State of the Union | Page 9

received with respect, our officers
have been treated with kindness and courtesy, and they have on all
occasions pursued a course of strict neutrality, in accordance with the
policy of our Government.
The naval force at present in commission is as large as is admissible
with the number of men authorized by Congress to be employed.
I invite your attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of the
Navy on the subject of a reorganization of the Navy in its various
grades of officers, and the establishing of a retired list for such of the
officers as are disqualified for active and effective service. Should
Congress adopt some such measure as is recommended, it will greatly
increase the efficiency of the Navy and reduce its expenditures.
I also ask your attention to the views expressed by him in reference to
the employment of war steamers and in regard to the contracts for the
transportation of the United States mails and the operation of the
system upon the prosperity of the Navy.
By an act of Congress passed August 14, 1848, provision was made for
extending post-office and mail accommodations to California and
Oregon. Exertions have been made to execute that law, but the limited
provisions of the act, the inadequacy of the means it authorizes, the ill
adaptation of our post-office laws to the situation of that country, and
the measure of compensation for services allowed by those laws,
compared with the prices of labor and rents in California, render those

exertions in a great degree ineffectual. More particular and efficient
provision by law is required on this subject.
The act of 1845 reducing postage has now, by its operation during four
years, produced results fully showing that the income from such
reduced postage is sufficient to sustain the whole expense of the service
of the Post-Office Department, not including the cost of transportation
in mail steamers on the lines from New York to Chagres and from
Panama to Astoria, which have not been considered by Congress as
properly belonging to the mail service.
It is submitted to the wisdom of Congress whether a further reduction
of postage should not now be made, more particularly on the letter
correspondence. This should be relieved from the unjust burden of
transporting and delivering the franked matter of Congress, for which
public service provision should be made from the Treasury. I
confidently believe that a change may safely be made reducing all
single letter postage to the uniform rate of 5 cents, regardless of
distance, without thereby imposing any greater tax on the Treasury than
would constitute a very moderate compensation for this public service;
and I therefore respectfully recommend such a reduction. Should
Congress prefer to abolish the franking privilege entirely, it seems
probable that no demand on the Treasury would result from the
proposed reduction of postage. Whether any further diminution should
now be made, or the result of the reduction to 5 cents, which I have
recommended, should be first tested, is submitted to your decision.
Since the commencement of the last session of Congress a postal treaty
with Great Britain has been received and ratified, and such relations
have been formed by the post-office departments of the two countries
in pursuance of that treaty as to carry its provisions into full operation.
The attempt to extend this same arrangement through England to
France has not been equally successful, but the purpose has not been
abandoned.
For a particular statement of the condition of the Post-Office
Department and other matters connected with that branch of the public
service I refer you to the report of the Postmaster-General.
By the act of the 3d of March, 1849, a board was constituted to make
arrangements for taking the Seventh Census, composed of the Secretary
of State, the Attorney-General, and the Postmaster-General; and it was

made the duty of this board "to prepare and cause to be printed such
forms and schedules as might be necessary for the full enumeration of
the inhabitants of the United States, and also proper forms and
schedules for collecting in statistical tables, under proper heads, such
information as to mines, agriculture, commerce, manufactures,
education, and other topics as would exhibit a full view of the pursuits,
industry, education, and resources of the country." The duties enjoined
upon the census board thus established having been performed, it now
rests with Congress to enact a law for carrying into effect the provision
of the Constitution which requires an actual enumeration of the people
of the United States within the ensuing year.
Among the duties assigned by the Constitution to the General
Government is one of local and limited application, but not on that
account the less obligatory. I allude to the trust committed to Congress
as the exclusive legislator and sole