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GENTLEMEN:

MESSAGE.

As the Representatives of the people of Florida, I am happy to meet you in Council, and will unite with you most cordially in support of every measure calculated to promote the prosperity and welfare of the country. There are many important subjects which should claim your attention at the present session; and so far as the limited time allowed me to perform that duty may permit, I will endeavor to present them to your consideration.

I regret to inform you, that the war with the Seminole Indians, so long protracted, has not yet been brought to a c.ose. The frequent changes of the officers charged with the direction and management of the war, has contributed in no small degree to produce this result. But it is most carnestly hoped that the distinguished General now in the field may be permitted to remain and pursue his own plans of operation against the enemy without interruption. Should such be the case, there is every reason to believe that the war will very soon be brought to a successful termination. On the seventeenth, eighteenth, and twenty-first of November, a part of the army then in the field defeated the combined forces of the confederate chiefs in three decisive battles with great loss, and drove the Indians from all their known hiding places.

Their strong holds on the Withlacoochee, which they have hitherto defended with so much success against our invading armies, have all been abandoned, and they have fled enfeebled and dispirited, with a loss of power and of confidence, which must soon lead to their destruction, or their submission; if the success we have acquired, should be pursued with promptness and activity. That it will be, I cannot doubt, from the well known energy of the General who has lately succeeded to the command of the army in Florida.

Since your last annual meeting, a portion of the Territory has suffered all the calamities incident to war with a fierce and savage enemy. Many of the inhabitants have been driven from their homes, with the loss of all they possessed, and where they have escaped the pursuit of the Indians, it has frequently occurred that the fathers of families have become the victims of disease, contracted by fatigue and exposure and have left their wives and children destitute of the means of support. By the bounty of the Government in providing rations for the unfortunate sufferers, immediate distress has been averted; but more permanent provision should be made

for their support, and it is most confidently believed that the Government of the United States, with an overflowing treasury, and a surplus revenue of near fifty millions, will not refuse to indemnify our citizens for the losses they have sustained in a war produced alene by the policy of the Government, and in which they had no agency whatever. The act of the Government (however laudable the intention) to coerce the Indians to emigrate to a distant, and to them an unknown and unacceptable country, involved us in war, and many of our people in absolute ruin. From the commencement of hostilities until the present time, many of our citizens have been compelled to take arms and neglect their domestic pursuits, they have not only struggled to defend their own homes and families, from the visitation of the enemy, but they have fought the battles of the General Government, and on all occasions they have displayed a courage and fortitude which reflects the greatest credit on themselves and countr. Under these circumstances it appears to me, that their claims to indemnity are founded on the immutable principles of justice, and will be sustained by the liberal and enlightened Congress of the United States. I would therefore recommend to the Legislative Council, to prepare a memorial at the earliest period of the Session, setting forth in appropriate terms the distress and suffering of those who have sustained losses, and asking that they may be indemnified. I would further recommend that the memorial should represent the situation of those whose homes are covered by claims confirmed subsequently to their settlements by the Supreme Court of the United States, and ask for a grant of the right of pre-emption for one quarter section of land to each individual thus circumstanced.

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Another subject worthy to be presented to the consideraation of Congress, is the necessity of fortifying the principal sea ports of the Territory which yet remain defenceless. From the increasing product of the country, in one of the most valuable staples, and the growing commerce of the Bays of St. Marks, Apalachicola, and St. Joseph, they must in a few years become places of the greatest importance, and without fortifications, in the event of war with a foreign power, will invite invasion from the enemy. Key West and the Tortugas, from the capacity and security of their harbors affording safe anchorage to the largest vessels of war, should be objects of national consideration. They are the only harbors on the coast of the United States south of the Chesapeake, where our ships of the line can find protection, either from the elements or the superior force of an enemy.

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We consider their situation, on the verge of the Gulf Stream, and the wealth and extent of the commerce which is passing by them, and which must continue to increase for centuries yet to come, their importance as naval stations cannot be too highly appreciated, and the expenditure of no sum of money should be regarded in their fortification. From either of these positions, in a few hours sail, our ships of war could be in the immediate track of all vessels bound in and out of the Gulf of Mexico. Should we neglect to avail ourselves of these advantages, in the event of a war with a superior naval power, they would certainly be occupied by the enemy, to the great annoyance of our commerce. The importance of these harbors attracted the attention of the Government many years since. Competent officers of the Engineer Department, and of the Navy, were ordered to survey them, and although their reports are believed to have been entirely favorable, the subject has been permitted to slumber without receiving the action of Congress. I would therefore recommend, that in the memorial proposed, these subjects should be brought to the consideration of the National Legislature. The education of the youth of the Territory is an object of the greatest importance, and should excite the warmest solicitude of every member of the Council.-At present, there is no Institution in Florida, where they can be educated in the higher branches of learning, and they are compelled to go abroad to receive that instruction which cannot be procured at home. Among the earliest acts of Congress, passed after the cession of Florida. to the United States,was that in which two Townships of land were required to be reserved from sale, and to be located for the support of a Seminary of learning. These lands were generally selected with great judgment, and would now produce a valuable fund. By an act of the last session of Congress, the Governor and Legislative Council are authorised to sell one half of the two Townships abovementioned, the proceeds to be invested in certain trustees named in the act, who are authorised to appropriate such an amount as may required for the erection of suitable buildings, and to procure the necessary apparatus, the balance to be invested in some productive stock for the support of the institution. I would recommend to the Legislative Council the adoption of the necessary measures to carry this act into effect, guarding at the sametime in the most careful manner against any abuse in the expenditure or preservation of the fund arising from the sale of the land. It will be proper at the same time, for the Council to designate some suitable place for the location

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of this Institution, either by their own selection or that of Commissioners to be appointed for that purpose.

The responsibility of public officers to the people who are immediately interested in the manner in which their official duties are performed, constitutes one of the first principles of republican government, and cannot be departed from without danger of an abuse of power. In our Territorial Government, Congress has conferred on the people the right of electing their representatives in the Legislative Council, and in some other instances of less consequence. But there are other high and important officers, who hold their places under the authority of the General Government, and who feel no responsibility whatever to the people, over whose interests they preside. Such is particularly, the situation of the Governor; the Secretary of the Territory; the Judges of the Superior Court, and the District Attorneys. Neglect in the performance of public duties, will generally be found in proportion to the absence of responsibility, and the distance at which the officer is placed from the power by which he is controlled. It would be, perhaps, unjust to say, that the evil which I intend to present to your consideration, arises from negligence, and a disregard of duty; but I feel corstrained to call your attention to a palpable instance, in which, from some cause the most important interests of many of our citizens are sacrificed by the want of punctuality and attention in some of our public functionaries. The several acts of Congress, organising our Judicial System, provides, that the four Judges of the Superior Courts, or a majority of them, shall hold annually, at the Seat of Government, un Appellate Court, to which writs of error and appeals may be taken and prosecuted from the several Superior Courts. In most cases. involving claims to valuable property, or for the recovery of large sums of money; the right of appeal is exercised by the unsuccessful party in the Court below. Hence, it becomes a subject of deep interest to the community, that every term of the Appellate Court, should be promptly and punctually held. Such, I regret to say, has not been the case, and a session of this high and important tribunal, owing to the absence of some one of its members, has not been held for the last three years. The presiding Judge of this Court has been regular in his attendance, and occasionally some one of the associate Judges have been present, but not a sufficient number to constitute a quorum. These officers being beyond the control of the Legislative Council, I am unable to recommend to you an appropriate remedy against this evil, so deeply felt by the whole community. But after passing through a pe

riod of fifteen years of Territorial Government, I am per suaded that the intelligence, the wealth and number of our inhabitants, is now sufficient to enable us to assume a State Government, under which all public officers may be held mediately, or immediately, responsible to the people. If I am correct in the estimate I had formed of the capacity of the Territory, it is a duty which we owe ourselves as American citizens, justly proud of our Republican Institutions, to claim the right of self Government, in preference to remaining longer in a state of Territorial vassalage, under the absolute dominion of the General Government. The only argument which can be offered in behalf of a continuation of the present state of things, is that the expenses of the Territorial Government are defrayed by the United States. But this I regard as a trifling consideration, when compared with the sacrifice of independence, and the rights and privileges incident to a State Government. In a few years, Florida will abound in wealth, and will contain a numerous population. If we cannot at the commencement sustain the splendor of other State Govenments, which have been long in the confederacy of the Union, let us be contented with a more humble display, until time shall have ripened our resources to maturity. I would, therefore, recommend to the Legislative Council the adoption of the preparatory measures for an application to be admitted into the Union.

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The brave and patriotic Tennesseeans, who came to our relief at the darkest period of the war, when we were surrounded by perils on every hand, and who have been so eminently distinguished for their gallantry and enterprise in the last campaign, lost two of their intrepid companions in arms, who became victims to the disease of our climate. I allude to Maj. William Washington and Mr. Yerger, who died at this place in the month of September last. We owe it as a respect for their memories, and as a debt of gratitude to the generous and patriotic State from whence they came, to place over their graves appropriate tombs with suitable inscriptions; and I recommend to the Council an appropriation for that purpose.

The Banks of the Territory, so far as their condition has been made known to the Executive, continue in good credit, and supply a sound currency to the community. In examining their several charters, it will be found that much inequality exists in their liability to taxation, and the same want of uniformity is found in the collection of the taxes from those which are responsible. All of these institutions are liable

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