Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1841-12-14
VOL VIII
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
To the Senate and House Of


duties with which The People have
charged us, severalIy, we hnd great oc
cason TO rejoice IN the general prospe
rily of the country, We are in the en-
oyment Of a.. the blessings OF civil
and religious liberty, with unexampIed
means of education, knowledge. andiim
provement. Through the year which
is now drawing to close. peace has
been in our borders, and plenty in our
habilaions; and although disease has
visited some few portions OF the land
with distress and mortality, yet In gene
raj the health Of the people has been
preserved, and we are all called upon
by The highest of duty, to renew our
thanks and our devotion to our Heavenly
Pofen'; who has continued 70 vouchsaIe
to US th6 eminent blessings which sur
round us. and who has so slgnaly
crowned the year with his goodness. II
we find ourselves increasing, beyond
example, in nambara, in strength, in
wealth, in knowledge IG every thing,
which promotes human and social hap
piness, let us ever remember our de-
pendence, for all these, on the prG!ec-
,Ion and merci(ul dlspeusations ol Divine
Providence.
Sinre your last adjournment AIexan.
der Mcleod British subject, who vas
indicted for the murder Of an American
citizen, and whose case has been the
subject Of a correspondence heretofore
communicated TO you, has been aCqUit.
ted by the verdict of an impartial and
intelligent jury, and has, under the jUdg.
ment of The Court been regularly dis
charged.
Great Britain having made known to
the Government that the expedition
which was fitted out from Canada for
the destruction Of the steamboat Caro-
line, in the winter Of 1887, and which
resulted in the destruction Of the said
boat, and in the death Of an American
citizen, was undertaken by orders ema.
mating from the authorities Of the Brit
ish Government, 10 Canada, and de-
manding the discharge Of Mcleod, upon
the ground that, if engaged IN that ex-
pedilion, he did but tuIhl the orders Of
his Government, has thus been answer.
ed in tho only way in which she could
be answered by Government, the pow
ers Of which are distributed among its
several departments by the fundamen
tai law. Happily for the people Of
Great Britain, as well as those of the u.
States, the only mode by which the in
diyiduul, arraigned for a criminal Of
fence, before the Courts Of either, can
obtain his discharge, ia by The indepen-
dent action Of the judiciary, and by pro
ceediDgs equally familiar to the Courts
Of both countries
lin Great Britain power exists in
the Grown TO cause TO be entered a noIIe
prosequi, which Is not the case with the
Executive power of the United States
upon prosecution pending in a State
Court; yet there, no more than here, can
the chief Executive power rescue prl
soner from custody without an order
from the proper tribunal directing his
discharge. The precise stage Of the
proceedings at which such order may
be made, is a mater Of municipal regu-
larion exclusively, and not TO be com
planned Of BY any other Government.
In case Of hs kind, a Government
becomes politically responsible only,
when its tribunals Of last resort are
shown to have rendered unjust and Inju
rious judgments in matters not doubtful.
TO the establishment and elucidaion Of
this principle, no nation has lent its au'
thor,ty more efficiently than Great Bri
tain. Alexander Mcleod having his
option either to prosecute writ OF er
ror from the decision of the Supreme
Court of New York, which had been
been rendered upon his application for
discharge to the Supreme Court of the
United States, or to submit his case to
the decision Of a jury, preferred the lat
ter, deeming it the readiest mode Of OBJ.
tanning liberation. and the result has
fully sustained the wisdom Of his choice.
The manner in which the issue submit
ted was tried, will satisfy the English
government that the principles OF JUS
iice will never fail to govern the en-
lightened decision of an American tri-
brnaI. cannot fail, however, to sug
gest 10 Congress the proPriety, and in
some degree, the necessity of making
such provisions by law, so far as they
may cunsttutionalIy do so, for the re-
movnl at their commencement, and at
the option Of the party, Of all such cases !
as may hereafter arise, and which may
involve The faithful observance and eX-
ecuiion Of our International obligations,
from the State to Federal Judiciary -
This Governnent, by our institutions, 10 /,
charged with the maintaiDance Of pea acc
and preservation Of amicabIe relations
with the nations OF he earth, and ought
to possess, without question, all the rea
sOBHuIn Hsd UTUuOT means OF MAINTAIN |