BY DAVID OVER.
PRESIDE.\n MICE.
Fef.'ow citizens of the Senate and of the
House of Representatives,
The Coas'itution requires that fbe Pres
ident.shall, from time to time, not only re
commend to the consideration of Congress
soeh measures as he may judge necessary
sud expedient, but also that he shall give
information to them of the state of the
Union To do this fully involves exposi
tion of all matters in the actual conditiou
•of the country, domestic or foreign, which
essentially concern the general welfare.
While performing bis constitutional duty
in this respect, the President does not
speak merely to express personal convic
tions, but as the executive minister of the
government, enabled hy his position, aud
eaiied upon by his official obligations, to
scan with an impartial eye the interest* of
the whole, and of every part of the United
.States.
Of the condition of the domestic int< -
est of the Union, its agriculture, mines,
manufacture?,navigation, and commerce, it
is necessary only to say that the internal
prosperity of the country, its eontianou"
and steady advancement in wealth and pop
ulation, and in privato as well as public
well being, attest the wisdom of our insti
tutions, and the predominant spirit of an
tellisrenco and patriotism, which, not wit lis
sjanding occasional irregularities of opin"
ion or action resulting front popular free
dom, has distinguished and characterized
the people of America.
In the brief interval between the teriui"
■cation of the last and the commencement
of the present session of Congress, the
public mind ha? been occupied with the care
of selecting, for another constitutional term
the President aud Vice President "of the j
United States.
The determination of the persons, who ■
are of right, or contingently, to preside ">ver !
the administration of the government, is, j
under our system, e oumittcd to the Stores '
and the people. We appeal to them, by '
their voice pronounced in the forms of law, |
to call whomsoever they will to the high
post of Chief Magi-hate. * \
And thus it is that as the senators rep
resent the respective States of the Union,
and the members of the House of Repre
sentatives the several constituencies of each
State, so the President represents the ag
gregate population of the United States.—
Their election of hiui is the explicit and
solemn act of the sole sovereign authority
of the Union.
It is impossible to misapprehend the
great principles which, by their resent po
litical action, the people of the United
States have sanctioned and announced.
They have asserted the constitutional
equality of eneh ar.d all of the State? of
the Union as States: they have affirmed the
constitutional equality of each, and all of
the citizens of the United States as citi
zens, whatever their religion, wherever
tbeir lirtb, or their residence; they have
nwintainedThe inviolability of the constitu
tional rights of the different sections of the
Union; and they have proclaimed tbeir de
voted and unalterable attachment to the
Union and to the constitution, as ohjtc's of
interest superior toall subject* of local or
sectional controversy, as the safeguard of
the rights of ail, as the spirit and the es
sence of the liberty, peace ami greatness of
the Republic.
Ia doing this, they have, at the same
time, emphatically condemned the idea of
organizing in these United States mere geo
graphical parties; of marshalling ill hostile
array from each other the different parts of
the country, North or Sooth, Last or West
Schemes of this uature, fraught with in
calculable ini-vliict, and wun-u the conside
rate sense of tha people has icjccted, could
have had countenance in uo parr of the
country, had they uot been disguised by
suggestions plausible in appearance, acting
-upon au excited state of the puhiic mind,
induced by causes temporary in their char
acter, and it is to be hoped transient ia
their influence. I
Perfect liberty of association for politi
cal objects, and the widest score of discus
sion, are the received and ordinary coadi
lious of government iu our country. Our
institutions, framed in the spirit of oonti
dence in the intelligence and integrity of
'be people, do not forbid citizens, either in
dividualiy or associated together, to attack
by writing, speech, or any other methods
short of physical force, the Constitution and
the very existence of tho Union. Under
the Bbeltor 0/ this great liberty, and pro
tected by the laws and usages of the gov
rroiLcut they assaii, associations have been
formed, iu some of the States, of iudividu
*l, who, preteuding to seek only to pte
v' ot the spread of the institution of slave
ry i#to the present ot future inchoate iiUtes
A Weekly Paper, Devoted to Literature, Polities, the Arte, Sciences. Ajric ilt ire, ke., Ac—'Perms; Two Dollars per annum.
- of the T nfon, aro really inflamed with .it--
J sire to change the dottffcstic institutions of
, existing States. To accomplish their eb
j Ji-cts, thoy dedicate themselves to the odious
I Hsk of depreciating the government orgati
•z-.ti-n which stands i„ M*ej r w ,iy, ntt ,l of
Calumniating with indiscriminate invective'
not only the citizens of particular State*'
with whosel.ws they dud fault, but *H oth
ers of their fellow citizens throughout the
country, who do uot participate with them
in their assaults upon the Constitution,
! rauied and adopted by our lathers, autl
claiming for the pt iviiogas it has scoured,
aud the blessings it h aß conferred, th*
steady support and grateful reverence o x
their children. They seek ati object which
they well know hi be a revolutionary ?ue.
Thy are perfectly aware that the change it,
the relative condition of the black and
white races in the slaveholding States,
which they would promote, is beyond tLeit
lawful authority; that to thru, it is a for
eign object; that it eaunot be pffacted by
airy peaceful instrumentality of theirs; that
for them, and the States of which they are
citizens, the onty path to its accomplish
ment is through turning cities and imaged
fields, and slaughtered populations, auti ail
there is Ernst terrible in foreign, complica
ted with civil and set vile war; and that the
first step in the ztteuipt is the forcible dis
rupt ioQ of a country embracing iu its broad
bosom a degree of liberty, and an amount
of individual and pubitc pi asperity, to
which there is no parallel in history, and
substituting iu its plaee hostile governments
driven at once and inevitably into u.utua'
devastation and fratricidal carnage, trans
forming the now peaceful and lelicitous
brotherhood info a vast permanent camp of
armed men like the rival monarchies of Eu
rope and-Asia. Weil knowing that such,
and such only, arc Hie means and she eouse
(juences of their plans and purposes, 'hey
endeavor to prepare the people of the L ot
ted States for civil war by doing everything
in their power to deprive the Constitution
and the laws of morel authority, and to
undermine the fabric of the Union by ap
peals to passion and sectional prejudice, by
indoctrinating its people with reciprocal ha
tred, and bv educating 'hem to stand face
to face as enemies, rather than shoulder to
It is by the agency of such unwarranta
ble interfeienee, foreign and domestic, that
the minds of many, otherwise good citizens,
have been so infl uied into the passionate
condemnation of the domestic institutions
of the southern St ites, as at length to pass
insensibly to alur.st. equally passionate iios
tility towards their fellow citizens of those
States,and thus finally to fall into tempo
rary fellowship with the avowed and active
enemies of the constitution. Ardently a;*
lachcd to liberty in the abstract, they <io
not stop to consider practically how the
objects they would attain can be accom
plished, nor to rifleet that, even if the evil
were as great us they deem if, they have no
remedy to apply, and that it Can be only
aggravated by their violence and unconsti
tutional action. A question, which is one
of the most difficult of all the problems of
social institution, poli'ical economy and
statesmanship, they treat wiilr unreasoning
intemperance of thought and language.—
Extremes beget extretries. \ ibtcht attack
from the North finds its inevitable cmisc
qnenco in the gtowth of a spirit of angry
defiance at ihe South. Thus in the progress
of events we had reached the consummation
Which the voice f the people lias now so
pointedly rebuked of the attempt, of a por
tion of the States, by a section it organiza
tion and movement, to usurp the control of
the government of the United S'.atoa.
I confidently believe that the great body
of those, who inconsiderately took this fa-
| i'l step, are sincerely attached to the Con- j
! >titution and the L'uion. They would, up
j on deliberation, shrink with unaffected hor
ror from any conscious act of disunion or :
| civil war. Bat they have eatorod into a
path, which leads nowhere, unless it be to
civil war and disunion, and which has no
other possible outlet. They hive proceed
ed thus far in that direction, in consequence
of the successive <tagcs of their progress
having consisted of a series of secondary ;
issues, each of which professed to he oon-
Sucd within constitutional and peaoefui lim- j
its, but which attempted indirectly what few
men were willing to do directly, that is, to
act aggressively against, the constitutional j
ri"hta of nearly one half of the thirty one |
e i
States.
In tb long erie of acts of indirect ag- |
srrcssion, the tifnt was the strenuous agita- '
tii.in, by oitixctis of the northern States, 111
Congress and out of it, of the question of
iteg{o emancipation in the Southern States.
The seeood step iu this path of evil con
sisted of acts of the people of the northern
Sutov, and in several iustanocs of their
| governments, aimed to facilitate tic escape
|ol persons held to Service iu the Southern
• states, and to prevent their extradition
> when reclaimed according to law and iu vir
i tue of express provisions of the OotiStitu-
I tion. To promote this object, legislative
; enactments ami other m-ius were adopted
| to take away or defeat ririit* which thecou-
I stitutton solemnly guarantied. In order to
nullify the then existing act of <Jniigrei
concerning the extradition of fugici'es from
j serviee, laws were euucteO in. many States,
: forbidding their officers, under the severest
| penalties, to participate in the execution of
i any act of Congre*a whatever. In ilu.-
Wuv that system of harmonious co-op.jraiiuu
1 between the authrrities-of the United State*
j and of the' States, for the maintenance of
! their common i'tistmumn.-. wmeh existed iu
; the early y, are of the Repubtic, was de-
I strayed; conflicts ot jUn.-uiction cumo to
| be froquetlt; and Congress found itself oou
--: period, foi tue sujiport of the Constitution,
aud the vindication of its power, to uuth- i -
ize the appointment of new officers charged
with the execution of its act?, as if they
and the officers of the States were the min
isters, respectively, of foreign governments
>u a state of mutual hostility, rather than
!e!,ow magistrates of u common country
peacefully subsisfljg under the protection
of one well constituted Union. Thus here,
also, aggression was followed by reaction;
and the attacks upon the Constitution at
utis point did but serve to raise up new
barriers for its defence and security.
The third stage of this unhappy sectional
controversy was in connection with the or
ganization of territorial governments, and
the aduiisniou of r.cw States into the Union.
V. hen it was proposed to admit the State ot
Maine, by separation of 'en-Dory from that
of Massachusetts, am! ;h Stale of M--mV:
ri, formed of a j rfrtion os the territory ce
ded by France to the United States, rep re"
sentu!ives in Congress objected to the ad
mission of the latter, AtAw with eondiriaije
suited to particular view? of public policv.
The imposition of such a condition was j
.successfully resi-ted. But, at the saute
period, the question was presented of im
posing restrictions upon the re-idtie of the
tenitoiy eeded h) France. That niicsttnii
wi s, for the tint , disposed' of by tie adop
tion ut n g' -graphic il Sine of liuii'.ilioi:.
In this cornice' ion it should be ITlU,'lu
be red, that France, of her own accord, re
.s( ive-', for considerate n.s of the most far
sighted sagacity, to e-de Louisiana to the
Ui iie l State.-, and that aci-es-ion was ac
cepted by the Unit d States, the latter ex
pressly engaged that, '-the inhabitant of
the ceded territory shall be incorporated in
the Union of toe doited States, and al
uiitted h.s coon t-s possible, according to the
principles of the Federal Constitution, to
the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages,
and immunities of citizens of the United
•States; and in the meantime they . aha!l be
maintained and proj-cted in the free en
joy merit of tbeir liberty, property, and the
religion jvhieh they profess"—that is t~> say
while it remains in a territorial condition,
its inhabitants are maintained and protect
ed in the free enjoyment of tlmir liberty and
property, with a right then to pass into (he
condition of States on a footing of perfect
equality with the original States.
The enactment, whi-h established the re
strictive geographical line, was acquiesced
in, rather than approved by the Stales of
the Union. It stood on the statute book,
however, for a number of years; and the
people of the respective States acquiesced
in the re-enactment of the principle as ap
plied to the State of Texas.
Thereupon this enactment to Lave
binding virtue iu any sense, whether as re
spects the North or the South; and so in
ettect it was treated on the occasion of the
admission of ilm State of California, and
tho organization of the territories of Now
Mexico, Utah and Washington.
Such was the state of this question when
the time arrived lor the organization of the
Territories of K msa and Nebraska Iu the
progress of constitutional inquiry and re
flection, it had now at length couic to be
seen clearly that Congress does not possess
constitutional power to impose restrictions
of this character upon any present or future
State of the Uuiou. In u loug series of
decisions, on the fullest argument, and alter
the most deliberate consideration, the Su
preme Court of the United ciiatos had final
ly determined this point, iu every form un
der which the question could arise, whether
as affecting public or private right?) iu
questions of the pblio domain of religion,
of navigation, and of servitude.
The several States of the Union are, by
force of the Constitution, ct-equal in domes
tie legislative power. Congress cuimbt
change a law of domestic relation in the
State of Maine; no more can it iu the State
of Mi-sourt. Any statute which proposes
BEDFORD. PA.. FRIDAY. DECEMBER 12. 18-5B
jto tfb this is a mere nullity; it ukea away
no right, if confers none. If it remains on
the statute book unrepealed, it remains
there only us a monument of error, and a
beacon of warning to the legislator aud the
statesman. To repeal it '-will be ouiy to
remove iwperfeutkut front the statutes, with
out affecting, either iu the sense of per
mission or of prohibition, the action of the
."Virtus, or of their citizens.
Siiil, when the n-.uiiiiai restriction uf thu
leiiuri*, already a dead letter iu iavv, was IU
terms repealed by the last Congress, iu a
clause of the act. organizing the Territories
ol iian-as aud Nebraska, that repeil was
made the occasion of a wtue-spieuU and
dau*erod ■ agitation.
It was adeged tn.t the original eiuctineut
being a compact ot pei'pc uai tiiorUi obli
gutiou, its repeal coltslivutt'd au ovtious
breach of faith.
Au uet of Uongress, while it rcutuius
unrepealed, more especially if it be con.-u
--tuiicnully Valid in the jtidgmeut of those
paLii ■ fuuctii.Tiuries whoso duty it is to pro
nounce on that point, is undoubtedly jiud
iug ou the conscience of eacn good citizen
of the Republic-. Rut iu what sense can it
be ussencd tli it the enactment in queSrion
was invested with pea entity and entitled
to the rc-spitet of a solemn compact? lie
I Ween wlum was the compact? Nodis.iuel
contending powers of the goveiumeni, no
separate sections of the Union, treating as
sUcil, entered into treaty stipulations ou the
-obj ot. It was a mere cl iase of an act of
Congress, ind like any other, oon roverteu
matter of legislation, receiveti its fir,a? shape
and w.ts passed by eomprounse of the con
flicting opinions or sentiments of the mem
bers of Congress. But it it i,ad moral au
thority over men's couscieuces, to Whom .iiii
this authority a finch' Not to those of (be
Nortli, who had repeat caiy a .-fused to coti
film it by extension, and who hud zealonsly
striven to establish other and, iecoinpatibte
ivgulatiabs upon tint sui j. jfc; And it, a.-
it thus appears, the supposed compact hud
no obligatory force as to ttie North, of
course it could not have had any as to the
feouth, for all such Compacts must be mutual
and of reciprocal i f,ligation.
It has not uuiivqucutly happened that
i-iw giver.-, wall undue estimation of the
value of ihe law they give, or in the view ot
imparting to i. poeu.ur strength, ui.ike it
poipetual in terms; Out tlity caUtiOl thus
Wud tlie coir-deuce, tr.e JUlgiu .-lit, and ttia
wilt ot those wiiu may siweeed them, in vest eu
with simitar responsibilities, aud dollied
won equal authority. More carefui investi
gation may prove toe iuw to lie unsound in
principle. hixporieuee lu.iy snow it to be
mipcil el in detail and impracticable in
execution. And then both reason aud right
combine not merely to justify, but to require
ns repeal.
Tue Constitution, supreme as it is over
ail the deparuueuts of tbe government, leg
islative, executive, ami judicial, is open to
ameuument by its vary term.-; ai:i(Jongre-s
or the Slates may, iu their discretion, pro
pose amendment to it, sulemn compact
though tt tutiuilt is between the sovereign
tvates of the Union. Iu the present mstauce,
a politicl euuetmeut, which had ceased to
have legal power or auihority of any kind,
was repeated. The position assumed, that
Congress had uo moral right to enact, such
tepeal, was si range enough, and singularly
o iu view of tbe fact that the argument
Came from those who openly refused ob
dieneeto existing 1 iwj of iho land, hating
tiie sauie papular and quality
as tfbmprnnii.se acts—uav, more, who uu
equivocally ds.-regarded ami eon damned the
most positive ami obligatory injunctions of
the Constitution itself, and sought, by every
lima its withiu their reach, to deprive a portion
of their felloweitizens of the equal enjoy merit
of ihoso right 3 and privileges guaranteed
alike to all by the fundamental compact of
oor Union.
This argument against the repeal of the
statute line in question, was accompanied
by another of congenial character, and
equally with the former destitute of foun
dation in rea.on and truth.
Of course, these imputations on the in
tentions of Congress in this respect, con
ceived as they were in prejudice, and dis
seminated in passion, ate utterly Destitute of
arty justification in the nature of things aud
contrary to all the fuu Jameutal doetriues
and principles of civil liberty and self gov
ern merit.
While therefore, in general, the people
of the northern States have never, at any
duir arrogated for the federal government
the power to interfere directly with the do
mestic condition of persons in the southern
Stares, Imt orr the contrary have disavowed
all such intcntious, and have shrunk from
I conspicuous affiliation with those Jew who
[ pursne their fanatical objects avowedly
, through the con tempi shad means of revolu
i tiouary charge of the government, and with j
acceptance of the rtcoess iry consequences,-
a civil arid servile war—yet many citizens
have suffered themselves to be dfar.'tj. into
<uo evatieseent political issue of agitation
after another, appertaining to the same set
of opinions, and which subsided as rapidly
as thoy arose when it came to b< seen, a
it uniformly did, that they were incompati
ble with the compacts of the Constitution
•tnd the existence of 'lit Union. Thus,
when <4ie acts of mine "f the States to nul
lify the existing extradition Jaw imposed !
upon Oonaress the duty of passing a new
one, the conn try was invited by agitators
to enter into party organization fro its re
peal: but that unitarian speeffilv ceased by
reuson of the impracticability of its object.
So, when the statute restriction upon the
institutions pf new States, by a geographi
cal line, had been repealed, the country
was urged to demand its restoration, aud
that pi - ji>et also died a'unst with its birth."
Then followed the cry of alarm front the
North, agatns ! imputed southern encroach
ments; vririob ery sprang it reality from tlie
spirit of revolutionary attack on the de
mes.tic iostitutiops of the South, and, after
a trouo.eu eaisUmce of a few months, has
been rebuked by the voice of a patriotic !
people.
Uf this last agifa'ion, one lamentable few- 1
ture was, thai it was curried oo • t the im- '
mediate expense of the peace and happiness i
of the people of the Territory c' Kansas.— !
That was made the battle-Sec 1 , r.0, n much®
of opf csmg factions or interests within it- |
self, us of the f asiiious of the;
wbole.j. ;op!e of the United States, llevo
iutionary disorder in Kansas had it? .rigir;
in proy-c f ititerv-iotion, deli beret eJy?ar- '
ranged by law for the organization of the j
Territory. And when propagandist colout- I
zation of Kansas bad thus been undertaken j
in one section of the Union, for ihe syste
matic promotion of its peculiar views of po
licy, there ensued, as a matter ot course#
a ciuiiier-acrion with opposite view?, in oth
er sectlous of the Union.
lii consequence of these and other inci
dents, many acts of disorder it is undent,
able, Lave perpetrated in Kansas, to the
oecas-onal interruption, rather tbxn the per
manent suspension, of regular covertrtr.cnt.
Aggressive and most reprehensible incur
sions into ..the Territory were undertaken,
both in the North and the South, and enter
ed it on its northern border bv the way ot
low a, as well as on the eastern tfy fay of
Missouri; and there has existed within it a
state <>f insurrection against the constituted
authorities tioi without countenance from
inconsiderate persons iu each of the great
sections of the Union.
Liiju'eu irregularities in the elections
had in Kansas, like occasional irregularities
of the saute description in the States, were
beyond the sph -re of action of the Execu
tive. 13ut incidents <>f actual violence or
of organized obstruction of law, pertinaci
ously renewed from time to time, have been
met as they occurred, by such means as
were available, and us the circumstance* re
quired; aud nothing of this character now
remains to affect the general peace of the
Union. The attempt of u part of the in
habitants of the T< iritory to erect a revolu
tionary govern inert, though sedulously eu
eouraged and supplied with pecuniary aid
from active agents of disorder in some of
the States his completely failed. Bodies of
armed men, foreign to the Tei ri'orv, have
been preveutei from entering or compelled
to leave i*. Predatory bands, engaged in
acts of rapine, under cover of the existing
political disturbances, have bocu arrested or
dispersed. And every well disposed person
is now enabled once uiore to devote him
self iu peace to the pursuits of prosperous
industry, for the prosecution ot" which he
undertook to participate in the settlement
of the Territory.
It affords me unmingled satisfaction thus
to anneum e the peaceful coalition of tilings
in Kansas, especially considering the means
to wtiicii it was necessary to b:tvo recourse
for tlie attainment of tl.e end, namely, the
employment of a part of Hie military force
of the Untied States. Toe withdrawal of
that force froui its pioper duty of dtf.nd
iug die country against foreign foes or the
savages of the frotiue.', to employ it for the
suppression of domestic mKurrectioh, is,
when the exigency <kwuf, a matter df the
most earnest solicitude. On this occasion
of imperative necessity it has beeu done
with the best results, and my satisfuctiuu in
the attuinmeut of such results by such
means is greatly euhauced by the consid
eration, that, through tire wisdom and ener
gy of the preseut Executive of -Kansas,
and the prudence, firmness and vigilance of
the military officers on duty there, tran
quility has beeu restored without one drop
of blood having beeu shed in iis accomplish
ment by the forces of the Uuited States.
The restoration of comparative trauqui'K
tv in that Territory furnishes the moans of
observing calmly, and appreciating at their
just v .lue, the events which have occurred
there, aud the discussions of which the gov
ernment of the Territory has been ttibj.tet.
We perceive that controversy coureruiug
its future domestic institutions was inevit-
| able; that no human prudence, no form of
■ legislation, no wisdom ou the part of U'ou
• gr,?s, couid have prevemed this.
ilt is idie to suppose that the particular
previs loos of their organic law were the
I cause of agitation. Tbo-e provisions were
j but the occasion, or the pretext of an agita
j tion, which was inherent in the nuUire of
things. Congress legislated u|tou the sub
ject in vuch terms as wete most consoaaut
with the principle ot popular sovereignty
which underlies our government. It could
not have legislated otherwise without doing
violence to another great principle of our
mstituuoos, the iuitnesciptkbie right of
equality of the several States.
We perceive, aLso, thai sectional iutirests
and party passions, have been the great im
pediment to the saiut.iry opcrsliou of the
organic prmYipies adopted, and the chief
cause of tUe suciitssivc disturbances iu Kan
sas. Tae assuuiptiou that because in the
o.l'gatiizaliou tf the Territories of Nebraska
aud Kansas, Congress abstained from im
posing restraints upon tbeiu to which cer.
luin other Territories had been subject,
therefore disorders occurred in the latter
Territory, is-eiuphaticaily contradicted by
the fact il.Ttuone have occurred iu the for
mer. Those disorders were not the conse
quence, iu Kansas, of the freedom of self
government conceded to that Territory by
Cougresz, but of unjost Interference on the
part ot persons not inhabitants of the Ter
ritory. Such interference, wherever it has
exhibited itself, by acts of insurrectionary
character, ot of obstraction to processes ot
lav, has betu repelled or suppressed, by all
the ui iatis which the Constitution and the
j laws p.lacn in the bauds of the Executive.
Iu those parts of tbc United States where
by reason of the inflamed stare of the pub
lie uiiud, false minors and misrepresenta
tions Lave the greatest currency, it has
been assumed that it was the duty of the
Executive Dot only to suppress insurree
tiouary movements in hut also to
seo to the regularity of local elections.—
It needs little argument to show that the
President has uo such power. All govern
ment iu the United States rests suhstauti
ally upon popular election. The freedom
ot elections is liable to be impaired by the
intrusion of unlawful votes, or the exclu
sion ot lawful ones, by improper influence*
by violence, 01 by fraud. 13 it tbc people
of the Uniied tSiates are themselves the all
suilicaiit guardians of their owu rights, and
to suppose that they will not remedy, in due
season, any such incidents of civil freedom,
Us to suppose them to have ceasod to be ca
pable ui self government. The President
of the United States ha* had to iuterpose
in elections to see to their freedom, to cau
vasi their votes, or to pass upon their legali
ty in the Territories any more than in the
plates. If he had snob p owcr the govern
ment might be republican ir. fcrni, hut it
would be a monarchy in fact, and if be had
undertaken to exercise it in the case of
Kansas, he would have hoen justly subject
to the charge of usurpation, and of viola
tion of the dourest rights of the people of
the United States.
Unwise iaws, equally, with irregularties
at elections, are in periods of great excite
ment, the occasional incidents of even the
freest and best political institutions. But
■all experience demonstrates that in a coun
try like ours, where the right <>f self con
stitution exists in the completes! form, the
attempt to remedy unwise legislation by re
sort to revolution, is totally out of place,
inasmuch as existing legal institu'ion afford
more prompt aud sfficaeious means for the
redress of wrong.
I confidently trust that now, when the
jcacefui condition of K*n*as affords oppor
tunity for calm reflection aad wise legisla
tion, either the legislative assembly ot the
Territory, or Congress, will see that no act
shall remain on its statute-book violative of
the provisions of the provisions of the Con
stitution, or subversive of the groat objects
; for which that vw ordaiucd and establish..
Ed, and will take ail other necessary steps to
i assure to its inhabitants the (inpayment,
without obstruction or abridgment, of all
the constitutional rights, privileges, and
immunities of oi'-ijeas of the United
•' as contemplated by the orgnnia Uw of the
| Territory.
i Full iiuformation in relation to recent
' events in this Territory vvili be found in the
documents communicated herewith from the
Departments of State and War,
I refer you to the report of the Secretary
of the Treasury for particular information
concerning the financial coalition of the
government, and the various branches of
VOL. 29, VO. 50.
| the public service connected with the Trea
sury Department.
During the last Esical year the receipts
from customs were, for the first time, more
f than Sixty-four million dollar?, and frotn all
sources, seventy-three million nine hundred
and eighteen thousand one hundred and
furty-oue dollars; which, witL the balance
j on band up io the tat of July, 1855, made
the total resources of the year to amount
toniucty.two million tight hundred and fif
ty thousand one hundred aud seventeen dol
j lars. Tlie expenditure?, including three
: million dollars in execution of the treaty
! w 'th Mexico, and excluding sume paid on
i ac.-ount of the public debt, amounted to
, sixty million one hundred and seventy-two
j thousand four hundred and one dollars; and
j including the Liter, to seventy-two million
I nine hundred and forty-eight thousand eeveu
j hundred aad aiuety-two dollars, the pay
j ment on this account having amounted to
; twelve millions seven hundred and seventy
six thousand tlriee hundred and ninety dol
liats. ■ \ •; I
Ou the 4th of March, 1853, the amount
of the public debt was sixtynlne million
one hundred and twenty Dine thousand nine
hundred and thirty seven dollars. There
was a subsequent increase ot two million
seveu hundred aud fifty thousand dollars for
the debt of Texas—making'a total of seven
ty one million eight buudred and seventy
' nine thousand nine-hundred and thirtvseven
j dollars. Of this the sum of fortyfive mil-
I lion five hundred aud twenty five thousand
three hundred,and nineteen dollars, iuolttd
; iug premium, has been charged, reducing
j the debt to thirty uiiihon seven hundred
! aud thirty seven thousand one hundred and
; twenty nine dollars, ail which might be paid
within a )ear without embarrassing the
j public service, but being act yet due, and
j only redeemable at tle option of the bold- '
i or, cannot be pressed to payment by the
i government.
On examining the expenditures of tho
i last five years, it will be seen that the aver
j age, deducting payments on accounts of the
I public debt and ten millions paid by treaty
J to Mexico, has been but about forty eight
million dollars. It is believed that, under
i ar economical administration of the govern
ment, the average expenditure fur the ensu
ing five years will cot exceed that sum,un
less extraordinary occasion for its increase
should occur. The acts grunting boui ty
lands will soon have been executed, while
the extension of our frontier settlements
will cause a continued demand for lands
and augmented receipts, probabiv, from that
source. These considerations will justify a
reduction of the revenue from customs, so
as not to exceed forty eight or fifty mill ion
of dollars. 1 think the exigency for such
reduction is imperative, jand again urge |f
upon the consideration of Congress.
The amount of roduotii.n, as well as the
manner of effecting it, are questions of
great and general interest: it being essenti
al to industrial enterprise and the publto
prosperity, as well as the dictate of obvi
ous justice, tLat the burden of taxation be
uia.de to rest as equally ns possible upon all
classes, and all sections a;td interests of tho
country.
1 have heretofore recommended lo your
consideration the revision of the revenue
laws, prepared under the direction of the
Secretary of the Treasury, and also legis
lation upon some special questions affect
ing the business of that department, more
especially the enactment of a law to pun
ift the abstraction of official hooks or pa
pers fro " the Clcs of the government, and
requiting all such books and papers and all
oilier pubiie property to be turned over by
the out going officer to his successor; of a
law requiring disbursing officers to deposite
ail public money in the vault* of the
treasury or in other legal depositories, whero
the same are conveniently accessible, and a
law to extend existing penal provisions to
all persons who may become possessed of
public money by deposite or otherwise, and
who shall refuse or neglect ou due demand,
to pay the same into the treasury. I invite
your attention anew tc each of these ob
ject*.
The army, during the past year, has been
so constantly employed against hostile lu
•liaus in various -quarters, that it oaa
scarcely be said, with propriety of fan
gunge, to have been a peace establishment,
its duties have been satisfactorily perform
ed, and we have leusou to expect, as a re
sult of the year's operations, greater se
curity to the frontier inhabitants than has
been hitlwrto enjoyed. Extensive combina
tions among the hostile Indian* of the Ter
ritories ut Washington and .Oregon, at ooa
tune threatened the devastation of the new -
ly formed settlements <Vf that remote por
tion of the country, Pram rucont informa
tion, we are permitted to hop* that
the energetio and successful operations
conducted there will prevent such combine
i:oue iu future, and secure tc those Terri
tories an opportunity to ntake steady pro
gress in the development of their agricul
tural and mineral resources.