Ul
: .. :
BY S. J. ROW.
CLEARFIELD, PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1862.
VOL. O.-TO. 15.
SECOSTD AWNUAL MESSAGE OF
A BRAHAM LINCOLN,
President of the United States.
telUw alliens oj itie Senate and House of
Kepr'semaiices oiucb your last annual, as
sembling, another year of health and bounti
ul liurvests nas passed ; and while it lias not
pleased the Almighty to bless ns with a return
uf p.;acc, we can out press on, guided by the
be?t Inztit lie gives us, trusting that In His own
"ond time and wise way, all will yet be well.
The correspondence touching foreign affairs,
uliicli has taken place during the last vear.
i!i reHith submitted, in virtual compliance
n ut) a request to that effect made by the House
if Kiresetitatrves near the close of the last
s..si.n ot Congress. It the condition of our
l.iiions with other nations is less gratifying
than it has usually been at former periods, it
j.s eertainly more satisfactory than a nation so
unhiippily distracted as we are, might reasona
bly live apprehended.
In the month of June last there were some
grounds to expect that the martime Powers
vliich at the beginning of our domestic diffi
culties so nn wisely and unnecessarily, as wc
i! ink, recognised the insurgents as a belliger
ent, would soon recede from that position. which
has proved only less injurious to themselves
titan to our own country. But the temporary
reverses which afterward befel the National
arms, and which were exasperated bv our own
disloyal citizens abroad, have hitherto delayed
that act of simple justice. Tho Civil war,
which has so radically changed, for tho mo
ment, the occupations and habits of tho Amer
ican people, has necessarily disturbed the so
cial conditioo, and affected very deeply tho
prosperity of the nations with which we have
-carried on a commerce that has been steadily
increasing lurougnoui a period ot naif a cen
tury. It has at the same time excited politi
cai am onions ana apprehensions, which hav
produced a profound agitation throughout th
c ivilized world. In this unusual agitation we
have forborne from taking part in any coutro
vcrsy between foreign States and between
parties or factions iu such States. We hav
i.tienipted no propagandi.sm, and ucknowiedg
mi n-vuiiiiinu ; iui we ii:ve leil to every 11:1
lion tne exclusive conduct and management o
us own anairs. Uur struggle has been of
Cuurse, contemplated by foreign nations with
reference less to its own merits than to iis
supposed and often exaggerated eff.-ct? and
consequences resulting to those nations them
selves .Meverttieless, complaint on the part
of this Government,even if it were just, would
ceriaiuiy oe unwise.
The treaty with Great Britain for ihc suppres
sion ot the slave trade has been put iuiu uper
siionvinna goou prospect ot complete suc
cess. It is an occasion of special pleasure to
acknowledge lint the execution of it, on the
purl of her MiMesty's Government, has been
marked with aj-iloiis rewpect for the author
ity of the United states and the rights of their
moral and loyal citizens.
The convention with Hanover for tho ah.ili
tion of the Stadt dues has been c rried into
full effect undr the act of Congress for that
purpose.
A blockade of three thousand miles of s
coa.it could not be established and rigortviah
enforced in a season of great commercial ac
tivity like the present without committing' oc
cisional mistakes, and inflicting iinintt-mioii :I
injuries upon foreign nations and their sub
jects. A civil war occurring in a country
..-i r : . . : 3 t
niii-rc ii'rrigners resiue, ami Carry on trade
under treaty stipulations, is necessarily fruit
ful id complaints ot the violation of neutral
rights. All such collisions tend to excite
li!i.ippn.-hension.s and, possibly, to produce
mutual reclamations between nations which
have a common intere.it in preserving peace
aud friendship. In clear cases of these kinds
J have, so far as possible-, beard and redressed
complaints which hive been presented bv
friendly Powers. There is still, however, "a
large and an augmenting number of doubtful
cases, upon which the Government is unable
to agree with the Governments whose protec
tion is demanded by the claimants. There
are, moreover, many cases in which the Uni
ted States, or their citizens, sutler wrongs
fum the naval or military authorities of for
eign nations, which the Governments or these
States are not at once prepared to redress. I
have proposed to some ol the foreign States
thus interested, mutual conventions to exam
ine and adjust sucb complaints. This propo
rtion has been made especially to Great Brit
ain, to France, to Spain, and to Prussia. In
each case it has been kindly received, but has
not yet been formally adopted.
1 deem it my duty to recommend an appro
pnatiou in behalf ot the owners of the Norwe--!'.tii
bark Admiral P. Tordinskiold, which ves-
as, in .iay, iaoi. prevented by the com
coun
considerable emigration to both these
tries from the United States.
The new commercial treaty between the U
nited States and the Sultan of Turkey has been
carried into execution. A commercial and
consular treaty has been negotiated, snbject
to the Senate's consent, with Liberia, and a
similar negotiation is now pending with the
republic of Llayti. A considerable improve
ment of the national commerce is-expected to
result from these measures. Our relation
Hinder of the blockading force off Charleston
!"mi leaving that port with a cargo, notwith-
--'-truing a similar privilege had, shortly be
' r-. jH-un granted to an English vessel. I
t -'Vrf directed the Secretary cf State to cause
t
i hi
A
llers in the case to be communicated to
(.roper committees.
plications Lave been made to me hv msnv
" Americans of African descent to favor
m -k emigration, with a view to such colon i
ti.tn as was contemplated in recent acts of
v-!-TgresS. Other parties at home and abroad
-s ine from interested motives, others upon
;--:.-:ot.c considerations, and still others influ-iM-cd
by philanthropic sentiments have sug
i;ttd similar measures while, on the other
: nd, several of the Spanish-American Re
publics have protested against the sending of
t-u colonies to their respective territories.
I nder these circumstances I have declined to
move any snch colony to any State, without
orst obtaining the consent of its Government,
with an agreeraeut on its part to receive and
I'fotect such emigrants in all th rights of free
men ; and I have, at the aame time, offered to
tne several States, situated within the tropics,
r having colonies there, to negotiate with
"iem, subject to the advice and consent of the
Senate, to favor the Tolnntary emigration of
Persons of that class to their respective terri
tories, upon conditions which shall be equal,
Just, ,nd humane. Liberia and Hay ti areas
J the only countries to which colonists of
A.ncan descent from here could go with cer
'amty of being received and adopted as citi
es IV Bnd 1 regret to tnat 8Uch persons as
template colonization do not seem so wil
ng to migrate to those countries as to some
elt a"' D0 80 TnliDg 1 thiDk ,he'r Jnte'r-.mon?,ahDdS'-
ior' however, the opinion
mong them in this respect is improving, and !
ere long there will be an augmented Jad 1
with Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal,
Russia, Prussia, Denmark, Sweeden, Austria,
the Netherlands, Italy, Rome, and the other
European States, remain undisturbed. Vmpl
A, l.l nl..t: i . . J
.a.uiauijicuiiuussijg coiitinuerobe main
tained with Inrkey, Morocco. China. nd
Japan.
During the last year there has not onlv been
no change of our previous relations with the
independent states of our own Continent, hut
more friendly sentiments than havo heretofore
existed are believed to be entertained by
these neighbors, whose safety and progress are
so intimately connected with our own. Th"n
statement especially applies to Mexico, Nica
ragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Pern, and Chili.
The commission under the convention with
the Republic of New Granada closed its ses
sion without having audited and passed upon
all the claims which were submit r...t t it
proposition is pending to revive the conven
tion, that it may bo able to do more comoKrte
justice. The joint commission between the
United States and the Renublie of Costa Rica
bas completed its labors and submitted its re
port. I have favored the project for connecting
the United States with Europe by an Atlantic
telegraph, and a similar project to extend the
telegraph from San Frunoisco to cennect by a
Pacific telegraph with the line which i3 beinj
extended across the Russian Empire.
yie lerruories ot the United States, with
unimportant exceptions, have remained tindis
turbed by the civil war, and they arc exhibi
ting such evidence of prosperity as iustiflai
an expectation that some of them will soon be
in a condition to be organized as States, and
be constitutionally admitted into the Federal
Union. The immense mineral resources of
some ot these territories ought to be devel
oped as rapidly as possible. Every step in
uiai direction would have a tendency to inj
prooino revenues or the Government, and
his ouiucii.i oi me people. It Is
wormy or your serious consideration whether
oouio exiraoruinary measures to promote that
ena cannot be adopted. The means wkioh
suggests itself as most likely to be effective
is a sclent ihc exploration ol the mineral re
gions in those Territories, with a view to the
publication oi its result at home and in tor-
cigu uiniuu tea teaulia wbivU v..,UOi iu
be auspicious.
The oondition of the finances will claim your
m .lit! .... : ,1 . - r M t.
uuai unrein uuuaiueraiiun. i ue vast expen
ditures incident to the military aud naval op
erations required for tho suppression of the
rebellion, have hitherto been met with a promp
titude and certainty unusual in similar cir
cumstances, and the public credit has been
tuny maintained. Tile continuance of the
war, however, and the increased disburse
ments made necessary bv the atiirraanted for
ces now in the field, demand your best reflec
tions as to the b.-st modes of providing the
necessary revenue, without iniui v to business.
and with tho least possible burdens on labor.
Tho su:erisioii of suecie Davnienfs hv tliA
banks, soon after the commencement of vour
last session, made large issues or United States
notes unavoidable. Iu no other ivjv could the
payment of the t.oops and the satisfaction of
other just demauds be so economically or so
veil provided for. The judicious legislation
of Congress, securing the receivability of
these notes for loans and internal duties, and
making them a legal tender for other debts,
has made them a universal currency, and has
satisfied, partially, at least, and for the time,
the long-felt want of a uniform circulating
medium, saving thereby to the people im
mense sums in discounts and exchacges. A
return to specie payments, however, at the
earliest period compatible witn due regard to
all the interests concerned, should ever be
kept in view. Fluctuations in the value ot
currency are always injurious, aud to reduce
heso fluctuations to the lowest possible point
wiii aiv.'ay-i oe a leading purpose in wise legis-
Jtion. Convertibility, prompt ond certain
convertibility into coin, is generally acknowl
edged to bfc the best and surest safeguard a-
gainst them, and it is extremely doubtful
whether a circulation of United States notes,
payable in coin, and sufficiently large for the
wants of th-t people, can b permanently, use
fully, and safely maintained. Is there any
other mode in which the necessary provision
far the public wants can be made, and the great
advantages of a safe and uniform currency se-
ured 1 I know of none which promises such
certain results, and is at the same time so un
tie Cistmrsements during the same period
were : For Congressional. Executive and Ju
dicial purposes, $3,939,009.29: For fore iirn
intercourse, $1,339,710. 35 j For miscellaneous
expenses, (including the mints, loans, postof
fice deficiencies, collection of revenue, and o-
ther like charges) $14,129,771.50; Expenses
iinuer me interior department, $3.102,985.52 ;
Under the War department, $39!;3G8,407. 36 ,
under tne iavy department, $42.074.569. G9
For fnterest on the public debt, $13,190,324.
45; For payment of the public debt, includ
ing the reimbursement of the temporary loan
aua redemptions. $90,090,922.09; making an
"SS'egaiu oi -ju,oii,iuu z-j and leaving a
balance in the Treasury on the 1st day of July
1862, ol $13,043,546.81. It should be observ
ed that the sum of S96,096,922.09 expended
for the reimbursement and redemption of the
public debt, being included also in the loans
made, may be properly deducted both from the
receipts and expenditures, leaving tho actual
receipts for the year $487.788,321. 97, and the
expenditures S474,744,778. 16. Other infor
mation on the subject of the finances will be
found in the report ot the Sec'y of the Treasu
re, to whose statement and views I invite your
most candid aud conscientious attention.
The reports of the Secretaries of War and of
the -Navy are herewith transmitted. These
reports, though lengthy, are scarcely more
than brief abstracts of tho very numerous and
extensive transactions and operations conduc
ted through these Departments., Nor could I
give a summary of them here upon any prin
ciple wnicn would admit of it being much
shorter than the reports themselves. I there
tore content myselt with lajingthe reports
oeioie you, ana asKlng your attention lo them.
ji gives me pleasure to report a decided
improvement in the uuancial condition of th..
Post Cflioe Department. As compared with
several preceding years, the receipts for the
fiscal year 1S01 amounted to $8,319,296.40,
which embraced the revenue from nil t.h
States of the Union for turee-qaarters of that
jear. n orwitbstanding the cessation of reve
nue from the so-called Seceded States during
the last fiscal year, tho increase of the corres
pondence of the loyal States has been suffi
cient to produce a revenue duiias the same
year oi $8,299,820.90, being only $50,000 less
man was derived rrom all the States of the U
nion during the previous year. The expendi
tures show a still more favorable result. The
amount expended in 1S61 was $13,G0S,759.11
For the last year the amount has been reduced
to $11,125,364 13, showing a decrease of about
..,431,000 in the expenditures, as comnarl
with the preceding year, and about $3,750,000
as compared wun tne nscal year I860. The
deficiency in the department for the previous
year was $4,5-51.966 98. For the last fiscal
favorable results are in part owing to the cessa
tion of mail service in the insurrectionary
Elates, and in part to a careful review of all
expendatures in that department in the inter
est of economy. The eflicieucy of the postal
service, it is" believed, has also been much im
proved. The Postmaster General has opened
a correspondence, through the Department of
guarantee against future hostilities.. The
commissioner of Indian Affairs will furnish
mil details. 1 submit for your especial con
sideration whether our Indian svstem shall
not be remodeled.? Many wise and good men
have impressed me with , the belief that this
can oe profitably done.
, i submit a s'atement of the proceedings of
luiumiss toners, wnicn snows the progress
that has been made in the enterprise of con.
onue-uiig mo racinc Kailroad: and this sug
gests the earliest comnletion of th
ttao me iavoraoie action or Congress upon the
projects now pending be lore them for enl.tr.
ging the capacities of tho great canals iu New
.tor aim iinnois, as being of vital and rapidly
IH.1U.13IUC iiuportauoe to tun whi.ip. nut ,n
... ! l ., ....
mi capwimiy 10 me vast interior region here
inaftei to be noticed at some greater length
I purpose having prepared and laid before von
ji an early day some inteiestinir and valnabl
statistical iniormation upon this subiect. The
military and commercial importance of enlarg
ing tho Illinois and Michigan canal and wide
ning me Illinois river, is presented in the re
port, or colonel U ebster to the Secretary of
War and now transmitted to Congress, r re
spectfully ask attrition to it.
. . . . -
iu carry our. tne Provisions nf Iho ml r
. - - ' V. . VI
congress or I-jtl. of May last. I havo caused
t.ie Depaitment of Agriculture of the United
States to be organized. The Commissioner
informs me that within the Period of fpW
months this Department has established an
extensive system ot correspondence and ex
change both at home and abroad, wlrch prom
ises to effect highly beneficial results in the
development of correct knowledge of recent
improvement in agi iculture, in the introduc
ti.u of new products and ia the collection of
the agricultural statistics of the different
States. Also, that it will soon bo prepared to
distribute largely seeds, cereals, plants, and
cuttings, and lias already published aud liber
ally diffused much valuable information, in an
ticipation of a more elaborate report, which
State, with foreign Governments, proposing a
convention or postal representatives for tho
purpose cf simplifying the rates of foreign
postage and to expedite the foreign mails
This proposition, equally important to our a
dopted citizens and to the commercial inter
ests of this country, has been favorably enter
tained and agieed to by all the Governments
fro u whom replies have been received. - I ask
the attention of Congress to tho suggestion of
the Postmaster General in his report respec
ting the lurther legislation required in his o-
pinion for the benefit of tho postal service.
the secretary of the Interior reports as fol
lows in regard to the public lands : "The pub
lic lands have ceased to be a source of reve
nue, t- ronj the 1st of July, 1861, to the 30th
ot September, low, the entire cash receipts
irom tne sale ot lands were $137,476.26, a sum
much Ies3 than the expenses of our land sys
tem during the same period." "The home
stead law, which will take effect on the 1st of
January next, offers such inducements to set
tlers that sales for cash cannot be expected to
an extent sufficient to meet the expenses of
tne Ueneral L,nnd Umce, and the co!t of sur
veying and bringing the land into market."
The discrepancy between tho sum here stated
as arising from the sales of the public lands,
and the sums derived from the same source,
as reported from the Treasury ; Department,
arises, as I understand, from the fact that the
periods of time, though apparently, were not
really, coincident at the beginning point; the
Treasury report including a considerable sum
now, which had previously been reported from
the Interior, sufficiently large to greatly over
reach the sum derived from the threo-months
now, reported upon by the Sectetary of the
Interior, and not by the Secretary of the
lreaaury
will indue time be furnished pmhr;,
, - , . u o. uvi ouiug
valuable tests in chemical science.uow in pro-
giessiumu laooratory. i he creation of this
aepaivmeut was for the more immediate ben
efit of a large class of our most valuable citi
UH o nn.l r ........ . t. . .1 ... .
uui x Li uai mm iuu noerai basis upon
which it has been organised will not only
meet your approbation, but that it will realize.
no u.siaui uay, an tne fondest anticipations
of its most sanguine friends, and become the
iruitiui source ol advantage to all our m-onl
On the 22d day of September last, a procla
mation was issued by the Executive, a copv
of which is herewith submitted. In accord
ance with the purpose expressed in the second
paragrapn of that paper, 1 now respectfully
call your attention . to what may be called
iP.....i:rj .
may be said to consist of its territory, its peo
ple, auu us taws, i ne territorj is the onlv
part wnicn is or certain durability. "One ffen-
cianoH passeiu away and another generation
cometh, but the earth abideth lorever." It is
ortbehrst importance to duly consider and
estimate this ever-enduring part. That nor-
tion of tiie earth's surface wliich is owned and
; rieaof Dakota, iVbraska, and part of Colo
rado, already has above ten millions of peo
ple, and will have fitty millions within filty
years, if not prevented by any political folly
or mistake. It contains more than one-third
of the country owned by the United States;
certainly more than one million of square
miles. One-half as populous as Massachu
setts already is, it would have more than sev-enty-five
millions of people. A glance at the
map shows that, territoiially speaking, it is
the great body of the republic. . The other
parts are but marginal borders to it, the mag
nificent region sloping west from the Rocky
mountains to .the. Pacific being the deepest,
and also the richest, in undeveloped resour
ces. In the production of pravisious, grains,
grasses, and all which proceed from them,
this great interior region is naturally one of
the most important in the world, i Ascertain
from the statistics the small proportion ol the
region which has as yet been brought into cul
tivation, and also the large and rapidly-increasing
amount of Its products, and we shall be
overwhelmed with the magnitude of the pros
pect presented. And yet this region has no
seacoast-touehes no ocean anywhere. As
pari or one nation its people now find and
may forever find their way to Europe by New
l oris, to South America aud Africa bv NVw
Orleans, and to sia. by San Francisco. But
separate our common country into two nations
as designed by the present rebellion, and eve
ry man of this great interior region is there
by cut off from some one or more of thes-
outlets, not, perhaps, by a physical barrier,
nut by embarrassing and onerous trada ro-.
ulations ; and this is true wherever a dividing
or boundary line may be fixed. Place it be
tweeu the now free and slave country, or place
it south of Kentucky or north of Ohio, and
still the truth remains that none south of it
can trade to any port or pmco north of it, nor
none north of it oan trade to any port or plice
south of it, except upon terms dictated bv a
government foreign to them. Those outlets,
east, west, and south, are indispensable to the
well being ot the people inhabiting and to in
habit this vast interior region. Which of the
three may be the best is no proper question ;
all are butter than either, and all of right be
long to that people and to their successors
forever. True to themselves, they will not
ask inhere a line of separation shall be, but
will vow rather that there shall be no such line.
Nor are the marginal regions less interested
in these communications to and through tbem
to tne great outside world. They, too, and
each of them, must have access to this Egypt
ot the West without paying toll at the cros
sing of any national boundary.
Our natioal strife springs not from our per
manent past, not from tho land we inhabit, not
inhabited by the people of tho United States
is well adapted to bo the home of one nation-
al family, and it is not well adapted for two or
more, its vast extent and its variety of cli
mate and productions are of advantage in this
age for one people, whatever they might have
been iu former ages. Steam, telegraphs, and
intelligence nave Drought these to bo an ad
vantageous combination for oue united people.
in tne inaugural address, I briefly pointed
out iue total inadequacy ot disunion as a reni-
euj ior me omereiiCes between the people of of the said Legislatures or Conventions, to be valid
tec two Bi-uuuus. j. ma so in language wtncn
I cannot improve, and whien, therefore, I beg
leave to repeat: "Une section of
cfiEti ntir nur win-i it Am 'i , ...
iblo severin'ot'fmrbonf, Jr. v"s:
not mtltat vilo amonor it - ... - . . -
tat ion and aptitudes it demands Union and ab
hors separation; in fact, it would, ere lang,
forco reunion, however muoli-uf blood and
treasure the separation might have cost. Our
strife pertains to ourselves to tbe passing
generations of men; and it can, without con
vulsion, be hushed forever with the passing of
one generation. In. this view I recommend
the adoption of the following resolution and
articles amendatory to the Constitution of the
United States. : . .
Retotved, Bv tbo Senate and llonso of Repre
sentatives of the United -States, in Congress assem
bled, two-thirds of both Houses concurrins. That
the following artiules bo proposed to the Leziala-
tures or Convent ons of tho several States, as a
mendinents to the Constitution of the U. States, all
or any of which articles, when ratifiod by 3-fourths
The Indian tribes upon our frontiers have.
objectiouable, as the organization of banking ! during the past year, manifested a spirit of in-
ssocianons unuer a general act or congress, : suooioination, and at several points have en-
well guarded in its provisions. To sucb asso , gaged in open hostilities against the white set-
ciations the Government might furnish circu- ilements in their vicinity. The tribes occu-
lating notes or tbo security of United States ' PJ'ing tbe Indian country south of Kansas re-
bonds, deposited in the Treasury. These notes, nounced their allegianca to the United States,
prepared nnler tho supervision of proper offi- j and entered into treaties with the insurgents,
cers, being uniform in appearance and securi- i Those who remained loyal to the United
fy, and convertible always into coin, would at J States wero driven from the country. The
once protect labor against the evils ot a vi- i chief of the Cherokees has visited this citv
ious currency, and facilitate commerce by for the purpose of restorinz the former rela-
cheap and safe exchanges ; a moderate reser
ation from the interest on the bonds would
compensate the United States for the prepara-
ton and distribution of the notes, and a gen-
ral supervision of the system, and would
lighten the burden of that part of the public
ebt employed as securities. The public cred
it, moreover, would be greatly improved, and
the negotiation of new loans greatly facilita
ted by the steady market demand for Govern
ment bonds which the adoption cf tbe propos
ed system would create. It is an additional
recommendation ol the measure, of consider
able weight in my judgment, that it would re
concile, as far as possible, all existing inter
ests by tbe opportunity offered to existing in-t
stitutions to reorganize under the act, substi
tuting only the secured, uniform, National
circulation, secured and unsecured, now is
sued by them. '.'
The receipts into the Treasury from all sour
ces, including loans and tbe balance from tbe
preceding year, for the fiscal year ending on
the GOth of June, 1862, were $583,885,247.06;
of which sum S49.056.379. 62 were derived
from custutm ; $1,795,331.73 from the direct
tax; from public, lands, $152,203-77; from
miscelaneons sources, $931,787.64; from loans
j tiona ot the tribe with tbe United States. He
: alleges that they were constrained by superior
j force to enter into treaties with the insurgents,
, and that the United States neglected to fur
i nish the protection which their treaty stipu
; lations required. In the month of August
i last the Sioux Indians, in Minnesota, attack
! ed the settlements in their vicinity with ex
j treme ferocity, killing, indiscriminately, men,
I women, and children. This attack was whol
ly unexpected, and, therefore, no means of
defeuoe had been provided.; It is estimated
: that not less than eight hundred persons were
killed by the Indians, and a large amount of
; property was destroyed. How this outbreak
was induced is not definitely known, and sus
picions, which may be unjust, need not be
stated.. Information was received by the .In
. dian Bureau, from different sources, about the
j time hostilities were commenced, that a sim
ultaneous attack was lo be made upon the
white settlements by all the tribes between
tbe Mississippi river and tbe Kocky Moun
tains, The State of Minnesota has suffered
great injury from this' Indian war. A large
portion ol her territory bas been depopulated,
and a severe loss bas been sustained by the
destruction of property. Tbe people of that
in all forms, $529,692,465.50 the remainder. ' State manifest much anxiety for tbe removal
$2;281,OC5.80, was tbe balance from last year, of tbe tribes beyond the limits of tbe State as
to repeat : "Une section ol ourcountrv
believes slavery is right, and oucLt to be ex
tended, while tbe other believes it is wromr.
and ought not to be extended. This is the
only substantial dispute. The fugitive slave
clause of" the Constitution and the law for the
suppression of the foreign slave trade are each
as well enforced, perhaps, as any laws can ever
oe in a community whero the moral sense of
tbe people imperfectly supports the law itself.
1 lie great body of the people abide by tbe dry
legal obligations in boih cases, and a few
break over in each. This I think cannot be
perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both
cases, after tbe separation of tte sections.
than before. The foreign slave trada, new
imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately
revived wirnout restriction in one section.
while fugitive slaves, now only partially sur
rendered, would not bo surrendered at all bv
tbe other. Physically speaking, we cannot
remove our respective sections from each oth
er, nor build an impassible waif between them.
A husband and wife may be divorced and eo
out of, the -presence and beyond the reach of
each other, but the different parts of our coun
try cannot do this. They cannot but remain
face to face, and intercourse, either amicable
or hostile, must continue between tbem. Is
it possible, then, to rnke that intercourse
more advantageous or more satisfactory after
separation man oejoref Uan aliens make trea
ties easier than friends can make laws? Can
treaties be more laithfullv enforced between
aliens than laws can be among friends 1 Sup
pose you go to war. - You cannot fight always.
and when, after much loss on both sides, and
no gain on either, you cease fighting, the iden
tical old questions as to terms of intercourse
are again upon you." There is no line.
straight, or crooked, suitable for a national
boundary, upon -which to .divide. Trace
through from east to west upon the line be
tween the free and slave country, and we shall
find a little more than one-third its length are
rivers easy to be crossed, and populated, or
soon to be populated, thickly upon both sides;
while nearly all its remaining length are
merely surveyors' lines over which people
may walk back and forth without any con
sciousness ot their presence. No part of this
line can be made any more difficult to pass by
writing it down on paper or parchment as a
national boundary.'- The fact of separation, If
it comes, gives up on the part of tbe seoeding
section the fugitive slave clause, along with
all other constitutional obligations upon tbe
section seceded from, while I should expect
no treaty stipulation would ever be made to
take its place. ... . - --. -. . :
. But there is another difficulty. ; The great
interior region, bounded east by tho Alleghen
ies, north by the British dominions, west by
the Rocky Mountains, and south by tbe line
along which tbe culture of corn and cotton
meets, and which includes part of Virginia,
part of Tennessee, all .of Kentucky, Ohio, In
diana, Michigan,' Wisconsin, Illinois, Missou
ri, Kansas; Iowa, Minnesota, and tbe Territo-
' . i;'M,i-V 'r Vf ---'.-f f'- V. 't " . ' v -
as part or parts of the said Constitution, via :
Article . Every tate wherein elaverynow ex
ists which shall abvli&h tbe same theroiu at auv
time or times before the 1st day of Januarv, in tho
year of our Lord one thousand and nine hundred,
shall receive compfensation from tho United States
as follows, to wit The Pre.-ident of tbe U. States
shall deliver to every such State bondsof the Uni
ted States, bearing interest, at the rate of per
cent, per annum, to an amount equal to the aggre
gate sum of $ for each slave shown to have been
therein by tho eighth, census of the United States
said bonds to be delivered to such State by
ments. or in one parcel, at tne completion c
bolishment, accordingly as tho same shall
tbe now-living slaves. - But it really gives them
much. It saves them from tbe vairrant riWH-
tution which must largely attend immediate
emancipation in localities where their numbers
are very great, and it gives the luspiring assu.
ranee that their posterity shall be free lorever.
The plan leaves it to each State choosing ta
act under it, to abolish slavery now, or at the
end of the century, or at any intermediate
time, or by degrees, extending over the whole
or auy part of the period, and it obliges no two
States to proceed alike. It also provides for
compensation and generally the mode of mak
ing it. This, it would seem, must further mit
igate the dissatisfaction or tbose who favor
perpetual slavery, and especially of those who
are to receive the- compensation.. Doubtless
some of those who are to pay and not to re
ceive will object, yet the measure is both just
and economical. - In a certain sense the liber
ation ot slaves is the destruction of property
property ac-juired by descent or by pur
chase the same as any other property. It ia
no less true for having been often said that tbe
people of the South are not more responsible
for the original introdoction of this property
than are the people of the North; and when
it is remembered how unhesitatingly we all
tise cotton and sugar, and share the profits of
dealing m them, it miy not be quite safe to
say that the South has been more responsible
than tbe North for its continuance. If then
for a common object, this property ia' to be'
sacrificed, is it not just that it be done at a
common charge ? And if with less money, or
money more easily paid, we can preserve tbo
benefits of the Ur.ion by this means than we
can by the war alone, is it not also economical
to doit? Let ns consider it then. Let as
aoeenam tne sum we have expended in tho
war since compensated emancipation was pro
posed last March, and consider whether if
that measure had been promptly accepted bv
even some of the Slave States, the same sum
would not have done more to close tbe war
than has beeu otherwise done. II so, the mea
sure would save money, and in that view would
be a prudent and economical measare. Cer
tainly it is not so easy to pay something as it
to pay nothins, but it is easier to pay a lare
sum than ft is to pay a larger ono. And it is
easier to pay any sum when we are able than
it is to pay it beiore we are able. Thft am.
quires large sums, and requires them at once.
The aggregate sum necessary lor compensated
emancipation of course would be large, but it
would require no ready cash, nor the bonds
even, any faster than the emancipation pro
gresses. This might not, and probably would
not, close before the end of the thirty-seven
years. At that time we shall probably have a
hundred millioos of a people to share the bur
den instead of thirty-one millions as now. And
not only so, but the increase of our population
may be expected to continue for a lonir timo
our territory will not have become fall. I do
not state this Inconsiderately. At the same
ratio of increaso, which we have maintained
on an average from onr first national census,
in 1790, until that of 1860, we should, in 1000
have a population of 103,208,415; and why
may we not cont.ntie that ratio fir beyond that
period? Our abundant room, our broad na.
tional bomestead, is our ample resource
Were our territory as limited as are the Brit
ish Isles, very certainly oar population could
no expand as stated. Instead of receiving
the foreign-born as bow, we should be compel
led to send part of the native-born away. Bat
such is not our condition. We have 2,963,
000 square miles. Europe has 3,80O,00o) with
a. population averaging 73J persons fo tha
square mile. Why may not our country-, a
some time, average as many ? Is it less fer
tile? Has it more waste surface by mountains,
rivers, lakes, deserts, or other causes? Is it
inferior to Europe in any natural advantage?
If, then, we are at some time to be as popu
lous as Europe, bow soon ? As t& when this
may be we can judge by tho past and the pres
ent. As to when this will be, if ever, de
pends much on whether we maintain tho TJ--nion.
Several of our States are above th
d States. t.ra;;u 0( Europe. 73 to the square mile. Mas
of the a- sachusetts Rhode Island 133, Con
di have uecu,:ui JJ irn and New Jersy, each
been gradual, or at one time, within such State. otJ A'SO, the two other great States of Pena-
and interest shall begin to run upon any such bond si' ' van,a and Ohio are not far below, the f or
only from the proper time of its delivery as afore- nier having 63 and the latter 59. Tim Rttam
said. Any State having received bonds as afore- alreadv above tte European Bt.r,
said, and afterwards reintroducing or tolerating New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio
!ivi?LnJ 7iref""25i!id..b nco passing that point as ever before wh
iuo uuuua so icucivuu, or luc tittuo tuercoi, auci
all interest paid the-eon
i Article . All slaves who shall have enioved
actual freedom by the chances of tbe war, at any
time before the end of the rebellion, shall be for
ever free; but all owners of such who shall not
have been disloyal, shall be compensated for them
at the same rates as is provided for States adopting
abolishment of slavery, but in such way that no
slave shall be twice accounted for.
Article Congress may appropriate money
and otherwise provide for colonizing free colored
persons with their own consent at any place or
places without the United States. -
1 beg indulgence to discuss these proposed
articles at some length. Without slavery the
rebelion could never have existed ; without
slavery it could not continue. Am one the
friends of the Union there is great diversity
oi sentiment ana or policy
no ono of them is equal to some other parts of
our country in natural capacity for sustaining
a dense population. Taking the nation in th
aggregate, we find the population and ratio of
increase for tbe several decennial periods to
be as follows: 1790, 3,929,827; 1800,5,305,
93, 3o.02 per cent, ratio of increase; 1810,
7.239,814, 36.45 per cent, ratio of increase:
1820, 9,633.131, 33.13 per cent, ratio of In
crease ; 1830,12.866.020, 83.49 per cent, ra
tio of increase; 1840, 17,069,453, 32 67 per
cent, ratio of increase; 1850, 23,191,876,
So 87 per cent, ratio of increase; 1860,31,
443,790, 35.58 per cent, ratio of increase.
This shows an average decennial increase
of 34.90 per cent, in the population through
the seventy yerrs from our first to last census
yet taken. It is seen that tbe ratio of increase
in regard to sla
very and the African race amongst us. Some at no one of the seven periods is either 2 per
would perpetuate slavery ; some would abol- cent, below or 2 per cent above the average
ish it suddenly, and without compensation; thus showing bow inflexible, and'consequentlv
how reliable, tbe law of increase in our case
some would abolish it gradually, and with
compensation; some would remove the freed
people from as, and some wottld retain tbem
with as; and there are yet other minor di
versities. Because of these diversities we
waste mnch strength in struggles among our
selves. By mutual concession we should har
monize and act together. Thii would be com
promise, but it would be compromise among
the friends and not with the enemies of tbe
Union. These articles are ictended to em
body a plan ot sucb mutual concessions. If
the plan shall be adopted it is assumed that
emancipation will follow, at least in several
of the States.
As to tbe first article, the main points are.
first, the - emancipation; secondly, the length
of time for consummating it, thirty-seven
years; and thirdly, tbe compensation. The e-
mancipation will be unsatisfactory to the advo
cates of perpetual slavery, but the length of time
should greatly ni it 'gate their dissatisfaction.
The time spares both races from the evils of
sudden derangement ; in fact, from the neces
sity of any derangement, while most of tboe
whose liberal course ot thought will be dis
turbed by tbe measure, will, have passed away
Dei ore its consummation they will never see
It.' Another class will bail tbe prospect of e
mancipation, but will deprecate tbe length of
time. They will feel that it gives too little to
is. : Assuminsr that it will continue it 1.1.
tho following results : 1870, 42,323,341 1880
66,967,216 , 1S90, 76,677,872; 1900, 103.208,
415; 1910, 128,918,526; 1920, 186,684,335;
1930, 251,680,914. These figures show that
our country may be as popalous as Europe now
is, at some point between 1920 and 1930, say
about 1925, our territory, at ISJ persons to
tbe square mile, being of tbe capacity to con
tain 217,181,000; and we will reach this, too,
if we do not ourselves relinquish tbe chance
by tbe folh and evils of disunion, or. by long
and exhausting war springing froci the only
great element ot national discord among as.
While it cannot be loreseen exactly how much
one huge example of secession,breeding lesser
ones, indefinitely would retard population,
civilivation.and prosperity no one can doubt
that the extent of . it would be very great and
injurious. The proposed emancipation would
shorten the war, perpetrate peace, insnre this
increase of population, and proportionately
the wealth of tbe country. With these we
should pay all the emancipation would cost,
together with our other debt, easier than we
should pay our other debt without it. If we
had allowed our old national debt to run at 0
per cent, per annum simple interest, from the
end of tbe Revolutionary struggle until to-day,
without paying anything a either principal
SB
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