give to this leading branch of American industry the encouragement which it merits, I respectfully recommend the establishment of an agricultural bureau, to be connected with the Department of the Interior. To elevate the social condition of the agriculturist, to increase his prosperity, and to extend his means of usefulness to his country, by multiplying his sources of information, should be the study of every statesman, and a primary object with every legislator.

"No civil Government having been provided by Congress for California, the people of that territory, impelled by the necessities of their political condition, recently met in convention for the purpose of forming a Constitution and State Government, which the latest advices give me reason to suppose has been accomplished; and it is believed they will shortly apply for the admission of California into the Union as a Sovereign State. Should such be the case, and should their Constitution be conformable to the requisitions of the Constitution of the United States, I recommend their application to the favourable consideration of Congress.

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The people of New Mexico will also, it is believed, at no very distant period present themselves for admission into the Union. Preparatory to the admission of California and New Mexico, the people of each will have instituted for themselves a republican form of Government, laying its foundations in such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

"I recommend the establishment of a branch mint in California, as it will, in my opinion, afford important facilities to those en

gaged in mining, as well as to the Government in the disposition of the mineral lands.

"I also recommend that commissions be organized by Congress to examine and decide upon the validity of the present subsisting land titles in California and New Mexico, and that provision be made for the establishment of offices of Surveyor-General in New Mexico, California, and Oregon, and for the surveying and bringing into market the public lands in those territories. Those lands, remote in position and difficult of access, ought to be disposed of on terms liberal to all, but especially favourable to the early emigrants.

"In order that the situation and character of the principal mineral deposits in California may be ascertained, I recommend that a geological and mineralogical exploration be connected with the linear surveys, and that the mineral lands be divided into small lots suitable for mining, and be disposed of by sale or lease, so as to give our citizens an opportunity of procuring permanent right of property in the soil. This would seem to be as important to the success of the mining as of the agricultural pursuits.

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The great mineral wealth of California, and the advantages which its ports and harbours and those of Oregon afford to commerce, especially with the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and the populous regions of Eastern Asia, make it certain that there will arise, in a few years, large and prosperous communities on our western coast. It, therefore, becomes important that a line of communication, the best and most expeditious which the nature of the country will admit, should be

opened within the territory of the United States, from the navigable waters of the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. Opinion, as elicited and expressed by two large and respectable conventions, lately assembled at St. Louis and Memphis, points to a railroad as that which, if practicable, will best meet the wishes and wants of the country. But while this, if in successful operation, would be a work of great national importance and of a value to the country which it would be difficult to estimate, it ought also to be regarded as an undertaking of vast magnitude and expense, and one which must, if it be indeed practicable, encounter many difficulties in its construction and use. Therefore, to avoid failure and disappointment, to enable Congress to judge whether, in the condition of the country through which it must pass, the work be feasible, and if it be found so, whether it should be undertaken as a national improvement or left to individual enterprise; and in the latter alter native, what aid, if any, ought to be extended to it by the Government, I recommend, as a preliminary measure, a careful reconnoissance of the several proposed routes by a scientific corps; and a report as to the practicability of making such a road, with an estimate of the cost of its construction and support.

"The accompanying report of the Secretary of the Navy presents a full and satisfactory account of the condition and operations of the naval service during the past year. Our citizens engaged in the legitimate pursuits of commerce have enjoyed its benefit. Wherever our national vessels have gone, they have been received with reVOL. XCI...

spect, our officers have been treated with kindness and courtesy, and they have on all occasions pursued a course of strict neutrality, in accordance with the policy of our Government.

"The naval force at present in commission is as large as is admissible with the number of men authorized by Congress to be employed.

"I invite your attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of the Navy on the subject of a re-organization of the navy, in its various grades of officers, and the establishing of a retired list for such of the officers as are disqualified for active and effective service. Should Congress adopt some such measure as is recommended, it will greatly increase the efficiency of the navy, and reduce its expenditures.

"I also ask your attention to the views expressed by him in reference to the employment of war-steamers, and in regard to the contracts for the transportation of the United States' mails, and the operation of the system upon the prosperity of the navy.

"Our Government is one of limited powers, and its successful administration eminently depends on the confinement of each of its co-ordinate branches within its own appropriate sphere. The first section of the Constitution ordains that all legislative powers therein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.' The Executive has authority to recommend (not to dictate) measures to Congress. Having performed that duty, the executive department of the Government cannot rightfully control the decision of Congress [2 D]

on any subject of legislation, until that decision shall have been officially submitted to the President for approval. The check provided by the Constitution in the clause conferring the qualified veto will never be exercised by me except in the cases contemplated by the fathers of the Republic. I view it as an extreme measure, to be resorted to only in extraordinary cases-as where it may become necessary to defend the Executive against the encroachments of the Legislative power, or to prevent hasty and inconsiderate or unconstitutional legislation. By cautiously confining this remedy within the sphere prescribed to it in the contemporaneous expositions of the framers of the Constitution, the will of the people, legitimately expressed on all subjects of legislation through their constitutional organs, the senators and represent atives of the United States, will have its full effect.

"As indispensable to the preservation of our system of selfgovernment, the independence of the representatives of the States and the people is guaranteed by the Constitution; and they owe no responsibility to any human power but their constituents. By holding the representative responsible only to the people, and exempting him from all other influences, we elevate the character of the constituent and quicken his sense of responsibility to his country. It is under these circumstances only that the elector can feel that, in the choice of the law-maker, he is himself truly a component part of the sovereign power of the nation. With equal care we should study to defend the rights of the execu

tive and judicial departments. Our Government can only be preserved in its purity by the suppression and entire elimination of every claim or tendency of one co-ordinate branch to encroachment upon another. With the strict observance of this rule and the other injunctions of the Constitutionwith a sedulous inculcation of that respect and love for the Union of the States which our fathers cherished and enjoined upon their children, and with the aids of that overruling Providence which has so long and so kindly guarded our liberties and institutions, we may reasonably expect to transmit them with their innumerable blessings to the remotest posterity.

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But attachment to the Union of the States should be habitually fostered in every American heart. For more than half a century, during which kingdoms and empires have fallen, this Union has stood unshaken. The patriots who formed it have long since descended to the grave; yet still it remains, the proudest monument to their memory, and the object of affection and admiration with every one worthy to bear the American name. In my judgment, its dissolution would be the greatest of calamities, and to avert that should be the study of every American. Upon its preservation must depend our own happiness and that of countless generations to come. Whatever dangers may threaten it, I shall stand by it and maintain it in its integrity, to the full extent of the obligations imposed and the powers conferred upon me by the Constitution.

TOOTING.—

THE CHOLERA AT TOOTINhich

This fatal disease, which later in the year spread its ravages throughout the kingdom, broke out in a sudden and terrible manner in an establishment at Tooting, in which the pauper children of many of the largest metropolitan parishes were maintained, under a contract with Mr. Peter Drouet. The asylum, as it is called, occupies altogether, including fields, which are appropriated during the proper season to agricultural purposes, fifty-two acres of ground, about one-eighth of which is appropriated to the buildings and grounds of the asylum. The elder girls' dormitories are situate in two old family mansions facing the main road, in the village of Lower Tooting, a portion of which was occupied by Mr. Drouet himself, and his principal officers. That portion of the establishment appropriated to the boys consists of a number of detached outbuildings, extending on the right, or northeastern side, about half way down, and on the left, or western side, the entire length of the playground. Beyond these, on the same side, is a range of cottages, used as dormitories for the elder boys, which, from their extraordinary position, VOL. XCI.

the end of the

one

over a stagnant ditch passing along the end of the grounds, one of the filthy surface drains hereafter referred to, are considered as most unhealthy. The detached buildings in the yard consist of seven distinct compartments, each compartment on the ground floor being 50 feet long, 10 feet high, and 24 feet in width; and over these are dormitories of the same dimensions for the smaller children. The cottage rooms referred to above, in which the larger boys sleep, are a range of buildings 150 feet in length. The boys' school-room is 94 feet by 24 feet, and the girls' schoolroom of similar dimensions; the average number attending each school being from 500 to 600 daily.

The buildings and grounds are nearly surrounded by the surface drains of the neighbourhood, which are ditches from 18 to 20 feet wide and about 3 feet deep, having very little fall. These ditches were charged to the brim with the black fetid refuse of the houses of Lower Tooting and the Surrey Lunatic Asylum.

In this closely-packed and badlyventilated establishment the cholera broke out with dreadful virulence. Within a fortnight of its

B

first appearance 229 of the inmates had been attacked, 52 of whom were dead; and the fatal cases amounted to 10 or 12 a day, and soon amounted to upwards of 150. The guardians of the several parishes, whose pauper children were maintained at this establishment, took immediate steps to have them removed to their workhouses, or other suitable buildings; but the disease, from whatever cause it may originate, proved to be seated in the frames of the wretched little patients, large numbers of them being attacked and dying after removal, under circumstances in which neither deficiency of food or clothing, nor imperfect ventilation, could be assigned as the cause. The circumstance of the disease breaking out in an establishment of this kind, to which public attention had been drawn by the discussions in parliament on the Poor Law, and more universally by some of the most popular writers, caused much excitement, and the coroner's inquests, held on the bodies of the children, were protracted to a great length. It was made evident that the children were packed in a manner quite incompatible with health; that the rooms were wretchedly ventilated, the clothing insufficient, and the food, though not insufficient to support life, nevertheless, as to quantity and quality, not such as to produce robust frames, or a state of bodily health fitted to encounter disease. In most cases the juries returned open verdicts; but that which inquired into the deaths of children belonging to the Holborn Union, returned a verdict of "manslaughter" against Peter Drouet. It appeared that there were constantly between 1400 and 1600 pauper children at Mr. Drouet's establishment, who were lodged,

fed, clothed, and instructed, at 4s. 6d. per head per week. The total deaths in the house amounted to 150, besides those after removal.

Mr. Drouet was tried at the Central Criminal Court, on the 13th April, for the manslaughter of James Andrews, a child of tender years, the indictment charging that the prisoner, contrary to his duty, had neglected to give the child proper food and sustenance, and had also neglected to provide it with wholesome and properlyventilated sleeping accommodation, and by these means had caused it to be mortally sick and distempered, and had so occasioned its death.

The evidence, which extended to great length, consisted of an attempt to make out a general charge of neglect and ill treatment. Much of this evidence was rejected. At the conclusion of the reply, the Judges pointed out that it was neither charged in the indictment nor given in evidence that the child had ever been in such a condition of strength as to resist an attack of cholera; he might have died simply of cholera had he never been at Tooting at all. Upon this ground they thought there was nothing to go to the jury.

The jury immediately returned a verdict of "Not Guilty," adding "that they were unanimously of opinion that there was no evidence to support the charge.'

1. PRIVILEGES OF THE PEERAGE. -An application was made to Mr. Baron Platt, at Chambers, on behalf of a noble Earl, who was detained in the Queen's Prison as a commoner, for his discharge, he having succeeded, by the death of his father, to the title. The necessary documents were produced, and his Lordship, after considering