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A. s. GERRITSON; Proprietpr.i
DEBT AND TAXATION.
The great Question of the Near Future—
The :National Debt Must be Paid and
Taxation Reduced—Justice to the Peo
ple as Well as the Bondholders—The
Measure of Relief Proposed by Geo. H.
Pendleton, of Ohio.
Hon. George H. Pendleton, of Ohio,
delivered a speech at Milwaukee, Wiscon
sin, on November 2d, by invitation of the
DeMocratic State Committee of that
State, which deserves to be read and stud
ied by every citizen, interested in the re
moval of debt and taxation which now
cripples the industry, the enterprise, and
the labor of the country. We invite for
this speech the calm consideration of the
reader, no matter what his political pro
clivities may be. It treats of subjects
which will he the ever mastering question
of public policy next year, which will en
ter into the ensuing PresidenTial canvass,
and exercise a controlling influence on its
decision. The gravity and importance of
the subject finds a tilting exponent in the
gallant and patriotic Pendleton. He per
forms a statesman's duty in the highest
sense of the word, for be not only expoS
es impending dangers to the country, btit
with consumate wisdom, points out the
means,by which they may he avoided.—
Let no one, therefore, slightingly read
what follows, but study and ponder upon
it, until the mind grasps the subject in - all
i s details:
AMOUNT OF TAXATION AND THE EXTENT OF
THE NATIONAL DEBT.
The revenue of the federal governtnent
in 1866 amounted to 8551 000 000. You
can hardly realize what that vast amount
is. When you undertake.to count it im
agination almost stands abashed. It
would have sufficed for the whole expense
of the administration under General Jack
son for more than '2O yearQ. That was a
)ear of profound peace. The army had
Leen disbanded ; the navy had been re
duced ; the military expeditions had not
only accomplished their purpose, but they
1,: o l lawn hronght to all end. And yet,
m • rear 1366, the government of the
Uni.e.l States realized from its revenue
11;0t 000 000 more than the kingdom of
Gr. at Britain, and 6190 000 000 more
than the emi ire ef France under Nr a pok.
on. If that amount had bee n asse sse d
upon the peple of the United States, it
wou d have amounted, for every man,
worn tn, and child in the country, to more
thalt 811. 46 in gold. And yet in this
same year thy taxation of Great Britian,
nssel=sed in the same way, would have
amounted to $10,96. The taxation of
France would have amounted to $7 90,
and the taxation of Austria to only $5 00.
If that amount had been assessed upon
all the taxable property, real and person
al, in the United , , States, it would have
amounted to $3 90 upon every hundred
dollars, and if the taxation of Great Brit
ain, in the same year, had been assessed
in the saute way, it would have only
amounted to nine-tenths of one per cent.
The taxable property of Great Britain,
real and personal, of every kind and de
scription, amounts to 8'36 000 000 000.
The taxable property of France amounts
to $4O 000 000,000, whilst thg taxable
property of the United States, of the
same character, amounts to less than
815 000 000 000.
The population of Great Britain, includ
ing her colonies, amounts to 25.5 000 000
of people. The population of the United
States amounts to less than 38 000 000
of people.
The public debt of Great Britain
amounts to $4 000.000 000, whilst the
public debt of the United States amounts
to 83 000 000 000. If - the public debt
of the United States were assessed upon
every man, woman, and child in the-c.oun•
try—l mean the liquidated debt, which
consists of somewhat More than *2 200-
000 000—it would be equivalent. to 874 a
head, while the public debt of France, if
assessed in like manner, would amount to
857; that of Austria to $4O, and that of
Prussia to less than $l2 a head.
The interest which the United 'States
pays - for money is, as you know, six per
cent. in gold, and:besides, an exemption
from taxation, which amounts probably,
to two per tent. more ; while, as you all
know. the interest of Great Britoil is three
per.cent., and that of France still legs.
It has been stated lately, very tersely;
and - very truly / that when the United
States borrows a•thousand dollars it bor
rows at a Atte which pay the lender in
twenty years two thousand and seven
hundred dollars, while the government of
Great Britain, going to the'same market,
borrows the • same amount of moneY, on
terms which will'in_twenty years pay to;
the lender one thousand seven hundred.
dollars. The government of the United
States, with its territory unexampled in
richness, with its population unexampled
in activity,
,and energy, pays a greater ,
raten_of ititeriii that? any, nation in Euktpe,,'
et* inulndin_geffeto and worn out Tur
key. The public debt of the United
States, which-3 have . told your was; three
billion dollars, hie been accumulated al!
except eighirmillicm dollars within five,
yeartt. Thelnblic debt of Great grit:a,
amounting to-tour. billion dollars, bag ac
cumulated during two hundred years-
IS A , NAT/GBAL DEIITA NATIONAL BLESSING?
A national debt, is the languaage of
those who maintain the kingly govern
cients4gurtope, is a blessing. I say,
I tiattonal curse. it is the natural ally
of a despotiC and consolidated Govern
' ment.. the natural enemy of change,
and proareSS, and liberty. It loves des
•
potism. It lives by the coercion of the
!many who labor tor . pay off their earnings
to the few who do - not labor. Labor
soon becomes restive and discontented
land power becomes necessary to enforce
prompt and regular payments, and thus
the public creditorsclatnor for power in
the government and are ready to aid in
its execution; and thus a public debt at.
tulles the creditors to the government
and chains the tax payers to the creditors.
Do we not hear, my friends, that the pub
lic debt ought not to be paid tooNron ;
that payment ought to be deferred 4 long
as possible; that as the bonds outstand
ing fall due they should be renewed that
as future generations . will derive benefit
from the deeds for which the debt was
created, they should bear the burdens of
the debt! .Gentlemen, Ido not believe
any such doctnine. Ido not believe it is
possible for the people of the United
States, under the government which we
have, to collect a revenue of $551 000-
000 for any great length of time, and yet
preserve the honesty, kurity, and integri
ty. which are essential to that form of
government.
The pdblic debt of the United States,
as I stated to you before, amounts to
$3 000 000 000. $2 200 000 000 or
more is in.a liqUidated form and bears in
teresis. $BOO 000 000 more is an unli
quidatedlorm, and bears no interest,—
,This is an enormous amount, 2 'and yet,,
gentlemen, I believe, and I think the
Democratic party beleives, that it should
be paid, every dolar of it, principal .„and
interest, at the time it conies due, exact
ly in accordance with the terms of the
contract under which the loans were made.
TUE cosranoss ON WHICH THE DEBT WAS
A part of that debt is payable in gold
and a part of it in legal tender notes. The
faith of the country requires that the one
should be paid in gold, and the interest
of the eonntry requires that the other
should be paid in legal tender. Prior to
the year 1862 the laws of the United
States provided that gold and silver coin
should be legal tender in payment of ev
ery debt. Every debt which was con
tracted before that time, whether it was
upon a contract for money, or bond, or a
note, was payable in coin, whether it was
expressed upon the face of the contract
or not..
In February, 1862, the Congress of the
United States passed what was called a
legal tender act. It provided that Ell5O
- 000 should he issued in paper, under
the stamp of the United States, and that
these paper dollars ehonid he received as
"lawful money"—l quote the language of
the act—"as lawful money, and as a legal
tender in the discharge of a debts, pub
lic and private, except only duties on im
ports and interest upon the public debt."
Mark the languag e of the act, "'awful
money." That, is the first legal tender
act. It provided for the emission of
$l6O 000 000 in paper money.
Every ermtract that was made after
that time for the payment of money,
whether it was made by ordinary contract,
or note, or bond, by whomsoever made,
was made upon the faith of the law and
was payable in these legal tender notes,
and not in coin, unless the maker chose so
to discharge it.
ALL BONDS, EXCEPT THE TES-SORTIES PAY-
ABLE IN GREENBACKS
The government of the United States
has paid in coin every bon d that was is
sued before the passage of that law, and
which has matured since its passage; and
the government of the United States
since that time, by an act of Congress,
has provided for the issue of other bonds,
which, notwithstanding the legal tender
act, are to bear upon their face an express
promise that the principal shall be paid in
gold, are payable in gold. These are the
ten forties. They are payable in gold,
principal and interest ; and I maintain,
my fellow-citizens, that every other bond,
except the 10-40 onds and all those is
sued before the legal tender act, are dis
chargeable iu the greenbacks of the coun
try.
Not only does the legal tender act of
which I have spoken control this, but the
law itself under which these bonds were
issued, provides that the principal shall be
paid in lawful money, and the interest,
shall be paid in coin. And not only that,
but the face of the bond
. sliows that. the
principal may be paid in lawful money,
while the coupons declare that the inter
est shall be paid in gold.
Some gentleman will say to me, per
haps, thak,the legal- tender shall not, be
permitted to-over-ride the uniform policy
of the country up to that time. I say to
him, let 'him Hot object to the legal tcad
er Set, for it is only by virtue, of it that
theinterest on the first five hundred mil
lion of 5-20, bonds is payable in, gold.—
The very act, which athorizes the issue ,
of these legal tender 'notes provided for
the issue of the 5-20 bonds. That alone ;
of all the acts authorizing the issue of
5-4 bonds,, id xis provide that either
the princittal or:interest.should be , paid in
gold only. I say to those who have bonds
MONTROSE, PA., TITESDA.Y, NOV, 26, 1867.
of that issue, that the payment of their
interest in gold depends on the construc
tion of the legal tender act which says
that this paper money shall not be receiv
ed in payment of intereat upon the
.pub
lk debt.
some gentleman will say to me, as has
been said before, that the law which pro.
vided for the issue of these same legal
tender notes, provided that the coin to
be derived from the payment of duties
upon imports, should be set aside and ap
propriated to the payment of the interest
of the public debt, and to the purchase or
redemption, year by year, in every year,
atter the first day of July, 1862, of one
per cent. upon the public debt. It is
claimed that this provision of the law im
plies a contract to pay the public debt in
coin.
Now, gentlemen, the same language
which applies to the redemption of the
public debt, applies also to its purchase.
If those words constitute a promise to
pay the public debt in coin at par, they
also constitute a direction to purchase the
public debt prior to the time .it becomes
due also in coin, at par, and that would
be, simply absurd; as you know that at
that very time the government of the
United States was selling the 5-20 bonds
at par in greenbacks.
SECRETARY m i cuttocu, THAI). STEVENS,
AliD JAY COOKE
It is said—J saw it in a newspaper pub
lished in Wisconsin, to-day, that the Sec
retary of the Treasury, while these bonds
were being issued, thought, and gave it
as his opinion, that these bonds would be
paid in go'd. What he may have
thought is of no consequence. -What he
said was promptly met by Mr. Stevens,
chairmakouf the committee of ways and
means, winisaid on the floor of the house,
that these bonds were not payable in gold,
and that the opinion of the Secretary of
the Treasury was wrong, and would bind
nobod v.
It is said that the newspapers declared
that these bonds would be paid. in gold.
When the 10-40 s were'issued only a few
months later, the newspapers declared,
under authority of Jay Cooke, that they
were the only bonds whose principal was
payable in gold. The one declaration
may offset the other.
THE t7NDERSTA.NDING OF THE BOND
HOLDERS.
It is said that those who purchased
these bonds believed. they were to be
paid in gold. I cannot aver,
my friends,
that they did not believe it, but I do aver
that they had no reason to believe it.—
The law was open to their inspection,
and was plain. They knew well that the
government of the United States paid ev
ery other debt they owed, except only
the interest upon the bonds, in legal ten
der notes. They knew that they them-
selves, when they bonght these bonds,
they paid for them in legal tender notes,
and they bad no reason to believe that an
exception would be made in their case
alone.
THE CRY OF "TIRPCDIA.TION" CONSIDRREb
Nowrgentlemen, I have thought it,
worth while to dwell thus in detail upon
the legal and moral obligations of the
government to pay these bonds in gold,
because it has been thought, in some
quarters, a sufficient answer for every ar
gument to cry out "repudiation 1 repudia
tion !" There is not a particle of repudi
ation in the proposition. Neither the
law, nor the contract. nor the face of the
bond, nor good morals require that they
should be paid in gold. -Raeriorxrios 1
That is a charge which comes with an
excellent grice_from men wiro, in _Ohio,
and Indiana, and New-York, and Pensyl
vania, and perhaps here in Wisconsin,
paid in legal tender notes the interest up
on the state debt, which was contracted
kto be paid in gold. Repudiation ! that
I Charge is made by the men who voted for
the law which authorized every man who
I had agreed to pay a hundred dollaiii in
gold, to discharge the debt by paying a
hundred dollars in paper. Repudiation!
they are the repudiators, who, after they
have compelled the people to take these
I legal tender notes in payment of every
I public and private debt, in payment of
every state, and county, and township,
and city, and railroad bond—now turn
and depreciate these notes, and say they
are not "lawful money," as they were de
clared by act of congress to be ; and not
tit to be given to a public creditor.
Do not, gentlemen, misunderstand me
here. I did not vote for that legal tender
act. I was in Congress at the time. I
opposed it. I voted against it. I believ
ed the,. -policy was bad. Wet had coin
currency and I believed we'should main
tain it. I thought the war might have '
been carried on, ;as the wars of 'Napoleon
against the world were carrifd on, for
years, upon a coin basis, and without in
flation, and without the issue of notes.—
I endeavored to the utmost of my feeble
ability to enforce that policy upon Con
gress.
/ was over-ruled, and a contrary
policy was adopted. It became incorpo
rated into the business of the country,
and I ..4111130w in favor, in good faith, of
carrying it out to the end, until every ad
vantage shall be realized, and until we
can with safety and ease reverse this pol- ,
icy, as.l believe we ought, and return to .
specie payments in the country, 1'
And now, my friends, I not only say
that these bonds are payable in legal ten
der, but that they ought to be paid as
soon as it is possible to do so. I do not
know that it is possible to pay these
bonds as fast as they mature, even in cur•
rency; but I do know that, every possi
ble effort ought to be made to do it.
nip QUESTION OF INFLATION BY PAYING
THE BONDS IN GREENBACKS.
But just at this point I am met with
the statement that we will issue an itu
tuerrae amount of paper, and thus so far
inflate the currenoy as to destroy its val
ue, and bring disaster upon the country.
Now, gentlemen, let me examine this ob
jection. Mr. McCulloch in his lest month
ly report' stated that the public debt
which bears interest is comprised in three
kinds—that three hundred millions of
this debt could not be redeemed before
1874—that three hundred millions more
could not be redeemed before 1881—and
that the rest of the debt, amounting to
nearly seventeen hundred millions of dol
lars is comprised in five-twenties and
bonds, which bear interest in currency.
Seventeen hundred millions of five
twenties and bonds which bear interest
in currency, will fall due within the next
five years. I cannot state to you the ex
act time nor the exact proportions in
which these bonds fall due. I mean these
5-20 s. Their very name' implies that
when five years shall elapse after their is
sue, the government may pay them, but
it need not pay them until twenty years
have elapsed.
Now, gentleman,
I maintain that these
8.20 bonds should be paid as far as it is
possible tq do so without inflating the
currency beyond a safe and just point.—
And it is my business now to show
,yon
how rapidly that can be done. The unli
quidated debt of the United States con
sists of greenbacks, and claims which
have not been adjusted, and amounts to
$800,000,000. It pays no interest.
The policy of the Republican party is to
convert these eight hundred millions of
dollars of unliqindated debt into bonds,
which pay six per cent. interest in gold.
Now what will be the effect of that ? It
converts a debt which bears no iatereit
into a debt which bears interest in gold:
it will add to the expense of the govern
ment s4B,ooo,ooo—for that is the interest
on $800,000,000. It will increase the num
ber of those who do not pay taxes, and in
crease t,he burthens of those who do pay
taxes. It -will add to the untaxed proper
ty of the country.. It will convert active
into inactive capital.
Now, I maintain that this system ought
not to go on ; that the debt ought not to
be converted, that this capital ought not
to be locked up; and that this large num
ber of people ought not to be exempt
from taxation ; and that this additional
burthen of $48,000,000 should be saved.
The Republicans say they can, I know
they ought to be able to pay this amount
from the current revenue.
HOW THE DEBT CAN BE PAID IN FIFTEEN
YEARS
If you look at the report made to-day
in the evening papers by telegraph, the
national banks have three hundred and
thirty-eight millions of the bonds of the
United States deposited in the treasury
as security for their circulation. You
know how these national banks are estab
lished. A man bays the bonds of the
!government of the United States and de
posits them in Washington, and receives
the interest on them year by year at six
per cent. in gold. He receives ninety per
cent. of bank paper which he takes home
here to your dwn city, establishes a bank,
issues these notes, and derives the inter
est of six, or ten, or twenty per cent. as
the case may be, when you borrow these
notes. h •
Three hundrea and thirty-eight millions
of these bonds are, by the report of the
Secretary of the treasury, deposited to
dopes security in the vaults of the treas
ury. Three hundred millions of bank pa
per are issued on the faith of these bonds.
Now, gentlemen, I maintain that this cit.:
culation ought to be called in ; that these
bonds ought to be redeemed with legal
' tenders which will take the place of that
bank circulation.
What. would be the effect of this ? The
seventeen hundred millions of interest
bearing bonds would be reduced to four
teen hundred millions; and twenty mil
lions of dollars would be saved Lathe gov
ernment from the interest which is paid
to the bankers for the bonds they have
deposited.
Now then suppose you take these $20,-
000,000 which is saved and add it to the
$48,000,000 which these gentlemen say
they can pay from the current revenue,
and you have $88,000,000, year by year,
and if you convert the sum into green
backs, at 1,40, you have a hundred mil
lions of dollars a year, and if this is ap
propriated, as a sinking fund; you can pay
off the' whole debt in' less than fifteen
years, without adding one dollar to your
taxation, or one dollar to the. circulating.
medium. , .
Bear , in mind that I ant:arguing a prop
osition that these bonds can be paid in
greenbacks without inflating the curren
cy. Bear in mind that, ibis can be actiom
plisbed in twelye or fourteen years with-,
out the'addition Of one dollar to your tax
ation or one dollar to your circulating me
diem. And now bear in mind also that I
have not touched the revenue of the gov
ernment, which in 1866 amounted to five
hundred and sixty millions of dollars, nor
have I attacked the expenditure of that
year of radical administration.
ECONOMY IN EXPENDITIME WILL PAY THE
DEBT.
But now set the radical reformer to
work. Let bin' cut off every extrava
gance—lopp off every extravagant expen.
diture. Let him seduce the current ex
penditures of the
_government to $150,-
000,000 a year—l mean expenses inde
pendent of interest on the public debt--
though it ought to be reduced to $lOO,-
000, and that would be twenty-five mil
lions more than Mr. Buchanan expended ?
that would be as much in one year as An
drew Jackson expended in all the four
years of his administration. Let the ex
penditure be reduced to $150,000,000 and
in five years you can pay every cent of the
principal and interest of the public debt,
without the addition of a dollar to the cir
culating medium.
DANGER ALIA.D.
I have taken these figures from the of
ficial reports. They are stifficiently cor
rect. rorge the adoption '6f this general
idea because I think I see danger ahead.
The Republica.n party • insist on paying
the bonds in gold ; this adds 40 per cent.
to the public debt. They insist upon cur
tailing the currency. This makes it im
possible to keep up your revenues, and
postpones thepayment of the debt. In
the meantime the bonds are exempt from
taxation, and draw an exorbitant rate of
interest.
The public debt amounts to one-fifth of
all the property, real and personal, of ev
ery man, woman, and child in the coun
try, and yet, one fifth of all the capital of
the country—that capital so well able to
bear taxation—which labors from the
first day of January to the last day of
December, in summer and winter, thro'
heat and cold, through storm .and sun
shine, by night and by day, which knows
no weariness, seeks no repoSe, is not sub
ject to the disease, pains, and accidents
which afflict the muscles and bones of
men—whose owner, though he toils not,
nor yet spins, is clothed like Solomon in
all his glory—one-fifth of all' this capital
is exempt from taxation.
Labor will become restive—discontent
will enter the hearts which control its
brawny arms. This state of things can
not
last—it ought not to last. I beg . of
the bondholders to be prompt and wise,
wise to discern their true interests,
prompt to act upon them, for I tell you,
gentlemen, I do not say it by way of
threat, I say it by way of solemn and
timely warning, it is no threat to say,
when the sun rises in the east, that it will
ascend to the zenith, set in the west, and
leave us in darkness; it is no, threat to
say, when we see the gathering clouds,
'that there will be a storm • that as sure
as there are passions in the ' buman heart,
this capital of the bondholders will' be
made to bear the same burthen as other
property, and those burthens will be
speedily lightened or other and worse
consequences will follow, involving per
haps, the violation of national honor and
of plighted faith.
::.:.➢ :5. r 0 : . I I
My friends, the first step in the right
direction is to lay bare every frond, to ex
pose and correct all corruptions; to cut
off every unnecessary expenditure, to dis
miss every superfluous officeholder, to
abandon every unconstitutional scheme,
to abolish all military goverinents, to re
turn to the teachings of our constitution,
and to -the enjoyment of the liberties
which it specifically assures to.us, to give
repose to the hearts of the people, in or
der that labor may be stim.ilated by hopes
of a rich reward for its industry. The
- rest of the journey to happiness and safe
ty and peace will be comparatively easy-
The first step will cost you labor. It can
only be accomplished by putting out of
power the Republican party and putting
In its place the Democratic party.
I know full well the difficulty of this
work, yet I do not despair. The signs
around us are all propitious.
Connecticut heralded the coming morn ;
the sun arose from its horizon in Maine;
its radient rays were thrown back in gol.
den glory from California and lighted the
lofty peaks of Montana. Higher it rose
in the heavens, and Obio and Pennsylva
nia were warmed into a new life. Soon'
New-York and New. Jersey will be envel
oped in its rays. Will you, Wisconsin
and Minnesota, reflect, from earth to sky,
the full lustre of its mid-day splendor?
I believe you will, and the whole land,
bathed in the warm light of delicious day,
will throw off the noxious- vapors of the
night which has just paste 1.
Do your duty, men of - Wisconsin. Do
it as ypur brethern of other States have
done theirs, and we will obtain possession
of thnpowers of the'gotrnment. We will
banish &outland corruptioni and extrava
gance ; we will regain our liberties; we
will restore our constitution ; we will rein
vigorate our own Union ; we will bold • 1
out to the people of the South the band of
friendly and fraternal affection ; we will I
bid them be at peace with ne; 'and repose !
at home: We 444 &tint, our noun
oils and our Wirth thO,gbit'of
vengeance, and ve"wiU intake the sprit
..
iVOIXIVIE DitlißEß - 48.
of charity and forgioneos and love, which
dwells in the bosons of God hiMseif f and
then this whole people,- sttestitig the ben.
eficence of a government thus odthinistaf
ed,- will, with tears of joy, and vole&
choked with emotion, thank God that
" tho' sorrow enduiretir for a night, joy
cometh in tho moraine
Mt sits =Snots oratomme.•
sar x es iv ci -sr
Of the bred' letrugele lieystopet &WM,
snit Despoils* for the Dasi •
Eltuadreil 'Yeatiti ;
TUB REPUBLICAN PARTY NOW IN 11138)Ira r
lON AGAINST TUB ooirzsianctrr.
On the 14th day of April, 1801, Abr*.
ham Lincoln issued the &flowing ptocla
lactation :
" Whereas, Laws of the United . States
are now opposed in several States by cow
binations too powerful to be suppressed ift
the ordinary Wa,y, I therefore call forth
the militia or the several states of the Un
ion to the aggregate narrater of 75,000 to
suppress the said combination, and to ex
ecute the laws, and I appeal to all loyal
citizens to facilitate, and aid this eltOrt to
maintain the laws, and the integrity of
the National Union."
By what authority did President Lin•
coin call out the troops to execute the
laws of the United States in States that
bad declared themselves disconnected and
separated from the remainder by the or
dinance of secession ? Ifis inaugural ads
dress gives the answer to this question
" A disruption of the Federal Union,
heretofore only menaced, is zoirtlftempt
ed. I hold that, in contemplation of uni+
versal law and of the Constitution s the
Union of these States is perpetual, Ac.
cording to the views I hold ' , no State ttp,
on its mere motion f can lawfully get out
of the Union • that resolves and ordinan ,
ces to that effect are legally void,. and
that acts of violence within any. State or
States against the authority of the United,.
States, are insurrectionary or revolution
ary according to circumstances.
"I therefore consider that 'in view of
the Constitution and the laws,, the Union
is not broken, and to the/extent of my
ability I Riad! take Care, as the Constitu
tion expressly , enjoins upon me, that the
laws of the Union be faithfully executed
in all the States."
In four years and two months from die
date of this proclamation, the laws of the
United States had ceased,to be °Wised ; T
the combination of armies, raised to effect
the disruption of the States, were all sup
pressed, and the reign of peace was pro
claimed. Yet on the Sd of September,
1867, a proclamation wade issued again by
President Johnson, almOst in the precise
language of that of President Lincoln, as
follows :
" Whereas, by the Constitution of' the
United States the executive power is ves
ted in a President of the United States of
America, who is bound by solemn oath
faithfully to execute the office of Presi
dent, and to the best of his ability to pre
serve, protect and defend the Constitu
tion of the United States, and is by the
same instrument made commander-in
chief of the army and navy, and is re
quired to take care that the laws be faith
fully executed, and whereas, it is provid
ed by law that whenever by .reason of un
lawful obstructions, combinations, or re•
hellion against the authority of the gov
ernment of the United States, it shall be
come impracticable, in the judgiuent of
the President, to enforce by the ordinary
course, the laws of the United States
within any State or Territory, the Execu
tive in that case is authorized and requir
ed to secure their faithful : execution by
the employment of the land and naval for
ces; and whereas, impediments and ob.
'etructions have recently been interposed
in the States of North and South Caroli
na, hindering an enforcement of the laws
of the United States, bud as well founded
apprehension exists that such unlawful
proceedings may be attempted there and .
elsewhere;
" Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson*,
President of the guited States, do hereby
warn nil persons against obstructing or
hindering in any manner the faithful exe
cution of the Constitution and the laws.
And I call upon all good and welldispoi
ed citizens of the United Buttes , to re:
member that upon - the said Constitetion
and laws depend the protection of thfi
fives, liberty, property and ! happiness Of
the people. And 1 exhort theta- every-
where to .iestify their &Witten' tO.iPWr
country, their pride in its pitisperity' and
hreatness, and their determinaticm to up.
old its free institutions, by a hearty co
operation in the•efforta of thegOvernment
to sustain the authority .01 , the last, to,
maintain the enpremacy of the! Federal
Constitution, and to preserve atiimpaired
the integrity of the National Union." '
Why this solemn warning from ther
President of tbe l llnited States? Why
this' second admonition - Atm the Chief,
Magistrate of our nation told' the citizen*
thereof,, reviirenee the Constittitien of
their ihthefa? Whl thie second Op*,
to a l l the of ArdiAdeto," 0040;
ate wits the 4046024 Tb eatt-tki
maintain the authority 41,.;the Fefisti4T•