Indiana American, Volume 6, Number 51, Brookville, Franklin County, 13 December 1867 — Page 1

PL'ULIsUED IVEÄV TBtDAT BT C. II. BINCIHaH. Proprietor.

J3ee la ths National Bank Building;, (third ory.) TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION; 12.50 Tt'R YEA IS, m AöTJisct. ' $3,00 " " IP HOT PAID 11 ADTAXSC No postage on papert delivered within this Count. Tho Presidents Message. svaaaaaaajs 1 RELECTION3 ON RECONSTRUCTION. FeUow Citizen of the Stnale and Hovte of IZeprttentatittB: The continued disorganization of the Union, to which tho President has so often called th"e attention of Congress, ia jet a aubject of profound and patriotic concern. Y'e may, however, find some relief from that anxiety in the reflection that this painful political situation, although before untried by ourselves, is not new in' the experience of nations. Political science, perhaps as highly perfected in our time and country as in any other, has not yet disclosed any means by which civil war can ba absolutely prevented. An enlightened nation, however, with a wise and bene&cent constitution of free government, may diminish their frequency and mitigate their severity by directing al! its proceedings iii accordance wit!, its fundamental law. When civil war has been brought to a close, it is manifest tho first interest and duty ot the estate to repair the injuries which the war has inflicted, and to secure the bene tu ot tne lessons it tenches as fully aud speedily as possible. This duty was, upon the termination of the rebellion, promptly accepted not only by the Executive Department, but by the Insurrectionary States themselves; and reconstruction ia the first moment of peace was believed to be as easy aud certain as it was indis pensable. These expectations, however, then so reasonably and confidently entertained, were disappointed by legislation, from which I felt constrained, by my obligations to the Constitution, to withhold my assent. It is, therefore, a source of proiound regret that in complying with tho obligation imposed upon the President by the Constitution to give to Congress from lime to time infoimation of the htate of the Union, I am unable to communicate any definite adjustment satisfactory to the American people of the questions which, since the close of the rebellion, have agitated their minds. Uu the coutrary, candor compels me to declare that all this time there is no Union aa our fathers understood the term, and as they meant it to be understood by us. The Union which they established, can exist only where all the States are represented in both Houses of Congress; where one State is as free as another to regulate iu iulerual concerns accordiug to its own will, and where the laa of the central Government, strictly confined to matters of oatioual jurisdiction, apply with equal force to all the people of every section. That euch in not the preseut state of the Uuion is a melancholy fact, and we all must acknowledge that the restoration of tho States to thair proper legal relatious wi h the Feuer-i Government and with one another, according to the terms of the original compact, would bo the greatest temporal blessing which God, in his kindcat providence, could, bestow upon this nation. It becomes our imperative duty to coneider whether or notit is impossible to effect this most desirable consummation. The Union aud the Constitution are inseparable. As long as one is obeyed by all parties, the other will be preserved; and if one is destroyed, both must perish together. The destruction of the Constitution will be followed by other and still greater calamities. It was ordained not ou'y to form a uioro perfect union between the States, but to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common delense, promote the general welfare and tccure the blessing of liberty to ourselves aud our posterity. Nothing but implicit obedience to its requirements in all parts of the country will accomplish these great ends. Without that obedience we can look forward only to continual outrages upon individual rights, incessant bleaches of public peace, national weakness, financial dishonor, total loss cf our property, general coiruptioti of morals and the final extinction of popular fiecdom. Tu ave our country from ends bo appallingus these we should renew our efforts again and again. To me the process of restoration seems perfectly plaiu and simple. It consists merely in a faithful application of the Constitution and laws. The execution of the laws is not now obstructed or opposed by physical force; there is no military or other necessity, xeal or pretended, which can prevent obedience to the Constitution, either North or South; all rights and all obligations of States and individuals can be protected and u forced by means perfectly consistent with the fundamental lawjcourts may bo everywhere opened, and if open, their process would be uuiaipeded, crimes ogainstthe United States cau be prevented or punished by popcr judicial authorities, in a uiauner entirely practicable and legal. There is, therefore, ro reason why the Constitution ahould not be obeyed. Unless those who exercise its powers have determined that it shall bo disregarded and violated, the luero naked will of this Government, or of some one or more of its brauche., is the only obstaclo that can exist to a perfect Union of all tho States. On this momentous question and some of the measures growing out of it, I had the misfortune to differ from Congress, and have expressed nay conviction without reserve, though with becoming deferenco to the opinion of the Legislative Department.! Those convictions were not only -unchanged, but strengthened by subsequent events and further reflections. The transcendent importance ot the sulject will be a suCicicut excuse for calling your attention to some of the reasons which have ßtrongly influenced my own judgment. The hope that we may all finally concur in a rnodd of settlement consistent at once with our true interests and with our sworn dutios to the Constitution, is too natural aud too just to be easily relinquished. It is clear to my apprehension that the States lately in rebellion are still members of the National Uuion. When did they cease to be so? The ordinances of secession adopted by a portion, of their citizens were

VOL. (i. NO. 51. mere nullities. If we admit now that they wore-valid and effectual for the purpose intended by tbeir authors, we awecp from under our feet the whole ground upon which we justified tho war. Were those States afterward expelled from the Union by war? Directly the contrary was averred by this Government to be its purpose, and it was so understood by all those who gave their blood and treasure to aid in its prosecution. It can not be that a successful war waged for the preservation of the Union had tho legal effect of dissolving it. The victory of the nation's arms was not the disgrace of her policy. The defeat of secession on the battlefield was not the tiiumpb of its lawless principle. Nor could Congress, with or without the consent of the Executive, do anything which would have the effect, directly or indirectly, of separating the States from each other. To dissolve the Union is to repeal the Constitution, which holds it together, and that is a power which docs not belong to any Department of this Government, or to all of them united. This is so plain that it has been acknowledged by all branches of the Federal Government. The Exccutivoj my predecessor, as well as myself, and the heads of all the departments, have uniformly acted upon the principle that the Union is not only undissolved, but indissoluble. Congress submitted an amendment of the Constitution to the Southern States, and accepted their acta of ratification aa a necessary and lawful exercise of their highest function. If they were not States, or were States out of the Union, thia consent to a change in the fundamental law of the Uniou would have been nugatory, and Congress, iu asking it, committed a political absurdity. The Judiciary has also given the solemn sanction of its authority to the same view of the ca?e. The Judges of tho Supieuie Court have included the Southern States in their circuits, and they are constantly it banc and elsewhere, exercising jurisdiction which does not belong to them, unless those States are Slates of the Union. If the Southern States are component parts of the Union, Constitution is thu supieme law for them, as it is for all other States. They arc bound to obey it, and so are we The right of the Federal Government, which is clear and uuquestiöDablo to euforeo the Constitution upon them, implies thu corelative obligations on our pait to obseive its limitations and execute its guarantees. Without the Constitution wc are uothiug. By, through aud under the Constitution, wo are what it makes us. We may doubt the wisdom of a law, we may uot approve of its provisions; but we cannot violate it merely because it seems to confipa our power within limits narrower than we could wish. It is not the question cf individual or class or sectional inteie&ts, much less of party predominance; but of duty, of high and sacred duty, which we are all sworn to perform. It we cannot support the Constitution with the cheerful alacrity of those who love and believe in it, we must give to it at least the fidelity of public servants who act under t-oiemu a obligationg ' and commands which they daro not disregard. The constitutional duty is net the only one which requires the States to bo restored.--I here is another consideration which, though of minor importance, is yet of great Weight. Uu the 22d of July, 1SU1, Congress declared by an almost unanimous vote of both Houses, that the war should be conducted solely for the purpose of preserving the Union aud maintaining the supremacy f the Federal Constitution and law, Miihout aifcciing the dignity, equality and rights of Mates or individuals; uud that When this was done the war bhouid cease. I do not suv that this declaration is personally biuding on those who joined in making it, anymore than individual meinbeis of Congress are personally bound to pay a public debt created unaer a law for which they voted, but it was a solemn public official pledge ot national honor, and I cannot imagine upon what grounds the repudiation of it is to bo justifi.d. If it bo said that we are not bouud to keep faith with rebels let it be remembered that this promise was not mado to rebels only. Thousands of Union men iu the South were drawn to our standard by it, and hundreds of thousands in the North gave their lives in the belief that it would be carried . out. It was nude on the day after the first great battle of the war had been fought and lost. All patriotic and intelligent men then saw the necessity of giving such an : assurance, bclieviug that without it the war would end in disaster to our cause. Having given that assuranco in the extremity ot oar peril, the violation of it now, in the day of our power, would bo a rude rending ofthat good faith which holds tho moral world together. Our country would cease to have any claim upou tho coufideuco 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 rccotumend the repeal of tho acts of Congress, which pjace ten of tho Southern States under the domination of Military masters. If calm reflection shall satisfy ä majority of jour honorable bodies that tho acts referred to are not only a violation of national faith, but in direct conflict with the Constitution, I daro not permit myself to doubt that you will immediately strike them from the statute book to demonstrate tho unconstitutional character of thouo acts. I, need do.no more than refer to this general provision. It must bo seen at once that they are not authorized to dictate what alterations shall be made iu tho Constitutions of the several States to control elections cf State Legislators, State ofiiccrs", Members of Congress, and Electors of President and Vice President by arbitrarily declaring who shall vote aod.-wlo shall be excluded fmm that privilege; to dissolve State Legislatures or Srcvcnt them from assembling; to dismiss udes and other civil functionaries of the State, and appoint others without regar to State law; to organize end operate

r'nllX .'mi '. Zk. Ill V W.O fJ

'THE UNION, THE CONSTITUTION, AND TUE E N F 0

IJROOKVILLE, IND., FRIDAY. DECEMBER 13. 1807.

all the political machinery 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 Government or to any one of its branches. Not being granted we violate our trust bv assuming them as nalpablv as wo would bv ctinir in tho face of a positive interdict, lor the positive interdict, for the Constitution forbids us to do whatever it does not , affirmatively authorize, either 'by express words or by clear implication. If aothori- . ty wo desire to use docs not come to us through the Constitution, we can exercise it only by usurpation, and usurpation is the most dangerous of political crimes. By that crime tho enemies of free governments, in all ages, have worked oui their designs agninpt public liberty and private 'right. It leads directly and immediately i to the'estabHshoirnt of an absolute " rule, 'for undelegated power is always unlimited ! and unrestrained. The acts of Congress in question are not only objectionable lor their assumption of uugranted power, but many of their provisions aro in conflict with direct prohibitions of the Constitution, which commands that a republican I form of government shall be guaranteed j to all tho States; that no person thall be j deprived of life, liberty, or properly, withI out due process of law; arrested without a 'judicial warrant, or punished without a fair trial before an impartial jury; that the privilege of habeas corpus shall not be de- . uied in time of peace; and that no bill of attainder hüll be passed, even against a single individual. Yet that system of ti.ta-uies, established by these acts of Congress, does totally subvert and destroy Ith trio as well as the substance of Republican government in ten States to which ' they apply. It binds them hand aud foot in absolute slavery, and sutjects them to a strange and hostile power more unlimited and more likely to bo abused thsu any other now known among civilized men. It tramples down all these rights in which the essence of liberty consists, and which freo government is always most careful to protect. It denies lurpeat corpus and trial by jury. Personal freedom, property aud life, if assailed by tho passion, prejudice or capacity of the ruler, have no tecurity whatever. It has the effect of a bill cf attainder, or bill of pains and penalties, not upon a few 'individuals, but upon whole masses, including pie millions who are inhabitants of the subject States, aud even their unborn children. These wrongs being expressly forbidden, cannot be constitutionally inflicted upon any portion of our people, no matter how they may havecdrne within our jurisdiction, and no matter whether they live iu States, Territories or Districts. I have no desire to save from the proper and just consequences of their great crimes those who engaged in the rebellion against ihe Government, but as a mode cf punishment, the measures under consideration are thu most unreasonable that could inveuied. Many of those people are petl'ectly innoceut; many kept their fidelity to the Union untainted to the last; many are incapable of any legal offense. A large portion of persons able to bear arms were forced into the rebellion against their will, and of thoso who are guilty with their own consent, the degrees of guilt arc as various as the shades of their character aud temper. I3ut these acts of Congress confound them all together. One common indiscriminate vengeance upon classes, sects and parties, or upou whole couiiuunitteri, lor vlieuses committed by a portion of theui against the governments to which thy owed obedience, was common in barbarous aes of tho world, but Christianity and civilization have made such progiess that recourse to a punish u.eiitM) cruel and unjust would meet with the condemnation of all unprejudiced and ri-iit mindert men. Tho punitivo justice !' this ace, especially of this country, does not consist iu stripping whole States of ihe'y liberties and and reducing all their peoplo without distinction to the condition of slavery. It deals sepaiately with each individual, confines itself to forms of law, and vindicates its own purity by an im - partial examination of every case before a competent judicial tribunal. If this docs not satisfy all our desires with regard to the Southern rebels, let us console ourselves by reflecting that a frco Constitution triumphant iu war and unbroken in peace is worth far more to us aud our childicn than tho gratification of any present feeling. I am aware it is assumed that this system of government for tho Southern States is not to bo perpetual. It is true that this military government is to be only provisionally, but it, s through this temporary evil that a greater evil is to bu mado perpetual. If tho guarantees of tho Constitution can be broken provisionally, to serve a temporary purpose, and in a part of the country, wo can destroy them everywhere aud for all time. Arbitrary measures often change, but they generally change for the worso. It is the curse of despotism that it has no halting place intermitted, for exercise of its power brings no scn?e of ccurity to its eul jects, lor Ihey can never know what more they will bo called to endiro when its red right hand is armed to plague them sgaiu. Nor ia it possible to conjecture how, or why power unrestrained by law, may teek its next victims. States, that are still free, may he enslaved at any moment, for if the Constitution decs not protect all, it protects none. It is manifestly and avowedly the object of these laws to, confer upon the ucgro the piivilege of votiug, and to disfranchise auch a number of white citizens as will give the former a clear mnjority at all elections in the Southern States. Th'n, to the minds of some persons is so important that a violation of the Constitution is justified . as a means of bringing it about. That morality is always false which excuses a wrong because it proposes to accomplish a desirable, cud. We are not permitted to do evil that good may conic. ,. liut in thia case tho end iuclf

MO- -

is evil as well as the means. The subjugation of States to negro domination would bo worse than the military despotism under which they aro now suffering. It was believed beforehand that the people vrould endure any amount of military op prehsion, for any length of time, rather than degrade themselves by ' subjection t the nero race. Therefore they have been left without a choice. INegro Buarage was established by act of Congress, and the military olheera were commauacd to su - pcrintend the process of clothing the negro lace with the political privilege to govern

white men. 'Ihe blacks in the South are the negroes in tho South, by encouraging entitled to be well and humanely governed, them in industry and enlightenment, the and to have the protection of just law's ' improvement of their morals and giving for all their rights to person aud property.', protection to all their jut rights as freedIf it were practicable at this time to give ! men; but to trausfcr our political inheritthem a government exclusively their own, j an so to, lhm W'ould i my.opinion be an under which they mig! " i);ao8ge their j abandonment of a duty, "which we owe own- iffiirs in their 'iwiisy, it wooildJ-cliliCLU , the memory of our . fathers and

become a grave'question whether wo ought to do so, or whether common humanity would not requiro us to save them from themselves. - liut under the circumstance this is ouly a speculative point. It is not proposed merely that they shall govern themselves, but that they shall rule the white race, and make and administer State laws, elect Presidents and members of Congress, and shape, io a greater or less extent, the future destiny of the whole country. Would such a trust and power be safe in such hands? Peculiar qualities, which should characterize any people who aro fit to decide upon the management of public affairs for a great State, have seldom been combined. It is the glory of white men to kuow that they have had these qualities iu tufiicient measure to build upou this ccntiueut a great political fabric, and to preserve its stability for more than ninety years, while io every other part cf the world all similar experiments have failed. Hut if anything can be provided by known facts, if all reasoning upon evidence is not abaudoned, it must be acknowledged that in the progress of nations the negroes have shown less capacity for Government than any other raeo of people. No independent Government of suy form has ever been successful iu their bauds. Oa the contrary, wherever they have been left to their owu devices they have shown a constant tendency to relapse into barbarism. In the Southern States, however, Congress has undcrtakcu to confer upon them the privilege of the ballot. Just released fruiu slavery, it may bo doubted whether, as a class, they know more than their ancestors how to organize, and regulate civil society. Indeed, it is admitted that the biucks of the South are not only regardiess of rights of property, but their voting can con -ist in nothing more than carrying a ballot to the place where they are directed to deposit lt. l need not remind you that the exercise of the elective franchise is the highest attribute of an American citizen, and that when guided by virtue, intelligence, patriotism, and proper appreciation of our free institutions, it constitutes the true basis cf a democratic form of government, in which the sovereign power is lodged iu the body of the people. A trust artificially created, not for its own sake, but solely as a means of promoting the general welfare, its influence for good must necessarily depend upou the elevated character and true alleciance of the elector. It ought therefore to be reposed in uolo except those who are fitted mora'Iy and mentally to administer it well. For if coul'erred upon perj sons who do not justly estimate its value, anU who are luuitlercnt to it results, it will only serve as a meana of placing power in the hands of the unprincipled and ambitious, and must eveutuate iu the complete destruction of that liberty of which it should be the most powerful conservator. I have therefore heretofore urged upon your attention the great danger to be upprcheuded from an untimely extension of the elective franchise to any new class in our couutry, especially when a majority ofthat class, in wielding the powers thus placed iu then hands, cannot be expected correctly to comprehend the duties and 1 responsibilities which pertain to suffrage. x esicruny, as n nui, ivui umuvu? v persons were held in a condition ot slavery that had existed for generations. To-day they are freemen, and are assumed by law to be citizens. It caunot be presumed from tho previous condition of servitude, that as a class they are as well informed as to our Government as intelligent foreigners, w ho make our land the home of their choice.- 1b case of the latter, neither a residence of tivo years, und thu knowledge of our institutions which it gives, nor attachment in tho principle.) of the Constitution, ate the only conditions upon which he can be admitted to citizenship. He must prove in addition a good moral character, and thus givo reasonable ground fur a belief that he will bo faithful to the obligations which he assumes us a citizeu of a republic, where tho people, tho source of all political power, speak by their suffrages through the instrumentality of the ballot box. It must bo . carefully guarded against the control of those who are coriupt iu priueiplo aud enemies of free Institutions, for it eun only become to our political aud social system u safe conductor of healthy popular sentiment, when kept free from demoralizing iufiuen cs controlled through fraud. I aurpation, by designing anarchy and dcspotis.ni, must inevitably follow. In the hands of patriotic and worthy citizens our Government will be preserved upon the principles of the Constitution iuherited from our fathers. It follows, therefore, that in admitting to the baliot a new class of votcrB not qualified for the exercise of tho elective franchise, we weakeu our system of government instead of adding to its strength and durability. I yield to no one in attachment to the rule' of general euffragc, which distinguishes our policy as a nation, but there is a limit, wisely observed hitherto, which makes the ballot a privilege and trust, and which requires of EouiQ clashed a time suitable for proha-

mm It C E M E N T OF THE LAW S .

tion and prcparstion. To give it indis- try, the 'ichest in tatural resources the criminately to a new class wholly uopro- j wotld evr saw, is worse thsn Inst if it be pared by previous habits and opportuni-j not soon placed under the protection oft ties to perform the trust which it demands,! free Constitution. Instead of being, as is to degrado it, and finally to destroy its lit ought to be, a source of wealth and

power. For it may be afely assumed, j that to political truth is better established Mhan that such indiscriminate and all embracing extension of popular suffrage must end at last in its overthrow and ; destruction. I repeat the expression of ; my willingness to join in any plan within ; the fcope of our constitutional authority, ; which promises to better the condition of , the right. of our children. The plan of putting the Southern States wholly, and the Federal Government partially, into the hands of negroes, is proposed at a time peculiarly unpropitijus. '1 he foundations of society have been broken up by civil war. Industry must be reorganized, justice rc-establiahed, public credit maintained, and order brought out of confusion. To accomplish these ends would require all the wisdom aud virtue of the great men who framed our institutions originally. I confidently believe that their descendants will be equal to the arduous task bcfor.e them; but it is worse than madness to expect that negroes will perform it fur us. Certainly we ou-ht not to ask their assistance until we despair of our own competency. The great difference between these two races in physical, mental and moral characteristic, will prevent an amalgamation or fusion of them together in oni homogeneous mass. If the inferior obtains ascendancy over the other, it will govern with reference only to its own interests, for it will recognize no common interests, and create such a tyranny as tnis contiuent has never yet witnessed. Already negroes are influenced by promises of confiscation and plunder. They are taught to regard as an enemy every white man who has any respect for the rights of his own race. If this contiuues, it must become worsa and worse, until all order will be subverted, all industry cease, and the fertile fields of the South grow up into a wilderness. Of all the dangers which our nation has yet encountered, none arc equal to those which must result from tho success of the effort now making to Africanize half our country. I would uot put considerations of money iu competition with justice and riht, but the expenses incideut to lieconstruction, under the system adopted by Congress, aggravate what I regard as the i intrinsic wrong oi the. measure itself. It has cost uncounted millions already, and if persisted in, will add largely to the weight of taxation, already too oppressive to be borne without just complaint, and may finally reduce the Treasury of the natiou to a condition of bankruptcy. We must not delude ourselves. It will require a strong standing army, and probably more than two bundled millions of dollars per annum, to maintain the supremacy of negro governments after they are established. This sum, thus thrown away, would, if properly used, form a sinking fund large enough to pay the ) whole National Debt iu less than fifteeu years, it is vain to nope mat negroes will maintain their ascendancy themselves, without military power. They aro wholly incapable of holding in subjection the white people of the South. I submit to the judgment of Congress, whether the publio credit may not be injuriously affected by a system of measures like this. With our debt and the vast private interests which aro complicated with it, we can not be too cautious of a policy which miglit by possibility impair the confidence of the world in our Government. That confidence can only be retained by carefully inculcating the principles of justice . . . i . i land honor on the popular mind, and by the most scrupulous fidelity to all our engagements of every suit. Any serious breach of the organic law, persisted in for a considerable time, caunot but create fears for the stability of our institutions. Habitual violation of the prescribed rules which we bind ourselves to observe, must demoralize the people. Our only standard of civil duty being act at naught, the sheet anchor of our political morality is lost, the public conscience swings from its moorings and yields to every impulse, pa"sioii and interest. If we repudiate the Comtitution we will not be expected to care much for mere pecuniary obligations. The violation of auch a pledge wo made on the 2'Jd of July, 1801, will assuredly diminish the market value of our other promises, besides, if wo now acknowledge that the National debt was created, not to hold the States in the Union, as tho tax payers were led to suppose, but to expel them from it, and hand them over to be governed by negroes, ihe moral duty to pay it may seem much less clear. I soy, it may seem so, for 1 do not . admit that this or any other argument in favor of repudiation can be entertained as sound, but its inUueuee on some classes of minds may bo well apprehended. The financial honor of a great commercial nation, largely iudebtcd, aud with a Kepublican form of Government, administered by agents of the popular choice, is a thing of such delicate texture, aud tho destruction of it would be followed by such . unspeakable calamity, that every true patriot must deairo to avoid whatever might expose it to tho slightest danger. The great interests of the country require immediate relief from these enactments. Business in the South is paralyzed by theseuse cf general insecurity, by tho terror of confiscation, and the dread of negro supremacy. Southern trade, from which the North would have derived , 60 great a profit under a Government of law, still languishes, -and cau never be revived until it ceases to be fettered by arbitrary power, which makes all its operations unsafe. Tbat;rich couu-

WHOLE NO. 311. power, it will become an tuudcrant burden upon the rest of the nation. Another reason for refuting our steps, will doubtless be seen by Congrecs, in the late manifestations of public opinion upon this subject. We live in a country where popular will always enforces obedience to itself sooner or later. It is vain to think of opposing it with anything short of legal authority, backed by overwhelming furcc. It can not have escaped your attention, that from tho day on which Congress fairly and formally presented the proposition to govern the Southern States by military force, with a view to the ultimate establishment of negro bupremacy, every expression of the general - sentiment has been more or less adverse to it. The affection of this generation can not.be detached from the institutions of their ancestors. Ticir determination to preserve the inheritance of a free government in their owu hands, and transmit it undivided and unimpaired t their own posterity, is too strong to be successfully opposed. Every weaker passion will disappear, before the love of liberty and law, for which the American people are distinguished above all others in the world. How far the duty of the President to preserve, protect, and defend the Consti, tution requires him to go, jo opposing an unconstitutional act of Congress, is a very serious and important question, on wfkh I have deliberated much, and felt extremely anxious to rer.ch a proper conclusion. When an act has beeu passed. according to the forms of the Constitution. by tho supreme legislative authority of j .1. 1' ?... .J . . I the country, Lxecutive resistance to it, especially in times of high party excite meut, would be likely to produce violent collision between the respective adherents of the two branches of Government. This would be simple civil war, and civil war must be resorted to only as a last Remedy for the worst of evils. Whatever ' might tend to provoke it should be most carefully avoided. A faithful and conscien tious magistrate will concede very much to honest error, aud something even to perverse malice, before he will endanger the publio peace, and he will not adopt forcible measures, or such as might lead to force, as long as chances which are feasible remain open to him or to his constituents. It is true that cases may occur in which the Executive would be compelled to stand on his rights, and maiutain them regardless of consequences. If Congress should pass an act, which is not only in palpable conflict with - the Constitution, but will certaiuly, if carried out, produce immediate and irreparable injury to the organic structure of the Government, and if there be neither justice nor remedy for the wrongs it inflicts, nor power in the people to protect themselves without the official aid of their elected defenders. If, for instance, the Legislative Department should pass an act, even through all the forma of law, to abolish a co ordinate department of the Government, in such a case the President must take the high responsibilities of his office, and save the life of the nation at .I. an nazarus. The 60-called Reconstruction acts, ! though as plainly unconstitutional as any that can be imagined, were not believed to be withinthe class last mentioned. The people were not wholly disarmed of the power of self-defense. In all the Northern States they still hold in their hands the sacred right of the ballot, and it was safe to believe that in due time they could Come to the rescue of their own institutions. It gives me pleasure to add that the appeal to our common constituents was not taken iu vain, and that my confidence in their wisdom and virtue seems cot to have been misplaced. It is well and publicly known that enormous frauds have beeu perpetrated on the Treasury, and that colossal fortunes have been mude at tho public expense. This species of corruption has increased, and is increasing, and if uot diminished will soon bring üs into total ruin aud disgrace. The publio creditors aud tax-payeis are alike interested in an honest administration of the finances, and neither class will long endure the large-handed robberies of the recanit past. For this discreditable state of things thcro are rereral causes. Some of the taxes are so laid as to' present au ir resistible temptation to evade the payment. The great sums which officers may receive by connivance at IYhuJ create a pits? uro which is more than tho virtue of man cau withstand; and there t-au be no djubt that the opeu direg;ir of constitutional obligations avowed by some of the highest and moat influential men iu tho country, has greatly weakened the moral sense of those who serve ia subordinate places. The expenses of the United States, including the interest on the publie debt, are more than six times as much as they were seven years ago. To collect and disburse thit vast amount requires careful supervision as well as eyatettiatio vigilance. The system, never perlectcd, was much disorganized by the Tenure of Office bill, which has almost destroyed official accountability. The President may Le thoroughly convinced that an officer is incapat le, dishonest, or unfaithful to the Constitution, but under the law, which I have named, his utmost ability is to complain to the Senate aud ask the privilege of supplying his place with a better man. If the Senate be regarded as personally or particularly hostile to the President, it is natural, ir uot altogether unreasonable for the officer to expect thit it will take his part as far as possible, restore him to his place aud give him a 4r4uutph-over hia executive superior. The officer has other chances of itnpuuity, ar'uing from tba ae

cidental delects of the evidence, the mud eleven '4uadred "iXiinUioa; -While 'rt C of investigating it aud the aecrecy of 1 urjred by emo that this am.ou.ut sboeil ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ; ' ; ' m it 'i. .. nw::i.J

TERMS OFAOV E II T tfclMO. j t TRANSIENT. , ...'j.,, 0 qaara. (It lia.) aa iarta....l ft 3d uara, o tnrnoa. ...... f val (f .fit 'iMr, ara irt(oa ft ... ;.., f I) All sahasusht IbwtUh. rqara - M VKARLV. One tolana, hftglU Urlrl .....t?l Ca Ttirta-qiiariarr t xUmi , Oa-feIf ai a aclaa.ii...... 1 Uoa-uuarfer t a rmmm ' '. 3a l

Ün aliblh of eelaiaa II f TrauUat airtltiBU afcaitlJ la all 1 paid for la adnata. ' .-,t Ualcn a particular time it apvl4 w fcaa lui i to, advartitamaata will a paWtUkad fcaul. Uarad vat and dariad soeardtoglj. . !i ' heariug. It is not wonderful that c-Gcial malfeasance hould become bold ia j rv portion as the dvrivqueuU cam to think themselves aufel. - ' si I am entitely persnaded that. Under snch a rule, the President caanot perform the great duty aw-ignrd to hiui cf set is the laws faithfully executed, aud that it disable Lim iuuaI evpwially from e a fort itJlhat rigid accountability which is necessary to the due' extruttoti et the rtvenu laws. Thu Compilation inventa the Pt. ident with authority to decido whether a removal shall be made ia any girvu raoe. The act uf Coogreita dcclarea tit raUtiot, that he ahali only accuse suth as ho sap pos4ts to be kawuttl.y of their tiaat. The Constilutiou makes him the sole jodgt in the picuiiaes, bat Ihe statute takes away his juriadictiou. transfer it lo the Senate; and leaves him nothing but the odious aud sometiuits ikipiaelicabie duty of becoming a proper utr. 'The proeecatkm ii tu be conducted lor a titbuual hos members ai not, like him, lerponsib! 14 the whole pro pie, but to r parti tb c stitueut bod iea. and who may hear bis ae cusaliou with great diffovor. Trie Senat is absolutely without any known ataadard of decisiou applicable to ucb a ca-e. : Its judgmeut cannot he anticipated, ir it t not governed by atiy rale. . 1 he law doe uot define what ahull be deemed good cause fur removal. It ia iatpoMaible even to conjecture what may or may not be so considered by the Senate. ' The oatare of the subject lorbids: clear proof. If the charge be incapacity, hat evidence will support it? Fidelity to the Cuoatiiatioa may be uaderatood or misunderstood in a thousand different ways, aud by violtul party men in violent party times, unfaith fulness to the Constitution mayevva coaie to be considered meritorious. If u cfi er be accused f dishonesty, how 1ia.ll it l . ... A - y IV. ii 1 1 A. be tude out? Will it bo inferred froni acts unconnected with ubtie duty; 'frpnv private history, or from general repbtation, or must ' the .-Preaident await tbet commission of an actual, misdemeanor : ;ia office? Shall h iu the tueautiine risk .t La character aud iuteiest of tne nation u,lhe hands of men to whom he canuot give.Lia, confidence? .Must,. he. ..forbear' hia ,cpni-i plaint until the niiechitl ia doue, andjeaa; uot be prevented?, Jf his teal in the pub-;; lie service should compel hita to anticipate; an overt act, must be move at the peril of, beiug tried himself for the offense ofslandering his subordinate? Ia the pres. ent circumstances of. the, country, .some one must be heid responsible for. vSeial. delinquency of every kind.' It is ex-) tremely difficult to say where that respon sibility should be'throwu if it be not left, where it baa beeu placed by the - Consti-', tution. But all just lueu' will admit that , the Preideut ought to be entirely relief-' a i f rr rr ' si K ua rw. iViilitt it fia rannnf meet it by reason of restrictions' pla'ced' by law upon his actio us. Unrestricted ( power of removal from office ' is a Very great one to be trusted eveu to ,a magisträte choseu by general 'suffr'age ' of the whole people, and accountable directly to them for his acts. It is undoubtedly lia- -ble to abuse, aud at snme perioda'of Our" history, perhaps, has beeu abused.' If it be thought desirable aud const lu-,; tional that it should be so limited as to, make the President merely a couiuiöu in- ' former against other public,' agents, '.ha. should, at least, ba pcrui.lted to act iu that :. i. r L .' .1 i- t. capacity before some opeu inbuual, iuuependent of party politics, ready to .investi gate the merits ot every cs lurulshed, -with the means of taking the evidence, and bound to decide according to an estah- ' lished rule. This would guarantee '' the : safety of the accuser,.' wbeu he acts iti.good faith, aud at the same time secure1 the rights of the other party. I speak, cf 1 course, with all proper respect1 tor the present Seuate; imt it does nut seem to me 1 that any legislative body can be so cou-' structed as to insure its fitueas fur-'' theVe ' functions. : ; .it I .: '' It is the theory of this Government bat ' public office ia the property of those 1 who hold them. They are giten merely ' as a trust lor ih public beuetit, aotnetim' fur a fixed period, sometimes during good'' behavior, but generally they are lwhie tu"' be tcruiiuaieU at the ploaaure of the' ap pointing power, whU-n represents" tlUsv i live will aud vpeaks lor the peujdt." 1 Forced reteiitioit tu otüo tf a ingi die-1 holiest person näay work great injury .tu ' public iiiterca'H. Danger topubliu strvite comes not iroiu power to remove, but fron " power to appoint. Therefore it' was ' that! theframcin tho- Constitution left the f power of removal uuicstricled, while lhy ' gave the Seuate the liht to pj-ot all appointments, whiih, iu its opinion, atte ' not lit t b mado. t . ! .'.1 7" J .' I - I A little ritlcction oq the subjeef will't probably aaliafy all, wha have the rood it t lie country at-Iteuii, Uiat ottr 'be-t ori' i is to take the CuuniJutioii Ur our i paidc, ' walk iu tue path marked out by the iwuad"era ot the llepubiic, and obey'' the rule made tacred by tUe obaervaat of our great f redetest vi. ' .. triK YIXAJSCF.S.' : ' '' 1 ' The present condition1 of our finances" and circulating umJidm is one which your ' early evnaideraiioft invited fo.: The pro-''-portion which the vinency of any roun' try should bar- to the- whole value- of annual produce t tu ulaled by its means, i' a question upou which political t-emio- ' mists hare not agreed; nor cau it vowtrolled by Icgitdatioii, but it inut ' 'hv '.leJt : to the laws whielt- everywhere regulate -commerce and trade. The iiculatiti medium will ever flow to lhvre' point where it is ii gteaUat demand. The law -of demand and supply is as - unerring a ' that which reyltc ihotidce td'tbe tcvan; m ., rl li.tt...t HUP. llli.U 1 ' I til.. till... i. u ' its tbba and flows,' throughout' the' cout--' menial wi.rld. At th btj;itning of the ' ail ta a :aaa a a 1 1 A ! I I . , n a aa It at . IT v I A 4. a ulultuaV amfl 1 . i Leo ut; try amouulod to Vot much tmie lLnttwo huudit'd- imlUwu UMnarav-,Iw,i(he circulation 41 (Nanunal IUnk ovUtv'at4 those known a ln,),UfiUrtf.'iiiJHfJt

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