stroyed. The result has been creditable to the troops engaged in the service. Severe as is the lesson to the Indians, it was rendered necessary by their unprovoked aggressions; and it is to be hoped, that its impression will be permanent and salutary.

This campaign has evinced the efficient organization of the army, and its capacity for prompt and active service. Its several departments have performed their functions with energy and despatch, and the general movement was satisfactory. Our fellow citizens upon the frontiers were ready, as they always are, in the tender of their services in the hour of danger. But a more efficient organization of our militia system is essential to that security which is one of the principal objects of all governments. Neither our situation nor our institutions require or permit the maintenance of a large regular force. History offers too many lessons of the fatal result of such a measure not to warn us against its adoption here. The expense which attends it, the obvious tendency to employ it because it exists, and thus to engage in unnecessary wars, and its ultimate danger to public liberty, will lead us, I trust, to place our principal dependence for protection upon the great body of the citizens of the republic. If in asserting rights, or in repelling wrongs, war should come upon us, our regular force should be increas ed to an extent proportioned to the emergency; and our present small army is a necleus around which such force could be formed and em. bodied. But for the purposes of defence in ordinary circumstances, we must rely upon the electors of the country. Those by whom, and for whom, the government was instituted and is supported, will constitute its protection in the hour of

danger, as they do its check in the hour of safety.

But it is obvious that the militia system is imperfect. Much time is lost, much unnecessary expense incurred, and much public property wasted, under the present arrangement. Little useful knowledge is gained by the musters and drills, as now established, and the whole subject evidently requires a thorough examination. Whether a plan of classification, remedying these defects, and providing for a system of instruction, might not be adopted, is submitted to the consideration of congress. The constitution has vested in the general government an independent authority upon the subject of the militia, which renders its action essential to the establishment or improvement of the system. And I recommend the matter to your consideration, in the convic. tion, that the state of this important arm of the public defence requires your attention.

I am happy to inform you, that the wise and humane policy of transferring from the eastern to the western side of the Mississippi, the remnants of our aboriginal tribes, with their own consent, and upon just terms, has been steadily pursued, and is approaching, I trust, its consummation. By reference to the report of the secretary of war, and to the documents submitted with it, you will see the progress which has been made since your last session, in the arrangement of the various matters connected with our Indian relations. With one exception, every subject involving any question of conflicting jurisdiction, or of peculiar difficulty, has been happily disposed of, and the conviction evidently gains ground among the Indians, that their removal to the country assigned by the United States for their permanent residence, fur,

nishes the only hope of their ultimate prosperity.

With that po tion of the Cherokees, however, living within the state of Georgia, it has been found impracticable, as yet, to make a satisfactory adjustment. Such was my anxiety to remove all the grounds of complaint, and to bring to a termination the difficulties in which they are involved, that I directed the very liberal propositions to be made to them which accompany the documents herewith submitted. They cannot but have seen in these offers the evidence of the strongest disposition on the part of the government to deal justly and liberally with them. An ample indemnity was offered for their present possessions, a liberal provision for their future support and improvement, and full security for their private and political rights. Whatever dif. ference of opinion may have prevailed respecting the just claims of these people, there will probably be none repecting the liberality of the proposiitons, and very little respecting the expediency of their immediate acceptance. They were, however, rejected, and thus the position of these Indians remains unchanged, as do the views communicated in my message to the senate of February, 1830.

I refer you to the annual report of the secretary of the navy, which accompanies this message, for a detail of the operations of that branch of the service during the present

year.

Besides the general remarks on some of the transactions of our navy, presented in the view which has been taken of our foreign relations, I seize this occasion to invite to your notice the increased protection which it has afforded to our commerce and citizens on distant seas, without any augmentation of

the force in commission. In the gradual improvement of its pecuniary concerns, in the constant progress in the collection of materials suitable for use during future emergencies, and in the construction of vessels and the buildings necessary to their preservation and repair, the present state of this branch of the service exhibits the fruits of that vigilance and care which are so indispensable to its efficiency. Various new suggestions contained in the annexed report, as well as others heretofore submitted to congress, are worthy of your attention; but none more so than urging the renewal, for another term of six years, of the general appropriation for the gradual improvement of the navy.

From the accompanying report of the post master general, you will also perceive that that department continues to extend its usefulness without impairing its resources, or lessening the accommodations which it affords in the secure and rapid transportation of the mail.

I beg leave to call the attention of congress to the views heretofore expressed in relation to the mode of choosing the president and vicepresident of the United States, and to those respecting the tenure of office generally. Still impressed with the justness of those views and with the belief that the modifica. tions suggested on those subjects, if adopted, will contribute to the pros. perity and harmony of the country, I earnestly recommend them to your consideration at this time.

I have heretofore pointed out defects in the law for punishing offi. cial frauds, especially within the District of Columbia. It has been found almost impossible to bring notorious culprits to punishment, and according to a decision of the court for this district, a prosecution is barred by a lapse of two years

after the fraud has been committed. It may happen again, as it has already happened, that during the whole two years, all the evidences of the fraud may be in the possession of the culprit himself. How ever proper the limitation may be in relation to private citizens, it would seem that it ought not to commence running in favour of public officers until they go out of office. The judiciary system of the United States remains imperfect. Of the nine western and south western states, three only enjoy the benfits of a circuit court. Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, are embraced in the general system; but Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, have only district courts. If the existing system be a good one, why should it not be extended? If it be a bad one, why is it suffered to exist? The new states were promised equal rights and privileges when they came into the Union, and such are the guaranties of the constitution. Nothing can be more obvious than the obligation of the general government to place all the states on the same footing, in relation to the administration of justice, and I trust this duty will be neglected no longer.

On many of the subjects to which your attention is invited in this communication, it is a source of gratification to reflect that the steps to be now adopted are uninfluenced by the embarrassments entailed upon the country by the wars through which it has passed. In regard to most of our great interests, we may consider ourselves as just starting in our career, and, after a salutary experience, about to fix upon a permanent basis the policy best calculated to promote the happiness of the people and facilitate their progress towards the most complete

On an

enjoyment of civil liberty. occasion so interesting and important in our history, and of such anxious concern to the friends of freedom throughout the world, it is our imperious duty to lay aside all selfish and local considerations, and be guided by a lofty spirit of devotion to the great principles on which our institutions are founded.

That this government may be so administered as to preserve its efficiency in promoting and securing these general objects, should be the only aim of our ambition, and we cannot, therefore, too carefully examine its structure, in order that we may not mistake its powers, or assume those which the people have reserved to themselves, or have preferred to assign to other agents. We should bear constantly in mind the fact that the considerations which induced the framers of the constitution to withhold from the general government the power to regulate the great mass of the business and concerns of the people, have been fully justified by experience, and that it cannot now be doubted that the genius of all our institutions prescribes simplicity and economy as the characteristics of the reform which is yet to be effected in the present and future execution of the functions bestowed upon us by the constitution.

Limited to a general superintending power to maintain peace at home and abroad, and to prescribe laws on a few subjects of general interest, not calculated to restrict human liberty, but to enforce human rights, this government will find its strength and its glory in the faithful discharge of these plain and sim. ple duties. Relieved by its protecting shield from the fear of war and the apprehension of oppression, the free enterprise of our citizens, aided by the state sovereignties,

will work out improvements and ameliorations which cannot fail to demonstrate that the great truth, that the people can govern themselves, is not only realized in our example, but that it is done by a machinery in government so simple and economical as scarcely to be felt. That

December 4th, 1832.

Washington, December 6th, 1832.

To the Senate of the United States:

I avail myself of this early op portunity to return to the senate, in which it originated, the bill entitled "an act providing for the final settlement of the claims of states for interest on advances to the United States made during the late war," with the reasons which induced me to withhold my approbation, in consequence of which, it has failed to become a law.

This bill was presented to me for my signature on the last day of your session, and when I was compelled to consider a variety of other bills of greater urgency to the pub. lic service. It obviously embraced a principle in the allowance of interest different from that which had been sanctioned by the practice of the accounting officers, or by the previous legislation of congress, in regard to advances by the states, and without any apparent grounds for the change.

Previously to giving my sanction to so great an extension of the practice of allowing interest upon accounts with the government, and which, in its consequences, and from analogy, might not only call for large payments from the treasury, but disturb the great mass of

individual accounts long since finally settled, I deemed it my duty to make a more thorough investigation of the subject than it was possi. ble for me to do previously to the close of your last session. I adopted this course the more readily, from the consideration that as the bill contained no appropriation, the states which would have been en, titled to claim its benefits, could not have received them without the fuller legislation of congress.

The principle which this bill authorizes, varies not only from the practice uniformly adopted by many of the accounting officers in the case of individual accounts, and in those of the states finally settled and clos. ed previously to your last session, but also from that pursued under the act of your last session, for the adjustment and settlement of the claims of the state of South Caroli na. This last act prescribed no particular mode for the allowance of interest, which, therefore, in conformity with the directions of congress in previous cases, and with the uniform practice of the auditor by whom the account was settled, was computed on the sums expended by the state of South Carolina for the use and benefit of the United States, and which had been repaid

counts between the United States and the individual states, arising out of the war of the revolution, the interest on these accounts was com puted in conformity with the prac tice already adverted to, and from which the bill now returned is a departure.

With these reasons and conside rations, I return the bill to the se ANDREW JACKSON.

nate.

To the House of Representatives.

In addition to the general views I have heretofore expressed to congress on the subject of internal im. provement, it is my duty to advert to it again in stating my objections to the bill entitled "an act for the improvement of certain harbours and the navigation of certain rivers," which was not received a sufficient time before the close of the last session to enable me to examine it be. fore the adjournment.

Having maturely considered that bill within the time allowed me by the constitution, and being convinced that some of its provisions conflict with the rule adopted for my guide on this subject of legislation, I have been compelled to withhold from it my signature, and it has therefore failed to become a law.

To facilitate as far as I can the intelligent action of congress upon the subjects embraced in this bill, I transmit herewith a report from the engineer department, distinguishing, as far as the information in its possession would enable it, between those appropriations which do, and those which do not, conflict with the rules by which my conduct, in this

respect, has hitherto been governeds By that report it will be seen that there is a class of appropriations in the bill for the improvement of streams that are not navigable, that are not channels of commerce, and that do not pertain to the harbours or ports of entry designated by any law, or have ascertained any connexion with the usual establishments for the security of commerce, external or internal.

It is obvious that such appropriations involve the sanction of a prin ciple that concedes to the general government an unlimited power over the subject of internal improvements, and that I could not, therefore, approve a bill containing them, without receding from the positions taken in my veto of the Maysville road bill, and afterwards in my annual mes sage of December 7th, 1830.

It is to be regretted that the rules by which the classifiation of the im. provements in this bill has been made by the engineer department, are not more definite and certain, and that embarrassment may not always be avoided by the obser. vance of them; but, as neither my own reflection, nor the lights de