Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1868 — the President's Message. [ARTICLE]

the President's Message.

prvwurc of (nattejre el local inWrat and the prodded condition of *•*" column* has prevented the publication of Mr. Johnson’s late tues**ge to the Congress of the United Slate*. jpriucipaUy remarkable from »hf fact that it is his last. v » n<wvce hus Inul the patience to' Hlmr through the pr.cv ceding ones wilj readily ace that tins one originates from the s.atu fountain.. A family resemblance difficult to couu* terkit pervades them ail. The same egotism, die same querrilou* grumbling at Congressional action, the obstinate spirit of opposition to the expressed will of the people, the same affectation of martyrdom runs through the whole serie*. But a Ueli.vg oi pity arises tn tinrbrrnituf" the humane ni.iii who c. ntcinplales lhe position occupied Ly our President tn the feelings bjf his- countrymen. A betrr.yirof his triends he ** detested fey those w ho eitx-ted him to power, and is despised by the men he has favored and whose slave he a as wilting to Lee--me. No maw called to the resjH.naible pcsitided by Mr Johnson has retired to private liie so uoiversally ‘U*p'»ed as he now is and will b . Inciter a thousand times for his memhad lie perished w hen Mr. Lincoix wns assassinated. On the Fourth of next March he will leave the Presidential office and retire I ffom public life “unhonored and un-1 »ung.” Let pity take tho place of. censure and let his apostacy be rc-! membered only as a warning to future generations. Mr. Johnson recommends: Ist. The repeal of the Congressional acts of reconstruction. 2d. The repeul of the Tenure of Office bill. ?d. The repeal of the net of March •d, 186?, which materially interferes with and curtails the power of the President over the State militia, and which sanctions unnecessary expenditure of mouey. 4xll. An early payment of the national debt. To accomplish this he thinks the bonds should be reduced to a gold value. Then instead of paying any interest at ail upon them, the amount already paid as interest should be deducted from the principal. Then endorse upon the bonds from year to year an amount equal to an amount that would accrue as interest until the, debt was liquidated. In this way he says the debt would be paid off in about sixteen years and eight months. Thai thia plan is not exactly on the square, he admits, but thinks the lender should not be “over-.anxious in exacting from the borrower a rigid compliance with the ’letter of the bond.’’ To be plain .about it, the President of the United States recommends repudiation. Sth. Desires the pension Law to be amended to remedy .delects and ~ omissions* , -.- ; 4th. He notices that new postal arrangements have been carried into effect with Great Britain, North Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy. • th. Notices our friendly relations with all the nations of the earth, except Hayti. Has received no offi* cial correspondence in relation to the VS asliburne affair iu Paraguay. Sth. He thinks the Alaska pmchase a gobd bargain, and that it wonld be “comprehensive national policy’’ to incorporate into the Federal Union “several adjacent contiaenul and iusaiar communities as I speedily as possible.” That is, whenever it can be safely done, seize on British North America, Mexico, Cuba, the Sandwich Islands, and any and all other countries or “coininunitits’* within reach and “incorporate” them. 9th. Recommends a change in the method of electing President and VioePresident in such a manner as to permit their election by the direct votes of the people. Also that they be made ineligible to a second term by re-election. . . 10th. That a distinct designation be made of the person who shall diseharge the duties of President, in tWevent of tha-death, resignation or removal of thePrecident and Vice President. lltb. Recommends that United StRtM Senators be sleeted by the ployie ivatead of the State Legislatures. ■ . ... 1 T2tk That? the 4«TO8 of Federal Jtidgsp W limited 40. a period of years. bi» pMs»«>tiov «■« sroiild be an imppvMtctit on tbs eyOents-atid Jaws in epprstion, but tha good is so sur-

rounded with the bitter and corruptj that it was thought cheaper by the Senate to lay the paper u|>on the table than attempt' the difficult task* ot separation.