The Congressional Globe, Volume 26: Thirty-Second Congress, Second Session Page: 10
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10
THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE.
Dec. 6,
it could not, and so informed the head of that De-
partment. Orders were immediately issued by him
to the commissioner and surveyor to make no fur-
ther requisitions on the Department, as they could
not be paid, and to discontinue all operations on
the southern line of New Mexico. But as the
Department had no exact information as to the
amount of provisions and money which remained
unexpended 111 the hands of the commissioner and
surveyor, it was left discretionary with them to
continue the survey down the Rio Grande as far
as the means at their disposal would enable them,
or a: once to disband the Commission. A special
messenger has since arrived from the officer in
charge of the survey on the river, with information
that the funds subject to his control were exhaust-
ed, and that the officers and others employed m the
service were destitute alike of the means of prose-
cuting the work and of returning to their homes.
The object of the proviso was doubtless to arrest
the survey of the southern and western lines of
New Mexico, in regard to which different opinions
have been expressed; for it is hardly to be supposed
that there could be any objection to that part of
the line which extends along the channel of the
Rio Grande. But the terms of the law are so
broad as to forbid the use of any part of the money
for the prosecution of the work, or even for the
payment, to the officers and agents, of the arrear-
ages of pay which are justly due to them.
I earnestly invite your prompt attention to this
subject, and recommend a modification of the
terms of the proviso, so as to enable the Depart-
ment to use as much of the appropriation as will
be necessary to discharge the existing obligations
of the Government, and to cqpiplete the survey of
the Rio Grande to us mouth.
It will also be proper to make further provision
by law for the fulfillment of our treaty with Mex-
ico, for running and marking the residue of the
boundary line between the two countries.
Permit me to invite your particular attention to
the interests of the District of Columbia, which
are confided by the Constitution to your peculiar
care.
Among the measures which seem to me of the
greatest importance to its prosperity, are the in-
troduction of a copious supply of water into the
city of Washington, and the construction of suit-
able bridges across the Potomac, to replace those
which were destroyed by high water in the early
part of the present year.
At the last session of Congress an appropria-
tion was made to defray the cost of the surveys
necessary for determining the best means of af-
fording an unfailing supply of good and whole-
some water. Some progress has been made in
the survey, and as soon as it is completed the
result will be laid before you.
Further appropriations will also be necessary
for grading and paving the streets ani avenues,
and inclosing and embellishing the public grounds
within the city of Washington.
I commend all these objects, together with the
charitable institutions of the District, to your fk-
vorable regard.
Every effort has been made to protect our fron-
tier, and that of the adjoining Mexican States,
from the incursions of the Indian tribes. Of about
eleven thousand men of which the Army is com-
posed, nearly eight thousand are employed in the
defense of the newly-acquired territory, (includ-
ing Texas,) and of emigrants proceeding thereto.
I am gratified to say that these efforts have been
unusually successful. With the exception of
some partial outbreaks in California and Oregon,
and occasional depredations on a portion of the
Rio Grande,owing, it is believed, to the disturbed
state of that bord*r region, the inroads of the In- i
dians have been effectually restrained. j
Experience has shown, however, that whenever i
the two races are brought into contact, collisions !
will inevitably occur. To prevent these collisions
the United States have generally set apart por-
tions of their territory for the exclusive occupa-
tion of the Indian tribes. A difficulty occurs,
however, in the application of this policy to Texas.
By the terms of the compact by which that State
was admitted into the Union, she retained the i
ownership of all the vacant lands within her lim- !
its. The government of that State, it is under-
stood, has assigned no portion of her territory to
the Indians; but as fast as her settlements advance !
lays it off into counties, and proceeds to survey I,
and sell it. This policy manifestly tends, not
only to alarm and irritate the Indians, but to com-
pel them to resort to plunder for subsistence. It
also deprives this Government of that inlluence
and control over them without which no durable
peace can ever exist between them and the whites.
1 trust, therefore, that a due regard for her own
interests, apart from considerations of humanity
and justice, will induce that State to assign a
small portion of her vast domain for the provis-
ional occupancy of the small remnants ot tribes
within her borders, subject of course to her own-
ership and eventual jurisdiction. If she should
fail to do this, the fulfillment of our treaty stipu-
lations with Mexico, and our duty to the Indians
themselves, will, it is feared, become a subject of
serious embarrassment to the Government. It is
hoped, however, that a timely and just provision
by Texas may avert this evil.
No appropriations for fortifications were made
at the last two sessions of Congress. The cause
of this omission is, probably, to be found in a
growing belief thai the system of fortifications
adopted in 1816, and heretofore acted on, requires
revision.
The subject certainly deserves full and careful
investigation; but it should not be delayed longer
than can be avoided. In the mean time there are
certain works which have been commenced—some
of them nearly completed—designed to protect
our principal sea-ports, from Boston to New Or-
leans, and a few other important points. In re-
gard to the necessity for these works, it is believed
that little difference of opinion exists among mili-
tary men. I therefore recommend that the appro-
priations necessary to prosecute them be made.
I invite your attention to the remarks on this
subject, and on others connected with his Depart-
ment, contained in the accompanying report of the
Secretary of War.
Measures have been taken to carry into effect
the law of the last session making provision for
the improvement of certain rivers and harbors,
and it is believed that the arrangements made for
that purpose will combine efficiency with econo-
my. Owing chiefly to the advanced season when
the act was passed, little has yet been done in
regard to many of the work* beyond making the i
necessary preparation*. With respect to a few
of the improvements, the sums already appropria-
ted will suffice to complete them, but most of them
will require additional appropriations. I trust
thai these appropriations will be made, and that
this wise and beneficent policy, so auspiciously re-
sumed, will be continued. Great care should be
taken, however, to commence no work which is
not of sufficient importance to the commerce of the
country to be viewed as national in its character.
But works which have been commenced should
not be discontinued until completed, as otherwise
the sums expended will, in most cases, be lost.
The report from the Navy Department will in-
form you of the prosperous condition of the branch
of the public service committed to its charge. It
presents to your consideration many topics and
suggestions of which I ask your approval. It
exhibits an unusual degree of activity in the oper-
ations of the Department during the past year.
The preparations for the Japan expedition, to
which I have already alluded;the arrangements
made for the exploration and survey of the China
Seas, the Northern Pacific, and Bell ring's Straits;
the incipient measures taken towards a reconnois-
sance of the Continent of Africa eastward of Libe-
ria; the preparation for an early examination of
the tributaries of the river La Plata, which a recent
decree of the Provisional Chief of the Argentine
Confederation has opened to navigation; all these
enterprises, and the means by which they are pro-
posed to be accomplished, have commanded my
full approbation, and I have no doubt will be pro-
ductive of most useful results.
Two officers of the Navy were heretofore in-
structed to explore the whole extent of the Ama-
zon river, from the confines of Peru to its mouth.
1 he return of one of them has placed in the pos-
session of the Government an interesting and
valuable account of the character and resources of
a abounding in the materials of commerce,
and which, if opeired to the industry of the world
will prove an inexhaustible fund of wealth. The
report of this exploration wilf be communicated to
you as soon as it is completed. ,
Among oth«subjects offered to your notice by |
' the Secretary of the Navy, I select for special
commendation, in view of its connection with the
interests of the Navy, the plan submitted by him
for the establishment of a permanent corps of sea-
men, and the suggestions he lias presented for the
reorganization of the Naval Academy.
In reference to the first of these, I take occasion
to say that I think it will greatly improve the
efficiency of the service, and that I regard it as
still more entitled to favor for the salutary influ-
ence it must exert upon the naval discipline, now
greatly disturbed by the increasing spirit of in-
subordination, resulting from our present system.
The plan proposed for the organization of the
seamen furnishes a judicious substitute for the
law of September, 1850, abolishing corporal pun-
ishment, and satisfactorily sustains the policy of
that act, under conditions well adapted to main-
tain the authority of command and the order and
security of our ships. It is believed that any
change which proposes permanently to dispense
with this mode of punishment, should be preceded
by a system of enlistment which ahull supply the
Navy with seamen of the most meritorious class,
whose good deportment and pride of character
may preclude all occasion for a resort to penalties
of a harsh or degrading nature. The safety of a
ship and her crew is often dependent upon imme-
diate obedience to a command, and the authority
to enforce it must be equally ready. The arrest
of a refractory seaman, in such moments, not
only deprives the ship of indispensable aid, but
imposes a necessity for double service on others
whose fidelity to their duties may be relied upon
in such an emergency. The exposure to this
increased and arduous labor, since the passage of
the act of 1850, has already had, to a most
observable and injurious extent, the effect of pre-
venting the enlistment of the best seamen in the
Navy. The plan now suggested is designed to
promote a condition of service in which this ob-
jection will no longer exist. The details of this
plan may be established in great part, if not
altogether, by the Executive, under the authority
of existing laws; but I have thought it proper, in
accordance with the suggestion of the Secretary
of the Navy, to submit it to your approval.
| The establishment of a corps of apprentices for
j the Navy, or boys to be enlisted until they be-
j come of age, and to be employed under such reg-
ulations as the Navy Department may devise, as
proposed in the report, I cordially approve and
i commend to your consideration; and I also con-
1 cur in the suggestion that this system for tie early
training of seamen may be most usefully ingrafted
upon the service of our merchant-marine.
The other proposition of the report to which I
have referred—the reorganization of the Naval
Academy—I recommend to your attention as a
project worthy of your encouragement and sup-
port. The valuable services already rendered by
this institution entitle it to the continuance of your
fostering care.
Your attention is respectfully called to the report
of the Postmaster General for the detailed opera-
tion of his Department during the last fiscal year,
from which it will be seen that the receipts from
postages for that time were less by $1,431,696
than for the preceding fiscal year, being a decrease
of about 23 per cent.
This diminution is attributable to the reduction
in the rates of postage made by the act of March
3, 1851, which reduction took effect at the com-
mencement of the last fiscal year.
Although in its operation during the last year
the act referred to has not fulfilled the predictions
, friends by increasing the correspondence of
the country in proportion to the reduction of post-
age, I should nevertheless question the policy of
returning to higher rates. Experience warrants
the expectation that as the community becomes
| accustomed to cheap postage, correspondence will
i increase. It is believed that from this cause, and
from the rapid growth of the country in popula-
tion and business, the receipts of the Department
must ultimately exceed its expenses, and that the
country may safely rely upon the continuance of
the present cheap rate of postage.
In former messages I have, among other things,
respectfully recommended to the consideration of
Congress the propriety and necessity of further
legislation for the protection and punishment of
foreign consuls residing in the United States; to
revive with certain modiiiceitions the -act -of 10th
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United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 26: Thirty-Second Congress, Second Session, book, 1853; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30783/m1/50/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.