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VOLUME XXXVI.] MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1S65. NUMBER 20. MESSAGE or cue mentin the interest of Union, as to the individual citizen in the interests of freedom. States, with proper limitations of power, are essential to the existence of the Constitution of the United States. At the very commencement, when we assumed a place among the Powers of the earth, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by States ; so were the Articles of Confedera tion ; and when the “People of the United States” ordain ed and established the Constitution, it was the assent of the States, one by one, which gave it vitality. In the event, too, of any amendment to the Constitution, the proposition of Congress needs the confirmation of States. Without States, one great branch of the legislative government would be wanting. And, if we look beyond the letter of the Constitution to the character of our country, its capa city for comprehending within its jurisdiction avast conti nental empire is due to the system of States. The best se curity for the perpetual existence cf the States is the “su preme authority” of the Constitution of the United States. The perpetuity of the Constitution brings with it the per petuity of the States; their mutual relation makes us what we are, and in our political system their connexion is indisso luble. The whole cannot exist without the parts, nor the parts without the whole. So long as the Constitution of the United States endures, the States will endure ; the des truction of one is the destruction of the other; the preser vation of the one is the preservation of the other. I have thus explained my views of the mutual relations of the Constitution and the States, because they unfold the principles on which I have sought to solve the moment ous questions and overcome the appalling difficulties that met me at the very commencement of my administration. It has been my steadfast object to escape from the sway of The nextstep which I have taken to restore thetonstitu- tional relations of the State*?, has been an invitation to them to participate in the high office of amending the Con stitution. Every patriot must wish for a general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent with public safety. For this greatend there is need of a concurrence ef all opinions, and the spirit of mutual conciliation. All parties in the late teriible couflect must work together in harmony. It is not too much to ask, in the name of the whole people, that, on the one side, the plan of restoration shall proceed in con formity with a willingness to cast the disorders of the past into oblivion ; and that, on the other, the evidence of sin cerity in the future maintenance of the Union shall be put beyond any doubt by the ratification of the propose! amendment to the Constitution, which provides for the ab olition of slavery forever within the limits of our conntry. So long as the adoption of this amendment is delayed, so long will doubt, and jfalousy, and uncertainty prevail. This is the measure which will efface the sad memory of the past; this is the measure which will most certainly call population, and capital, and security to those parts of the Union that need them most. Indeed, it is not too much-to ask of the States which are now resuming their places in the family of the Union to give this pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace. Until it is done, the past, however much we may desire it,'will not be forgotten. The adop tion of the amendment re-unites us beyond all power of disruption. It heals the wound that is still imperfectly closed; it removes slavery, the element which has so long perplexed and divided the country ; it makes us once more a united people, renewed and strengthened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and support. The amendment to the Constitution being adopted, it president of the united states. fellow-Citizens of the denote and House of Representatives: To express gratitude to God, in the name of the People, /jr the preservation of the United States, is my first duty jn addressing you. Our thoughts next revert to the death 0 f the late President by an act of parricidal treason. The ,-rief of the nation is still fresh ; it finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence, by entering on the renewed term of the Chief jjasristracy, to which he had been elected ; that lie brought . : jcivil war substantially to a close; that his loss was de- -oored in all parts of the Union; and that foreign nations Vjie rendered justice to his memory. His removal cast spoil me a heavier weight of cares than ever devolved up on anV one of his predecessors. To fulfill my trust I need *he support and confidence of all who are associated with vith me ii: the various departments of Government, and the support and confidence of the people. There is but one way in which lean hope to gain their necessary aid; it is, to state with frankness the principles which guide my conduct, and their application to the present state of af fairs, well aware that the efficiency of my labors will, in a creat measure, depend on your and their undivided appro bation. The Union of the United States of America was intended by its ai thors to last as long as the States themselves shall last. “The Union shall bk perpetual,” are the words of the Confederation. “To form a more perfect Union,” k an ordinance of the people of the United States, is the vclared purpose of the Constitution. The hand of Divine J’rovidence was never more plainly visible ia the affairs of men than in the framing and adopting of that instrument. It is, beyond comparison, the greatest event in American iistory; and indeed the most pregnant the earth? The meinoers oi tne convention which p prod it, brought to their work the experience of the Con federation, of their several States, and of other Republican tiofernments, old and new; but they needed and they ob- raiued a wisdom superior to experience. And when for its validity it required the approval of a people that occupied a large part of a continent, and acted separately in many distinct conventions, what is more wonderful than that, at- I pression of discontent; would have divided the people in- 1 ia during the autumn or early winter, nor-until earnest contention and long discussion, all feelings and all to vanquishers and the vanquished ; and would have enven- should have “ an opportunity to consider and act on the whole subject”. To your deliberations the restoration of this branch of the civil authority of the United States is therefore necessarily referred, with the hope that early pro It has power to enforco the laws, punish treason, and en-1 and exhaustive expense. Peaceful emigration te anu from jure domestic tranquility. In case of the usurpation of i that portion of the country is one of the best means that the Government of a State by one man, or an oligarchy, it 1 can be thought of for the restoration of harmony; and that been committed. Persons who are charged with its coin becomes a duty of the United States to make good the j emigration would have been prevented; for what emigrant mission should have fair and impartial trials in the highest guarantee to that State of a republican form of govern- j from abroad, what industrious citizen at home, would place civil tribunals of the country, in order that the Constitution • “lit, ami so to maintain the homogeneousness of all.! himself willingly under military rule ? The chief persons and the laws may be fully vindicated ; the truth clearly es \k's the lapse of time reveal defects? A simple mode of' who would have followed in the train of the army would . tabhshed and affirmed that treason is a crime, that traitors jaeiidmeut is provided in the Constitution itself, so that its : have been dependents on the General Government, or men should he punished and the offense made infamous ; and, at conditions can always be made te conform to the require- who expected profit from the miseries of their erring fellow- the same time, that the question may be judicially settled, moots of advancing civilization. No room is allowed even citizens. The powers of patronage and rule which would finally and forever, that no State of its own will lias the fur the thought of a possibility of its coming to an end. | have been exercised, under the President, over a vast and right to renounce its place in the Union. And these powers of self-preservation have always been as-i populous and naturally wealthy region, are greater than, The relations of the General Government towards the scrteihin their complete integrity by every patriotic Chief unless under extreme necessity, I should be willing to en- four millions of inhabitants whom the war has called into Magistrate—by Jefferson and Jackson, not less than by j trust to any one man; they are such as, for myself, I could freedom, have engaged my inostaserious consideration. On Washington and Madison. The parting advice of the Path- i never, unless on occasions of great emergency, consent to the propriety of attempting to make the freedmen electors tr of his Country, while yet President, to the people of J exercise. The willful use of such powers, if continued by the proclamation c f the Executive, I took for my coun- e United .States, was, that the “free Constitution, which through a period of years, would have endangered the pu- sel the Constitution itself, the interpretations of that instru- the work of their hands, might be sacredly maintained;” rity of the general administration and the liberties of the merit by its authors and their contemporaries, and recent ad the inaugural words of President Jeft'ersou held up “the j States which remained loyal. j legislation by Congress. When, at the first movement to- rreservation of the General Government, in its constitutional i Besides, the policy of military rule over a conquered ter- wards independence, the Congress of the United States in- :or,as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety I ritory would have implied that the States whose inhabi- structed the several States to institute governments of their id.” The Constitution is the work of “the People of tants may have taken part in the rebellion had, by the act own, they left each State to decide for itself the conditions ae United States,” and it should be as indestructible as i of those inhabitants, ceased to exist. But the true theory for the enjoyment of the elective franchise. During the pe- -e people. is, that all pretended acts of secession were, from the be-, riod of the Confederacy, there continued to exist a very It is not strange that the framers of the Constitution, ginning, null and void. Thq States cannot commit treason, great diversity in the qualifications of electors in the sever- momentary passions, and to derive a healing policy from would remain for the States, whose powers have been so the fundumedtal and unchanging principles of the Consti- long in abeyance, to resume their places in the two branch- tution. j es of the National Legislature, and thereby complete the I foil ml the Slates suffering from the effects of civil war.! work of restoration. Here it is for you, fellow-citizens of Resistance to the General Government appeared to have I the Senate, and for you, fellow-citizens of the House of Rep- exhausted itself. The United States had recovered posses- resentatives, to judge, each of you for yourselves, of the 1 is it not, of all events in modern times, I sion of its forts and arsenals; and their armies were in the ! elections, returns, and qualifications @f your own members, with consequences for every people of I occupation of every State which had attempted to secede, j The full assertion of the powers of the General Govern- embers of the Convention which pre-1 Whether the territory within the limits of those States j meut requires the holding of Circuit Courts of the United should be held as conqu? red territory, under military an-' States within the districts where their authority has been thority, emanating from the President as the head of the j interrupted. In the present posture of our public aflairs, army, was the first question that presented itself for de- strong objections have been urged to holding those courts cision. I in any of the States where rebellion has existed ; and it was Now, military governments, established for an indefinite ascertained, by enquiry, that the Circuit Court of the Uni period, would have offered no security for the early sup-! ted States would not be held within the District of Virgin- opinions were ultimately drawn in one way to its support? ; omed hatred rather than have restored affection. Once es- Tlie Constitution to which life was thus imparted con- ! tablished, no precise limit to their continuance was con tains within itself ample resources for its own preservation, ceivuble. They would have occasioned an incalculable Congress vision will be made for the resumption of all its functions. It is manifest that treason, most flagrant in character, has Persons who are charged with absorpt uments by the General Government, and many from a Jud that the States would break away from their orbits. 1 1the very greatness of our country should allay the ap- > .“iision of encroachments by the General Govern- •'••st. The subjects that come unquestionably within its diction are so numerous, that it must ever naturally re- f to be embarrassed by questions that lie beyond it. it otherwise, the Executive would sink beneath the irGen: the channels of justice would be choked : legisla- n would be obstructed by excess : so that there is a great- attempting to secede pi where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished— bers of the House of Representatives of the United States, their functions suspended, but not destroyed. ! “ the electors in each State shall have the qualifications re- But if any State neglects or refuses to perform its offices, quisitq for electors of the most numerous branch of the there is the more need that the General Government should State Legislature.” After the formation of the Constitu- maintain all its authority, and, as soon as practicable, re- tion, it remained, as before, the uniform usage for each State sume t^ie exercise of all its functions. On this principle I ; to enlarge the body of its electors, according to its. own have acted, and have gradually and quietly, and by almost imperceptible steps, sought to restore the rightful energy ef the General Government and of the States. To that end, Provisional Governors have been appointed for the •■temptation to exercise some of the functions of the General States, Conventions called, Governors elected, Legislatures Government through the States than to trespass on their 1 assembled, and Senators and Representatives chosen to the '-htful sphere. “The absolute acq'uiesence in the decisions Congress of the United States. At the same time, the pliere. “The absolute acqmese ■lie majority” was, at the beginning of the century, en- : ''l by Jefferson “as the vital principle of republics,” ‘ > the events of the last four years have established, we ■ u hope forever, that there lies no appeal to force. maintenance of the Union brings with it “the sup- i' 0 - of the State Governments in all their rights;” but. it is f°Gne of the rights of any State Government to renounce Cong Courts of the United States, as far as could be done, have been re-opened, so tjiat the laws of the United States may be enforced through their ngenCy. The blockade has been removed and the custom-houses re-established in perts of entry, so that the revenue of th& United States may be collected. The Post Office Department renews it ceaseless activity, and the General Government i3 thereby enabled ,'O’vn place in the Union, or to nullify the laws of the 1 to commuuicatc promptly with its officers and agents. The ; f ^ The largest liberty is to be maintained in the dis- j courts bring security to persons and property ; the opening kon of the acts of the Federal Government; but there} of the ports invites the restoration of industry and com- n ° appeal from its laws, except to the various branches! merce ; the post office renews the facilities of social inter- Government itself, or to the people, who grant to j course and business. And is it not happy for us all, that -'uembers of the Legislative and of the Executive De- j the restoration of each one of these functions of the Gen- l;tln ents, no tenure but a limited one, and in that manner eral Government brings with it a blessing to the States ""avs retain the powers of redress. , "The sovereignty of the States” is the language of the -'Mifederacy, and not the language of the Constitution. . Matter contains the emphatic words: “The Qonstitu- and the laws of the United States which shall be made 1 Issuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall •‘“ude under the authority of the United States, shall be 1 supreme law of the land; and the judges in every Y •'liall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution “iws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” ^i tainly the Government of the United States is a limit- Jrovernnient; and so is every State government a limited ' L ‘ r mnent. With us, the idea of limitation spreads r&u gfi every form cf administration, general, State, and ." J,ll< ‘ipal, and rests on the great distinguishing princtple of Recognition of the rightsof man. Theancient republics ab- r, ' e< J the individual in the State, prescribed his religion, and ^Rolled hisactivity. The American system rests on the as- . ril0n of the equal right of every man to life, liberty, and the ■of happiness ; to freedom of conscience; to the ( l '| re and exercise of all his faculties. As a consequence, • 'Rate Government is limited, as to the General Govern- over which they aro extended? Is it not a sure promise of harmony and renewed attachment to the Union that, af ter all that has happened, the rejturn of the General Gov ernment is known only as a beneficence? I know very well that this policy is attended with some risk; that for its success it requires at least the acquiesence of the States which it concerns; that it implies an invita tion to those States, by renewing their allegiance to the United States, fo resume their functions as States of the Union. But it is a risk that must be taken ; iff the choice of difficulties, it is the smallest risk; and to diminish, and, if possible, to remove all danger, I have felt it incumbent on me to assert one other power of the General Government —the power of pardon. As no State can throw a defense over the crime of treason, the power of pardon is exclu sively vested in the Executive Government ef the United States. In exercising that power, I have taken every pre caution to connect it with the clearest recognition of the binding force of the laws of the United Stafes, and an un qualified acknowledgement of the great social change of condition in regard to slavery which has grown out of the war. judgment; and, uuder this system, one State after another has proceeded to increase the number of its electors, until now, universal suffrage, or something very near it, is the general rule. So fixed was this reservation of power in the habits of the people, and so unquestioned has been the in terpretation of the Constitution, that during the civil war the late President never harbored the purpose—certainly never avowed the purpose—of disregarding it; and in the acts of Congress, during that period, nothing can be found which, during the continuance of hostilities, much less after their close, would have sanctioned any departure by the Ex ecutive from a policy which has so uniformly obtained. Moreover, a concession of the elective franchise te the freedmen, by act of the President of the United States, must have been extended to all colored men, wherever found, and so must have established a change of suffrage in the Northern, Middle and Western States, not less than in the Southern and Southwestern. Such an act would have created a new class of voters, and would have been an as sumption of power by the President which nothing in the Constitution or laws of the United States would have war ranted. On the other hand, every danger of conflict is avoided when the settlement of the question is referred to the sev eral States. They can, each for itself, decide on the meas ure, and whether it is to be adopted at once and absolutely, or introduced gradually and with conditions. In my judg ment, the freedmen, if they show patience and manly vir tues, will sooner obtain a participation in the elective fran chise through the States than through the General Govern ment, even if ii had-power to intervene. When the tu mult of emotions that have been raised by the suddenness of tlie social change shall have subsided, it may prove that they will receive the kindliest usage from some of thdse on whom they have heretofore most closely depended. But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the war, it is not competent for the General Government to extend the elective franchise in the several States, it is equally clear that good faith requires the security of the freedmen in their liberty and their property, their right to labor, and their right to claim the just return of their la bor. I cannot too strongly urge a dispassionate treatment of this subject, which should be cerefully kept alooffrom all party strife. We must equally avoid hasty assumptions of any natural impossibility for the two races to live side by side, in a state of mutual benefit mid good will. The ex periment involves us in no inconsistency ; let us then, go on and make that experiment in good faith, and not be too ea sily disheartened. The country is in need of labor, and tho freedmen are in need of employment, culture and protec tion. While their right of voluntary migration and expa triation is not to be questioned, I would not advise their for ced removal and colonization. Let us rather encourage them to honorable and useful industry, where it may be beneficial to themselves and to the country, and, instead of hasty anticipations of tho certainty of failure, let there be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the experiment. The change in their condition is the substitution of labor by con tract for the status of slavery. The freedman canuot fairly be accused of unwillingness to work, so long as a doubt re mains about his freedom of choice in his pursuits, and the certainty of his recovering his stipulated wages. In this the interests ot the employer and the employed coincide. The employer desires in his workmen spirit and alacrity, and these can be permanently secured in no other way. And if the one ought to be able to enforce the contract, so ought the ether. The public interest will be best promoted, if the several States will provide adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen. Until this is in some way ac complished, there is no chance for the advantageous use of their labor ; and the blame of ill-success will not rest on them. I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the im mediate realization of its remotest aims ; but time is always an element in reform. It is one of the greatest acts on rec ord to have brought four millions of people into freedom. The career of free industry must be fairly opened to them ; and then their future prosperity and condition must, after all, rest mainly on themselves. If they fail, and so perish away, let us he careful that the failure shall not be attribu table to any denial of justice. Jn all that relates to the destiny of the freedmen, we need not to be too anxious to read the future ; many incidents which, from a speculative point of view, might raise alarm, will’ quietly settle them selves. Now that slavery is at an end, or near its end, the great ness of its evil, in the point of view of public economy, be comes more and more apparent. Slavery was essentially a monopoly of labor, and as such locked the States where it prevailed against the incoming of free industry. Where la bor was the property of the capitalist, the white man was excluded from employment, or had but the second best chance of finding it; and the foreign emigrant turned away from the region where his condition would he so precari ous. With the destruction of the monopoly, free labor will hasten from all parts of the civilized world to assist in de veloping various and immeasurable resources which have hitherto lain dormant. The eight or nine States nearest the Gulf of Mexico have a soil of exuberant fertility, a cli mate friendly to long life, and can sustain a denser popula tion than is found as yet in any part of our country. And the future influx of population to them will be mainly from the North, or from the most cultivated nations in Europe. From the sufferings that have attended them during our last struggle, let us look away to the future, which is sure to be laden for them with greater prbsperity than lias ever before been known. The removal of the monopoly of slave labor is a pledge that those regions will be peopled by a nu merous and enterprising population, which will vie with any in the Union in compactness, inventive genius, wealth, and industry. Our Government springs from, and was made for the peo ple—not the people for the Government. To them it owes allegiance ; from them it must derive its courage, strength, and wisdom. But, while the Government is thus bound to defer to the people, from whom it derives its existence, it should, from the very consideration of its origin, be strong in its power of resistance to the .establishment of inequali ties. Monopolies, perpetuities, and class legislation, are contrary to the genius of free government, and ought not to be allowed. Here, there is ho room for favored classes or monopolies; the principle of our government is that of equal laws and freedom of industry. Wherever monopoly attains a foothold, it is sure to be a source of danger, dis cord, and trouble. We shall but fulfill our duties as legis lators by according “equal and exact justice to all men,” special privileges to none. The Government is subordinate to the people; but as the agent and representative of the people, it must be held superior to monopolies, which, in themselves, ought never to be granted, and which, where they exist, must be subordinate and yield to the Govern ment. The Constitution confers on Congress the right to regu late cQmmerce among the several States. It is of the first necessity, for the maintenance of the Union, that that com merce should be free and unobstructed. No State can be justified iu any device to tax the transit of travel and com merce between States. The position of many States is such that, if they were allowed to take advantage of it for pur poses of local revenue, the commerce between States might be injuriously burdened, or even virtually prohibited. It is best, while the country is still young, and while the tenden cy to dangerous monopolies of this kind is still feeble, to use the power of Congress so as to prevent any selfish im pediment to the free circulation of men and merchandise. A tax on travel and merchandise, in their transit, constitutes one of the worst forms of monopoly, and the evil is increas ed if coupled with a denial of the choice of route. When the vast extent of our country is considered,^t is plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of commerce between the (States ought to be sternly guarded against by appropri ate legislation, within the limits of the Constitution. The report of the Secretary of the Interior explains the condition of the public lands, the transactions of the Patent Office and the Pension Bureau, the management of our In dian affairs, the progress made in the consrmction of the Pacific Railroad, and furnishes information in reference to matters of local interest in the District of Columbia. It also presents evidence of the successful operation of the Home stead Act, under the provisions of which 1,160,533 acres of the public lands were entered during the fiscal year—more than one-fourtli of the whole number of acres sold or other wise disposed of during «that period It is‘estimated that rhe receipts derived from this source are sufficient to cover the expenses incident to the survey and disposal of the lands entered under this Act, and that payments in cash to the extent of from forty to fifty per cent, will be made by set tlers' who may thus at any time acquire title before the ex piration of the period at which it would otherwise vest.— The homestead policy' was established only after long and earnest resistance ; experience proves its wisdom. The lands, in the hands ot industrious settlers, whose labor cre ates wealth and contributes to the public resources, are [concluded on fourth page.]