®|e Democrat. IIARVEY SIUKLER, Editor. TUNKHANNOCK. PA Wednesday, Dec. 13, 1865. /yWe, this week, present the Democrat lo its readers, dressed in a new suit of clear readable type. That on which we have printed our paper for the past lour and a half years, had come to be considerably the 'worse for wear" ; so that with- our best ef forts and under the most favorable circum stances —all printers at least uuderstand "Cmunislances " —our paper lacked that n iatness and clearness in type which we de sired. In short;new type was necessary. We procured it. The improved appear ance of* our paper speaks for itself. There is one thing further we_desire the tvpesto say. It is, that type, paper, ink, and labor in these times, are all verv ex pensive articles. And in order that a pa per may live, move, and have a being, its friends must pay up their subscriptions promptly, lieady pay is the veiv life blood of every paper. We hope to receive such .encouragement; from our friends as will enable us, at the close of the present volume, to considerably enlarge our paper. Besides furnishing new type to the paper, we have recently made large additions to the j-b type of our olfice. We have in curred debts for these improvements whicn must be paid. Will our friends aid us in this, bv sending in their job work, Adver tising and Subscriptions? At least will thev pay us what they owe us? Congress—Formal Introduction of Sambo Congress convened on Monday 4th. None of the Southern members were ad mitted, t.ot even "loyal" Maynard ofTennes see, the home of the President; all were <. xcluded and debate chopped off with a vim that shows clearly that the original seces sionists —the descendants of the Hartford Blue Lights—arc determined to prevent a union, ifpossible. The organization was effected by the elections of the ill officers. This done Sauibo was next introduced in the Senate by Ben. Wade,in a bill conferring upon him the right of suffrage in the District of Co lumbia. —Mr Suuiner introduced — '-A bill to preserve the right of trial by jury,which provides tb.it grand juries shall consist one half of persons of African descent in sections were one sixth of the population are Africans, and the same propor tion in petit juries, where the matter tried relates t> any injuries inflicted by a person of African de scent Upon a person not of such descent, or vice ver for chairenge-ireNtWdßrfß'.h race is made ground The bill was ordered to be printed Sumner introduced the following form of an oath. 'I do hereby swear that I will at alltiines hereafter use my best endeavors to maintain a republican form of government in ihe State of which 1 am an inhabi tant and in the Union of the United States ; that I wiil at nil times recognize the indissoluble unity of the republic, and will always discountenance and re sist any endeavor to break away or secede from thej Union ; that 1 will give my influence and vote at 0 1 times to sustain the national credit; thai I will al ways discountenance and icslst any attempt, direct ly or indirectly, to repudiate or postpone, either in any part or in any way, the debt which was contract ed bp tiie United States in subduing the rebellion, or the obligations assumed to the I nion that I will always discountenance and resist any lvws making any distinction of color or race, and that in ail ways 1 will strive to maintain a State Govern ment completely loyal to the Union, where all men shall enjoy cq ual protection and equal rights." The bill was ordered to bej printed. Sumner also offered a bill to enforce the constitutional amendment, and another to confer the right of suffrage on negroes in Washington. That!, Stevens, in the House, offered the following joint resolution : That a joint committee of fifteen shall be apjwint ed nine of whom shall be members of the House and six of tho Senate,who shall inquire into the condi lions of the States which formed the so called Confederate States of America, and report whether they or auy of them are entitled to bo represented iu either Hou.-e • f Congress, with leave to report 3t any time by bill orotberwise, and until such report shall have been made and finally acted upon by Congress, to member shall he received in either ilouso from any 11'ttie II Kelley of Philadelphia, also intro duced his friend and associate, Sambo, to the house. THE LADY'S FRIEND —The publisher of this beautiful magazine have issued a mag nificent number for January. The steel en graving. "THE FORREST GLEANER," *is a. perfect gem of beauty. We do not know where the publishers of the Lady's Friend g"t such beautiful designs for their cngrav ieg-j. Then we have a gorgeous colored plate, "THE HAND BANNER SCREEN IN CHENILLE ON VELVET." which the ladies say is magnificent. The LARGE DOUBLE COLORED STEEL FASHION PLATE is as usu al superb —we had almost said unequalled Another engraving, called "Stephen Whar ton's Will," which illustrated a fine story, is very suggestive. Then we have a beau tiful plate of Children skating, Jhtended to illustrate the winter styles of children's clothing; with numerous other plates il lustrating llair Nets, Winter Dresses, Bor ders for Jackets, various new styles of Bon nets, Winter Casaques, Paletots, Jackets Embroidery, Chemises, Night Dress, An cient Head Dresses, Patchwork, &c. &c. Address Deacon & Peterson, 319 Wal nut Street, Philadelphia. FIRST ANNUAL MESSAGE OF ANDREW JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Fsllow- Citizens of (ht*Ser>ale and House of Representatives : To express gratitude to God, in the name < of the People, for the preservation of tire j United States is my first duty in addresing you. Our thoughts next revert to the- death of the late President by an act of parrici dal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh ; it finds some solace in the consider ation that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the Chief Magistracy, to which he had been elected ; that he brought the civil war substantially to a close; that his loss was deplored in all parts ot the Union ; and that foreign nations have ren dered justice to his memory. Ilis removal has cast upon me a heavier weight of cares than ever devolved upon any one of his predecessors. To fulfil my trust I need the support and confidence of all who are associated with me in the various depart ments of Government, and the support and | confidence of the people. There is but one way in which I can hope to gain their ; necessary aid, it is to state with frankness | the principles which guide my conduct, and their application to the present state of affairs, well aware that the efficiency of my labors will, in a great measure, depend on your and their undivided ap probation. The Union of the United States of Amer ica was intended by its authors to last as Ion" as the States themselves shall last.— ,4 TUE UNION SHALL HE PERPETUAL," are the words of the Confederation. "To FORM A MORE PERFECT UNIOX." by an ordinance of the people of the I nited States,is the de clared purpose of the Constitution. The hand Divine Providence was never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than in the framing and the adopting of that instru ment. It is beyond comparison, the great est event in American history ; ami indeed is it not of all events in modern times the most pregnant with consequences for every people of the earth ? The members of the Convention which prepared it, brought to their work the experience of the confedera tion. of their several States, and of other Republican Governments, old and new; but thev needed and obtained a wisdom superi or to experience. And when for this val idity it required the approval of a people that occupied a large part of a continent and acted separately in many district con ventions what is more wonderful than that after earnest contention and long discussion all feelings and all opinions were ultimately drawn in one way to its support ? The Constitution to which life was thus imparted contains within itself ample re sources for its own preservation. It has power to enforce the laws, punish treason and ensnro domestic tranquility. In case ot the usurpation of the Government of a State by one man, or an oligarchy, it be-, comes a dutv of the United States to make "oodthc to that State of a re publican form of government and so to maintain the homogeneous oi all. Docs the loss of time reveal defects ? A simple i7?ode of amendment is provided in the constitu tion itself, so that its conditions can always be made to conform to the requirements of advancing civilization. No room is allow ed even for the thought of a possibility of i,.. an end. And these powers of self preservation have been in serted in their complete integrity by every patriotic Chief Magistrate—by Jefferson and Jackson, not less than by Washington and Madison. The parting advice of the Father of his Country while yet President, to the people of the United States, was that "the free Constitution, which was the work of their hands, might be sacredly maintained and the inaugural words ot President Jefferson held up "the preserva tion of the General Government, in its con stitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad." The Constitution is the woik of "the people of the United States," and it should be as in destructible as the people. It is not stiange that the framers of the Constitution, which had no model in the past, should not have fully comprehended the excellence of their own work. Fresh from the struggle against arbitrary power, many patriots suffered from harassing fears of all absorption of the State Governments by the General Government. And many from a dread that the States would break from their orbits. But the very greatness of our country should allay apprehension of encroachments by the General Govern ment The subjects that come unquestion ably within its jurisdiction are so numerous that it must ever naturally refuse to be em barrassed by questions that lie beyond it. Were it otherwise the Executive would sink beneath the burden ; the channels of justice would be choked —legislation would be obstructed by excess ; so that there is greater temptation to exercise some of the functions of the General Government through the States than to trespass on their rightful sphere. "The absolute acquies cence in the decisions of the majority"' was, at the beginning of this century enforced by Jefferson "as the vital principle of re publics," and the events of the last four years have established,we will hope forever, that there lies no appeal to force. The maintenance of the Union brings with it "the support of the State Govern ments in all their rights ; but it is not the rights of any State Government to renounce its own place in the Union, or to nullify the laws of the Union. The largest liber-, tv is to be maintained in the discussion of i the acts of the Federal Government ; bnt there is no appeal from its laws, except to the various branches of that Government itself, or ti the people, who grant to the members of the Legislative and Executive- Departments, no tenure but a limited one, and in that manner always retain tbc pow ers of redress. "The sovereignty of the States is the language of the Confederacy, and not the language of the Constitution. The latter contnins the emphatic words : "The Con stitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, aud all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land : and the judges in every State shall be bonnd thereby, anything in the Con stitution or Laws of any State to the con trary notwithstanding. Certainly the government of the United States is a limited Government; and so is every State Government a limited Govern ment. With us, this idea of limitation spreads through every form of administra tion General, State, and municipal, and rests on the great distinguishing principle of the recognition of the right of man The ancient republics absorbed the indi vidual in the State prescribed his religion and controlled his activity. The American system rests 011 the assertion on the equal right of every man to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ; to freedom of con science, to the culture and exercise of all his faculties. As a consequence, tbe State Government is limited, as to the General j Government in the interest of Union, as to ' the individual citizen in the interest of freedom. States with proper limitations of power are essential to the existence of the Con stitution of the United States. At the very commencement, when we assumed a place among the Powers of the earth, tbe Decla ration of Independence was adopted by by States ; so also were the Articles of Confederation ; and whea "the people of the Uniicd States" ordained and establish ed the Constitution, it was the assnet of the States, one by which gave it vitality. In the event, too, of any amendment to the Constitution, the proposition of Congress needs the confirmation of States. With out States, one branch of the legislative government would be wanting. And, if We look beyond the letter of the Constitu tion to the character of our country, its ca pacity for comprehending within its capac ity forcomprehending within its jurisdiction a vast continental, empire is due to the system of the States. The best security for the perpetual existence of the States is the "supreme authority" of the Constitution of the United States. —The perpetuity of the Constitution brings with it the perpet uity of the States; their mutual relations makes us what we are, and in our political system their connection is indissoluable. The whole cannot exist without the parts, nor the. parts without the whole. So long rs the Constitution of the U. States endures, the States will endure; the destruction of the one is the destruction of the other ; the preservation of the one is the preserva tion of tlio other. I have thus explained my view of the mu tual relations of the Constitution and the States, because they unfold the principles on which I have sought to solve the nume rous questions and overcome appalling diffi culties that met me at the very commence ment of my administration. It has been mv steadfast object to escape from the sway of momentary passions and to derive a healing policy from the fundamental and unchangeable principles of the Consti tution . I found the States suffering from the ef fects of a civil war. Resistance to the Gen cial Government appeared to have exhaus ted itself. The United States had recover. e