Chapter 07 1792

UNITED STATES,  January 11, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

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

DECEMBER 22, 1791.

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

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

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

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

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

TH. JEFFERSON.

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  January 11, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

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

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  January 18, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  January 18, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

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

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  January 23, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 8, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  March 3, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  March 5, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

Knowing the friendly interest you take in whatever may promote the
happiness and prosperity of the French nation, it is with pleasure that
I lay before you the translation of a letter which I have received from
His Most Christian Majesty, announcing to the United States of America
his acceptance of the constitution presented to him by his nation.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

 Very Dear Great Friends and Allies :

We make it our duty to inform you that we have accepted the constitution
which has been presented to us in the name of the nation, and according
to which France will be henceforth governed.

We do not doubt that you take an interest in an event so important
to our Kingdom and to us, and it is with real pleasure we take this
occasion to renew to you assurances of the sincere friendship we bear
you. Whereupon we pray God to have you, very dear great friends and
allies, in His just and holy keeping.

Written at Paris the 19th of September, 1791.

Your good friend and ally,

LOUIS.

MONTMORIN.

The UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA.

UNITED STATES,  March 6, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

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

JANUARY 10, 1792.

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

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

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

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  March 7, 1792 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

MARCH 7, 1792.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  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.