The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1860-12-13
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
rrrrnW CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND
HoUsE OF REPRESENTATIVES,:

rrr10W CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND
House OF REPRESENTATIVES:
throughout the year, since our last meet
;,g the country has been eminently prosper
ans IN all its material interests. The general
\, altb has been excellent; our harvests have
hsen abundant, and plenty smiles throughout
,be land: our commerce and manufactures
have been prosecuted with energy and indus
nv. and have yielded fair and ample returns;
:, short no nation in the tide of time has pre-
.eB;ed greater material prosperity than we
| have done, until within a recent period. Why
| i il then that discomfort now so extensively
rrevails. and the Union Of the States, which
| ! the source of all these blessings, is threat
| sDei with destruction? The long continued
and Incorporate interference of the Northern
PEOPLE with the question of slavery in the
southern States has at length produced the
rstural effects. The different sections of the
rlion ara now arrayed against each other,
lul the time has arrived, so much dreaded by
,ae Father Of MS Country, when hostile, geo
| graphical parties have been formed. have
| gag fOreseen, and often forewarned my coun-
rymen of the now i'm pending danger. This
lge. not proceed solely from the claim on the
part Of Congress or the Territorial Legisla
'uresto exclude slavery from the Territories
lor from the efforts of different States to de-
itaI the cAtCutlOu OI tIiS IuEitiNc SIdNe Jaw
Al or any of those evils might have been en-
irTei by the South, without danger to the
Union, as others have been, in the hope that
tine and reflection might apply the remedy.
The Immediate peril arises, not much from
Lese causes. as from the fact that the inCes-
.a. and violent agitatiou of the slavery ques-
l0u throughout the North, for the last quarter
da century, has at length produced its ma
lsa influence on the slaves and inspired them
Eith vague notions Of freedom; hence n sense
security no longer exists around the family
lter This feeling Of peace a. home has given
place 10 apprehensiOns of servile insurrectiOu.
Many matron throughout The South retires
-,night in dread of what may bcfal herself
4I children before morning. Should this ap
yrehensiou of domestic danger, whether real
Or imaginary, extend and intensity itself until
i shall preyaid the masses of the Southern
people; then dsunion will become inevitable.
Se,.-preseryatiOn is the first law OF nature,
lal has been implanted in the heart of man
b! his Creator, for the wisest purposes, and no
political union, however fraught with bleS-
sings and benefits i'll all other respects, can
long continue, if the necessary consequence be
70 render the homes and the hresides of nearly
half the parties to it habitually and hOpelessly
insecure Sooner or later the bonds of such
union must be severed. 1t is my conviction
that this fatal period has not yet arrived, and
that my prayer TO God Is that he would pre-
serve the Constitution and the Union through
OUT oil generations. But 1T US take warning
IL time, and remove the cause of danger. 1t
cannot be denied that for FIVE and twenty years
lle agitation at the North against slavery in
the South has been incessant. In 1888 picto-
IA. hand bills and inlammatory appeals were
extensively circulated III the South, Of char
2;,er to excite the passions of the slaves, and
I4 ln, y.gTr inn
I4le them to insurrectiOn and produce all the
1urrgrs Of seryile war" The agitation has
ever since been continued by the public press,
Oyt proceedings of State and County Con-
'enuons. and by Abolition sermons and lee
lures The time of Congress has been occu-
ped ia violent speeches Oh this never ending
subject, and appeals i'll pamphlets and other
I,fms, endorsed by distinguished names, have
been sent forth from this central point and
spread broadcast over the Union. How easy
''u'I 1t be Tor the American people TO settle
'Ae slavery question forever, and restore peace
A-lLarmony to this distracted country. They
Aone can do it. All that is necessary to ac-
eomplsh the object, and all for which the
sa'e States have ever contended, is to be- let
-sae and permitted to manage their domestic
'sututons IN their own way, sovereign
H@'es. They, end they alone, are rcsponsIb bic
oe!oFe God and the world, for the slavery eX-
sung among them. For this the people of
1e North are not more responsible, and have
av more right to interfere than with similar
institutions in Russia or Brazil. Upon their
soVl sense and Patriotic forbcarance confess
SUI! greatly rely. Without their aid it Is
beyond the power of any President, no mat
'eT what may be his political proclivities, to
rss'ore peace and harmony among the States.
"iseIy limited and restrained as Is his power,
SNIer our Constitution and laws, he alone can
accomplish but little for good or for evil on
'IcA momentous question. And this brings
1e 10 observe that the election of any one of
u 'eliow citizens to the Office Of President,
'''' not Of itself afford just cause for dissolv-
s 'Ae Union. This is more especially true,
MS c.ecti on has been effected by mere plu-
'1'Ny' and not a majority of the people, and
--' mas resulted from transient and tempOro-
-! I-uaes, which probably may never again
cur In order to justify resort to revolu
'"aFy resistance, the Federal Government
must be guilty of deliberate, palpable and
L,"serous exercise of powers, not granted by
+e Constitution. The late presidential cleo
;YA' however, has been held in strict conform
.. with its express provisions. How, then,
~, 'H the result justify a revolution to destroy
-" very Constitution Reason, justice, re-
s'u Tor the Constitution, all require that we
% I"'' wait for some overt and dangerous act
- tae part Of the President elect. before re-
"Ilhg to such n remedy.
II Is said, however, that the antecedents OF
Nv .s resident elect have been sufficient to JUS
-! 'Ae fears of the South that he viii attempt
invade their constitutional rights. But are
IN aPpreheEsions of contingent danger in
future sufficient to jnstify the immediate
Hucuon of the noblest system of govern
vt vt ever devised by mortals? From the
Hy nature of his Office, and its high respon-
Ti','l,'es' he must necessarily be conservative.
I' Srern duty Of administering the vast and
~lNeated couusels Qf this Government. af-