Jircatarnt's JHrssmgc.
Fellow Citizens of the Senate
and of the House of Representatives : _
The Constitution requires that the Presi
dent shall, from time to time, not only recom
mend to the consideration of Congress such
measures as he may judge necessary and ex
pedient, but also that he shall give informs- !
tion to them of the state ot the Union. lo
do this fully involves exposition of all matters j
in the actual condition of the country, domes
tic or foreign, which essentially concern the
general welfare. While performing his con
stitutional dutv in this respect, the President
does not speak merely to express personal
convictions, but as the executive minister of j
the government, enabled by bis position, and ;
called upon by his official obligations, to scan
with an impartial eye, the interests of the ;
whole, and of every part of the United States.
Of the condition of the domestic interests
of the Union, its agriculture, mines, manu
factures, navigation, and commerce, it is ne
cessary only to say that the interna! prosper
ity of "the country, its continuous and steady
advancement in wealth and population, and •
in private as well as public well-being, attest
the wisdom of our institutions, and the pre
dominant spirit of intelligence and patriotism,
which, notwithstanding occasional irregulari
ties of opinion or action resulting from pop- 1
ulav freedom, has distinguished and charac
terized the people of America.
In the brief interval between the termina
tion of the last and the commencement of the
present session of Congress, the public mind
has been occupied with the care of selecting,
for an ther constitutional term, the President
and Vice President of the United States.
Thedetermination of ihe persons who are of
right, or contingently, to preside over the ad
ministration of the government, is, under our
system, committed to the States and the peo- j
pie. We appeal to them, by their voice pro- ]
nounced in the forms of law, to call whoinso- !
ever they will to the high post of Chief Mag
istrate. And thus it is that as the Senators
represent the respective States of the Union,
and the members of the House of Represen
tatives the several constituencies of each State,
so the President represents the aggregate pop
ulation of the United States. Their election
of him is the explicit and solemn act of the
sole sovereign authority of the Union.
It is impossible to misapprehend the great
principles, which, by their recent political ac
tion, the people of the United States have
sanctioned and announced.
They have asserted the constitutional equal
ity of each and all of the States of the Uni
on a< States; they have affirmed the constitu
tional equality of each and all of the citizens
of the United States as citizens, whatever
their religion, wherever their birth, or their
residence; they have maintained the inviola
bility of the constitutional rights of the dif
ferent sections of the Union; and they have
proclaimed their devoted and unalterable at
tachment to the Union and to the constitution,
as objects of interest superior to all sub
jects of local or sectional controversy, as the
safeguard of the rights of all, as the spirit
and the essence of the liberty, peace and
greatness of the Republic.
In doing this, they have, at the same time,
emphatically condemned the idea of organiz
ing in these 1 nitel States mere geographical
parties; of marshalling in hostile array to
wards each other the different parts of the
country, North or South, East or West.
Schemes of this nature, fraught with incal
culable mischief, and which the considerate
sense of the people has rejected, could have
had countenance in 110 part of the country,
had they not been disguised by suggestions
plausible in appearance, acting upon an exci
ted state of the public mind, induced bv cau
ses temporary in their character, and it is to
be hoped transient in their influence.
Perfect liberty of association for political
objects, and the widest scope of discussion,
are the received at; 1 ordinary conditions of
government in our country. Our institutions,
framed in the spirit of confidence in the in
telligence and integrity of the people, do not
fcrbid citizens either individually or associa
ted together, t; attack by writing, speech or
any other methods short of physical force,
the Constitution and the very existence of the
Union. Under the shelter of this great liber
ty. and protected by t e laws and usages of
the government they* assail, associations o have
been formed, in some of the States, of indi
viduals. who, pretending to seek onlv to pre
vent the spread of the institution oi' slavery
into the present or future inchoate .States of
the Lnion, are realiy inflamed with the desire
to change the domestic institutions of exist
ing States. To acc ruplU.h their objects, th<*y
dedicate themselves to the odious task of de
preciating the government organization which
in their way, and of 'calumniating,
with indiscriminate invective, not onlv the
citizens of purticui tr States, with whose laws
they find fault, but all others of their fellow
citizens throughout the country, who do not
participate with them in their assaults upon
tue C (institution, framed and adopted bv our !
fathers, ami claiming t-.r the privileges it has
secured, and the blessings it has conferred,
the steady support and grateful reverence of
their children. They seek an object which
they well know to be a revolutionary one.
1 hey are perfectly aware that the change
in the relative condition of the white and
black races in the slaveholding States, which
they would promote, is beyond their lawful
auth that to them it is a foreign ob
ject ; that it cannot be effected bv an}' peace
fu! instrumentality of theirs; that for them
and the States of which they are citizens, the !
oniy path to its accomplishment is through
burning cities, and ravaged fields, and slaugh
tered populations, and ail there is most terri
ble in foreign, complicated with civil and ser
vile war; and that the first step in the at
tempt is the forcible disruption of a country
embracing in its broad bosom a degree of
liberty, and an amount of individual and
public prosperity, to which there is no paral
lel in history, and substituting in its place 1
hostile governments, driven at once and inev-
ibi\ into mutual devastation and fratricidal
carnage, tram' rmin„ the now peaceful and
felicitous brotherhood into a vast permanent 1
camp of armed men like the rival monarchies
of Europe and Asia. Well knowing that 1
such, and such only, are the means and the
consequences of their plans and purposes, :
they endeavor to prepare tiie people of the
United States for civil war by doing every
thing in their power to deprive the Constitu
tion and the laws of moral authority, and to
undermine the fabric of the Union by ap
peals to pas-ion and sectional prejudice, bv
indoctrinating its people with reciprocal ha
tred, and educating them to stand face to face
as enemies, rather than shoulder to shoulder
as friends.
It is by the agency of such unwarrantable j
interference, foreign and domestic, thar the
minds of many, otherwise good citizens, have
been so inflamed into the passi mate condem
nation of the domestic institutions of the '
Southern States, as at length to pass insensibly
to almost equally passionate hostility towards
! their fellow-citizens of those states, and thus (
finally to fall into temporary fellowship with s
the avowed and active enemies of the Con
stitution. Ardently attached to liberty in i
the abstract, they do not stop to consider i
practically how the objects they would attaiu 1
can be accomplished, nor to reflect that, even i
; if the evil were as great as they deem it, they i
have no remedy to apply, and that it can be
I only aggravated by their violence and uncon- i
stitutioual action. A question, which is one
|of the most difficult of all problems of social i
institution, political economy and statesman
ship, they treat with unreasoning intempe
rance of thought and language. Extremes
beget extremes. Violent attack from the
north finds its inevitable consequence in the
growth of a spirit of angry defiance at the
• south. Thus in the progress of events we had
reached that consummation which the voice
; of the people lias now so pointedly rebuked
of the attempt, of a portion of the states, by
a sectional organization and movement, to
usurp the control of the government of the
United States.
I confidently believe that the great body of
thsse who inconsiderately took this fatal step.
' are sincerely attached to the Constitution and
the Union. They would, upon deliberation,
I shrink with unaffected horror from any con- ,
scious act of disunion or civil war. But they
have entered into a path which leads nowhere,
j unless it be to civil war and disunion, and
which has no other possible outlet. They
have proceeded thus fax in that direction, in
consequence of the successive stages of their
progress having consisted of a series of see
| ondarv issues, each of which professed to be
; confined within constitutional and peaceful
limits, but which attempted indirectly what
I few men were willing to do directly, that is,
to act aggressively, against the constitutional
rights of nearly one-half of the 31 states.
In the long series of acts of indirect ag
t gression, the first was the strenuous agitation
1 by citizens of the northern states, in Con
gross and out of it, of the question of negro
emancipation in the southern states.
The second step in this path of evil consist
ed of acts of the people f the northern States, )
and in several instances of their governments,
aimed to faciiifate the escape of persons held
to service in the southern States, and to pie- i
vent their extradition when reclaimed accord
j ing to law and in virtue of express provisions
of the Constitution. To promote this object,
I legislative enactments and other means wero
adopted to take away or defeat rights, which
the Constitution solemnly guarantied. In |
| order to nullify the then existing act of Cou
-1 gress concerning the extradition of fugitives
from service, laws were enacted in many
I States, forbidding their officers, under the
severest penalties, to participate in the execu
tion of any act of Congress whatever. In
I this way that system of harmonious eo-oper
j ation between the authorities of the United
States and of the several States, for the uiain
: tenance of their common institutions, which
existed in the early years of the Republic,
j was destroyed; conflicts of jurisdiction came
to be frequent; and Congress found itself
compelled, for the support of the Constitution,
and the vindication of its power, to authorize
i the appointment of new officers charged with j
< the execution of its acts, as if they and the
i officers of the States were ministers, respec
• lively, of foreign governments in a state of
j mutual hostility, rather than fellow magis
trates of a cerumen country, peacefully sub
sisting under the protection of one we'll con
j stituted Union. Thus, here, also, aggression
was followed by reaction; and the attacks
! upon the Constitution at this point did but
serve to raise up new barriers for its defence
and security,
j The third stage of this unhappy sectional
! controversy was in connexion with the orga
j nization of territorial governments, and the
j admission of new States into the Union.—
| When it was proposed to admit the State of
Maine, by separation of territory from that
of Massachusetts, and the State of Missouri,
formed of a portion of the territory ceded by
| Fiance to the United States, representatives
in Congress objected to the admission of the
latter, uuless with conditions suited to partic
ular views of public policy. The imposition
of such a condition was successfully resisted.
But, at the same period, the question was
| presented of imposing restrictions upon the
residue of the territory ceded by France.—
That question was, for the time, disposed of
by the adoption of a geographical line of
: limitation.
In this connexion it Atoulu not be forgotten
1 that Franco of her own accord, resolved, for
considerations of the m> st far-sighted sagaci
ty, to cede Louisiana to the United States, and
that uccession was accepted by the Lnited
I Stat.-s, tiio latter expressly engaged that "the
inhabitants of the ceded territory shall be ,
incorporated in the Union of the United States,
and admitted as soon as possible, according
| to the principles of the Federal Constitution, j
| to tiio enjoyment of all the rights, advantages ;
! and immunities of citizens of the United
| States; and in the meantime they shall ho
1 maintained and protected in the free enjoy
: ment of their liberty, property and the relig
i ion which they profess"—that is to say, while
it remains in a territorial condition, its in- .
habitants are maintained and protected in the
. free enjoyment of their liberty and property,
with a right then to pass into the condition of
States on a footing of perfect equality with
i the original States.
The enactment, which established the re
; strictive geographical line, was acquiesced in
rather than approved by the States of the
Lnion. It stood on the statute books, bow
ever, for a number of years; and the people
of the respectivo States acquiesced in the re- j
enactment of the principle as applied to the ,
•State of Texas; and it was proposed to acqui
exec in its further application to the territory
acquired by the l nited States from Mexico.
But this proposition was successfully resisted '
; by the representatives from the 'northern
States, who, regardless of the statute line,
insisted upon applying restriction to the new
territory generally, whether lving north or i
south of it, thereby repealing it as a legisla
tive compromise, and, on the part of the I
North, persistently violating the compact, if
compact there was.
Thereupon this enactment ceased to have
binding virtue in any sense, whether as re
spects the North or the South; and so in effect
it was treated on the occasion of the admie- I
sion of the State of California, and the orga
nization of the Territories of New Mexico, 1
j I tab, and Washington.
Such was the state of this question, when
the time arrived for the organization of the i
: 1 erritories of Kansas and Nebraska. In the '
progress of constitutional inquiry and reflec
tion, it had now at length come to be seen
clearly that Congress does nut possess consti
tutional power to impose restrictions of this
character upon any present or future State of
the lnion. In a long series of decisions,on
the fullest argument, and aftpr the most de- j '
liberate consideration, the Supreme Court of'
the United Stutes had finally determined this <
point, in every form under which the question i
could arise, whether as affecting public or 1
private rights—in questions of tho public 1
domain, of religion, of navigation, and of
servitude.
The several States of tho Union are-, by force
of the Constitution, co-equal in domestic leg
islative power. Congress caDnot change a
law of domestic relation in the State of Maine;
no more can. it in the State of Missouri. Any
statute which proposes to do this is a mere i
nullity; it takes away no right, it confers
none. If it remains on the statute-book un
repealed, it remains there only as a monu
ment of error, and a beacon of warning to the
legislator and statesman. To repeal it will
be only to remove imperfection from the stat
utes without affecting, either in the sense of
permission or prohibition, the action of the
States, or of their citizens.
Still, when the nominal restriction of this
nature, already a dead letter in law, was in
terms repealed by the last Congress, in a
clause of the act organizing the Territories of
Kansas and Nebraska, that repeal was made
the occasion of a wide-spread arid dangerous
agitation.
It was alleged that the original enactment
being a compact of perpetual moral obliga
tion, its repeal constituted an odious breach
of faith.
An act of Congress, while it remains unre
pealed, more especially if it be constitution
ally valid in the judgment of those public
functionaries whose duty it is to pronounce
on that point, is undoubtedly binding on the
conscience of each good citizen of the Repub
lic. But in what sense can it be asserted that
the enactment in question was invested with •
perpetuity and entitled to the respect ol" a
solemn compact? Between whom was the
compact? No distinct contending powers <.f
government, no separate sections of the
I nion, treating as such, entered into treaty '
stipulations on the subject.
Tt was a mere clause of an act of Congress, •
and like any other controverted matter of le- !
gislation, received its final shape and was j
passed by compromise ol'the conflicting opin
ions or sentiments of the members of Con
gress. But if it had moral authority over
men's consciences, to whom did this authority
attach ? Not to those of the North, who had
repeatedly refused to confirm it by extension,
aud who had zealously striven to establish
other and incompatible regulations upon the ;
subject. And if, as it thus appears, the sup- j
posed compact had no obligatory force as to j
the North, of course it could not have had I
any as to the South, for all such compacts j
must he mutual and of reciprocal obligation. :
It has not unfrequently happened that law
givers, with undue estimation of the value of
the law they give, or in the view of imparting
to it peculiar strength, make it perpetual in
terms; but they cannot thus bind the con
science, the judgment, and the will of those
who may succeed them, invested with similar
responsibilities, and clothed with equal au- ;
thority. Marc careful investigation may
prove the law to he unsound in principle.—
Experieuce may show it to be imperfect in
detail and impracticable in execution. And •
then both reason and right combine not mere- i
ly to justify, but to r€>quire its repeal.
The Constitution, supreme as it is over all f
the departments of the government, legisla- j
tire, executive, aud judicial, is open to amend
ment by its very terms; and Congress or the
States may, in their discretion, propose
amendment to it, solemn compact though it j
in truth is between the sovereign States of j
the Union. In the present instance, a politi- j
cal enactment, which had ceased to have le- j
gal power or authority of any kind, was re- !
pealed. The position assumed, that Congress
had no moral right to er.act such repeal, was ]
strange enough, and singularly so in view of j
the fact that the argument came from those j
who openly refused obedience to existing laws j
of the land, having the same popular desig- j
nation and quality as compromise acts—nay, !
more, who unequivocally disregarded and
condemned the most positive and obligatory '
injunctions of the Constitution itself, and
sought, by every means within their reach, to
deprive a portion of their fellow-citizens of I
the equal enjoyment of those rights and priv- j
ileges guarantied alike to all by the funda- '
mental compact of our Union.
This argument against the repeal of the ;
statute line in question, was accompanied by
another of congenial character, and equally j
with the former destitute of foundation in |
reason and truth. It was imputed that the !
measure originated in the conception of ex- |
tending the limits of slave labor beyond those i
previously assigned to it, aud that such was
its natural as well as intended effect; and
these baseless assumptions were made, in the
northern states, the ground af unceasing as
sault upon constitutional right.
The repeal in terms of a statute, which ;
was already obsolete, and also null for un- f
constitutionality, could have no influence to
obstruct or to promote the propagation of
conflicting views of political or social institu
tions. When the act organizing the Territo
ries of Kansas and Nebraska was passed, the
inherent effect upon that portion ol the public :
domain thus opened to legal settlement, was !
to admit settlers from all the states of the
Union alike, each with his convictions of j
public policy and private interest, there to i
found in their discretion, subject to such lira :
itations as the Constitution and acts of Con- .
gress might prescribe, new states, hereafter j
to be admitted into the Union.
It was a free field, open alike to all, whe- j
thcr the statute line of assumed restriction ,
were lepealed or not. That repeal did not
open to free competition of the diverse opin- ;
ions and domestic institutions a field, which, j
without such repeal, would have been closed
against them ; it found that field of competi
tion already opened, in fact and in law. All
the repeal did was to reliove the statute book
of an objectionable enactment, unconstitu- |
tional in effect, and injurious in terms to a
large portion of the states.
Is it the fact that, in all the unsettled re
gions of tho United States, if emigration be
left free to act in this respect for itself, with- ,
out legal prohibitions on either side, slave |
labor will spontaneously go everywhere, in
preference to free labor? Is it the fact, that
the peculiar domestic institutions of the
southern states possess relatively so much
of vigor, that, wheresoever an avenue is freely
open to all the world, they will penetrate to
the exclusion of those of the Northern States? ,
Is it the fact, that the former enjoy, compar
cd with the latter, such irresistibly superior
vitality, independent of climate, soil and all
other accidental circumstances, as to be able j
to produce the supposed result, in spite of the
assumed moral and natural obstacles to its
accomplishment, nnd of the more numerous
population of the Northern States?
Of course, these imputations on the inten
tions of Congress in this respect, conceived
as they were in prejudice and disseminated
in passion, are utterly destitute of any justi
fication in the nature of things, and contrary
to all the fundamental doctrines and princi- j
pies of civil liberty and self-government.
Tho argument of those who advocate the j
enactment of new laws of restriction, and
condemn the repeal of old ones, in effect avers
that their particular views cf government
have no self-extending or self-suetaioing pow- j
er ®f their own, and will go nowhere unless
forced by act of Congress. And if Congress ;
do but pause for a moment in the policy of
stern coercion; if it venture to try the exper
iment of leaving men to judge for themselves j
what institutions will best suit them ; if it be i
not strained up to perpetual legislative exer
tion on this point; if Congress proceed thus
to act in the very spirit of liberty, it is at
once charged with aiming to extend slave la
bor into all the now Territories of tho United
States.
While, therefore, in general, the people of :
the northern States have never, at any time,
arrogated for the federal government the pow
er to interfere directly with the domestic con
dition of persons in the southern States, but
on the contrary have disavowed all such in
tentions, and have shrunk from conspicuous
affiliation with those few who pursue their
fanatical objects avowedly through the con
templated means of revolutionary change of
the government, and with acceptance of ti c
necessary consequences-—a civil and servile
war—yet many citizens have .suffered them
selves to he drawn intooneevnneseeut political
issue of agitation after another, appertaining
to the same set of opinions, and which subsi
ded as rapidly us they rose when it came to
ho seen, as it uniformly did, that thov were
incompatible with the compacts of tho Con
stitution and the existence of the Union. —
Thus, when the acts of some of the States to :
nullify the existing extradition law imposed
upon Congress tho duty of passing a new one, :
the country was invited by agitators to enter
into party organization f >r its repeal; but that
agitation speedily ceased by reason of the
impracticability of its object. S.\ when the
statute restriction upon the institutions of
' new .States, by a geographical line, had been ,
repealed, the country was urged to demand '
; its restoration, and that project also died al
! most with its birth. Then followed the cry
j of alarm from the North against imputed
Southern encroachments; which cry sprung
in reality from the spirit of revolutionary '
attack on tho domestic institutions of the
i South, and, after a troubled existence of a
few months, has been rebuked by the voice
i of a patriotic people.
Of this last agitation, one lamentable fen- 1
| ture was. that it was carried on at tho inline- i
| uiate expense of the peace ami happiness of
; the people of the Territory of Kansas. That
was made the battle field, not so much of op
posing factions or interests within itself 39 cf
the conflicting passions of the whole people
of the United States. Revolutionary disorder .
in Kansas had its origin in projects of inter
vention, deliberately arranged by certain
members of that Congress which enacted the
law for tiie organization of the Territory.— :
And when propagandist colonization of Kan
i sas had thus been undertaken in one section
; r.f the Union, for the systematic promotion of
! its views of policy, there ensued, as a matter
! of course, a counteraction with opposite views,
: in other sections of the I nion.
• In consequence of these and other incidents,
i many acts of disorder, it is understood, have
J been perpetrated in Kansas, to the occasional
I interruption, rath r than the permanent sus
i pension, of regular government. Aggressive
and most reprcheusible incursions into the
Territory were undertaken, both in tho North
and the South, and entered in on its northern ;
j border by the way of lowa, as well as on the
! eastern by the way of Missouri; and there
| has existed within it a state of insurrection
I against the constituted authorities, not with
! out countcuance from inconsiderate persons
| in each of the great sections of the I nion.
| But the difficulties in that Territory have
[ been extravagantly exaggerated for purposes
! of political agitation elsewhere.
The number and gravity of the acts of vi >-
| ience have been magnified partly bv siute
' ments entirely untrue, and partly by reitrra
ted accounts of the same rumors or facts.—
; Thus the Territory has b<vu seemingly filled
with extreme violence, when the whole am
ount of such acts has net been greater than
i what occasionally passes before us in single
| cities to the regret of all good citizens, but
| without being regarded as of general or per- 1
niunent j ilitical consequence.
Imputed irregularities in the elections had
in Kansas, like occasional irregularities of
j the same description in the States, were be
i yond the sphere of action of the Executive.
1 But incidents of actual violence of organized
| obstruction of law, pertinaciously renewed
i from time to time, have been met as thev oc
curred, by such means as were available ami
as the circumstances required; ami nothing of
this character now remains to affect the gen
eral peace of the Union. The attempt of a
part of the inhabitants of the Territ ry to j
1 erect a revolutionary government, though
sedulously encouraged and supplied with pe
cuniary aid from active agents of disorder in
some of the States, has completely failed.—
Bodies of armed men, foreign to the Territo
ry, havo been prevented Irani entering or
compelled to leave if. l'rcdatory bands, cn
! gaged in acts of rapine, under cover of the
| existing political disturbances, have been ar
rested or dispersed. And every well dispos
i ed person is now enabled once more to devote
I himself in peace to the pursuits of prosperous
! industry, for the prosecution of which he
! undertook to participate in the settlement of
t the Territory.
It affords mo unniingled satisfaction thus
' to announce the peaceful condition of things
in Kansas, especially considering the means
to which it was necessary to have resource ;
for the attainment of the end, namely, the
employment of a part of the military force j
:of the United States. Tho withdrawal of
j that force from its proper duty of defending !
the country against foreign foes or the sav
ages of the frontier, to employ it for the sus
pension of domestic insurrection, is, when
the exigencv occurs, a matter of the most j
earnest solicitude. On this occasion of im
perative necessity it lias been done with the j
! best results, and my satisfaction in the at- j
! tain merit of such results by such means is |
greatly enhanced by the consideration, that, j
through the wisdom and energy of the pres- I
ent Executive of Kansas, and the prudence,
firmness and vigilance of the military officers
1 on duty there, tranquility has been restored :
without one drop of blood having been shed ;
in its accomplishment by the forces of the
United States.
The restoration of comparative tranquility
in that Territory furnishes the means of ob
serving calmly, and appreciating at their j
just value, the events which have occurred
there, and the discussions of which the gov
ernment of the Territory has been the sub
ject.
We perceive that controversy concerning
its future domestic institutions was inevita
ble ; that no human prudence, no form of
legislation, no wisdom on tho part of Con- j
gress, could have prevented this.
It is idle to suppose that the particular
provisions of their organic law were the !
cause of agitation. Those provisions were
but the occasion, or the pretext cf an agita
tion, which was inherent in the nature of
things. Congress legislated upon the sub- ■
ject in such terms as were most consonant I
with the principle of popular sovereignty I
which underlies our government. It could !
not have legislated otherwise without doiDg
violence to another great principle of our in
stitutions, the inprescriptible right of equal
; ity of the several States.
! We perceive, also, that sectional interests
and party passions, have been the great im
pediments to the salutary operation of the
organic principles adopted, and the chief
cause of the successive disturbances in Kan
sas. The assumption that, because in the
organization of the Territories of Nebraska
I and Kansas, Congress abstained from impos
ing restraints upon them to which certain
i other Territories had been subject, therefore ;
disorders occurred in the latter Territory, j
is emphatically contradicted by the fact that
i none have occurred in t.ic former. Those
disorders wore not the consequence, in Kan
sas, of the freedom of self-government con
ceded to that Territory bv Congress, but of
unju: interference on the part of persons
not inhabitants of the Territory. Such in- r
terfereuce, wherever it has exhibited itself,
by acts of insurrectionary character, or of
obstruction to processes of law, has been re
pelled or suppressed, by all the means which
the Constitution and the laws place in the
hands of the Executive.
• u the*'* parts of the United States where,
by reason of the inflamed state of thepuhlic i
mind, false rumors ana misrepresentations :
: have the greatest currency, ic has been as- j
sutned that it was the duty of the Executive
; not only to suppress insurrectionary mote- j
1 mcnts in Kansas, but alio to see th° regu
larity of l.- .il elections. It needs little j
argument to show that tire President has no
su.-ii power. All -government in the i ni'-'d
BtaU:s rests substantially upon popular
i election. The free ion of elections D l:abi 1
' to be impaired hy tie- intrusion of unlawful
votes, or the exclusion of lawful oti •<. by
improper influences, by violence, or by fraud.
Cut the people of the United States are
themselves the all-sufficient guardians of
' their own rights, and to suppose that they
will not remedy, in due season, any such
incidents of civil freedom, is to suppose tbeni
i to have ceased to te capable of self-govern
, ment. The President of the United States
1 has not power t > interpose in elections, to i
| see to their freedom, to canvass their votes, j
or to pass upon their legality in the Terri
tories any more than in the States. If he 1
has such power the government might be
, republican in form, but it would be monarchy ;
in fact; and if !.•• had undertaken to exercise
j it in the ease of Kansas, he would have been
.justly subject to the charge of usurpation,
and of violation of the dearest rights of the
people of the United States,
i Unwise laws, equally vritli irregularities
ut elections, are in periods of great excite
i ment. the occasional incidents of even the
freest and best political institutions, Rut
all experience demonstrates that in a coun
try like curs, whore the right of self con-.ti
tuti ui exK:- in the euaaplete.-t form, the at- '
tempt to remedy unwise lcgis! ttion by resort
t ) revolution, is totally out of place : in .*- •
i much ;i> existing legal institutions afi.wd
I in re prompt and efficacious moans for the
! redress of wrong.
1 o ulidcntly trust that now. when the
peaceful conditi .n of Kansas aif irds oppor
j tunity for calm reflection and wise legislation,
either the leg; dative assembly of the Terri
; tory, or Congress, will see that no act shall '
! remain on its statute book violative >d' the '
| provisions of the Constitution, or subversive
! of the great objects for which that was or
dained and established, and will take ail •
; other necessary steps to assure t > its- inhabi- j
tants the enjoyment, without obstruction or I
abridgement, of all the constitutional right*,
privileges and immunities of citizens of the
United States, as contemplated by the or- ;
ganic law of the Territory.
Full information in relation to recent
events in this Territory will be found in the
documents communicated herewith from the
Departments of State and War.
I refer you to the report of the- Secretary
j of the Treasury for particular information
. concerning the financial condition of trio
| government, and the vari us brauches of the
• public service connected with the Treasury
j Department.
During the last fiscal year the receipts
from customs were for the first time, more
than sixty-four million doi! :r*. and from all
: sources, seventy-three million nine hundred
A. eighteen thousand one hundred ami forty-
I one dol'r: which, with thehaianceon hand up
to the Ist of July, 1855, made the total re
sources of the year t • am Mint to ninety-two
million eight hundred and fifty th >usand one
hundred and seventeen dollars. The ex
penditures. including three million doii irs
in execution of the treaty with Mexico, and
excluding sum* paid on account of the pub
lic debt, amounted t sixty million >nc hua
: drcd and seventy-two thousand four hundr • i
and one dollars : and, including the lain r,
to seventy-two million nine hundred an 1
forty-eight thousand seven hundred ~ i
ninety-two dollars, the payment mi thi-<
j count having amounted to twelve milli n
seven hundred and seventy-six thi-uMmi
three hunurc-d an 1 ninety dollars.
On the 4th of March, 1855, the am •: -r o<"
. the public debt was sob, 1T
was a subsequent increase of $2,750,G for
the debt of Texas—making at te! of J7l,- ,
872,037. Of this the sum of $45,520,559,
including premium, has been discharged, ;
reducing the debt to $30,737, 120 : all which
j might be paid within a year without emuar- •
1 rassing the public service, but being nor ve:
due. and only redeemable at the option* of
the holder, cannot be pressed u payment bv
the government.
On examining the expenditures of the last
: five years, it will be seen that the average, 1
! deducting payments on account of the public ;
debt and ten millions paid by treaty to Mex
ico, has been but abouts4B.ooo,oo. It is
: believed that, under an economical adminis-
I tration of the government, the average ex
penditure for the ensuing five years will not
exceed that sum, unless extraordinary occa
sion for its increase should occur. The acts
granting bounty lands will soon have been
executed, while the extension of our frontier
settlements will cause a continued demand
, ior lands, and augment receipts, probably, '
Lent that source. These considerations will
justify a reduction of the revenue from cua
j turns, so as not to exceed forty-eight or fifty
i million dollars. I think the exigency for
such reduction is imperative, and again urge
it upon the consideration of Congress.
The amount of reduction, as well as the !
manner of effecting it, are questions of great •
and general interest; it being essential to
industrial enterprise aud the public prosper
ity, as well as the dictate of obvious justice, j
| that the burden of taxation be made to rest
: as equally as possible upon all classes, and
all sections and interests of the country.
I have heretofore recommended to your
consideration the revision of the revenue
laws, prepared under the direction of the
Secretary of the Treasury, and also legisla- I
tion upon some special questious affecting the
business of that department, more especiallv
the enactment of a law to punish the ab-
f\l W3 or P a P e " the
files of the government, and requiring all
such books and papers, and all other public
property to bo turned over \jj the out-going
; officer to his successor; ot ahv, e(Ju j • £
; disbursing officers to deposit all puVjVm
in the vaults of the Treasury or in other
legal depositories, where the same are con
veniently accessible; and a law to extern]
existing penal provisions to all persons who
may become possessed of public money by
deposit or otherwise, and who shall refuse or
neglect, on due demand, to pay the same
into the treasury. I invite your attention
anew to each of these objects.
ro.vrK'suED.
r IMIE elections being over and the excitemenf
attending them passed away, and it being
r considered dangerous nowadays to keep on hand!
bank notes, the proprietor of "the People's Store
would again invite attention to his magnificent
depository for replenishing the outer man and
woman on the scientific principle of saving
money, which accommodating establishment is
in East Market street, and can readily be
! distinguished from ail others by its piles of
beautiful goods and wares and " that sign,"
' Which, like the Star spangled banner, is fanned
;by every breeze. The Ladies, gentlemen,mer
! chants, traders, farmers, laborers, and all oth
ers are therefore invited to a grand display (od
' mLaum f-rtc) of a most extensive, beautiful, and
cheap stock of Staple and fancy Goods. Tbu
, exhibition will remain open every morning, af
ternoon and evening until further notice, and
ail concerned are rc j iested to call early and
procure good seats ■- performance com
merces cnrlv in the : -!:.ii<g with an exquisite
melo drama entitled
OOOBS,
comprising in part Hroohe Silks, 75 cents; Ging
hams from fij to gj cents; White Goods, such
as Swiss, Victoria, Lawn, Bishop Lawn, India,
Ilook Muslins. Brilliant-.. Swiss and Jaconet
Edgin'S and Inserting*. Flouucings. Collars and
Sleeves. C'l illcys, bareges. Mohair Mitts, Silk
and Kid Glove**, Hosiery, and hundreds of oth
er articles, i'i daily use.
i Berne second will opea with a grand display
of Stella, Crape, Cashmere, Delaine, Thihe!
nod nuuv tries* other
£,* a-T l e— oe
Cso? e.-u V V BM •
• (Crape Shawls from $G up, which for beauty,
ncutrie-s, fineness. finish, cheapness, and all the
other et ■ eieras. exceeds any tiling of the kind
before displayed to the ladies. This scene is
the admiration of all v. bo have seen it, both
from town and country, and alone is worth a,
visit from the extreme ends of the county.
Scene third will be an unrivalled exhibition of
( LOTUS AND CASSIMERES,
all colors, shades, and prices, of exquisite ma
leriai. and >u beautiful when made up, that a
young lady of our acquaintance had for several
au\- an idea of setting her tap for a handsoni*
gentleman sin* had eeri actoss the street, tinjj
dre**cd up, when she discovered it was her old
beau
Scene fourth will be a display of a choice se
; lection of
t >/r j JZzZSki ' ? "■> ' r~ g-*
. intended exclusively for family use, comprising
ev< iy article usually sold in that line, ami of
course cheap, whether quality or pries be con
s;dered.
Au int-rtnissioti of some time will here be
allowed in order to give the audience an oppoc
limits of r aiuining an extensive slock of
READY-MADE CLOTHING,
j well made out of good material, and cut out on
' v.-ir-i I fie. principles.
The fifth scene will present a rich andvand
, slock of i.
Queens ware and Glassware,
with side views uf Hoots and Shoes, Cutlerr,
Ladies' Gaiters, and sundry other mailer* plea
sing to the eye and purse.
The sixth scene is a rare spectacle of
Rimr/rs iv> bosket TRi.nsuncs,
which always produces a marked sensation
among the i.\ :.-es, and is frequently encored.—
I bis is really fine.
This is the general routine of the exhibition,
'.but the scene* are often varied hy thr iritrocuc
tion of othet uilieies, use ul, ornamental and
| pleasing.
The performers in t!.;s exhibition, from the
manager down, are all unrivalled and relebra
> ted tar am! wide lor their politeness and atten
. t:on to thrir numerous customers, and blessed
with the most unvarying patience, which is dai
ly exemplified in tiinr taking pay either in gold,
silver, bank notes, <>r country produce.
JOB. F. YEAGER, Manager.
Lewistown, Nov. 27, 1850.
TO THE TEACHERS
And Friends of Education in
Mifflin County.
4 MI.LIIXG w:Il b< held in the Town
. a H i!!, Lewistown. at 10 o'clock, A. M.,
; • .-v'DA\, Ihtcember fii'ih. 185<>, to organ
* a perm t i :nt County Association and make
other art mgcnieiits to improvn our Pubfc.
■' ; o : A i ill atc- i dann* is earnestly rc
v guested MANY TJKACHICRS.
Agricultural Meeting.
4 MRETfNO of the Mifflin Countv A.gri
cultural Society will be held iu McVev
town on the Tursdnij of DccemWt. —
Subjects for discussion—
1. Advnnt;tjrs and disadvantageaof Gur.nu
aiid other fertilizers.
id. improveiiient of Horn Cattle in Mitflin
county.
A punAinil attendance of the members is
requested. .JOHN STINK,
GEO. 11. CALBRAITIT.
(iKO. MITCHELL. Jr..
JOHN IIOSS.
DAVID STIX L. J r „
A. 11A RSII tiAP,G Kii,
Conaiuittee of Arrangements.
Mi YevtoHU, Nov. 27, 185 G.
A RARE CHANCE
TO COMMENCE BUSINESS!
J'pilF subscriber has a stock of DRV
L GOODS and HARDW ARE on handant
ounting to about 52,500, which he will sellar
a bargain, or exchange for a piece of land if
suitably located, to any person who may de
sire to engage in the -Mercantile business.—
I hey are principally staple goods, and such
as command a readv sale.
no2o—tf * CIIAS. RITZ.
Stray Oxen and Heifers.
CIAME to tho premises of the subscriber,
y in Union township, three quarters of a
nnlo south of Relleviile, a Red HEIFER,
with crumpled horns and a large bell; a yel
vrith white back and face; a
J 1 EKll nearly white, slightly speckled on
the sides; and a deep red STEER, 14 or 2
years old. The owner of said cattle is re
quested to come forward, prove property,
pay charges and take them awav, or they
will be disposed of according to law.
i uo2o—3t* JOHN LAPP.