Congress is earnestly invoked, for the sake of the Union, its harmony,
and our continued prosperity as a nation, to adjust at its present
session this, the only dangerous question which lies in our path, if
not in some one of the modes suggested, in some other which may be
satisfactory.
In anticipation of the establishment of regular governments over the
acquired territories, a joint commission of officers of the Army and
Navy has been ordered to proceed to the coast of California and Oregon
for the purpose of making reconnoissances and a report as to the proper
sites for the erection of fortifications or other defensive works on
land and of suitable situations for naval stations. The information
which may be expected from a scientific and skillful examination of the
whole face of the coast will be eminently useful to Congress when they
come to consider the propriety of making appropriations for these great
national objects. Proper defenses on land will be necessary for the
security and protection of our possessions, and the establishment of
navy-yards and a dock for the repair and construction of vessels will
be important alike to our Navy and commercial marine.
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