GENERAL HISTORY. 



[149 



part more accessible to and de- 

 pendent on each other, we shall 

 bind the union more closely toge- 

 ther. Nature has done so much 

 for us by intersecting; the country 

 with so many great rivers, bays, 

 and lakes, approaching from dis- 

 tant points so near to each other, 

 that the inducement to complete 

 the work seems to be peculiarly 

 strong. A more interesting spec- 

 tacle was perhaps never seen than 

 is exhibited within the limits of 

 the United States ; a territory so 

 vast, and advantageously situated, 

 containing objects so grand, so 

 useful, so happily connected in all 

 their parts. Our manufactures 

 will likewise require the systema- 

 tic and fostering care of the go- 

 vernment. Possessing, as we do, 

 all the raw materials, the fruit of 

 our own soil and industry, we 

 ought not to dc])end in the degiee 

 ■we have done on supplies from 

 other coimtries. While we are 

 thus dependent, the sudden events 

 of war, unsought and unexpected, 

 cannot fail to plunge us into the 

 most serious difficulties. 



" It is important, too, that the 

 capital which nourishes our ma- 

 nufactures should be domestic ; as 

 its influence in that case, instead 

 of exhausting, as it may do in fo- 

 reign hands, would be felt adTaii- 

 tageously on agriculture and every 

 other blanch of industry. Equally 

 important is it to provide at home 

 a market for our raw materials, 

 as, by extending the competition, 

 it will enhance the price, and pro- 

 tect the cultivator against the ca- 

 sualties incident to foreign mark- 

 ets. With the Indian tribes, it is 

 (mr duty to cultivate fiiendly re- 

 lations, and to act Avith kindness 

 and liberal it v in all our transac- 



tions. Equally proper is it to per- 

 severe in our efforts to extend to 

 them the advantages of civiliza- 

 tion. The great amount of our 

 revenue, and the flourishing state 

 of the treasmy, are a full proof of 

 the competency of the national 

 lesources for any emergency, as 

 they are of the willingness of 

 our fellow-citizens to bear the 

 burdens which the public neces- 

 sities require. The vast amount 

 of vacant lands, the value of which 

 daily augments, forms an addi- 

 tional resource of great extent and 

 duration. These resources, be- 

 sides accomplishing every other 

 necessary purpose, put it com- 

 pletely in the power of the United 

 States to discharge the national 

 debt at an early period. Peace is 

 the best time for improvement 

 and preparation of every kind. It 

 is in peace that our commerce 

 flovuishes most, that the taxes are 

 most easily paid, and that the re- 

 venue is most productive. 



" The Executive is charged offi- 

 cially in the departments undei" it, 

 Avith the disbursement of the pub- 

 lic money, and is responsible for 

 the faithful application of it to 

 the purposes for which it is rais- 

 ed. The Legislature is the watch- 

 ful guardian over the public purse ; 

 it is its duty to see that the dis- 

 bursement has been honestly made. 

 To meet the requisite responsibi- 

 lity, every facility should be af- 

 forded to the Executive to enable 

 it to bring the jmblic agents, in- 

 trusted with the public money, 

 strictly and j)romptly to account. 

 Nothing should be presumed a- 

 gainst them ; but if, with the re- 

 quisite facilities, the public mo- 

 ney is suffeied to lie long and 

 uselessly in their hands, tlicv will 



not 



