The Greensborough patriot [December 13, 1867]

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1 i
THE GREENSBORO PATRIOT.* ... 'i.
Volume XXIX. GREENSBORO, N. C, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1867. Number 1,374.
THE PATRIOT.
PUBLISHED BVXRT FR1DATBY
D. F. CALDWELL,
EDITOR AND l'KOPRIBTOK.
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The President's Message.
of tin Senate and House
"f /,'■/■■■ .■ ntatives :
• ci i linued disorganization <>f the
hicli tin President has so often
Pidii ! tl attention of Congress, is yet a
• |>r ■: p ui'i an 1 patriotic concern.
ver, find Mime relief from
n Bed ion t bet the pain-ii
i] itioii, although before mi-en
i n 'I new in the expe-f
nation" Political science—p»*r-
- as highly | riveted in our own lime
a i] rountn as in anj ther—has not yet
disclosed any means bj which civil wars
ran be al I itelj prevented. An enlight-
. nation, ,, >w< v< r, with a wise benen-itiou
of free government, may
ijij.-ney and mitigate their
sevi ri y i directing all its proceedings in
wi'h its fundamental law.
..- ., en brought to a
lirst interest and
diitj ■•'.:•■ the injuries
which i and to seeure
the Is efil of the - - it. loaches as fully
1 ! . This duty
itiou of the rebellion
no! only by the Exe-cutive
<l bin by the insurrec-
- themsi Ives, and restoration
—in itofp ace, wasbeliev-wi
.-.-;. aud certain as it was in-dispensable.
The expectations however, then so rea-
» ably and confidently entertained, were
disappointed U\ legislation from which I
constrained by my obligations to the
Com to a ithhold my assent.
I; is. therefore, a source of profound re-thal
iu >• mplyiiig with the obliga-imposed
upoi the President by the
lion, to give t-> Congress from
to time information of the btate of
the Union. I am unable to communicate j Southern States are component
te adjustment, satisfactory to I the Union, the Constitution is the
fiartmeut. Those convictions are not on-y
unchanged, but strengthened by 6ubse-
! quent events and further reflection. The
j transcendent importance of the subject
: will be a sufficient excuse for calling your
• attention to some of the reasons which
j have strongly influenced my own judg-
I ment.
The hope that we may all fiially concur
in a mode of settlement consistent at once
with our sworn duties to the Constitution,
is too natural and too just to be easily re-linquished.
It is clear to my apprehension that the
States, lately in rebellion, are still mem-bers
of the National Union.
When did they cease to be so? The
"Ordinance of Secession," adopted by a
portion, in most of them a very small por-tion,
of their 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 justified the
war. Were those States afterwards ex-pelled
from the Union by the war? The
direct contrary was averred by this gov-ernment
to be its purpose and was so un-derstood
by all those who gave their blood
and treasure to aid in its prosecution. It
cannot be that a successful war, waged for
the prcserra'ion of the Union, had the le-gal
effect of dissolving it. The victory of
the nation's arms was not the disgrace of
her policy. The defeat of secession in the
battlefield was not the triumph of its law-less
principles. Nor could Congress with
or without the consent of the executive, do
anything which would have the effect di-rectly
or indirectly ofseparating the States
from each other. To dissolve the Union
is to repeal the Constitution which holds it
together, and that is a power which does
not belong to any department of this Gov>
ernment or to all of them united. This is
so plain that it has been acknowledged by
all branches of the Federal Government.
The Executive—my predecessor as well
as myself—and the heads of all the depart-ments
have uniformly acted upon the prin-ciple
that the Union is not only undissolved
but indissoluble.
Congress submitted an amendment of
the Constitution to be ratified by the
Southern States and accepted their acts of
ratification as necessary and lawful exercise
of their highest function. If they were
not States, or were States out of the Un-ion,
their consent to a change in the funda-mental
law of the Union would have been
negator}', aud Congress, in asking it com-mitted
apolitical absurdity.
The Judiciary has also given the solemn
sanction of its authority to the same view
ofthe case. The Judges of the Supreme
Court have included the Southern States
in their circuits, and they are constantly
in bane and elsewhere exercising jurisdict-ion
which does not belong to them, unless
those States are States ofthe Union. If the
parts of!
ality is always false which excuses a wrong i demands, is to degrade it
because it proposes to accomplish a desira- j stroy its power. Tor it D
bte end. We a"reinrot p^e.r'm"ii't"te?d.1to0 dHo« *«P?;i I r.„-r,,i'i *«kf1c. «p-»*•.•*-, «.™a £ csz \ irs: :;,;„ rs!
tablished than that such indiscriminate and
all-embracing extension of popular suffrage !
must end at last in its overthrow and de-!
struction. i
I repeat the expression of my willing-ness
to join in any plan within the sco|>e
Ot our constitutional authority, which pro-mises
to better the condition of the ne-groes
in the South, by encouraging them
in industry, enlightening their minds, im-proving
their morals, and giving protect-ion
to all their just rights as freedmen, but j
the transfer of our political inheritance to
them, would, in my opinion, be an aban-donment
ofa duty which we owe alike to
the memory ofour fathers and the rights of
our children.
The plan of putting the St -.Jiern States
wholly, and the general government par-tially
into the hands of negroes is proposed
at a time peculiarly unprcpitious. The
foundations of society have been broken up
by civil war. Industry must be re-organ-ised,
justice re-established, public credit
maintained, and order brought out of con-fusion.
To accomplish these ends would
require all the wisdom aud virtue of the
thorired to dictate what alteration shall be
made in the Constitutions of the several
States. T« control the election of State
Legislators and State officers, and mem-bers
of Congress and electors of President
and Vice President, by arbitrarily declar-ing
who shall vote, and who shall be ex-cluded
from that privilege; to dissolve
State Legislatures or prevent them from
assembling; to dismiss Judges and other
civil functionaries of the State and appoint
others without regard to State law ; to or-ganize
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 and irresponsible agents sent
among them for that purpose,—these are
powers not granted to the federal govern-ment,
or to any one of its branches.
Not being granted, we violate the Con-stitution
in the face of a positive interdict,
for the Constitution forbids us to do what-ever
it does not affirmatively authorize—
either by expiess words or by clear impli-cation.
If the authority we desire to use
does not come to us through the Consti-tution,
we can exercise it only by usurpa-tion,
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 immediately, to the establish-ment
ofabsolute rule, for ondelegated pow-er
is always unlimited and unrestrained.
The acts of Congress in question are not
only objectionable for their assumption of
inigranted power, but many of their pro-visions
are in conflict with the direct pro-visions
of the Constitution. The Consti-tution
commands that a republican 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 punished without a fair trial
before an impartial jury; that the privi-lege
ot fuibeus corpus shall rot be denied
in time of peace, and that no bill of attain
der shall be pu
individual. Yet
established by these acts of Congressd--es so . ipon evidence is not abandoned, it I come worse and worse until all order will
totally subvert and destroy the form as j must be acknowledged that in the progress he subverted, all industry cease, and the
well as the substance of Republican guv- • of nations negroes have shown less capac- fair fields of the South grow up into a wil-ernment
in the ten States to which they I ity for government than any other race of.derness.
apply. It binds them hard and fa>t iu abso- people. No independent government of: Of all the dangers which our nation has
lute slavery and subjects them toastrange any form has ever been successful in their \ yet encountered none are equal to those
and hostile power more unlimited and more hand-. On the contrary, whenever they j which must result from the success of the
likely to be abused than any other now i have been left to their own devices, they ' effort now making to Africanize tho half
known among civilized nun. j have shown a constant tendency to relapse , of our country.
tarbarism. In the Southern States, I I would not i
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 domi-nation
would be worse than the military
despotism under which they are now suf-fering.
It was believed beforehand that
the people would endure any am-sunt of
military oppression for any length of time
rather than degrade themselves by subjec-tion
to the negro race. Therefore they
have been left without a choice. Negro
suffrage was established by act of Con-gress,
and the military officers were com-manded
to superintend the process ofcloth-ing
the negro race with the political privi-leges
torn from white men.
The blacks in the South are entitled to
be well and humanely governed and to
have the protection of just laws for all
their rights ofpeanpa and property. If
it were practicable at thiB time to give
them a government exclusively their own
under which they might manage their
own affairs in their own way it would be-come
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
proposed 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 shape to a greater or less
extent the future destiny of the whole
country. Would such a trust and power
be safe in such hands?
The peculiar qualities which should char-acterize
any people who are fit to decide
and finally de- this subject. We live in a country when
may be safely ss-1 the popular will always enorce obedience
y.ii"l in \ .... — ._ 1 1 . '. Il' ■ m ■ . ■ er. It M vain to
think of opposing it with anything short
Mlegal authority barked by overwhelming
forte. It cannot have escaped your atten-tion
that, from the day on which Congress such a case.
a tribunal w!i se rr--moors tri r„ •
him responsible to the whole people, b i
to separate const!••io.it bodies, and i
may bI,ear Mu:.s. accusation with gr at d»s
Tor. Hie Senaf» is ah
known «<\n ford of ■! isl .n' ppl ,
will disappear before that love
great men who formed our institutions j Where an act has been passed aceorditi"
originally. I confidently believe that their to the forms of the Constitution by the
descendants will be equal to the arduous supreme legislative authoritv, and is rcu-
. -,. 'nay even c
of lil>erty , to be considered meritorious. If j,,
and law for which the American people are eer be accused of dishorn -:v how -I
distinguished above ail others in the world. I be made out ? Will it be ' int.. red
How far the duty of the President to piv-: acts unconnected with public duty i<
serve, protect and defend the Constitution, ' •■>•■•'•*'■■ -<
requires him to go in opposing any uncon-stitutional
act of Congress, is a verv seri-ous
and important question, <n whieh I
have dtiiberated much, and felt extremely
anxious to reach a proper conclusion.
task before them, but it is worse than mad-ness
to expect that negroes will perform it
for us ; certainly we ought not to ask their
assistance until we despair of our own
competency. The great difference between
the two races in physical, mental and mor-al
characteristics will persist an amalgama-tion
or fusion of them together in one
homogeneous mass. If the inferior obtains
upon the management of public affairs for j the ascendancy over the other it will gov-a
great State have seldom been combined, j ern with reference only to its own inter-
It is the glory of white men to know that i ests, for it will recognize no common inter*
they have had these qualities in sufficient ' est, and create such a tyranny as this con-measuro
to build irpon this continent a tinent has never yet witnessed. Already
great political fabric, and to preserve its j the negroes are influenced by promises of
stability for more than ninety years, while confiscation and plunder. They are taught
in every other par- of the world all similar | to regard as an enemy every white man
shed even against a single jexperimen's have tailed. But if anything j who haB any respect for the rights of his
it the system of measures can be i> cd f. known facts, if all rea-1 own race. If this centinues it must be-It
tramples down all those right in which into b: put considerations of mon-the
essence ot liberty consists, and which However, Congress has undertaken to con- ey in competition with justice and rio-ht
a free government jsalways most careful to f r upon them the privilege of the ballot. • but the expenses incident to reconstruct,
protect. It denies the habeas corpus and Ju»t released from slavery, it may be . ion under the system adopted by Congress
the trial by jury. Personal freedom, prop- doubted whether as a class they know aggravate what I regard as the intrinsic
erty, and life, it assailed by the passion, ; more than their ancestors how to organise wrong of the measure itself. It has eost
the prejudice, or the capacity of the ruler and regulate civil society. Indeed it is ad-; uncounted millions already, and, if persist-regu-larly
tnrollcd among the public statutes of
the country. Executive resistance to it,
especially in times of high party excitement.
would be likely to produce violent collision
between the respective adherents of the
two branches of the government. This
would be simply civil war, and civil war
must be resorted to only «s the last reme-dy
for the worst of evils, whatever might
tend to provoke it should be most care-fully
avoided.
A faithful and conscientious magistrate
will concede very much to honest error,
and something even to perverse malice!
before he will endanger the public peace,
and he wdl not adopt forcible measure-,
or such as might lead to force, so lone as
those which are peaceable remain open to
him or his constituents. It is true that ca-ses
may occur in which the Executive
would be compelled to stand on its rights
and maintain them regardless of all conse-quences.
If Congress should pass an act
which is not only iu palpable conflict with
the Constitution, but will certainly, if car-ried
out, produce immediate and irrepara-ble
injury to the organic struclt.ro of the
government, and if there be neither jadi
cial remedy for the wrongs it inflicts, nor
power in the people to protect themselves
without the official aid of their elected de-fender
; it, for instance, the legislative de-partment
should pass an act, even through
all the forms of law, to abolish a co-oi •
nate department ot the government
private story, or from general rc.'uYuK
or must the President awail the Cuini'
M* ii ot an actual misdemeanor in (,i!
Shan he, in the meantime,risk the oh»j|
ten and interest of the nation in the ha
ofmer,itojrhonvhe canooi givj his co
dencfl f M ust he forbear h>S complaint
til the mischief is done and can lot I.
vented? If his zeal in the public s( ;.v .
should impel him to anticipate the ovi
act, must he move at ti s peril o* I*
tned himself for the oflench of ilan-JwJ
bis subordinate ?
In the present circumstances ofthi i
try some one must be h< Id r. spo libJ.
official delinquency of every kind. It
the Am-rican people, of the questions j meat law for them as it is tor all the other j millions who inhabit the subject States and I more than carrying a ballot to the place a condition of bankruptcy. We must not plainly unconstitutional as any tlnu cai
the close ot the rebellion, have States; they are bound to obey it and so even their unborn children. Tluse wrongs where they are directed to deposit it. I delude ourselves. It will require a strom* be imagined, were not believed to b
mind. are we. The right of the Federal Govern- being^ expressly forbidden, cannot be con- I I need not remind you that the exercne standing army and probably more than within the class last mentioned. The peo-candor
compels me to ment, which is clear and unquestionable, ; Btitutionallj inflicted upon any portion of of the elective franchise is the highest at- two hundred millions ot dollars (#200,000,-' P1' were not wholly disarmed ofthe power
ime there is no Union to enforce the constitution upon them, im- | our people no matter how they may have [ tribute of an American citizen, and that 000) per annum to maintain the suprema- j "' self-defence. In all the Northern Stales
plies the correlative obligation on our part j come within our jurisdiction, and no mat-1 when guided by virtue, intelligence, patri- j ey of negro governments after thev are es- ! *hey still held in their hands the sacn '
to observe its limitations and execute its ter whether they live in States, Territories j otism, and a proper appreciation of our tablished. The sura thus thrown away "«ht of toe ballot, and it was safe to be-guarantees.
I or^districts. | free institutions it constitutes the trne ba-1 wonld, ifproperly used, forma sinking neve that in due time tbey would come to
»"g;
■;
ir fathers understood the term, and as
il to be understood by us.—
< which they established can ex-nly
win re all the States are represent-ih
il - of Congress: " where
•no State is as free as another to regulate
us ace- irding to its i wn
h re the laws of the central
;overiimeut, Htrictbj confined to matters
mil jurisdiction, apply with equal fine our powers
people of every s< ction.
Without the Constitution we are noth-[ I have no desire to save from the proper . sis of a democratic form of government in fund large enough to pay the whole na- the rescue of of their own institutions. It
by, through, and under the Coustitu-1 and just consequences of their great crime, \ which the sovereign power is lodged in the tional debt in less than fifteen years. It is g*ves me pleasure to add that the appeal to
tion we are what it makes us. We may those who engaged in rebellion against body of the people. A trust artificially \ vain to hope that negroes will maintain I our common constituents were not tak<
doubt the wisdom of the law, we may not the government, but as a mode of punish- j en ated, not for its own sake, but solely as their ascendendaney themselves. Without '" V!,il1- an''!''"1 '".v confidence in
approve of its provisions, but we cannot ment the measures under consideration'a means of promoting the general welfare; military power they are wholly incapable of! wisdom snd virtue seems not to bai
violate it, merely because it seems to con-j are the most unreasonable that could be i its influence for good must neesarny de- holding in subjection the white people of misplaced.
all t
Th the present " state of
. mel'iucholy fact, and w*
within
than we could wish.
th. ,i
e been
peoj'
limits narrower : invented. Many of those people are per- ; pend upon the elevated character and true the South. I submit to the judgment of I It is Well and publicly known that enor-fectly
innocent. Many kept their fidelity j allegiance of the elector. It ought, there- Congress whether the public credit may | mous frauds have been perpetrated on the
.
1
t
1 .■1
1 u !
■
to the terms of the
be the greatest
his kia
th
our iiiq erative duly
oi ii il i; is impossible
!-• ackno fledge that the restoration
i t the Si I eirpropi r legal relations
I •• I .1 ■ †.1 government and wi'h one
.
origi
• ich ' !od, in kiiid-
... 1 iII stow upon ibis
n c
lesirabl ci >nsummation.
;i vii . he onsti utiou are in-as
one is obeyed by all
oth ivill be pre- rved, and it
I both must perish together.
cl on nl t!i Constitution will
:ii.i stiii ' 'eater oal-lain
d n.il only to form
bet vi> -ii :h • States,
insure domestic
It is not a question of individual or class, to the Union untainted to tho last. Many fore, to be reposed in none except those not be injuriously affected by a system of
or sectional interest, much less of party j were incapable of any legal offence. A i who are fitted morally to administer it measures like this. With our debt and the
predominance, but of duty, of high and r.a-: large proportion even of the persons able well; for il conferred upon persons who vast private interests which are eomplica-cred
duty, which we are all sworn to per-j to bear arms, were forced into rebellion j do not justly estimate its value and who ted with it, we cannot be too cautious of a
form. If we cannot support tho Constitu- against their will, and of those who are are inihil'eront as to i's results, it will only policy which might by possibility impair
tion with the cheerful alacrity of those guilty with their own consent, the degrees serve as a means of placing power in the the Confidence oftbe world in our govern-who
love and believe in it, we raustgive to of guilt are as various as the shades of I Lands of the unprincipled and ambitious, meat. That confidence can only be regain-it
at Last the fid- lity of public servants, i their character and temper. and must eventuate in the complete de-' ed by carefully inculcating the principles
ligations and com-1 But these acts of Congress confound ; struction of that liberty of which it should of justice and honoron the popular mind,
them altogether in one common doom. In- be the most powerful conservator. and by the most scrupulous fidelity to all
I have, therefore, heretofore urged upon our engagements of every sort. Any se-whoact
under solemn ob
mands whieh tbey dare not disregard,
l'h constitutional duty is not the only
. , <^ i— — discriminate vengeance up >n classes, sects
one which requires the States t
ed. Th
though of minor importance, is yet cfgreat them against the governments
ich requires the States to be restor- and parties, or upon whole communities your attention the great clanger to be ap-' rious breach of the organic law, persisted
ere IS another consideration, which,! for offences committed by a portion of prehended from an untimely extension of in for a considerable time, cannot but cre-to
which the elective franchise to any new class in ate fears for the stability of our institu
W ■
i
1)1:
I;CI
I.
bi.i'i
ill :• ;
: -II do-
-
- i
■com| !ish these great
dience, we can
i. II :«
weight.
On the 22d day of July. 18C1, Congress
declared by an almost unanimous vote of
both Houses, that the war should be con-ducted
solely for the purpose of preserving
the Union, and maintaining the supremacy
et the Federal Constitution and laws, with-out
impairing tb ■ dignity, equality, and
;.' •■! the Mates,or «»f individuals; and
tin - was done the war should
; .' ise. 1 do Ui -a . ''" -i this
i- persoi.allj binding on thos
in making it, any more than individual
declaration
who joined
members of Congress art* personally bound
•nual outrages up- to pay a public debt created under a law
--•nit breaches ■ for which they voted. Bui it was a solemn, I competent judicial tribunal."
iv, national weakness, public, official pledge ofHlie national honor,, If this does not satisfy all our desires
the I >tal loss of our and I cannot imagine upon what grounds' with regard to Southern rebels, let us con-n.
uptioii ofmor- the repudiation of it is to* be justified, it it ; sole ourselves by reflecting thata freeCon-ilar
free- be remembered that this promise was not | stitution, triumphant in war, and unbroken
iu peace, is worth far more to us and our
children than the gratification of any pres-ent
feeling. I am aware it is assumed this
the North gave their lives in the beliefthat system of government for the Southern
it would be carried out. It was made on , States is not to be perpetual. It is true
the day after the first great battle of the this military government is to b;- only pro-war
had been fought and lost. All patri- ■ visional, but it is through this temporary
otic and intelligent men then saw the nee-1 evil that a greater evil is to be made per-itri
from evils so
ild i L*new • ur ef-
•
'ion seems
simple. It consists
; cation of the Con-aws.
ii:,% laws is not now
made to rebels only. Thousands of true
men in the South were drawn to our stan-dards
by it, and hundreds of thousands in
they made obedience, was common in the our country, especially when the large maj- tions. Habitual violation of prescribed
barbarous ages of the world, but Chris-{ority of that class in wielding the power I rules, which we bind ourselves to observe,
tianity aud civilization have made such placed in their hands, cannot be expected I must demoralize the people. Our only
progress, that recourse to a punishment so correctly to comprehend the duties and [ standard of civil duty being set at naught,
cruel and unjust would meet with the con-! responsibilities which pertain to suffrage. ' the sheet anchor of our political morality | obligati
damnation of all unprejudiced and right- Yesterday, as it were, four millions of per-; is lost, the public conscience swings from
minded men. The primitive justice of this eons were held in a condition of slavery j its moorings and yields to every impulse,
age, and especially ofthis country does not that had existed for generations. To-day I of passion and interest. If we repudiate
consist in stripping whole States of their they are freemen, and are assumed bylaw : the Constitution, we will not be expected
liberties, and reducing all their p«-pie, to b-citizens. It cannot be presumed from : to care much for mere pecuniary < bliga-without
distinction, to the condition of their previous condition of servitude that, j tions. The violation of such a pledge us
slavery. It deals separately with each in- as a class, they are as well informed as to : we made on the 22d day of July, 1801,
dividual, confines itself to the forms of law, the nature of our government as the Intel- I will assuredly diminish the market vnlueof
and vindicates its own purity by an im-, ligent foreigner wh
partial examination of every case before » home of his choice.
ter, neither a residence of five years and ) created, not to hold the States in the Un-tie'
knowledge of our institutions which it i ion, as the tax-payers were led to suppose,
gh.s. r.or at' "dim at to the principles of but to expel them from it and hand them
the '. ■ n -■ e the only conditions I over to be governed by negroes, the mor-upo!
be admitted to citizen- ! al duty to pay it may seem much less clear.
■ isi prove, in addition, a good \ I say it may seem so ; for I do not admit
makes our land the j our other promises. Besides, it we now
In the case of the lat-1 acknowledge that the national debt was
' .
I by physical force.
"r other necessity,
lich can prevent obe-in-..
- . and thus give reasonable J that this, or any other argument in favor
ground for the belief that he will be faithful of repudiation, can be entertained as sound;
to the obligations which he assumes as a but its influence on some classes of minds
ciiiz.n of the Republic. Where a people, j may well be apprehended.
tin- source of .11 political power, speak by ! The financial honor of a great commer-thcir
suffrage* through the instrumentality j cial nation largely indebted, and with a
of the ballot box, it must be carefully ] Republican form of government, adrainis-the
Constitution ; either North
- and all the obliga-iduals
can be pro-essity
"
lieved that without it the war would end
in disaster to our cause Having given
f giving such an assurance, and be- '■ petual. If the guarantees of the Constitu- guarded against the control of those who j tered by agents of the popular choice, is a
thing of such delicate texture, and the de-struction
of it would be followed by «ueh
unspeakable calamity, that every true pat-riot
must desire to avoid whatever might
expose it to the slightest danger. The
great interests of the country require im-mediate
relief from these enactments.
and6 of j Business in the South is paralyzed by a
assurance in the extremity of our
the violation of it now, in the day of
M be a rending of that
that
peri
our power, won
tion can be broken provisionally, to serve
a temporary purpose, and in a part only of
the country, we can destroy them every-where
and for all time. Arbitrary me. ■
.- • -
are corrupt in principle and enemies of free
institutions, for it can only become to
■ political and social system a safe Con-or
of healthy popular sentiment when
free from demoralizing influences.
usurpation
" -spotisin
nciples ot
ed by the proper Judi- Being sincerely convinced that these ' called to endure when its red right hand is the Constitution inherited from our fathers.
views are correct, I would be unfaithful to ' armed to plague them again. Nor is it! It follows, therefore, that in admitting
ernment i sense of general insecurity, by a terror of
.
n a manner entirely prac-
.' i!.
re n ■† reason why the of the acts ot Congress wlncO ]
1 not be obeyed unless I the Southern States under t lied, nomination
power have deter- 0f military masters. If calm reflection shall
di-r. -aided and j g-uisfv a majority of your honorable bodies
of this ; that the acts referred to are not only a vio-lation
of the national faith, but in direct
conflict with the Constitution, I dare not
peimit myself to doubt that you will im-mi
diately" strike thera from the statute
me one or more of its
acle that can exist
theStates.
.
- question, and some
sing out of it. I have
■ • to differ from Congress
\ iressed my convictions with-
!i with becoming defer-
. of the legislative de-v
duty if I did not recommend the repeal ; possible to conjecture how or where pow-; to the ballot box a new class of voters not
s which place ten of >er unrestrained by law may seek its next I qualified for the exercise of the elective
! victims. The States that arc still free may \ franchise, we weaken our system of gov-
I be enslaved at any moment. For if the ernment. instead of adding to its strength
Constitution does not protect all, it pro- and durability.
1 tects none. ' yield to no on^ in attachment to that
It is manifestly and avowedly the object j rule of general suffrage which distinguish-of
these laws to confer upon negroes the ; es our policy as a nation. But there is a
privileges of voting and to disfranchise j limit, wisely observed hitherto, which
such a number of white citizens as will | makes the ballot a privilege and a'rust,
took. give the former a clear majority at all elec- ! and which requires of some classes a time
To demonstrate the unconstitutional tions in the Southern States. This to the j suitable for probation ami preparation.—
character of these acts, I need do no more , minds of some persons is so important that j To give it indiscriminately to a new class,
than refer to their general provisions. It! a violation of the Constitution is justified j wholly unprepared by previous habits and
moatbe seen once that they are not au- i as a means of bringing it about. The mor- J opportunities to perform the trust which'it late manifestations ot public opinion upon
confiscation and the dread of negro supre-macy.
The Southern trade, from which
the North would have derived so great a
profit under a government of law, still lan-guishes,
and can never be revived until it
ceases to be fettered by the arbitrary pow-er
which makes all its operations unsafe.
That rich country, the richest in natural
resources the world ever saw, is worse
tli3n lost if it be not soon placed under the ' declares in substance that he shall • nly ac-
Tieasury, and that colossal fortune- i
been made at the public i xpense. This
species of corruption has increased—is in-creasing,
and it not diminished will soon
bring us into total ruin ami disgrace. Tl,
public creditors and the tax-payers are
alike interested iu an honest administra-tion
of the finances, and neither class will
long endure the large handed robberies oi
the recent past. For this discreditable
st.ito of things there are several causes-some
oftbe taxes are so laid as to present
an irresistible temptation to evade pay-ment;
the great sums which others may
win by connivance at fraud create a pres-sure
which is more than the vii tue ofman]
can withstand, and there can be no doubt
that the open disregard of constitutional
Otis avowed by some of the highest
and most influential men in the country
has greatly weakened the moral sense of
those who serve iu subordinate places.
The expenses of the United States, includ-ing
interest on tbe public debt, arc more
than six times as much as they were seven
years ago. To collect and disburse this
vast amount requires careful Biipen ision as
well as systematical vigilance. The sys-tem,
never perfected, was much disorgan-w
d by the "Tenure of Office bill," which
basalmost destroyed official accountability.
The President may be thoroughly con-vinced
that an officer is incapable, dishon-est,
or unfaithful to the Constitution; but,
under the law which I have named, the
utmost he can do, is to Complain to the
Senate and ask the privilege of supplying
his place with a better man. If the Si nate
be regarded as personally or politically
hostile to the President,it is natural and not
altogether unreasonable for tbe officer to
expect that it will take his part, as far as
In --sible, restore him to his place, and gave
lira a triumph over his executive superior.
The officer has other chances of impunity,
arising fiom accidental defects of evidence,
the mode of investigating it. and the se-en
cy of ihe hearing. Ii is not wonderful
that official malfeasance should becomi
bold in proportion as the delinquents bar-to
think themselves safe. I am entirely
persuaded that under such a rule tin Pres-ident
cannot perform the great duti as-signed
to him of seeing the laws faithfully
inforced. and that it disables him mostcs-cp
cially from enforcing that rigid accoun-tability
which is necessary to tl.c due exe-cution
of the revenue laws. TheConstitu-tion
invests the President with authority
to decide whether a removal should b
made in any," case. The net of (' ■ ii"'i ->
protection of a free constitution. Instead
of being, as it ought to bo, a source of
wealth and power, it will become an in-tolerable
burden upon the rest of the na-tion.
Another reason for retracing our steps
with doubtless be seen by Congress iu the
ense such as In.- suppos s to b unworthy
of their trust. The Constitution mi
him sob* judge in the premises. But the
statute takes away his jurisdiction, trans-fers
it to the Senate, and leaves him noth-ing
but 'ho odious, and sometimes imprac-ticable,
duty- of becoming a prosecutor.—
extremely difficult to say where that
possibility should be thrown, ii it bt n
left where it has been placed by the C
stitution. ,
But all just men will admit that the P . 4
sident ought to be entirely releived Ii. 4
such ic-ponsibility if he cannot meet i: ■
reason of restrictions placed by law 11 '
his action. The unrestricted power of
nova! from office is a very great one 1
trusted even to ft magistrate chosen by | .,
general suffrage of the whole people
accountable directly to theui for his a.<
It is undoubtedly liable to abas.-, and J
some periods of our history perhaps
been abused.
If ft be thought desirable and eonstii -
tional that it sli-uld be so limited as
make the Pri sident. merely a common i i
former against other public agenti >
should at least be permitted to act in tl
capacity before some open tribunal j,,
pendent of party politics, readj to ii
gate the merits of every cast", furnish.
with the means of taking evidence, at
hound to decide according to eetabl hill
rules. This would guarantee the sal 11
the accuser when heads in good faith, a 1
at the same tune teen:-, the rigli
other party.
I speak, of coarse*, with all pr <\<>r 1.
spect for the present Sen it ,1,.
not see..1 to : ■_■■ ., ... \ gj ;,;ai.
can be so con? ..- to inmn its liti
for these foncti<*.<i. It i- not tl
of this go- ci.ii.e ■ t tl al public ■■''■'
the property nfl 1
are given merely as a trusi :-■.- tho pul
benefit,sometimes lor a fi.\--l period
-rinietim a during Kood 1 uvior; I.
eeuci'ally Ihey are liable lo be terrain
at <he pleasure of the up]>ointing pow<
which represents th* eollcc'ivt m
and speal - the will 1 f the people. Tl ■
f! reed n ti ntion in of. ■• of a -n
honest person may work greal injury to
the public Interests. '1 he daagi r:
n ii e c iocs not from the p iw<
eroove, but from the power toapp< i
■1 fore ii w*s that the framei - of 1
Constitution left tbe poa r of remot
unrestricted, v hile thej gave the S tiati
right to reject all app intmenta which in
iu opiuion were not tit t'. bo made. A Ii
le reflection on this subject will prubabl
satisfy all who have the good of the co*
try at heart, that our best course i- to
1 •'' nstitutionfor our guide, walk 1
'he path marked out by the founders -
the republic, and obej the rules madoc
••red by the observance of our gnat ur<
decessors. Tbe present condition of or
finances and circulating medium i' one t
which your -arly consideration in invib
The proportion which the currency ofai
country should bear to tbe whole value 1
tbe annual produce circulated by itsnti
is a question upon which political ecom
miss have not agreed. Nor can it be con
trolled by legislation, but must be left t •
the irrevocable laws which eMiywhir
regulate-commerce and trade. Tin; eirci
lating medium will ever Irresistibly flo
to liiose points when it is in greatest di -
mand. The law ofdi mand and supply i
as unerring as that which regulates
tides oftbe ocean, and indeed current .
like tin tides, has its ebbs and flow
throughout the commercial world. At
beginning of the rebellion the bank-ie
circulation of tie country amounted to JM
much more than two bundr -i , .
dollars. Now the circulate n of natioi
nob - and those known a- legal tei
dera is nearlj seven hundred mi.lion-.
While it is urged by some that th.
amount should In- increased, otters H
•- ad that a decided reduction is absolute,.
essential to the best interests of the con
: v. In \i w of these diverse opinion-may
be well t-> ascertain the real value <
our paper issues when compared wn;
metallic or convertible ourrency. For th
purpose 1*■' u- inquire bow much gold ai-re
. he pure! laed by the -
mdrcd m ions of paper m< ney noa 1
renhttion. Probably ■-, .; more than h
amount of the latter, showing lb;
when our paper currein y is conq m -I wit
gold and silver its commercial value i
compressed into three hundred and n '
millions. This striking fad mak- ■ †it I
obvious duty of tin goven ment, as earl
may be o nsisl 11 In principi
sound political economy, to tal
m eann a enable t ler of it
n-.ti-s :.n I those 0 1 be nai • nal bai '.- 1
convi rt th in v.ii:.
I
A r ductii .. •■!' 1 1
••;
its equM
tins' mci
pend u|
on the 1 man 11 •
it should i'i n ;ii
. ten .1 r and bank notes convi -
into coin or its eqmvaieut, theii
spei i ' - in the- haiids of ihi ir
'. w mid be mhanced one hundn 1 u< r con.
u .1 :. •'. is aril
I yldi
The prosecution is to be conducted before i Legislation lor the accomplisnuient of a