communicated, need not now be repeated. The interest of the Debt thus incurred, is four times more than the sum necessary, by annual Appropriations, for the completion of our whole System of Defence, Land and Naval, to the extent provided for, and within the time specified. When that System shall be completed, the expense of construction will cease, and our expenditures be proportionally diminished. Should another War occur before it is completed, the experience of the last marks in characters too strong to be mistaken, its inevitable consequences; and should such War occur, and find us unprepared for it, what will be our justification, to the enligthened Body whom we represent, for not having completed these defences? That this System should not have been adopted before the late War, cannot be a cause of surprise to any one, because all might wish to avoid every expense, the necessity of which might be, in any degree doubtful. But, with the experience of that War before us, it is thought there is no cause for hesitation. Will the completion of these Works, and the augmentation of our Navy, to the point contemplated by Law, require the imposition of onerous burthens on our Fellow-citizens, such as they cannot or will not bear? Have such, or any burthens, been imposed to advance the System to its present state? It is known that no burthens whatever have been imposed; on the contrary, that all the direct or internal taxes have been long repealed, and none paid but those which are indirect and voluntary, such as are imposed on articles imported from Foreign Countries, most of which are luxuries, and on the Vessels employed in the transportation; taxes which some of our most enlightened Citizens think ought to be imposed on many of the articles, for the encouragement of our manufactures, even if the Revenue derived from them could be dispensed with. It is known, also, that, in all other respects, our condition, as a Nation, is, in the highest degree, prosperous and flourishing, nearly half the debt incurred in the late War having already been discharged, and considerable progress having also been made in the completion of this System of Defence, and in the construction of other Works of great extent and utility, by the Revenue derived from these sources, and from the sale of the Publick Lands. I may add, also, that a very generous provision has been made, from the same sources, for the surviving Officers and Soldiers of our Revolutionary Army. These important facts show that this System has been so far executed, and may be completed, without any real inconvenience to the Publick. Were it, however, otherwise, I have full confidence that any burthens which might be found necessary, for the completion of this System, in both its branches, within the term contemplated, or much sooner, should any emergency require it, would be called for, rather than complained of, by our Fellow-citizens.

From these views, applicable to the very important subject of our Defences generally, as well as to the work at Dauphine Island, I think

it my duty to recommend to Congress an Appropriation for the latter. I considered the withholding it at the last Session as the expression only of a doubt, by Congress, of the propriety of the Position, and not as a definitive opinion. Supposing that that question would be decided at the present Session, I caused the Position, and such parts of the Coast as are particularly connected with it, to be re-examined, that all the light on which the decision, as to the Appropriation, could depend, might be fully before you.

In the first Survey, the Report of which was that on which the Works, intended for the defence of New Orleans, the Mississippi, the Bay of Mobile, and all the Country dependant on those waters, were sanctioned by the Executive; the Commissioners were industriously engaged about 6 months. I should have communicated that very able and interesting Document then, but from a doubt how far the interest of our Country would justify its publication, a circumstance which I now mention, that the attention of Congress may be drawn to it. JAMES MONROE.

Washington, 26th March, 1822.

PROCLAMATION of the President of The United States, declaring the Ports of The United States to be open to Vessels from certain British Islands and Colonies. 24th August, 1822.

By the President of the United States of America.

A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS, by an Act of the Congress of The United States, passed on the 6th day of May last, it was provided, that, on satisfactory evidence being given to the President of The United States, that the Ports in the Islands or Colonies of the West Indies under the dominion of Great Britain have been opened to the Vessels of The United States, the President should be, and thereby was, authorized to issue his Proclamation, declaring that the Ports of The United States should thereafter be open to Vessels of Great Britain, employed in the trade and intercourse between The United States and such Islands or Colonies, subject to such reciprocal rules and restrictions as the President of The United States might, by such Proclamation, make and publish, any thing in the Laws entitled, an Act concerning Navigation, or an Act entitled "An Act supplementary to an Act concerning Navigation," to the contrary notwithstanding.

And, whereas, satisfactory evidence has been given to the President of The United States, that the Ports hereinafter named, in the Islands

or Colonies in the West Indies, under the Dominion of Great Britain, have been opened to the Vessels of The United States; that is to say, the Ports of

Kingston, Savannah Le Mar, Montego Bay,"

Santa Lucia, Antonio, St. Ann, Falmouth, in Jamaica.

Maria, Morant Bay...................................

Saint George,....

Rosseau,

Saint John's,........

....

Grenada.

Dominica.

Antigua.

Port George and Port Hamilton,..................... Bermuda.

Any Port where there is a Custom House,.......... Bahamas.

Now, therefore I, James Monroe, President of the United States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim, that the Ports of The United States shall hereafter, and until the end of the next Session of the Congress of The United States, be open to the Vessels of Great Britain, employed in the trade and intercourse between The United States and the Islands and Colonies herein before named; any thing in the Laws, entitled "An Act concerning Navigation," or an Act, entitled "An Act supplementary to an Act concerning Navigation," to the contrary notwithstanding, under the following reciprocal rules and restrictions, namely:-

To Vessels of Great Britain, bona fide British-built, owned, and the Master and three-fourths of the Mariners of which, at least, shall belong to Great Britain; or any United States' built Ship or Vessel which has been sold to, and become the property of, British Subjects; such Ship or Vessels being also navigated with a Master and threefourths of the Mariners, at least, belonging to Great Britain: And, provided, always, That no Articles shall be imported into The United

States in any such British Ship or Vessel, other than Articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the British Islands and Colonies in the West Indies, when imported in British Vessels coming from any such Island or Colony, and Articles of the growth, produce or manufacture, of the British Colonies in North America, or of the Island of Newfoundland, in Vessels coming from the Port of St. John's, in that Island, or from any of the aforesaid Ports of the British Colonies in North America.

Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, this 24th day of August, in the Year of our Lord 1822, and in the 47th Year of the Independence of The United States.

By order of the President:

JAMES MONROE.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, Secretary of State.

CIRCULAR of the Government of The United States to the Collectors of the Customs, explanatory of the President's Proclamation of the 24th August 1822, respecting the Trade with certain British Islands and Colonies.

(Extract.)

Treasury Department, Comptroller's Office, Washington, 14th September, 1822. You will receive, herewith, a Copy of the Proclamation of the President of The United States, of the 24th ultimo, issued in conformity with the authority vested in him by an Act of Congress passed on the 6th of May last, entitled "An act in addition to the Act concerning Navigation, and also to authorise the appointment of Deputy Collectors."

The Proclamation specifies the British Colonial Ports in the West Indies, and in North America, which have, by an Act of Parliament, of the 24th of June last, been opened to the Vessels of The United States; and from which British Vessels, possessing certain qualifications, may be admitted to entry in the Ports of The United States, until the end of the next Session of Congress.

According to the terms of the Proclamation, no Articles can be imported into The United States, in any such British Ship or Vessel, other than articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the British Islands and Colonies in the West Indies, in the case of British Vessels coming from any such Island or Colony in the West Indies; and articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the British Colonies in North America, or of the Island of Newfoundland, in the case of such Vessels coming from the Port of St. John's, in that Island, or any of the Ports in North America specified in the Proclamation.

-"Pro

This is a corresponding regulation with that contained in the third Article of the Act of Parliament alluded to, in these words:vided always, that no articles enumerated in the said Schedule shall be imported in any Foreign Ship or Vessel, or in any British-built Ship or Vessel so sold as aforesaid, unless shipped and brought directly from the Country or Place of which they are the growth, produce, or manufacture.

It results that British Vessels coming from British Colonial Ports in North America cannot bring articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the British West India Islands, or the productions of any other Place or Country; and when coming from the British Colonial Ports in the West Indies, cannot bring articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the British Colonial Ports in North America, or the productions of any other Place or Country.

It is not to be understood, however, that the Proclamation limits the importation in British Vessels, to the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the particular Port or Island from which the Vessel may come: on the contrary, a British Vessel coming from any British Colonial Port in the West Indies, may bring articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, not only of such particular Port, but also of any other of the British Colonial Ports in the West Indies; and a British Vessel coming from a British Port in North America, may bring articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, not only of such particular Port, but also of any other of the North American British Colonies.

It may be proper to observe, that Vessels of The United States are neither affected by the Act of Congress, of the 6th of May last, before referred to, nor by the Proclamation of the President of The United States; but are still subject to the operation of the 3d Section of the Navigation Act of the 15th of May, 1820; according to which, they cannot import from British Colonial Ports in North America, the productions of the British Colonial Ports in the West Indies, or those of any other Place or Country; nor from the British Colonial Ports in the West Indies, the production of the British Colonial Ports in North America, or those of any other Place or Country; with the same privilege, however, as has already been stated, with respect to importations in British Vessels; that is to say, that the importations in American Vessels are not to be limited to the articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the particular Port from which the Vessel may come; but the same latitude is to be enjoyed in this respect as in the case of British Vessels.

As the Act of Congress and the President's Proclamation extend no farther than to the opening of the Ports of The United States, on certain conditions and restrictions, to British Vessels arriving from certain British Colonial Ports, such Vessels and their Cargoes are not