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8 januari 1790
FELLOW CITIZENS Of
the SENATE, and HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES,
I EMBRACE with
great satisfaction the opportunity, which now presents itself, of
congratulating you on the present favourable prospects of our public
affairs. The recent accession of the important state of
Northcarolina to the Constitution of the United States (of which
official information has been received)--- the ruling credit and
respectability of our country--- the general and increasing good
will towards the government of the union, and the concord, peace and
plenty, with which we are blessed, are circumstances auspicious, in
an excellent degree, to our national prosperity.
n reforming your
consultations for the general good, you cannot but derive
encouragement from the reflection, the measures of the last session
have been as satisfactory to your constituents as the novelty and
difficulty of the work allowed you to hope.-- Still further to
realize their expectations, and to secure the blessings which a
gracious Providence has placed within our reach, will in the course
of the present important session, call for the cool and deliberate
exertion of your patriotism, firmness and wisdom.
Among the many
interesting objects which will engage your attention, that of
providing for the common defence will merit particular regard. To be
prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving
peace.
A free people ought
not only to be armed but disciplined; to which end a uniform and
well digested plan is requisite: And their safety and interest
require that they should promote such manufactories, as tend to
render them independent on others, for essential, particularly for
military supplies.
The proper
establishment of the troops which may be deemed indispensable, will
be entitled to mature consideration. In the arrangement which will
be made respecting it, it will be of importance to conciliate the
comfortable support of the officers and soldiers with a due regard
to economy.
There was reason to
hope, the pacifick measures adopted with regard to certain hostile
tribes of Indians, would have relieved the inhabitants of our
southern and western frontiers from their depredations. But you will
perceive, from the information contained in the papers, which I
shall direct to be laid before you, (comprehending a communication
from the Commonwealth of Virginia) that we ought to be prepared to
afford protection to those parts of the Union; and, if necessary, to
punish aggressors.
The interests of
the United States require, that our intercourse with other nations
should be facilitated by such provisions as will enable me to
fulfill my duty, in that respect, in the manner which circumstances
may render most conducive to the publick good: And to this end, that
the compensations to be made to the persons who may be employed,
should, according to the nature of their appointments, be defined by
law; and a competent fund designated for defraying the expenses
incident to the conduct of our foreign affairs.
Various
considerations also render it expedient, that the terms on which
foreigners may be admitted to the rights of Citizens, should be
speedily ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization.
Uniformity in the
currency, weights and measures of the United States, is an object of
great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to.
The advancement of
agriculture, commerce and manufactures, by all proper means, will
not, I trust, need recommendation. But I cannot forbear intimating
to you the expediency of giving effectual encouragement as well to
the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad, as to the
exertions of skill and genius in producing them at home; and of
facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our
country by a due attention to the Post Office and Post Roads.
Nor am I less
persuaded, that you will agree with me in opinion, that there is
nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion
of Science and Literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest
basis of publick happiness. In one, in which the measures of
government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of
the community, as in our's, it is proportionately essential. To the
security of a free Constitution it contributes in various ways: By
convincing those who are entrusted with the publick administration,
that every valuable end of government is best answered by the
enlightened confidence of the people: And by teaching the people
themselves to know, and to value their own rights; to discern and
provide against invasions of them; to distinguish between oppression
and the necessary exercise of lawful authority; between burthens
proceeding from a disregard to their convenience, and those
resulting from the inevitable exigencies of society; to discriminate
the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness, cherishing the
first, avoiding the last, and uniting a speedy, but temperate
vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable respect to the
laws.
Whether this
desirable object will be best promoted by affording aids to
seminaries of learning already established, by the institution of a
national university, or by any other expedients, will be well worthy
of a place in the deliberations of the Legislature.
Gentlemen of the
House of Representatives,
I SAW with peculiar
pleasure, at the close of the last session, the resolution entered
into by you, expressive of your opinion, that an adequate provision
for the support of the publick credit, is a matter of high
importance to the national honour and prosperity.-- In this
sentiment, I entirely concur.-- And to a perfect confidence in your
best endeavors to devise such a provision as will be truly
consistent with the end, I add an equal reliance on the cheerful
cooperation of the other branch of the Legislature.-- It would be
superfluous to specify inducements to a measure in which the
character and permanent interests of the United States so obviously
and so deeply concerned; and which has received so explicit a
sanction from your declaration.
Gentlemen of the
Senate, and House of Representatives,
I HAVE directed the
proper officers to lay before you respectively such papers and
estimates as regards the affairs particularly recommended to your
consideration, and necessary to convey to you that information of
the state of the union, which it is my duty to afford.
The welfare of our
country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to
be directed.-- And I shall derive great satisfaction from a
cooperation with you, in the pleasing though arduous task of
ensuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a
right to expect, from a free and equal government.
George Washington, January 8, 1790
  
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