, 1854-02-18

affairs, there was not merely quiet acuul-
essence in, but a prompt vindication Of, the
constitutional rights Of the States. The
reserved powers were scrupulouSly respect
ed. No statesman put forth the narrow
views of caSuSts to Justify interference and
agitation, but the spirit of the compact was
regarded as sacred in the eye of honor, and
indispensable for the great experiment Of
civil liberty, which, cnvironed by inherent
difficulties, was yet borne forward in appa-
rent weakness hy power superior to all
obstacles. There is no condemnation,
which the voice of freedom will not pro
nouncc upon us should we prove faithleSs
to this great trust. While men imhabiting
different parts of this vast continent can no
more be expected to hold the same opinions,
or entertain the same sentiments, than every
variety Of climate or soil can be expected
to furnish the same agricultural products,
they can unite in a common object and suS-
tain common principles essential to the
maintainance Of that object. The gallant
men of the south and the north could stand
together during the struggle of the rcvolu-
ton; they could stand together in the more
trying period which succeeded the clangor
Of arms. As their united valor was ade-
quate TO all the trials of the camp and dam
gers Of the field, so their united wisdom
proved equal TO the greatcsr task of found
ing, upon deep and broad basis, inSitu-
tions, which it has been our privilege to
enjoy, and will ever be our most sacred du-
ty to sustain. 1t is but the feeble express
ion of faith strong and universal, to say
that their sons, whose blood mingled so
often upon the same field during the war of
1912, and who have more recently borne
in triumph the flag of the country upon
foreign soil, will never permit alienation of
feeling to weaken the power of their united
efforts, nor internal diSsensions to paralyze
the great arm Of freedom, upliftcd for the
vindicatiOn Of selfgOvemment
/ have thus briefly presented such sug-
gestions as seem to me especially worthy of
your consideration. In providing for the
present, you can hardly fail to avail your
selves Of the light which the experience of
the past casts upon the future.
The growth of our population has now
brought us, in the destined career of our
national history, to point at which it well
behooves us to expand our vision over the
vast prospective.
The successive deCennial returns of the
census since the adoption of the constitu-
tion have revealed law of steady progress
i've development, which may be stated in
general terms, as u duplication every quar-
ter-century, Carried forward, from the
point already reached, for only short pc
riod of time as applicable to The existence
Of nation, this law of progress, il uncheck-
ed, will bring us to almost incredible re-
suits. A large allowance for Il diminished
proportional effect Of emigration would not
very materially reduce the estimate, while
the increased average duration of human
life, known to have already resulted from
the scientific and hygienic improvements of
the past fifty years, will tend to keep up
through the next fifty, or perhaps hundred,
the same ratio of growth, which has been
thus revealed in our past progress; and to
the influence Of these causes may be added
the influx of laboring masses from eastern
Asia to the Pacific side of our possessions,
together with the probable accession of the
populations already existing in other parts
Of our hemisphere, which, within the period
in question, will feel, with yearly increasing
force, the natural, attraction Of so vast,
powerful, and prosperous a confederation
of self-governing republics, and will seek
the privilege Of being admitted within its
| safe and happy bosom, transferring with
themselves, bya peaceful and healthy pro-
cess of incorporation, spacious regions of
virgin and eXuberant soil, which are des-
tined to swarm with the fast-growing and
fast-spreading millions Of our race.
These considerations seem fully to justify
the presumption that the law of population
above stated will continue to act with un-
diminished effect, through at least the next
half century; and that thousands of per-
sons who have already arrived at maturity,
and are now exercising the rights of free
men, will close their eyes on the spectacle
Of more than one hundred millions of popu-
latiOn embraced within the majestic pro-
portions Of the American Union. 1t is not
merely as an interesting topic of specula-
tion that present these views for your
consideration. They have important prac-
tical bearings upon all the political duties
we are called upon to perform. Hereto
fore our system of government has worked
on what may be termed a miniature scale,
in comparison with the development, which
it must thus assume, within future so near
at hand as scarcely to be beyond the pres
ent Of the existing generation.
1t is evident that confederation so vast
and so varied, both in numbers and in ter
ritorial extent, in habits and interests,
could only be kept in national cohesion by
the strictest fidelity to the principles of the
constitution, as understood by those who
have adhered to the most restricted con-
struction Of the powers granted by the peo-
pie and the States. Interpreted and ap-