American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper., 1844-12-04
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
To the Senate and House of

gratitude TO the Supreme Ruter OF the Universe
for the benefits and blessings which our coun-
try, under his kind Providence, has enjoyed
during the past year Notwithstanding the cx-
citing scenes through which we have passed.
nothing has occurred to disturb the general
peace, or to derange the harmony of our poll
tical system. The great moral spectacle has
been exhibited of a nation, approximating in
number to 20,0G0,000 of people, having per-
formed the high and important function of
electing their Chief Magistrate for the term of
four years, without the commission of any acts
of violence, or the manifestation of a spirit of
insubordinaton to the laws. The great and
incstimable right of suffrage, has been exercised
by all who were Invested with it, under the
laws of the different States, in a spirit dictated
alone by desire, in the selection of the agent,
to advance the interests of the country, and to
i place beyond jeopardy the institutions under
which it is our happiness to live. That the
deepest interest has been manifested by all our
countrymen in the result of the election, is not
less true, than highly creditable to them. Vast
multtudes have assembled, from time to tme
at various places, for the purpose Of fcanvassng
the merits and pretensions of those who were
presented for their suAfages; but no armed SOL
derY has been necessary to restrain, within
proper limits, the popular zeal, or to prevent
violent outbreaks. A principle much more con-
trolling was found in the love Of order and obe-
dence to the laws, which, with mere individual
exceptions, every where possesses the Ameri-
can mind, and controls with an influence far
more powerful than hosts of armed men. We
cannot dwell upon this picture without recog-
nising in it that deep and devoted attachment
on the part of the People, to the institutions
under which we live, which proclaims their per-
petuity. The great objection which has always
;1,l, al, -
their Chief Executive officer, has been the ap-
prehension Of tumults and disorders, which
might involve in ruin the entire Government
A security against this, is found not only in the
fact before alluded to, but in the additional fact
that, we live under confederacy embracing
already tWenty-siX States; no one Of which has
power to control the election. The popular
vote in each State is taken at the time appoint
ed by the laws, and such vote is announced by
the Electoral College, without reference to the
decision of the other State. The right of suf-
frage, and the mode of conducting the election,
is regulated by the laws Of each State; and the
election is distinctly federative in all its prom-
nent features. Thus it is that, unlike what
might be the results under consolidated sys-
tenn, riotous proceedings, should they prevail,
could only affect the elections in single States,
without disturbing, to any dangerous extent,
The great experiment of political confede-
racy-each member of which is supreme-as
to all matters appertaining TO its local inter
ests, and It's internal peace and happiness
while by voluntary compact with others, 1t
tconfides to the united power Of all, the protec-
tion Of its citizens, in matters not DOMESTIC
]. has been so far crowned with complete success.
The world has witnessed its rapid growth in
wealth and population; and under the guide
and direction of experimenting Providence,
the developments of the past may be regarded
but as the shadowing forth of the mighty tu-
ture. In the bright prospects of that future,
we shall find, as patriots and philanthropists,
the highest inducements to cultivate and cher
ish love of union, and to frown down every
measure or effort which may be made to alien
ate the States, or the People of the States in
sentiment and feeling, from each other. RI
gid and close adherence to the terms of our
political compact, and above all, sacred OBJ
servance of the guarantees of the Constitution,
will preserve union on a foundation which cam
f. not be shaken; while personal liberty is placed
beyond hazard or jeopardy. The guarantee of
religious freedom, of the freedom of the press,
of the liberty Of speech, of the trial by jury,
of the habeas corpus, and of the domestic in
sttutions of each of the States-leaving the
private citizen in the full exercise of the high
and epnoblng attributes of his nature, and to
EACH State the privilege which can only be ju-
dicously exerted by itself, of consulting the
means best calculated to advance its own hap
piness; these are the great and important guar
antees of the Constitutions which the lovers of
liberty must cherish, and the advocates OF
union must ever cultivate Preserving these,
and avoiding all interpretations by forced con-
struction, under the guise of an imagined ex-
: pediency, upon the Constitution, the influence
of our political system is destined to be as ac-
lively and as beneficially felt on the distant
shores of the Pacific, as it is now on those of
the Atlantic Ocean. The only formidable inn
pediments in the way of its successful expan-
sion (time and space) are so far in the progress
of modification, by the improvements of the
age, as to render no longer speculative the abl-
ity of Representatives from that remote region
to come up to the Capitol, so that their consti-
tuents shall participate in all the benefits OF
Federal legislation. Thus it is, that in the
progress of time, the inestimable principles OF
civil liberty will be enjoyed by millions yet un-
/ born, and the great benefits of our system OF
Government be extended to now distant and
uninhabited regions. In view of the vast will
derness yet to be reclaimed, we may well invite
the lover of freedom, of every land, to take
up his abode among us, and assist us IN
the great work of advancing the standard
of civilization, and giving wider spread to
the arts and rehnements of cultivated life
Our prayers should everrnore be offered up to
\ the Father of the Universe for his wisdom to
'direct us in the path of our duty, so as to ena
BILE us to consummate these high purposes.
One of the strongest objections which has
been urged against confedcraces, by writers on
Government, in the liability of the members to
be tampered with by foreign Governments, or
the People Of foreign States, either in their
IAa,l fairs IN, cnnh ac affncta ed tho nnnno nf