lic has been uniformly of the most friendly character; and having thus removed the only alleged obstacle to harmonious intercourse, I cannot but hope that an advantageous change will occur in our affairs.

"In justice to Mr. Poinsett, it is proper to say, that my immediate compliance with the application for his recall, and the appointment of a successor, are not to be ascribed to any evidence that the imputation of an improper interference by him in the local politics of Mexico was well founded; nor to a want of confidence in his talents or integrity; and to add, that the truth of that charge has been affirmed by the federal government of Mexico in its communications with his.

"I consider it one of the most urgent of my duties to bring to your attention the propriety of amending that part of our constitution which relates to the election of president and vice-presidents. Our system of government was, by its framers, deemed an experiment; and they, therefore, consistently provided a mode of remedying its defects.

"To the people belongs the right of electing their chief magistrate; it was never designed that their choice should, in any case, be defeated, either by the intervention of electoral colleges, or by the agency confided, under certain contingencies, to the House of Representatives. Experience proves, that in proportion as agents to execute the will of the people are multiplied, there is danger of their wishes being frustrated. Some may be unfaithful; all are liable to err. So far, therefore, as the people can with

convenience speak, it is safer for them to express their own will.

"The number of aspirants to the presidency, and the diversity of the interests which may influence their claims, leave little reason to expect a choice in the first instance; and, in that event, the election must devolve on the House of Representatives, where, it is obvious, the will of the people will not be always ascertained, or, if ascertained, may not be regarded. From the mode of voting by States, the choice is to be made by twenty-four votes; and it may often occur that one of these may be controlled by an individual representative. Honours and offices are at the disposal of the successful candidate. Repeated ballotings may make it apparent that a single individual holds the cast in his hand. May he not be tempted to name his reward? But even without corruption-supposing the probity of the representative to be proof against the powerful motives by which he may be assailed, the will of the people is still constantly liable to be misrepresented. One may err from ignorance of the wishes of his constituents; another, from a conviction that it is his duty to be governed by his own judgment of the fitness of the candidates: finally, although all were inflexibly honest-all accurately informed of the wishes of their constituents-yet, under the present mode of election, a minority may often elect the president; when this happens, it may reasonably be expected that efforts will be made on the part of the majority, to rectify this injurious operation of their institutions. But although no evil of this character should result from such a

perversion of the first principle of our system that the majority is to govern-it must be very certain that a president elected by a minority cannot enjoy the confidence necessary to the successful discharge of his duties.

"In this, as in all other matters of public concern, policy requires that as few impediments as possible should exist to the free operation of the public will. Let us, then, endeavour so to amend our system, that the office of chief magistrate may not be conferred upon any citizen but in pursuance of a fair expression of the will of the majority.

"I would, therefore, recommend such an amendment of the constitution as may remove all intermediate agency in the election of vice-president. The mode may be so regulated as to preserve to each State its present relative weight in the election; and a failure in the first attempt may be provided for, by confining the second to a choice between the two highest candidates. In connexion with such an amendment, it would seem advisable to limit the service of the chief magistrate to a single term, of either four or six years. If, however, it should not be adopted, it is worthy of consideration whether a provision, disqualifying for office the representatives in Congress on whom such an election may have devolved, would not be proper.

"While members of Congress can be constitutionally appointed to offices of trust and profit, it will be the practice, even under the most conscientious adherence to duty, to select them for such stations as they are believed to be better qualified to fill than other

citizens; but the purity of our government would doubtless be promoted, by the exclusion from all appointments in the gift of the president in whose election they have been officially concerned. The nature of the judicial office, and the necessity of securing in the cabinet, and in diplomatic stations of the highest rank, the best talents and political experience, should, perhaps, except these from the exclusion.

"There are, perhaps, few men who can, for any great length of time, enjoy office and power without being more or less under the influence of feelings unfavourable to a faithful discharge of their public duties. Their integrity may be proof against improper considerations immediately addressed to themselves, but they are apt to acquire a habit of looking with indifference upon the public interests, and of tolerating conduct from which an unpractised man would revolt. Office is considered as a species of property; and government, rather as a means of promoting individual interests, than as an instrument created solely for the service of the people.

Corruption in some, and in others a perversion of correct feelings and principles, divert government from its legitimate ends, and make it an engine for the support of the few at the expense of the many. The duties of all public offices are, or at least admit of being made, so plain and simple, that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance; and I not but believe, that more is lost by the long continuance of men in office than is generally to be gained by their experience. I

can

submit, therefore, to your consideration, whether the efficiency of the government would not be promoted, and official industry and integrity better secured, by a general extension of the law which limits appointments for four years. "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people, no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another. Offices were not established to give support to particular men at the public expense. No individual wrong is therefore done by removal, since neither appointment to, nor continuance in, office, is matter of right. The incumbent became an officer with a view to public benefits; and when these require his removal, they are not to be sacrificed to private interests. It is the people, and they alone, who have a right to complain, when a bad officer is substituted for a good one. He who is removed has the same means of obtaining a living that are enjoyed by the millions who never held office. The proposed limitations would destroy the idea of property, now so generally connected with official station, and although individual distress may be sometimes produced, it would, by promoting that rotation which constitutes a leading principle in the republican creed, give healthful action to the system.

"No very considerable change has occurred during the recess of Congress, in the condition of either our agriculture, commerce, or manufactures. The operation of the tariff has not proved so injurious to the two former, nor as beneficial to the latter, as was an ticipated. Importations of foreign

goods have not been sensibly diminished, while domestic competition, under an illusive excitement, has increased the production much beyond the demand for home consumption. The consequences have been low prices, temporary embarrassment, aud partial loss. That such of our manufacturing establishments as are based upon capital, and are prudently managed, will survive the shock, and be ultimately profitable, there is no good reason to doubt.

"To regulate its conduct, so as to promote equally the prosperity of these three cardinal interests, is one of the most difficult tasks of government; and it may be regretted that the complicated restrictions which now embarrass the intercourse of nations could not, by common consent, be abolished, and commerce allowed to flow in those channels to which individual enterprise-always its surest guide-might direct it. But we must ever expect selfish legislation in other nations, and are, therefore, compelled to adapt our own to their regulations, in the manner best calculated to avoid serious injury, and to harmonize the conflicting interests of our agriculture, our commerce, and our manufactures. Under these impressions, I invite your attention to the existing tariff, believing that some of its provisions require modification.

"The general rule to be applied in graduating the duties upon articles of foreign growth or manufacture, is that which will place our own in fair competition with those of other countries; and the inducements to advance even a step beyond this point are con

trolling in regard to those articles which are of primary necessity in time of war. When we reflect upon the difficulty and delicacy of this operation, it is important that it should never be attempted but with the utmost caution. Frequent legislation, in regard to any branch of industry, affecting its value, and by which its capital may be transferred to new channels, must always be productive of hazardous speculation and loss. In deliberating, therefore, on these interesting subjects, local feelings and prejudices should be merged in the patriotic determination to promote the great interests of the whole. All attempts to connect them with the party conflicts of the day are necessarily injurious, and should be discountenanced. Our action upon them should be under the control of higher and purer motives. Legislation, subjected to such influences, can never be just, and will not long retain the sanction of a people, whose active patriotism is not bounded by sectional limits, nor insensible to that spirit of concession and forbearance which gave life to our political compact, and still sustains it. Discarding all calculations of political ascendancy, the north, the south, the east, and the west, should unite in diminishing any burthen of which either may justly complain. "The agricultural interest of our country is so essentially connected with every other, and so superior in importance to them all, that it is scarcely necessary to invite to it your particular attention. It is principally as manufactures and commerce tend to increase the value of agricultural productions, and to extend their application to

the wants and comforts of society, that they deserve the fostering care of government.

"Looking forward to the period, not far distant, when a sinkingfund will no longer be required, the duties on those articles of importation which cannot come in competition with our own productions are the first that should engage the attention of Congress in the modification of the tariff. Of these, tea and coffee are the most prominent: they enter largely into the consumption of the country, and have become articles of necessity to all classes. A reduction, therefore, of the existing duties, will be felt as a common benefit; but, like all other legislation connected with commerce, to be efficacious and not injurious, it should be gradual and certain. "The public prosperity is evinced in the increased revenue arising from the sales of the public lands, and in the steady maintenance of that produced by imposts and tonnage, notwithstanding the additional duties imposed by the act of 19th of May, 1828, and the unusual importations in the early part of that year.

"The balance in the treasury on the 1st of January, 1829, was 5,972,435 dollars and 81 cents. The receipts of the current year are estimated at 24,602,230 dollars, and the expenditures for the same time at 26,164,595 dollars; leaving a balance in the treasury, on the 1st of January next, of 4,410,070 dollars and 91 cents.

"There will have been paid, on account of the public debt, during the present year, the sum of 12,405,005 dollars and 80 cents; reducing the whole debt of the government, on the 1st of January