BY DAVID OVER. MESSAGE. To the Honorable the Senators and Members of the House of Representatives of the Com monwealth of Pennsylvania. GENTLEMEN :—ln submitting to the General Assembly my last annual communication, it is the source of unfeigned gratification to be able to aocounce to the people, and to their Repre sentatives, that notwithstanding the present unfavorable erisis in the monetary affairs of this country, and tbe general prostration of business and credit, tbe financial condition of Pennsylvania is highly satisfactory. The receipts at the Bute Treasury, from all sources, for tbe fiscal year ending on the oOtb of November, 1860, were $3,479,257 31, to which add the available balance in the Trea sury on tbe Ist day of December, 1859, $839,- 823 09, and tbe whole sum available for the year will he fouod to be 54,318,580 40. Tbe expenditures, for all purposes, for the same period, were $3,637,147 32. Leaving an available balance in the Treasury, on the Ist da; of December, 1860, of $681,433 08.— The following items are embraced in the ex penditures for the fiscal year, vis : Loaus redeemed $664,857 65 Relief notes cancelled 1,811 00 Interest certificates 2,439 52 Domestic creditors' certificates 5 40 Damages oo the public works, and old claims 22,644 32 # ——————— Making, of the publio debt actu ally paid daring the year, the sum of 691,757 89 Toe funded *nd unfunded debt of the Com monwealth on the first day of December, 1859, was as follows . FUNDED DEBT. 6 per cent, loaus $400,630 00 6 do 37,625,153 37 41 do 388,200 00 4 do 100,000 00 Total funded debt 88,513,983 37 CNTCNDED DEBT. Relief notes in circulation $101,213 00 Interest certificates outstanding 18,513 82 do unclaimed, 4,448 38 Domestic creditors, 802 50 Total unfunded debt, 124,977 70 Making the entire debt of tbe Common wealth, at tbe period named, $38,638,961,07. The funded and unloaded debt of tbe State, at tbe close of the iast fiscal year, December 1, IS6O, stood as follows : V FUNDED DEBT. 6 per cent, loans $400,630 00 5 do 36,967,295 72 4* do 381,200 00 4 do 100,000 00 Total landed debt, 87,849,125 72 CKFUNDED DEBT. Relief notes in circulation $99,402 00 Interest certificates outstanding 16,074 30 do unclaimed 4,448 38 Domestic creditors' certificates 797 10 Total unfunded debt $120,721 78 Maxing the entire public debt of Pennsyl vania, on the first day of December last, $37,- 969,847 50. To pay the principal and interest of this debt, besides the ordioary sources of revenue, the Commonwealth holds tbe following mort gage bonds, derived from the sale of her pub lic improvements, vis: Bonds of Pennsylvania railroad company, $7,200,000 00 Bonds of Sanbury and Erie railroad company 8,500,000 00 Bonds of Wyoming canal com pany 281,000 00 Total, 10,981,000 00 At the clost of the fiscal year, on the first day of December, 1857, the public debt of this Common wealth, funded and unfunded, was $39,881,738 22 It is now, at the close of the fisoal year 1860, 37,969,847 50 Having heeD reduced, during tbe lass three years 1,911,890 72 Tbs available balance in the Treasary on foe first day of December, 1857, was $528,106 47 On thf first day of December, 1860, it was 681,433 08 Exceeding the former balance in the sum of 153,326 61 Add to this sum paid at the Treasury daring the past three years, for debts and claims against the Common* wealth arising out of the oou stiuctiotf-and maintenance of the public improvements, and which was substantially a part of the unfunded debt of tbo Commonwealth, a mounting to 171,664 82 And we have the sain of 324,991 42 By adding this tarn' to the amount paid on the public debt from December 1, 1857, to December 1, 1860, to wit: $1,911,890 72, it sill be found that during the past three yeare the State has not only met all her ordinary liabilities, including the expenses of govern ment, and the interest on her publio debt, bnt A Weekly Paper, Devoted to Literature, Politics, the Arts, Sciences, Agriculture, &c., Ac—Terms: One Dollar and Fifty Cents in Advance. has diminished her actual indebtedness the sum of $2,236,882,15. When it ia remembered that for the last three years the tax on real and personal estate has beeu but two and a half mills on the dollar, while from 1844 to 1857 it was three mills— that for the past two years and six months the State has received no part of the tax on ton nage due from the Pennsylvania railroad com pany —and that since July, 1859, the interest on the bonds held by tbe State agsiost the Sunbury and Erie railroad company has re mained due and unpaid, it is certainly cause for hearty congratulation, that, without aid from these important sources of revenue, so great a reduction of the public debt ba6 been accomplished in comparatively so short a period. The funded dobt ot tbe State is now less than it has been sittce 1842, and tbe un funded and floating debt, which at that time amounted to upwards of two millions of dol lars, has beeu almost entirely redeemed. It is now reduced to $120,721 78—and of this sum over n<oety-uine thousand dollars consists of relief notes, most of which are undoubtedly either lost or destroyed, and will, therefore, ne?ei be presented for payment. The claims against tbe State, accruing from tbe construc tion and maintenance ot ber canals and rail roads. are now reduced to a mere nominal sum ; and, in the future, after providing for the ot dinsry expenses of government, her revenues and her energies may be exclusively applied to the pajuient of the interest, and the discharge of tiie principal of her publio debt. The people of Pennsylvania have hitherto met, with promptness, the demands made upon them from time to time, for the ways aud means of replenishing the Public Treasury; and now that they see that the onerous debt with which they have been so long burdened, is each year certainly and rapidly disappearing —that tbe amount required to meet the interest is annually being diminished— that consequent ly a still greater sum oan each year he devoted to the reduction of the principal ot tbe debt, without resorting to additional sou roes of reve uue— and that, with a proper husbanding of tbe resources of the State, tbe day is not tar distant whn direot taxation in Pennsylvania wiil cease aliogetbcr—the payment of such taxes as may tor the time be required to meet the public necessities, will continue to be wet with cheerfulness and alacrity. But tbey will uuqaeataonahly bold those to whoa# mare they have entrusted tbe financial interests of (he state to a rigid accountability. Ttiat there should, at this particular juncture, when the business and monetary affairs of the country are so greatly depressed, be tbe stiiciest econ omy in puolio expenditures is so manifest, that it can scarcely he necessary to call attention to so plain a duty, it is equally clear that an; legislation which would tend greatly to lessen the revenues ol the Common wealth, would, at this time, be peculiarly unwise and inexpedi ent. The exigencies of the future no man can foretell—the prospect before us is beclouded with doubt and uncertainty —it ia, therefore, oo more than the psrt of wisdom to guard, with unceasing vigilance, all our present sour ces of revenue, and to thus be prepared for every possible contingency. Sinco July, 1858, the Pennsylvania railroad company has refused to pay the tax on tonnage required to be paid by the act incorporating the company, and its various supplements , and there is now due to the State, on that ac count, exclusive of ioterest, the sum t $674, * 296 22. Including the interest, the sum now due is about $700,000. Before my last an nual message was communicated to the legis lature, a case had been tried in tbe court of commoD pleas of Dauphia county, hetwseu the Commonwealth aud tbe railroad company, in volving the question of the constitutionality of this tax, which Has decided ia favor of the Bute, and the imposition of the Ux pronounced constitutional. In January last, another suit was tried between the same parties, in the same court, involving the same question, with a like result, ic Jecember last, a judgment was obtained in tbe district court of Philadel phia, upon one of the semi aunuat settlements, for SIIO,OOO. Bo that judgment has been obtained for $365,000 of the debt, being the whole amount which became due prior to 1860. The tax wbieb accrued during the past year, amounts to $308,829 03. Tbe first settle ment for tbe year is before tbe Dauphia county court, on an appeal Uken by the oou>p<ioy,- and tbe second, or last settlement was made but a few days since, by an aecounUnt depart ment of the Commonwealth. After the recovery, in the oommoa pleas of Danphin county, the cases were removed by writs of error, taken on behalf of the defend ants, to the Supreme Court of this State, where they were argned in Juoe last, and iu October that tribunal sustained the decision of the court of eomoton picas, and held the tax to be clearly constitutional; thus uniting with the law making power m affirming the right of the State to tax a corporation nnder a law to which it owes its existenoe. But, notwithstanding this concur rence of opinion and aotiou on behalf of the oonstitnted authorities of Pennsylvania, the litigation is not yet at an end; for the, railroad company has recently removed the cases, by writs of error, to the Supreme Conrt of the United States, where they are now pending.— That the decision of that conrt will, when made fully sustain the right of a sovereign State to enforce a contract between the State and a corporation, and entirely vindicate the power of a State to impose each taxes upon corporations, as in her sovereign will she may deem proper, 1 eaanot for a moment doubt. To complete the history of this important lit igation, and to show that every effort has been, thus far, made to compel the payment of this large sum of moooy into the Treasury of the State, it is proper to add, that the laif officer of the Commonwealth, being of opinion that the writa of error were not issued from the Su- BEDFORD. PA.. FRIDAY. JANUARY 11, 1861. preme Court of tbe Uaited States in time to prevent the collection of the judgements ren dered in tbe State courts, executions were issued to the Sheriff of Dauphia county, aud pro ceedings are now pending in the Supreme Court of this State, to detcrmino whether the Com monwealth oan compel tbe payment of the judgments already recovored; before the final decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. Tbe Sanbury aod Erie Railroad Company having failed to negotiate its mortgage bonds in their present condition, tbe expectations confidently entertained of an early completion of that most important improvement, have rot been realised. Tbe work during the past year however, although greatly retarded, has been continually progressing; upwards of one million of doilsrs having been expended on the line from November,a 1859, to November, 1860. Tbe whole length of the toad, from tbe borough of Sanbury to the harbor on the lake, at the city of Erie, is 288 mites; of which 148 miles areHiow finished and io operation, and 115 miles of tbe remainmg portion of tbe line are graded; leaving but 25 miles yet to grade.— Pennsylvania is largely inteiested iu the early completion and success of this great thorough fare, not only because she is the creditor of tbe oompany to tbe amouut of three aud a half millions of dollars, but for the additional, and more cogent reason, thst that the improvement, wbeo completed, will open one of the most im portant channels of trade betwreo the city of Philadelphia and the great lakes of tbe west, at tbe best harbor on Lake Erie, entirely withiu tbe limits of our own State, which has ever been contemplated. It will, moreover, develop tbe rcaouroe* of a large portion of North Wes tern Pennsylvania, abounding with the richest minerals, and a lumber region of unsurpassed excellence, which the munificent band of the State has hitherto totally neglected. By disposing of ber branoh canals to that company, in exchange for its mortgage bonds, the State baa already largely aided in the con struction of this great work; and it may he necessary, to insare its completion, that further legislation should be bad iu order to render the means of the company available. It is evident that a liberal policy, on the part of tue govern ment, wiil promote a like the interests of tbe Commonwealth and tbe railroad oompany; nev ertheless, great care should he taken to protest, ae far as possible, the debt now dec from the company to the State. If all propositions which may be made for a change in the securities now held by the Commonwealth, be carefully con sidered by the Legislature, aod no more yield ed than sound economy demands, with proper provision for the due application of whatever means may be lealized, it is believed that suf ficient relief can be granted to the company, to enable it promptly to finish the road, while the scourity remaining wiil be fully adequate to insure the ultimate payment of the principal and interest of the bonds of the railroad com pany now held by the Commonwealth. I commend this subject to the Legislature, as one entitled to its most careful consideration, as well oo aooouot of its vast importance to that portion of the State through which tbe railroad passes—to the cities of Philadelphia and Erie—and to tbe railroad company—as to the Commonwealth herself. Premising that whatever policy it may he thought expedient to pursue, should ho adopted solely with reference to the protection and futberance of tbe publio interests. i'be attention of the Legislature is again in vited to tbe subject of At tbe present juncture it presents peculiar claims. The experience of a quarter of a century has satisfied tbe proverbially cautious people of Pennsylvania, of tbe adaptedoess of tbe com mon school system to tbeir wants aud condi tion. No less baa tbe severe ordeal of the past three yeara shown ita capability to eodare those sudden reverse# wbieb occasionally prostrate tbe other interests of tbe community. Involv ing greater expenditure than tbe rest of (be de partments of government, aud that, toe, roatoiy drawn faom direct taxation, it is • proud fact, tbat, while most of tbe enterprises ef society have beeu seriously embarrassed, aod some of them suspended, by the pecuniary orisis of 1857, our edueatioaai system has not been re tarded in any appreciable degree. On the oootrary, its operations have been maintained, to an extent which plainly indicates tbat our citizens fully appreciate its value.} Contrasting its main resnit* during tbe part year, with those of 1857, we find that tbe whole uuuber of pupils now in the eohoola, is 647,414, being an increase of 44,422; these were taught io 11,577 schools, 621 more than iu 1857, du ring au average term of five months and five and ooe-balf days, at a cost of fifty-six cents per pupil, per month, by 14,065 toachers, being 529 more than in 1857. Tbe entire expendi ture of the system, for the past year, includiog tbat of tbe School Department, is $2,633,- 550 80. These figures afford some idea of the magnitude of tbe operations of tbe system; but neither words uor figures oau adequately ex press tbe importance of its influence upon tbe present, or its relations to tbe future. In contemplating tbe details of a plan for tbe due training of tbe youth of a community, its large proportions and imposing array of statistics do not display tbe points of its great est importance. Pupils may be enrolled by hundreds of thousands; school booses of the best structure and most complete arrangement may be dotted at convenient distances over tbe whole faee of the land; tbe most perfect order of studies may be adopted and tbe best possi ble selection of books made; but what are all these, without the learned and skillful, tbe faith ful, moral and devoted teaoher? Without this animating spirit, all is barren and unfruitful.— In this vital department, lam happy to an nounce tbat tbe improvement of the common school teachers of tbe State shows more solid advsaeemsot, within tbe past three years, than any other braoch of the system. This, there fore, being tbe point whence all real progress so learniog sod culture must originate, is also the one to which the fostering attention and care of tbe public authorities should be mainly directed. Our peculiar mode of training teachers un der the normal act of 1857, baa now stood tbe test of practical experience; and against the moat adverse circumstances, has produced re sults decisive of its sncoesa. Already it has placed one institution in full operation in the south-eastern part of tbe State, equal in stand ing and extent to aay in tbe Union. Another, with all the requirements of the law, has just applied for State recognition in the extreme north west. 1 commend these noble, and pe culiarly Pennsylvania schools, to your favor. Aid to tbem wiil be tbe best investment that can be made for the rising generation. Good instruction for our children, is the strongest earthly guarantee, that, wdatever else we be queath them, their inheritance will be a bles sing and not a curse; ami, if nothing more is left, in the well cultured minds, the willing bands, and the trust iu God, of freemen, tbey will have all that is essential. Nearly eleven thousand of our fellow citi zens are now devoting their efforts to the im provement of tbe common schools as directors. Than this there is no more meritorious body of men. An increase of the annual state appro" priatioo would not only he a material relief to the districts, at this time, hut would, to some extent, disembarrass directors in their looal op erations. It is not, however, tbe common school sys tem, vast and honorable to the State as it is, that claims jour entire attention, in referenoe to education. Pennsylvania also boasts her eollegiate, academical, scientific, professional and philanthropic institutions, and numerous 1 private schools of every grade. In this respect she is second to uo member of the confederacy; hut from mere want of attention to the proper statistics, she has thus far been ranked far be- Icar her just standard. The present is not the proper time to reuew grants to institutions of these classes which heretofore received State aid. If it were, the publio authorities do not poesees the requisite data for a safe and just extension of liberality. The period wiil arrive when all public educational agencies must be in one great system for the elevation ot naiad and morals; aud when the Suts will, uo doubt, patronise every proper effort in the good work. For tbe details of the system, during the last school year, the attention of the Legislature is respectfully referred to the annual report of the Common School Department, herewith sub milted. 1 desire again, specially, to call the attention of the Creueral Assembly to tha Farmers' Higb School cf Peunsjiivauu, as an institution which proposes to aooouipluh au objeot which has never beeu attained in this country —the sup ply of a want which has ever been felt by the agricultural community; the education of their sous, at once, to scientific knowledge, habitual incur try, sn i practical skill, to St them for the associations of rural life, and the occupation chosen for them by their fathers. The gains of the farmer, however, certaio, are small.— The eduostion of bis sous should, therefore, bs measured by the uat-ire of his buaiuess. There seems to be no practical mode of cbeapeaing education, but by combining an amount of ex penditure, within the ability of a farmer, with the daily labor of the student, so as to make the institution so nesrly self-sustaining as to bring it witbio the reach of that class who con stitute so important a branch of the industry of our people. The original design of this sohool embraced the accommodation of four hundred students, a number essential to the economical working of the system; end, although the applications for admission are numberless, the utmost ef forts of the trustees bare not enabled them to complete more than one third of the buildiog, or to accommodate more than a corresponding number of students. Many individuals thro'- out the State, convinced of the merit of au in stitution whiob promises so much good, have contributed liberally to what baa already beeu done; and the board of trustees have labored with a seal which cauuot fail to commend itself to tbe kind leeiiog of all our citizens. Sci entific edvoatiou has advanced tbe interests of every avocation of life—agrioulture far less than any other—and for the manifest reason that it haa not reached it to the aarnd extent, and never will reach it, unleaa the body be educated to the plow, as well as tbo mind to tbe philosophical priuoipies which the plow's Work developed. I have always looksd upon the Farmers' High School with peculiar favor, as woll be cause of my owu convictions of its promised usefulness, as tbo favor whiob has hitherto been shown to it by tha Representatives of the people. Its charter requires an annual exhibition of its receipts, expenditures and op erations generally, and tnesa will doab*les# o laid before yoa. By the aet passed by the last Legislature, establishing a system of free banking in Penn sylvania, and aeeaiiog tbe pablio against loss fr m insolvent banks, rsdioal changes were made in the bauking laws of this State. lo stead of corporations oieated by special laws, voluntary associations are authorised to trans act tbe bueizsM of banking, without further legislation, and as an indispensable prerequi site to tbe issuing of bank notes for circula tion as money, atnplo security must be deposi ted with tbe Auditor General for their prompt redemption. Tae law makes provision, not only for the incorporation of new hanking as sociations, but enables banking institutions al ready in existence, to continue their business for iwtnty years after tbe expiration of their preeeut charters, open complying with its pro visions, by withdrawing their old oirenlauoo, | and giving the seenrities required for the re demption of their new issues. The public. 1 atn sure, will rejoice that ao further necessity exists for legislative action, either oo the sub ject of creating new, or recbarteriog old banks; and that tbe time and attention of their Rep resentatives wiil now, happily, be oo longer monopolized in the consideration of a eubjeot hitherto productive of so much strife and con tention, if not of positive evil. The rapid increase of private banks, thro'- out tbe State, makes it eminently right that i tbey should be placed under proper legislative restrictions, and that tbe large amount of oap ital, thus employed, should be made to con tribute its fair proportion to tbe revenues of the Commonwealth. Their busioe9, in the aggregate, ia now believed to amount to a sum almost, if uot quite equal to the whole busi ness of the regularly chartered banks; aud yet it is entirely unrestricted, and, with tbe exception of a merely nominal lioense tsx, is free from taxation. This is uujust to 6very other class of our tax paying citizens, and ea peoialiy so to tbe banking institutions holding charters from the Commonwealth, for which they have each paid a iiberai bonus, and are, in addition, subject to a very large tax on their dividends. I respectfully eoinmeod this sub ject to the attentiou of the Legislature. A high senso of duty impels uia again to oall the attention of the Legislature to the in adequacy of existing laws, regulating the re ceiving, keeping and disbursement et tbe rev euues of tbe State. Tbe public moneys are uow paid directly to the State Treasurer, who deposits them, at bis own discretion, whenever and wherever be chooses, aod pays tboin out in suras, either email or great, upon his unat tested check exclusively. The amount thus reoeived, kept and disbursed is annually be tween three and four milliohs of dollars, with balances on haDd, at times, exceeding one mil lion cf dollars; while the bond of the State Treasurer is for only eighty thousand dollars. His accounts are settled monthly by the Aud itor General, by whom the receipts fcr uuaey paid into tbe Treasury are countersigned, and these are the only safeguards provided by law to prevent tbe illegal and improper use of tbe money of the State by the State Treasurer. Happily the revenues of the Common wealth have hitherto been safely kept, properly dis bursed, and promptly accounted for, by those io charge of the public treasury; but iu view of the serious defalcations wbish Lave occur red elsewhere, and ic other States, this fact should furnish no reason why we ought not to guard against loss in the future. Referring to my former annual messages, 1 respectfully, but most earnestly, recommend that provision be ma da by law: First—That no money shall be deposited by the State Treasurer in any bank, or elsewhere, without first requiring ample security to be given to the Commonwealth for the prompt re payment of such sura as may be deposited; and that such securities shall be deposited in the office of the Aaditor General. Second —That ail checks issued by tbe State Treasurer, shall be couotersitcued by tha Aud itor Geoeral, beforo tbey are used, and that daily accounts shall be kept of the rnoueys re ceived, deposited and disburse], iu the Audi tor General's office, as well as in the Treasury Department. Third—That condensed monthly statements, verified by the signatures of the Auditor Geu eral and State Treasurer, shall be published io OQE newspaper in Philadelphia and ODO iu Har tisburg, showing the balances in the Treasuty and where deposited,with tbe particular amount of each deposit; and Fourth—That the bond of tha State Treas urer bo increased to the turn of two hundred aod fifty thousand dollars. Our various charitable and reformatory in stitutions—the State Lunatic Hospital, at Harrisburg, the Western Pennsylvania Hos pital for the insane, at fittsburg, the asylums for the blind, aod deaf, and dumb, at Phila delphia, the Houses of Refuge at Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and the Pennsylvania Training School for idiotic and feeble minded children, at Media, will present their usual aunoal claims upon the bounty of tbe State. These excellent charities are continually dispensing benefits aod blessings upon suffering and er ring humanity, which can soaroely be overra ted. Tbey aie heartily commended to tbe dis criminating liberality of tbe Legislature. 1 refrain, as I have heretofore done, from recom mending, as piopor objects for appropriations from the State Treasury, other oharitable and benevolent institutions, not becanse tbey are undeserving tbe confidence and patronage of ibe public, but beoause they are looal in tbeir obaracter, and in my judgment have no claims upon the common fund which can be admitted, in justice to tbe rights and interests of other portions of tbe Commonwealth. The inspectors of tbe State Penitentiary, for tbe Eastern district of Pennsylvania, in tbeir annual reports for tbe years 1853 and 1859, called tbe attention of tbe Legislature to the insecurity of such parts of tbe penitentiary building as were exposed to tbeir own fires and tboce of the neighborhood, aod recommended tbat roofs of suob of tbe corridors as were covered wilb shingles, aod needed renewal, should be replaoed with slate or metal. Ou visiting the institution, my attention wsa cal led to the subject by tbe inspectors. The ne cessity for tbe obaoge was so apparent and ur gent. tbat 1 advised them not to hesitate in baving tbe old, dilapidated and dangerous wooden roofs of such portions of tbe building as required renewal, replaoed with some sub stantial fire proof material. This has accord ingly been done, aod 1 respectfully recommend that a email appropriation be granted to defray tbe expense incurred. I commend to your consideration tbe report of tbe State Librarian, whose attention to tbe interests ef tbe Library under bis ears, de- VOL 34, NO. 2. serves the warmest commendation. Tb ;•- tem of exchanges with tha different States of the Union, sod with foreign governments, com menced sod prosecute J under his auspices, has resulted io great sdvsotsgee to tho Library, and deserves the eoutioned ooustensocc of the Legislature. The increase of the Library, at a comparatively small expense to tbe State, bat been such, that it cow needs enlarged accom modations for tbe safe keeping of tbe volumes, and, if the increase continues, will soon re quire a separate building for its exclusive use. The reports of the State Treasurer, the An* ditor General, tbe Surveyor General, tbe Ad jutant General, and the Attorney General, will I inform you, ia detail, of the operations of the government, as presented by those several de partments, for the last fisoal year. They are entitled to tbe attentive consideration of tbe Legislature. Soon after my inauguration, upon the recom mendation of my predecessor in office, a dwel liog house was purchased in this city for the residence of tbe Governor of this Common wealth. Tbe purchase included several arti cles of heavy furniture, tbeo iu the building, and a small appropriation would complete the necessary furnishing of the hcute, so as ia make it a fit and convenient residence for tha incoming executive. I cheerfully recommend the immediate passage of a bill making a suit able appropriation for this purpose. Tbe extraordinary and alarming condition of our national affairs demands your immediate attention. Ou tbe twentieth of December last, tbe Convention of South Carolina, organized under the authority of the legislature of that State, by a unanimous vote, declared "that the uoi<>u now subsisting between Sooth Carolina and tbe other States, under tbo name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolv ed;" and tbe action already taken in several other States indicates, moat clearly, their in tention to follow this example. Ou behalf of the advocates of secession, it ia claimed that tnis Union is merely a compact between tha several Slates composing it, and that any one of tbe States, which may feel ag grieved, may, at its pleasure, declare that it will no iooger be a party to the oompaot. This doctrine is clearly erroneous. The Constitu tion of the United States is something mors thao a mere compact, or agreement, between the several States. As applied to nations, a compact ia but a treaty, which may be abroga ted at tbe will of either party; responsible to tbe other party for its bad faith in refusing to keep its engagements, but entirely irresponsi ble to any superior tribunal. A govern moot, on tbe other band, whether created by consent, or by conquest, when elotbed with legislative, judicial and executive powers, is necessarily io its nature sovereign; and from this sover eignty flows its right to enforce its laws and decrees by oivil process, and, in an emergency, by its military and naval power. The govern ment owes protection to the people, and they, in turn, owe it their allegiance. s Its laws cannot be violated by its citizens, without accountability to the tribunals created to enforce its dserees aud to punish offenders. Organized resistance to it ia rebellion. If successful, it may be purged of crime by rev olution. If unsuccessful, the persons engaged in tbe rebellion, may be executed as traitors. The government of the United States, within tbe limits assigned to it, is as potential in sovereignty, as any other government in the civilized world. The Constitution and laws made iu pursuance thereof, are expressly de clared to be the supremo Lw of the land.— Under tha Constitution, the general govern ment has the power to raiae and support armies, to create and maintain a navy, and to provide for c&iliDg forth tbe militia to execute its laws, suppress insurrection and repel in. vasion. Appropriate statutes have been en. acted by Congress, to aid in the execution of these important governmental powers. The creation of tbe Fedesnl Government,- with the powers enumerated in the Confuta tion, was the act of the people of the United States, aud it is perfectly immaterial that the people of the several Slates noted separately within tbe territorial limits of each State.— Tbe form of their notion is of no consequents, in view of the fact that they created a Fed eral Government, to which they surrendered certain powers ot sovereignty, aed declared those powers, thus surrendered, to be supreme, without reserving to the Stt tee, or to tbe people, :be right of seceteioo, nullification or other resistance. It ie, therefore, clear that there is no csostitutiooai right of seoessioo. Secession is only another form of nullification. Either when attempted to be carried out by force, ia rebellion, and should be treated as such, by those whose sworn duty it is to main tain the supremacy of the Constitution anl laws of the United States. It is certainly true, that in cases of great extremity, when the oppression of government has become so intolerable that civil war is preferable to Sanger submission, tbere remains the revolutionary right of resistance; bas where the authority of the government is limit ed by s written Constitution, and caeh depart ment is held in cbeok by the other departments, it will rarely, if evar, happen that the oitixeq may not be adequately protected, without re sorting to the sacred and inalienable right ta resist and destroy s government whioh has been perverted to a tyranny. But, wbils denying the right of a State to absolve its citizens from the allcgianee whish they owe to the Federal Government, it is nev ertheless highly proper that we abonld carefullj and candidly examine the reasons which are advanced by those who have evinced a deter mination to destroy tbe Union of thesn Ameri can States, and if it shall appear thai, aa? of tbe causes of complaint arc welt foutxUd, they should bo adheaiutrngly removed, cod, ae far ce possible, reparation made for the pact, and
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