tablishment of competent magazines and arsenals, and the fortification of such places as are peculiarly important and vulnerable, naturally present themselves to consideration. The safety of the United States, under divine protection, ought to rest on the basis of systematic and solid arrangements, exposed as little as possible to the hazards of fortuitous circumstances. The importance of the post-office and post-roads on a plan sufficiently liberal and comprehensive, as they respect the expedition, safety, and facility of communication, is increased by the instrumentality in diffusing a knowledge of the laws and proceedings of the government; which, while it contributes to the security of the people, serves also to guard them against the effects of misrepresentation and misconception. The establishment of additional cross posts, especially to some of the important points in the western and northern parts of the Union, cannot fail to be of material utility. The disorders in the existing currency, and especially the scarcity of small change, a scarcity so peculiarly distressing to the poorer classes, strongly recommend the carrying into immediate effect the resolution already entered into concerning the establishment of a mint. Measures have been taken, pursuant to that resolution, for procuring some of the most necessary articles, together with the requisite apparatus. A uniformity in the weights and measures of the country is among the important objects submitted to you by the constitution; and, if it can be derived from a standard at once invariable and universal, must be no less honorable to the public councils, than conducive to the public convenience. A provision for the sale of the vacant lands of the United States is particularly urged, among other rea VOL. XII. 4 C sons, by the important considerations, that they are pledged as a fund for reimbursing the public debt; that, if timely and judiciously applied, they may save the necessity of burthening our citizens with new taxes for the extinguishment of the principal; and that, being free to discharge the principal but in a limited proportion, no opportunity ought to be lost for availing the public of its rights. GEORGE WASHINGTON. REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE SENATE. GENTLEMEN, This manifestation of your zeal for the honor and the happiness of our country derives its full value from the share which your deliberations have already had in promoting both. I thank you for the favorable sentiments, with which you view the part I have borne in the arduous trust committed to the government of the United States; and desire you to be assured, that all my zeal will continue to second those further efforts for the public good, which are insured by the spirit in which you are entering on the present session. GEORGE WASHINGTON. REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. GENTLEMEN, The pleasure I derive from an assurance of your attention to the objects I have recommended to you, is doubled by your concurrence in the testimony I have borne to the prosperous condition of our public affairs. Relying on the sanctions of your enlightened judgment, and on your patriotic aid, I shall be the more encouraged in all my endeavours for the public weal; and particularly in those, which may be required on my part for executing the salutary measures I anticipate from your present deliberations. GEORGE WASHINGTON. SPEECH TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS, FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, It is some abatement of the satisfaction, with which I meet you on the present occasion, that, in felicitating you on a continuance of the national prosperity generally, I am not able to add to it information, that the Indian hostilities, which have for some time past distressed our northwestern frontier, have terminated. You will, I am persuaded, learn, with no less concern than I communicate it, that reiterated endeavours towards effecting a pacification have hitherto issued only in new and outrageous proofs of persevering hostility on the part of the tribes with whom we are in contest. An earnest desire to procure tranquillity to the frontiers, to stop the further effusion of blood, to arrest the progress of expense, to forward the prevalent wish of the nation for peace, has led to strenuous efforts through various channels to accomplish these desirable purposes; in making which efforts I consulted less my own anticipations of the event, or the scruples which some considerations were calculated to inspire, than the wish to find the object attainable, or, if not attainable, to ascertain unequivocally, that such is the case. A detail of the measures which have been pursued, and of their consequences, which will be laid before you, while it will confirm to you the want of success thus far, will, I trust, evince that means, as proper and as efficacious as could have been devised, have been employed. The issue of some of them, indeed, is still depending; but a favorable one, though not to be despaired of, is not promised by any thing that has yet happened. In the course of the attempts which have been made, some valuable citizens have fallen victims to their zeal for the public service. A sanction commonly respected, even among savages, has been found, in this instance, insufficient to protect from massacre the emissaries of peace; it will, I presume, be duly considered, whether the occasion does not call for an exercise of liberality towards the families of the deceased. It must add to your concern to be informed, that, besides the continuation of hostile appearances among the tribes north of the Ohio, some threatening symptoms have of late been revived among some of those south of it. A part of the Cherokees, known by the name of Chickamagas, inhabiting five villages on the Tennessee River, have long been in the practice of committing depredations on the neighbouring settlements. It was hoped, that the treaty of Holston, made with the Cherokee nation in July, 1791, would have prevented a repetition of such depredations; but the event has not answered this hope. The Chickamagas, aided by some banditti of another tribe in their vicinity, have recently perpetrated wanton and unprovoked hostilities upon the citizens of the United States in that quarter. The information which has been received on this subject will be laid before you. Hitherto, defen sive precautions only have been strictly enjoined and observed. It is not understood that any breach of treaty, or aggression whatsoever, on the part of the United States, or their citizens, is even alleged as a pretext for the spirit of hostility in this quarter. I have reason to believe, that every practicable exertion has been made (pursuant to the provision by law for that purpose) to be prepared for the alternative of a prosecution of the war, in the event of a failure of pacific overtures. A large proportion of the troops authorized to be raised have been recruited, though the number is still incomplete; and pains have been taken to discipline and put them in condition for the particular kind of service to be performed. A delay of operations (besides being dictated by the measures which were pursuing towards a pacific termination of the war) has been in itself deemed preferable to immature efforts. A statement, from the proper department, with regard to the number of troops raised, and some other points which have been suggested, will afford more precise information as a guide to the legislative consultations; and, among other things, will enable Congress to judge whether some additional stimulus to the recruiting service may not be advisable. In looking forward to the future expense of the operations, which may be found inevitable, I derive consolation from the information I receive, that the product of the revenues for the present year is likely to supersede the necessity of additional burthens on the community for the service of the ensuing year. This, however, will be better ascertained in the course of the session; and it is proper to add, that the information alluded to proceeds upon the supposition of no material extension of the spirit of hostility. C* |