PRESIDENT'S MESS A G E . rttw Citizens of the Senate and House Vr Representatives : The continued disorganiration of the Onion, to which the President has bo often eal'ed the attention of Congress, is yet a uWecl of profound and patriotic concern. W may. However, nnu iuiuu icni that anxiety in the reflection that the pain ful political situation, although untried by ourselves, 13 not new ia the experience of nations. Political science, perhaps as highly per fected in our own time and country as in any other, has not yet disclosed any means by which civil wars can he absolutely pre. Tented ; an nlightcncd nation, however, with a wise and benlftoent Constitution of fres government, may diminish their fre quency and mitigate their severity, by di recting all its proceedings in accordance with its funamental law. When a civil war bm been brought to a close, it is manifestly the first interest and duly of the State to ' renair the iniurios which the war has in- flictcd. and to secure the benefits of the leasnns it teaches, as fully and as speedily , as possible. This duty, was, upon the ter mination of tho rebellion, promptly accept. d, not only by the Executive Department, but tit the Insurrectionary States thera- .nmveg. and restoration in the first moment of peaco, was believed to be as easy asd : a. . . ll Mrna imliannllSllhllt. Th pint ctations. however, then so rea sonably and confidently entertained, were disappointed by legislation from which I felt constrained, by my obligations to the Constitution, to withhold my assent. It is, there, a source of profound regret that in complying with thcobligation imposed upon the President bv the Constitution, to give to Congress from time to information of the state of tho Union, I am unable to commu nicate any definitive adjustment satisfactory to tho American people, of the questions which, sinco the close of the rebellion, have agitated the public mind. On tho contrary, candor compsls me to declare that at this time there is no Union as our futhers un derstood the term, and as they meant it to h understood bv us. Tho Union which tthey established can exist only where all the States are reoresented in both Houses of Congress, "wnere ono State is as free as onother to regulate its internal concerjs according to its will," and where the laws of the central government, strictly confined to matters of national jurisdiction, apply with equal forco to all the pcoplo of evory sec. lion. That such is not the present "state of the Union'Msa meloncholy fact, and wo all must acknowledge that the restoration of tho States to the proper legal relations with the Federal Government, and with one an other, according to tho terms of tho origi nal compact, would be the greatest tempo ral blessing which God, in his kindest providence, could bestow upon this nation. It becomes our imperative duty to con sider whether or not it is impossible to ef fect lile niott desirablo ootiauininution. Tli Union and tho Constitution are iiieeperablo. As long s oue are obeyed by ail parties, the other will bo preserved ; and if ono is destroyed, both must perish together. The destruction of the Constitution will be fol lowed by other and still greater calamities. It was ordained not only to form a more perfect Union between the Suites, but to "establish justice, insure domestic tran quility, provido fur tno common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." Nothing but implicit obedi ence to its requirements, in all parts of the country, will accomplish these great ends. Without thut obedience we can look for-ar-l only to continual outrages upon indi vidual rights, incessant breeches of the public peace, national weakness, financial dishonor, the total loss of prosperity, the general corruption of morals, and the finul extinction of popular freedom. To save our oountry from evils so apaling as these, all mi 1.1 nor AUK afFiirtD IKTIlin flllll II fTflill. To me the process of restoration seems perfectly - plain and simple. It consists merely in a faithful application of tne Con stitution and the laws. The execution of the laws is nut now obstructed or obstruct, ed or opposed by physical force : there is no military or other necessity, real or preten ded, which can prevent obedience to the Constitution, cither North or South. All the rights and a'l the obligations of Slate and individuals can bo protected and en forced by means perfectly consistent with tha fundamental law. Tho courts may be everywhere open, and, if open, their pro cess would be unimpeded. Crimes against the United Stales cau b( prevented or pun ished by the proper judicial authorities in manner entirely practicable aud legal There is, therefore, no reason, why the Constitution should not be obeyed, unless those who exercise its powers have deter mined that it shall be disregarded and vio lated. The mere naked will of this Govt efnment, or of some one or mors of its branches, is the only obstacle. that can ex ist to perfect Union of all the. Slates. On this momentous question- and some of the measures growing out of it, I have had the misfortune to differ from Congress, aud have expressed my convictions without re serve, thoughftvith becoming dsference to the opinion of tho legislative Department. Those convictions are not only unchnngi d, but strengthened by subsequent ovetits nd further reflection. The transcendent importance of this subject will be a sufficient exouse for calling your attention to some of jhe reasons which have so strongly influ enced my own judgment. The hope that we may all finally concur in a mode if set. tlenent consistent at once with our true in terests, and wilh our sworn duties to the Constitution, is too natural and too just to be easily relinquished. It is clear to my apprehension that the fitates lately in rebellion ar still members of the National Union. When did they ceaBetobeio? Th) ' 'Ordinances of Se cession " adopted by a portion in most of mem a very small portion or tueir citizens were mere nullities. If we admit now that they were valid and effectual for the purpose intended by their authors, we sweep from under our feet the whole ground upon which we justitieu the war. Were those States afterwards expelled from the Union by the war T The direct contrary was aver red 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, waged for the prefervation of the Union, had the legal effect of dissolving it. The victory of the nation's arms was not the disgraoe of her nolier ; the doleat of Secession on the battle-field waa not the triumph of its law less principles ; nor could Congress, wilh or without the consent of the executive, do anvlbiue which would have the effect, di reotly or indirectly, of separating the States troti'eacb other. To dissolve the Union is RID G JOHN' F. MOORE, Editor fc Proprietor. to repeal tho Constitution which holds it together, and thafc is a power which does not beloug to any department of this government or to all of them united. Tuts is so plain mat it nas oeen ac. knowledged by all branches of the Fed eral Government. Tho Executive, my predecessor, as well as myself, and the heads of all tho departments have uni formly acted upon the principle that the TInion is not only undissolved, but in dissoluble. Congress submitted an anl endraent to tho Constitution to bo rati, fied by the Southern States, and accept ed their acts of ratification as a necessary and lawful exercise of their highest funotion. If they were not States, or were States out of tha Union, their oon- sont to a change in the fundamental law of tha Union would nave been nugatory and Congress in asking it commuted a n political absurdity. Tha Judiciary has also given tho sol emn sanction of it3 authority to the same view of the cafe. The Judges of the Supreme Court have included the South eru StaCes in their circu:ts, and they are constantly in lave and elsewhere, exer cif-ing jurisdiction which does not be long to them, unless those btates are States of the Union. If the Southern States are component parts of tho Union, tho Constitution is tho hw for them, im plies the co.relutivo obligation on our Dart to observe its limitations and exc cute guaranties. Without th&Constitu tiou we are nothing : by, through and under the Constitution wo aro what it makes us. We may doubt the wisdom of the law wo may not approve of its provisions, but we cannot violate it merely becauso it seems to confine our powers within liui its narrower than we could wish. It is not a qnestion ot individual, or class, or sectioual interests, much less of party predominance, but of duty of high and sacred duty, which we aro all sworu to perform. If we can support the Consti tution with tho cheerful alacrity of those who love and believe in it, wo must givo to it, at least, the fidelity of public servauts who act under solemn obligations and commauds which they dare not disregard. The constitutional duty is not tho only one which requires tho States to be restorod ; there is ano thei consideration, which, though of mi nor importance, is yet of great weight. OBJECT. OF THE LATE WAR. On the 22J day of July, 1861, Con. gress declared by an almost unanimous vote of both Houses, that the war should be conducted solely lor the purpose preserving tho Uuion and maintaimo the supreinocy of the Federal Constitu tion and laws, without-impairing tho dig. tiity, equality aud rights of the States or of individuals, aud that when this was dono the war should cease. I do not say that this declaration is personally binding on thoso who joined in makin it, any more than individual members of Congress are bound to pay a publio debt created under a law lor which they vot ed. But it was a solemn publio official pledge ot tho national honor, ana I can not imagine upon what grounds tho re. pudiatiou of it is to be justified. If it be said that we are not bound to keep faith with rebels, let it be reuiern bered, this promise was not made to reb els only. Thousands ot true men in the South were drawn to our standard by it, aud hundreds of thousands in tho North gave their live3 in tho belief that it would bo carried out. It was mado on tho day after the first great battlo of the war had been fought and lust. All pat riotic and iutelligeut men then saw the ueccssity of giviug such an assuranco, and believed that without it the war wo a end in disaster to our cause. Having given that assuranco in the extremity of our peril, the violation of it now, in the day of our power, would be a rude rend, iug of that good faith which holds the moral world together. Our country would cease to have any claim upon the confidence of men. It would make the war not only a failure but a fraud. Being sincerely convinced that these views are correct, I would be unfaithful to my duty if I did not recommend the repeal ot tho acts of Congress which place ten of the Southern States under tho domination of military masters. If calm reflection shall satisfy a majority of your honorable bodies that the acts re ferred to are not only a violation of the national faith, but iti direct jonflict with the Constitution, I dare not permit my gdlf to doubt that you will immediately strike them from the statute book. To demonstrate the unconstitutional charac ter of those acts, I need do no more than refer to their general provisions. It must be seen at oucc that they are authorized. To dictate what alterations shall be made in the constitutions of the several Suites ; to control the elections of the State legislators and State officers, members of Congress and electors of President and Vi:e Presideut by arbi trarily declaring who shall vote and who shall be excluded from that privilege j to dissolve State legislatures or prevent WAY, PEXXA. DECEMBER 12, them from assembl'.ftg ; to dismiss judg-1 es and other civil functionaries ot the State and appoint others without regard to State law ; td organize and operate all tho political machinery of the btates ; to regulate tho whole administration of their dotuestio and local affairs, accord ing to tho mere will of strange and irre- ponsible agents sent among them tor that purpose. These are powers not granted to trie Federal Government, or to any ono of its brunches ; not being granted, we vi olato our trust bv assuming thein as palpably as he would by acting m the face of a positive interdict, for the Con stitution forbids us to do whatever it docs not Affirmatively authorize,' even L ' .l ,. - I, 1 imnlliutim If the authority wo desire to use does not come before us through tho C onsti. tution, wc can exercise it only by usur patiou, and usurpation ia ono of the most dangerous of political ciimes. By that crime the enemies or tree government in all acts havo worked out their do. signs against public liberty and private right, it leads directly and immediate ly to the establishment of absolute'rule ; lor undelegated power is always unlnni ted and uurcstruiced. The acts of Congress in quostion arc not only objectionable for their assump tion of ungranted power, but mauy of their provisions are in conflict with tho airect prohibitions ot tho Constitution Ihe Constitution commands that a re. publican form of government shall be guarantied to all the fitates : that no per. son shall bo deprived of lite, liberty or property, without due process ot law ; arrested without a judicial warrant, or punished without a fair trial befora an impartial jury ; that tho privilege of ha beas corpus shall not be denied in time ot peace, and that no bill ot attainder shall be passed even against a single in. dividual. Yet tho system of measures established by these acts of Congress docs totally subvert and destroy the form as well as tho substance of republican government. In the ten States to which they apply it biuds them band and loot in al solute slavery, aud subjects. them to a strange and hostile power more un limited and more likely to be abused than any other now known among civil lzed men It tramples down all those rights'in which the essence ot liberty consists and which a free government is always most careful to protect. It denies the habeas corpns and trial by jury. Per sonal freedom, property tmd life, if as sailed hy the passion, the prejudice or the rapacity of the ruler, havo no secur. ity whatever. It has the effect of a bill of attainder, or bill of pains or penalties, not upou a few individuals, but upon wholo masses, including the millions who inhabit tho subject States, and even their unborn children. These wrongs being expressly forbidden, cannot bo constitutionally inflicted upou any por tion of our people, no .natter how tbey may have come within our jurisdiction, and no matter whether they live . in States, Territories or Districts. I havo no desire to save from the proper and just consequences of their great crime thoso who engaged in rebel lion against the government, but as a mode of punishment, the measures un I dcr consideration are the most unreason. able that could bo invented. JManv ot those persons are perfectly innocent Many kept their fidelity to the Union untainted to tho last.- Many wore inca pable of any legal offence. A large pro portion even of the persons able to bear arms were forced into rebellion against their will, and of those that are guilty with their own consent, the degrees of guilt are as various as the shades of their character and temper. But' these acts of Congress confound them all together in one common doom. Indiscriminate vengeance upon classes, sects, aud parties, or upon wholo com munities for offences committed by a por tion of them against the governments to which they owed obedience, was common in the barbarous ages ot the world. But Christianity aud civilization have made such progress, that recourse to a pun uhmeutso cruel and unjust we meet with the condemnation of all unpreju diced and right-minded men. The pu nitive justice of this age, and especially of this country, does not consist in strip. ping whole States of their liberties and reducing all their people, without dis. tinction, to the condition of slavery. It deals separately with each individual, confines itself to tho forms of law, and vindicates its own purity by an impartial examination ot every case before a com petent judicial tribanal. If this does hot satisfy all our desires with regard to Southern rebels, let us console ourselves by reflecting that a tree Constitution, triumphant in war and unbroken in peace, is worth iar more to us and our children than tho gratification of any present felling. 1 am aware it U asumed that this sys temcf covernmeut of tho Southern 18G7. VOLUME SEVEXXUMDER 40. Rtaics is not to be perpetual. It is true this military government is to bo only rovisionnl; but it is through this tem porary evil that a groatcr evil is to be made perpetual. If rthe guaranties of Constitution can bo broken provisionally to serve a temporary purpose, and in part only of the country, we can destroy them everywhere, and for all time. Ar. bitrary measures often change, but they generally change lor the worse. It is tho curse of despotism that it has no halting place. Tho intermitted exercise of its power brings no sense ot security to its subjects, tor they enn never know whit more they will bo call ed upon to enduro when its red right hand is armed to plague them again. Nor is it possible to conjecture how or where power unrestrained by law may seek its next victims. The States that are still free may be enslaved at any mo. uient, for if the constitution docs not protect all it protects none. It is ruanitestly and avowedly the ob ject of these laws to confer upon negroes the privilege ot voting, and to distran chise such a number of hito citizens as will givo the iotnier a clear majority at all elections in southern btates. 1 his to the minds of some persons, is so im portant, that a violation of the Constitu tion is justified as a means of bringing it about. The morality is always false which excuses a wrong because it proposes to accomplish a desirable end. We are not permuted to do evil that good may come. iut in this case tho end itseit is evil as well as tho means. Tho tub. jugation of States to negro domination would be worso than the military despo tism under which they are now suffering It was believed beforehand thut tho pco. plo would endure any amount ot military oppression for any leDgth of time, rath er than degrade themseWes by eubjeo tion to the negro race. Therefore they havo been left without a choice. Negro suffrage was established by aot of Congress, and tho military officers were commanded to superintend the pro. cess of clothing tho negro race with po litical privileges torn from white men. The blacks of the South arc entitled to be well and humanely governed, and to have the protection of just laws lor all their right3 of person and property; If it were practicable at this time to givo them a government exclusively their own, under which they, might manage their own affairs in their own wav, it would become a grave question whether we ought to do so, or whether common humanity would not require us to save them from themselves. But, under the circumstances, this is only a speculative point. It is not pro posed merely that they shall govern themselves, but that they shall rule the white race, make and administer State laws, elect Presidents and members of Congress, and shapo, to a greater or less extent, tho future destiny ot the whole country. Would such a trust and pow. er he safe in such hands ? The peculiar qualities whicn should characterize any people, who are ht to decide upon the management of publie affairs for a great State, havo seldom been combined. It is the clory of white men to know that they have had these qualities in sufficient measure to build npon this continent a great political fabric, and to preserve its stability for more than nine ty years, while in every other part of the world all similar experiments havo failed. But if any can bo proved by known facts: if all reasoning upou evi. dence is not abandoned, it must be ac knowledged that in the progress of na tious negroes have 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, wherev. er they havo boen left to their own de vices they have shown a constant teu deucy to relapse into barbarism. In the southern Mates, however, Con. press has undertaken to confer upon them tho privilege ot tho ballot. Just released from slavery, it may bo doubt ful whether, as a class, they know, more than their ancestors, how to organize and regulate civil society. Indeed it is admitted that the blacks of the South aro not only regardless of the rights of property, but so utterly iguorant of pub. lie affairs that their voting can consist in nothing more than carrying a ballot to the plaeo whero they are directed to deposit it. . I need not remind you that the exer cise of tho elective franchise is the highest attribute of an Aiuericau citi. zen, and that when guided by virtue, intelligence and patriotism, and a proper appreciation ot our free institutions, it constitutes the true basis of a Demo cratic form of Government, in which the sovereign power is lodged in the body ot the people. A trust artificially created, not for its own sake, but fcolely as a means of promoting the general welfare, its iuflucnue tor good must nec essarily depend upon the elevated char- acler aud true allegiance of the elector; it ought, therefore, to be -reposed in none exoept thoso who are fitted, morally and mentally, to administer it well, lor if conferred upon persons who do not jus. )y estimate its vulufi, and who are indif ferent as to its results, jt will only serve as a means oi placing power ip the hand of tho ambitious and, uupriuoipled,'and must eventually end in the oomplcte .de struction of that liberty of Much - ;it should be the uioct powerful conservator. I have therefore, heretofore, urged upon your extension that the great danger to bo apprehended from an uuliiuoly ex ternum ot tho elcouva trauouisedu any now class iQ our oountry, espeqiajl y when tho large majority of that class, in wielding the power thuspluoed in thoir hands, cannot bo expected correctly to comprehend tho duties and responsibili ties which portaiu to Boffiuge. Xester day, as it were, four millions of person were held in a coudition of slavery tbttt had existed lor generations, lodsy they aro Irecuion, and are assumed by law to bo citizens. It cannot bo pre sumed lroiu their previous conditiou of servitude that as . a class they aro as well informod as to tho nature of our government as the intelligent foreigner who makes our land tho home of hi choico . . . , In tho case of , the latter, neither a residence of five years nor the knowledge of our iustitutious which it gives, uor attachment to the principles of the Con stitution are tho only conditions upon which he cau be admitted to citizenship. He must prove, in addition, a good mo ral character, and thus give reasonable ground for the bolicf that he will bo faithful to the obligations which he as, sumes as a citizen of tho Republic Where a people, tho source of alt polit ical power, speak by the suffrages thr'o tho instrumentality of the ballot-box, it must bo caret ully guarded against the coutrol of thoso who are corrupt in priu ciplo and enemies of frco institutions, for it cau only beconio . to our political and social By stem a safe conductor of healthy popular sentiiuont when kept free from demoralizing influences.- Con trolled thr'o fraud and usurpation by the designing, anarchy and despotism must iuevitably follow. In the hands of the patriotic and worthy our government will be preserved upon the principles of the Couslitution iuhorited lrom our fath- ers. It follows, therefore, that in admit, ting to tho ballot-box a new class ot vo ters, not qualified for the exercise of tho eloctive frauchiso. we weaken our system of government instead of adding streugth and durability. -1 yield to no one in attach aent to that rule of general suffrage which dis tinguishes our policy as a nation. But ther e is a limit, wisely observed hither, to, which makes tho ballot a privilege' and suitable for probation and prepara tion. To give it indiscriminately to new class, wholly unprepared by previ our habits and opportunities to perforin, the trust which it demands, is to degrade it, and fiually destroy its power, tor it may be Bufcly assumed that no political truth is better established than that such iudiscrimiuirte and all.embraciug exten sion of popular suffrage must end at last in its overthrow aud destruction. I repeat the expression of my will.' ingncss to joiu i- any plan within the scope ot our constitutional aumoruj which promises to better the condition of the negroes in the South, by encode aging them in iadustry, enlightening their minds, improving their morals and , giviug protection to all their juat rights as freedmen. But the transfer of our political inheritance to them, would, iu my opinion, be an abandonment of a da ty which we owe alike to tho memory o our fathers and the rights of our child ren. The' plan of putting tho Southern States wholly,' and the General Govern ment partially, into tho hands of negroes, is proposed at a time peculiarly uu pro pitious. Tho louudations . of society have been broken up by civil war. In. dustry most bo reorganized, justice re. established, publio credit maintained,' and order brought out of confusion. To accomplish theso ends would require all the wisdom aud virtue of the gicat men . who formed our iustitutious originally.' I confidently believo that their descen dants will be equal to tho arduous task belore them; but it is tfor.se than madness to expect that negroes will perforin it fur us. Ccnainly we ought not to ask their assistance nutil we despair of our own competency. The great difference between the two races iu physical, mental end . moral characteristics will prevent an amalga mation or fubion of them together iu one homogenious mass. If tho interior ob tains the ascendency over the other, it will govern with rcfereuce only to its own interests for it will recognize no common interest and create such a ty ranny as the continent has never yet witnessed. Already the negroes are in fluenced by promises oi confiscation uud plunder ; they are taught to regard as an enemy every white man who has any ' respect lor the rights ot his own race. If this continues it must become worte and worse, uutil all order will be subver-: ted, all industry cease, aud the fertile fields of the South grow up into a wild. ' ertiess. Of all the dangers which -our nation has yet encountered, uoueare' equal to those which must result from ' the success of the effort now making to Africanize the half of our country. , ' I would uot put considerations of mo. , ney in competition hi justice and right j but the cxtH Dsesiucidtnt to recoosiiut-'
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