M U .
g
151 S. J. ROW.
CLEARFIELD, PA , WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1867.
YOL. 14.-N0. 15.
Annual Message of ' . :
AisriDREW. jpicisrsoisr;
Delivered December 3d. 1867.
Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House
f Representatives : - ' '
The continued disorganization of the U
nion, to which the President, has so often
tailed the attention of Congress, is yet a
subject of profound and patriotic concern.
We may, however, find some relief from
that anxiety in the reflection that the pain
lul political situation, although before un
tried by ourselves, is not new in theexpe-.
rience of nations. Political . science, , per
haps as highly perfected in our own time
and country as in any other, has not yet dis
posed any "means by which civil wars can be
'absolutely prevented. An enlightened na
liou, however, with a wise and beneficent
Constitution of free government, may. di
minish ' their frequency and mitigate their
severity by directing all its : proceedings in
accordance with its fundamental law. '!
When a civil war has been brought' to a
close, it is manifestly the first interest and
duty of the State to repair the injuries which
the war has inflict d, and to secure the bent-tit
of the lessons it leaches as fully and as
speedily as possible. This duty was, upon
the termination of the rebellion, promptly
accepted, not ouly by. the Executive De
partment, but by the iasurrectionary States
themselves, and restoration, in the first mo
ji.ent of peace, was believed to be as easy
huu certain as it was indispensable. The
expectations, however, then .o reasonably
an, I confidently entertained, were disap
pointed I y legislation from which I felt con
rtraiued, py iuy obligations to the Constitu
tion, to withhold my assent.
It is therefore a s mrco of profoun 1 regret
that, in complying with the obligation im
pied upon the President by the Constitu
tion, to give to Congress from time to time
information of the state of the Union, I am
unable to communicate any definitive ad
justment, satisfactory to the American peo
ple, of the questions which, since the close
of the rebellion, have agitated the public
mind. On the contrary, candor compels
me to declare that at this time there is no
Union as our Fat hers understood the term,
and as they meant it to be understood by
us. The Union which they established can
exif. only where all the States kro repre
sented in both li'ftses of C.rigre?3 ; where
one Skate is as free-fcs irother to regulate
its internal cof.wrns 'fercotfifng to its own
will; fend where the laws oi the central
Government, strictly confine to matters of
national jurisdiction, apply with eijual
force to all the jxiople of every, section.
Ths-.t such is not the present "state of the
Union" is a me! inohoiy fact; and we all
niu.-t acknowledge that the restoration of
tiu States to their' prrJper legal relations
with the Federal Government and with one
nrother, according to thetermsof the origi
nal compact, would be the greatest temp5-
ml blessing which God. in his kindest prov
idence, would bestow upon this nation. It
becomes our imperative duty to consider
whether or not it is impossible to effect this
luost desirable consummation.
The Union and the Constitution are in
separable. As long as one is obeyed by ail
parties, the other will be preserved, and if
one is destroyed both must perish together.
The destruction of the Constitution will be
followed by other and still greater calami
ties. It was ordained not on y to form a
more perfect union between the States, bnt
to '"establish justice, it sure domestic tran
quility,' provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of .liberty to ourselvs and oar pos
terity. Nothing but implicit obedience to
its reiju ire merits in all parts of the country
will accomplish these great ends. Without
that obedience, we can look forward only to
continual outrages upon individual rights,
incessant breaches of the public '.peace, na
tional weakness, financial dishonor, the to
tal loss of our prosperity, the general cor
ruption of morals, and the final extinction
popular to freedom. Tosave ourcountryf rom
evils so appalling as these, we should renew
our efforts again and again. !
To me the process of restoration seems
perfectly plain and simple. It consists mere
ly in a faithful application of. the Constitu
tion, and laws. The execution of the laws is
not now obstructed or opposed by physical
f ree. There is no military or other neces
sity, real or pretended, which can prevent o
U'Jience to thj Constitution, either North
'T Suth. All the rights and all the obli
gations of States and individuals can be pro
eeted aud enforced by means perfectly con
sent with the fundamental law. The
fjurts may be everywhere open, their pro-
would be unimpeded. Crimes against
fie United Stares can be prevented or pun
ched by the proper judicial authority, in a
manner entirely practicable and legal.
There is, therefore, no reason why the Con
stitution should not be obeyed, unless those
'to exercise its powers have determined
tat it shall be disregarded and violated.
The mere naked will of this Government,
y of some one or more of its branches, is
'fe only obstacle that can exist to a perfect
tnionofall the States.
On this momentous question, aud some
'he measures growing out of it. I have
h the misfortune to differ from Congress,
and have expressed my convictions without
feserve, though with becoming deference to
opinion of the Legislative Department
t hose convictions are not only unchanged,
'it strengthened by subsequent events and
'urther reflection. The transcendent im
Krtance of the subject will be a sufficient
IjK-Use for calling your attention to some of
1j reasons which have so strongly influenc
my own judgment The hope that we
Uiay all finally concur in a mode of settle
ent, consistent at once with our true inter
ts and with our sworn duties to the Con
ation, is too natural and too just to be
'''y relinquished.
: It is clear to my apprehension that the
States lately in Rebellion are still members
of the National Union. When did they
cease to be So? The "ordinances of seces
sion," adopted by a portion (in most ofthem
a very small portion) of their citizens, were
mere nullities. If we admit now that they
were valid and effectual for the purpose in
tended by their authors, we sweep from un
der our feet the whole trround upon which
we justified the war. Were those States
afterwards expelled from the Union by the
War? The direct contrary was averred by
this Government to be its purpose, and was
so understood by all those who gave their
blood and treasure to aid in its prosecution.
It cannot be that a successful war, wared
for the preservation of the Union, had the
legal effect of desolving it. . The victory of
the; nation's arms was the disgrace of her
policy : the defeat of secession on the battle
field was not the triumph of its lawless prin
ciple. Nor could Congress, with or with
out the consent of the Executive, do any
thing which would have the effect, directly
or indirectly, of separating the States from
each other. To dissolve the Union is to re
peal the Constitution which hoids it togeth
er, and that is a power which does not be
long to any Department of this Govern
ment, or to all of them united.
This is so plain that it has been acknowl
edged by all branches of the Federal Gov
ernment The Executive (my predecessor
as well as myself) and the heads of all the
Departmens have uniformly acted upon th:
principle that the Union is not only undis
solved, but indissoluble. Congress submit
ted an amendment of the Constilution to he
ratified by the Southern States, and accept
ed their acts of ratification as a necessary and
lawful exercise of their highest function. If
they were uot States, or were States out of
the Union, their con ent to a change in the
fundamental law of the Union would have
been nugatory, and Congress in asking it,
committed a political absurdity. The Judi
ciary has also given the solemn sanction of its
authority to the same view of the case. The
Judges of the Supreme Court have included
theSouthernStates in their circuits, ind they
are constantly in banc and elsewhere, exer
cising jurisdiction which does not belong to
them, unless those States are States of the
Union.
. ' It tho Southern States are component
parts Ct the union, the Constitution is the
suprcn.e law" for them, as it is for all other
States. They are bound to obey, it, and so
are we. The right of the Federal Govern
ment, which is so clear aud unquestionable,
to enforce .the Constitution upon them, im
plies the correlative obligatiou on our part to
observe its limitations and execute its guar
anties. Without the Constitution We are
nothing; by through, and under the Consti
tution wc are wliat it makes us. We may
doubt the wisdom of the law, we may not
approve of its provisions, but we canuot vi
olate it merely because it seems to tontine
our powers within limits narrower than we
could wish, it is not a question of individ
ual, or class,or sectional interest, much less
of party predominance, but of duty of high
and sacred duty which we are all sworn to
perform. If we cannot support the Con
stitution with the cheerful aiacrity of those
who have believed it it, we must give to it
at least the fidelity of public servants who
act under solemn obligations aud commands
which they dare not disregard.
The Constitutional duty is not the only
one thieh requites the States to be restor
ed. There is another consideration which,
though of minor importance, is yet of great
weight. On the 22d day of July, 1861, Con
gress declared, by almost unaimous vote of
both Houses, that the war should be con
ducted solely for the pu. pose of preserving
the Union and maintaining the supremacy
of the Federal Constitution and laws, with
out impairing the dignity,equality and rights
of the States or of individuals, and that
when this was done the war should cease. I do
not say that this declaration is personally biu
diug on those who joined in making it, auy
more than individual members of Congress
are personally bound to pay a public debt
created under a law tor which they voted.
Iiut it was a solemn, public, official pledge
of the national honor, and I caunot iuiagiue
upon what grounds the repudiation of it is
to be justified. If it be said that we are
not bound to keep faith with rebels, let it be
remembered that this promise was not made
to rebels only. Thousands of true men in
the South were drawn to our standard by it,
and hundreds of thousands in the North
gave their lives in the belief that it would
be carried out. It was made on the day af
ter the first great battle of the war had been
fought and lost. All patriotic and intelli
gent men then saw the necessity of giving
such assurance, and believed that without
it the war would end in disaster to our cause.
Having given that assurance in the extrem
ity of our peril, the violation of it now, in
the day of our power, would be a rude ren
ding of that good faith which holds the mo
ral world together ; our country would cease
to have any claim upon the confidence of
men ; it would make the war not only a fail
ure, but a fraud.
Doing sincerely convinced that these views
are correct, I would be unfaithful to my du
ty if I did not recommend the repeal of the
acts of Congress which place ten of the
Southern States under the domination of
military masters. It calm reflection shall
satisfy a majority of your honorable bodies
that the acts referred to are not only a vio
lation of the national faith, but in direct
fonflint with the Constitution, I dare not
nermit myelf to doubt that you will itnme
uiately stride mem irum iuo swiuw,
To demonstrate the unconstitutional char
acter of these acts, I -need do no more than
refer to their general provisions. It must
be seen at once that they are not authorized.
To dictate what alterations shall be made m
the Constitutions of the several States ; to
control the elections of State legislators and
State officers,members ot Congress and elec
tors of President and Vice President, by ar
bitrarily declaring who shall vote and who
shall be excluded from that privilege ; to
dissolve State Legislatures or prevent them
from reassembling; to dismiss judges and
other , civil functionaries of the State, and
appoint others without regard to State law;
to organize and operate all the political ma
chinery of the States ; to regulate the whole
administration of their domestic and local
affairs according to the mere will of strange
aud irresponsible agents, sent among them
for .that purpose these are not powers gran
ted to the Federal Government or to any
one of its branches. Not being granted,
we violate our trust by assuming them as
palpably as we would by acting in the face
of a positive interdict; for the Constitution
forbids us to do whatever it does not affirm
atively authorize either by express words or
by . clear implication. If the authority we
desire to use does not come to us through
the Constitution, we can exercise it only by
usurpation; and usurpation is the most
dangerous of political crimes. By that
crime the enemies of free government in all
ages have worked out their designs against
public liberty and private right It leads
directly and immediate!' to the establish
ment of absolute rule; for undelegated pow
er is always unlimited and unrestrained.
The acts of Congress in question are not only
objectionable fpr their assumption of unwanted
power, but many of their provisions are in con
flict with the direct prohibitions of the Constitu
tion. The Constitution commands that a republi
can form of government shall be guaranteed to
all the States ; that no person shall be deprived
of life, liberty or property without due process of
law. arrested without a judicial warrant or pun
ished without a fair trial, before an impartial ju
ry ; that the privilege of habras corpu shall not
be denied in time of peace; and that no bill of
attainder shall he passed even against a single
individual. Yet the system of measures estab
lished by these acts of Congress does totally sub
vert and destroy the form as well as the substance
of republican government in the ten States to
which they apply. It binds them hand and foot
in absolute slavery and subjects them to a strange
aud hostile power, more unlimited and more like
ly to be abused than any other now known among
civilized men. It tramples down all those rights
in which the essence of liberty cnnsist,and which
a fr e government is always most carefut to pro
tect, it denies the haimas corpu and the trial by
jury. Personal freedom, property, and life, if
assailed by the passion, the prejudice, or the ra
pacity of the ruler, have no security whatever.
It has the effect of a bill of attaiuder, or bill of
pains and penalties, not upon a few individuals,
but upon whole masses, including the millions
who inhabit the subject States, and even their un
born children. These wrongs.being expressly for
bidden, cannot be constitutionally inflicted upon
any portion of our people, no matter how they
may have come within our juiisdiction. and no
matter whether they live in states, Territories or
districts.
I have no desire to save from the proper and
just consequences of their great crime thofe who
engaged in rebellion against the Government;
but iu a mode of punishsnent the measures under
coDsidoration are the most unreasonable that
could be it.vented Many of those people are
perfectly innocent ; many kept their fidelity to
the Uii-n untainted to the last; many wereinca
pab.c of any legal offense; a large proportion
even of the persons able to bear arms were forced
into rebellion against their will ; and of those
who are guilty with their own consent, the de
grees of guilt are as various as the shades of
their character and temper. But these acts of
Congress confuund them altogether in one com
mon doom. Indiscriminate vengeance upon
classes, sects or parties, or upon whole communi
ties, for offea.es committed by. a portion of them
against the government to which they owed obe
dience, was common in barbarous ages of the
world. Cut Christianity and civilization have
mad 8Uchaprogressthat recourse to a punishment
so cruel and unjust would meet with the condem
nation of all unprejudiced and right minded men.
The punitive justice of this age, and especially
of this country does not consist in stripping whole
States, of their lib-rties, and reducing all their
people, without distinction, to the condition of
slavery. It deals separately with each individ
ual, confines ibelf to the forms of law, and vindi
cates its own purity by an impartial examination
ot every case before a competent judicial tribu
nal If this does not satisfy all our desires with
regard to Southern rebels. let us console ourselves
by reflecting that a free constitution. triumphant
in warund unbroken in peace, is worth far more
to u' and our children than the gratification of
any present feeling.
I am aware it is nsfumed that this system of
government for the Southern States is njt to be
perpetual. If is true this military government
is to be only provisional, but it is through this
temporary evil that a greater evil is to be made
perpetual. If the guarantees of the Constitution
can be broken provisionally to serve a temporary
purpose, and in a part only of the country, we
can dsstroy them everywhere and for all time.
Arbitrary measures often change, but they gener
ally change for the worse. It is the curse of des
potism that it has no halting place. The inter
mitted exercise of its power brings do sense of
security to its subjects; for they can never know
what more they will be called to endure when
its red right hand is armed to plague thfni again.
Nor is it possible to conjecture hor where
power, unrestrained by law, may seek its next
victims The States that are still free may be en
slaved at any moment, for if the Constitution does
not protect all, it protects none
It is manifestly and avowedly the object of
these laws to confer upon negroes the privilege
of voting, and to disfranchise such a number of
white citizens as will give the former a clear ma
jority at all elections in the Southern States. This,
to the minds of some persons, is so important that
a violation of the Constitution is justified as a
means of bringing it about. The morality is al
wajs false which exouses a wrong because it pro
poses to accomplish a desirable end. We are not
permitted to do evil that good may come. But
In this case the end itself is evil, as well as the
means. The subjugation of the States to negro
domination would be worse than the military des
potism under which ther are now suffering. It
was believed beforehand that the people would
endure nny amount of military oppression, for
any length of time, rather than degrade them
selves by subjection to the negro race. Therefore
they have been left without a choice. Negro suf
frage was established by act of Congress, and the
military officers were commanded to superintend
the process of clothing the negro race with the
political privileges torn from white men.
The blacks in the South are entitled to be well
and humanely governed, and to have the protec
tion of just laws for all their rights of person and
property. If it were practicable at this-time to
give them a government exclusively their own,
under which they might manage their ownaffairs
in their own way. it would become a grave ques
tion whether we ought to do so, or whether com
mon humanity would not require us to save them
from themselves Hut, under the circumstances,
this is only a speculative point. It is not propos
ed merely that they shall govern themselves, Out
that they shall rule the white race, make ana
administer State laws, elect Presidents and mem
bers of Congress, and shape to a greater or less
extent the future destiny of the whole country
Mould such a trust and power be safe in such
hands ? .
The peculiar qualities which should character
ize any people who are fit to decide upon the
management of public affairs for a great State
have seldom been combined. It is the glory of
white men to know that they have had these qual I
ides in sufficient measure to build upon this con
tinent a great political fabric, and to preserve Us
stability for more than ninety years, while in.
every other part of the world all similar experi-
m ent s have failed But if anything can be prov-1
ed by known facts.if all reasoning upon evidence
is not abandoned, it must be acknowledged that i
in ice progress or nations negroes nave shown
less capacity for government than any other race
of people. No independent government of any
form has ever been successful in their hands. On
the contrary, wherever they have been left to
their own devices, they have shown a constant
tendency to relapse into barbarism. In the South
ern States, however, Congress has undertaken to
confer upon them the privilege of the ballot. Just
released from slavery, it may be doubted wheth
er, as a class, they know more than their ances
tors how to organize and regulate civil society.
Indeed, it is admitted that the blacks of the
South are not only regardless of the rights of
property, but so utterly ignorant of public affairs
that their voting can consist in nothing more
than carrying a ballot to the place where they are
directed to deposit it. T need not remind you
that the exercise of the elective franchise is the
highest attribute of an American citizen. and that,
when guided by virtue, intelligence, patriotism,
and a proper appreciation of our free institutions,
it constitutes the true basis of a democratic form
of government, in which the sovereign power is
lodged in the body of the people. A trust arti
ficially created, not for its own sake, but solely
us a means of promoting the general welfare, its
influence for good must necessarily depend upon
the elevated character and true allegiance of the
election. It ought, therefore, to be reposed in
none except those who are fitted tuorally and men
tally to administer it well; for if conferred upon
persons who do not justly estimate its value and
who are indifferent as t its results, it will only
serve as a means of placing power in the hands of
the unprincipled and ambitious, and must even
tuate iu the complete destruction of that liberty
of which it should be the most powerful conserv
ator. I have heretofore urged upon your nttcn.
tion the great danger '-to be apprehended from
an untimely extension of the elective franchise to
any new class in ourcountry, especially when the
large miij.irity ot that class, in wielding the pow
er thus placed in their hands, cannot be expected
correctly to comprehend the duties and responsi
bilities which pertain to suffrage. Yesterday, as
it were, four millions of persons were held ia a
condition of slavery that had existed for genera
tions; to-day they are freemen, and art a.-sutned
by law to be citizens. It cannot be presumed,
from their previous condition of servitude, that,
as a class, they are as wel I informed as to the na
ture of our Government as the intelligent foreign
er who mabesour land the home of his choice. In
the ease of the latter, neither a residence of five
years and theknowledge of our institutions which
it gives, nor attachment to the principles of the
Constitution, are the only conditions upou which
he can be admitted to citisenship. lie must prove,
in addition, agood moral character, and thus give
reasonable ground for the belief that he will be
faithful to the obligations which he assumes as a
citizen of the Republic. Where a people the
source of all political power speak. by their rul
frages. thronghthe instrumentality of the ballot
box, it must be carefu'ly guarded against the con
trol of those who are corrupt in principle and
enemies of free institution?. for it can only become
to our political and social system a safe conductor
of healthy popular sentiment when kept free from
demoralizing influences. Controlled, through
fraud and usurpation, by the designing, anarchy
and despotism must inevitably follow In the
hands of the patriotic and worthy, our Govern
ment will be preserved upon the principles of the
Conatitutien inherited from our fathers. It fol
low?, therefore. that in admitting to the ballot-box
a new clasi of voters not qualified for the exercise
of the elective franchiso, we weaken our fystem
of government, instertd of adding to our strength
and durability." '-I yield to no one in attach
ment to that rule of general suffrage which dis
tinguishes our policy as a nation. Iiut there is a
limit wisely observed hitherto, which makes the
ballot a privilege and a trust.and which requires
of some classes a time suitable for probation and
preparation To give it indiscriminately to a
now class, wholly unprepared, bv previous habits
and opportunities, to penorm t ie trust which it 1
demands, is to degrade it, and finally to destroy 1
its power: for it mav he safely assumed that no
political truth is better established than that such :
indiscriminate and all-embracing extension of :
popular suffrage must end at last in its overthrow
a fid destruction."
I repeat the expression of my willingness to
join in any plan within the cope of our constitu
tional authority which promises to better the con
dition of the negroes in the South. by encouraging
them in industry, enlightening their minds, im
proving their morals, and giving protection to all
their just rights as freedinen. Iiut the transfer
of our political inheritance to them would, in my
opinion, be an abandonment ot a dutv which we
owe alike to the memory of our fathers and the
rights of our children.
The plan of putting the Southern States whol
ly, and the General Government partially, into
the hands of the negroes, is proposed at rtne
peculiarly unpropitious. The foundations of so
ciety have been broken up by civil war. Indus
try must be reorganized, justice re-established,
public credit maintained, and order brought out
of confusion To accomplish these ends would
require all the wisdom and virtue of the great men
who formed our institutions originally. I confi
dently believe that their descendants will be e
qual to the arduous task before them, but it is
worse than madness to expect that negroes will
perform it for us. Certainly we ought not to ask
their assistance until we despair of our own com
petency. The great difference between the two races in phy
sical, mental, and moral characteristics will pre
vent an amalgamation or fusion of them together
in one homogeneous mass If the inferior obtains
the ascendancy over the other, it will govern with
reference only to its own interest for it will re
cognize no common interest and create sueh a
tyranny as this continent has never yet witnessed.
Already the negroes are influenced by promises
of oonfi.nfinn nrl nlunder They are taught to
regard as an enemy every white man who has any
respect for the rights of bis own race. If thiseon- j
tinues, it must become worse and worse, until all j
order will be subverted, all industry cease, and
the fertile fields of the South grow up into a wil- j
1 .... . L : t. .... nn,:An Una
uerness. Uf all the dangers wuicu uur uonuu uv.
yet encountered, none are equal to those which
must result from the success of theeffort now mak
ing to Africanize the half of ourcountry.
I would not put considerations ot money in
competition with justice and right. But the ex-
penses incident to -'reconstruction" unaenuurjo- :
tem adopted by Congress aggravate what 1 regar- i
ded as the intrinsic wrong of the measure tlr
It has cost uncounted millions already, and if
persisted in will add largely to the weight -
ation, already too oppressive to be borne without
just complaint, and may finally reduce the trea
sury of the nation to a condition of bankruptcy. 1
We must not delude ourselves. It will requird a
strong standing army, and probacy more than
two hundred millions of dollars per annum, to
maintain the supremacy of negro gbvernments af ;
ter they are established. The sum thus thrown
away would, ir properly used, form a sinking
fund large enough to pay the whole national debt
in less than fifteen years.. It U vain to hope that
negroes will maintain their ascend anoy them
selves. Without military power they are wholly
incapable of holding in eubjeotion the white peo
p'e of the South.
I submit to the judgment of Congress whether
the public credit may not be injuriously affected
by -i system of measures like this. With our debt,
and the vast private interests which are compli
cated with it, we cannot be too cautious of a pol
icy which might, by posibility. impair the confi
dence of the world in our Gevernment. That eon'
fidence can only be retained by carefully incul
cating the principle of justice and honor on the
popular mind, and by the most unscrupulous fi
delity to all our engagements of every sort. Any
serious breach of the organic law, persisted in for
a considerable time, cannot but create fears for
the stability of our institutions. Habitual viola
tion of prescribed rules, which we bind ourselves
to observe, must pemoralize the people Uur on
ly standard of civil duty being set at naught, the
gheet-nnchor of our political morality is lost, the
public conscience swings from its moorings, and
yields to every impulse of passion and interest.
If we repudiate the Constitution, we will not be
expected to care much for mere pecuniary obli
gations. The violation! of such a pledge as we
made on the 221 day of July. 1361, will assuredly
diminish the market value of our other promises.
Besides, if we now acknowledge tbattbe national
debt was created, not to hold the States of the U
nion, as the tux payers were led to suppose, but
to expel them from it and hand them over to be
governed by negroes, the moral duty to pay it
may stem much less clear. I say it may seem so;
for I do. not admit that this or any other argu
ment in favor of repudiation can be entertained
as sound ; but its influences on some classes oi
minds may well be apprehended. The financial
honor of a great commercial nation, largely in
debted, and with a republican forin of govern
ment administered by the agents of the popular
choice, is a thing of such delicate texture, and
the destruction of it would be followed by such
unspeakable calamity, that every true patriot
must desire to evoid whatever might expose it to
the slightest danger.
The great interests of the country require ioi
medtate relief from these enactments Business
in the South is paralysed by a sense of general
insecurity, by the terror of confiscation, and the
dread of negro supremacy. The Southern trade,
from which the North would have derived sogr?at
a profit under a government of lawtill languishes,
and can never be revived until itceases to be fet
tered by the arbitrary power which makes all its
operations unsafe. That rich country the richest
in natural "resources the world ever saw is worse
than lost if it be not soon placed under the pro
tection of a free Constitution. Instead of being,
as it ought to be, a source of wealth and power, it
will bcome an intolerable burden upon the rest
of the nation.
Another reason for retracing our steps will
doubtless be seen by Congress in the late manifes
tations of public opinion upon this subject. We
live in a country where the popular will always
enforces obedience to itself, sooner or later. It is
vin to think of opposing it with anything short
oflegal authority, backed by overwhelming force
It cannot have escaped your attention that from
the day on which Cjngress fairly and foiinally
presented the proposition to govurn the Soathern
Stvtes by military force, with a view to ultimate
establishment of negro supremacy, every expres
sion of the general sentiment has been more or
less adverse to it. The affections of this genera
tion cannot be detached from the institutions of
their ancestors. Their determination to preserve
the inheritance of free government in their own
hands, and transmit it undivided and unimpaired
to their own posterity, is too strong to be success
fully opposed Every weaker passion will disap
pear before that love of liberty and law for which
the American people are distinguished above all
others in the world.
How far theduty of the President, "to preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution," requires
him to go in opposing an unconstitutional act of
Congress, is a very serious and important ques
tion. on which I have deliberated much, and felt
extremely anxious to reach a proper conclusion
Where an act has been passed according to the
forms of the Constitution by the supreme legisla
tive authority, and is regularly enrolled among
the public statutes of the country, Executive re
sistance to it, especially in times of high party ex
citement, would bo likely to produce violent col
lision between the respective adherents of the two
branches of the government. This would be sim
ply civil war, and civil war must be resorted to
only as the last remedy for the worst of evils.
Whatever might tend to provoke it should be most
carefully avoided. A faithful and conscientious
Magistrate will concede very much to honest error
and something even to perverse malice, before he
wilt endanger the public poace ; and he will not
adopt forcible measures, or such as might lead to
force, as long as those which are peaceable remain
open to him or to his const itutents It is troe that
cases may occur in which the Executive would be
compelled to stand on its rights, and maintain
them, regardless of all consequences. If Con
gress should pass an act which is not only in pal
pable conflict with the Constitution, but wilt oer
tainly, if carried out. produce immediate and ir
repurable injury to the organic structure of the
Government, and it there be neither judicial rem
edy for the wrongs it inflicts.nor power in the peo
ple to protect themselves without the aid of their
elected defender- if, for instance, the Legislative
Department should pass an act even through all
the forms of law to abolish a oo-ordinate Depart
ment of the Government in nuch a case the Pres
ident must take the high responsibilities oC his
office, and sa e the life of the nation at all haz
ards. The so-called reconstruction acts though
as plainly unconstitutional as any thatcan be im
agined, were not believed to be within the class
last mentioned. The people were not who. ly dis
armed of the power of scif defense. In all the
Northern States they still held in their hands the
sacred right of the ballot, and it was safe to be
lieve that in due time they would come to the rescue
of their own institutions It gives me pleasure to
add that the appeal to our common constituents
was not taken in vain, and that my confidence in
their wisdom and virtue soems not to have been
misplaced.
. It is well and publicly known that enor
mous frauds have been perpetrated on the
Treasury, and that colossal fortunes have
been made at the public expense. This spe
cies of corruption has increased, is increas
ing.and if not diminishes will soon bring us
into total ruin and disgrace. The public cred
itors and the taxpayers are alike interested
in an honest administration of the finances,
and neither class will long endure the laree-
handed robberies ot the recent past, ror
this discreditable state of things there are
several causes. Some of the taxes are so
laid as to present an irresistable temptation
to evade payment. The great sums which
officers may win by conuivance at fraud cre
ate a pressure which is .more than the vir
tue of many can withstand; and there can be
no doubt that the open disregard of consti
tutional obligations avowed by some of the
highest and influential men in the country
has greatly weakened the moral tense of
those who serve in subordinate places. The
expences of the United States, including in
terest on the public debt, are more than
six times as much as thev were seven years
ago. To collect and disburse this vast amount
requires careful supervision as well as syste
matic vigilance. The system never perfected,
was much disorganized by the "Tenure of ;
Office Bill," which has almost destroyed of
ficial accountability. The President may be ,
pable, dishonest, or unfaithful, to thri Corr
stitutiou, but under the law which I have
named, the utmost he can do is to complain
to the Senate, and ask the privilege ol sup-T
rilvino- his llnre with a lipttpr man. . It tha
Senate be regarded as personally or politi
cally hostile ti the I'residei.t, it is natural, .
and not altogether unreasonable, for the of
ficer to expeet that it will take his part as
far as possible, restore him to his place, and ,
give him a triumph over his Exeouiive su
perior. . Iheomccr has other chances of im- ,.
punity arising from accidental defects of ev
il.nu tli iiirtilk 4f ifiuii.Lt ifratiutr it. anil
the secrecy cf the hearing. It is wonderful ,
that official malfeasance should become bold -in
urooortion as the delinquents learn to
tnink themselves sate. I am ent irely per
suaded that under such a rule the President :
cannot perlonn the great duty assigned to ,
him of seeing the laws faithfully , executed, ,
and that it disables him most especially
from enforcing that rigid accountability
which is necessary to the due execution of
the revenue laws.
lhe Constitution invests the 1'rcsidehfc
with authority to decide whether a removal ,
should be made in any given case ; the act
of Congress declares, in substance, that ho
shall only tuauic such as he supposes to be
unworthy of trust. The Coust it ution makes '
him sole judge in the premises ; but the'
statute takes away his jurisdiction, transfers .
it to the Senate, aud leaves him nothing
but the odious and sometimes impractica
ble duty of becoming a prosecutor. Tho
prosecution is to be conducted before a tri
bunal whose members are not, like him, re
sponsible to the whole people, but to sepa-'
rate constituent bodies, and who may hear
his accusation with great disfavor. The
Senate is absolutely without any known
standard cf decision applicable to such A
case. Its judgment cannot be anticipated,
for it is not governed by any rule. The law.
Llk'U VJV.I1 111 1 V V U V .J. . VW . U V V. -'.. . V. fjVW.
cause for removal. It is impossible even to
conjecture what may or what may not be to
considered by the Senate. The nature of the
subject forbids clear proof. It the charge be "
incapacity, what evidence will support it?.
Fidelity to lhe Constitution may be utider- ",
stood or misunderstcod in a thousand jdiffeP
ent ways, aud by violent party men, in vio--
lent party times, unfaithfulness to the Con- '
stitution. may even come to be considered f
meritorious. If the officer be accused of ,
dishonesty, how shall it be made out? Will
it lie inferred from acts unconnected " with
public duty, from private history, or from '
general reputation ? Or mnst the President
await the commission of an actual misde-"
meanor iu office ? Shall he, in the mean-
time, risk the character and interest of tho
Nation in the hands of. men to whom ho
cannot give his confidence? Must he Iter
bear his complaint until the mischief is
done and canuot be prevented ? If his zeal
in the public service should impel him tdan1 ' '
ticipate the overt act, must he move at the
peril of being tried himself for the offense
of slandering his subjrdinate? In the pres
ent circumstance of the country-, some one
must be held responsible for official delin
quency of every kind. It is extremely diffi
cult to say where that responsibility should ,
be thrown, if it be not left where it has been '
placed by the Constitution. But all just t
men will admit that the President ought t4
be entirely relieved from such responsibil- '
ity. if he canuot meet it by reason of re- '
strict ions placed by law upon his action.
The unrestricited power of removal from
office is a very great one to be trusted even
to a Magistrate chosen by the general suf
frage of the whole people, and accountable
directly to them for his acts. It is uudoubtr
edly liable to abuse, and at some periods of
our history perhaps has been abused. If it
be thought desirable and constitutional that
it should be so limited as to make the Prca-
ident merel. a common informer against
other public asrents, he should at least bd
permitted to act in that capacity before -some
open tribunal, independent of party '
politics, ready ' to investigate the merits of
every case, furnished with the means of tak
ing evidence, and bound to decide accor
ding to jtablished rules. This would guar
antee the safety of the accuser when he acts
in good faith, and at the same secure the
rights of the other party. I speak of course
with all proper respect for the present Sen
ate, but it does not seem to me that any
legislative body can bo so constituted as to
insure its fitness for these functions. .
It is not the theory of this Goverrment
that public offices are the property of those ,
who hold them. They are given merely as '
a trust for the public benefit, sometimes for
a fixed period, sometimes during good be
havior, but generally they are liable to Iks
terminated at the pleasure of the appoint
ing power, which represents the collective,
majesty and speaks the will of the people.
The forced retention in office of a single,
dishonest person may work injury to the
public interests. The danger to the public
comes not from the power to remove, but
from the power to appoint Therefore it
was that the framers ot tue ocmstuution
left the power of removal unrestricted.while
they gave the Senate a right to reject all,
appointments which, in its opinion, were
not fit to be made. , . , .
A little reflection on this subject will prob
ably satisfy all who have the good of the
country at heart that our best course is to
take the Constitution for our guide, walk in
in the path marked out by the founders of
the Republic, and obey the rules made sa
cred by the observance of our great prede
cessors. The present condition of our finances and
circula ting medium is one to which your ear
ly consideration is invited. -
The proportion which the currency of any
country should bear to the whole value of
the annual produce circulated by its means