Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1856-12-12
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

sbell dom time to time, not only recommend
~ tho consideration of Congress such mea-
surcs as he may Judge necessary and expe-
dien,. but also TINT he shall give information
In ,hem of the state of the Union. To do
this fully involves exposition OF all matters
in the actual condition Of the country DO
nestle or foreign, which essentially concern
tho reneral welfare While performing nus
constitutional duty in this respect the Pres
idcnt does not speak merely to express per
sonal convictions, but as the executive min
;s,er If the government. enabled by his po-
sit;on. and called upon by his official obliga-
tiona. to scan with an impartial eye the
interests Of the whole, and Of every part OF
the United States.
or the condition Of the domestic interests
of the Union. It's agriculture, mlnes, manu-
features. navigation and commerce, II Is
necessary only to say that the internal pros
peri,y Of the country, It's continuous and
steady advancement IN wealth aud popula-
ton, and in private as well as publc we'll
beiag attest the wisdom of our institutions
and the predominant spirit of intelligence
aud patriotism, which, Notwithstanding oc-
casiona irregularities Of opinion or action
resulting from popular ifeedom' has disIln-
guished and Characterised the people OF
America.
In The brief interval between the termina
ton of the last and the commencement of
the present session of Congress, the public
mind has been occupied with the care OF Sc
lectinu, for another constitutional term, the
President and Vice President Of the United
States.
The determination Of the persons who
are of rpht. or conungcnty to preside
81 fI.., MT
is under our system, committed TO the States
and the people. We appeal to them by
their voice pronounced IN the forms OF law,
to call whomsoever they will TO the high post
Of Chief Magistrate.
And thus 1t is that rs the senators repre-
sent The respective States Of the Union, ana
the members of the House of Representa-
t,yes the several constituencies Of each
State, so the President represents the ag-
greqste population of the United States
Their election of han is the explicit choice
and act Of the sole sovereign authority oil
the Union.
It's impossible to msapprebend the great
principles, which, by their recent political
action, tine people Of the United States have
sanctioned and announced.
They have inserted the constitution
cqnalry of each and all Of the States Of the
Union as States they have affirmed the
constitutional equality OF each and all o
the citizens Of the United States, as citizens
whatever their religion, wherever their birth
or their residence they have maintained The
inviolahhiy Of the constitutional rights %
the different sections Of the Union; an'
they have proclaimed their devoted and un
alierab'e attachment to the Union and Il
the constitutions ~ objects Of interest supe
rior to all subjects of local or sectional CON
troyersy. as the safeguard of the rights q
al, as the spirit aud the essence Of the
liberty, peace, and greatness of the Re
pubic.
la doi0g this. they have, at the same time
empha,icaly condemned the idea of organ
izinr in these United States mere geogra phi
real parties; of murshalllng in hostile array
towards each other the different parts of tn,
country, North or SouIh, East or West.
Schemes of this nature, traugbt with in
calculable mischief, and which the consde
rate sense Of the people has rejected, coult
have had counfenance 10 no part of the
country, had they not been disguised by
suggestions plausible IN appearance, acting
upon nm excited state Of the public mind
induced by causes temporary in their charuc
ter, and It is to be hoped transient IN thei
influence.
Perfect liberty OF association for poltica
objects, and the widest scope of discussion
are the received and ordinary conditions Of
government in our country. Our institutions
framed 10 the spirit of confidence IN the in
telligence, aud integrity of the people, do
not forbid citizens either individually or as
sociaied together. to attack by writing
speech. or any other methods short Of phys
ical force, the Constitution and the very ex
istence Of the Union. Under the shelter O
this great liberty and protected by the laws
and usages of the government they assail
associations have been formed, in some o
the States, of individuals who, pretending Il
seek only to prevent the spread Of the in
sttuton of slsvery into the present or futur
inchoale States Of the Union, are really in
famed with desire to change the domesti
institutions Of existing Stltes. To accom-
plish their objects, they dedicate themselvC
to the odous task of depreciatng the GOV
eminent organization which stands in the
way, and of calumn ating, with iudiscrim
nate nvictive, not only the citizens Of pa
tcuar States, with whose laws they III
fault. but all others Of their fellow citi2e
throughout the country, who do not pirtlC
pate with them in their assaults upon 4
Constitution, framed and adopted by O
fathers, and claiming for the privileges II h
secured, and the blessings 1t has conierr'
the steady support aud grateful reverence
their children. They seek an object viii
they well know to he revolutionary one
They ere perfectly aware that the change
the relative condition Of the white and bi'
races in the slayeholding States, which III
would promote, Is beyond their lawful
thorily; that To them It is foreign obie
that il cannot be effected by any peace
fundamentally of theirs that for them /,
the Slaies Of which they are citizens,
only path to its Accomplishment IS thror
burning cities, and ravsged fields,
slaughtered populations, and all there
most terrible in foreign, complicated "
civil and servile war; aud that the first s
in the attempt is the forcble disruption
country embracing IN its broad bosol
degree of liberty, aud an amount Of il
vldual and public prosperity to which III
is no parallel IN history, and substituting
its place hostile governments, driven al q
and inevitably IN mutual devastation
fratricidal carnage, Transforming the
peaceful aud fellcitous brotherhood int
vast permanent camp of armed men like
rival monarches of Europe and ASIA. "
knowing that such, and such only, are
means and consequences Of their plans
purposes, they endeayor 10 prepare the (
pie of the United States tor civil war by
ing every hing in their power to deprive
Constitution and the laws of moral author
and to undermine the fabric OF the Unor
appeals TO passion aud sectional prelud
by matchmaking its people with recpr,
hatred, and by educating them to stand
10 face ms enemies rather than shOulde
shoulder as friends.
II Is by the agency of such unwarrautl
interference, foreign and domestic, that
minds of many, otherwise good citizens, h
been so inAamed into the passionate cond
nation Of the domestic Institutions of
southern States, as at length 10 pass inse
bly, to almost equally passionate hostility
wards their feilOw-citlzens of those Sti
! /. I