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GEORGIA WEEKLY OPINION. THE WEEKLY OPINION. BT V. In SCRUGGS AMD J. B. BUMBLE. OFFICIAL PAFEB FOB THE COUNTIES OF Bak.r, Baldwin, Bartow, Bibb, Butta, Carroll, Chattooga, Clayton, Cobb, Dado, DeKalb, Payotto, Fonyth, Fulton, Oordon, Oroono. Owlnnott, Folk, Sarralnon, Spalding, Tint Macon Convention.—Tho organl- zatlons throughout tills State, for the de feat of the Constitution to be adopted by tlic Convention, would not seem so childish and stupid, If those Interested in the move ment- would specify what portions of the Constitution Is, or will be, objectionable. Let them point out what particular feature or clause In that unseen Instrument that Is objectionable. If they will but do this, and quit beating the air In frantic despair, people will listen to them patiently, and mayhap join them in the movement. Come, gentlemen, what is it? It will not do to say that you will reject any Consti tution which the Convention may adopt, because you do not know xchat that Con vention Is going to do. It may jet take all the wind out of your sails, and force you to the humiliating confession that you op posed the measure because you supposed It might do something dreadful * Or you may yet havq to :\oknowlodgo that you opposed fcccoiTstrutlon not by reason of the terms imposed, but because some of you were not recognized ns the leaders in the move ment! Arc you for Universal Amnesty and Impartial Suffrage? If so, you arc not good Democrats; because a genuine Loco never sails under the colors of an antago nist. You should reject that because it originated not with you, hut with those whom you call •* Radicals.*’ Suppose now, you just quit your foolish ness; and if you really desire reconstruc tion, join us, and the work will soon be ac complished. Do tills, and our word for it, two years from now you can all vote nnd hold office too! Can you not keep out of otllce for two brief years ? Try it. The country will doubtless profit by the expe riment. TENNES8E8 POLITICS. Prominent among the leading questions now before the Tennessee Legislature, is a proposition to compel common carriers to Ignore all distinction on account of color. Tills measure contemplates the admission to first class cars and to sleeping cars, negro passengers who may demand it. Another measure of a kindred nature, now before that body, Is, that the offices of State and county be opened alike to whites and blacks. This proposition. If success ful, will result In the election of negroes to civil office In all those counties wherein the colored vote outnumbers that of the whites. Both these propositions arc opposed! in ‘-olid phalanx, by the East Tennessee dele gation; but they are supported, with al most equal unanimity, by the members from tin' Middle anil Western portion* of the State. It Is an unfortunate issue for Tennessee, and one which can but result in detriment to the colored race. Social sta tus, like the laws of trade, should l»e left to regulate Itself; and all efforts by legislation at either social equality or sumptuary reg ulation*. can but result in disorder. But. as a general thing, the negroes themselves are unwilling participants In all such mischievous controversies. Left ro themselves, and free to choose their own mode of travel, they prefer a cur to them selves, But when the matter becomes a political question, and it is sought to break down those distinctions In social life which have been set up by an alhvlsc Creator, ill feeling and animosities are engendered.— If, for instance, we have a law compelling conductors to admit negroes to the same sleeping ear with white people, there will never be wanting low nnd designing white men to Incite them to demand admit tance. If refused, the Hallway company or the Proprietors of the sleeping car arc liable in damages. If admitted, nothing is more certain than that every white per son would at once vacate the car: and in time this would have the effect cither to discontinue such conveniences altogether, or In such an Increase of facilities as will accommodate both races by keeping them separate. In the matter of office, the question Is *tlll more serious. There are several coun ties In the different Southern States where in the negro vote preponderates, hut where the property Is owned principally or en tirely by the whites. To act upon the sup position that white men will submit to ne gro Judges, Ordinaries and Sheriffs, who have no other qualifications for such posi tions than that found in the color of their skin, exhibits a very narrow acquaintance with human nature. It can but lend to the bitterest animosities, ami perhaps to a war of race*. The result will be the extermin ation of the weaker and less intelligent Tknnksskk and Pacific Railroad.—A bill ha - passed the Tennessee Senate, and reached the second reading in the House, making a heavy appropriation for the building of this road, it connects directly with Nadivtlle. and pa>*o*s through a rich country along the Northern border of the State. Kdicatioxai..—Tin* State Teacher* As sociation, of Tennessee, meets in Knox- ville, on the 2Gth nnd 27th of the present month. Cotton in Uoi.fMiips.—The suii. of yes terday, quotes midtiling* sit \vp\ PREIIDENT’N MESMAUt: Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Jlepresentatives: The continued disorganization of the Union, to which the President has so often eminent. The Executive ; m v predecessor as well us myself) and rim heads of all the Departments have uniformly noted upon the principle that the Union is not only undissolveu, but indissoluble. Congress „ .. submitted an amendment of the Constitu ted the attention of Congres* i« yet a , t| un to be ratified by u, 0 Southern Mates. tnM ~* nt n " A 1 and accepted their acts of ratification a subject of profound and patriotic concern. We may, however, find some relief from tiiat anxiety in the reflection that the pain ful political situation, although before un tried by ourselves, is not new In the expe rience of nations. Political science, per haps as highly perfected In our own timu and country as in any other, has not yet disclosed any means by which civil wars can he absolutely prevented. An enlight ened nation, however, with a wise anu be neficent Constitution of free Government, may diminish their frequency and mitigate their severity by directing all its proceed ings In accordance with its fundamental law. When a civil war lias been brought to a close, it is manifestly the first interest and duty ot the State to repair the Injuries which the war has inflicted, nnd to secure the benefit of the lessons it teaches as fully and ns speedily as possible. This duty was. upon the termination of the rebellion, promptly accepted, not only by the Exec utive Department, but by the Insurrection ary States themselves, and restoration. In the first moments of peace, was believed to be as easy and certain as It was Indispen sable. The 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 sent. It is. therefore, a source of profound re gret that, in complying with the obliga tion imposed upon the President by the Constitution, to give to Congress from time to I fine information of the state of the Union, l am unable to communicate any definite adjustment, satisfactory to the American People, of the questions which, since the close of the rebellion, have agita ted the public mind. On the contary,can dor compels me to declare that at tills time there is no Union as our fathers understood the term, and as they meant it to he under stood by us. The Union which they estab lished can exist only where all the Mates are represented in both Houses of Congress; where one State is as free as another to regulate its internal concerns according to its own will; nnd where the laws of the central Government, strictly confined to matters of national jurisdiction, apply with equal force to all the people of every sec tion. That such is not the present “state of the Union” is a melancholy fact; and we nil must acknowledge that the restora tion of the States to their proper legal re lations witli the Federal Government and with one another, according to the terms of the original compact, would l>e the greatest temporal blessing which God, in tils kindest providence, could bestow upon this nation. It becomes our imperative duty to consider whether or not it is im possible to effect this most desirable con summation. The Union and the Constitution are in separable. 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 he followed by other and still greater ca lamities. It was ordained not only to form a more perfect union between the States, but to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common dc- " ise. promote the general welfare, and are the blessings of liberty to ourselves I our posterity.” Nothing but Implicit olMHliciice 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 breaches of public peace, national weakness, finan cial dishonor, the total loss of our prosper ity. the general corruption of morals, and the filial extinction of impular freedom. To save our country from evils so appalling as these, we should renew otir efforts again ami again. the process of restoration seems plain and* simple. It consists morelv 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, real or pretended, which can prevent obedience to the Constitution, either North or South. Ail the rhrhts and ail the obligations of States and individuals can he protected and enforced by means perfectly consistent with the funda mental la a. The courts may be every where open, and, if open, their process would be unimpeded. Crimes against the United States can be prevented or punish ed by the proper judicial authorities, in a manner entirely practicable and legal.— There Is, therefore, no reason why the Con stitution should not be obeyed, unless those who exercise its powers have determined that It shall be disregarded and violated. The mere naked will of tills Government, or of some one of Its branches. Is the only obstacle that can exists to a perfect union of the States. On this momentous question, and some of the measures growing out of it, I have had the misfortune to differ from Congress, and have expressed my convictions with out reserve, though with becoming defer ence to the opinion of the Legislative De partment. Those convictions are not only unchanged, but strengthened by subse quent events and ftirthcr reflection. The transcendent importance of the subject will lie a sufficient excuse for calling your attention to somu of the reasons which have so strongly Influenced my own mdg- inent. Thu hope that we may all finally concur In a mode of settlement, consistent at once with our true interests and with our sworn duties to. the Constitution, is too natural and too just to be easily relin quished. It U clear to my apprehension that the States Intelv In relielllon are still members of the National Union. When did they cease to be so ? The “ordinances of seces sion." adopted by a portion (In most of them a very small portion) of thelrcltlzcns, were mere nullities. lr wo admit now tiiat they were valid ami effectual for the purpose intended by their authors, we sweep from under our feet the whole ground upon which wo justified the war. Were those. Suites afterwards expelled from tlic Union by the war? The direct contrary was averred by tills Government to lie Its puviKJse, and was so understood by all those who gave their blood and treasure to aid In tu prosecution. It can not Imj that a successful war, waged for the preservation of the Union, bad the legal effect of dissolving it. Tlic victory of the nation's arms was not the disgrace ot he* iKilley; the defeat of secession on the bat tle-field wasnot the triumph of its law less principle. Nor could Congress with or without the consent of the Executive, do aiiytliiiig 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 tiiat it Is a power which doe* not Mnrtg to any Department of this Government, or to nil of them uni ted. Tills is so plain tiiat it has been acknowl edged by nil I ' # — 1 ' w ,, , . and lawful exercise of their highest function. If tliev were not Mate*, or were Stares out of the Union, their con sent to a change in the fundamental law of the Uidon would have been nugatory, and Congieus. In asking It, committed ’u |Huitical absurdity. Thu Judiciary has also given Hie solemn sanction of its au thority to tlic sumo view of the ease. The Judges of tlie Supreme Court have includ ed the Southern States in their circuits. Mild they are constantly, in banc and qlse- whero, exercising jurisdiction which does not belong to them, unless those Suites are States of tlic Union. If the Southern States are component parts of the Union, the Constitution is the supreme law for them, as it Is for all the other States. They are hound to oliev it. and so are we. The right of the Federal Government, which is dear and unques tionable, to enforce the Constitution upon tlieui. implies the corelative obligation on our part to observe its limitations and exe cute its guaranties. Without the Const! tutionwonre nothing; by, through, am under the Constitution we are what it makes us. We may doubt the wisdom of the law, we may riot approve of Its pro visions. but we cannot violate it morel, In-cause It seems to confine our power within limits narrower than we could wish. It is not a question of individual, or da**, or sectional interest, much less of pnriy predominance, hut of duty—of high aid sacred duty—which.we are alt sworn to perform. If we cannot support the Con stitution with the cheerful idu-rity of those who love and believe in it, we inu*t give to it at least the fidelity of public ser vants who act under solemn obligations and commands which they dare notUi-re- gard. The constitutional duty i* not the only one which require* the States be restored. There is another con sideration which, though of miner im portance. is yet of great weight. On the 2*id day of July. lSbl. Congress declared, by an almost unanimous vote of both Houses, that the war should be conducted solely tor the purpose of preserving the Union, and maintaining the supremacy of the Federal Constitution and laws, without impairing the dignity, equality, and rights of the States or of individuals, and that when tills wa* done the war should cease. I do not say tiiat this declar ation is personally binding on those who joined in making it. any more than indi vidual members of Congress are person ally bound to pay a public debt created un der a law for which they voted. But it was a solemn, public, official pledge of the national honor, and 1 eai not imagine upon what grounds the repudiation or it is to be justified. If it bo sad that we are not bound to keep faith with rebels, let it be remembered tiiat this promise was not made to rebels only. Thousands of true men In thoSouth were drawn to our stan dard by it and hundreds of thousand* in tho North gave their lives in the belief that it would he carried out. it was made on the day after the first great battle of the war had been fought and lost. All patriotic and intelligent men then saw the nece-sity of givingsncli an assurance. and believed that without it tlic war would end in a di- aster to our cause. Havliiu given that as surance in tho extremity of our peril, the violation of It now. in the day of our power, would be a rude rending of tiiat good faith which holds the moral world together; our country would cease to have any claim upon the confidence of men; it would make the war not only a fui.urc, but a fraud. Being sincerely convinced that these views are correct, I would Imj unfaithful to my duty If I did not recommend the re peal of the Acts of Congress which place ten of the Soushern States under the do minion of military masters. If calm re flection shall satisfy a majority of your honorable bodies that the acts referred to not only a violation of the national faith, but in direct conflict witli the Con- stituti3ii, I dare not permit myself to doubt that you will immediately strike them from the statute hook. To demonstrate the unconstitutional hameter of those nets I need no more tlinn to refer to their gen ial provisions. It must lie seen at once tiiat they are not authorized. To dictate what alteration!! shall be made In the Con stitutions of the several States; to control tho elections of State legislators and Mate officers, members of Congress and electors of President and Vice President, by arbi trarily declaring who shall vote and who shall be excluded from that privilege; to dissolve State legislatures or prevent them from assembling; to dismiss judges and other civil functionaries of the State, and appoint others without regard to State law; to organize and operate all the i>o- lltlcal machinery of tlic States; to regu late the whole administration of their do mestic and local affairs according to tlic mere will of strange and irresponsible agents, sent among them for tlmt purnosc —these arc powers not granted to the Fed eral Government or to any one of its branches. Not being granted, wo violate our trust by assuming them as palpably as we would by acting In the fuce of a pos itive Interdict; for tho Constitution forbids us to do whatever It docs not affirmatively authorize either by express words or by clear implication. If the authority we de sire to use does 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 the enemies of free government In all ages have worked out their designs against public liberty and private right. It leads directly and Immediately to the establishment ot absolute rule; for undel- egated power is always unlimited and un restrained. The acts of Congress In question arc not only objectionable for their assump tion of ungranted power, but many of their provisions are In conflict with the direct prohibitions of tho Constitution.— Tito Constitution commands that a repub lican form of government shall bo guar anteed to all the States: that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or prop erty without due process of law. arrested without a judicial warrant, or punished without a fair trial Itefore an impartial jury; tlmt the privilege of habeas corpus shall not lie denied in time of peace; and that no bill of attainder shall be passed even against a single individual. Yet the system of measure* established by these acts of Congress does totally subvert and destroy the form as well as tlic substance of republican government In tho ten States to which they apply. It binds them hand and ►lute slavery, mid subjects them foot in absol to a strange and hostile power, more un limited and more likely to be nbused than any other now known among civilized men. It tramples down all those rights in which tlie essence of liberty consists, and which a free government Is always most .......... — earefhl to protect. It denies the habeas lies of the Federal Gov- corpus and tlic trial by Jury, Personal freedom, piopei'.y, and life, if .i «alied b/ the p:i**bui. tin* prejudice, or the rapuiitv of the ruler, have no security whatever, ft ba» the effect of a bill of attainder, or bill of pains and |M)Ualtle*. not upon a lew in dividual*. but upon whole tn isse*. Inclu ding the million* who Inhabit the stihjc< t *d States, mill even their tinU>ru children. These wrongs, being expressly forbidden, cannot be constitutionally indicted upon any portion of our people, no matter how they nmy have come within our lurisdic- tiou. and no matter whether they live in States. Territories, or district*. I have no desire to save from the proper and just consequences of their great crime those who engaged in rebeliior. against the Government; hut as a mode of punishment the measures under consideration are the most unreasonable that could be invented. Many of those people are perfectly Inno cent: many kept their fidelity to the Union untainted to tlie last; many were incapa ble of any legal offence; a large proportion even of the persons able to bear arms were forced Into rebellion against their will; mid of those who are guilty with their own con-cut, the degrees of guilt are as various is the siia les of their character and temper. Imli'criniate vengeance upon classes.sects, ami parties, or upon whole communities, fur offenses committed by a portion of liiriii against the governments to which tn«*y owed obedience, was common in the lair., irons ages of tlie world. But Christian ity iud civilization have made such pro- g••••.«* that recourse to a punishment so cruel and unjust would meet with the eon- d< lunation of all unpreiudieeU and right- minded men. The punitive justice of this age. and especially of tills country, does not consist in striping whole Stutes of their 'ties, and mincing all their people. itiiout distinction, to the condition of ry. It deals separately with each In dividual, confines itself to the forms of law, and vindicates its own purity by an impartial examination of every ease before a competent judicial tribunal. If this does not satisfy alt our desires with regard to Southern rebels, let us console ourselves by reflecting that a tree Constitution, tri umphant in war and unbroken ill peace, is worth fur more to us and our children than the gratification of any present feeling. I am aware it is assumed that tills system of government for the Southern States is not to be perpetual. It is true that this mil itary government Is to lie only provisional, but’it is through tills temporary evil tiiat a greater evil is to be made perpetual. If tlie guarantees of tlie Constitution can be bro ken provisionally to serve a temporary purpose, mid in a part only of tlie country, we can destroy tiieni everywhere and for all time. Arbitrary measures often change, but they generally change f.»r the worse. It is the curse of despotism that it lias no halting place. The Intermitted exercise of Its power brings no sense of security to its subjects; for they can never know* what more they will be called upon to endure when Its red right hand 1* armed to plague them again. Nor Is it possible to conjecture how or where power, unrestrained by law, may seek its next victims. Tlie States that are still free may be enslaved at any mo ment : for if tlie Constitution does not pro tect all. it protects none. It Is manifest and avqwedly the object of these laws to confer op«n negroes the priv ilege of voting, and to disfranchise such a number of while citizens as will give the former a clear majority at all elections in the Southern States. This, to the minds of some persons, is so important, that a viola tion of the Constitution is Justified as a means of bringing it about. Tlie morality is always false''winch excuses a wrong be cause it proposes to accomplish a desirable end. We are not permitted to do cvlll that good may come. But in this case the end itself is evil, us well as the means. The siilijligation of tlie States to negro domin- ailon would be worse than tlie military despotism under which they are now suf fering. It was Indlevod beforehand that the people would endure any amount of military oppression, for any length of time, rather than degrade themseves by subjec tion to the negro race. Therefore they have been left without a choice. Negro suffrage was established by act of Congress, and tlie military officers were commanded to super intend the process of clothing the negro race with the political privileges torn from white men. The blacks in the South are entitled to lie well and humanely governed, and to have the protection of just laws for all their rights of person and property. If it were practicable at this time to give them a government exclusively their own, un der which they might manage theirown alialis in their own way. it would become a grave question whether we ought to do so. or whether common humanity would not require us to save them from them selves. But, under the circumstances, tills is uidy a s|K.*ciiiatlve point. It is not pro posed merely tiiat they shall govern them selves. but that they shall rule tho white race, make and and administer State laws, elect Presidents mid members of Congress, and shape to a greater or less extent the future destiny of the wholo country.— Would such a trust nnd power be sate in such hands? Tlie peculiar qualities which should characterize any people who are fit to de cide upon the management of public af- fulrs for a great State have seldom been combined. It Is the glory of white men to know tiiat they havcTmd these qualities In sufficient measure to build upon this con tinent a great political fabric, nnd to pre serve its stability for more than ninety yoats. while In every other part of the world ail similar experiments have failed. But If anything can be proved by known facts—If all reasoning upon evidence is not abandoned, U must be acknowledged tlmt in tlie progress of nations, negroes have shown less capacity for government than any other race of people. No Inde pendent government of any form has ever been successful In their hands. On the contrary, wherever they have been left to their own devices, they have shown a con stant tendency to relapses Into barbarism. In the Southern States, however, Congress has undertaken to confer upon them the privilege of tlie ballot. Just relieved from slaver)'* It may be doubted whether, ns u class, they know more than their ances tors how to organize a civil society. In deed. It Is admitted that the blacks of the South are not only regardless of the rights of property, but so utterly ignorant of pub lic affairs that their voting can consist In nothing more than carrying a ballot to the place where they are directed to deposit It. I need not remind you that the exercise of tlic elective franchise is tlie highest attri bute of an American citizen, and tlmt, when guided by virtue, intelligence, patri otism, nnd a proper appreciation of our free institutions, it constitutes the true ba sis of a democratic form of government. In which the sovereign power Is lodged In tlic liotly of tlic people. A trust artificially created, not for its own sake, but solely as a menus of promoting the general welfare, Its Influence for good must necessarily de pend upon the elevated character anu true allegiance of tbo elector. It ought there fore to be reposed In none except those who are fitted morally and mentally to ad minister It well; for If conferred utmn per sons who do not justly estimate Its value and who arc Indifferent to Its results, U will only Fcrve as a mean* of placing pow- States in the Union, as tlie tax payers were or in the hands of Lite unprincipled and led to suppose, hut to expel them from it ambition*, and must eventuate in the coni- and hum) ihein over to be governed by ne- plele destruction of tiiat liberty (d'whlcii it groe*. the moral duty to pay it may seem should be the most powerful conservator, much '(>** Hear. I say it may seem for l have therefore heretofore urged upon l no not admit that this or any oriicr urgn- yonr iittent'on the great danger “to be up- incut in favor of repudiation can be enter- prehended from an untimely extended of mined a» sound; but it» Influence •»« some the elective franchise to any new class in classes of minds may well be apprehended, onr country, especially when the large ma- Tlie financial honor of a great commercial jorlty of that cla**. in wielding tho power nation, largely Indebted, and with a repub- tluis placed in their bauds, cannot In* ex- Beau form of government administered by peered correctly to comprehend tlie duties agent* of Uie popular choice, i* a thing of and responsibilities which jiertaiii to *uf- such delicate texture, nud the destruction frage. Yesterday, a* it were, four millions of It would be followed by such unspeaka- of person* were held in iieondlrion ofsluv- ble calamity, that every true patriot must ery that had existed lor generation*: to- . desire to avoid whatever might expose it day they are freemen, and are assumed by to the slightest danger, law to be citizens. It cannot lie presumed Tin* great interests of the country re frain their previous condition of servitude, quire immediate relief from these enact- that as a class, they are as well informed uient*. Undoes* In the South is paralyzed as to the nature of our Government as the bv a sense of general insecurity. bv tho Intelligent foreigner who makes our lan.l ( terror of confiscation, and the dreVl of the home of Id* choice. In the case of the negro supremacy. The Southern trade, latter, n ither a residence office year*, and from which the North would have derived the knowledge of our institutions which it so great a profit under a government of gives, nor attachment to the principle* of law. still languishes, mid ••an never lie re- the Constitution, are the only condition* vived until it ceases to be fettered bv the upon which lie can be admitted to citizen- arbitrary power which makes all ita opera - siilp. Ue must prove, in addition, a go<Ml i tions unsafe. That rieli countrv— the moral character, and thus give reasonable j richest in natural resources the world ever ground for the belief that he will be faith-, saw—is worse than lo*t If it In: n<»r soon til! to tlie obligations which ho assumes as j placed under the protection of a free Unn- a citizen of tho Republic. Where a people j stitutiou. instead of being. n*» it might t-* —the source of all political power—speak, | be, it sour< col wealth and power, it will become an intolerable burden upon the bv their suffrage, through the Instrument* •silty of the ballot-box. it must he carefully guarded against the control of tiio.*»e who are corrupt in principle and enemies of free institution*, for It can only heroine to our political and social system a sat 0 con ductor of healthy popular sentiment when kept free from demoralizing influence*.— Controlled through fraud and usurpa tion. by the designing, anarchy nnd des- iiotism must inevitably follow. In the hand* of the patriotic and worthy, our Government will be preserved upon tlie principle* of the Constitution Inherited from our lather*. It follows, therefore, that in admitting to the ballot-box a new class of voters not qualified for the exer cise of tlic elective franchise, we weaken our system of government, instead of add ing to its strength and durability.” “I yield to no one in attachment to tiiat rule of general still rage 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 re quires of some classes a time suitable for probation and preparation. To give it In discriminately to a new class. Wholly un prepared. by previous habits nnd opportu nities. to perform the trust which it de mands, is to degrade it. and finally to de- rest of the i Another reason for retracing onr *rejn w ill doubtless be seen by Congress in the lute inuiiifcstui on- of public opinion uj*<ii this subject. We live 111 a country where the popular will always enforces obedience to itself, sooii“r or later. It i* vain to think of opposing it ivi n ans thing short of legal authority, backed by ovenvhelm ing force. It cannot have e.*cai>ed .tom- attention tiiat from the day on which Con gress fairly and formally presented the proposition to govern the ooiitiieni Mute* by military force, with u view to the ulti- mate establishment of negro supremacy, every expression of the general sentiment has been more or less adverse to it. The affections of tills generation cannot be de tached from tlie institutions of their an cestors. Their determination to preserve tlie inheritance of free government in their own hands, and transmit it undivided and unimpaired to their own posterity, is too strong to be successfully opposed. Even- weaker passion will disappear before that love of liberty and law for which the American People are distinguished above all others in tiie world. How far tlie duty of tlie President. “ to preserve, protect and defend the Constitu: tion,” requires him to go in opposing an unconstitutional act of Congress, is u very serious ami Important question, on which I have deliberated much, and felt ex tremely anxious to reach a proper conclu sion. Where an act has been passed ac cording to the form* of the Constitution by tlie supreme legislative authority, and is regularly enrolled among the public sunied tiiat no political tru tablishcd than that sucli indiscriminate and all-enibracing extension of popular suf frage must end at last in its overthrow and destruction.” I repeat the expression of my w illingness to join in any plan within the scope ot our constitutional authority which promises to ... ,_ o r „.. w better the condition of tlie negroes in the J statutes of the country. Executive re* ts- South. by encouraging them in industry, tance to it, especially in times of high enlightening their minds, improving their party excitement, would be likely to pro- morals. nnd giving protection to all their duee violent collision between the respet- just rights as freedmen. But the transfer five adherents of the two branches of the of our political inheritance to them would, ~ * in my opinion, be an abandonment of a duty which we owe alike to the memory of our fathers and the rights of our children. The plan of putting tlie Southern States wholly, and tlie General Government par tially, into the hands of negroes, is pro posed at a time peculiarly unpronitious.— Tlie foundations of society have wen bro ken un by civil war. Industry must be re organized, justice re-established, public Whatever might tend to provoke it should be most earefullv avoided. A faith ful and conscientious Magistrate will con cede very much to honest error, and some thing even to perverse malice, before he will endanger ti e public peace; and he wilj not adopt forcible measures, or such as . - might lead to force, as long ns those which credit maintained, and order brought out • are peaceable remain open to him or to ids of confiision. To accomplish these ends constituents. It is true that cases may would require all the wisdom and virtue of occur in which the Executive would !*> the great men who formed our Institutions compelled to stand on it* rights, and main- origin illy. I confidently bclluvo that their tain them, regardless of all consequence*, descendants will In? equal to the nrdtiou* ! it Congress should pass an net which task before them, hut it is worse than mad-j Is not only In palpable conflict with ness to expect that negroes will perform it the Constitution, but will certainly, for us. Certainly we ought not to ask their if carried out, produce immediate and irre- assistance until'we despair of onr own ! parable injury to the organic structure of competency. j the Government, and if there be neither Tlic great difference between the two I judicial remedy for the wrongs it inflicts races in physical, mental, and moral char- j nor power In the people to protect tliem- actcristics will prevent an amalgamation selves without the official aid of their or fusion of them together in one homo- 1 defender; if, for instance, the Legislative *** ♦»•** Department should pass au act even geneous mass. If the inferior obtains the ascendency over the otiier.it will govern with reference only to Its own interests— for it will recognize no common interest— and create such a tyranny a* this continent has never yet witnessed. Already tiie ne groes ure Influenced by promises of con fiscation and plunder. They are taught to regard as an enemy every white man who has any resncct for tlic rights of his ow*u race. If tills continues, it must become worse a"d worse, until all order will be subverted, all industry cease, and the fer tile Helds of tlie South grow un Into a wil derness. Of all tlie (lungers which our na tion lias yet encountered, none ure equal to those which mnst result from the success of the effort now* making to Africanize the half of our country. 1 would not put considerations of money tn coiniietition with justice nnd right.— But the expenses incident to “ reconstruc tion ” under tiie system adopted by Con gress aggravate what I regard ns the in trinsic wrong of tlie measure itself. It 1ms cost uncounted millions already, nnd If persisted In will add largely to tiie weigh of taxation, already too oppressive to he born without lust complaint, and may fi nally reduce the Treasury of tlie nation to a condition of bankruptcy. We must not delude ourselves. It will require a strong standing army, nnd probably more than two hundeed millions of dollars per an num, to m iintain the supremacy of uegro governments after they are established.— The sum thus thrown away would, if prop erly used, form a sinking ftmd large enough to pay tlie whole national debt in less tlinn fifteen years. It Is vain to hone that ne groes will maintain their ascendency them selves. Without military power they are wholly Incapable of holding in subjection the white people of the Mouth. I submit to tlie judgment of Congress whether tlie public credit may not be in juriously affected by n system of mot.*ure* like tills. Witli our debt, and tho va>t pri vate interests which are complicated with It, w’o cannot Imj too cautious of a policy which might, by possibility, impair the eonrtdenccof the world in our Government. That confidence can only be retained by carefully Inculcatlngthc principles ofjustlco and honor on tlic popular mind, and by tho most scrupulous fidelity to ull our engage ments of every sort. Any serious breach of the organic law, persisted in for a con- through nil tiie forms of law to abolish .. co-ordinate department of the Govern ment—in such a case the President must take the high rcs|>on*i bill ties of his office, and save tlie life of the nation at all haz ard*. The so-called reconstniuiion .net*, though us plainly unconstitutional us any that can be imagined, were not believed to lie within the class last mentioned. Tlic people were not wholly disarmed of the power of self-defense. In all the Northern States they still held In their hands the sacred right of the ballot, and it was safe to believe that In duo time they would coiuc to the rescue of their own Institutions. It gives me pleasure to add that the appeal to our common constituents was not taken in vain, and that my confidence in their wis dom and virtue seems not to have been misplaced. It is well and publicly known that enor mous frauds have been perpetuated on the Treasury, and that colossal fortunes have been made at the public expense. This specie* of corruption has Increased, Is in creased, and if not diminished will soon bring us Into total ruin In a disgrace. The public creditors and the tax-payers arc alike Interested in an honest administration or the finances, and neither class will long endure the large-handed robberies of tiie recent past. For this dis creditable state of things there are several cause*. Some of the taxes are so laid as to present un Irresistible temptation to evade payment. The great tarns which officer* may win by connivance at fraud create a pressure which Is more than the virtue of many can withstand; and there can be no doubt tlmt the open disregr.id of constitu tional obligations avowed by some of tho highest and most Influential men In tlie country lias greatly weakened the moral sense of those who serve In subordinate place*. The expenses of the United State*, including interest on tlie public debt. are. more than six times as much as they were Mvcn years ago. To collect and dlaburso tills vast amount requires careful supervision as well ns system atic vigilance. Tlie system, never perfected, was much disorganized bv the “Tenure of Office Bill,” which has almost destroyed official accountability. The President may be thoroughly convinced that an officer Is Incapable, dishonest or nnniitliftil to the Constitution, but under . i *.7 ' •«» ** i mi viiI. «.unsiiumon, nut under sldcrable time, cannot but create fen ns for the laws which I have named, tlie utmost tho stability of our institutions. Habitual i he can do is to complain to tho Senate, atid violation of prescribed rules, which wo a*k the privilege of Minplviu•» ids nlaeo bind ourselves to observe, must dumoral- | with a better man. If the Vena to b*» n- Izc the people. Our only standard of civil garde l as personalty ot politically hostile duty being set at naiurlm the sheet-anchor , to tho President, it U natural and' not olto- of our political morality is lost, the public , gather unreasonable for the officer 11 c\- eonsclenco swings from Its mooring*, ned ; pcct tiiat it will take ids part ns fur as nos- ytclila to every ImpnUe of pu«lon mid In- I «IMc, rctore him to hi. pl«“ ilve torcAt. If wo repudiate the Constitution, ; him a triumph over his Executive superior, we wl l not he expected to care tor mero ! ThoofHecr ho* other chsnceai of Impunity pecuniary oblivion.. The violation of trUing ftom occidental defects ofevldcnee, ouch n pledge no we mado on the 2*1 day the mode of Ivratlmitlim it mid the of July, 1801, will assuredly diminish tho of the hearing. It is wnndcrftil that offic^- Sm . iV" uo 0,lr "‘her Pioatav Be- nl mall'enwim e nhould becomo bold in pro- iattonnl debt"Z 88* *L 16 R? rtl0 ",«the dcllm,nenta lcnrn .o tflnh national debt nos created, not to hold the themselves unto. I am entirely perrauded