Nebraska Newspapers

    i
"If any man attempts lo haul doicn the American Flag) shoot him on the spot.
HI
VOL. 3.
PLATTaiMOUTH, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1X5, 18G7.
t ,
v.
I
THE HERALD
IS PUBLISHED
WEEKLY,
BY
II. D- HATHAWAY,
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
, t-Ofliee corner Maim street
torf.
and Levee, second
Terms: .$2.50 per annum.
latcs of Advertising
Ojiq ii: (space of ten lines) cue Insertion,
Etca snbjeiaent insertion - -
prrfe: l-nl cardd nut exceeding six line
0 .if-qaarter column Oriels, per annarn
six mouths
three months
One half column twelve months
" " six months
" 4 tbre months
Oi;uluma twelve months
" six months .
three months
All transient advertisements mnst be paid fur in
ad ranee.
Jtjr Wa are pn pared to do all kinds of Job Work
o short notice, and in a style that wi.1 give satis-faciioo.
fl.ftO
l.tiO
10 00
35.00
SO P0
JS 00
6.IK
85.00
2o.0)
1. 00
60.00
85.00
WILLITT P0TTENQER-
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
PLATTSMOUTH - - NEBRASKA.
tT M 3I1IH1UETT,
ATTORNEY AT LAW
ASD
Solicitor in Chancery.
PLATTSMOUTH. - - NEBRASKA
' c n. KING
Carpenter and Joiner
CONTRACTOR and Bu"TDER,
WUl do work in liss line with n eatcesa an dUpatc,
opon short notice.
Dr. J. S. McADOW,
n A VISG RETURN KD TO ROCK BI.CFF3 TO
practice Physic, off-is his profe.-innl cervices
to his fid patrons and public S' -neraliy. Particular
attention paid to iliseaiti o of tun EYK. A cure guar
anterd in all curable cases. Charges modorite
same as one year go. jel2 ui6
Surgeon,
H. R LIVINGSTON, M. D
Physician and
Tenders his professional services to the citizens of
Ci cotioty .
V Keidvnce in Frank White's h ue, earner of
'a!c and .Sixth slr-ets; Ottice on Main stteti, oppo
s t ' C (til t House, Platt-nn.uth, Nebraska.
Platte Valley House
Ed. B. Murphy, Proprietor.
Vomer of JWtin and Fourth Streets,
lMattsmouili, Xeb.
This House having bon re firt-d and nel? fur
Hihed i-nVrs Bist-class accommodation;. Hoard by
tha day or wet. tufiS
BURNS & CO.
Deal- rs In
si: oons,f;i:o( i,i:u:s
A GI11CVL TV.? A L IMTLEXEXTS,
Act a general assortment of ffods nsual J kept in a
frst rlass country store.
Atoca, Cass Co., - - Neb.
anal
S. MAXWELL, SAM. M. CHAPMAN
Maxwell fe Chapman,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
AND
Solicitors in Chancery.
rlATTSM')VTir, - cIlKASKA.
Office over Black, Buttery 4 Co's Prui Store,
aprl
CLARKE, PORTER & ERWIN,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
And Solicitors in Chancery,
U A IS ST., OPPOSITE THE CO CRT-IIO USE
PLATTSMOUTII, NEB.
SillOID 1. CLAIKI, H rOET rOSTM,
W W. ERWIN.
ttr REAL ESTATE AGES'CY.-h
Jani-t vrtf
josEPn
SCH LATER,
WATCFMAKER and JEWELER,
XAI.f STBEET,
TLATTSMOUTII, - - NEBRASKA
A rood assortment of Watches Clj tiold Pens.
Jewelry, Silver Ware, Fane uoan Violins and Vi
olin Trimmings always on hand. All work com
Bnitted to his care will be warranted.
April 10, leiiS.
O. B. IRISH,
Lata Sup' t Indian Affairt.
CILHors & CROXTOS,
A ttorney at Late
IRISH, CALHOUN & CR0XTON.
The above named cent'.emen hare associated
themselves in businens f-r thepmpoeeor profecut
lag and collectinB all claimu acaiust the Ueneral
O vernment, or a(aint any trthe of Indiamt, and
are prepared to prorecute Kiich claims, either before
Conres,or arirol the Departments of Government
or teore the Court of Claims,
Ma. 1ri-h will devote his personal attention to
te hn-ine' at Washington.
53" OUice at Nebraska Crty, corner of Main and
Fifth streets.
. ADIEU, B A. mi KM iN.
S. AIIaCK fc CO ,
EECTIFIBBS
JIJCD DISTILLERS.
Dealers in all kin of Foreign and Domestic
WINES, LIQUORS AND CIGARS.
aVC 14, EASTSIDE MARKET SQUARE,
St. Joseph, Mo.
oc25 ly
lational Claim Agency.
WASHINGTON. D- C-
F. M. DORIRINGTON,
SCB AGtNT:
W..J rTSMOUTII, - - NEBRASKA,
r epared to present and prosecnie claims before
o rress. Court of Claims and the Deps. iiurnu. l'a-
; its. Pent-ions, Bouot es, and Bounty Lands se
e red. Sis'-Charge moderate, and in proportion to
Ins am lunt of the claim. V. 31. DORRLUTU.
April 10, '65
J. N. WISE,
General Life, Accident, Fire, Inland and
Transit
INSURANCE AGENT
Will take risk "at reasonable rati-sin the most reliable
0 .pdi.s in the United States.
C-Oet at tha book store, Pla tnruatb, Nebras-
my31dtf ,
Ftllow Citizens of the Senate and House
of lieprtsentativts:
The tomirjued disorganization of the
Uuiou to which the President has so
often called the atuutiou of Coagress,
is yet a sutjectof profound and pain
oiic coucerri. Ve may, however, find
some relief trcm that anxiety in the
reflection that the paiuful political situ
atiou, although before untried, by our
selves, is ciot new iu the experience of
nations. Political science, perhaps as
highly perfected in our own time and
country as in any oilier, nas not yet
disclosed any means by which civil wars
can be absolutely prevented. An en
lightened nation, however, with a wise
and beneficen: conetilution of free gov
ernment, may diminish their frequen
cy and mitigate their severity by direct
in? all its proceedings in acordance
with the fundamental law. Wheu civil
war has been brought to a close it is
manifestly the first interest and duty of
the State to repair the injuries which
war has inflicted, and to secure the ben
efit of the lessons it teaches, as fully
and speedily as possible. This duty
was, upon the termination of the rebel
lion, promptly accepted, not only by the
Executive Department but by the insur
rectionary States themselves, and res
toration in the fird moment of peace
was believed to be as easy and certain
as it was indispensable These expec
tations, however, then so reasonably
and confidently entertained, were dis
appointed by legislation from which I
feel constrained by my obligations to
the constitution to withhold my assent.
It is, therefore, a source of profound re
gret that, in complying with the obli
gations imposed upon the PreiJent ty
the constitution lo give Congress from
tune to time information of the state of
the Union, I am unable :o communicate
any definite adjustment satisfactory to
the American people of ihe question
which, since the close of ihe rebellion,
have agitated the mind of the couniry.
Candor compel me to declare that in
all this tune there is no Union Q3 our
fathers understood the term, ami as they
meant it to be understood by us The
Union which thty established can ex
ist only a hen all the Sia'es are repre
sented in bo'h houses of Congress;
where or,e State is as free as another
to regulate its internal concerns accord
to its own will, and when the laws of
the central government are strictly
confined to matiers of national jurisd'e
tion. and apply with equtl force to all
people of every station.
To me the process of restoration
seems perfectly plain and simple. It
consists merely in faithrul application
of the constitution and laws. The ex
ecution of the laws is cot now obstruct
ea or opposed by physical force.
Tbere is no military or other necessity.
real or pretended, which can prevent
obedience to the constitution either
North or South. All rights and all ob
ligations ot Mates and indiviaual.s can
be protecied and enforced ty means
perfectly consistent with the funda
mental law. Courts may be everywhere
opened, aud if opened their progress
would be unimpeded. Crimes against
the Untied States can be prevented or
punished by the proper judicial author
ities, in a manner entirely practicable
and legal. ....
THE PRESIDENT AND C0NGRES
There is therefore no reason why
the constitution should not be obeyed,
unless those who exercise its power
have determined that it shall be disre
garded and violated. The mere naked
will of this government, or of some one
or more of its branches, is the only ob
acle that can exist to a perfect Union
of all the States. On this momen ous
question, and on some of the measures
growing out of it, I had the misfortune
to differ from Congress, and have ex
pressed my conviction wiihout reserve,
though with becoming deference to the
opinion of the legislative department.
Those convictions are notonly unchang
ed but strengthened by subsequent re
flection. The transcendent 'inportancH
of the subject will be a sufficient excuse
for calling your attention to some of the
reasons which have so strongly influ
enced my own judgement. The hope
tha. we may all liua'ly concur in a
mode of settlement consistent at once
with our true interests, and with our
sworn duties to the constitution, is too
just to be easily relinquished.
STATUS OF Till LATE REBEL 6TATES.
It is clear to my apprehension that
the States lately in rebellion are still
members of the national Union. When
did they cease to be to? The ordin
ances of secession adopted by a portion
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 these
States afterwards expelled from the
Union by war? The direct contrary
was averred by this government lo be
us purpose, and was so understood by
all those who gave their blood find
treasure to aid in its prosecution. It can
not be that a successful war, waged for
the preservation of the Union, had the
legal effect of dissolving it. The vie
tory of the nation's arms was not the
disgrace of her policy. The defeat of
could Congress, wuh or without the
consent of the Executive, do any tiling
which had the effect, directly or in
directly, of separatiug the Stales 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 government, or to all of thb.: uni
ted. This is so plain that it has been
acknowledged by all branches of tha
Federal goveruruenL Aly predecessor
as well as myself and the heads of all
departments, have uniformly acted up
on the principle that the Union is not
only undissloved, but indissoluble.
Congress submitted an amendment of
the constitution to be ratified by the
Southern States and accepted their acts
of rLiificuiion as a necessary and law
ful exercise of their highest function.
If they were not States, or were Stuies
out of the Union, their consent to
a change in the fundamental law of the
Union would have been nugatory, and
Congress in asking it commuted a po
litical absurdity. The judiciary has
also given some sanction of its authortiy
to the same view of the case.
Judges of the Supreme Court have in
eluded the Southern States in their Cir
r
cut s, ana iUey are coustautiy in v ir
ginia. North Carolina, aud elsewhere,
exercising jurisdiction which does not
belong to them unless these Mates are
States of the Union.
If the Southern States are compo
nent parts of the Union, the constitution
is the supreme law for them as it is for
all the ether state.". They are bound
to obey it, aud so are we. The right
of the Federal (sovernment, which is
clear and unquestionable, to enforce the
constitution upon them implies the cor
relative obligation on our part to ob
serve us limitations ana execute its
guarantees. Without the constitution
we are nothing, liy, through and
under the constitution we are what it
makes us. We may doubt the wisdom
of the law, we may not approve of its
provisions, but we cannot violate it
merely because it seems to confine our
powers within narrower limits than we
could wish. It is not a question of iu
dividual, or class, or sectional intpret.
much less of party predominance, but
of duty, of high nnd sacred outy, which
we are all sworn to perform. If we
cannot support the constitution with the
cheerful alacrity of those who love and
solve State Legislatures or prevvtst
them from assembling; .. to dismiss
Judges and other civil f usiciiotitries of
Suue aud appoint others without regard
to Stats law; to reorganize and operate
all the political mactnuety of the States;
to regulate the whole administration of
their domestic and local affairs accord
ing to the mere will of strange and ir
eponible agents, sent atnoiig them
for that purpose; these are powers not
gramed to the reueral Government, or
to any one of its braLches. Not being
granted, we violate our trust by ussum
ing them as palpably as we would by
acting in the face of a positive inter
dict, for the Constitution forbids us to
do whatever it does not affirmatively
authorize either bv express words or
ty clear implication. . If the authority
we desire to use does not come to us
threugh the Constitution, we can re
ceive it only by usurpation, and usurpa
tion is the most dangerous of po'itical
crimes. Uy that crime the enemies of
free government n all ages have
worked out their designs against public
liberty and private right. It leads
directly and immediately to the estab
lishment of absolute rule for undelega
ted power, and is always unlimited and
unrestrained
The acts of Congress in question are
not only objectionable lor their assump
tion of augmented power, but many of
their revisions ure in conflict with di
rect prohibitions of the government.
The Constitution commands that a Re
publican form of government shall be
guaranteed lo ail States; that no persou
shall be deprived of life, liberty or
property, without due process of law;
arrested wiihout a judicial warrant or
punished without a fair trial before an
believe in it, we must give to it at least
the fidelity of public st-rvants, who act
under solemn obligations and com
mands, which they dare not disregard.
Comtituuonal duty is not only one
which requires States to be restored;
there is another consideration which,
though of minor importance, is yet of
great weight. On the M2d d:y ot
July, lSOl, Congress declared, by an
annost unanimous vole of both Houses,
that the war should be conducted solely
for the purpose of preserving the
Union and maintaining the supremacy
of the Federal constitution and laws,
without impairing the diguity, equality
and rights of ihe States or individuals,
and that when this was done the war
should cease. I do not say that this
declaration is personally biuding on
those who joined in making it any more
than individual members of Congress
are personally bound to pay a public
debt created under a law for which
they voted; but it was a solemn public
official pledge of national honor, nnd I
can'i imagine upon what groun Is the
repudiation of it is to be justified. If
it be said that we are not bound to keep
faith with rebels, let it be remembered
that this promise was not made to reb-.
els only. Thousands of tried men in
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
made cn 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 assurahce, and believing that with
out it the war would end iu disaster to
our cause. Having given that assu
rauce in the extremity of our peril,
violation now in the day of our power
would be a rude rendu g of thai good
faith which holds the moral world to
gether. Our country would cease to
have any claim upon the confidence of
men. li would make the war not only
a tailure but a traua.
Be'ng sincerely convinced that these
views are correct. 1 wouia be unraith-
ful to my duty if I did net recommend
a repeal of the acts of Congress which
place ten of the Southern States under
the domination of military masters. If
calm reflection shall satisfy a majority
of your honorable bodies that the acts
referred to are not only a violation of
the national faith but in direct r t ; tl . c I
with ihe constitution, I dare i. :-rmit
myself to doubt Uni you wi'i i.:i.,ieui
at-ly strike them from the statute took.
To demon-trate the unconstitutional
character of those acts I need do no
more than to refr to their general pro
fessions It must be seen at once that
ihey are not authorized to dictate
what alterations shall be made in the
constitutions of the several States to
control the elections of State legislators
and State officers, members of Con
gress and electors of President and
impartial jury; that the privilege of
habeas corpus shall not be denied in
lime jf peace, and that no bill of
attainder shall be passed even against
a single citizen. Yet the system of
measures established by these acts of
Congress does totally subvert and des
troy the form as wrii 3s subsUnee of a
republican governmeM in the ten States
to wnich they apply. It binds them
hand and foot in absolute slavery and
subjects them to a strange and hostile
power more unlimited r.nd more iikeiy
lo be abused than any oihei now kinwu
among civilized men. It tramples
down all these rights in weich the es
sence of liberty consists, and which r.
free government is most careful to pro
tect; it denies the habeas corpus and
the trial by j'iry; personal freedom,
property and life, if assailed by passion,
prejudice or incapacity of rulers, have
no security whatever; il has ihe nfect
of a bill 01 attainder or bill t.f pains
and penalties, not upon a few individ
uals, I ui upon whole masses, including
millions who inhabit subjected States,
and even their unborn children.
These wrongs being expressly forbid
den, cannot be constitutionally inflicted
upon any portion of our people, no mat
ter how they may have come within our
jurisdiction, and no matter whether
ihey live in the States, Territories or
District. I have no desire to save from
the proper and just consequences of
their great crime those who engaged
in the rebellion against the government;
but as a mcde of puoishment ihe meas
ures under consideration are ihe most
unreasonable that could be invented.
Many of these people are perfectly
innocent; many kept their fidelity to the
Union to the last; many were incapable
of even legal offence; a large portion
even of the persons able 10 bear arms
were forced in.o rebellion against their
will, and of those who are guilty with
their own consent, the degrees of guilt
are as various as the shades of their
character and temper. Bui these acta
of Congress confound them all together
in one common doom indiscriminately.
Vengeance upon classes, sects and
parties, or upon whole communities, for
offences commuted by a portion of
them against the government to which
ihey owed obedience, was common iu
the barbarous ages of the world, but
Christianity and civilization have made
such progress thai recourse to a pun
ishment so cruel and unjust would meet
with ihe condemnation of all unpreju
diced and right minded men.
s-inse of security to its subjects; for they
can naver know -what more thpy will bn
called to eDjure when its red right hand
s arm -id to plugoo thorn again, nor is it
possible to conjectures how or why power
unrestrained by law may seek its next
victim. States that are still free may be
enslaved at any moment; for if the con
stitution doea not protect all, it protpos
none. It is manifestly ana avowealy tr.o
object of- these laws to confer ujoti ne
groes the privilege of voting, and to dis
franchise such number of white citizens
as will give the former a clear majority
at all elections in the Sauthern States,
This to the minds of sora"? persons m so
important that a violation of the consti
tution is justified as a means of bringing
it about. That morality is always false
which excuses a wrong because it pro
poses to accomp lish a desirable end. We
are not permitted to do evil that good
may cQme, but, in this case, the end is
itself evil os well as the means. The
subjugation of States to negro domina
tion would be worse than the rulliti.-y
despotism under which they are now suf
ferinj. It was believed bcforehanl that
the people would endure any amount of
militarv oppression for any length of
time rather than degrade themselves by
Vice president, by arbitrarily ceclar-
secession on the battlefield was not (he ing who shall vote and who shall be
triumph of its lawless principle, nor excluded from that privilege; to dis-
uni-
tive justice ot this age, especially of
this couniry, does not consist in strip
ping whole States of their liberties,
and reduciug all their people without
distinction to the condition of slavery.
Il deals separately with each individ
ual, and cciifines itself to ihe form of
law anu the vindication of its own
purity by an impartial examination of
erery case before a competent judicial
tribunal.
If this does not satisfy all our desires
with regard to Southern rebels, iet us
console o arselves by reflecting that a free
constitution, triumph tnt in war and tin
brokej in peace, is worth far more to us
and our children than the gratification of
any present feeling. I am awtre it is
assumed that this system of government
for the Southern States is not to be per
ptttial. It is true that this military gov
ernment is to be only provisional, but it
is through this temporary evil that a
great evil is to ba made perpetual. If
guarantees of the constitution can be
broken provisionally to serve a tempora
ry purpose, and in a part only of the
country, we can destroy them everywhere
and for all time. Arbitrary measures
often change, but they generally change
for the worse. It is the curse of despot
ism that it has no baiting place. Inter
mitted exorcis of it power brings no
subjection to the negro race; therefore
they have been left without a choice
Negro suffrage was established by act of
Congress, and military olueers were com
manded to superintend the proaess of
clothing the negro race with the political
privileges to govern white men. The
blacks in the South are entitled to be hu
manely governed, and to have the pro
tection of just laws for all their rights of
person und property. If it were practic
able at this tiino to give them a govern
ment exclusively their own. under which
they might managa their own affairs in
their own way, it would become a ravo
question whether we ought to do so or
whether common humanity would not re.
quire us to save them from themselves.
uu:, under the circumstances, this is only
a speculative point. It is not proposed
merely that they shall govern themselves,
but that they shaii rule tha wrnto race,
make and administer the States laws,
elect Presidents and members of Con
gress, and 6hape, to a greater or les ex
tent, tha future destiny of tho whole
country. Would such a trust and power
bo safe in such hands. The pecuunr
qualities which should characterize any
people that are fit to decide upon the
management of public affairs for a great
State have soluom been combined. It is
the gloryiof the white men to know that
they hare had these qualities in sufGcient
measure to build upon this CDntinenS a
great political fabric, and to preserve its
stability for more than ninety years,
while in every other part of the world nil
similar experiments have failed. If any
thing can be proved by known facts; if
a!i reason. ng upon evidence is not aban
doned, it must bo acknowledged that in
the frogress of nations tho negro has
shown less capacity for government than
any other race of people. No independ
ent government of a y form has ever
been successful in their hands. v)u the
contrary, whenever they have been left
to their own devices, they have shown a
constant tendency to relapse into barba
liatiism. In the Southern States, how
ever, Congress has undetaken to canfer
upon then: tha privilege of tho ballot.
Just released from slavery, it may be I
doubted whether, as a class, they know
more than their ancestors how to organ
ize and regulate civil eocicty. Indeed, i
is admitted that tho blacks of the Soutt
are not only regardless of the rights of
propertv, but their voting can consist in
nothing more than carrying a ballot to
the place where they are directed to de
posit it
I need not remind ypu that tho exercise
of the elective franchise is the highest
attribute in the American citizen, and
thai when guided by virtue, intelligence.
patriotism and a proper appreciation of
our free institutions, it constitutes tho
true basis of a Democratic form of gov
ernment in which the sovereign power is
lodged in the body of tho people a trust
artificially created, not for its own sake,
but solely as a means of promoting tha
general welfare. Its inuuenco for good
must necessarily depend upon theelevat
ed character and true allegiance of the
elector. It ought, therefore, to be re
posed in none except those who are fit
ted morally and mentally to administer
it well; for if conferred upon persons
who do not justly estimato its value, and
who are indifferent as to its results, it will
only serve as a means of placing power
in the hands of the unprincipled and am
bitious, and must eventuate in the corn
plete destruction of liberty, of which it
should be the most powerful conservator.
I have, therefore, urged upon your at
tention the great danger to be apprehen
ded from an untimelv extension of the
elective franchise to any new class in our
country, and especially when a large ma
jority of thar class in wielding power
thus placed in our hands cannot be ex
pected correctly to comprehend the du
ties and responsibilities which pertain to
suffrage. Yesterday, as it were, four
millions of persons were held in the con
dition of slavery that had existed for
generations. To day they are freemen
and assumed by the law to be citizens.
It cannot be presumed from tho previous
conditio! of servitude that as a class
the? are as well informed as to the na
ture of our government a9 an inteligent
foreigner who make" our land his home.
In the case of the latter neither a resi
dence of five years and the knowledge of
our institutions which it gives, nor an
attachment to the principles of the con
stitution are only conditions upon whih
he can be admitted to citizenship. He
must prove in addition a good moral
character and thus give reasonableground
for the belief that he will be faihiful to
the obligations which he assumes as u
citizen of a republic whose people are
the source of all political power, and
speak through the instrumentality of the
ballot box; it must be carefully guarded
against the control of those who are cor
rupt in principle and enemies of free in
stitutions; for it can only become to our
political and social system a safe conduc
tor of fchalthy popular sentiment when
kept free from the demoralizing influences
controlled through fraud and usurpation
by designing anarchy and despotism must
inevitably fall. In thj hands of the pa
triotic a. d wcrthj, cur government wi..
be preserved upon the principla of the
constitution inherited from our fathers.
It follows, therefore, that in admitting
to the ballot box a new class of voters,
not ouahlied f jr the exercise of the eleo
tive fraucuise, we weaken our system of
government, instead of adding to its
strength onJ durabil.ty. 1 yield to no
one in attachment to that rule of gener
al suHraga which distinguished our poll
Cy as a nation, but there is a limit, wisely
observed hitherto, which makes tho bal
lot a priviSedge and trust, and which
, requires of, classos a time suitable for
probation and reputation. To give it
indiscriminately to a now class, wholly
unprepared by previous habits and op
portunities to perform the trust which it
demands, is to degrade it and finally de
stroy its power; for it may be safely
assumed that no political truth is better
established than that such indiscriminate
and all-embracing extension of popular
suilrago would end at last in its ever
throw and distruction
I repeat the expression of my will
ingness to join in any plan within the
scope of our constitutional authority,
which promises to better the condition
of the negroes in the South by encour
aging them in industry, enlighten
ment and improvement of their morals,
and giving protection in all their rights
as treedmen. But transferring our
political inheritance to them would, in
my optcion, be an abandonment of a
duty which we owe alike to the memo
ry of our fathers and rights of our
children. The plan of putting the
Southern States wholly and the Feder
al Government partially into hands of
negroes is propoced p.t a tune peculiar
ly unpropitious. The fotnda:icns of
society have been broken up by civil
war; industry mu-t be recognized,
justice re-established, the public credit
maintained, and order brought out of
confusion. To acomplish these ends
would require all wisdom and vir
tue of the great men who formed our
insutntions originally. I confidently
believe that their descendants will be
equal to the arduous task before them
Jin it is more than madness to expect
that negroes will perform a for us.
Certainly we ought nctlo ask their as
sistance until we despair of our own
competency The great difference be
tween the two races i.n physical, men
Is if -ft
tat ana moral characteristics win pre
vent in amalgamation aud fusion of
them together in one homogeneous mass
If the inferior obtains ascendency over
the other, it will govern witn reference
! entire. y to us own interests, for it will
recognize no common interest?, and
create such a tyranny as this Continent
has never yet witnessed. Already the
negroes are influenced ty the promises
of confiscation and plunder They are
taught to regard as an enemy every
white man who hasTany respsct for the
rights of his cuvn race. If this contin
ues, it must becomo worse, until all
order be subverted, nil industry cease,
and the fertile fie'ds of the South grow
up into a wilderness. Of all the dan
gers which our nation has yet encoun
tered, none are euual to these which
must result from the success of the ef
fort now making lo Africanize half our
country. I would not put considera
obligations.' The violation tf such a
pledgs we made on the 22J of July,
1S61. will assuredly diminish the mar-'
ket value of our promises, bt Sides if we
acknow ledge that the national debt was
created not to held States in the Union,
as tax payers were led to suppose, but
to expel them from it end hand thftn
ever be rroverned tv nejrces, the
moral dmy to pay it would seem mt'ch
less clear. I say it may snern so, fr I
do not admit 't! nt this cr any other ar
gument in favcr of repudiation cat be
entertained as sound, tut its influence
cn some minds may well b appre
hended. The financial honor of a great com
mercial nation," largely indebted and
with a republican fcrm of government,
administered by agents of the popular
choice, is a thing cf such delicate tex
ture, and the distruction of it would l3
followed by such unspeakable calamity,
that every true patriot must desire to
avoid whatever might expose it to iha
slightest danger. The great interests
of ihe coua.ry require immediate relief
from these enactmonts. Business in
the South is paralysed by a senso of
general insecurity, by terror of confis
cation and dread of negro supremacy.
Southern trade, from which the North
would have derived such a great profit
under a government of law, still lan
guishes, and can never be revived until
n ceases to be fettered by the arbitra
ry power which makes all its operations
unsafe. That rich country the rich-.
est in natural resources the world ever
saw is worse than lost, if it be net
soon placed under the protection of a
free constitution. Instead ot being, as
it ought to be, a source of wealth and
power, it will become an intolerable
burden upon the rest of the naton.
Another reason for retracing our
steps will, doubtless, be seen by Con
gress in the late manifestation of public
opinion on the subject. We live in a
country where the popular will always
forces obedience to itself sooner cr
later. It is vain to thirk of opposing
it with anything short of legal authori
ty, backed by overwhelming force. It
cannot have escaped your attention
that from the day cn which Congress
fairly and formally presented the prep
osition to govern the Southern States
by military force, wuh a view to the
ultimate establishment of negro su
premacy, every expression of general
sentiment has been more or less ad
verse to it. The affection of litis gen
eration cannot be detached Irowi the
institutions of their ancestors. Their
determination to preserve the inheri
tance of a free government in their own
hand, and transmit it, undivided and
unimpaired, to their own posterity, is
too strong to be successfully opposed.
Every weaker passicn will disappear
before the love of liberty and law, for
which the American people are distin
guished above ail others in the world.
How far the duty of the President to
preserve, protect anu uetena me t-on-
stituuon requios him to go in opposing
an unconstitutional art of Congress, is
a very serious and important question,
on which I "have deliberated murh and
felt extremely anxious to reach a prop
er conclusion. Where an act has been
passed according to ihe form of the
tions of money in competition' with consiiiution, by the supreme legislative
.i.liru nrr r -rhf h n r, o ,-, o , ; ttUUJUlllV Ul
w- a
dent to reconstruction under the system
adopted ty Congress aggravate what I
regard as ihe intrinsic wrong of the
measure itself. It has cost uncounted
millions already, and if persisted in
will add largely 10 the weight .of taxa
tion, already too oppressive lobe borne
without just complaint, and may finally
reduce the treasury of the nation to a
state of bankruptcy. We must not de
lude ourselves. It will require a
strong standing" army, and nrobablv
more than two hundred millins of dol
lars per annum 10 maintain the suprem
acy ot negro governments after they
are established. The sum thus thrown
away, if properly used, form a sinking
fund, large enough to pay the whole
national debt in fifteen years. It is
vain to hope ttat the negroes will
maintain their ascendency themselves
without military power. ihey are
wholy incapable of holding in subiec
ticn the whole people of the South. I
submit to ihe judgment of Congre?s
whether ihe public credit may not be
injuriously anectea by a system or
measures like this. With our debt and
vast private interests, which are com
plicated with it, we cannot be too cau
tious ot a policy which might by a
possibility impair the confidence cf the
world in our government. That confi
dence can only be retained bv care
fully inculcating the principles of ius-
tice and honor on the popular mind, and
by ihe most scrupulous fidelity to all
our engagements of every sort.
Any serious breach of organic law
persisted in for a considerable time
cannot but create fears for the siabi ity
of our institution. Habitual violation
of prescribed rules which we bind our
selves to observe must demoralize the
people. Our only standard of civil
duty being set at naught, the sheet an
chor of our political morality is lost, the
public conscience sw?ngs from us
moorings, and yields to every impulse
of passion and interest. If we repudi
ate ihe coLStitution we will not be ex
pected to care much for mere pecuniary
the country, executive
resistance to it, especially in time of
high party excitement, would be likely
to produce violent collision between the
respective adherents of the two branch
es of the government. This would be
simply civil war, and civil war must be
resorted to only as the last remedy for
the worst of evils. Whatever might
tend to provoke it shculd be most care
fully avoided. A faithful and consci
entious magistrate will concede very
much to honest error, and something
even to perverse malice, before he will
endanger the public peace; and he will
not adopt forcible measures or such as
might lead to force as long as chan
ces, which are peaceable, remain open
to him or his constituents. It is true
that case3 may occur in which the
Executive would be compelled to stand
on his rights and maintain them re
gardless of consequences. If Congress
should pass an act which is not only in
palpable cannict with the constitution,
but will certainly, if carried out, pro
duce immediate and irreparable injury
to ihe organic structure of the govern-,
ment, and if there be neither judicial
remedy for the wrongs it inflicts, nor
power in the people to protect them
selves without official aid of their elec
ted defenders: if, for instance, the
legislative department should pass an
act, even through all forms of law, to
abolish a co-ordinate department of the
government; in such a case the Presi
dent must take ihe high responsibility
of his office, and save the life of the
nation at all hazards.
The so called reconstruction acts,
though as plainly unconstitutional as
any ihal can be imagined, were not be
lieved to be within the class last men
tioned. The people were not wholly
disarmed of the powed ot self defence.
In all ihe Northern Stales they still hold
in their hands the sacred right of the
ballot, and it was safe to believe that
in due time they would come to the res
cue of their own institutions. It givet
me pleasure to add that an appeal to
our common constituents was not taken'
in vain and fhat my confidence in their'
: f
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