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tions, which in effect throws most of the task
on the United States. Tims it is that the
distracted internal condition of the State of
Nicaragua lias made it incumbent on me to
appeal to the good Faith of our citizens to
abstain from unlawful intervention in its affairs,
and to .adopt preventive measures to the same
end, which, on a similar occasion had the best
results in reassuring the peace of the Mexican
Sta'cs of Sonora and Lower California.
TREATIES
Since the last session of Congress a treaty
of amity 7 , commerce, and navigation, and for
the surrender of fugitive criminals, with the
kingdom of the Two Sicilies; a treaty of friend
ship, commence and navigation with Nicaragua;
and a covention of commercial reciprocity with
t,hc Hawaiian kingdom have been negotiated.
The latter kingdom and the State of Nicaragua
have also acceded to a declaration recognising
as international rights the principles contained
in the convention between t ! m United States
and Russia of the 22d July, 1854. These
treaties and conventions will be laid before
the Senate for ratification.
TREASURY.
The statements made in my last annual
message respecting the anticipated receipts
mid expenditures of the Treasury have been
substantially verified.
It appears from the report of the Secretary of
the Treasury that the receipts during the
last fiscal year ending June 30, 1855, from all
sources, wove sixty-five millon three thousand
nine hundred and thirty dollars ; and that the
pubic expenditures for the same period, ex
clusive of payments on account of the public
debt, amounted to fifty-six million three
hundred and sixty-five thousand three hundred
and ninety-three dollars. During the same
period the payments made in redemption of the
public debt, including interest and premium,
amounted to nine million eight hundred and
forty-four thousand five hundred and twenty
eight dollars.
The balance in the Treasury at the begin
ning of the present fiscal year, July 1, 1555,
was eighteen million nine hundred and thirty
one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six
dollars ; the receipts for the first quarter, and
the estimated receipts for the remaining three
quarters, amount, together, 1o sixty seven
million nine hundred and eighteen thousand
seven hundred and thirty four dollars ; thus
affording in all, as the available resources of
the current fiscal year, the sum of eightv-six
million eight hundred and fifty-six thousand
seven hundred and ten dollars.
If to the actual expenditures of the first
quarter of the current fiscal year be added the
probable expenditures for the remaining three
quarters as estimated by the Secretary of the
Treasury, the sum total will be seventy-one
million two hundred and twenty six thousand
eight hundred and forty-six dollars, thereby
leaving an estimated balance in the Treasury
on July 1, 1856, of fifteen million six hu-idred
and twenty-three thousand eight hundred and
sixty-three dollars and forty-one cents.
In the above estimated expenditures of the
present fiscal year are included three million
dollars to meet the last instalment of the ten
millions provided for in the late treaty with
Mexico, and seven millions seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars appropriated on account
of the debt due to Texas, which two sums
make an aggregate amount of ten million
seven hundred and fifty thousand dollar.;, and
reduce the expenditures, actu and or estimated,
or ordinary the year, to the sum of
sixty millions sou hundered and seventy-six
thousand dollars
The amount of the public debt at the com
mencement of the present fiscal year was forty
million five hand ed and eight-three thousand
six hundred and thirty one dollars, and, deduc
tion being made of subsequent payments, the
whole public debt of the Federal Government,
remaining at this time is less than forty million
dollars.
The remnant of certain other Government
stocks, amounting to two hundred and forty
three thousand dollars, referred to in mv last
message as outstanding, has si.noe been ’ paid
lam fully persuaded that it would be dif
ficult to devise a system superior to that by
which the fiscal business of the Government is
now conducted. Notwithstanding the great
number of public agents of collection aiuf dis
bursement, it is believed that the checks and
guards privided, including the requirement of
monthly returns, render it scarcely possible for
any considerable fraud on the part of those
agents, or neglect involving hazard of serious
public loss, to escape detection. I renew,
however, the recommendation heretofore made
by me of the enacmcnt of a law declaring it.
felony on the part of public officers to insert
false entires in their books of record or account,
or to make false returns ; and also requiring
them, on the termination of their service to
deliver to their successors all books, records,
and other objects of a public nature in their
custody.
Derived as our public revenue is, in chief
part,from duties on imports, its magnitude
affords gratifying evidence of the prosperity,
not only of our commerce, but of the other
great interests upon which that depends.
The principle that all moneys not required
for the current expenses of the Government
should remain for active employment in the
hands of the people, and the conspicuous fact
that the annual revenue from all sources ex
ceeds, by many millions of dodars the amount
needed for a prudent and economical administra
tion of public affairs, cannot fail to suggest
the propriety of an early revision and reduction
of the tariff of duties on imports, ft is now
•so generally conceded that the purpose of
revenue alone can justify the imposition of
duties on imports, that, in re adjusting the
impost tables and schedules, which unqestiona
bly required essential modifications, a departure
from the principles of the present tariff is not
anticipated.
ARMY.
The army, during the past year, has been
actively engaged in defending the Indian
frontier, the state of our service permitting
but few iuid small garrisons in our permanant
fortifications. Ihe additional regiments au
thorized at the last session of congress have
been recruited and organized, and a large
portion of the troops have* already been sent
to the field. All the duties which devolve on
the military establishment have been satisfac
torily performed, and the dangers and priva
tions incidental to the character of the service
required of our troops have furnished addj.tio.jaT
evidence of their courage zeal, nnd4A*apacity
to meet any requisition which their country
may make upon them. For the details of the
military operations, the distribution of the
troops, and additional provisions required for
the military service I refer to the report of the
Secretary of War and the accompanying
documents.
Experience, gathered from events which
ha ve transpired since my last annual
has but served to confirm the opinion then
expressed of the propriety of making provision,
by a retired list, for disabled officers, and for
increased compensation to the officers retained
on the list for active duty. All the reasons
which exited when these measure- were recom
mended on former occasions continue without
modification, except so far as circumstances
have given to some of them addditionnl force.
The recommendations heretofore made for
a partial reorganization of the al'inv are also
renewed. The thorough elementary education
given to those officers, who commence their
service with the grade of cadet qualifies them,
to a considerable extent, to perform the duties
of every arm. of the service ; but to give the
highest efficiency to artilery requires the
practice and special study of many years ; and
it is not, therefore, believed t > lie adviseable
to maintain in time of peace, a larger force of
that arm than can be usually employed in the
duties appertaining to the service of field and
siege artillery, 1 ilie duties of the staff in all
its various branches belonging to the move
ments of troops, and the efficiency of an ar
my in tie field would materially depend upon
the ability with which those duties arcdiscarg
ed. It is not, as in the case of artilery, a
speciality, but. requires also an intimate
knowledge of the duties of an officer of the line,
and it is not doubted that, to complete the
education of an officer for either the line or
the-general staff, it is desirable that he shall
have served in both. With this view it was
recommended on a former occasion that the
duties of the staffs should be mainly performed
by details from the line ; and, with conviction
of the’ advantages which would result from
such a change, it is again presented for
consideration of Congress.
NAVY.
The report of the Secreutary of the Navy,
herewith submitted, exhibits in full the naval
operations of the past year, together with the
present condition of the service ; and it makes
suggestions of further legislation, to which
your attention is invited.
The construction of the six steam frigates
for which apporpriations were made by .the
last Congress lias proceeded in the most
satisfactory manner, and with such expedition
as to warrant the belief that they will lie ready
for service early in the coming spring. Im
portant as this addition to our naval force is,
it still remains inadequate to the contingent ex
igencies of the protection of the extensive
seaeoast and vast commercial interests of the
United States. In view of this fact, and of
the acknowledged wisdom of the policy of a
gradual and systematic increase of the navy,
an appropriation is ref ommended for the
construction of six steam sloops of-war.
In regard to the steps taken in execution
of the act of Congress to promote the efficiency
of the navy, it is unnecessary for me to say
move than to express entire concnrence in the
observations on that subject presented by the
Secretary in his report.
POST OFFICE.
It will be perceived by the report of the
Postmaster General that the gross expenditure
of the Departmet for the last fiscal year was
nine million nine hundred and sixty-eight
thousand three hundred and forty two dollars,
and the gross receipts seven million three hun
dred and forty-two thousand one hundred and
thirty-six dollars, making an excess of expendi
ture over receipts of two million six hundred
and twenty-six thousand two hundred and six
dollars : and that the cost of mail transporta
ti-on during that year was, six hundred and
seventy four thousand nine hundred and ‘fifty
two dollars greater than the previous year.
Much of the heavy expenditures to which* the
Treasury is thus subjected is to be ascribed
to tiie large quantity of printed matter convey
ed by the mails, either franked, or liable to lio
postage by law, or to very low rates of post
age compared with that charged on letters,
and to the great cost of mail service on rail
roads and by ocean steamers. The sugges
tions of the Postmaster General on the sub
ject deserve the consideration of Congress.
INTERIOR.
The report of the Secretary of the Interior
will engage your attention,as well for the useful
suggestions it contains as for the interest and
importance of the subject to which they refer
The aggregate amount of public land sold
during the last fiscal year, located with milita
ry scrip or land warrants, taken up under
grams for roads, and selected as swamp lands
by States, is twenty-four million five hundred
and fifty seven thousand four hundred and
nine acres , of which the portion sold was
fifteen million seven hundred and twenty-nine
thousand five hundred and twenty four acres,
yielding in receipts the um of eleven million
four hundred and eighty-five thousand three
hundred and eighty dollars. In the same
period of time eight million seven hundred and
fifty-four acres have been surveyed ; but, in
consideration of the quantity already subject
to entry, no additional tracts have been brought
into market.
The peculiar relation of the General Gov
ernment to the District of Columbia renders
it proper to commend to your care not only
its material, but also its moral interests, in
eluding education, more especially in those
parts of the District outside of the cities of
Wasliintion and Georgetown.
The Commissioners appointed to revise snd
codify the Laws of the District have made
such progress in the performace of their task
as insure its completion in the time prescribed
by the act of Congress.
Information has recently been recievcd that
the peace of the settlements in the Territories
of Oregon and Washington is disturbed by
hostilities on the part of the Indians, with
indications of extensive combinations of a
hostile character among the tribes in that
quarter, the most serious in their possible
effect by reason of the undetermined fore gn
interests existing in those Territories, to which
your attention has already been especially in
vited. Efficient measures have been taken
which, it is believed, will restore quiet and af
ford protection to our citizens
In the Territory of Kansas there have been
acts prejndical to good order, but as yet none
have occurred under circumstances to justify
the interposition of the Federal Executive.—
That could only be in case of obstruction to
Federal law or of organized resistance to
Territorial law, assuming the character of
insurrection, which, if it should occur, it would
be my duty promptly to overcome and sup
press. I cherish the hope, however, that the
occurrence of any such untoward event will
by the sound sense of the people
of tfiHTerritory, who, by its organic law pos
sessing u*c right to determine their own
domestic institutions, are entitled, while dc
porting theiwlvcs peacefully, to the
ercisc of thatwighb, aniLjnust be nr/ n t n a j n
the TvitlurnTTfiJmercnce on
the partfof the citizens of any of the States.
ThqSouthcrn boundry line oftliis Territory
hsus (Ksver been surveyed and established. The
rapidly extending settlements in that region,
and the fact that the main route between
Indepedence, in the State of Missouri, and
New Mexico, is contiguous to this line, sug
gest the probability that embarrassing ques
tions of jurisdiction may consequently arise.
For these and other considerations I commend
the subject to your early attention.
CONSTITUTIONAL THEORY OF THE GOVERNMENT.
I have thus passed in review the general
state of the Union, including swfeh particular
concerns of the Federal Government, whether
of domestic or foreign relation, as it appeared
to me desirable and useful to bring to the
special notice of Congress. Uiiiy?sHW great
States of Europe and Asia, arid many of those
of America, these United States are wasting
their strength neither in foreign war nor
domestic strife. Whatever of .discontent or
public disatisfaction exist is attributable to
the imperfections of human nature or is incident
to all governments, however perfect, which
human wisdom can devise. Bneli subjects of
political agitation as occupy the public mind
consist, to a great extent, of exag'eration of
inevitable evils, or over-zeal in social improve
ment, or mere imagination as grievance, hav
ing but remote connection wi h any of the
constitutional functions or duties of the Feder
al Government. To whatever extent these
questions exhibit a tendency menacing to the
stability of the Constitution or the integrity of
the Union, and no further, they demand the
consideration of the Executive, and require
to be presented by him to Congress.
Before the Thirteen Colonies became a confedera
tion of Independent States, they were associated
only by community of transalantic origin, by
geographical position, and by tic of
common dependence on Great Britain; When
that tie was sundered, they severally assumed the
powers and rights of absolute selfgovernment.
The municipal and social institutions of each, its
laws of property and of personal relations, even
its political organization, were such only as each
one chose to establish, wholly without any in
terference from any other. In tiie language of the
Declaration of Independence, each State had “full
power to levy war,conclude peace, contract alliances
establish commerce, and to do all other acts and
things which independent States may of right do.”
‘The several colonies differed in climate, in soil, in
natural productions, in religion, in systems of
education, in legislation, and in fire* forms of
political administration ; and they continued to
differ in these respects when they voluntarily all
lied themselves as States to carry on the war of
the Revolution.
The object of that war was to disenthral the
United Colonies from foreign rule, which had
proved to be oppressive, and to separate them
permanently from the mother country. The
political result was the foundation of a Federal
Republic of tlie free white
constituted, as they were, in oimnet and re
Cipro cully independent Stote - Governments.
As for the subject races, whether Indian or
African, the wise and brave statesmen of that
day, being engaged in no extra regent scheme
of social change, left them as they were, and
thus preserved themselves and limit* posterity
from the anarchy and the ever-recurring civil
wars which have prevailed in other revolution
ized European colonics of America.
When the confederated states found it
convenient to modify the condition of their
association, by giving to the Geneal Govern
ment direct access, in some respects, to the
people of the States, instead ot confining it to
action on the States as such, Ahey proceeded
to frame the existing constiffitiou, adhering
steadily to one guiding thought which was to
delegate only such power as unnecessary and
proper to the execution of purposes,
or, in other words, to retain as pos
stlHe, consistently with Ihbseq l *i|PWfes, of the
independent powers of the individual States.
For objects of common defence and security
they entrusted to the General Government
certain carefully defined functions, leaving all
others as the umlelcgated rights of the separate
independent sovereignties.
Such is the Constitutional theory of our
Government, the practical observance of
which has carried us and us alone, among
modern republics, through nearly three gener
ations of time, without the cost of one drop of
blood shed in civil war. With freedom and
concert of action, it has enabled us to coil-
tend successfully on the battlefield against
foreign foes, has elevated the feeble colonies
into powerful States, and has ra'sedour indus
trial productions and our commerse which
transports them to the level of the richest and
the greatest nations of Europe. And the ad
mirable adoption of our political institutions
to their objects, combining local self-govern
ment with aggregate strength, has establish
ed the practa validity of argcrrCThqjgfit ITkc ours
to cover a continent with confederate States.
The Congress of the United States is, in
effect, that congress of sovereignties which
good men in the Old World have sought for
but could never attain, and which imparts to
America an exemption from the mutable
leagues for common action, from the wars, the
mutual invasions, and vague aspirations after
the ballance of power which convulse from
time to time, the Governments of Europe,—
Our co operative action rests in the condition
of permanent confederat ion prescribed by the
constitution. Our ballance of power is in the
separate reserved rights of the States,and their
equal representation in the Senate. That in
dependent sovereignty in every one of the
States, with its reserved rightj of local self
government, assured to each bj their co-equal
power in the Senate, was the fundamental con
dition of the Constitution Without it the
Union would never have existed. However
disirous the larger States migliirJgjt o recog
nize the Government so as to give to their
population its propotiouate weight in the com
mon councils, they knew it was impossible, un
less they conceded to the situller ones au
thority to exercise at least a. negative influence
on all the measures of the Government, wheth
er legitlativc or executive,through their equal
representation in the Senate. Indeed the lar
ger States themselves could not have failed to
perceive that the same power was equally ne
cessary to them for (ho security of their own
domestic interests against the aggregate force
of the general Government. It! a word, the
original States went into Ads permanent
league on the agreed premises cf exerting their
common strength for the defence of the whole
and of all its parts, but of utterly excluding
all capability of reciprocal aggression. Each
solemnly bound themselves together neither to
undertake nor permit any encroachment upon
or intermeddling with other’s icserved rights.
Where it was deemed expedient,, particular
lights of the Stat
teccl by the Coj^’ utio 3l>ut \ Jll things^;
“! dra . f t, ( ! O MSwc-,-eg“k.ll ’ ‘he limitaj.
.01, oni/j; mvers compact of
V xx ]2ir Thus ihe great po\fe< of-taxation was
IJJfited to purposes of confir l dclcneo and
welfare, including appertain
ing to the local legislation oflja* several States
and those purposes of U’oiMgtil welfare and
common defence were aft'cjK’ds defined by
specific enumeration, as boiSfc'atters only ol
c-i-relation between the St3Bfc s themselves, or
between them and forefg u'VShL'" meats, which,
because of their common anv na.uie,
could not be left to the scparl ltc c 9 utrol ol
each State. *
Os the c.rcnmstauecs of local conditions, in- j
terest, and rights, in which a portion of the j
States, constituting one great section of the I
Onion, differed from the rest, and from an
other section, the most important was the pe
culiarity of a large relative co'ored population
m th(*Soutliern than in tlie Northern States.
A population of this class, held in subjec
tion, existed in nearly all the States, but was
more numerous and of more serious concern
ment, in the South than in the North, on ac
count ot natural differences of climate and
production; and it was foreseen that, for the
same reasons, while the population would di
mmish, and sooner or later, cense to exist, in
some States, it might increase in others. The
peculiar character and magnitude of this ones
tion of local rights, not in material relations
only, but still more in social ones, caused it to
enter into the stipulations of the Constitu
tions.
Hence, while the General Government, as
well by the enumerated powers granted to it
as by those not enumerated, and therefore re
fused to it, was forbidden to touch this matter
in tlse sense of attack or offence, it was plac
ed under the general safeguard of the Union,
in this sense of defence against cither invasion
or domestic violence, like all other local inter
ests of the several States. Each State ex’
press]y stipulated, as well for itself as for each
and all of its citizens, and every citizen of eacli
State became solemnly bound by his allegiance
to the Constitution, any person, held to labor
or service in one State, escaping into another,
should 110't, in consequence of any law or re
gulation thereof, be discharged from such ser
vices or labor, but should be delivered up on
claim of the property to whom such service or
labor might lie due by the law of his State.
Thus, and thus only, by the reciprocal guar
anty of all the rights of every State a
gainst interference on the part of another,
was the present form of government establish
ed by our fathers and transmitted to us; and
by no other, means it is possible for it to ex
ist. If one State ceases to respect the rights
of another, and obtrusively intermeddles with
its local interests; if a portion of the States
assume to impose their institutions on tue oth
ers,or refuse to fulfill their obligations to them
we are no longer united friendly States, but
distracted hostile ones, with little capacity left
of common advantage, but abundant means of
reciprocal injury and mischief.
Practically, it is rmmaterird whether ag
gressive interference between the States, or i
deliberate refusal on the part of any one of!
them to comply with constitututional obliga 1
tions, arise from erroneous conviction or blind ;
prejudice, whether it be perpetrated by dircc 1
tion or indirection. In either case it is full of ‘
threat and of danger to the durability of the
Union.
CONSTITUTIONAL EOLATION OF SLAVERY.
Placed in the office of Chief Magistrate, ns
the executive agent of the whole conning i
bound to take care that the laws be faithfully
executed, and especially enjoined by the Con
stitution to give information to Congress on
the state of the Union, it would be palpable
neglect of duty on my part to pass over a sub
ject like this, which beyond all things at the 1
present time, virtually concerns individual and |
public security.
It has been a matter of painful regret to sec ‘
States, conspicuous for their services in found
ing this republic, and equally sharing its ad
vantages, disregard their constitutional obli
gations to it.. Although conscious of their in
ability to lieaHadmittlcd and palpafde soexd
evils of their own, and, which arc completely
within their jurisdiction, they engage in the
offensive and hopeless undertaking of reform
ing the domestic institutions of other States
wholly beyond their control and authority. In
the vain pursuits of ends by them entirely un
attainable, and which they may not legally at
tempt to compass, they peril the very existence
of the Constitution and all the countless ben - I
efits which it has conferred. While the peo
ple of the Southern States confine their atten- 1
tion to their own affairs, not presuming ofii- i
daily to intermeddle with the social institions i
of the Northern States, too many of the in ;
habitats of the latter arc permanently organ
ized in associations to inflict injury on the for- I
mer by wrongful acts, which would be cause j
of war as between foreign powers, and only fail
to be such in our system because perpetrated
under the cover of the Union.
It is impossible to present this subject as !
truth and the occasion require without notic-b
ing the reiterated and groundless allegation |
that the South has persistently asserted claims ;
and obtained advantages in the practical ad-;
ministration of the General Government to!
the'prejudice of the North, and in which the j
latter has acquiesced; that is, the States, 1
which either promote or tolerate; attacks on
the rights of persons and of property in other
States to disguise their own injustice, pretend
or imagine and constantly aver that they,
whose constitutional rights arc thus systemati
cally assailed, are themselves the aggressors.
A* the present time this imputed aggression,
resting, as it does, only in the vague declama
tory charges of polical agitators, resolves it- j
self into misapprehension or misinterpretation !
of the principals and'facts of the political or
ganization of the new Territories of the Unit
ed States
What is the voice of history ? When the
ordinance which provided for the Government
of the territory northwest of the l’iver Ohio,
and for its eventual subdivision into new
States was adopted in the Congress of the
Confederation, it is not to be supposesed that
the question of future relative power, os be
tween the States which retained and those
which did not retain a numerous colored pop
ulation, escaped notice or faildto be consider
ed. And yet the concession of that vast ter
ritory to the interests and opinions of the
Northern States, a territory now the seat of
five among the largest members ot the Union,
was in a great measure iheaet of the State of
Virginia and of the South.
When Louisiana was acquired I)}’ 1 lie Unit
ed Stales it was an acquisition not loss to the
North than to the South; for while it was im
portant to the country at the mouth of the ri
ver Mississippi to become the emporium of the
county above it, so also it was even more im
portant to the whole Union to have that em
porium. And although the new province,
by reason of its imperfect settlement, was
mainly regarded as on the Gulf of Mexico, yet
infact, it is extended to the oposite bounda
United States, with far greater
bNuraTkabovo Ilian below, and was in territo
ry, as in eVpry thing else, equally, at least, an
accession to Hie Northern States. It is mere
delusion and prejudice, therefore, to speak of
Louisiana as iu the special interest
of the South.
The patriotic and just men who participat
ed in that act were influenced by motive far
above all sectional jealousies. It was in truth,
the great event which, by completing for us
the valley of the Mississippi, with commercial
access to t-hc Gulf of Mexico, imparted #rrtt.y
and strength to the whole Confederation, and
| attached together by indissoluble ties the East
J and the West as well as the North and the
: South.
As for Florida, that was but the transfer by
Spain to the United States of territory on the
East side of the river Mississippi, in exchange
for large territory which the United States
transfered to Spain on the West side of that
river, as the entire deplomatic history of the
transaction serves to demonstrate. Moreover
it wvas an acquisition demanded by the com
mercial interest and the security of the whole
UYiion. * l
In the mean time the people of the United
States had grown up to a proper conscious
ness of their strength, and in a brief contest
with France, and in a second serious war with
Great Britain, they had shaken off all which
remained of undue reverence for Europe, and
emerged from the atmosphere of tho-e trans
atlantic influences which surround the infant
Republic, and had begun to turn their atten-1
‘tion to the full and systematic dc'-'clopemen t
j of the infernal recourc.es of the Union.
Among the evanescent controversies of that
j period the most conspiem us was the question
|of regulation by Congress of the social condi-
I tion of the future States to be founded in the
Territory of Louisiana.
The ordinance for the Government of the
territory north west of the river Ohio had con
tained a povision which prohibited the use of
servile labor therein, subject to the condition
of the extradit'on of the fugitives from service
due in any other part of the United Status. —
Subsequently to the adoption of the Constitu
tion this provision censed to remain as a law, ‘’
for its operations as such was absolutely sup- j
ercceded by the Constitution. But therecul- i
lection of the fact excited the real social pro I
pagandism in some sections of the confedera
tion, and when a second State, that of Mis
souri, came to be formed in the T rritmv of j
I Louisiana, propositions were made to extent!
jto the latter Territory the restrictions origin-j
j nlly applied to the country situated between j
the rivers Ohio and Mi-slssip; i.
; Most questionable as was 11:1 rroporskioii ;
jin all its constitutional relation*, nevertheless
it. received the sanction, of Congress with some
slight modifications of line, to save the exist
ing rights oi the intended new State. If was
reluctantly acquiesced in by Southern States as
a sacrifice to t! e cause of peace and of the
Union, not only of the rights stionh ti and by
the treaty ot Louisiana, but of the principle of
j equality among the States gnarenteed hv the
! Consiitution. It was received by the North-
Urn States with angry and res id'd! condom
‘nation and complaint, because it did not de
] cide all which they hud exacting! v demanded.
[ Having pa .-MV. I i ln-o!i!_>ji (lie- form* of
tion, it took its place in the statute-book, j
standing open to.repeal, ];ke env other act of!
doubtful constitutionality, subject to be pro
nounced null and void by the courts of law,
: possessing no possible (tfn.'eucy to control the
rights o! the Slates, which might thereafter
be organized out. of anv part of the original
Territory of Louisiana.
In all this, if any aggression there were,
any innovation upon the pre-cxLCrg rights,
I to which portion of the Union are they justly
i chargeable.
j This controversy prssed away with the oc
casion, nothing surviving it save the dormant
letter of the statute-
Hut, long aftenwards, when, by the propo
sed accession of the Republic of Texas, the
United States were to take In r next step in
Territorial greatness; a similar contingency;
occurred and became the occasion forsvst. uni
tized attempts to intervene in the domestic af
fairs of one section of the Union, in defiance
of their rights as States and of the stipulation
of the Constitution. These attempts assured
a [ ratieal direction, in the shape of persever
ing endeavors by some of the representatives;
in both Houses of Congress to deprive the 1
I Southern States of the supposed benefit of
j the pr< visions of the act authorizing the or-’
jganization of the State of Mis.-ouri-
But the good sense of the people and tlio
I vital force of the Constitution triumphed over;
| sectional prejudice and the political errors of
j the day, and the State of Texas returned to
| the Union as site was, with social institutions:
| her people clio-c for themseves, and with ex
press agreement, by the re-annexation act, ;
j that she should be susceptible of division into :
i a plurality of States.
I Whatever advantages the interests of the;
; Southern States, as such, gained by this, were j
! far inferior in results, as they unfolded in the ;
I progress of tunc, to these which sprang from j
I previous concessions made by the donth.
To every thoughtful friend of the Union, to ;
| the true lovers of their country,to all who lon-!
j ged and labored for the full success of this 1
great experiment of republican institutions, it !
was cause of gratuhi tion that such an oppor
tunity had occurred to illustrate our advan-j
cing power on this continent, and to furnish;
to the world additional assurance of the
strength and stability of the Constitution.—
Who would wish to see Honda still a Eu j
ropean colony ? Who would rejoice to hail ;
Texas as a lone star instead of one in the cal -,
j nxy of States ? ‘*'< ho does not appreciate the j
incalculable benefits of the acquisition of Loe
isana. ? And yet narrow views and sectional
purposes would inevitably have excluded them
all from the Union.
But another struggle on the same point en- j
sued when our victorious armies returned from j
Mexico, and it devolved on Congress to pro-j
vide for the territories acquired by the treaty |
of Gaudalope Hidalgo. The great relations!
of the subject had now become distinct and j
clear to the perception of -h<> public mind, j
which appreciated the evils (astmetiomd iron- i
trovers}’ upon the question of ihe administra- !
tion of new States. In that crisis intense so j
lieitude pervaded the nation. But the patri
otic impulse of the popular heart, guided by
the admonitory advise of the Father <f his
country, rose superior to all the difficulties;
of the incorporation of anew empire into the j
Union. In the council of Congress there was j
manifested extensive antagonism of opinion
and action between some representatives, who
sought, by the abusive and unconstitutional
employment of the legislative powers, of the
Government, to interfere in the condition of
the inchoate States, and to impose their own
social theories upon the and other rep
resent at ives, who repelled of
the General Government in this respect, and
maintained the self-constituting rights of the
States. In truth the thing attempted was,
in form alone, action of the General Govern
ment, while in reality it was the endeavor, by
the abuse of legislative power to force the
ideas of internal policy entertained in particu
lar States upon allied independent States.—
Once more the constitution and the Un
ion triumphed signally. The new Territories
were organized w-'thout restrictions on the dis
puted point, and were thus left to judge in
that particular for themselves; and the sense
of constitutional faith. ] roved vigorous enough
in Congress not only to accomplish this pri
mary object, but also tide inciclcntial and hard*
!y less important one of so amending the pro
visions of the statute for the extradition of
fugitives from service as to place that public
duty and the safeguard of the Government,
and thus relieve,it from obstacles raised up by
the legislation of some of the States.
N ain declamation regarding the provisions of
law lor the extradition of fugitives from service,
with occasional cpisodics of frantic effort to ob
struct their execution by riot and murder, continu
ed, for a brief time, to agitate certain localities.—
But the true principal, of leaving each State and
Territory to regulate its own laws of labor accord
ing to its own sense of right and expedience, had
acquired fast hold of the public judgement to such
a degree that.by common consent,it was observed in
the organization of the Territory of Washington.-
V'hen, more recently it became requisite to or
ganize the'Territories'of Nebraska and Kansas, it
was the natural and legitimate, if not the inevita
ble consequence of previous events and legislation
that the same great and sound principle which had
already been applied to Utah and New Mexico
I should be applied to them, that they should be ex
empt- from the restrict ions proposed in the act rela
tive to tin'. Mate o! Missouri.
r i fiese restrictions were, in the estimation of ma
il} thong Man nun. null from the begin ing, unau
thorized. by the Constitution, contrary to the’ trea
ty stipulations for the cession of Louisiana,and in
consistent with the equality of the St a 4 os. ‘A:
They had been stripped of all moral authority
by persistent efforts to procure their indirect re
peal thro’ contradictory enactments. They had
been practically abrogated by the legislation atten
ding the organization of Utah. New Mexico, and
M a Anton. If any vitality rein aimed in them it
would have been taken away in effect by the new
i erritoria! acts in the form orriginaliy proposed
| b) the Senate at the first session of the last Con
j grors. It was manly and ingenious as well as pn
triotic and just to do this directly and plainly, and
j thus relieve the stature book of an act which’
I might be of possible future injury, and for no posi
; bis. future benefit: arid the measure of its-repeal was
: the final consumationand complete recognition of’
i principle that no portion oftbc United Slates shall
I undertake.through assumption of the powers of the
j Ccnoral Covermner.t, to dictate the social iustitu
] tions of any other portion.
i r i he scope and effect of the language of repeal’
j vero not left in >1 >nbt. It was and iclarod .’ in terms
jtobo of ike true intent and meaning of this act
j •-> legislate slavery into any Territory Qr State,
j i-or to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the, peo
; pie thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their
! domes!ic institutions in their own way. subject on
jiv to the Uoiutilntion or the United States,
j ‘ The measure could not bo withstood upon its
nv rib- alone. Jt was attacked with violence, on
j 11 a false or delusive pretext that it constituted a
! breach of faith. Never was objections more utr
i tcr'y destitute of substantial justification. When
i before was it imagined by sensible man that arc
-1 galatlve crdeclarative institute , whether ctcd
| ten or forty years ago, is irreparable—thkl filLjA
| of C,ingress was above the (
I deed there were in the facts any cease to impute
j bad faith, it would attach to those only who have
j never r-from the time of the enactment of Ihe
; restrictive provision to the present day. to de
! nc-nm ;• and to condemn it; who have constantly
! refused to complete it by needful supplementary
i legislation; who have spared no exertion to deprive
! it of moral force; who have themselves again and
1 again attempted its repeal by the enactment of
in. mpatibig pivvA-iensnind xA.o.by the inevitable
j reactionary effect of their own violence on the sub-
I joct, awakened the country to perception of the
i true constitutional principle of leaving the matter
involved to the direction of the people of the re
. peoiive exist mg or incipient States,
i it is not piviended that this principle, or any
other precludes the posibiiity of evils in practice,
! disturbed as political action is liable to be by
; passions, No form of government is exempt from
! inconvenience ; but in this case they are the result
of the abuse, and not of the legitimate exercise, of
the powers reserved or conferred in the organiza
tion of a Territory. They are not to be charged
to the great principle of popular sovereignty; on
the contrary, they disappear before the fiitflff*
j geiice and patriotism of the people, exerting
j throgh the ballot box their peaceful and silent but
j irresistible power.
] f the friends of the constitution are to have an—
; other struggle, its enicrnics could not present a*,
j more acceptable issue than that of a State, whose;
| constitution clearly embraces a republican form of!
! government, being excluded from the Union be--
i cause its domestic institutions may not. in all re
; speeds comport with the ideas of what is wise and
i expedient entertained in some other State. Free
front groundless imputations of breach of faith
; against others, men will commence the agitation
of this, new question with • indubitable violation
of an express compact between the independent
I sovereign powers oi the United States and of the
Republic oi'Texas, as well as the older and equally
1 solemn compacts which assure the equality of all
; the States.
; But, deplorable as would be such a violation of*
| compact in itself and in all its direct consequences
| that is the veiy last of tlie evils involved. When
, sectional agitators shall have succeeded in forcing
on tlie issue, can their pretention fail to be met
by counter pretention? Will not ditto rent
States be compelled respectively to meet extremes.
with extremes ? An l if either extreme carry its
I point, what is that so far forth but dissolution of’
the Uniion ? lfa new Plate, formed front the ter
ritory of the United States, be absolutely exclud
ed from admission therein, that fact of itself con- •
stitufos the disruption of the Union between it and .
the other States. Would not a sectional decision,
producing such result by a majority of votes,,
either Northern or Southern, of necessity drive
cut tlij oppossed and aggrieved minority, and.
place in prcseiu e of each ether two irreconeilibly ‘
hostile confederations ?
I t is necessary to speak thus plainly of projects,
the oilspring of that sectional agitation now pre
vailing in some of the States, which areas imprac- -
finable as they are unconstitutional, and which if
persevered in, must and will end calamitously. It
is either disunion and civul war. or it is mere an
gry, idle, aimlest disturbance of public tranquility,
ibsunion for what ? If the passionate rage of fa
naticism and partisan spirit did not force the fact*-
upon our attention, it would be difficult to believe
that any considerable portion of the people,of this
onlisihtened country could have so surrenderedthem <
selves to a fanatical devotion to the suppreseif “
interests of the relatively lew Africans in the Unit
ed States as totally to abandon and disregarded the
interests of the twenty-live millions ot Americans,
t o trample under foot the injunctions of moral ani
constitutional obligation, and to engage iu plans
of vindictive hostility against those who are
associated with them in the enjoyment ol the com
mon heritage of our national institution.
Nor is it hostility against flier tellow-citizcns
of otic section of the Union alone. ‘1 lie interests,
the honor, the duty, peace, and the prosperity of
the people ol all sections are equally involved and.
imperilled in this question. And are patriotic
men in any part of the Union prepared, on such.
I an issue, thus madly to invite all the consequences
’ of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements?*’
i it is imposibie. The stprin of phrensy and faction.
| must, inevitably dash itself in vain against
1 unshaken rock of the Constitution. 1
never doubt it. 1 know that the Union is stronger®
a thousand times than all the wild and ehimcricalfl
schemes ofsocial change which are generated, ogfl
afteranother, in the unstable minds of
sophists and interested agitators. .1 rely
on the patriotism of die people, on the
self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of
gross, and, above all, on the continued grafl
favor of Almighty Cod, to maintain,
enemies, whether at home or abroad, the
id’ the Constitution and the integrity of thet JB
ITtANKI IN IMLH
VdAStfixoTox, Dkckmukk 31, 1555. U
- W>> “ 03—
A young lady walking out one fine*
morning, met the celebrated John Wilkes.
She remarked to him, “You sec, sir, I haver
’ come out for :i little s.n and air.” “A ou had;”
l better, madam, get a husband first,” was the-.
I i’op lv.