should take place in any of those countries it will proceed from causes which have no existence and are utterly unknown in these States, in which there is but one order, that of the people, to whom the sovereignty exclusively belongs. Should war break out in any of those countries, who can foretell the extent to which it may be carried or the desolation which it may spread? Exempt as we are from these causes, our internal tranquillity is secure; and distant as we are from the troubled scene, and faithful to first principles in regard to other powers, we might reasonably presume that we should not be molested by them. This, however, ought not to be calculated on as certain. Unprovoked injuries are often inflicted, and even the peculiar felicity of our situation might with some be a cause for excitement and aggression. The history of the late wars in Europe furnishes a complete demonstration that no system of conduct, however correct in principle, can protect neutral powers from injury from any party; that a defenseless position and distinguished love of peace are the surest invitations to war, and that there is no way to avoid it other than by being always prepared and willing for just cause to meet it. If there be a people on earth whose more especial duty it is to be at all times prepared to defend the rights with which they are blessed, and to surpass all others in sustaining the necessary burthens, and in submitting to sacrifices to make such preparations, it is undoubtedly the people of these States. When we see that a civil war of the most frightful character rages from the Adriatic to the Black Sea; that strong symptoms of war appear in other parts, proceeding from causes which, should it break out, may become general and be of long duration; that the war still continues between Spain and the independent governments, her late Provinces, in this hemisphere; that it is likewise menaced between Portugal and Brazil, in consequence of the attempt of the latter to dismember itself from the former, and that a system of piracy of great extent is maintained in the neighboring seas, which will require equal vigilance and decision to suppress it, the reasons for sustaining the attitude which we now hold and for pushing forward all our measures of defense with the utmost vigor appear to me to acquire new force. The United States owe to the world a great example, and, by means thereof, to the cause of liberty and humanity a generous support. They have so far succeeded to the satisfaction of the virtuous and enlightened of every country. There is no reason to doubt that their whole movement will be regulated by a sacred regard to principle, all our institutions being founded on that basis. The ability to support our own cause under any trial to which it may be exposed is the great point on which the public solicitude rests. It has been often charged against free governments that they have neither the foresight nor the virtue to provide at the proper season for great emergencies; that their course is improvident and expensive; that war will always find them unprepared, and, whatever may be its calamities, that its terrible warnings will be disregarded and forgotten as soon as peace returns. I have full confidence that this charge so far as relates to the United States will be shewn to be utterly destitute of truth. JAMES MONROE. SPECIAL MESSAGES. To the Senate of the United States: DECEMBER 4, 1822. The convention between the United States and France, concluded at Washington on the 24th day of June last, is now transmitted to the Senate for their advice and consent with regard to its ratification, together with the documents relating to the negotiation, which may serve to elucidate the deliberations of the Senate concerning its objects and the purposes to which it was adapted. To the Senate of the United States: JAMES MONROE. DECEMBER 4, 1822. I transmit herewith to the Senate, for their constitutional consideration and decision thereon, a convention between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at St. Petersburg on the 12th day of July last, under the mediation of His Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, together with the documents appertaining thereto, and which may elucidate the motives for its negotiation and the objects for the accomplishment of which it is intended. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 6, 1822. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 7th of May last, requiring that a plan for the peace establishment of the Navy of the United States and also of the Marine Corps should be communicated to that House at the present session, I transmit a report of the Secretary of the Navy, containing a plan which has been prepared for the proposed establishmcat. To the Senate of the United States: JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 7, 1822. In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of the 8th of May last, requesting "information relative to the copper mines on the southern shore of Lake Superior, their number, value, and position, the names of the Indian tribes who claim them, the practicability of extinguishing their titles, and the probable advantages which may result to the Republic from the acquisition and working these mines," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, which comprises the information desired in the resolution referred to. To the Senate of the United States: JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, December 9, 1822. Recent information of the multiplied outrages and depredations which have been committed on our seamen and commerce by the pirates in the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, exemplified by the death of a very meritorious officer, seems to call for some prompt and decisive measures on the part of the Government. All the public vessels adapted to that service which can be spared from other indispensable duties are already employed in it; but from the knowledge which has been acquired of the places from whence these outlaws issue and to which they escape from danger it appears that it will require a particular kind of force, capable of pursuing them into the shallow waters to which they retire, effectually to suppress them. I submit to the consideration of the Senate the propriety of organizing such force for that important object. JAMES MONROE. [The same message, dated December 6, 1822, was sent to the House of Representatives.] To the Senate of the United States: WASHINGTON, December 9, 1822. In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 22d of February last, "requesting the President of the United States to cause to be collected and communicated to the Senate at the commencement of the next session of Congress the best information which he may be able to obtain relative to certain Christian Indians and the lands intended for their benefit on the Muskingum, in the State of Ohio, granted under an act of Congress of June 1, 1796, to the Society of the United Brethren for Propagating the Gospel among the Heathen, showing as correctly as possible the advance or decline of said Indians in numbers, morals, and intellectual endowments; whether the lands have inured to their sole benefit, and, if not, to whom, in whole or in part, have such benefits accrued," I transmit a report from the Secretary of War with the accompanying documents. JAMES MONROE. To the Senaie of the United States: WASHINGTON, January 3, 1823. In compliance with the three resolutions of the Senate of the 5th April, 1822, requesting the President of the United States to communicate in detail the expenses of building each vessel of war authorized by the act of the 2d of January, 1813, and its supplements, and also the names, number, grade, etc., of the officers and men employed at each navy-yard and naval station during the two years immediately preceding the 1st of January, 1822, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of the Navy, with the accompanying documents, which contains the desired information. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 3, 1823. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with the resolutions of the House of Representatives of the 8th of January, 7th May, and 17th December, 1822, requesting the President of the United States to cause to be laid before that House a detailed statement of the current expenses of the Ordnance Department for the years 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, and 1821, and as much as can be shewn for the year 1822, and also the number and local position of each of the armories, arsenals, and magazines of the United States, the total expense of constructing and repairing the same up to the year 1821; the number of cannon and other arms annually made at each, and the expenses of each armory and arsenal for each year from 1816 to 1821, inclusive, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War, accompanied by such documents as will be found to contain the desired information. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 3, 1823. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States of the 19th of December, 1822, requesting the President of the United States to cause to be laid before that House the several laws which have been made by the governor and legislative council of Florida, together with such information as may be in the possession of the Executive, I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of State, with the accompanying documents, which contains the information desired. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 6, 1823. To the House of Representatives of the United States: In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 19th of December last, requesting the President of the United States to communicate to the House the progress which has been made in the execution of the act of the last session entitled "An act to abolish the Indian trading establishments," with a report from the factories, respectively, as the same were made to him, I transmit a report from the Secretary of the Treasury, with the documents referred to by that resolution. In further execution of the act of the last session treaties have since been made with the Osage and Sac Indians by which those tribes have severally relinquished to the United States their right under preceding treaties to the maintenance of a factory within each, respectively. To the Senate: JAMES MONROE. JANUARY 6, 1823. I transmit to the Senate, for their advice and consent as to the ratification, treaties which have been made with the Osage and Sac tribes of Indians in execution of the provision contained in the act of the last session entitled "An act to abolish the Indian trading establishments.” To the Senate of the United States: JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 10, 1823. In compliance with a resolution of the Senate requesting the President of the United States "to cause to be laid before the Senate the number of arms required annually to supply the militia of the West according to acts of Congress; the probable number necessary to be placed in military deposits located or to be located on the Western waters; the cost of transportation of arms to the Western States and deposits; the probable cost of manufacturing arms in the West; the probable cost of erecting at this time on the Western waters such an armory as that at Harpers Ferry or at Springfield, and such other information as he may deem important to establish the expediency of erecting on the Western waters a national armory," I herewith transmit a report from the Secretary of War containing the desired information. JAMES MONROE. WASHINGTON, January 16, 1823. The VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: The convention concluded and signed at St. Petersburg on the 21st of July last under the mediation of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias having been ratified by the three powers parties thereto, and the ratifications of the same having been duly exchanged, copies of it are now communicated to Congress, to the end that the measures for carrying it on the part of the United States into execution may obtain the cooper |