ired that the masters and supercargoes and
three-fourths at least of the crews be citizens or subjects of the
country under whose flag the vessels sail.

That all persons concerned in collusive captures by the enemy or in
ransoming vessels or their cargoes from the enemy be subjected to
adequate penalties.

To shorten as much as possible the duration of the war it is
indispensable that the enemy should feel all the pressure that can be
given to it, and the restraints having that tendency will be borne with
the greater cheerfulness by all good citizens, as the restraints will
affect those most who are most ready to sacrifice the interest of their
country in pursuit of their own.

JAMES MADISON.

JANUARY 6, 1814.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

I transmit, for the information of Congress, copies of a letter from the
British secretary of state for foreign affairs to the Secretary of
State, with the answer of the latter.

In appreciating the accepted proposal of the Government of Great Britain
for instituting negotiations for peace Congress will not fail to keep in
mind that vigorous preparations for carrying on the war can in no
respect impede the progress to a favorable result, whilst a relaxation
of such preparations, should the wishes of the United States for a
speedy restoration of the blessings of peace be disappointed, would
necessarily have the most injurious consequences.

JAMES MADISON.

FEBRUARY 26, 1814.

_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:

It has appeared that at the recovery of the Michigan Territory from the
temporary possession of the enemy the inhabitants thereof were left in
so destitute and distressed a condition as to require from the public
stores certain supplies essential to their subsistence, which have been
prolonged under the same necessity which called for them.

The deplorable situation of the savages thrown by the same event on the
mercy and humanity of the American commander at Detroit drew from the
same source the means of saving them from perishing by famine, and in
other places the appeals made by the wants and sufferings of that
unhappy description of people have been equally imperious.

The necessity imposed by the conduct of the enemy in relation to the
savages of admitting their cooperation in some instances with our arms
has also involved occasional expense in supplying their wants, and it
is p