II. II. WILSOS,
VOLUME XIX, NO 3G.
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MESIDENT'S . MESSAGE.
rtUov eiliiau of tfie Senate ani
Houte of Repre$mla(icet :
To express gratitude to God, in the name of
the people, for the preservation of the United
Slates, is my first duty io addreaaing you
' Our thoughts next revert to the death of the
lt rrei-lvnt by an act of parricidal treason.
The grief of the" nation is stilt fresh; it liuds
some solace in the consideration that he lived
to enjoy the highest proof of its conndence
by entering on the renewed term of the Cuief
Magistracy, to which he had been elected ;
that he muiihl the civil war substantially to
a close; that his loss was deplored in all
puis of the L'nion; and tbat foreign nations
have rendered justice to his memory. llis re
moval cast upon me a heavier weight of eares
tiiat ever devolved upon any one of his pre
decessors. To fulfill my trust V need the sup
port and confidence of ail who are associated
nitU ine in the various departments of gov
ernment, and the support and confidence of
tlie peopic. There is but one way in which 1
can hoj a to gaiu their necessary aid; it is,
to stale with frankness the principles Which
guide my conduct, and their application to the
present state of affaire, well aware that the
efficiency of my labors will, in a great meas
ure, depend on your and their undivided ap-
The l:uion of the Vaited States of America
ws intended by iis authors to last as long as
the States theuiselvcs shall last. "The l nin
thall be perpetual" are the words of the confed
eration. "Toform a mure perfect Viuon." by
,u ordinance of the people of the I'uited
States, is the declared purposo of lha Consti
tution. The hand of Divine Providence was
never more plainly visible in the afliiirs or
men than iu the framing and the adopting of
that inslrunicnt. It is, beyond comparison,
the greatest event in Aa-'rican history; and
indeed is it not, of all events in modem times
the most preguant with consequences for evry
people of the earth ! The 'members of Con
vention which prepared it brought to their
work the experience of the Confederation, of
heir several States, and of other Republican
governments, old and new; but they needed
nd they obtained a wisdom superior to ex
perience. Atd when for its validity it re
quired the approval of a jet-pie that occupi
ed a large part of a continent and acted sep
arately in many distinct convention", what is
More wouu rful than that, alt.-r earnest con
tention and long discussion, all fec'iiuk and
nil opinions Wi;re uiinuait.iv unr,a iu u"
way to its support !
Ihe Constitution to which life was thus im
parted contains within itself ample resources
or its own preservation. Is has power to en
force the laws, punish treason, and insure
domestic tranquility. In case of the unsur
psifon of the government of a State by one
mac. or an oligarchy, it bscouios a dmy of
the United Stairs to make good the guaran
tee to that State of a republican form of
jrovernment, and so to maintain the homoe
noousness of all. Docs the lapse of time re
veal delects T A simple mode of amendment
is provided in the Constitution itself, so tint
its conditions can always be made to con
1 orm to the requiremeats of advancing civili
jation. No room is allowed even for the
thought of a possibility of its coming to an
end. And these powers of scs'.f-preservation
have always been assorted in their complete
integrity by evry patriotic Chief Magisirale
by Jefferson ami Jackson, not less than by
W ashington ami Madison. The parting ad
vice of the Father of his Country, while yet
President, to the people of the United States,
t,..t "the fra Constitution, which was
HAD I"""
Ihe work of their bauds, might be sacredly
: 1 .' a ti A tin inmicrtirfLl wonla ,,f i
mainiaiuct, --- - a
President Jefferson held up -the crcservation
tif the general government, in its constitu
tional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace
I home and safety abroad." The Constitu
tion is the work of "the people of the United
Kales " and it thould be as indestructible as
tho people. "
It is not strange that ihe fraraers of the
Constitution, which had no model, in the past
honld not hve fully comprehended the ex
cellence of their own work. Eresn from a
struggle against arbitrary power, many prun
e's eutlred from harassing fears of an ab
sorption of the State governments by the gen
ral government, and many from a dread
that the States would break away from their
orbits. But the very greatness of our coun
try should aliaj he apprehension of encro
achments by the general government. The
subjects that come unquestionably within its
jurisdiction are so numerous that I must ever
naturally refuse to b embarrassed by ques
tions that lie beyond it. Were it otherwise
(he Executive would eink benenth.the bunlen.
,he channels of justice would be choked;
Wi station would be obstructed by excess; so
th at there is a greater temptation to exercise
.ne of the functions of the general govern
ment through the States than to trespass on
fheir rightful sphere. "The absolute acqui
escence in the decisions of the majority, as,
t the beginning of thejoontury, enforced by
Jefferson "as the vital principle of republics,
-and the events of the last four years have
stablised, we will hope forever, that there
tit no appeal to force.
Ihe maintenance of the Union brings with
it f he support of the State governments in
ail their rights ;" but it is not one of the rights
.f any State government to renounce Us own
rtlice in the Union, cr to nullify the laws of
ih TJii. r liberty i ta.
,,V)cj:n Cc .V.eo of i c.
the Federal government, but there is no ap-
peal from its Uws, except to the Tarious
branches of that government Uaalf, t t tbe
people, who giant to the members of tne
Legislative ana esecutuw Departments no
tenure but a limited one, and in that man
ner always retain the powers of redress.
"The sovereignty of the (Streets" is the lan
guage of the confederacy, and not the lan
guage of the Constitution. The latter con
tains the emphatio words. "The Constitution
and the laws of the United States which shall
be made in pursuance thereof, and all treat,
iisniade or which shall be mads under the
authority of the United States, sh-,11 be the
supreme law of the land ; and the judges in
every State shall be bound thereby, anything
in the constitution or laws of any State to the
contrary notwithstanding." ,
I found the States suffering from the effects
of a civil war. Resistance to the general gov
ernment appeared t J have exhausted itself.
The United Sates had recovered possession of
their forts and arsenals, and their armic. were
in the occupation of every State which had
attempted to secede. Whether the territory,
within tLe limits of those States should be
held as conquered territory, under military
emanating from the Presideut as the head of
the army, was the fir3t question that present
ed itself for decision,
Now, military governments, established for
an iudefieite period, would have offered no se
curity for the early suppression of discontent;
would have devided the people into the vau
quisbeiv and the vanquished, and would have
envenomed hatred rather than have Restore
affection. " Ouee establish.', no precise limit
to their continuance was conceivable. They
would have occasioned an incalculable and
exba'tsting expense. Peaceful emigration to
and from ttiat portion of the country is one of
the best means that can be thought of for the
restoration of harm.ny, and that emigration
would have bceu prevented, for what emigrant
'rom abroad, what industrious citizen at home,
would place himself williugly under military
rule? The chief persons would have follow
ed.in the train in the army would have been
dependeuts on the general government, or
men who expected profit from the miseries of
their erring fclluw citijens. The powers of
patrenage and rule which would have bceu
exercised, under the President, over a vast
an I populuos, and naturally wealthy region,
are greater than, unless under extreme ne
cessity, I should be willing to entrust to any
one man ; they arc such as, for myself, I could
nrver. uulcss on occasions of great emcrgen-
ronseut to exercise. Ihe wiltiui use ot
uch powers, if continued through a period of
cars, would have endangered the purity of
lilt general auo-inisiration auu iw uunun mi
the States which remained loyal.
Cesides, the policy of military rule over a
conquered territory would have implied that
the States whose inhabitants may have taken
part in the rebellion had, by the act of those
inhaoiiants, ceased to exist. Hut the true
theory is, tnat all pretended acts of secession
were, from the beginning null and void. .The
States cannot commit treason, nor screen the
individual citizens who may have committed
treason, any more than they can make valid
treaties or engi-re in lawful commerce with
any foreign Power. The Stnles attempting to
seoodo plaeed themselves in acondition where
their vitality was impaired, but uot extin
guished their functions suspended, hut not
destroyed.
liui'if any State neglects or refuses to per
form it oihees, there is the more need that
Ihe general government should maintain all
its authority, und, as soon as practicable, ro-
;-uue the exercises of all its functions. On
I his principle I have acted, and have gradual
ly .v.id quie.ly, and by almost imyercept.b.e
3:eps, sauglit'to restore the rightful energy of
the general government and of the States.
io that end. Provisional Governors have been
appointed for the SAtcs. Conventions called,
Governors eh;cted, Legislatures assembled,
and Senators and Representatives chosen to
the Congress of the United States. At the
same time, the Courts of the United States,
as fir as could be done, have been reopened,
so that the laws ot the United States may bo
enforced through their agency. The blockade
has been removed and the custom houses re
established in ports of entry, so that the re
venue of the United States may be collected, j
The Post-office Department renews its scase
less activity, and the general government is j
thereby eua'.iied to communicate promptly
with us officers and ageuLs. Tlie coutts bring
security to persons and property ; the open
ing of the ports invites the restoration of in
dustry and commerce ; the post-ofiice renews
the facilities of social intercourse and of bu
siness. And is it not happy for us all that
the restoration of each ane of these functions
of the geueral government brings with it a
blessing to the States over which they arc ex
tended " la it not a sure promise of harmony
and renewed attachment to the Union that,
after all that has happened, the return of the
general government is known only as a bene
tijence !
I know very well that this policy is attend
ed with some risk that for its success it re
quires at least .the acquiescence of the States
which it concerns ; that it implies an invita
tio l to those States, by renewing their alle
giance to the United States, to resume their
functions as States of the L'nion. liut it is a
risk that must be taken; in the choice of ilif
ficu'.iies, it is the smallest risk ; and to dimin
ish, and if possible, to remove all danger, I
have felt incumbent on nie to assert one other
power of the general government the power
of pardon. As no State can throw a defence-
over the crime of treason, the power of par
don is exclusively vested in the Executive
government of the bniteu States, in exer
cisinff that power I have taken every preeau-
to connect it with the clearest recognition of
the bindini force of the laws of the United
States, and an unqualified acknowledgement
! of the treat social change of condition in re-
' gard to slavery which has grown out of the
war.
The next step which T have taken to restore
the constitutional relations of the States has
been an invitation to thein to participate in
the hitfUoffice of amending the Constitution,
Every patriot must wish for a g?icral amnes
ty at the earliest epoch consistent with public
aiifetv. For this great end there is nee I of a
eonrurence of all opinions, and the spirit of
mntial conciliation. All panics in the late
tcrrible'v-onflict must work together in har
mony. It is not too much to ak, in the name
of the whole people, that on the one side, ihe
plan of restoration shall prouccd tif conformity
with a will'ngnei-s to cast the disorders of the
past into oblivion; and that, on Ihe other, the
evidence of sincerity in the fature maintcn--."
of "V ITTi.-i ih-?l 1 T)'l beyond any
.Iji.'d". tT !' i.V-9!i,,i ' fmpwd
TH COH8TITCTI0M TBS VXIOH
MFFLlNTOWtf, JUNIATA COUNTY,
! amendment to the Constitution, which provides
for the abolition of slavery forever wlthtnlhe
', limits of our country. So long as the tdop-
: tion of this amenluiem is ueiayeu, so long
jll doubt, and jealousy ana uoceriainty pre-
vail This is the measure which will enace i pai." ..o r - -
the sad memory of the past ; this is the meas-1 ed, loci an estimate made of tne appro
ure which will most certainly call population priationa that will be required for military
and capital and security to mose parts u in. purposes in the uscal year coruinencinj:
Union that need then i most; Indeed, it is lot fa . f j um Th natio.
too much to ask of the States which are low "c "?"lu UJJ " " ' p . . -
' i ,. ,m;i r th. al mi itarv lorce on the first of -May, 10D,
Union to give this pledge of perpetual-lovalty
and peace. Until it is done, the past, howev
er much we may desire it, will not be forgot
ten. The adoption of the amendment reu
nites us beyond all power of disruption. It
heals the wound that is still imperfectly clos
ed ; it removes slavery, the element which has
so long perplexed and divided tfie country ; it
makes of us once more a united people, renew
ed and strengthened, bound more than ever to
mutual affection and support.
The amendment to the Consitution being
adopted, it would remain for the States, whose
powers have been so long in abeyance, to re
sume their places in the two branches of the
national Legislature, and thoreby complete
the work of reJtoration. Here it is for you,
fellow-citizens of the Senate, andfor you. fellow-citizens
of the House of Representatives,
to judge, each of you for yourselves, of the
elections, returns and qualifioations of your
own members.
The full assertion of the powers of the gen
rt irnvernment reotiires the holding of Cir-
errit oni of the Coiled -States- within the
districts where their authority has Been lnier
rupted. Iu the present posture of ourpuhlic
affairs, strong objections have been urged to
holding those courts in any of the States where
tbe rebellion has existed ; and, it was ascer
tained, by inquiry, that the Circuit Court of
the United States would not be held within
the District of Virginia during the autumn or
early winter, nor until Congress shall have
'an opportunity to consider and act on the
whole subject." To your deliberations the
restoration of this branch of the civil author
ity of the United Slates is therefore necessa
rily referred, with the hope that early prov,.
sion will be made for the resamption of all its
functions.
fl-iirfunt in
It is manifest tnai treason, uiook
i.rafft.r. has been comitted Per-
r, .r charged with its commission
should havo fair and impartial trials ia the
. v.,. -:;i it,MTia1s nf the country, inorder
UICIH'31 liH.it " , - , , ,.
that the Constitution and thelaws may be fully
vindicated; the truth clearly established and
affirmed that treason is a crime, that traitors
should be punished and the offence made in
famous, and at the same time that the ques
tion may be ju lically sett ed, finally and for
ever, that no State, of its own will, has the
ri"ht to renounce its" place in the Union.
"But while 1 have no doubt that now,
after the close of the war, it is not com
petent for the general government to ex
tend the elective franchise in the several
States, it is equally clear that good faith
requires the security of the freemen in
their liberty aud their property, their
right to labor, and their right to claim
the just return of their labsr I cannot
too strongly urge a dispassionate treat
ment of this subject which should be
carefully kept aloof from all party strife.
We must equally avoid hasty assumptions
of auy natui3l impossibility for the two
races to live side by side, in a state of
mutual benefit aud good will. The ex
periment involves us iu no inconsistency ;
let us thou, go od and make that experi
ment in 'good faith, and not be easily dig
heartened. The country is in neod of la
bor, and the freedtnen areja need of em
ployment, culture, and jrotection. While
their rl"'lt OI voluntary uiijijiiuu uu
expatriation is not to be questioned, I
would uot advise ineir lurcuu itai
aud coliuization. Let us ratner encour
age them to honorable and useful indus
try where it may be beuslicial to thetu-
, J .mintu an. I. instead ot
selves anu iu i , , --
hasty anticipations ot tne certainty u.
failure, let there be nothing wannu .
tho fafr triul ot the expenmcu.,. iuc
.i .K.;r, id Mia Kiinstitu-
Clianire in ineir ro" "
tion of labor by contract lor tne status ,
slavery The treednien cannot fairly be
accused of unwillingness to work so long
doubt remain about ms ireeuom ui
choice in' hw pursuiu, anu tue cuiui.uij
of his stiDuIated wages, iu mis uk in
tercuts of the employer and the employed
coincide. The employer desires in his
workman spirit find alacrity, and these can
be permanently secured in no other way.
And if the one ought to bo able to en
force the contract, so ought the other.
The public interest will be best promoted
if the several States will provide adequate
protection and remedies for tho freeduieo.
Until this is iu some way accomplished
there is uo change for the advantageous
use of their labor, aul the blame of ill
success will not rest on them.
The lamentable events of the last Tour
years, and the sacvilices made by tho gal
lant men of our army and navy, have
swelbpd the records of tho Tension Uu
reau to an unprecedented extent. On the
30th day of Juno last, the total number
of pensioners was 85,986, requiring for
their auual pay, exclusive of cxpeuscs,
the sum ot S,0'23,445. The number of
applications that have been allowed since
that dato will require a large increase of
th's amount for the next fiscal year. The
means for the payment of the stipends
due, under existing laws, to our disabled
soldiers and sailors, and to the families f
such ns have perished in the serviae of
the country, will no doubt bo cheerfully
aud prombtly granted. A grateful people
will not hesitate to sanction any measures
having for their object tho relief of sol
diers mutilated and families made father
lcs in the efforts to preserve our niitional
existeoea.
In tho report of tho Secretary of War,
a geueral summary is given of tho mili
Ury c4.Tini.t2n3 of' 1 3r3i acd 1 855, ssiisg
AID VI ijf OECIMIKT OF TBI IAWS. .
PfSl'A. DECEMBER 13, 1865.
in tvtopppresftlOO of armed resistance to
he.fiatfeoal SHthority in the insurgent
q;n6 operations of the general
-dginiatrative Bureaus of the War De-
jr. , . Mrf e Aetjdl
numbered 1.000,516 men. It is proposed
to reduce the military establishment to a
peace footing, comprehending fifty thou
sand troops of all arms, organized so as to
admit of an enlargement by filling up the
ranks to eighty-two thousand six hundred,
if the circumstances Of tho country should
lequire an augmentation of the army.
The voluutcer force has already been re
duced by tbe disctarge from the service
of over eight hundred thousand troops,
and the Departmeot is proceeding rapidly
in the work of further reduction. The
war estimates are reduced from 516,240,
131 to 833,814.461, which amount, in the
oninion of the Department, is adequate for
a'peace eitablthuient. The measures of
retrenchment in each Bureau and branch
oi the service exhibit a diligeut economy
worthy of commendation. Reference is
als!Ja ia the report to the necessity oi
providing for a uniform militia system,
and to the propriety of making suitable
provision tor wounded and disabled offi
cers and soldiers.
The revenue sjstcm of tho country is a
subject of vital interest to its honor and
prosperity, and should command the ear
nest consideration of Congress. The Sec
retary of the Treasury will Idy before you
a fall and detailed report of the receipts
aud disbursements of tho last fiscal year,
of the first quarter of the present fiscal
year, of the probakle receipts and expen
ditures for the other three quarters, and
the estimates for the year following the
: 3()n f J une, 18G6, I might content my-
self with a reference to that report, iu
which you will find all the information re
quired for your deliberations and decis
ion. Iat the paramount importance of
the puhjectso presses itselt on my niina
that I cannot but lay before you my views
of the nieasucs which arc required for the
good character, and, I might almost say,
for the existence of this people. The
life a republic lies certainly in the energy,
virtue aid intelligence of its citizens ; but
it is equally true that a good revenue sys
tem is the life of an organized government.
I meet yon at a time when the nation has
voluotarily burdered itself with a debt
unprecedented in onr annals. Vast as is
its amount, it fades away into nothing
when compared with the countless, bless
ings that will be conferred npon onr coun
try and npon man by the preservation of
the nation s lite .Now, on the hrst occa
sion ot the meeting of Congress since the
return of peace, it is of the utmost im
portancc to inaugurate a -just po'icy
which shall at once be put in motion, and
which shall commend itself to those who
come after ns for its continuance. We
must aim at nothing less than the com
plete efTucemciit of the fiuanciul evils that
necessarily followed a state of civil war.
We must endeavor to apply the earliest
remedy to tbe deranged state of the cur
rency, aud not shrink from devising a
polily which, without being oppressive to
the people, shall immediately begin to
effect a reduction of tho debt, and, if per
sisted in, discharge it fully withiu a defi
nitely fixed number of years.
It is our first duty to prepare in earn
est for our recovery from the ever-increasing
evils of an irredeemable currency
without a sudden revulsion, and yet with
out untimely procrastination. For that
end we uitlst. each in our respective posi
tions, prepare the way. I hold it the
duty ot' the Executive to insist upon fru
gality ic the expenditures; and a sparing
economy is itself a great national resource.
Of the banks to which authority has been
given to issue notes secured by bonds of
the United States, we may Tequire the
greatest moderation and prudence, and the
law must be rigidly enforced when its
limits are exceeded. We may, each ont
of us, counsel our active and enterprising
countrymen to be constantly on their
guard, to liquidate debts contracted in a
paper currency, and by conducting busi
ness as nearly as possible 00 a system of
cash payments or snort credits, to hold
themselves prepared to return to the
standard of gold and silver. To aid our
fellow-citizens in the prudent management
of their monetary affairs, the duty devol
ves on ua to diminish by law the amount
of paper money now in circulation. Five
years ago the bank note circulation of the
couo:ry amounted to not much more than
two hundred millions; now the circula
tion, bank and national, exceeds seven
hundred millions. The simple statement
of the fact recommends mora strongly
than any words of mino coul 1 do tho ne
cessity of our restraining this expansion.
The gradual reduction of tho currency is
the only measure that can savo the busi
ness of tho country from disastrous
calamities; and this canbe almost
imperceptibly accomplished by grad
ually fuuding the national circulation
in securities that may bo made redeemable
at the pleasure of tho government.
Our debt is doubly secure first in the
actual wealth and still greater undevelop
ed tstoueza ot the cojjtry; sad flcxt iu
the character ' of our institutions. The
most' intelligent observers among political .
economists have not failed to remark, that
tho public debt of a country is aafe in
proportion as its people are free ; that the !
debt of a republic is the safest of all.
Our history confirms ami establishes the
theory, and is, I firmly believe, destined
to give it still more signal illustration.
The secret of this superiority springs not
merely from the faot that in a republic the
national obligations are distributed more
widely through countless numbers in all
classes of society ; it has its roots in the
character of our laws. Here all men con
tribute to the public welfare, and bear
their fair share of the public burdens.
During the war, under the impulse of pa
triotism, the men of the great body of
the people, without regard to their own
comparative want of wealth, thronged to
our armies and filed our fleets 'of war,
and held themselves ready to offer their
lives for the public good. Now, in their
turn, the property and income of the coun
try should bear their just proportion of
the burden of taxation, while in our im
post system, through means of which in
creased vitality is incidentally impaired to
all the industrial interests of the nation,
the duties shouldtbe so adj us ted as to fall
most heavily on articles of luxury, leav
ing the necessaries of life as free from
taxation as the absolute wants of the
government, economically administered,
will justify. No favored class thould de-
maud freedom lrom assessment, and the
taxes should be so distributed as not to
full undgly ou the poor, but rather on the
accumulated wealth of the country. We
should look at the national debt just as it
is not as a national blessing, but as a
heavy burden on tho industry of the
country, to be tlisohargcd without uneces
sary delay.
I have dwelled thuslullyon our domes
tic affairs because of their transceudeut
importance." Uader auy eircuuistauces,
our great extent of territory aud variety
of climate, producing almost everything
that is necessary for the wants, aud even
the comforts of man, make us singularly
independent of the varying policy of for
eign Powers, and protect Us agaiust every
temptation to "entangling alliances,"
while at the preseut moment the re-estab-lishmcnt
of harmony, and the strength
that comes from liarmony, will be our se
curity against "nations who feel powei
and forget right." For myself, it has
been and will be my constant aim to pro
mote peace and amity with all foreign na
tions and Powers ; and I have every rea
son to believe that they all, without ex
ception, are animated by tbe same dispo
sition. Our relations with the Kmperor
of China, so recent ia their origin, are
most frieudlv. Our commerce with his
dominions are receiving new develop
ments ; and it is very pleasing to find that
the government of that great Empire
manifests satisfaction with our policy, and
rct)03C3 iust confidence in tho firmness
which marks our intercourse. The un
broken HsvVmony between the United States
and tho Emperor of llussia is receiving a
new snriport from the enterprise designed
to carry telegraph lines across the conti
nent of Asia, through his domin-.ons, ami
so to connect us v.i.h all Europe byafiew
chanuel of intercourse
The relations ot tho general govern
ment towards the four millions of inhabi-
ttiuts whom the war has called into free
dom have engaged my most serious con
sideration. Oa the propriety of attempt
in" to make the frecdmen electors by the
proclamation of the Executive, I took
for my counsel tho Constitution itself,
tho interpretations of tbat instrument by
its authors aud their contemporaries, and
recent legislation by Congress. When,
at the first movement towards Independ
ence, the Congress of the United States
instructed tho several States to institute
governments of their own, they left each
State to decide for itself the conditions
for the enjoyment of tho elective fran
chise. During tho period of the confed
eracy, there coutiuued to exist a very
reat diversity iu the quaiiiicalions of the
electors in the several States ; and even
withiu a State a distinction of qualifica
tions prevailed with regard to the officers
who were to be chosen. Tho Constitu
tion of the United States recognises these
livprsitii!M when it enioius that, in the
choice of members of the House of Kep
seutatives of the United States, "the el
ectors in each State shall havo qualifiea-
riitn4 rnnnisite for electors of the most
numerous branch of tho State Legisla
lure." After tho formation of Constitu
tion, it remained, as before, the uniform
usage tor each State to enlarge the body
of us electors, aecsrding to its own judge
ment; aud, under this system, one otate
after another has proceeded to increase
the numoer of iu electors, until now
universal suffrage, or something very
n-nr it. is the seueral rule. So fixed was
this reservation of power in the habits of
the people, and so unquesuoueu uas ua-u
thn interpretation of tho Constitution,
.inntr the civil war tho late Presi-
Hfnt never harbored tho purpose cer-
nprr avowed tho purpose of
disregarding it, and in the acts of Con
gress, during that period, nothing can be
found which, during the continuance of
hostilities, much less after their close,
would hare sanctioned any d.rarturo, by
EDITOR AXD Fl'BLISIIER. .
WHOLE NUMBER 972.-
the Executive from ' a policy which has
so uniformly obtained. ' Moreover, a
concession ot the elective franchise to
the frecdmen, by act of the President of
the United Stated, must have been extend
ed to all colored men,' wherever found.
and so must have established a change of
suffrage in the northern, middle and west
ern States, not less than in the southern
and southwestern. Such an act would
have created a new class of voters, and
would have been an assumption of power
by the President which nothing in the
Constitution or laws of the Uuitcd States
would have warranted.
Ou the other hand, every danger of
conflict is avoided when the settlement of
the question is leferred to the several
States. They can, each for itself, decide
on tbe measure, and whether it is to be
adopted at once and absolutely, or intro
duced gradually and with eonditions. In
my judgement, tbe freedmen, if they
show patience and manly virtues, will
sooner obtain a participation in the elect
ive franchise through the States than
through the general government, even if
it had power to intervene.' When the
tumult of emotions that have been raised
by the suddenness of the social change
shall have subsided, it may prove that
they will receive the kindliest usage from
some of those on whom they have hereto
fore most closely depended.
Our commerce with South America is
about to receive encouragement by a di
rect line ot mail steamships to the rising
empire oflirazil. The distinguished par
ty ot men ol science who have recently
left our couutry to make a scientific ex
ploration of the natural history and rivers
aud inouutain rangcsof tbat region, have
recoivea irom tne JMiiperor. that generous
welcome which was to have been expected'
from its constant friendship for the United
States and his welt known zeal in promo
ting the advancement of knowledge. A
hope is entertained that our commerce
with the rich and populous countries that
bordei tbe Mediterranean sea may be
largely increased. Nothing will be want
ing ou the part of this government to cx
teud the protection of our flag over th
enterprise of our fellow-citizens. We re
ceive from the Powers in that region as
surances of good will ; and it is worthy
of note that a special envoy has brought
us messages of condolence on the death of
onr lata Chief AJaistrato from the Bey
of Tuuis, whose rale includes the old do
minions of Carthage on the African coast.
Our domestic contest, now happily end
ed, has left some traces in our relations
with one, at least, of the great maritime
Powers. The formal accordance of bclig
ereut rights to the insurgent State." was
unprecedented, and has not been jusiiSed
by the issue. But in the systems ot'neu
trality pursued by the Powers which made
that concession there was a marked differ
ence. Tbe materials of war for the in
surgent States were furnished, in a great
measure, from the worshippers of Great
liritain ; and British ships, manned by
fliith subjects, and prepared for receiv
ing British armaments, sailed from tho
ports of Great Britain to make war on
American commerce, under the shelter of
a commission from the insurgent States.
These ships, having once escaped from
British ports, ever afterwards entered
them in every part of the world to icfit,
and so to renew their depredations. The
consequences of this couduct were most
disastrous to tho States then in rebellion,
increasing their desolation aud misery by
the prolongation of our civil contest. It
had, moreover, the effect, to a great ex
tent, to drive the American ting from the
sea, and to transfer mcch of our shipping"
and our commerce to tho very Power
whose subjects had created the necessity
for such a change.
These events took place before I was
called to tho administration of tho gov
ernment. Tho sincere desire for pcaco
by which I am animated led me to ap
prove tho proposal already made to submit
the qucstious which had thus arisen be
tween tho countries to arbitration. Thcso
questions are of such moment that they
must have commanded the attention of the
great Powers, and are so intervroven with
the peace and interests of every one of
them as to have ensured an impartial de
cision. 1 regret-to inform you that Great
Britain declined the arbitrament, but, on
the other haud, iuvited us to the forma
tion of a joint commission to settle mutu
al claims between the two oountries, from
which those for the depredations before
mentioned should bo excludsd. The pro
position, in that very unsatisfactory form,
has been declined.
The Uuited Slates did not present tho
subject as an impeachment of the geod
faith of a Power which was professing tho
most friendly dispositions, but as invol
ving questions of public law, of which
:he settlement is e.-soutial to the peace of
nations; and, though pecuniary repara
tion to their injured citizens would have
followed incidentally on a decision against
Great Britain, such compensation was not
their primary cbjact. They had a higher
motive, and it was in tlio interests of peace
and justico to establish important princi
ples of international law. The correspon
dence will bo placed before you. The
-,i, n,l mi whinh the. British Minister
rests h'a justification, is substantially,
and
(thai the auicipu w w . ,