Chapter 08 1793

UNITED STATES,  January 23, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  January 25, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 13, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

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

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

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

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

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 18, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 19, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :

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

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

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 27, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  February 28, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

PROCLAMATIONS.

 (From Freneau's National Gazette of December 15, 1792.)

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

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

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

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

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be
affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.

 (SEAL.)

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By the President:
  THOMAS JEFFERSON.

 (From Annuals of Congress, Second Congress, 666.)

MARCH 1, 1793.

 The President of the United States to the President of the Senate :

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

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, PA.

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

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

MARCH 4, 1793.

FIFTH ANNUAL ADDRESS.

PHILADELPHIA,  December 3, 1793 .

 Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nor can such arrangements, with such objects, be exposed to the censure
or jealousy of the warmest friends of republican government. They are
incapable of abuse in the hands of the militia, who ought to possess
a pride in being the depository of the force of the Republic, and may
be trained to a degree of energy equal to every military exigency of
the United States. But it is an inquiry which can not be too solemnly
pursued, whether the act "more effectually to provide for the national
defense by establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States"
has organized them so as to produce their full effect; whether your own
experience in the several States has not detected some imperfections in
the scheme, and whether a material feature in an improvement of it ought
not to be to afford an opportunity for the study of those branches of
the military art which can scarcely ever be attained by practice alone.

The connection of the United States with Europe has become extremely
interesting. The occurrences which relate to it and have passed under
the knowledge of the Executive will be exhibited to Congress in a
subsequent communication.

When we contemplate the war on our frontiers, it may be truly affirmed
that every reasonable effort has been made to adjust the causes of
dissension with the Indians north of the Ohio. The instructions given
to the commissioners evince a moderation and equity proceeding from a
sincere love of peace, and a liberality having no restriction but the
essential interests and dignity of the United States. The attempt,
however, of an amicable negotiation having been frustrated, the troops
have marched to act offensively. Although the proposed treaty did not
arrest the progress of military preparation, it is doubtful how far the
advance of the season, before good faith justified active movements,
may retard them during the remainder of the year. From the papers and
intelligence which relate to this important subject you will determine
whether the deficiency in the number of troops granted by law shall be
compensated by succors of militia, or additional encouragements shall
be proposed to recruits.

An anxiety has been also demonstrated by the Executive for peace with
the Creeks and the Cherokees. The former have been relieved with corn
and with clothing, and offensive measures against them prohibited
during the recess of Congress. To satisfy the complaints of the latter,
prosecutions have been instituted for the violences committed upon them.
But the papers which will be delivered to you disclose the critical
footing on which we stand in regard to both those tribes, and it is
with Congress to pronounce what shall be done.

After they shall have provided for the present emergency, it will merit
their most serious labors to render tranquillity with the savages
permanent by creating ties of interest. Next to a rigorous execution of
justice on the violators of peace, the establishment of commerce with
the Indian nations in behalf of the United States is most likely to
conciliate their attachment. But it ought to be conducted without fraud,
without extortion, with constant and plentiful supplies, with a ready
market for the commodities of the Indians and a stated price for what
they give in payment and receive in exchange. Individuals will not
pursue such a traffic unless they be allured by the hope of profit; but
it will be enough for the United States to be reimbursed only. Should
this recommendation accord with the opinion of Congress, they will
recollect that it can not be accomplished by any means yet in the hands
of the Executive.

 Gentlemen of the House of Representatives :

The commissioners charged with the settlement of accounts between the
United States and individual States concluded their important functions
within the time limited by law, and the balances struck in their report,
which will be laid before Congress, have been placed on the books of
the Treasury.

On the 1st day of June last an installment of 1,000,000 florins became
payable on the loans of the United States in Holland. This was adjusted
by a prolongation of the period of reimbursement in nature of a new loan
at an interest of 5 per cent for the term of ten years, and the expenses
of this operation were a commission of 3 per cent.

The first installment of the loan of $2,000,000 from the Bank of the
United States has been paid, as was directed by law. For the second it
is necessary that provision should be made.

No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption
and discharge of the public debt. On none can delay be more injurious
or an economy of time more valuable.

The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has continued to
equal the anticipations which were formed of it, but it is not expected
to prove commensurate with all the objects which have been suggested.
Some auxiliary provisions will therefore, it is presumed, be requisite,
and it is hoped that these may be made consistently with a due regard to
the convenience of our citizens, who can not but be sensible of the true
wisdom of encountering a small present addition to their contributions
to obviate a future accumulation of burthens.

But here I can not forbear to recommend a repeal of the tax on the
transportation of public prints. There is no resource so firm for the
Government of the United States as the affections of the people, guided
by an enlightened policy; and to this primary good nothing can conduce
more than a faithful representation of public proceedings, diffused
without restraint throughout the United States.

An estimate of the appropriations necessary for the current service of
the ensuing year and a statement of a purchase of arms and military
stores made during the recess will be presented to Congress.

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

The several subjects to which I have now referred open a wide range to
your deliberations and involve some of the choicest interests of our
common country. Permit me to bring to your remembrance the magnitude
of your task. Without an unprejudiced coolness the welfare of the
Government may be hazarded; without harmony as far as consists with
freedom of sentiment its dignity may be lost. But as the legislative
proceedings of the United States will never, I trust, be reproached
for the want of temper or of candor, so shall not the public happiness
languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest cooperation.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

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

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Accept, sir, the thanks of the Senate for your speech delivered to both
Houses of Congress at the opening of the session. Your reelection to
the Chief Magistracy of the United States gives us sincere pleasure.
We consider it as an event every way propitious to the happiness of
our country, and your compliance with the call as a fresh instance of
the patriotism which has so repeatedly led you to sacrifice private
inclination to the public good. In the unanimity which a second time
marks this important national act we trace with particular satisfaction,
besides the distinguished tribute paid to the virtues and abilities
which it recognizes, another proof of that just discernment and
constancy of sentiments and views which have hitherto characterized
the citizens of the United States.

As the European powers with whom the United States have the most
extensive relations were involved in war, in which we had taken no part,
it seemed necessary that the disposition of the nation for peace should
be promulgated to the world, as well for the purpose of admonishing our
citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade and of acts hostile
to any of the belligerent parties as to obtain by a declaration of the
existing legal state of things an easier admission of our right to the
immunities of our situation. We therefore contemplate with pleasure the
proclamation by you issued, and give it our hearty approbation. We deem
it a measure well timed and wise, manifesting a watchful solicitude for
the welfare of the nation and calculated to promote it.

The several important matters presented to our consideration will, in
the course of the session, engage all the attention to which they are
respectively entitled, and as the public happiness will be the sole
guide of our deliberations, we are perfectly assured of receiving your
strenuous and most zealous cooperation.

JOHN ADAMS,

 Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate .

DECEMBER 9, 1793.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: The pleasure expressed by the Senate on my reelection to the
station which I fill commands my sincere and warmest acknowledgments. If
this be an event which promises the smallest addition to the happiness
of our country, as it is my duty so shall it be my study to realize the
expectation.

The decided approbation which the proclamation now receives from your
House, by completing the proofs that this measure is considered as
manifesting a vigilant attention to the welfare of the United States,
brings with it a peculiar gratification to my mind.

The other important subjects which have been communicated to you will,
I am confident, receive a due discussion, and the result will, I trust,
prove fortunate to the United States.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

DECEMBER 10, 1793.

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

SIR: The Representatives of the people of the United States, in meeting
you for the first time since you have been again called by an unanimous
suffrage to your present station, find an occasion which they embrace
with no less sincerity than promptitude for expressing to you their
congratulations on so distinguished a testimony of public approbation,
and their entire confidence in the purity and patriotism of the motives
which have produced this obedience to the voice of your country. It
is to virtues which have commanded long and universal reverence and
services from which have flowed great and lasting benefits that the
tribute of praise may be paid without the reproach of flattery, and it
is from the same sources that the fairest anticipations may be derived
in favor of the public happiness.

The United States having taken no part in the war which had embraced
in Europe the powers with whom they have the most extensive relations,
the maintenance of peace was justly to be regarded as one of the most
important duties of the Magistrate charged with the faithful execution
of the laws. We accordingly witness with approbation and pleasure
the vigilance with which you have guarded against an interruption of
that blessing by your proclamation admonishing our citizens of the
consequences of illicit or hostile acts toward the belligerent parties,
and promoting by a declaration of the existing legal state of things
an easier admission of our right to the immunities belonging to our
situation.

The connection of the United States with Europe has evidently become
extremely interesting. The communications which remain to be exhibited
to us will no doubt assist in giving us a fuller view of the subject and
in guiding our deliberations to such results as may comport with the
rights and true interests of our country.

We learn with deep regret that the measures, dictated by love of peace,
for obtaining an amicable termination of the afflicting war on our
frontiers have been frustrated, and that a resort to offensive measures
should have again become necessary. As the latter, however, must be
rendered more satisfactory in proportion to the solicitude for peace
manifested by the former, it is to be hoped they will be pursued under
the better auspices on that account, and be finally crowned with more
happy success.

In relation to the particular tribes of Indians against whom offensive
measures have been prohibited, as well as on all the other important
subjects which you have presented to our view, we shall bestow the
attention which they claim. We can not, however, refrain at this time
from particularly expressing our concurrence in your anxiety for the
regular discharge of the public debts as fast as circumstances and
events will permit and in the policy of removing any impediments
that may be found in the way of a faithful representation of public
proceedings throughout the United States, being persuaded with you
that on no subject more than the former can delay be more injurious or
an economy of time more valuable, and that with respect to the latter
no resource is so firm for the Government of the United States as the
affections of the people, guided by an enlightened policy.

Throughout our deliberations we shall endeavor to cherish every
sentiment which may contribute to render them conducive to the dignity
as well as to the welfare of the United States; and we join with you in
imploring that Being on whose will the fate of nations depends to crown
with success our mutual endeavors.

DECEMBER 6, 1793.

REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT.

GENTLEMEN: I shall not affect to conceal the cordial satisfaction which
I derive from the address of the House of Representatives. Whatsoever
those services may be which you have sanctioned by your favor, it is
a sufficient reward that they have been accepted as they were meant.
For the fulfillment of your anticipations of the future I can give
no other assurance than that the motives which you approve shall
continue unchanged.

It is truly gratifying to me to learn that the proclamation has been
considered as a seasonable guard against the interruption of the public
peace. Nor can I doubt that the subjects which I have recommended to
your attention as depending on legislative provisions will receive a
discussion suited to their importance. With every reason, then, it may
be expected that your deliberations, under the divine blessing, will
be matured to the honor and happiness of the United States.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

DECEMBER 7, 1793.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.

UNITED STATES,  December 5, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

As the present situation of the several nations of Europe, and
especially of those with which the United States have important
relations, can not but render the state of things between them and us
matter of interesting inquiry to the Legislature, and may indeed give
rise to deliberations to which they alone are competent, I have thought
it my duty to communicate to them certain correspondences which have
taken place.

The representative and executive bodies of France have manifested
generally a friendly attachment to this country; have given advantages
to our commerce and navigation, and have made overtures for placing
these advantages on permanent ground. A decree, however, of the National
Assembly subjecting vessels laden with provisions to be carried into
their ports and making enemy goods lawful prize in the vessel of a
friend, contrary to our treaty, though revoked at one time as to the
United States, has been since extended to their vessels also, as has
been recently stated to us. Representations on this subject will be
immediately given in charge to our minister there, and the result
shall be communicated to the Legislature.

It is with extreme concern I have to inform you that the proceedings
of the person whom they have unfortunately appointed their minister
plenipotentiary here have breathed nothing of the friendly spirit of
the nation which sent him. Their tendency, on the contrary, has been to
involve us in war abroad and discord and anarchy at home. So far as his
acts or those of his agents have threatened our immediate commitment in
the war, or flagrant insult to the authority of the laws, their effect
has been counteracted by the ordinary cognizance of the laws and by an
exertion of the powers confided to me. Where their danger was not
imminent they have been borne with from sentiments of regard to his
nation, from a sense of their friendship toward us, from a conviction
that they would not suffer us to remain long exposed to the action of a
person who has so little respected our mutual dispositions, and, I will
add, from a reliance on the firmness of my fellow-citizens in their
principles of peace and order. In the meantime I have respected and
pursued the stipulations of our treaties according to what I judged
their true sense, and have withheld no act of friendship which their
affairs have called for from us, and which justice to others left us
free to perform. I have gone farther. Rather than employ force for the
restitution of certain vessels which I deemed the United States bound to
restore, I thought it more advisable to satisfy the parties by avowing
it to be my opinion that if restitution were not made it would be
incumbent on the United States to make compensation. The papers now
communicated will more particularly apprise you of these transactions.

The vexations and spoliation understood to have been committed on
our vessels and commerce by the cruisers and officers of some of the
belligerent powers appear to require attention. The proofs of these,
however, not having been brought forward, the descriptions of citizens
supposed to have suffered were notified that, on furnishing them to the
Executive, due measures would be taken to obtain redress of the past and
more effectual provisions against the future. Should such documents be
furnished, proper representations will be made thereon, with a just
reliance on a redress proportioned to the exigency of the case.

The British Government having undertaken, by orders to the commanders
of their armed vessels, to restrain generally our commerce in corn and
other provisions to their own ports and those of their friends, the
instructions now communicated were immediately forwarded to our minister
at that Court. In the meantime some discussions on the subject took
place between him and them. These are also laid before you, and I may
expect to learn the result of his special instructions in time to make
it known to the Legislature during their present session.

Very early after the arrival of a British minister here mutual
explanations on the inexecution of the treaty of peace were entered into
with that minister. These are now laid before you for your information.

On the subjects of mutual interest between this country and Spain
negotiations and conferences are now depending. The public good
requiring that the present state of these should be made known to the
Legislature  in confidence only , they shall be the subject of a
separate and subsequent communication.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  December 16, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

The situation of affairs in Europe in the course of the year 1790
having rendered it possible that a moment might arrive favorable for
the arrangement of our unsettled matters with Spain, it was thought
proper to prepare our representative at that Court to avail us of it.
A confidential person was therefore dispatched to be the bearer of
instructions to him, and to supply, by verbal communications, any
additional information of which he might find himself in need. The
Government of France was at the same time applied to for its aid and
influence in this negotiation. Events, however, took a turn which did
not present the occasion hoped for.

About the close of the ensuing year I was informed through the
representatives of Spain here that their Government would be willing
to renew at Madrid the former conferences on these subjects. Though the
transfer of scene was not what would have been desired, yet I did not
think it important enough to reject the proposition, and therefore,
with the advice and consent of the Senate, I appointed commissioners
plenipotentiary for negotiating and concluding a treaty with that
country on the several subjects of boundary, navigation, and commerce,
and gave them the instructions now communicated. Before these
negotiations, however, could be got into train the new troubles which
had arisen in Europe had produced new combinations among the powers
there, the effects of which are but too visible in the proceedings
now laid before you.

In the meantime some other points of discussion had arisen with that
country, to wit, the restitution of property escaping into the
territories of each other, the mutual exchange of fugitives from
justice, and, above all the mutual interferences with the Indians lying
between us. I had the best reason to believe that the hostilities
threatened and exercised by the Southern Indians on our border were
excited by the agents of that Government. Representations were thereon
directed to be made by our commissioners to the Spanish Government, and
a proposal to cultivate with good faith the peace of each other with
those people. In the meantime corresponding suspicions were entertained,
or pretended to be entertained, on their part of like hostile
excitements by our agents to disturb their peace with the same nations.
These were brought forward by the representatives of Spain here in a
style which could not fail to produce attention. A claim of patronage
and protection of those Indians was asserted; a mediation between them
and us by that sovereign assumed; their boundaries with us made a
subject of his interference, and at length, at the very moment when
these savages were committing daily inroads upon our frontier, we were
informed by them that "the continuation of the peace, good harmony, and
perfect friendship of the two nations was very problematical for the
future, unless the United States should take more convenient measures
and of greater energy than those adopted for a long time past."

If their previous correspondence had worn the appearance of a desire to
urge on a disagreement, this last declaration left no room to evade it,
since it could not be conceived we would submit to the scalping knife
and tomahawk of the savage without any resistance. I thought it time,
therefore, to know if these were the views of their sovereign, and
dispatched a special messenger with instructions to our commissioners,
which are among the papers now communicated. Their last letter gives us
reason to expect very shortly to know the result. I must add that the
Spanish representatives here, perceiving that their last communication
had made considerable impression, endeavored to abate this by some
subsequent professions, which, being also among the communications
to the Legislature, they will be able to form their own conclusions.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  December 16, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I lay before you a report of the Secretary of State on the measures
which have been taken on behalf of the United States for the purpose of
obtaining a recognition of our treaty with Morocco and for the ransom of
our citizens and establishment of peace with Algiers.

While it is proper our citizens should know that subjects which so
much concern their interest and their feelings have duly engaged the
attention of their Legislature and Executive, it would still be improper
that some particulars of this communication should be made known.
The confidential conversation stated in one of the last letters sent
herewith is one of these. Both justice and policy require that the
source of that information should remain secret. So a knowledge of
the sums meant to have been given for peace and ransom might have a
disadvantageous influence on future proceedings for the same objects.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  December 23, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

Since the communications which were made to you on the affairs of the
United States with Spain and on the truce between Portugal and Algiers
some other papers have been received, which, making a part of the same
subjects, are now communicated for your information.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

UNITED STATES,  December 30, 1793 .

 Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives :

I lay before you, for your consideration, a letter from the Secretary
of State, informing me of certain impediments which have arisen to the
coinage of the precious metals at the Mint, as also a letter from the
same officer relative to certain advances of money which have been made
on public account. Should you think proper to sanction what has been
done, or be of opinion that anything more shall be done in the same way,
you will judge whether there are not circumstances which would render
secrecy expedient.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.