian relations; in the formation of roads, and in the improvement of harbors and rivers; in the construction of fortifications; in the fabrication of much of the materiel required for the public defence; and in the preservation, distribution, and accountability of the whole ; and in other miscellaneous duties not admitting of classification.

These diversified functions embrace very heavy expenditures of public money, and require fidelity, science, and business habits in their execution; and a system which shall secure these qualifications is demanded by the public interest. That this object has been, in a great measure, obtained by the Military Academy, is shown by the state of the service, and by the prompt accountability which has generally followed the necessary advances. Like all other political systems, the present mode of military education, no doubt, has its imperfections, both of principle and practice; but I trust these can be improved by rigid inspections, and by legislative scrutiny, without destroying the institution itself.

Occurrences, to which we as well as all other nations are liable, both in our internal and external relations, point to the necessity of an effi

cient organization of the militia. I am again induced, by the importance of the subject, to bring it to your attention. To suppress domestic violence, and to repel foreign invasion, should these calamities overtake us, we must rely, in the first instance, upon the great body of the community, whose will has instituted, and whose power must support, the Government: A large standing military force is not consonant to the spirit of our institutions, nor to the feelings of our countrymen; and the lessons of former days, and those also of our own times, show the danger as well as the enormous expense of these permanent and extensive military organizations. That just medium which avoids an inadequate preparation on one hand, and the danger and expense of a large force on the other, is what our constituents have a right to expect from their Government. This object can be attained only by the maintenance of a small military force, and by such an organization of the physical strength of the country as may bring this power into operation whenever its services are required. A classification of the population offers the most obvious means of effecting this organization. Such a division may be made as will be just to all, by transferring each, at a proper period of life, from one class to another; and by calling first for the services of that class, whether for instruction or action, which, from age, is qualified for the duty, and may be called to perform it with least injury to themselves, or to the public. Should the danger ever become so imminent as to require additional force, the other classes in succession would be ready for the call. And if, in addition to this organization, voluntary associations were encouraged, and inducements held out for their formation, our militia would be in a state of efficient service. Now, when we are at peace, is the proper time to digest and establish a practicable system. The object is certainly worth the experiment, and worth the expense. No one appreciating the blessings of a republican Government can object to his share of the burden which such a plan may impose. Indeed, a moderate portion of the national funds could scarcely be better applied than in carrying into effect and continuing such an arrangement, and in giving the necessary elementary instruction. We are happily at peace with all the world. A sincere desire to continue so, and a fixed determination to give no just cause of offence to other nations, furnish, unfortunately, no certain grounds of expectation that this relation will be uninterrupted. With this determination to give no offence is associated a resolution, equally decided, tamely to submit to none. The armor and the attitude of defence afford the best security against those collisions which the ambition, or interest, or some other passion of nations not more justifiable, is liable to produce. In many countries it is considered unsafe to put arms into the hands of the people, and to instruct them in the elements of military knowledge. That fear can have no place here, when it is recollected that the people are the sovereign power. Our Government was instituted, and is supported, by the ballot-box, not by the musket. Whatever changes await it, still greater changes must be made in our social institutions, before our political system can yield to physical force. In every aspect, therefore, in which I can view the subject, I am impressed with the importance of a prompt and efficient organization of the militia.

The plan of removing the aboriginal people who yet remain within the settled portions of the United States to the country west of the

Mississippi river approaches its consummation. It was adopted on the most mature consideration of the condition of this race, and ought to be: persisted in till the object is accomplished, and prosecuted with as much vigor as a just regard to their circumstances will permit, and as fast as their consent can be obtained. All preceding experiments for the improvement of the Indians have failed. It seems now to be an established fact that they cannot live in contact with a civilized community and prosper. Ages of fruitless endeavors have, at length, brought us to a knowledge of this principle of intercommunication with them. The past we cannot recal, but the future we can provide for. Independently of the treaty stipulations into which we have entered with the various tribes, for the usufructuary rights they have ceded to us, no one can doubt the moral duty of the Government of the United States to protect, and, if possible, to preserve and perpetuate the scattered remnants of this race, which are left within our borders. In the discharge of this duty, an extensive region in the West has been assigned for their permanent residence. has been divided into districts, and allotted among them. Many have already removed, and others are preparing to go; and, with the exception of two small bands, living in Ohio and Indiana, not exceeding fifteen hundred persons, and of the Cherokees, all the tribes on the east side of the Mississippi, and extending from Lake Michigan to Florida, have entered into engagements which will lead to their transplantation.

It

The plan for their removal and re-establishment is founded upon the knowledge we have gained of their character and habits, and has been dictated by a spirit of enlarged liberality. A territory exceeding in extent that relinquished has been granted to each tribe. Of its climate, fertility and capacity to support an Indian population, the representations are highly favorable. To these districts the Indians are removed at the expense of the United States; and, with certain supplies of clothing, arms, ammunition, and other indispensable articles, they are also furnished gratuitously with provisions for the period of a year after their arrival at their new homes. In that time, from the nature of the country, and of the products raised by them, they can subsist themselves by agricultural labor, if they choose to resort to that mode of life; if they do not, they are upon the skirts of the great prairies, where countless herds of buffalo roam, and a short time suffices to adapt their own habits to the changes which a change of the animals destined for their food may require. Ample arrangements have also been made for the support of schools; in some instances, council-houses and churches are to be erected, dwellings constructed for the chiefs, and mills for common use. Funds have been set apart for the maintenance of the poor; the most necessary mechanical arts have been introduced, and blacksmiths, gunsmiths, wheelwrights, millwrights, &c. are supported among them. Steel and iron, and sometimes salt, are purchased for them; and ploughs and other farming utensils, domestic animals, looms, spinning wheels, cards, &c. are presented to them. And besides these beneficial arrangements, annuities are, in all cases, paid, amounting, in some instances, to more than thirty dollars for each individual of the tribe, and in all cases sufficiently great, if justly divided and prudently expended, to enable them, in addition to their own exertions, to live comfortably. And, as a stimulus for exertion, it is now provided by law that, "in all cases of the appointment of interpret

ers, or other persons employed for the benefit of the Indians, a preference shall be given to persons of Indian descent, if such can be found who are properly qualified for the discharge of the duties."

Such are the arrangements for the physical comfort and for the moral improvement of the Indians. The necessary measures for their political advancement, and for their separation from our citizens, have not been neglected. The pledge of the United States has been given by Congress, that the country destined for the residence of this people, shall be forever" secured and guarantied to them." A country, west of Missouri and Arkansas, has been assigned to them, into which the white settlements are not to be pushed. No political communities can be formed in that extensive region, except those which are established by the Indians themselves, or by the United States for them, and with their concurA barrier has thus been raised, for their protection against the encroachment of our citizens, and guarding the Indians, as far as possi-, ble, from those evils which have brought them to their present condition. Summary authority has been given, by law, to destroy all ardent spirits found in their country, without waiting the doubtful result and slow process of a legal seizure. I consider the absolute and unconditional interdiction of this article among these people as the first and great step in their melioration. Half-way measures will answer no purpose. These cannot successfully contend against the cupidity of the seller, and the overpowering appetite of the buyer. And the destructive effects of the traffic are marked in every page of the history of our Indian inter

course.

Some general legislation seems necessary for the regulation of the relations which will exist in this new state of things between the Government and people of the United States and these transplanted Indian tribes; and for the establishment among the latter, and with their own consent, of some principles of intercommunication, which their juxtaposition will call for, that moral may be substituted for physical force, the authority of a few and simple laws for the tomahawk, and that an end may be put to those bloody wars whose prosecution seems to have made part of their social system.

After the further details of this arrangement are completed, with a very general supervision over them, they ought to be left to the progress of events. These, I indulge the hope, will secure their prosperity and improvement, and a large portion of the moral debt we owe them will then be paid.

The report from the Secretary of the Navy, showing the condition of that branch of the public service, is recommended to your special attention. It appears from it that our naval force at present in commission, with all the activity which can be given to it, is inadequate to the protection of our rapidly increasing commerce. This consideration, and the more general one which regards this arm of the national defence as our best security against foreign aggressions, strongly urge the continuance of the measures which promote its gradual enlargement, and a speedy increase of the force which has been heretofore employed abroad and at home. You will perceive, from the estimates which appear in the report of the Secretary of the Navy, that the expenditures necessary to this increase of its force, though of considerable amount, are small compared with the benefits which they will secure to the country.