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MESSAGE 
 
 OF 
 
 DE WITT CLINTON, 
 
 LEGISLATURE 
 
 STATE OF NEW-YORK, 
 
 January, 1825. 
 
 NEfV'YORK: 
 
 Printed and Sold by G. F. Hopkins, 
 
 No. 48 Pine-street. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 1825. 
 
.N572 
 
MESSAGE 
 
 FelhiV'CitizejLS of the Senate, and of the Assembly y 
 
 Our devout thanks are due to Almighty God, for the signal 
 blessings conferred on our country. The wise policy pursued by 
 the National Government in cherishing our resources, in diminish- 
 ing our debt, and in cultivating peace with all the world, has ele- 
 vated our character abroad, and confirmed our prosperity at home. 
 It is gratifying to perceive the greatest maritime Power in Eu- 
 rope, with which we are closely connected by commerce and com- 
 munication, has adopted a similar pacific policy; and that the un- 
 hallowed conspiracies in the old world against the liberties of man- 
 kind, can find no means of support and aggression on this side of 
 the Atlantic. 
 
 Nor has our National Government, while cherishing peace, been 
 unmindful of the exigencies of war. A comprehensive and valu- 
 able system of coast defence has been digested, and is in a train of 
 successful developement. Fortifications, in the most vulnerable 
 points, have been erected. The War Department has undergone 
 a thorough and comprehensive re-organization, adapted at once to 
 the economy of a peace, and the expansive requirements of a war 
 establishment. Ordnance, arms, and other munitions, have been 
 provided, and a system adopted of steady and progressive accumu- 
 lation. An institution for military education, under the superin- 
 tendence of scientific and talented men, is in a flourishing condi- 
 tion ; and our youth are not only instructed in war, but acquire 
 that information, which renders them useful in cultivating the arts 
 of peace. Our navy, at once the glory and the palladium of our 
 country, is in a state of prosperous augmentation ; and our gallant 
 and hardy seamen are increasing their nautical skill, protecting 
 our commerce, and maintaining the honour of our flag in every sea. 
 
 These views naturally spring from contemplating the situation 
 of our country and of Europe; and on the present occasion are ex- 
 
4 
 
 hibited in obedience to that mandate of the constitution, which 
 requires from the Executive periodical information of the condi- 
 tion of the community. As a member of the confederacy, we have 
 a vital interest in the prosperity of the whole, and necessarily par- 
 ticipate in the common lot. 
 
 But when we look nearer home, and examine the condition of 
 the state, without reference to its federal relations, we have equal 
 reason for gratitude to the Dispenser of all good. Our elementary 
 schools, and our literary institutions, are prosperous beyond all for- 
 mer experience : the lights of religion and knowledge have increas- 
 ed : agriculture, commerce, manufactures, navigation, and the use- 
 ful arts, are in a state of unprecedented activity and successful em- 
 ployment. The excitements and animosities which have hitherto 
 rent us asunder, degraded our character, and impaired our ability 
 for doing good, are yielding to a spirit of moderation and concilia- 
 tion. And it is to be hoped that in future the great subject of com- 
 petition, and the great prize of ambition will be confined to a dis- 
 tinguished career of public spirit, unalloyed by the debasing influ- 
 ence of faction, which, in seeking its own gratification, by the 
 elevation of a part, generally overlooks the prosperity of the 
 whole. Our civil and political institutions are derived from the 
 wisdom, and exist in the will of the people, the source of all right- 
 ful authority, and of all legitimate sovereignty. Conceiving it to 
 be the sacred duty of public servants, entrusted with power and 
 authority by the people, to consult the wishes as well as the inter- 
 ests of their constituents, it is my earnest desire, and shall be my 
 favourite object, to recommend that course, and to pursue that po- 
 licy which may prove the most gratifying to the community, and 
 the most auspicious to the great interests of the state. And in se- 
 lecting persons for olfices of power, trust, and emolument, it will 
 be my aim to look for capacity, integrity, patriotic zeal, and pub- 
 lic services. The times are auspicious to the healing of those dis- 
 sentions, which have so long interfered with our general happiness, 
 and so greatly diminished the just consideration of the state in the 
 councils of the nation. As far as in my power, I shall be happy 
 to embrace this auspicious occasion, and make every proper effort 
 to promote internal peace and tranquillity. Having iDeen elected 
 to office, not by a party, but by the people, it is my ardent wish 
 to cast myself upon their candor and judgment, to meet their scru- 
 tiny, to consult their will, and to promote their happiness. And 
 I shall always be solicitous to cultivate a good understanding with 
 the co-ordinate authorities, and to produce an harmonious union of 
 effort for the public good. 
 
 To establish a just responsibility in the Executive, as has been 
 done in the legislative department, it appears to me that provision 
 ought to be made for the publication of the journals of the Senate, 
 in relation to their executive functions. The people ought, in all 
 cases, to know the official acts of their agents : And as the appoint- 
 ing power is, at all times, an important trust, and liable to great 
 abuse, there ought to be no veil drawn over its exercise ; but the 
 
6 
 
 nominations of the Governor, and the vote of each Senator on the 
 acceptance or rejection of such nominations, should be distinctly- 
 understood by the people. 
 
 In 1820, while administering the government, I solicited the at- 
 tention of the legislature to the importance of passing a law by 
 which the people could exercise their suffrages in the choice of 
 electors of President and Vice-President of the United States. The 
 whole body of events connected with this subject speak an admo- 
 nitory language, and demonstrate that the enaction of such a law 
 is anxiously desired by the people, and that it is enjoined by a 
 just regard for their rights, and by the dictates of true policy. 
 Whenever the people can enjoy the direct exercise of power them- 
 selves, no intermediate bodies should be interposed ; and an un- 
 necessary resort to delegated authority, too frequently leads to an 
 abuse of power, a prostration of principle, and a total disregard of 
 the public will. It is sincerely to be desired that the constitution 
 of the United States coulS be so altered as to provide for a uniform 
 mode of choosing electors throughout the Union. In such case, the 
 system by districts would, no doubt, be most judicious. But 
 while the mode is not uniform, sound policy seems to require that 
 the choice should be left to the people by general ticket, and in the 
 most simple and popular shape. When the right of suffrage is 
 generally diffused, and those who exercise the elective franchise 
 vote by a general ticket, and the greatest or highest number con- 
 stitutes an election, power is brought to the people in the most 
 gratifying and unexceptionable manner. Ever since the political 
 existence of this state, all our elections have been conducted on 
 the principle of the highest number of votes, in the whole state, 
 for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor; in districts, for Senators 
 and Representatives in Congress; in counties, for members of As- 
 sembly, and now for Sheriffs and Clerks ; and in towns, for super- 
 visors, assessors, clerks, collectors, and constables ; and no incon- 
 venience has resulted. I therefore earnestly and respectfully re- 
 commend the passing of a law committing the choice of electors 
 to the people by a general ticket, and by the greatest number of 
 votes, as a proceeding required by the sovereign authority of the 
 state, and by every consideration which ought to govern the con- 
 duct of its legislature. The statute recently passed, submitting 
 the mode of choice to the sense of the community, at the next an- 
 nual election, does not interfere essentially with this measure ; and 
 if it did, it ought not to retard or prevent its immediate consum- 
 mation. The voice of the people on this subject has been audi- 
 bly expressed, and it was certainly a work of supererogation to 
 resort to this process, the tendency of which will be to perplex a 
 question sufficiently plain, and universally understood, to postpone 
 a due atonement to the violated majesty of the people, and to ex- 
 clude you from the merit of performing this great duty. 
 
 In attending to the election of the chief magistrate of the nation, 
 let us not overlook subjects of subordinate consideration, but cer- 
 
6 
 
 tainly of great eousequence to the welfare and good order in so- 
 ciety. 
 
 B)^ the constitution a complex mode of choosing justices of the 
 peace, through the instrumentality of the supervisors of towns, 
 and judges of the county courts, is established. As this system 
 has been found inexpedient in its operation, and exceptionable 
 in all its important bearings, I recommend such an alteration, 
 through the forms of the constitution, as shall bring the choice of 
 these magistrates directly home to the people in their primary as- 
 semblies. They are certainly much better judges of the claims 
 and qualifications of their local magistrates, than persons at a 
 distance, and they have stronger inducements to make good selec- 
 tions. 
 
 It is also submitted to your consideration whether it would not 
 render the minor courts more respectable, and promote good or- 
 der, if the respective towns were authorized in their discretion to 
 provide buildings for their sittings. 
 
 As connected generally with these important topics, permit me 
 to request your attention to a more accurate definition, a more 
 liberal extension, and a more secure enjoyment of the elective 
 franchise. Without the right of suff'rage, liberty cannot exist. 
 It is the vital principle of representative government, and it ought 
 therefore to be effectually fortified against accident, design, or 
 corruption. The quaHfications prescribed by the constitution, for 
 the exercise of this invaluable privilege, are full age, citizenship, 
 residence for designated time, payment of an assessed tax, to the 
 state or county, or exemption from taxation, or performance of 
 militia duty within the year, armed and equipped according to 
 law, assessment within the year, to labour upon the public high- 
 ways, and performance of the labour or payment of an equivalent. 
 This arrangement excludes a great body of citizens from the 
 elective franchise. And a few simple illustrations will show its 
 complexity and its liability to fraud and injustice. 
 
 In 1818, the state tax was two mills on the dollar: since that 
 time it has been reduced to half a mill on the dollar ; and in a short 
 period there will probably be no necessity for any general tax. If 
 this should be the case, aad the finances of all or any of the coun- 
 ties be equally prosperous, there would evidently be a disfranchise- 
 ment of all those who are not taxed, unless they had performed 
 military duty or wrought on the roads. In the same manner, 
 householders and freeholders may be deprived of the right of 
 suftrage, even althoug;h citizens, residents, and of full age. The 
 rights of a citizen ought not to be held at the pleasure of others, 
 but should be fixed and unchangeable. But in both these cases if 
 the assessor should not assess, the collector not receive, the mili- 
 tia not be called out, or the roadmaster neglect his duty, there 
 would be a deprivation of the elective franchise. The labour of a 
 day on the highway, or the payment of a petty commutation ; the 
 attendance of a day at a military parade, or the payment of a tax, 
 however meritorious in themselves, certainly do not furnish such 
 
7 
 
 high evidence of public services by the agents, as to justify a mo- 
 nopoly of the elective franchise ; and such I am persuaded is not 
 the wish of that respectable portion of the community — I therefore 
 submit to your consideration, whether the constitution ought not 
 to be so modified, as to render citizenship, full age, and competent 
 residence, the only requisite qualifications. 
 
 In thus improving our social institutions, it is pleasing to con- 
 template their benign influence on individual happiness and gene- 
 ral prosperity ; and to feel assured that a republican government 
 may be transmitted in full purity and vigour to the remotest pe- 
 riod of time. Even the troubled democracies of Greece and 
 Italy, with all their deprecated vices, were preferable to the hateful 
 tyrannies that surrounded them. The former were sometimes 
 relieved by ennobling virtues ; but the latter were always en- 
 gulfed in hopeless debasement. Now that the representative 
 system is well understood, and its capacity to unite liberty and 
 power by federal combinations has been successfully tried, it will 
 be our own fault if its duration prove not as permanent as its 
 blessings are inestimable. In all governments, whether repub- 
 lican or monarchcial, free or despotic, cupidity and ambition 
 will address themselves to the sovereign authority for gratifica- 
 tion. In free states, these applications will of course be made to 
 the people, who confer either directly or indirectly the honours 
 and emoluments of oflice ; and hence the excitements which arise 
 from the operations of these passions as \Vell as real differences 
 of opinion. But with all these evils, republics still exhibit a 
 decided superiority. Their agitations and attendant mischiefs, 
 are more diffused and more feeble. And the people who feel their 
 influence have, generally speaking, no inducement to act wrong. 
 It is their interest as well as their duty to select meritorious 
 officers, and to establish a wholesome administration. The vices 
 of faction, intrigue, falsehood, dissimulation, and corruption, are 
 rendered more intensely profligate by their concentration round 
 the person of the monarch. His interest and that of his favourites 
 too often become distinct from that of the community, and the 
 general welfare is merged in personal gratifications. A republican 
 government is certainly most congenial with the nature, most 
 propitious to the welfare, and most conducive to the dignity of 
 our species. Man becomes degraded in proportion as he loses 
 the right of self-government. Every effort ought therefore to be 
 made to fortify our free institutions ; and the great bulwark of 
 security is to be found in education — the culture of the heart and 
 the head — the diffusion of knowledge, piety, and morality. A 
 virtuous and enlightened man can never submit to degradation ; 
 and a virtuous and enlightened people will never breathe in the 
 atmosphere of slavery. Upon education we must therefore rely 
 for the purity, the preservation, and the perpetuation of repub- 
 lican government. In this sacred cause we cannot exercise too 
 much liberality. It is identified with our best interests in this 
 world, and with our best destinies in the world to come. — 
 
8 
 
 Much indeed has been done, and we have only to cast our eyes 
 over the state, and rejoice in the harvest which it has already 
 yielded. But much more remains and ought to be done : and the 
 following statement is exhibited with a view to animate you to 
 greater exertion. 
 
 The number of children taught in our common schools during 
 the last year, exceeds 400,000, and is probably more than one 
 fourth of our whole population. Ten thousand three hundred and 
 eighty-three have been instructed in the Free and Charity Schools 
 in the city of New- York, — a number by no means proportioned to 
 the wants of its population. The students in the incorporated 
 academies amount to about 2,683, and in the colleges to 755. 
 
 The fund of the common schools may be stated at upwards of 
 1,739,000 dollars ; and its annual income at 98,000 dollars, to 
 which may be added the interest on the future sales of lands, and 
 on the disposal of escheated property, the proceeds of which latter 
 item may be added to the capital. 
 
 However imposing this fund may appear, it is sufficiently ob- 
 vious that it ought to be augmented. This state is capable of sup- 
 porting fourteen millions of inhabitants. This appropriation will 
 therefore soon be found far behind the progress of population and 
 the requisitions for instruction. 
 
 Deeply impressed with the momentous nature of this department 
 of our social policy to the cardinal interests of the state, I cannot 
 withhold one important fact derived from past experience. Of the 
 many thousands who have been instructed in our free schools in 
 the city of New- York, there is not a solitary instance known of 
 any one having been convicted of crimes. In furtherance of this 
 invaluable system, I recommend to your consideration the educa- 
 tion of competent teachers on the monitorial plan, its more general 
 introduction, and the distribution of useful books. 
 
 While our primary schools cannot be too numerous, our highest 
 seminaries ought to be very limited in number. The creation of 
 a college imposes the duty of endowing it. We have now four 
 colleges for literary and scientific instruction, and two for medical 
 education. They are all under the superintendence of highly gift- 
 ed and enlightened men, and are eminently entitled to your liberal 
 patronage. But until the government shall see fit to augment the 
 funds of existing institutions to the full extent of their wants, lam 
 persuaded that there ought to be no increase ; and not even then, 
 unless peremptorily required by the exigencies of education. Per- 
 haps indeed in a case of so much importance, the authority of the 
 Regents of the University ought to be only recommendatory, and 
 the incorporating power exclusively vested in the Legislature, as 
 a more safe depository than a single body, as a source from whence 
 munificent endowments must emanate, and as most conformable to 
 the spirit, if not the letter, of the constitution. 
 
 Our institutions for the promotion of knowledge are numerous, 
 useful, and deserving of liberal encouragement. In various cities 
 and Tillages^ societies for the cultivation of natural science and phi- 
 
9 
 
 losophy, oF antiquarian and historical research, and of general 
 knowledge, have been founded ; and are calculated to develope our 
 resources, to accumulate useful facts, and to advance the great in- 
 terests of society. In the promotion of medical knowledge, so es- 
 sential to the preservation of health and life, the College of physi- 
 cians and surgeons have continued their career of distinguished 
 usefulness. Some of the county medical societies are entitled to 
 great praise for simultaneous efforts. For all these institutions, 
 your fostering care is earnestly solicited. 
 
 Added to these, the State medical society, which has been in be- 
 neficial operation for the last eighteen years, and which assembles 
 every year at the seat of government, would be enabled, by a small 
 annual appropriation, to realize to the most valuable extent, the 
 high expectations w^hich are so justly entertained of its disposition 
 and ability to extend the benefits of the healing art. 
 
 The great object of a good government is to secure the greatest 
 happiness of the greatest number under its care. For this purpose, 
 those arts and pursuits which minister to the sustenance and com- 
 fort of man, elevate his character, and excite his virtues and talents 
 into activity, must be cherished with a solicitude proportioned to 
 the importance of the end to be attained, and to the means of ac- 
 complishment. Four-fifths of our population arc cultivators of the 
 soil. On agriculture we must depend as the main source of our 
 welfare. Its natural connexion with manufactures, trade, com- 
 merce, navigation, and the useful arts, is well understood ; and the 
 united influence of these great departments of human industry, con- 
 stitutes the wealth, the powder, and the prosperity of nations. 
 
 An act was passed in 1819, for the encouragement of agriculture, 
 which will expire during the present session. This state possesses 
 every physical advantage for a great system of agriculture — a fer- 
 tile and various soil ; easy, cheap, and rapid means of transporta- 
 tion ; great markets at home, and contiguity to the ocean, that 
 opens to us the markets of the world. These are some of the fea- 
 tures that strike at the slightest glance. And must it not be admit- 
 ted that agriculture, either as a science or an art, is far from being 
 cultivated with that ardent and successful spirit due to its impor- 
 tance ? The most profitable mode of preparing the soil ; the most 
 economical and fertilizing applications ; the most expedient rotation 
 of crops ; the various kinds of grain, plants, fruits, and trees, best 
 adapted to our soil and climate ; the domestic animals most pro- 
 ductive of solid advantage ; the best system of plantation to supply 
 the consumption of timber and fuel, — all these and similar subjects 
 open a field of inquiry and research of momentous interest, and de- 
 mand the animating and invigorating encouragement of the state. 
 We have an intercourse with every region of the globe, and can ea- 
 sily procure seed, plants, animals, and labour-saving machines — 
 and we can hold such communion with the scientific associations of 
 Europe, connected with the various branches of husbandry, as will 
 he productive of the most useful results. 
 
 The experiment instituted for the encouragement of agriculture. 
 
10 
 
 although but of short duration, labouring under much oppositioiT* 
 and conducted in some cases injudiciously, has been generally use- 
 ful, and in some counties has been eminently successful. I submit 
 therefore to you to determine, whether it would not be wise to 
 continue this system under such modifications as you may deem 
 advisable. And I do this under a full persuasion that you will 
 never overlook any measure conducive to the prosperity of so car- 
 dinal an interest, and connected with the honour of the state. 
 
 As horticulture is an important department of agriculture, I have 
 great pleasure in informing you that the incorporated Horticultural 
 society, established for some years in the city of New-York, has 
 been productive of great good, by increasing and improving our 
 fruit and esculent vegetables. Another association has also been 
 formed ; and these laudable institutions having recently establish- 
 ed an union, I anticipate still greater benefits from their consoli- 
 dated efforts. Founded upon the plan of the great Horticultural 
 Society of London, and blending the contributions of experience 
 with the researches of philosophy, they deserve the most liberal 
 encouragement. 
 
 As it is one of the chief designs of a good government to culti- 
 vate the resources of a state, it becomes of primary importance to 
 know with accuracy what constitutes those resources. The wisest 
 states have pursued a defective policy in this respect, by neglecting 
 to ascertain their own powers and faculties. Statistical surveys 
 will easily accomplish this desirable object ; let in a flood of light 
 on the science of political philosophy, and open a wide field for the 
 most useful and practical operations. By the constitution, a census 
 is to take place during the present year. Important statistical in- 
 quiries may be blended with this object, which will evolve many 
 momentous facts, and diminish the labour and expense of the gene- 
 ral survey. Periodical returns of marriages, births, and deaths, 
 would greatly enhance the value of this information. 
 
 The useful arts, connected as they are with the comforts and con- 
 veniences of life, deserve at all times the fostering care of govern- 
 ment. In a community where labour is high, and in constant de- 
 mand, where the genius of the people is prolific in inventions of 
 vast value, and where every new discovery that diminishes manual 
 labour, becomes of immediate consequence, it seems wise to hold 
 forth such rewards as may stimulate ingenuity and indemnify ex- 
 pense. The National Government, under existing laws, can do 
 but little: and even when letters patent are granted, their validi- 
 ty is too frequently drawn into question, with all the cost and 
 vexation incident to litigation. Would it not be sound policy to 
 reward with liberality, the authors of such inventions as produce a 
 saving of labour in agriculture and mechanical pursuits, and im- 
 prove the quality and augment the quantity of our products and 
 fabrics? It is perceived with much satisfaction, that the encourage- 
 ment already dispensed has had the most propitious influence in 
 every direction, on the advancement of household and domestic 
 manufactures. Many articles of exquisite workmanship have been 
 
11 
 
 presented at our fairs and exhibitions, greatly creditable to those 
 who furnished and those who encouraged them. 
 
 The Mechanic and Scientific Institution of New- York has been 
 established for the purpose of diffusing the benefits of science 
 throughout the various mechanical professions, by means of lecture?, 
 apparatus, models, books, and public exhibitions of works of inge- 
 nuity, skill, and industry. The usefulness of this association would 
 be greatly enhanced by the erection of an edifice adequate for its 
 purposes : and it is believed that an appropriate site may be con- 
 currently granted by the state and the city of New- York without in- 
 convenience to either, from contiguous property in that city belong- 
 ing to both, and now unoccupied. As this is the first organized 
 school of the kind in the world, and is destined to increase the skill 
 and elevate the character of our mechanic interest, by applying 
 philosophy to the arts, and imparting the benefits of science to that 
 most useful body of our fellow-citizens, its claims upon the public 
 bounty will not escape your favourable attention. 
 
 The Erie canal, (which is the longest in the world, and which, 
 in conjunction with the Champlain canal, and the contemplated 
 communications with lake Ontario, and the minor lakes, will pro- 
 duce the most extensive and important inland navigation ever wit- 
 nessed,) would have been finished last season, had it not been for 
 the intervention of unexpected impediments. It is, however, so 
 near to its completion as to render it necessary to form a perma- 
 nent system for the preservation of the canals, for the collection 
 of the revenue, for the extinguishment of the debt, and for a vigi- 
 lant superintendence both of their particular concerns and of their 
 general interests. A plan ought to be adopted, combining econo- 
 my with efficiency, and having regard to future as well as present 
 operations. I consider these works, as but the first, in a series of 
 great undertakings. We must, however, pursue our objects with 
 prudence as well as with energy, in every stage of our progress^ 
 looking for support to the wisdom and patriotism of the people. 
 And it is a source of high felicitation to know that the debt may 
 be speedily satisfied without resorting to taxation, without discon 
 tinning our efforts for similar improvements, and without staying 
 the dispensing hand of government in favour of the great depart- 
 ments of education, literature, and science, or the cardinal interests 
 of productive industry. 
 
 A board for the promotion of Internal Improvements, composed 
 of well informed citizens, ought to be constituted, with authority 
 to consider and report on all subjects relative to the establishment 
 of communications by land and by water, by roads, railways, canalsp 
 bridges, and water courses, and with a general superintending 
 power over their construction. All applications and proposals on 
 such subjects, would, of course, receive the full consideration of the 
 board before they were accepted by the legislature ; and would be 
 carried into execution in accordance with the exigency of the case, 
 the importance of the object, and the ability of the state. The 
 field of operation is immense, and the harvest of honour and profit 
 
12 
 
 is unbounded : and if our resources are wisely applied and forcibly 
 directed, all proper demands for important avenues of communica- 
 tion, may be answered in due time, and in ample extent. 
 
 The primary design of our artificial navigation, is to open a route 
 by canals between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. The 
 Erie and Champlain canals will in a great measure accomplish this 
 object : but it will not be fully realized until the waters of Lake 
 Ontario shall be connected with the Erie canal and with Lake 
 Champlain. The importance of this design will be duly appreciat- 
 ed, when it is understood that the lake coast, not only of this state, 
 but of the United States, is more extensive than the sea coast. 
 
 The next leading object is to unite the minor lakes, and the se- 
 condary rivers with the canals ; to form a junction between impor- 
 tant rivers, and to produce such a connexion between the bays on 
 the sea coast, as will insure the safety of our boat navigation in time 
 of peace against the tempests of the ocean, and in time of war 
 against the depredations of the enemy. 
 
 A canal between the St. Lawrence river and Lake Champlain, 
 would be attended with important benefits, by opening a valuable 
 market within our own territory, and by affording an equivalent 
 for the privation of a free use of that river. Duties have been im- 
 posed on our productions sent to Canada ; and it is believed that 
 the British government have declined a negotiation respecting the 
 free navigation of the St. Lawrence. That we have by the law of 
 nations, a right of free transit to the ocean through that river, I en- 
 tertain no doubt ; and I am inclined to believe that we are entitled 
 to an entrepot or place of safe deposite for our commodities destined 
 to the ocean through that channel. 
 
 Although these points are not properly within the sphere of our 
 deliberations, yet they ought to be known, because they affect the 
 rights and interests of our fellow citizens ; and in knowing them, 
 we may apply for redress to the constitutional organ. How far it 
 may be advisable for the United States, in case a satisfactory ar- 
 rangement cannot be made, to impose countervailing duties on the 
 products of Canada on their transit through our territory, down the 
 St. Lawrence, is a subject on which the National Government will 
 undoubtedly bestow wise consideration. 
 
 The contemplated canal between that river and Lake Champlain, 
 would relieve the northern inhabitants of this state, from the em- 
 barrassments of a foreign market. A survey of this route has recent- 
 ly been made under the authority of the state, and the only formi- 
 dable impediment is an intervening elevation of upwards of 900 
 feet. This may perhaps be surmounted by locks or inclined planes ; 
 and there is said to be an abundance of water on the summit-level. 
 — Where this ridge passes into the British dominions, there is an 
 abrupt descent, and the level country below presents an easy pas- 
 sage for a canal. Perhaps an adequate portion of this territory may 
 be obtained by negotiation, either by conceding our alleged exclu- 
 sive right on a certain part of the St. Lawrence, or by making 
 some arrangement in relation to the disputed territory on the 
 
13 
 
 north-east angle of the United States. — But at all events, and under 
 any circumstances, a communication between the Erie canal and 
 Lake Ontario, by the way of Osw^ego, ought to receive your decid- 
 ed countenance, and to be made as soon as practicable. It will 
 greatly augment our revenue, and open profitable markets to our 
 industrious and enterprising citizens residing within the reach of 
 thatlake and its tributary waters. The provision heretofore made in 
 this respect, is neither adequate as to funds nor as to prompt execu- 
 tion. 
 
 To unite in the most accommodating manner the waters of the 
 Seneca, Cayuga, and Canandaigua lakes, and such of the secondary 
 lakes as may be deemed expedient with the Erie canal, is also an 
 object of great importance. A connexion too is desirable between 
 the Delaware and the Hudson ; between the upper waters of the 
 Alleghany, Susquehannah, and Genesee rivers ; between the Erie 
 canal and the Susquehannah along the valley of the Chenango river ; 
 between the Susquehannah and the Seneca lake ; between the Erie 
 canal at Buffalo, and the Alleghany river at its confluence with Co- 
 newango creek ; between Black river and the Erie canal : and 
 between Gravesend Bay, Jamaica Bay, Great South Bay, and South- 
 ampton Bay, and across Canoe place to South-hold Bay, on Long- 
 Island. Other eligible communications might be indicated ; but 
 these are sufficient to evince the expediency of constituting a board 
 with general powers, in relation to Internal Improvements. 
 
 All these works must emanate from the authority of the state ; 
 but many of them will doubtless be undertaken without any de- 
 mand on the treasury, in consequence of encouraging grants. Of 
 this nature is the connexion proposed to be made by a company 
 between the Delaware and Hudson — a project highly deserving of 
 public countenance. The canal on the south side of Long-Island 
 would perhaps be constructed under a similar grant. Considering 
 that these sections of the state are necessarily excluded from an 
 immediate participation in the benefits of the canals already made, 
 I derive a peculiar gratification from the liberality manifested by 
 the legislature in the one case, and shall be happy to see it extend- 
 ed to the other. 
 
 The proposed connexion between the Seneca lake and the Che- 
 mung or Tioga branch of the Susquehannah, will not exceed twen- 
 ty miles ; and that lake is open for navigation during the whole 
 year. This canal w'ill open our salt and gypsum to the extensive 
 region connected with the Susquehannah, and a numerous body of 
 our citizens will find a market for their productions in Philadel- 
 phia and Baltimore, as well as in New-York. This multiplication 
 of markets will be beneficial to the agricultural interest, is in con- 
 sonance with the dictates of sound policy, and can only be opposed 
 by sectional and monopolizing views. 
 
 In addition to this it may be stated, that there is an inexhaustible 
 quantity of bituminous coal on the head waters of the Tioga river, 
 which is now sold at the mines for two cents per bushel, and which 
 can be transported on flats to Newto\vn, in Tioga county. It is 
 
14 
 
 represented to be of a superior quality, and similar to the Liverpool 
 coal of commerce ; and it is supposed to occupy that extensive re- 
 gion from Wheeling, to that part of the state near the head of Se- 
 neca lake. And should the proposed communication be made, it 
 may be transported to Albany by w^ater. 
 
 Some canals will undoubtedly be accomplished by individual 
 enterprise ; some will require partial assistance ; and others must 
 depend entirely on public munificence. But all can, with proper 
 exertion, be executed in due time, and in accordance with the 
 growth of the state, the exigencies of society, and the inevitable 
 evolution of our resources. The Erie canal, besides completion at 
 its western termination, will require in time some important ad- 
 ditions. These will consist in double locks and towing paths to 
 accelerate the passage of the boats. When new bridges shall be re- 
 quired, a much greater elevation ought to be given to the road 
 bridges, and the farm bridges ought to be formed on a retractile 
 plan. 
 
 The Champlain canal enters the Hudson at Fort Edward, and 
 the navigation is continued for several miles down that river. The 
 comparative advantages of natural and artificial navigation, are thus 
 fairly tested and fully contrasted ; and the delay, expense, and 
 vexation of the former channel of conveyance, are found so harass- 
 ing, that it has become essential to substitute a canal, and initiatory 
 proceedings have been had for that purpose, under the sanction of 
 the legislature, which will, I trust, be consummated immediately. 
 The Champlain canal opens a vast expanse for inland trade and pub- 
 lic accommodation. Its revenue, when compared with that of the 
 Erie canal, will be at least in the ratio of its extent. The region 
 which borders on lake Champlain, abounds with rich iron ore, 
 convertible into the best iron, which, with excellent steel, is now 
 manufactured successfully by enterprising individuals. Calcareous 
 substances of all and the best kinds, from marble to building stone, 
 lumber, the products of the dairy, of the soil, and of manufactures, 
 are also in great plenty ; in return for which, that region has occa- 
 sion for salt, gypsum, and various commercial accommodations. 
 
 It is also necessary that prompt and efiectual provision should 
 be made to remedy the embarrassments attending the sloop navi- 
 gation on the upper parts of the Hudson. Different plans have 
 been proposed for the attainment of this important object, and 
 among others the improvement of the natural navigation by re- 
 moving the present obstructions, by joining different islands, and 
 increasing the velocity of the current. It is now in a great mea- 
 sure ascertained to be most profitable to make transhipments from 
 canal boats to river vessels. The importance of this measure is 
 therefore identified with the well being of our artificial, as well as 
 of our natural navigation ; and I am persuaded that you will noo 
 shrink from these operations on account of the presumed expense. 
 In all judicious undertakings of this kind faithfully conducted there 
 will be an excess of benefit. Money applied at home in useful im- 
 provements, is to be regarded as an instrument of circulation, not 
 a privation of wealth, nor an extinguishment of capital. 
 
15 
 
 When private property is applied to public uses, the compensa- 
 tion to the owner ought to be prompt and ample. There is reason 
 to apprehend that this, has not been done in many cases connected 
 with the canals, and that great complaints have been made, and 
 considerable losses sustained in consequence of such omission. As 
 the law now stands, appraisements for such appropriations must be 
 made by two of the acting canal commissioners. If the supreme 
 court should set any aside, as they are authorized to do, on just and 
 equitable principles, it seems reasonable and proper that the new 
 assessments, under these circumstances, should be submitted to a 
 tribunal which had not passed upon the question. I recommend 
 the whole of this subject to your early attention. 
 
 The debt due on account of canals and the subsidiary works, 
 is ^7,467,770 99, of which ^54,524,270 99 bear an interest of five 
 per cent, and the residue an interest of six per cent, making an 
 aggregate annual interest of ^^375, 823 55. The revenue from the 
 tolls the present year, will exceed S3 10,000, and the duties on 
 salt, $100,000, which, with the sources of income belonging to 
 the canal fund, will, in all probability, produce an excess of reve- 
 nue above the interest of the canal debt, of near ^300,000. Should 
 any discrepancy appear between this statement and the annual re- 
 port of the comptroller, it will be only apparent, his having refer- 
 ence to the fiscal, and this to the natural year. 
 
 It is believed that next year the revenue will be nearly doubled, 
 if the Erie canal arrives to the lake in due season; and its pro- 
 gressive expansion will be commensurate with the prosperity of the 
 state and the growth of our country. From these data, a just esti- 
 mate may be made of the rapid operation of a^judicious sinking 
 fund in extinguishing the whole debt, and of the prospective fiscal 
 resources of the state. 
 
 It is estimated that 10,000 boats have passed at the junction of 
 the Erie and Champlain canals, within the last season. Boats 
 with commodities, proceed at the rate of 55 miles in 24 hours ; and 
 boats with passengers near 100 miles in the same time. As late 
 as the 15th of December, a boat laden with merchandise, arrived 
 at Utica from Albany. 
 
 Internal trade is most flourishing when its profits are small, and 
 its returns quick; and this desirable efiect is produced by the brisk 
 circulation of commodities through canals. An important recom- 
 mendation of this communication is the facility which it affords to 
 emigration and change of habitation ; its conveyance of bulky arti- 
 cles which are forbidden to land transportation ; the cheapness, 
 safety, and certainty of travelling, and its consequent increase. 
 Hence the promotion of rapid settlement and concentrated popula- 
 tion. All these propitious circumstances go to establish the per- 
 manency and magnitude of the income to be derived from our 
 canals, and to demonstrate the superior profit of judicious invest- 
 ments in them. The advantages of a condensed over a scattered 
 population-, proceed from furnishing great markets for sale and 
 purchase; from extending the operations of ingenuity and skill; 
 
16 
 
 from expanding the sphere of employment by subdividing the ex- 
 ertions, and augmenting the productive power of labour, and by 
 concentrating great capitals subservient to all the purposes of life. 
 In producing extensive markets, in communicating the benefits of 
 a dense to a spare population, and in destroying the inconveniences 
 of distance, canals may be emphatically designated as the great 
 labour-saving machines of internal commerce. 
 
 For almost all purposes, the city of Detroit will, on the com- 
 pletion of the Erie canal, be brought within a hundred miles of 
 the city of Albany. Already have we witnessed the creative 
 power of these communications in the flourishing villages which 
 have sprung up or been extended, in the increase of our towns, 
 and above all in the prosperity of the city of New-York. If, as 
 it is said, upwards of 3,000 houses have been built in that city dur- 
 ing the last year, it is highly probable that in fifteen years its po- 
 pulation will be double, and that in less than thirty years, it will 
 be the third city in point of numbers in the civilized world, and 
 the second, if not the first in point of commerce. Nor is there 
 any danger of a re-action. After cities reach a certain elevation of 
 opulence and prosperity, they appear to possess a self-multiplying, 
 self-augmenting power. But independently of this consideration, 
 the external as well as the internal causes of the opulence and ex- 
 tent of New- York will continue in full operation and with addi- 
 tional power ; and in proportion as its supplies increase, it will 
 furnish augmented means of consumption at home, and of attrac- 
 tion to customers from abroad. How emphatically then does it 
 behoove us, in the contemplation and enjoyment of these abundant 
 blessings, to remember that we derive them all from the great 
 Fountain of Benevolence. 
 
 I cannot refrain, upon this occasion, from congratulating you and 
 our country on the propitious spirit which is generally ditfused 
 through the other states in favour of Internal Improvements. The 
 state of Ohio has now under consideration a stupendous project for 
 uniting the Ohio river with Lake Erie, which may justly be con- 
 sidered a prolongation or continuance of our Erie canal, and which 
 will connect the Hudson with the Missisippi, and convert a most 
 important portion of the United States into one vast island. I 
 shall welcome the commencement, and hail the consummation of 
 that work, as among the most auspicious events in our history. It 
 will open to our trade the luxuriant valley of the Missisippi and 
 its auxiliary rivers. It will immeasurably enhance the value and 
 usefulness of our works, concentrate the commerce of the East 
 and West in our great emporium, and bind the Union together by 
 indissoluble ties. The state of Ohio is distinguished for fertility 
 of soil, benignity of climate, moral power, and prospective resour- 
 ces. The revenue from the canals will pay, in a reasonable time, 
 the interest of the sum expended for its completion, and form a 
 large surplus applicable to the speedy extinguishment of the debt ; 
 and there can be no doubt but that the necessary funds may be pro- 
 cured in this state on easy and satisfactory terms. 
 
17 
 
 I cannot pass over in silence, the attempt which has been recent- 
 ly made to bring the boats navigating our canals within the opera- 
 tion of the statutes for regulating the coasting trade of the United 
 States, by requiring from such boats enrolment and license, and 
 the payment of tonage duties. The canals are the property of 
 the state, are within the jurisdiction of the state, have been con- 
 structed by the state, and can be destroyed by the state. They 
 have been made at its expense after the General Government had 
 refused all participation and assistance. It cannot well be perceiv- 
 ed how the regulation of commerce " with foreign nations, and 
 among the several states, or with the Indian tribes," can authorize 
 an interference with vessels prosecuting an inland trade through 
 artificial channels. The coasting trade is entirely distinct from a 
 trade through our canals, which no state in the Union nor the Ge- 
 neral Government itself, has a right to enjoy without our consent. 
 
 The consequences of such assumptions would be, if carried into 
 eflfect, to annihilate our revenue arising from tolls, to produce the 
 most oppressive measures, to destroy the whole system of Internal 
 Improvements, and to prostrate the authority of the state govern- 
 ments. A just exposition of the laws of the United States cannot au- 
 thorize their application to such cases. But if a different inter- 
 pretation should prevail, then it becomes a very serious question in- 
 deed whether the state can enforce its laws imposing tolls. The Su- 
 preme Court of the United States has solemnly adjudged that a coast- 
 ing license from a collector is a grant of the ri2;ht of navigation. 
 If so, and that right being derived from a law of Congress, it will 
 be contended that it cannot be prohibited, nor controlled by any 
 state law. The right, to be complete, must be enjoyed without 
 restraint. The state cannot demand a toll as the price of the en- 
 joyment of such a right, if it has not the power to prohibit such 
 enjoyment altogether. 
 
 It may be further remarked that the power to regulate commerce 
 among the states, under which the act regulating the coasting trade 
 was passed, is held by that high tribunal to be exclusively in Con- 
 gress. If so, and if that act or any other act which Congress may 
 pass under that power, can be applied to the canals, it w^ould 
 follow as a consequence that our laws imposing tolls, are void 
 from the beginning. The state has no power to adopt them, 
 and in this view of the subject, it would seem to be immaterial 
 v^rhether any license be taken out under the act of Congress or not. 
 
 The Supreme Court has also declared that the power to regulate 
 commerce includes a power to regulate navigation as one of the means 
 of carrying on commerce. The same remark may be made with 
 equal force, concerning any kind of transportation whether by land 
 or water, the power to regulate commerce applying to the one as 
 well as to the other. If Congress can declare that a boat passing 
 between different parts of the same district within the same state, 
 shall take a license, why can it not direct that a wagon shall take 
 one under similar circumstances ? When we shall have arrived at 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 this point, we may begin to have some adequate notion of the ex- 
 tent to which this claim may be carried. 
 
 I shall say no more on this subject at this time. I will not enter- 
 tain a doubt but that the National Government will command the 
 abandonment of a claim so unfounded and pernicious ; and I am 
 persuaded that it has been preferred without due reflection, and 
 without instructions from superior authority. But if this course 
 shall not be pursued, it will then be your duty to take that stand 
 which the rights and safety of the people imperiously demand. 
 
 The considerations which grow out of this occasion, and the 
 complaints which have been made in different states about alleged 
 encroachments of the National Government on their constitutional 
 powers, point to the most formidable dangers that can menace the 
 stability of the Union and the welfare of our country. Without a 
 General Government, we shall neither have union at home, nor re- 
 spect abroad. We shall be arrayed into separate confederacies, or 
 exist as insulated states, maintaining large standing armies, wasting 
 our resources in intestine wars, the dupes of foreign intrigue, and 
 the victims of civil discord. Without state authorities, there can 
 be no civil liberty, and no good government ; for it is utterly im- 
 possible that so extensive a country can be bound together unless as 
 a confederation, or a military despotism. Every true friend of 
 America will strive to maintain these respective authorities in full 
 purity and vigour, without detracting from the powers of the one 
 to add to those of the other, nor extending the faculties of either 
 beyond their legitimate dimensions. Each possesses a portion of 
 the delegated authority of the people, and each is supreme within 
 the sphere of its constitutional powers. The apprehensions enter- 
 tained by some of our distinguished statesmen at the formation of 
 the National Constitution have entirely failed ; and instead of the 
 predominance of a controlling power in the states, the centripetal 
 force of the General Government has had perhaps too great a prepon- 
 derance. The officers of the latter exceed those of the former in 
 rank, power, number, and emolument : its patronage is commen- 
 surate with its superior resources ; and it touches in its relations 
 and ramifications every chord of ambition, presents the most spacious 
 theatre for the display of great talents, and for the gratification of 
 lofty aspirations It also possesses a decided advantage over the 
 state governments in the arrangement of its judicial authority. In 
 all controversies relative to the due exercise of their powers, this de- 
 partment of the National Government is a tribunal of dernier resort, 
 without any amenability to the people, or the states, with a compensa- 
 tion that cannot be diminished, under a tenure that will endure for 
 life, and with no other responsibility than liability to impeachment 
 for high crimes and misdemeanours, under which any decisions 
 liowever erroneous, can never be classed, because an error of judg- 
 ment can never be adjudged a crime. 
 
 Natural justice prescribes that no man should be a judge in his 
 own cause,andthat between contending sovereignties neither should 
 
19 
 
 pronounce the law of the case. A new tribunal ought to be con- 
 stituted, to decide upon the power of the national and state go- 
 vernments, and to keep them within legitimate boundaries. I 
 know of none that can be formed w^ith a character so imposing, 
 with a responsibility so imperative, and with a position so dignified 
 as the Senate of the United States. Composed of the most distin- 
 guished and talented men of the several slates ; its decisions would 
 be formed with integrity and ability, and received with respectful 
 acquiescence. As a co-ordinate branch of Congress, and as a com- 
 ponent part of the executive power, it would be a safe guardian of 
 the just authority of the National Government ; and as a represen- 
 tation of the states with a periodical change of members, it would 
 be their natural and efficient protector against unconstitutional in- 
 vasions. In these suggestions, I have not the most distant inten- 
 tion of violating the habitual respect which I entertain for the su- 
 preme judiciary of the Union. 
 
 A judicious policy will dispense as far as possible an equal par- 
 ticipation of the benefits of cheap and rapid communication. Those 
 regions which are most distant from our navigable establishments, 
 ought to enjoy equivalent facilities by roads and bridges. The south- 
 ern tier of counties, commencing with Chatauque, and extending 
 eastward, come generally under this description. In all cases of this 
 kind, roads ought to be made from the interior counties to the market 
 towns on the Hudson, and other navigable waters, to the canals, 
 to the parallel and great lakes, and to all other places where the 
 conveniences of transportation are affected. It is of great conse- 
 quence to construct a state road from some point on the Hudson 
 river, to the head of Cayuga lake, nearly central between the line of 
 the Erie canal on the one side, and the Pennsylvania line on the 
 other. Such an avenue of requisite solidity, of adequate width, 
 and smooth and even surface, would afford great and valuable facil- 
 ities. The distance would be about 150 miles, and each end of the 
 road would furnish good markets to an important region of the 
 state now remote, and in a great degree sequestered. Whenever 
 this is the case, trade is in some degree managed by barter or ex- 
 change, as a substitute for circulating medium. The impositions 
 and errors that necessarily result from negotiations transacted with- 
 out a certain standard of value, are injurious to morals and social 
 harmony. It ought not to be forgotten, that during four months 
 of the year, when our navigation is obstructed by ice, it is pecu- 
 liarly requisite that our highways should be maintained in good ^ 
 condition. 
 
 A report on the Cayuga marshes will be made to you by one of 
 our most able civil engineers. And if it should prove favourable 
 to the practicability of the contemplated enterprise, the obvious uti- 
 lity will be recognised in promoting the public health, and in re- 
 claiming a considerable portion of our most fertile lands, now unfit 
 for cultivation. 
 
 I beg leave to call your attention to our salt works in Onondaga 
 
20 
 
 county. By proper regulation and management, the whole coun* 
 try maybe supplied with this indispensable article, at the cheapest 
 rate, and a revenue of half a million of dollars, may, in a few years, 
 accrue to the state. A board of commissioners instituted to make 
 the necessary investigations, and to recommend the most eligible 
 system, is a measure well worthy your attention. 
 
 The erection of wharves and other accommodations for trade on 
 our navigable lakes, will be promoted by investing the commis- 
 sioners of the land-offices with the like powers in this case, as in 
 that of grants under the waters of navigable rivers, to the pro- 
 prietors of the adjacent lands. 
 
 I intended to submit to you some observations on our Penitentiary 
 system; but I understood that a board composed of intelligent 
 men have been charged by the legislature to consider this subject, 
 and that their report will in due time be presented to you. I shall 
 therefore only say that a classification of offenders, separate dor- 
 mitories, solitary confinement, and steady labour, are essential to 
 the success of this system, and that it may be so administered as 
 to afford the means of its own support without any expense to the 
 state. Whenever the pardoning power has been extended too 
 far, whether in consequence of recommendations proceeding from 
 the most benevolent feelings in some instances, or from the crowd- 
 ed state of the prisons, the usefulness of the Penitentiary system 
 has been impaired. It is your duty to provide the means for exe- 
 cuting the laws, and it is my duty to see them executed. And I 
 shall certainly exercise the prerogative of mercy with a view only 
 to the legitimate objects of punishment, the reformation of offend- 
 ers, and the prevention of crimes. 
 
 A House of Refuge for the reformation of juvenile delinquents 
 has been established by a benevolent association in the city of New- 
 York. Its objects are to rescue them from destruction by disci- 
 plining them in virtuous and industrious habits : and a full state- 
 ment of the views and concerns of this excellent institution will 
 in due season be made to you. Of a kin to this establishment, 
 and with a preventive as well as a remedial tendency, is the Or- 
 phan Asylum in that city, under the auspices of females of distin- 
 guished benevolence. It takes under its protection children who 
 have been left in an orphan state, and trains them up in the paths 
 of virtue and usefulness. The Lunatic Asylum has participated 
 largely in the bounty of the state, is well managed, and may be 
 justly classed among our most important charities. Another un- 
 fortunate description of human beings, the deaf and dumb, are 
 committed to the instruction of a laudable institution incorporated 
 in the city of New-York, which will apply to you for a renewal 
 and modification of the statute passed in 1822, to promote the 
 education of the indigent deaf and dumb within the state. That 
 act provides for four pupils from each senatorial district, and au- 
 thorizes their support from the state treasury. Twenty-seven are 
 now in the school as state pupils ; but there are between thirty 
 and forty applicants who cannot be received from districts that have 
 
31 
 
 the prescribed compliment, and vacant districts cannot be filled 
 from other districts. It is desirable to aug;ment the number to six 
 from each district, and to allow vacancies to be supplied from other 
 districts, when there are no applicants. A society for the same pur- 
 pose, denominated the Central Institution, was incorporated in 1823, 
 and established at Canajoharie. Of its condition I have no specific 
 information. When the census is taken, it will be useful to have 
 an enumeration of the deaf and dumb, designating their sexes, ages 
 and circumstances. Information of their ages is desirable, because 
 the only docile objects are those between ten and twenty -five years 
 of age : and a knowledge of their means of support is necessary, 
 in order to ascertain the needful extent of public charity. This 
 has, I believe, been done in some states. In Ohio the number 
 was found to be 423. 
 
 An enumeration of insane persons should also be taken, arrang- 
 ing them under the heads of criminal, pauper, and in good circum- 
 stances. The criminal lunatics in Great Britain, are composed of 
 those who are committed under the statute, against disorderly per- 
 sons, and of another class for which I believe no provision has 
 been made in our code ; and which ought to[be attended to. If on 
 the trial of a person charged with treason, nr.urder, or felony in 
 that country, a defence of insanity is set up, and if the jury ac- 
 quit the prisoner on that ground, the court may, notwithstanding, 
 continue him in confinement. Too much praise cannot be ascribed 
 to the founders and patrons of these, and other useful charities. If 
 there be vices which inflict their own punishment, there are also 
 virtues which dispense their own rewards, and receive the venera- 
 tion of the present age, the benediction of posterity, and the smiles 
 of approving heaven. 
 
 Judging from the reports of the Adjutant General, and the Com- 
 missary General, made at the last session, I have reason to believe 
 that the state of our militia and arsenals is flourishing. The im- 
 portance of these objects entitles them to cordial and vio-ilant 
 cultivation. A respectable portion of our fellow-citizens, recom- 
 mended to our favourable notice by their virtuous lives, exemplary 
 habits of industry, and their zealous co-operation in all benevolent 
 undertakings, are conscientiously opposed to bearing arms, and to 
 the payment of fines imposed for non-attendance in the militia. 
 A complete relief can only be effected by the interposition of Con- 
 gress, or by an alteration of the constitution : and that it ought to be 
 granted, I entertain no doubt. A sufficient equivalent is already 
 rendered to the state by the exclusive support of their own poor, 
 besides their full participation in the maintenance of the poor in 
 general. In this enlightenened age, when the rights of man are 
 fully understood, and practically asserted, it is surely not compati- 
 ble with the tolerant and liberal spirit of the times, to wound the 
 consciences of unoffending fellow-men. At all events, it lies in 
 your power to guard against abuses in the penal inflictions which 
 it is believed have, in some instances, been carried to oppressive 
 lengths. 
 
22 
 
 During your session, you will be called upon to elect a senator 
 of the United States. I need not enforce the consideration which 
 will naturally occur to you on this interesting occasion, nor urge 
 the expediency of selecting a person of great experience in public 
 affairs, of approved capacity, of unquestionable fidelity, and of 
 distinguished public services. Such a representative is alone 
 worthy of the state, and is required by the true interests of the 
 Union. 
 
 The reception of General La Fayette has been equally honour- 
 able to him and to the nation. It has illustrated the good feelings 
 of the people, rescued free governments from a standing reproach, 
 and inculcated a great moral lesson on the world. The merits of 
 this illustrious man are embodied in the leading events of his well- 
 spent life, and recorded in the faithful pages of history. Although 
 one of the privileged orders of France, he embarked his fortune, 
 his character, and his life, in the cause of our Republic, and in the 
 very crisis of its fate. During the revolutions which have subse- 
 quently agitated Europe, he has been uniformly the intrepid, the 
 faithful friend of freedom, neither turning to the right nor to the 
 left, but marching onward in the great cause of principle, defying 
 the denunciations of jacobins, and encountering the frowns of ty- 
 rants. During his short residence in this state, he was received by 
 our chief magistrate, by our municipal authorities, and by the great 
 body of the people, with distinguished respect. His old compa- 
 nions in arms, the vyar-worn soldiers of the revolution, and the ve- 
 nerable patriots of the times that tried men's souls, gathered around 
 their friend, and the generations that had sprung up in his absence, 
 hailed him as the champion of liberty, and the benefactor of the 
 human race. It remains for the legislature to unite in the general 
 voice, and to adopt measures suitable to the occasion, and worthy 
 of the state. The recent demonstrations of national gratitude re- 
 flect honour to the source, and render justice to the object, and are 
 cheering to the hearts of the American people. 
 
 The most friendly feelings, I have reason to believe, exist be- 
 tween this state and the other members of the confederacy, which, 
 I hope, will ever prevail to the utter exclusion of sectional jealou- 
 sies and geographical prejudices. Our controversies about juris- 
 diction and territory, have been definitively settled with all, except 
 the state of New-Jersey — and seeing no reason why an amicable 
 adjustment on the most honourable terms should not be effected, 
 I earnestly recommend that provisions be made for the purpose, in 
 accordance with the law passed by that patriotic state, which I 
 shall cause to be laid before you. 
 
 The protection of our great commercial emporium from pesti- 
 lential disease is essential to the general welfare. I sincerely 
 hope that the prejudices which have sometimes arrayed in conten- 
 tion with each other, country and city interests, will be for ever 
 dismissed, as unworthy of the good sense and good feelings of the 
 community, and that the prosperity of each, will be considered the 
 
prosperity of both. Our Quarantine laws ought to be executed with 
 vigilance and energy, and such improvements adopted, as will ef- 
 fectually guard againstdanger from abroad : for on any theory that has 
 been suggested, a precautionary system is necessary, whether ma- 
 lignant or yellow fever is propagated by specific contagion, or in- 
 troduced by the deleterious state of vessels and cargoes. 
 
 The police of the city of New- York is excellent in relation to 
 crimes ; but in reference to health, it has no distinguished merit. 
 Without good water, there cannot be good health : and no effectual 
 provision has been made for that object. It may be laid down as 
 an incontrovertible truth, that no dense population can furnish from 
 within its own limits, an adequate supply of this indispensable ac- 
 commodation, with reference to quality and quantity. As there is 
 nothing to prevent your favourable interposition, I trust that )^ou 
 will dispense it with a liberal hand, to all laudable attempts, whe- 
 ther by the local government, by private associations, or by enter- 
 prising individuals, to furnish a sufficiency not only for all domes- 
 tic purposes, but for public baths, for cleansing the streets, and for 
 the general purification of the city. 
 
 An annual law is generally passed authorizing certain aliens 
 by name, to take, hold, and dTspose of real estate, in like manner 
 as natural born citizens. Such a provision is proper, and operates 
 as an encouragement to wholesome emigration. But may not 
 this object be more effectually and comprehensively attained by 
 passing a general law empowering under certain restrictions resi- 
 dent aliens to enjoy similar privileges ? 
 
 Our legal rate of interest for money was established at a remote 
 period, and is one per cent, higher than in some of the most flourish- 
 ing states. Your attention to a suitable reduction may be of great 
 benefit to the public. 
 
 The mercantile interest are greatly aggrieved by the law relative 
 to merchants and factors or agents as recognised in England, trans- 
 ferred to this country, and incorporated into our judicial decisions. 
 The parent case on this subject was laid down by Lord Chief Jus- 
 tice Lee, in 1742, and may be found under the head of Patterson 
 vs. Tash, in the second volume of Strange's Reports. Although 
 the facts of the case do not appear, and the adjudication itself is 
 exhibited in a suspicious shape, yet it has been implicitly and 
 servilely adopted. And it is now considered as settled law, that 
 if a factor pledges the goods of his principal, the person who has 
 advanced money upon them in ignorance of his being a factor, can- 
 not hold the goods as a security for his advances. And another 
 rule equally exceptionable has been established, namely, that the 
 factor cannot bind his principal in cases in which the bona fide pur- 
 chaser can have no means of discovering the extent of his authority, 
 or the fact of his not being a principal. This law is different 
 from that of France, Russia, Austria, Spain, the Hanse-towns, 
 Holland, and indeed of almost all Europe, and is found to be so 
 pernicious in its operations in Great Britain, that a bill has passed 
 the House of Commons, and will probably become a law, confor- 
 
24 
 
 mably to the general sense of commercial countries. — In mercan- 
 tile arrangements, it frequently occurs that there are several ad- 
 vances made "between the shipment and sale of commodities, by 
 the foreign shipper or consignor to the foreign proprietor, by the 
 consignee to the consignor, who is himself a factor, and by some 
 capitalist to the factor, in consequence of a difficulty in finding a 
 ready and advantageous sale. — All these arrangements for the con- 
 venience of commerce are impeded, jeopardized, and frequently 
 frustrated by the existing law ; and our merchants are now placed 
 in a most peculiar position. Laws operating injuriously on indivi- 
 duals and on commerce, and founded solely on British precedents, 
 continue in force with us, while Oi'eat Britain has found the same 
 laws so inconvenient and unwise, that her parliament has passed 
 one statute and is about to pass another for correcting the evil. 
 
 Our laws in relation to the estates of intestates and testators are 
 of similar origin, and operate in many cases injuriously on the 
 claims of justice and the interests of society. Why should there 
 not be a pro rata dispensation of payments to all bona fide creditors^ 
 without any reference to specialties or other preferences, as now re- 
 cognised ? And might not salutary rules be adopted to enforce the 
 prompt settlement of estates, and tO sanction the probate of wills, 
 without encountering the expense and delay, which are now just 
 subjects of complaint? Indeed the whole system of our jurispru- 
 dence requires revisal, arrangement, and correction. A complete 
 code founded on the salutary principles of the common law, adapt- 
 ed to the interests of commerce and the useful arts, the state of so- 
 ciety, the nature of our government, and embracing those improve- 
 ments which are enjoined by enlightened experience, would be a 
 public blessing. It would free our laws from uncertainty, elevate 
 a liberal and honourable profession, and utterly destroy judicial 
 legislation, which is fundamentally at war with the genius of re- 
 presentative government. 
 
 You will excuse me for adverting to a subject of a delicate nature, 
 but which is so very important that I cannot, consistently with my 
 sense of duty, pass it over in silence. The mixture of incongruous 
 subjects in the same bill, has always been considered an unsound 
 mode of legislation. Every provision ought to stand on its own 
 merits, and it should consequently be unconnected with irrelevant 
 matter. On the last reading, the final question is taken on the 
 whole bill. When compounded of various matters, it may be im- 
 properly forced into a law by the variety and extension of the inte- 
 rests which it propitiates. At one time this mode of heterogene- 
 ous legislation was carried so far that the council of revision during 
 the administration of my venerable relative, objected to a bill on 
 that account. The practice was partially discontinued for a time, 
 but it has since been pursued in a bill necessary to be passed at the 
 close of every session, called a supply bill, and which sometimes 
 contains provisions entirely misplaced. But this procedure is not 
 so pernicious as a novel practice which has been introduced since 
 the adoption of the present constitution, in relation to certain 
 
35 
 
 bills which cannot become laws without the sanction of two-thirds 
 of each branch of the legislature. It was formerly laid down as 
 a sound rule of legislation, that after a bill was rejected, it should 
 not be reintroduced the same session ; and that after one recon- 
 sideration, a proposition should be viewed as its termination. The 
 object of these regulations was to guard against an unnecessary- 
 waste of time, to promote economy, and prevent the introduction 
 of practices incompatible with purity and good order, and injuri- 
 ous to the harmony of the legislature. What is well considered 
 does not require frequent reconsideration. The fair object of the 
 latter is to introduce new light, and to present impressive facts and 
 considerations which had not been suggested or known in due sea- 
 son. For the last two sessions of the legislature, if I am rightly in- 
 formed, it has been customary, after the rejection of a bill on the 
 third reading, for the want of the requisite two-thirds of the mem- 
 bers, to move for and obtain frequent reconsiderations. By this 
 means a number of bills of the same kind are accumulated for 
 passing, and the object for which a reconsideration is granted, is 
 thus defeated. The end in such case is to obtain a favourable de- 
 cision by the force of combination. A number of bills are brought 
 up at one time, contending for priority ; but after the order of pre- 
 cedence is arcsuigcd;, the^loneer bill, i£ succ^sftiii]^ op^;cVi a passage 
 for its^associates, and they follow triumphantly in its train. If un- 
 successful, then they are postponed to a more favourable opportunity* 
 Is it too much to say that dangerous precedents have been estab- 
 lished? that bills have passed by the force of their associates, 
 not by their merits? and that public confidence is shaken in the 
 purity of such proceedings ? After this exposition, it is due to the 
 respect which I entertain for your integrity, patriotism, and intel" 
 ligence, to express my conviction that you will discourage prac- 
 tices so injurious to just legislation, and derogatory from the pub- 
 lic welfare. 
 
 Having already trespassed on your time, I shall reserve for fu- 
 ture communication such other subjects as may be deemed worthy 
 of your consideration. 
 
 The causes which led to our divisions and distractions, no longer 
 predominate. We are emancipated from the thraldom of a system 
 of patronage which formed a component part of our former consti- 
 tution, and whose direct tendency and inevitable operation were 
 to agitate the community with incessant convulsions; to make 
 personal gratification the standard of political orthodoxy ; to ren- 
 der the state the victim of political machinations at home and from 
 abroad : and to convert the very favours conferred by its bounty, 
 intb the instruments of its vassalage and degradation. — With a 
 full view of these evils, I recommended at an early period, a dif- 
 ferent arrangement of the appointing power. The patronage once 
 vested in a council of appointment is now diffused ; and political 
 power, which under the former order of things, was in many re- 
 spects concentrated in petty aristocracies, and wielded by factious 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 combinations, has been in a great measure restored to its authentic 
 source, the great body of the people. That abolition, and that 
 restoration, have dissolved the union between personal interest and 
 political subserviency. The people rising in the majesty of their 
 power, above the debasing trammels of names, and the obnoxious 
 dictations of combinations, have sustained and vindicated a system 
 of disenthralled and independent suffrage. And the auspicious in- 
 fluence of this magnanimous course will be witnessed in the inde- 
 pendence and purity of the elective franchise, in the talents and 
 integrity of our legislative assemblies, and in the correspondent es- 
 timation of the state with our sister republics, and in the councils 
 of the Union. We possess a territory of great extent ; a soil of 
 inexhaustible fertility ; a climate of undoubted salubrity ; subter- 
 ranean wealth almost boundless ; incalculable extent of manufac- 
 turing power ; positions for prosperous commerce unsurpassed upon 
 the globe ; vast public property in lands, stocks, and canals ; a flou- 
 rishing treasury ; a prospective and certain revenue of millions ; a 
 system of laws under which the rights of persons and of property 
 are secured, and still susceptible of great improvements. And above 
 all, may we not say without arrogance and without flattery, that our 
 population is religious, moral, industrious, intelligent, enterpris- 
 ing, highr^purited^iifM^Qfonndiy^aonsmiiMflia^ and 
 its blesSfiigs ; -with the principles and feelings of freedom engraft- 
 ed into its moral and physical being ? Enjoying, as we do, these 
 transcendent blessings, it remains for ourselves to determine whe- 
 ther we are worthy of the career which the Author of all good has 
 opened to us ; whether we have wisdom and virtue enough to be- 
 come what he has given us means, and indicated as his wish, that 
 we should become, a main pillar in the great and glorious fabric of 
 freedom and social happiness, reared by the valour, established by 
 the wisdom, and cemented by the blood of our fathers ; blessing as 
 we are blessed, and ministering as we are ministered unto ; — or 
 whether we are to prove recreant to these elevated and imperative 
 duties, and by wasting our strength and sullying our character in 
 petty cabals, intrigues, and local agitations, commencing in folly and 
 terminating in disgrace, we cast away the rich bounties of Heaven, 
 undermine our own prosperity, and retard the establishment of 
 principles associated with the exalted destinies of freedom, and 
 identified with the primary interests of the human race. 
 
 DE WITT CLINTON, 
 
 %filhany^ Ath January, 1825. 
 
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