®|e Democrat
HARVEY BICKLM, Editor.
TUNKHATfIfOCK, PA. ~
Wednesday, Mar. 10, 1869*
DEMOCRATIC STATE JpOMMITTEE.
In obedience to the desire of a majority thereof,the
Democratic State Committee arc requested to meet
at Bolton's Hotel, Harrisbur. on Tuesday, the 30th
day of March, 1869. at o'clock, p. M.. to fix the
time of hoidins; the Democratic State Convention.
WILLIAM A. WALLACE!
Chairman.
DAVID CALDWELL, Secretary,
Feb. 12, 1889.
wards of the Nation, (niggers)
who were thought to be so deserving of its
"gratitude und protection," have suddenly
l>eenie its masters.
flrtriNow that the question of the politi
cal equality of the white and black races is
being settled by the representatives of the
people in our state and federal Legislatures;
how many of the radicals who professed to
IK> opposed to this degradation of the white
man. w ill protest against it ?
lyses G. who it was thought by
many, had some white tendencies on the
nigger question, in his inaugural, not only
swallows the colored "pussun," body and
breeches, hut proposes to use ull his pow
er to cram that sweet scented "gemmen"
down the throats of all "white trash," ev
erywhere. What lius become of thut plank
of Ulyse.s' platform which declared, that
"the question of suffrage in the loyal states
properly belongs to the people of those
States."
ttriL, In connection with the Common
place and pueriie inaugural of President
Grant, we this week, give a stirring address
from the retiring President. The most
careless observer cannot but see a striking
difference in the style of these two address
es, The one is made up of odd scraps of
hackneyed commonplace partisan plati
tudes, among which we search in vain for a
single original idea, or suggestion of any
practical importance. Johnson deals in
facts, which he enforces with the most rigid
logic, and shows that there is a large
amount of fight left in him yet. It is said
that he has no motion of retiring to the dig
nified obscurity of former ex-Presidents,
but will goto work and redeem Tennessee
from the condition of anarchy and mon
grehsin into which he—by his loil military
Govemsliip—and Browulow since have
dragged that State.
Of course everybody will read these doc
uments.
RPR, The very first step taken by Grant
in the discharge of the duties of an office,
for which he seems to l>e utterly unfitted
both by nature and education, is a most
egregious blunder. In attempting to rem
edy this, he has made another, which al
most amounts to a crime.
The law, which is as old as the govern
ment itself, creating the office of Secretary
of the Treasury,provides that "no persons
engaged in importations dealing in bonds,
Ac., shall hold any office under it." Grant
in defiance of this wise provision, has
chosen for the head of that department,
the largest importer in the country, A. T.
Stew art ; and asks Congress to repeal this
salutary law which throws around the col
lector of the nation's money and the keep
ers of its treasures, the usual guards agt inst
fraud, ieeulation and plunder.
We shall see whether even this sill 'Ser
vient lick-spittle Congress is base enough
to yield to the demand of the dictator.
The Cabinet.
General Grant has appointed the follow
ing jK'rsons members of his Cabinet. —
Their names were sent to the Senate on
Friday last, ami they were immediately
confirmed :
Secretary of State —Elihu B. Wasliburne,
of Illinois.
Secretary of the Treasury—Alex. T.
Stewart, of New York.
Secretary of the Navy—Adolph E. Boric,
of Plxiladeiphia.
Secretary of the Interior —J. D. Cox. of
Ohio.
Postmaster General—John A. J. Cress
well, of Baltimore.
Attorney General —E. B. Hoar, of M;issa
chusetts.
General Sehofield. Secretary of iVai. in
the cabinet of President Johnson, regains
his position.
jThe Constitutional Am endment.
After a great, deal of backing-and-filling
and floundering, the negro suffrage amend
ment has at last passed both Houses it the
following form:
lie it resolved, <tc., tiro-thirds of both Houses
concurring. That the following amendment
to the Constitution of the United States be
submitted to the Legislature of the several
States, and, when ratified by three-fourths
thereof, it shall lie a part of said Constitu
tion.
AIITICLE 1."). The right of the citizens of
the United States to vote shall not lie denied
or abridged by the United States, or by any
State, on account of race, color, or previ
ous condition of servitude.
SECTION 2. The Congress shall have
power to enforce this article by appropria
tion.
Is HASTE - Just after the passage of the
joint resolution recommending the States
to ratify the amendment to the Constitution
so as to allow negroes to vote, Clark, of
Kaiisus, Lb-graph'd itn passage to the Leg
islature of that HUIO . and received as an
swer tlie some day that the amend
ment had already (oi, **tilted
VALEDICTORY j
ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
Review of Political Events for the Past
Four Year.
Catalogue of the Wrongs Inflicted upon
the Nation by the Party in Power.
To the People of the United States :
The robe of office, by constitutional lim
itation, this day falls from my shoulders,
to lie immediately assumed by my successor.
For him the forbearance and co-operation j
of the American people, in all his efforts to !
administer the government within the pale ,
of the Federal Constitution, arc sincerely
invoked. Without ambition to gratify,
party ends to subserve, or personal quar
rels to avenge, at the sacrifice of the peace
and welfare of the country, my earnest de
sire is to see the Constitution of the repub
lic again recognized and obeyed as the su
preme law of the land, and the whole peo
ple, North, South, East, and West pros
perous and happy under its wise provisions.
In surrendering the high office to which
I was called four years ago, at a memorable
and terrible crisis, it is my privilege, I
trust, to ssty to the people of the United
States a few parting words in vindication
of au official course so ceaselessly assailed
and aspersed by political leaders, to whose
plans and wishes my policy to restore the
Union has l>een ahnoxious. In a period of
difficulty and turmoil almost without pre
cedent in the history of any people, conse
quent upon the closing scenes of a great re
bellion and the assassination of tlit> then
President, it was, perhaps, too much on
my part to expect of devoted partisans,
who rode on the waves of excitement,
which at that time swept all before them,
that degree of toleration and niaguauimity
whieh I sought to recommend and enforce,
and which I believe in good time would
have advanced us infinitely further on the
road to permanent peace and prosperity
than we have thus far attained. Doubtless,
had I at the commencement of my term ol
office unhesitatingly lent its powers or per
verted them to purposes and plans outside
of the Constitution, and become an instil
ment to a scheme of confiscation and of
general and oppressive disqualification, 1
would have been hailed as all that was true,
loyal, and discerning ; as the reliable head
of a party, whatever I might have been as
the Executive of a nation. Unwilling, how
ever, to accede to propositions of extrem
its, and bound to obey at every personal
hazard my oath to defend the Constitution,
I need not, perhaps, be surprised at having
met the fate of others, whose only reward
for upholding constitutional rights and*
laws have been the consciousness of having
attempted to do their duty, and the calm
judgment of history. At the time that a
mysterious providence assigned to me the
office of President, I was, by the terms of
the Constitution, the commander-in-chief
of nearly a million of men under anus.
One of my first acts was to disband anxl re
store to the vocations of civil life this im
mense host, and to divest myself, so far as
I could, of the unparalleled powers then in
cident to the office and the times. Wheth
er, or not, in this step I was right, and how
far deserving of the approbation of all the
people, all can now, on reflection, judge,
when reminded of the ruinous condition of
publie affairs that must have resulted from
the continuance in the military service of
such a vast number of meu. The close of
our domestic conflict found the army eager
to distinguish itself in a new field by an ef
fort to punish European intervention in.
Mexico. By many it was believed and
urged that, aside from the assumed justice
of the proceedings, a foreign war, in which
both sides would'cheerfully unite to vindi
cate the honor of the national liag. and fur
ther illustrate the national prowess, would
be the surest and speediest way af awaken
ing national enthusiasm, renewing devotion
to the Union, and occupying a force con
cerning which grave doubts existed as to
its willingness, after four years of active
campaigning, at once to return to the pur
suits of j>eace. Whether these speculate >ns
were true or false, it will be conceded that
they existed, and that the predilections of
the army were for the time being in the di
rection indicated. Taking advantage of
that feeling, it would have been easy, as
the Commander-in-chief of the Army and
Navy, and with all the power and patronage
of the Presidential office at my disposal, to
turn the concentrated strength of the na
tion against French interference in Mexico,
and to a movement which
would have been received with favor by the
military and a large portion of the people.
It is proper in this connection that I should
refer to the almost unlimited additional
powers tendered to the. Executive by the
measures relating to Civil Rights and the
Freedinen's Bureau. Contrary to most pre
i cedents in the experiences of jaiblic men, the
powers thus placed within my grasp
were declined as being in violation of the
Constitution, dangerous to the liberties of
the people, and tending to aggravate rather
than lesson the discords naturally resulting
from our civil war. With a large army i
and augmented authority, it would have
been no difficult task to'direct at pleasure j
the destinies of the Republic, and to make
secure my continuance in the highest of
fice known to our laws. Let the people, \
whom I am addressing from the Presiden-1
tial chair during the closing hours of a la- (
borious term, consider how different would
have been their present condition had I!
yielded to the dazzling temptation of for-1
eign conquest, of personal aggrandizement j
and the desire to wield additional power. |
Let them, with justice, consider that if I
have not unduly magnified mine office, the j
public burdens have not lieen increased by !
my acts, and perhaps thousands or tens of
thousands of lives sacrificed to visions of
false glory. It cannot, therefore, he
charged that my ambition lias been of that
ordinary or criminal kind which to the dot- ;
riment of the people's rights and liberties ;
ever seeks to grasp more and unwarranted
power, and, to accomplish its purposes, j
panders too often to popular prejudices and
party aims. What then the as
pirations which guided ine in niv official
acts'?
Those acts need not at this time an elab
orate explanation. They have elsewhere
been comprehensively stated and fully dis
cussed, and become a part of the nation's
history. By them lam ready to be judged,
knowing that, however, imperfect, they at
least show to the impartial mind, that my
sole ambition has been to restore the Union
of the States ; faithfully to execute the of
fice of President, and to the best of my
ability to preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution. I cannot be censured if my
efforts liavc been impeded in the interests
of party faction, and if a policy which was
intended to reassure and conciliate the
people of both sections 01 the country was
made the occasion of inflaming and divid
ing still farther those who only recently
were in arms against each other, yet as in
dividuals and citizens were sincerely desi
rous, as I shall ever believe, of burying all
hostile feelings in the grave of the past.
The bitter war was waged 011 the part of
the government to vindicate the Constitu
tion and save the Union ; and if 1 have
erred in trying to bring about a more
speedy and lasting peace, to extinguish
heart-burnings and enmities, and to pre
vent trouble in the South, which, retard-
iug material prosperity in that region, in
juriously affected the whole country, 1 am
quite content to rest my case with the
more delilierate judgment of the people
and, as I have already intimated, with the
distant future. The war, all must remem
ber, was a stupendous and deplorable mis
take. Neither side understood the other ;
and, had this simple fact and its conclu
sions been kept in view, all that was need
ed was accomplished by the acknowledg
ment of the terrible wrong and the expres
sion of better feeling and earnest endeavor
at atonement shown and felt.
In the prompt ratification of constitu
tional amendments by the Southern States
at the close of the war, not accepting the
war as a confessed false step on the part of
those who inaugurated it, was an error
which now only tiinu can cure, and which
even at this late date we should endeavor to
palliate. Experiencing, moreover, as all
have done, the frightful cost of the arbitra
ment of the sword, let us in the future
cling closer than ever to the Constitution
as our only safeguard. It is to be hoped
that not until the burdens now pressing
upon us with such fearful weight are re
moved will our people forget the leusons of
war, and that remembering them, from
whatever cause, peace between sections and
States may be perpetual.
The history of late events in our coun
try, as well as of the greatest governmepts
of ancient and modem time ;, teaches that
we have everything to fear from a depart
ure from the letter and spirit Consti
tution. and the undue ascendency of men
allowed to assume power in what are con
sidered desperate emergencies. Sylla, on
becoming master of Rome, at once adopt
ed measures to crush his enemies and to
consolidate the power of his party. He es
tablished military colonies throughout
Italy ; deprived <>f the full Roman franchise
the inhabitants of the Italian towns who
had opposed his usurpation, confiscated
their lambs and gave them to his soldiers ;
and conferred citizenship upon a great
number of slaves belonging to those wlio
had proscribed him, thus creating at Rome
a kiml of body-guard for his protection.
After having given Rome over to slaughter
and tyrannized beyond all example over
those opposed to him and the legions, bis
terrible instrument of wrong, Svlla could
yet feel safe in laying down the ensigns of
power so dreadfully abused, and in ming
ling freely with tlie families and friends of
his myriad victims. The fear which he
had inspired continued after his voluntary
abdication, and even in retirement his will
was law to a people who had permitted
themselves to be enslaved. "What but n
subtle knowledge and conviction that the
Roman people had become changed, dis
couraged, and utterly broken in spirits
could have induced this daring assumption V
What but public indifference to consequen
ces so terrible as to leave Itc me open to ev
ery calamity which subsequently befel her,
could have justified the conclusions of the
dictator and tyrant in his startling experi
ment ? We find that in the time which lias
since elapsed human nature and exigencies
in governments have not greatly changed.
Who, a few years ago, in contemplating
our future, could have supposed that, in a
brief period of bitter t xjxrience, eveiy
tliing demanded in the name of military
emergency or dictated bv caprice would
come to be considered as mere matters of
course! That conscription, confiscation,
loss of personal liberty, and the subjection
of States to military rule and disfranchise
ment, with the extension of the right of
suffrage merely to accomplish party ends,
would receive the passive submission, if not
acquiescence, of the people of the repub
lic ! It has been clearly demonstrated by
recent occurrences that encroachment up
on the Constitution cannot be prevented
by the President, however devoted or deter
mined he may be. That unless the people
interpose there is no power under the Con
stitution to check alominant majority of
two-thirds of the Congress of the United
States. An appeal to the nation is attend
ed with to much delay to meet emergency :
while, if left free to act, the people would
correct, in time, such evils as might follow
legislative usurpation.
There it danger that that the same poirer
vhich disregards the Constitution 1 rill deprive
them of the right to change their rulers, except
by revolution. We have already seen the
jurisdiction of the judiciary circumscribed
when it was apprehended that the courts
would decido against laws having for tlieir
sole object the supremacy of party ; while
tlie veto power lodged in the Executive by
the Constitution for the interest and pro
tection of the people, and exercised by
Washington and nis successors, has been
rendered nugatory by a partisan majority
of two-thirds in each branch of the Nation
al Legislature.
The Constitution evidently contemplates
that when a bill is returned with the Presi
dent's objections, it will be calmly recon
sidered by Congress. Sucjb however, has
not been the practice under the present
party rule. It has become evident that
men who pass a bill under partisan influ
ences are not likely through patriotic mo
tives to admit their errors, and thereby
weaken their own organizations by solemn
ly confessing it under the official oath.
Pride of opinion, if nothing else, has iu-
tervened and prevented a ealm and dispas
sionate reconsideration of a bill disapprov
ed by the Executive. Much as I venerate
the Constitution, it must be admitted that
this condition of affairs hasuleveloped a de
feet which, under the aggressive tendency
of the Legislative department of the gov
ernment. may readily work its overthrow,
It may, however, be remedied without dis
turbing the harmony of the instrument.
The veto power is generally exercised upon
constitutional grounds, and whenever it is
so applied, and the bill returned with the
Executive's reasons for withholding his
signature, it ought to be immediately cer
tified to the Supreme Court of the United
States for its decision. If its constitution
ality shall be declared by that tribunal, it
should then become a law. Hut if the de
cision is otherwise, it should fail, without
power in Congress to re-enact and make it
valid. In cases in which the veto rests iq>-
on hasty and inconsiderate legislation, and
in which 110 constitutional question is in
volved, 1 would not change the fundamen
tal law, for. in such eases no jiermauent
evil can be incorporated into the Federal
system. It is obvious that without such
an amendment, the government, as it exis
ted under the Constitution prior to the re
bellion, may lie wholly subverted and over
thrown by two-thirds majority in Con
gress. It is not, therefore, difficult to see
how easily and how rapidly the people may
lose (shall I not say—have lost ?) their lib
erties by an unchecked and uncontrollable
majority in the law-making power; and
whenever deprived of their rights, how
(Miwerless they arc to regain them.
Let us turn for a moment to the history
of the majority in Congress, which has act
ed in such utter disregard'of the Constitu
tion, while public attention has been care
fully and constantly turned to the past
and expiated signs of the South, and the
servants of the people in high places have
boldly betrayed their trust, broken their
oaths of obedience to the Constitution, and
undermined the very foundation of liberty,
justice and good government. When the
rebellion was being suppressed by the vol
unteered services of patriot soldiers, amid
the dangers of the battlefield, these men
crept, without question, into place and
power in the national councils. After all
danger had passed, when no armed foe re
mained—when a penitent people bowed
their heads to the flag, and renewed their
allegiance to the Government of the United
States, then it was that pretended patriots
appeared before the nation and began to
] irate about the thousands of lives and mil
lions of treasure sacrificed in the suppres
sion of the rebellion. They have since per
sistently sought to inflame the the preju
dices engendered between the sections, to
retard the restoration of peace and harmo
ny, and by every means to keep open and
exposed to the poisonous breath of party
passion the terrible wounds of a four years'
war. They have prevented the return of
peace and the restoration of the Union ; in
every way rendered delusive the purposes,
promises, and pledges by which the army
was marshalled, treasofi rebuked, and re
bellion crushed : and made the liberties of
the people,, and the rights and powers of
the President, subjects of constant attack.
They have wrested from the President his
Constitutional power of supreme command
of the army and navy; they have destroy
ed the strength and efficiency of the Exec
utive Department by making subordinate
officers independent of and able to defy
their chief: they have attempted to place
the President under the power of a bold,
defiant, and treacherous Cabinet officer ;
they have robbed tin' Executive of the pre
rogative of pardon, rendered null and void
acts of clemency granted to thousands of
persons under the provisions of the Con
stitution. and committed gross usurpation
by legislative attempts to exercise this pow
er in favor of party adherents. They have
conspired to change the system of our gov
ernment by preferring charges agaiust the
President in the form of articles of im
peachment, and contemplating before hear
ing or trial that he should be placed in ar
rest, held in durance, and it became their
pleasure to pronounce his sentence, driven
from place and power in disgrace. They
have, in time of place, increased the na
tional debt by a reckless expenditure of
the public moneys, and thus added to the
burdens which already weigh upon the peo
ple. They have permitted the nation to
suffer the evils of a deranged currency to
the enhancement in price of all the necessa
ries of life. They have maintained a large
standing army for the enforcement of their
measures of oppression. They have en
gaged in class legislation, and built up and
encouraged monopolies, that the few might
be enriched at the expense of the many.—
They have failed to act upon important
treaties, thereby endangering our present
peaceful relations with foreign powers. —
Thfir course of usurpation has not been
limited to inroads upon the Executive De
partment. By unconstitutional and op
pressive enactments the people of ten States
of the Union have been reduced to a con
dition more intolerable than that from
which the patriots of the Revolution rebell
ed. Millions of American citizens can now
say of their oppressors with more truth
than oWr fathers did of British tyrants, that
they have "forbidden the government to
pass laws of immediate and pressing im
portance unless suspended until their as-
sent should Is' obtained ; " that they have
"refused to pass other laws for the accom
modation of large districts of people unless
those people would relinquish the l ight of
representation in the Legislature," a right
inestimable to them and formidable to ty
rants only; that they have "made judges
dependent upon their will alone for the
tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries; " that they have
erected a multitude of new offices and sent
hither swarms of officers to harass our peo
ple and cut out their substance. That they
have affected to render the military inde
pendent and superior to the civil power ;
combined with others to subject us to a
jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution and
unacknowledged by our laws ; quartered
large bodies of armed troops among us;
protected them by a mock trial from pun
ishment for any murders whieli they
should commit on the inhabitants of these
States ; imposed taxes upon us without our
consent ; deprived us in many eases of the
benefit of trial by jury ; taken aw ay our
charters; incited domestic insurrection
amongst us ; abolished our most valuable
laws ; altered fundamentally the form of
our government; suspended our own legis
latures and declared themselves invested
with power to legislate for us in all eases
whatsoever.
This catalogue of crime, long as it is, is
not yet complete. The Constitution vests
the judicial power of the United States in
one Supreme Court, whose jurisdiction
shall extend to all eases arising under the
Constitution and laws of the United States.
Encouraged by this promise of a refuge
from tyranny, a citizen of the United
States, who by the order of a military com
mander given under the sanction of a cruel
and deliberate edict of Congress, lias been
denied the Constitutional rights of liberty
of eonsoience, freedom of the press, and of
speech, personal freedom from military ar
rest. of being held to answer for crime only
upon presentment of an indictment, of tri
al by jury, of thi writ of habeas corpus,
and the protection of a civil and constitu
tional government—a citizen thus deeply
wonged, appeals to the Supreme Court
for the protection guaranteed him by the
organic law of the land, At once a tierce
and excited majority, by the ruthless hand
of legislative power, stripped the ermine
from the judges, transferred the sword of
justice to the General, and remanded the
oppressed citizen to a degradation and
bondage worse tlian death.
It will also be recorded as one of the mar
vels of the times that a party claiming for
itself a monopoly of consistency and pa
triotism, ami boasting of its unlimited sway,
endeavored by a costly and deliberate trial
to impeach one who defended the Constitu
tion and the Union, not only throughout
the war of the rebellion, bnt doing the
whole term of office as chief magistrate ;
but at the same time could find no warrant
or means at their command to bring to tri
al even the chief of the rebellion. Judeed,
the remarkable failure. in this case were so
often repeated that, for propriety's sake, if
for no other reason, it became at last
necessary to extend to him an uncondition
al pardon. What more plainly than this
illustrates the extremity of party manage
ment and inconsistency on the one hand,
and of faction, vindictiveness,.and intoler
ance on the other. Patriotism will hardly
IK encouraged when, in such a record, it
sees that its instant reward may be most
virulent party abuse and obloquy, it' not at
tempted disgrace. Instead of seeking to
make treason odious, it would in truth seem
to have been their purpose rather to make
the defence of the Constitution and Union
a crime, and to punish fidelity to an oath
of office, if counter to party dictation, by
all the means at their command.
Happily for peace of the county, the war
has determined against the assumed power
of the State to withdraw at pleasure from
the Union. The institution of slavery also
found its destruction in a rebellion com
menced in its interest. It should be borne
in mind, however, that the war neither im
puirednor destroyed the Constitution, hut
on the contrary, perservedits existence, and
made apparent its real power and enduring
strength. All the rights granted to tho-
States or reserved to the people are, there
fore, intact. Among those right is that of
the people of each State to declare the qual
ifications of their own State electors. It is
now assumed that Congress cau control
this vital right, which can never he taken
away from the States without impairing the
fundamental principles of the government
itself. It is necessary to the existence of
sjtates as well as to the protection of the
liberties of the people; for the rigliMh elect
the elector in whom the political power of
the State shall be lodgen in vol ves the right
of the State to govern itself. W lien deprived
of this prerogative, the States wi 11 have no
power worth retaining. All will be gone,
and they will lie subjected to the arbitrary
will of Congress. The governm cut w ill then
be centralized if, not by the passage of laws,
then by the adoption, through partisan
influence, of an amendment directly in con.
flict with the original design of the Consti
tution. This proves how necessary it is the
people should require the administration of
the three great departments of the govern
ment to be strictly within the limits of tho
Constitution. Their boundaries have been
accurately defied, and neither should be
allowed to trespass on the other, nor, above
all, to encroach upon the reserved rights of
the people and the State. The troubles of
the past four years will prove to tho nation
blessings, if they produce so desirable a re
sult. Upon those who became young men
amid the sound of cannon and the din of
arms, and who quietly returned to the farms
this factories, and the school of the land,
will principally devolve the solemn duty of
perpetuating the Union of the State in de.
fence of which hundreds of thousands of their
comrades expired and hundreds of (millions
of national obligations were incurred. A
manly people will not neglect the training
necessary to resist aggression, but they sho'd
be zealous lest the civil be made subordinate
I to the military clement. We need to encour
age in every legitimate way a study of the con
stitution for which the war wan waged, a
knowledge of,and reverence for, whose wise
checks, by those so soon to occupy, the
place tilled by their, seniors, will he the only
hope of preserving the Republic. The
young men of the nution not j't under the
control of pgrty must resist the tendency
I to centralization, un outgrowth of the
great rebellion, and be familiar with the
fact that the country consists ol the "Uni
ted States," and that when the States sur
| rendered certain great rights for the sake
jof a more perfect Union, they retained
j rights as valuable aiul important as those
I they relinquished, for the common weal.' —
, This sound old doctrine, far different from
the teachings that led to the attempt to se-
Cisle, and a kindred theory that the States
were taken out of the Union by the rash
acts of conspirators that happened to dwell
within their borders, must be received and
advocated with the enthusiasm of early
, manhood, or the People will be ruled by
I corrupt combinations at the commercial
■ centres, which plethoric from wealth, an
nually migrate to the capifcol of the nation
to purchase special legislation. Until the
Representatives of the people in Congress
more fully exhibit the diverse views aud
the interests of the whole nation, and laws
CUHtSH to • made without full discussion at
the behest of some party leader, there will
j never be a proper respect shown by the
! law-making power either to the judicial or
executive branch of the government. The
generation just beginning to use the ballot
box, it is believed, only need that their at-
I tentlon should he called to these considera
tions to indicate by theiV votes that they
i wish their representatives to observe all the
i restraints which the people, in adopting
| the Constitution, intended to impose on
party excess.
Calmly reviewing my administration of
the government. I feel that (with K sense of
accountability to God—having conscien
tiously endeavored to discharge my w hole
duty), I have nothing to regret. Events
have proved the correctness of the policy
set forth in my first and subsequent mes
ages. The woes which have followed the
rejection of forbearance, magnanimity and
constitutional rule are known and deplored
by the nation. It is a matter of pride and
gratification, in retiring from the most ex
halted position in the gift of a free people,
to feel and know that in a long, arduous,
and eventful public life mv action has nev
er been influenced bv desire for gain, and
that I can, in ail sincerity, inquire, whom
have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed?
or at w hose hand have I received any bribe
to blind my eyes therewith ? No reaponsi
bility for wars that have been waged, or
blood that has been shed, rests upon me.
My thoughts have been those of peace,and
my effort has ever been to allay contentions
among my countrymen.
Forgetting the past, let us return to the
first principles of the government, and un
furling the banner of our country, in
scribe upon it in ineffaceable characters,
"The Constitution and the Union, one and
inseparable."
ANDREW JOHNSON.
Washington, I). C., March 4, LFTGO.
The President's Inaugural Address.
CITIZENS or Tin: UNITED STATES: Your
suffrages having ejected me to the office of
President of tin United States, I have in
conformity with the Constitution of our
country, taken the oath of office prescrib
ed therein. I have taken this oath with
out mental reservation, and with the de
termination to do to the best of my ability
all that it requires of me. The responsi
bilities of the position I feel, but accept
them without fear. The office"has come to
me unsought ; I commence its duties nn
trammeled. I bring to it a conscientious
desire and determination to fill it to the
best of my ability to the satisfaction of the
people. On all leading questions agitating
the public mind I will always express my
views to Congress and urge them according
to my judgment, and when I think it ad
visable will exercise the constitutional priv
ilege of interposing a veto to defeat
measures which I oppose. Bnt all laws
will be faithfully executed, whether they
meet my approval or not. I shall on all sub
jects have a policy to recommend, none to
enforce against the will of the people.—
Law s are to govern all alike, those oppos
ed to as well as those in favor of them. I
know no method to secure the repeal of bad
or obnoxious laws so effective as their
stringent execution. The country having
just emerged from a great rebellion, many
questions will come before it for settle
ment in the next four years, which preced
ing administrations have never had to deal
with. In meeting these it is desirable that
they should lie appreciated calmly, with
out prejudice, hate, or sectional pride, re
membering that the greatest good to the
greatest number is the object tube attain
ed. This requires security of person, prop
-erty, and for religious and political opin
ion in every part of our common country,
without regard to local prejudice. All law s
to secure this end will receive my best ef
forts for their enforcement.
A great debt lias been contracted in se
curing to us and our posterity the Union.
The payment of this, principal and inter
est, as well as the return to a specie basis
as soon as it can be accomplished without
material detriment to the debtor class or to
the country at large, must lie provided for.
To protect the national honor every dollar
of the government indebtedness should be
paid in gold, unless otherwise expressly
stipulated in the contract. Let it be un
derstood that uorepudiator of one farthing
of our public debt w ill be trusted in pub
lic places, und it will go far towards
strengthening a credit which ought to be
the best in the world, aud will ultimately
enable us to replace the debt with bonds
bearing loss interest than we now pay. To
this should be added a faithful collection of
the revenue ; a strict accountability to the
Treasury for every dollar collected, and the
greatest practicable retrenchment in ex-
I>enditures in every department of govern
ment. When we compare the paying ca
pacity of the country now. with ten States
still in poverty from the effects of the wur,
but soon to emerge, I trust, into greater
prosperity than ever l>efore, with its pav
ing capacity twenty-five years ago, and cal
culate what it probably will le twenty-live
years hence, who can doubt the feasibility
of paying every dollar then with more wise
than we now pay for useless luxuries ?
Why, it looks as though Providence had
bestowed upon us a strong box, the preci
ous metals locked up in the sterile moun
tains of the far West, which we are now
forging the key to unlock, to meet tin
very contingency that is now upon us.—
Ultimately it may l>e necessary to increase
the facilities to reach these riches, t and it
may be necessary also that the general gov
ernment should {five its aid to secure this
access. But this should only lie when a
dollar of obligation to pay secures precise
ly the same -sort of dollar in use now, and not
before. While the question of specie pay
ments is in abeyance, the prudent business
man is careful about eontr.-icting debts pay
able in the distant future ; the nation should
follow the same rule. A prostrate com
meree is to lie rebuilt, and all industries
encouraged. The young men of the conn
try—those who form this age and must he
rulers twenty-five years hence—have a pe
culiar interest in maintaining the national
honor. A moihent's reflection upon what
will be onr commanding influence among
the nations of the earth in their day, if they
are only true to themselves, should inspire
them with national pride. All divisions,
geographical, jtolilical, and religious, can
joiu in the common sentiment. How tin
public debt is to be paid, or specie pay
ments resumed, is not so important as that
a plan should lie adopted and acquiesced in.
A united determination to do is worth
more than divided counsels upon the meth
od of doing. Legislation 011 this subject
may not be necessary now, nor even adv.
sable ; but it will be when the civil law : ,
more fully restored in all parts of tin
country and trade resumes its wonted chan
nels. It w ill lie my endeavor to execute all
laws in gocxl faith, to collect all reveuutA
assessed, and to have them properly ac
counted for. and economically disbursed.—
I will, to the la-st of my ability, appoint to
office only those who will carry out this de
sign.
In regard to foreign policy, I will deal
with fiations as equitable law requires iu
viduaLs to deal with eac-h other, aud I
would protect the law-abiding citizen,
whether of native or of foreign birth,
wherever his rights are jeopardized, or the
flag of our country floats. I would respect
the rights of all nations, demamliug equal
respect for our own. If others depart from
this rule in their dealings with us, we may
be compelled to follow their precedent.
The proper treatment of the origimd oc
cupants of this land, the Indians, is one
deserving of careful consideration. I w ill
favor any course towards them w hieli tends
to their civilization, Christiauization aud
ultimate citizenship.
The question of suffrage is one which is
likely to agitate the public, so long as a
portion of the citizens of the nation are
excluded from its privileges iu any State. —
It seems to me very desirable that this
question should be settled now, and I en
tertain the hope aud express the desire that
it may la? by the ratification of the fif
teenth amendment to the Constitution.
In conclusion I ask patient forbearance
one towards another, throughout the land,
and a determined effort on the part of
every citizen to do his share towards ce
menting a happy union, and I ask the
prayers of the nation to Almighty God in
behalf of this happy consummation.
WHAT Gov. GEARY THINKS OF LKADINO
REPUBLICANS.— Governor Geary's name
having been mentioned in some of the Re
publican papers, as favoring the appoint
ment of ANDY CURTIN to a position in
GRANT'S Cabinet, lie telegraphed to Wash
ington as follows : • #
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, I
HABRISBURO, Feb. 2(1, )
To General V. S. Grunt, President eleet,
Washington, I). C.
By the newspapers of to-duy, I observe
that certain persons have stated to you that
I have written letters to influence your cab
inet appointments. I have never written
or telegraphed to you or any other person a
word in favor or against aTiy one for that
position. If you have received any such
letters 01 telegrams, they are forgeries.
Truly yours,
JOHN W. GEARY.
Alex. MeClure ex-cliairman of the Re
publican State Central Committee, called
on Gen. Grant with letters from Judges,
John M. Reed, Agnew and Williams—the
great leaders in the election frauds iu flic
state, in favor of Andy Curtin for a cabinet
appointment, and he said also that letter
fro 111 Geary were on the way to the same ef
fect ; ami Geary, learning of the fact, put
the General on liis guards against forgers !
The last sentence of the telegram is won
derfully significant— "they are forgeries
Mr. Geary knows his political frienes and
associtates ; he knows their honesty, their
tricks, and their habits, and ho tells them
to the public. He tells it to President
Grant and the world that Alex. MeClure,
Andy Curtin A- Co. are not to be trusted ;
that they are unscrupulous, capable of for
gery, aud any other of the modern "moral
ideas."
The inevitable "Aleck" replies to Geary's
telegram, in a note saying, that all the "ev
idence he had that Geary would write a let
ter favoring Curtin's appointment was,
Geary\rord to that effect."-
Knowing the hero of "Suickerville" as
well as Aleck did, he was hardly justified 111
making any declaration on so slight a
foundation.
QRETT INTEREST
la mauifesteil by the people, on account ot tb<- New
Railroad along the Susquehahna, but a greater in
terest is felt in contvqueDce of the
NEW STOCK OF
Family Groceries,
Jast teccivej at.
" c H A It LIES, "
IN MESHOPJPES,
Consisting of '.be folio* ing articles for (amity uio
FROCK,
LARD, EICE,
CHEESE,MACK
EREL. SMOKED
lIALIUUT, CODFISH,
IiEKRINO, SVGAK, MO
LASSES,TEA,COFFEE, SOAP.
STARCH, SALERATUS, CRACK
ERS. TOBACCO, CIGARS, BROOMS.
BRUSHES,!? AISINS, CURRENTS, I'll-S
CANNED PEACHES, LOBSTERS. AK
DINES. PEPPER-SAUCE, TOMATO-CAIN' u
DESSICATED COOOANTT. NI TS, sPK ts-
VINEGAR,
And a variety 100 numerous to mention, nbi.h *>"
be add as low as the lo est, for cash or real.v-pai.
; at CHARLIE Bl'NNkbL.
j Mniboppen, JV,.9n 2U-in3.