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OLUME 1.
EBENSBURG, PA., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1867.
NUMBER 45.
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the nvj.
1 it is J.
" PnirtsentatiVes
continued disorganization of the
f to which the Tresident has so often
1MS ,
...
e.
niHv
! , be attention ot Uongres, is yel a
t pf profound poU'.ical concern. We
.V.wever, find some relief from that
e.
tec
,n the reflection tnat tms pamtul
tOSif If
I'tinjr ?i
,i! situation, althougn oetore untnea
jtiuns. Political science, perhaps as
. perfected in our own time and
n m in any other, has not yet dis-
Ujp i rj gny means by which civil wars can
I t .1 4 Ant!nlifanfu1
ASE3 (t i n bowever, with a wise and benen-
of the! I., nttitution of free goTernment, may
h their frequency and mitigate their
-iiv by directing all its proceedings in
In ...1 -
pjnnre with its lunuamental law.
dvil war has been brought to a
var:
to It!
its
j it ; maniiesny iuc iirsi imuresi aui.
r of tL State to repair the injuries
a the war has inflicted, and to secure
i k C t . lio.-rtne t (anliDQ OO Pill ! TF I
Pii.'-t
S Si v.:
lnrU,
it i
jpcedily as possible. This duty was,
3 the termination of the rebellion,
2ip:!v accepted, not only by the Kxe
e Department, but by the insurreo
!i' 'J-' f I "7 St;ltcs theinsclvea ; and restoration
t lie !irt monienls of peace was believed
y a? e.isy ami certain as it was indis
A,k. Kxpeotations however, then so
-b!y and confidently entertained,
disappointed by lejjitJation from
l..f:!
irt-: i
:! Ft.
n.C
h I ft-It constrained by my obligations
:? Constitution to withhold my assent,
'.therefore, a eource of profound regret
; in comp!) ing withthe obligation im
iupun the President by the Consti
:n, to Rive to Congress, from time to
information of the state of t lie Union,
s unable to communicate any definite
i-inient, satisfactory to the American
:!?, of questions which, since the close
,.e rebellion, have agitated the public
J. On the contrary, candor compels
to declare, that all thiti time there is
LVon, our fathers understood the
x and as they meant it to be under
d by us. The Union which they es-
isl.ed, can exist only where all the
es are represented in both Houses of
.p:rt and where one State is as free
njther to regulate its internal concernp,
nlinz to its own will, nrwl u.-lniv te
of the central government are strictly
'irtni-il ta mAtti'rs nf nnt!on:il iurisdiction.
fid apply with equal force to ail people
J every section ; and that such is not the
fi resent state f the Union, it is a melan
I holy fact, and we all must acknowledge,
F tiat the restoration of 1 tic States to their
ropcr and legal relations with the Feder
al government, and with one another, ac-
)Tnling to the terms of original compact,
f Sou Id be the greatest temporal bhing
J hich God in his kindest Providence
jkiulJ bestow upon this nation. It becomes
jur imperative duty to consider whether
'r not it is impossible to etfect this most
jsirable consummation. The Union and
Constitution are inseparable ; as long as
f le is obeyad by all parties, the other will
fa preserved, and if one is destroyed, both
t. Vist perish together. The destruction of
1 fe Constitution will be followed by other
still greater calamities. It was or
llained not only to form a more perfect
Jnion between the States, but to establish
ustice and domestic tranquility, provide
jibr the common defence, promote the gen
eral welfare, and secure the blessings of
liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
(Nothing but implicit obedience to its re
quirements in all parts of the country will
Accomplish these great ends, and without
'hat obedience we can look forward only
fo continued outrages upon individual
ghts and incessant breaches of the public
feace. national weakness, financial dishon-
t. j
W, total loss of our prosperity, general
Corruption of our morals, and the final ex
tinction of popular freedom. To save our
"untry from evils so appalling as these we
tiould renew our efforts again and again
To me the process of reconstruction
remi
v-tg
ms perfectly plain and simple. It con-
merely in a faithful application of
ie Constitution and laws, and as the exe- '
uition of the laws is not now obstructed or
!pcsed by physical force, there is no mil
iary or other necessity, real or pretended,
vhich can prevent obedience to the Con-
Mitutlon, either North or South. All
ghta and all oblijrations of States and in-
viduala can be protected and enforced
' moans perfectly consistent with funda-
netital law. Courts mav be everywhere
'P50. end if open, their process would be
"""peaed, and crimes aawst ihe United
:ai can be prevented or punished by
P'oper judicial authorities in a manner en
''fy practicable and legal. There is,
fefore, no reason why the Constitution
Uu!d not be obeyed, unless those who
TT lla Powers have determined that
"nail be disregarded and violated as the
5ere naked will of this Government, or of
foe one or more of its branches. Is thefe
p ob&tacle that can exist to perfect the
1
rr.:
'.it?
x.f
ous
Rii me oiHies j un me momen-
question, and some of the measures
tow'
0ut of il 1 had thB misfortnne to
fc v rom Congress, and have expressed
' 1 w nuuuuk lfcOCl1 UVUU
tUr mmS deference to the opinion of
ue Lerri!,f- -p. . . m
great weight. On the 22d of July,
1 ConzreBl ernrA Kw an 1mm
1861
U conducted polel for tfc
ftairiincr thn annivmnpv nf tha VaAara I
r a i J . ...
Constitution and laws without impairing
the dignity and equality and rights of
States or individuals, and that when this
was done the war should cease. I do not
ay that thi3 declaration is personally
binding on those who joined in making it,
any more than individual members of
Congress are personally bound to pay a
public debt created under a law for which
they voted ; but it was a solemn public
official pledge of national honor. I . can
not imagine upon what 'grounds repudia
tion of it is to be justified. If iV be said
that we are not bound to keep faith with
rebels, let it be understood that this pledge
was not made to rebels only ; thousands
of true men in the South were drawn to
our standard by it, and hundreds of
thousands in the North gave their lives, in
the belief that it would be carried out. It
was made on tha day after the first great
battle of the war had been fought and lost.
All patiiotic and intelligent men then saw
the necessity of giving such an assurancp,
and believed that without it the war
would end in disaster to our cause. Hav
ing given that assurance in our extremity
and peril, a violation of it now m the
which does not belong to them unless those
Suites are States of the Union. If the
Southern States are component parts of the
Union, the Constitution is supreme law
for thcai as as for all other States.
They arc bound to obey it, and so are we.
The ritiht of the Federal Government,
whrcU. is char and unquestionable, to ens
force the Constitution upon them implies co-
relative obligations on our part to observe
its limitations and execute its guarantees
Without the Constitution we are nothing.
By, through and under the Constitution
we are what it makes us. We may doubt
the wisdom of law, we may not approve
of its provisions, but we cannot violate it
merely because it seems to confine our
powers within limits narrower man we
could wish. It is not a question of in
dividual or class or sectional interest, much
less of party forbearance, but of duty,
high and sacred duty, which we are all
sworn to perform. If we cannot support
the Constitution with the cheerful alacrity
of those who love and believe in it, we
must give to it at least the fidelity of pub
lic servants who act under solemn obli
gations and commands which they dare
not disregard. Constitutional duty is not
only rttta wlilC.li iwiwrwi ?to? tj I Mi re
stored, but there is another consideration
which, though ot minor importance, is yet
consent of the Executive, do anything
which would have the effect, directly or
indirectly, of separating the States from
each other. To dissolve the Union, is to
repeal the Constitution which holds it to
get her, and that is a power which does
not belong to any department of this Gov
ernment or to all of them united. This is
so plain that it has been acknowledged by
all branches of the rederal Government.
My predecessor, as well as myself and the
heads of all the departments, have uni
formly acted upon the principle that the
Union is not only undissolved but indis
soluble. Congress submitted an amend
ment of the Constitution to be ratified by
the Southern States, and accepted their
acts of ratification as a necessary and law
ful exercise of their highest function. If
they were not States, or were States out
of the Union, their consent to a change in
the fundamtntal law of the Union would
have been nugatory, and Congress, in ask
ing it, committed a political absurdity.
The Judiciary has also given the solemn
sanction of its authority to the same view
of the case. The Judges of the Supreme
Court have included the Southern States in
their circles, and they are constantly in
banc and elsewhere exercising jurisdiction
victions were not only unchanged, but
strengthened by subsequent events, and
further reflections upon the transcendent
importance of the subject will be a suffi
cient excuse for calling your attention to
some of the reasons which have so strongly
influenced my own judgment. I hope that
we may all finally concur in a mode of
settlement, consistent at once with our
true interests and with our sworn duties
to the Constitution. It is too natural and
too just to be easily relinquished. It is
clear to my apprehension that the States
lately in rebellioa are still members of the
National Union. When did they cease to
be so ? Ordinances ot secession adopted
by portion in most of them a very
small portion of their citizens were mere
nullities. If we admit now that they
were valid and effectual for the purposes
intended by their author", sweep from
under OUr feet the whole ground upon
which we justified the war. Were these
States afterwards expelled from the Union
by the war ? Directly the contrary was
averred by this Government to be its pur
pose, and was so understood by all those
who gave their blood and treasure Xo aid
in its prosecution. It cannot be that a
successful war, waged for the preservation
of the Union, had the legal effect of dis
solving it. The victory of the nation
arms was not a disgrace of her policy.
The defeat ot secession on the battle-field
was not a triumph of its lawless principle,
nor could Congress, with or without the
day of our power would be a rtfde rend
ing of that good faith Which holds the
moral world together. Our country would
cease to have any claim upon the confl-
dence of men. It would make the war
not only a failure, but a fraud.' . :
Being sincerely convinced that these
views are correct, I irould.be mafaithful
te my duty if t did cot feosssavad tip
repeal of those Acts of Congress which
place ten of the Southern States under
the domination of military masters. If
calm reflection shall satisfy a majority of
your honorable bodies that the acts re
ferred to are not only a violation of na
tional faith, but in direct conflict with the
Constitution, I dare not permit myself to
doubt that you will immediately strike
them from the statute-book. To demon
strate the. uconstitutional character of
those acts, I need do no more than refer
to their general provisions. It must be
seen at once that they are not authorized
to dictate what alterations shall be made
in the constitutions of the several States,
to control the elections of State Legisla
tures, State officers, and members of Con
gress, and eUctors of President and Vice
President, ky authority declaring who
shall vote and who shall be excluded from
that privilege, to dissolve State Legisla
tures, or prevent them from assembling,
to dismiss Judee and other civil func
tionaries ot States, and appoint others
without regard to State law, to organize
and operate all political machinery of
State, to regulate the whole administra
tion of their domestic aDd local affairs
according to the mere will of strange and
irresponsible agents seut among them for
that purpose. These are powers uot gran
ted to the Federal Government or to any
one ot its branches, and not being granted,
we violate our tiustt by assuming them as
palpably as we would by acting in the face
o! a positive interdict, fur the Constitution
forbids us to do whatever it does not af
firmatively authorize, either by express
words or by clear implication. If the
authority we desire to use does not come
to us through the Constitution, we can
exercise it oulj through usurpation, and
usurpatioa i the most dangerous of polit
ical crimes. By that crime the enemies
of free government in all ages have work
ed out their designs agaiost public liberty
and private right. It leads directly aud
immediately to the establishment of abso
lute rule, for undelegated power is always
unlimited and unrestrained. The acts of
Congress in question are not only objec
tionable for their assumption of ungranted
power, but many of their provisions are in
conflict with the direct prohibitions of the
Constitution. The Constitution commands
that a republican form of government
shall be guaranteed to all the States ; that
no person shall be deprived of life, liber-
law, or be arrested without a judicial
warrant, or punished without a fair trial
before an impartial jury : that the privi
lege of habeas corpus shall not be deaied
in time of peace j and that no bill of at-
tainder shall be pas?ed even against a
single individual, let the system of
measures established by these acts of Con- 1
gress does wholly subvert and destroy the
form as well as the substance of repuhli-
can government in the ten States to which
they apply. It binds them hand and foot
in absolute slavery, and subjects them to
a strange and hostile power, more unlim
ited and more likely to be abused than
any other now known among civilized
men. It tramples down all those rights
in which the essence of liberty consists,
and which a free government is always
most careful to protect. It denies the
habeas corpus and the trial by jury.
Personal freedom, property, and life, if
assailed by the passion, the prejudice, or
the rapacity of the ruler, have no security
whatever. It has the effect ot a bill of
attainder, or bill of pains and penalties,
not upon a few individuals but upon whole
masses, including the millions who inhab
it the subject States, and even their un
born children. These wrougs, being
expressly forbidden, cannot be constitu-
tionally inflicted upon any portion of our
people, no matter how they may have
come within our jurisdiction, and whether
they live in States, Territories or districts.
I have no desire to save from the proper
and just consequenoes of their great crime
those who engaged in rebellion against the
Government, but as a mode of punish-
ment the measures under consideration
are the most unreasonable that could be
invented. Mauy of those people are per
fectly innocent; many kept their fidelity
to the Union untainted to the last ; many
were incapable of any legal offense ; a
large proportion even of the persons able
to bear arms were forced into rebellion
azaiost their will : and of those who are
guilty with their own consent, the degrees
of guilt are as various as the shades of
their character or temper. But these acts
of Congress confound them all together in
one common doom. Indiscriminate ven
geance upon classes, sects, and parties, or
upon whole communities, for offenses
committed by a portion of them against
the Government to which they owed -obedience,
was common in the barbarous ages
of the world. But Christianity and civil
ization have made such progress that re
course to a punishment so cruel and an just
would meet with tne condemnation 01 an
unprejudiced and right-minded men.
ti,. n;;M 4nt- nf thi e: and cs-
necisllv of this conntrv. does not consent
; .rinnin.f whole State of their liberties
and reducing all their people, without
distinction, to the condition of slavery.
It deals separately with each individual,
confioes itself to the forms of law, and
vindicates its own purity by an impartial
examination of every case before a com
m V f- p - -----
petent judicial tribunal. If this does not
Ba;fv all our desires with regard to
Southern rebels, let tut pool' ourselves
by reflecting t bat a tree UoDsuruuoo, in
is worth far more to us and ur children
than the gratification of any present feel
ing. I am aware it is assumed that this
system of government for the Smthern
States is not to be perpetual. It is true
this military government is to be only
provisional, but it is through this tempo
rary evil that a greater evil is tu be made
perpetual. If the guaraotecs of the Con
stitution can be broken provisionally to
serve a temporary purpose aud. in a part
only of the country, we can destroy them
everywhere and for all time. Arbitrary
measures often change, bat they generally
change for the worse. It is the curse of
despotism that it has no halting-place.
The : intermitted exercise of its power
brings no sense ot security to its subjects,
for they, can never know what more they
will be called to endure when its red right
hand is armed to plague them again. Nor
is it possible to conjecture how or where
power unrestrained by law may seek its
next victims. The States "that are still
free may be enslaved at any moment, for
if the Constitution does not protect all, it
protects none. It is manifestly and avow
edly the object of these-, laws to confer
upon negroe the privilege of voting, and
to disfranchise such a number of white
citizens as will give the former a clear
majority at all elections iu the Southern
State). This, to the minds of some per
sons, is so important that a violation of
the Constitution is justified as a means of
bringing it about. The morality is always
false that excuses a wrong because it pro
poses to accomplish a desirable end. We
are not permitted to do evil that good
may come. But in this case, the end
itself is evil, as well as 'the means. The
subjugation of the States to negro domi
nation would be worse than the military
despotism under which they are now suf
fering. It was believed beforehand that
the people would endure any amouut of
military oppression, for any length of
time, rather than degrade themselves by
subjection to the negro race. Therefore
they would be without a choice. Negro
suffrage was established by act of Con
gress, and the military officers were com
manded to superintend the process of
clothing the negro race with political
privileges torn from white men. The
blacks of the South are entitled to be well
and humanely governed, and to have the
protection of just laws for all their rights
of person tr property. , If it were practi
cable at this time to giv them a trovern
ment exclusively of their own, under
which they might manage their own
affairs in their own way, it would become
a grave question whether we ought to do
so, or whether common humanity would
not require us to save them from them-
selves. 15 ut unur the circumstances,
this is only a speculative poiut. It is not
proposed that they shall merely govern
themselves, but that they shall rule the
white race, make and administer State
laws, elect Presidents and members of
Congress, and shape, to a greater or less
extent, the future destiny of the whole
country. Would such a trust and power
be safe in such hands ?
The peeuliar qualities which should
characterize any people who are fit to de
cide upon the management of public
affairs for a great State have seldom been
combined. It is the glory of white men
to know that they have had these quali
ties in sufficient measure to build upon
this continent a great political fabric, and
to preserve its stability for more than
ninety years, while in every other part of
the world all similar experiments have
failed. But if anything can be proved bv
Known iacrs, 11 an reasoning upon evi
dencc is not abandoned, it must be ac
kuowledged that in the progress of nations
negrocs have shown less capacity for
government than any other race of people.
No independent government of any form
has ever been successful in their hand.
On the contrary, wherever they have been
left to their own devices, they have shown
a constant tendency to relapse into barba
rism. In the Southern States, however.
Congress has undertaken to confer upon
them the privilege of the ballot. Just
released from slavery, it may be doubtful
whether, as a class, they know more than
their ancestors how to organize and regu
late civil society. Indeed it is admitted
that the blacks of the South are not only
regardless of the rights of property, but
so utterly ignorant of public affairs that
their voting can consist in nothing more
than carrying a ballot to the place where
they are directed to deposit it.
1 need not remind you that the exercise
of the elective franchise is the highest
attribute of an American citizen, and that,
when guarded by virtue, intelligence, pa
triotism, and a proper appreciation of our
free institutions, it constitutes the true
basis of a democratic form ot government,
in whieh the sovereign power is lodged in
the body ot the people. A trust artificial
ly created, not tor its own sake, but solely
as a mean? of promoting the general wel-
"re " uence rorgooa mu;t necessarily
depend upon the elevated character and
true allegiance of the elector. It ought,
therefore, to be reposed in none except
i. m a . a . m .
those who are fitted, moral'y and mentally.
to administer it well : for, if conferred
upon those who do not justly estimate its
value, and who are indifferent as to its re
sults, it will only servo as a means ot plac
ing power in tho hands of the unprincipled
anl ambitious, and must eventuate in the
complete' destruction of that lioerty o
which it should be the most powerful oon
serrator. I have, therefore, heretofore
urged upon yotar attention the greetd&oger
to be apprehended from an untimely exten
sion of the elective franchise to any new
class in our country j especially, when a
large majority of that class in wielding tho
power thus placed in their hands cannot
be expected correctly to comprehend the
duties and responsibilities which pertain
to suffrage. Yesterday, as it were, ' four
million persons were held in a condition
of slavery that had existed for generations.
To-day they are freemen, and are assumed
by law to be citizens.- It cannot be pre
sumed from their previous condition -of
ecrvitude that as a class they are as well
informed as to the uature of our Govern
ment as the intelligent foreigner, who
makes our loved home his choice. In the
case of the latter, neither a residence of
five years and the knowledge of our institu
tions which it gives, nor attachment to
the principles of the Constitution, are the
only conditions upon which he can be
admitted to citizenship. He must prove,
in addition, a good moral character, and
thus give reasonable ground for belie!
that he will be faithful to the obligations
which he assumes, as a citizen of the Re
public. Where a people, the source of all
political power, speak by their suffrage,
through the instrumentality of the ballot
box, it must be carefully guarded against
the control of those who are corrupt in
principle and enemies ot free institutions,
for it can only become to our political and
social system a safe conductor of healthy
public sentiment when kept free from de
moralizing influences. Controlled thro'
fraud and usurpation, anarchy and des
potism must inevitably follow. In the
hands of the patriotic and worthy, our
Government wil! be preserved upon the
principles of the Constitution inherited
from our fathers. It follows, therefore,
that in admitting to the ballot-box a new
class of voters Dot qualified for the exer
cise ot the elective franchise, we weaken
our system of Government instead of
adding to its strengh and durability. I
yield to no one in the attachment to that
rule of general huffrase which distinguish
es our policy as a nation, but there is a
limit wisely observed hitherto which
makes the ballot a privilege and trust, and
which requires of some class a time suit
able for probation and preparation, and to
give it indiscriminately to a new class,
wholly unprepared by previous habits
and opportunities to perform the trust it
demands, is to degrade it and finally des
troy its power, for it may be safely as
sumed that no political dust I better
established than that such indiscriminate
aud all-embracing extension of popular
suffrage must end at last in its overthrow
and destruction. I repeat the expression
ot ray willingness to join in any plan
within the scope of our constitutional
authority wl ich promises to better the
condition of the negroes in the South by
encouraging them in industry, enlighten
ing their minds, improving their moral
aud giving protection to all their just
rights as freedmen, but to transfer our
political inheritance to them would in my
opinion, be an abandonment of a duty
which we owe alike to the memory of our
fathers and the rights of our children.
The plan of putting the Southern States
wholly, and the federal government par
tially, in the hands of negroes, is proposed
at a time peculiarly unpropitiouB. The
foundations of society have been broken
up by civil war. Industry must bo re or
ganized, justice re-established, public
credit maintained, and order brought out
of confusion. To accomplish these ends,
it would require all the wisdom and vir
tue of the great men who formed our in
stitutions originally. I confidently believe
that their descendants will be equal to the
arduous task before them, but it is worse
than madness to expect that negroes will
perform it for us- Certainly we ought not
to ask their assistance until we despair of
our own competency. There is a great
difference between the two races in phys
ical, mental, and moral characteristics,
which will prevent an amalgamation or
fusion of them together in one homogene
ous mass, it the inferior obtain the
ascendancy over the other, it will govern
with reference only to its own interests.
or it will recognize no common interests,
and will create such a tyranny as this
continent ha never yet witnessed. Al
ready negroes are influenced by promises
of confiscation and plunder. They are
taught to regard as an enemy every white
man who has any respect for the rights
of his own race. If this continues, it
must become worse and worse until all
order will be subverted, all industry cease,
and the fertile fields of the South grow up
into a wilderness.
Of all the dangers which our nation has
encountered, none are equal to those ahead
which must result from the success of an ef
fort now making to Africanize half our coun
try. I would not put the considerations of
money in competition with justice and right,
but the expenses incident to reconstruction,
under the system adopted by Congress to ag
gravate what I regard as an intrinsic wrong
of the measure itself. It has cost millions
already, and if persisted in, will add largely
to the weight of taxation already too op
pressive to be borne without just complaint.
and may finally reduce the treasury of the
nation to a condition of bankruptcy. We
must not delude ourselves. It will require
a strong standing army, and probably more
than two hundred millions of dollars per
annum to maintain the supremacy of a negro
government after it is established. 1 he sum
thus thrown away would, if properly used,
form a sinking fund large enough to pay the .
whole national debt in less than fifteen years.
It is vain to hope that the negroes will main
tain their ascendancy themselves without
mUrtary pewerj they are wholly IceapaWe
of holding in subjection the white people of
the South. I submit to the judgment of
Congress whether the public credit may not
be injuriously affected by a system of meas
ures like this. With our debt and vast pri
vate interests, which are complicated with
it, we cannot be too cautious of a policy
which might by possibility impair the confi
dence of the world in our Government.-
That confidence can only be retained by
carefully inculcating the principles of justice
T J S A ml 1
and honor on the popular mind, and by the I
most scrupulous fidelity to all our engage
ments of every sort. Any serious breach of
the organio law, if persisted in for a consid
erable time, cannot bnt create fears for the
stability of our institutions. The habitual
violation of the prescribed rules which we
bound ourselves to observe, must demoralize
the people ; our only standard of civil duty
would be set at naught, and the 6heet an
ehor of our political morality is lost ; public
conscience swings from its moorings and
yields to every impulse, passion and interest.
If we repudiate the Constitution we wil! not
be expected to care much for mere pecuniary
obligations. The violation of such a pledge
as we made on the 22d of July, 1861, will
assuredly diminish the market value of our
other securities. Besides, if we now acknowl
edge-that the national debt was created, not
to hold the States in the Union, as tax pay
ers were led to suppose, but to expel them
from it and hand them over to be governed
by negroes, our moral duty to pay it may
seem much less clear. I say it may 6eetn so,
for I do not admit that it or any other argu
ment in favor of repudiation can be enter
tained as sound, but its influence on some
classes of minds may well be apprehended.
The financial honor of this great commer
cial nation is largely indebted, and with a
republican form of government, administered
by agents of a popular choice, is a thing of
such delicate texture, and the destruction of
it would be followed by such an unspeaka
ble calamity, that every true patriot must
desire to avoid whatever might expose it to
the slightest danger. The great interests of
the country require immediate relief from
these enactments.
Business in the South is paralyzed by a
sense of general insecurity, by the terror of
confiscation and the drcau of negro suprem- I
acy. ihe Southern trade, from which the
North would have derived so great a profit
under a government of law, still languishes,
and can never be revived until it ceases to be
fettered by arbitrary power, which makes
all its operations nnsafe. That rich country,
the richest in natural resources the world
ever saw, is worse than lost if it be not pood
placed uuder the protection of a free Consti
tution. Instead of being, as it ought to be,
a source of wealth and power, it will become
an intolerable burden npon the rest of the
nation. Another reason for retrieving our
steps will doubtless be seen by Congress in
it onto ifest&tions of pQbltc opinion npon
that subject. Welive in a country where
popular will always enforces obedience toit
self sooner or later. It is vain to think of
opposing it with anything short of legal au
thority, backed by overwhelming force. It
cannot have escaped your atteution that
from the day ou wmch Congress fairly and
formally presented the proposition to govern
the Southern States by military force, with
a view to the ultimate establishment of ne
gro supremacy, every expression of general
sentiment has been more or less adverse to
it. The Affections of this generation cannot
be detached from the institutions of tbeir
ancestors. Their determination to preserve
their inheritance of a free government in
their own hands, and transmit it undivided
and unimpaired to their own posterity, is too
strong to be successfully opposed. Every
weaker passion will disappear before the love
of liberty and law, for which the American
people are distinguished above all ethers in
the world.
How far the duty of the President, to pre
serve, protect and defend the Constitntion,
requires him to go in opposing an unconsti
tutional act of Congress, is a very serious aad
important question, on which I have delib
erated much and felt extremely anxious to
reaeh a proper conclusion. Where an act
has been passed according to the forms of
the Constitution by supreme legislative au
thority, and iB regularly enrolled among the
public statutes of the country. Executive re
sistance to it, especially in times ot high
party excitement, would be likely to pro
duce violent collision between the respective
adherents of the two branches of the govern
ment. This would be simnlv civil war. and
civil war must be resorted to only as a last
remedv for the worst of evils. Whatever
might tend to provoke it should bo most
carefally avoided. A faithful and conscien-
tiom maeistrate will concede verv much to
honest error, and even something to perverse
malice, before be will endanger the public
neace : and he will not adopt forcible mas-
ures, or such as might lead to force, as long
as those which are peaceable remain open to
him or his constituents. It is true that case
may arise in which the Executive would be
compelled to stand upon its rights, and
maintain them regardless 01 consequences.
If Coneress should pass an act which is aot
only in nalnable conflict with th Constitu-
tion, but will certainly, it carried out, pro
duce immediate and irreparable injury to the
organic structure of the Government ; and if
there be neither judicial remedy for wrongs
it inflicts, nor power in the people to protect
themselves without the omciai aid 01 tneir
elected defenders : if, for instance, the Le
gislative Oeparlment should pass an act,
even through all forms of law, to aWish a
co-ordinate department of the Government, fitness for these f auctions. It Is not the the
in such case the President must take the I ory of this government that public office
high responsibility of his office and save the
lite of the nation at all hazards.
The so-called reconstruction acts, though
88 plainly unconstitutional as any that can
b imagined, were not believed to be within
the class last mentioned. The people were
defence. In all the Northern States they
UUv WUlU'jr U1BM lucu vi nnv pvni va
...U,.11n vf fit a nnarap tf coir.
still had in their hands the sacred right of
the ballot, and it was safe to believe that in
due time they would come to the rescue of
their own institutions. It gives me pleasure
to add that the appeal to our common con'
stituents was not taken in vain, and that tsy
confidence in their wisdom and virtue seems
aot to have been misplaced.
It is well and publicly known that enor
mous frauds have been perpetrated on the
Treasury, and that colossal fortunes have
fees mae at tae a!t sk fcase. Tk4 ?
I cies of corruption ha increased, is increasing,
i and if not diminished, will soon bring us in,-
to total ruin and difierace. Public creditors
and tax payers are alike Interested in an hon
est administration of finances, and neither
class will long endure large handed robber
ies of the recent past For this discreditable
state of thinrs there are several causes.
Some of the taxes are so laid as to present
an Irresistible temptation to evad payment.
Great suus which officers may hold, will, by
connivance with fraud, create a pressure
which is more than the virtue of many ca
withstand, and there can be no doubt that
open disregard of Constitutional obligations
avowed by some of the highest and most in
fluential men in the country, has greatly
weakened the moral sense of those who serve
in subordinate places.
Ihe expenses of the United htates.incind-
inf the interest on the public debt, are more
than six times as much as tney were seven
years ago. To collect aad disburse this vast
amount requires careful supervision, as well
as systomatic vigilance. The system, never
perfected, was much disorganized by the
tenure of office bill, which has almost de
stroyed official accountability.
Ihe Presidtnt may be thoroughly con
vinced that an officer Is incapable, diohoDest
or unfaithful to the Constitution, but under
the law which I have named his utmost en
deavors will be lo complain to tLe Senate, and
asc tne privilege of supplying his place
witn a better man. If the benate be regard
ed as personally or politically opposed to the
rresicient, It la natural and not altogether
unreasonable for the officer to expect that it
will take his part as far as possible, ana rc
store him to his place, and ctve him a tri
umph over his executive!5uperior. The ofli-
i;er uav emer cnances oi lmpuuu m isiuu
from accidental defects of evidence. Under
the peculiar mode of investigating it, and
the secrecy of hearing it, it la not wonderful
that official malfeasance should become bold
In proportion as deliquents learn to think
tnemseives safe. I am entirely persuaded
that under such an irresponsible rule the
President cannot perform the great duty as
signed to him of seeing the laws faithfully
executed, and that It disables him most ess
pecially from enforcing that rigid acconcta-
bility which Is necessary to the due execu-
tion of the revenue laws. The Constitution
invests the President with authority to de
cide whether a removal shall be made in aoy
given case. The aet of Congress declares In
sabetanea that he shall oaly accuse such as
r.e 6upposB to be unworthy or their trust.
The Constitution makes him sole judge in
the premises, but the statute takes away his
jurisdiction and transfers it to the Senate,
aud leaves him nothing bnt the odious and
sometimes impracticable duty of becoming
a prosecutor. Prosecution is to ba conduct
ed before a tribunal whose members are not,'
like him, responsible to the whole people,
bat to epsra4ie constituent bodies, and who
may hear hh accusation with great disfavor.
ihe enate is absolutely without any
known standard of decision applicable to
such a case. Its iudement cannot be antici
pated, for it U not governed by any rule.
Law does not define what shall be deemed a
good cause for removal. It is impossible
even to conjecture what may or may not bt
so considered by the Senate the nature of
the subject forbids clear proof. If a charge
be incapacity, what evidence would 6Uipcrt
it? Fidelity to the Constitution may be
understood or misunderstood in. a thousand
different ways by yiolent party men in vio
lent party times. Unfaithfulness to the
Constitution may even come to be consider
ed meritorlocs. If officers be accused of dis
honesty how shall It be made out? Will it
be inferred from acts unconnected with pub
lic duly, from private history, or from gen
eral reputation? Or must the President
await toe commission of an actual tnlsde
meanor in office ? Shall he in the meantime
risk the character and interests of the nation
in the hands cf men to whom he eaunot give
his confidence 1 Mast he forbear his com
plaint until mischief 1& dons and cannot be
prevented ? If his real In the public service
should impel him to anticipate an overt act.
must he move at peril of being tried himself
for the offence of elanderivg hissuboidinate?
In the present cif cumstances of the country
some eae must be held responsible for offi
cial delinquencies of every kind. It is ex
tremely difficult to esy where that responsi
bility should be thrown, if It Is not left
where It has been placed by the Constitu
tion ; but all just now will admit that the
President ought to be entirely relieved from
J such responsibility if he cannot meet it by
1 reason oi restrictions placed tv law urnr,
I his actions. The unrestricted power of ie-
I moval from oflice is a very great cne to t9
I trusted even to a magistrate enosen dt tha
I general suffrage of the whole people, and ac-
coon table to them for Lis acts. It 13 un
I aoueteoiy name to aonse, ana at Bome peri
I ds of our history, perhaps, has been abused.
If it he thought desirable and constitutional
that it shoald be so limited as to make ;he ',
President mtr-'ly a common informr asaliisf "
other public agents, he should at leaat b
t ermttte l to act in that capacity beme some
or en tribunal, independent of party politics ,;
rrauy vj isveaiigaie iu mruoi every case,
furnitbed with the means of taking evidence , -'
iv J a 1 : J - 1: a. . . 1 . -
j rules. This
r-uld gaarantee the safety f '
tae accuser whe he acts in good faith, acd
at the sane time secure tie rights cf the '
other party. I speak, of course, with a?
proper respect for the present Senate, but it i
does not seem to ire that any legislative .
I body can be so constituted as to insure
I are tae propeitr of thofa who hold them. T,
I A hey are given merely as a trust for the pub ,
I lie benefit Rntnetlxves for a fixed period
J sometimes during good behavior ; bat ge&
j erally they are liable to be terminated a1.
the pleasure cl the appemuag powtr, whic'
1 v si v-ovwako 1 uv vvuvvurv - j sujn IOat.j
I Vnnpooanfa (ha nll(ti -wm fneiratv an J ..AMVi
the will of the people. The foreed retention
in office of a single dishonest person ma
wotlc great injury to the pHtlic interests-- ,
Danger to the public aeivica comes not fro1 '
the power to appoint ; therefore it was th.1
the framers of the Constitntion left the pov
er of removal unrestricted, while they g
the Senate the right to rejact all appofci
ments which, in its opinion, were not fit
be made.
A little reflection on this subject
probably, satisfy all who have the -v
tieMtr t heart, tex cw eS-
IT