A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents | Page 5

claims on
the Government of Spain founded on express treaty stipulations, and a
hope is indulged that the representations which have been made to that
Government on this subject may lead ere long to beneficial results.
A correspondence has taken place between the Secretary of State and
the minister of Her Britannic Majesty accredited to this Government on
the subject of Alexander McLeod's indictment and imprisonment,
copies of which are herewith communicated to Congress.

In addition to what appears from these papers, it may be proper to state
that Alexander McLeod has been heard by the supreme court of the
State of New York on his motion to be discharged from imprisonment,
and that the decision of that court has not as yet been pronounced.
The Secretary of State has addressed to me a paper upon two subjects
interesting to the commerce of the country, which will receive my
consideration, and which I have the honor to communicate to Congress.
So far as it depends on the course of this Government, our relations of
good will and friendship will be sedulously cultivated with all nations.
The true American policy will be found to consist in the exercise of a
spirit of justice, to be manifested in the discharge of all our
international obligations to the weakest of the family of nations as well
as to the most powerful. Occasional conflicts of opinion may arise, but
when the discussions incident to them are conducted in the language of
truth and with a strict regard to justice the scourge of war will for the
most part be avoided. The time ought to be regarded as having gone by
when a resort to arms is to be esteemed as the only proper arbiter of
national differences.
The census recently taken shows a regularly progressive increase in our
population. Upon the breaking out of the War of the Revolution our
numbers scarcely equaled 3,000,000 souls; they already exceed
17,000,000, and will continue to progress in a ratio which duplicates in
a period of about twenty-three years. The old States contain a territory
sufficient in itself to maintain a population of additional millions, and
the most populous of the new States may even yet be regarded as but
partially settled, while of the new lands on this side of the Rocky
Mountains, to say nothing of the immense region which stretches from
the base of those mountains to the mouth of the Columbia River, about
770,000,000 acres, ceded and unceded, still remain to be brought into
market. We hold out to the people of other countries an invitation to
come and settle among us as members of our rapidly growing family,
and for the blessings which we offer them we require of them to look
upon our country as their country and to unite with us in the great task
of preserving our institutions and thereby perpetuating our liberties. No

motive exists for foreign conquest; we desire but to reclaim our almost
illimitable wildernesses and to introduce into their depths the lights of
civilization. While we shall at all times be prepared to vindicate the
national honor, our most earnest desire will be to maintain an unbroken
peace.
In presenting the foregoing views I can not withhold the expression of
the opinion that there exists nothing in the extension of our Empire
over our acknowledged possessions to excite the alarm of the patriot for
the safety of our institutions. The federative system, leaving to each
State the care of its domestic concerns and devolving on the Federal
Government those of general import, admits in safety of the greatest
expansion; but at the same time I deem it proper to add that there will
be found to exist at all times an imperious necessity for restraining all
the functionaries of this Government within the range of their
respective powers, thereby preserving a just balance between the
powers granted to this Government and those reserved to the States and
to the people.
From the report of the Secretary of the Treasury you will perceive that
the fiscal means, present and accruing, are insufficient to supply the
wants of the Government for the current year. The balance in the
Treasury on the 4th day of March last not covered by outstanding drafts,
and exclusive of trust funds, is estimated at $860,000. This includes the
sum of $215,000 deposited in the Mint and its branches to procure
metal for coining and in process of coinage, and which could not be
withdrawn without inconvenience, thus leaving subject to draft in the
various depositories the sum of $645,000. By virtue of two several acts
of Congress the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to issue on
and after the 4th day of March last Treasury notes to the amount of
$5,413,000, making an