of our defenses generally I think proper to
observe that the system was adopted immediately after the late war by
Congress, on great consideration and a thorough knowledge of the effects
of that war--by the enormous expense attending it, by the waste of life,
of property, and by the general distress of the country. The amount of
debt incurred in that war and due at its conclusion, without taking into
the estimate other losses, having been heretofore communicated, need
not now be repeated. The interest of the debt thus incurred is four
times more than the sum necessary, by annual appropriations, for the
completion of our whole system of defense, land and naval, to the extent
provided for and within the time specified. When that system shall be
completed the expense of construction will cease, and our expenditures
be proportionally diminished. Should another war occur before it is
completed, the experience of the last marks in characters too strong
to be mistaken its inevitable consequences; and should such war occur
and find us unprepared for it, what will be our justification to the
enlightened body whom we represent for not having completed these
defenses? That this system should not have been adopted before the late
war can not be a cause of surprise to anyone, because all might wish
to avoid every expense the necessity of which might be in any degree
doubtful. But with the experience of that war before us it is thought
there is no cause for hesitation. Will the completion of these works and
the augmentation of our Navy to the point contemplated by law require
the imposition of onerous burthens on our fellow-citizens such as they
can not or will not bear? Have such, or any, burthens been imposed to
advance the system to its present state? It is known that no burthens
whatever have been imposed; on the contrary, that all the direct or
internal taxes have been long repealed, and none paid but those which
are indirect and voluntary, such as are imposed on articles imported
from foreign countries, most of which are luxuries, and on the vessels
employed in the transportation--taxes which some of our most enlightened
citizens think ought to be imposed on many of the articles for the
encouragement of our manufactures, even if the revenue derived from them
could be dispensed with. It is known also that in all other respects
our condition as a nation is in the highest degree prosperous and
flourishing, nearly half the debt incu