Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1860-12-12
TAs Standard.
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.


Throuphout the year since our last meeting. the
country has been eminently prosperous IN all 'ts
material INTEREST," The general health has been ex.
ce,ient our iharvests have been abundant, ana
plenty SMILES throughout the land Our commerce
and manufactures have been prosecuted with energy
and industry, and have yielded fair anu ample re-
~ tuns In short no nation in the tue OF .he mas
Sv6r presented spectacle Of greater material pros
perity than we have done until within very recent
period. q
- why is It, then, that discomfort now so extensive
Nv nreyas and the Union of the States, which Is
The source of all these blessings is threatened with
So destruction! The long-continued and ntemPeraee
interference of the Northern people with the qoeS
ton of slavery in the Southern States has at ensth
produced its natural effects The different sec.onS
. or the Union are now arrayed against each other
, and the time has arrived, much dreaded by the
Father of his Country, when hostile geographical
n.rtics have been formed have long forcseen and
often forewarned my countrymen OF the now I'M
handing danger This does not proceed solely from
the claim on the part Of Congress or the terrtorai
legislatures to exclude slavery from the Territories
nor from the efforts of different States to defeat the
execution of the fugitive slave law All or any OF
those evils might have been endured by the South
without danger to the Union, las others have been)
in the hone that time and reflection might apply
the remedy. The immediate peril arises not so
much from these causes as from the fact that the
incessant and violent agitation of the slavery ques
ton throughout the North for the last quarter OF
century, has at length produced its malign influence
on the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions
of freedom. Hence sense of security no longcr
exists around the family altar. This feeling OF
peace at home has given place to apprehensions OF
seryile ,nsurrection. Many matron throughout
the South retires at night in dread Of what may
befal herself and her children before the morning
Should this apprehension of domestic danger,
whether real or imaginary, extend and intensity
itself until shall pervade the masses of the South
ern people then disunion will become inevitable
Sefmeservation is the first law of nature, and has
been implanted in the heart of man by his Creator
for the wisest purpose; and no political union,
however fraught with blessings and benefits in all
other respects, can long continue if the necessary
consequence be to render the homes and the fire
sides of nearly half the parties to it habltualy 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 my
PRAYER to God is that He would PRESERVE the Con-
stitution and the Union throughout all generations.
But let us take warning in time, and remove the
cause of danger 1t cannot be denied that Tor live
snd twenty years. the agitation at the North against
. slavery in the South has been lncessant In 1850
pictorial hand bills and infamnatory appeals, were
circulated extensively throughout the south, OF a
character to excite the passions Of the slaves and,
in the language of General jackson, "to stimulate
them to Instruction and produce all the horrors OF
serve war" This agitation has ever since been
continued BY the public press, by the proceedings
of State and county conventions, and by abolition
sermons and lectures The time Of Congress has
been occupied in violent speeches on this never
ending subject; and appeals in pamphlet and other
;. forms. endorsed by distinguished names, have been
sent forth from this central point and spread broad
cast over the Union.
How easy would it be for the American people to
settle the slavery question forever, and to restore
peace and harmony to this distracted county.
They, and they alone, can do it. All that is no
cessary to accomplish the object, and all for which
the slave States have ever commended Is to De let
alone, and permitted to manage their domestic in
stitutions in their own way As sovereign States,
they, and they alone responsible before God
and the world for the slavery existing among them.
For this, the people of the North are not mere re-
sponsi5le and have more right to interfere, than
with similar institutions in Russia or in BRAZIL
Upon their good sense and patriotic torbearance
confess still greatly rely Without their aid, it Is
beyond the power of any President, no matter what
may be his own political proclivties, to restore
peace and harmony among the States. Wisely limit
ed and restrained as is his power under our Con-
stituton and laws he alone can accomplish but lit
tie, for good or for evil, on such momentous ques-
ton.
And this brings me to observe that the election of
any one of our fellow citizens to the office Of Presi
dent does not of tsefaford just for dissoving
the Union. This is especially true if his cleo
ton has been effected by mere plurality, and not
majority of the people, and has resulted from tran
sient and temporary causes, which may probably
never again occur. In order to justify resort to
revolutionary resistance, the Federal Government
must be guilty of "a deliberate palpable and dan
gerous exercise of powers not granted by the Con-
stituiion. The late presidential election, however,
hoch oen hnld CT copformitv with ic
provisions. How, then, can the result justify
oluton to destroy this very Constitution? Reason,
justice, a regard for the Constitution. all require
that We shall wait for some overt and dangerous act
the part Of the President elect before resortng
to such remedy.
: 1t is said. however, that the antecedents Of the
President elect have been sufficient to Justify the
Il. fears of the South that he will attempt to invade
their constitutional rights. But are such apprehen-
sons of contingent danger in the future sufficient to
justify the immediate destruction of the nobcst sys-
TEN Of government ever devised by mortals From
the very nature of his Office, and its high RESPONSE
biiities he must necessarily he conservative. The
stern duty Of administering the vast and complicat
ed concerns of this Government affords in itself
guarantee that he will not attempt any violation oil
clear constitutional right After all he is no more
than the chief executive officer Of the Government
His province is not to make but to execute the laws
and 1t is remarkable fact in history, that not
outstanding the repeated efforts Of the anti-savery
@party,no single act has every passed Congress, un
less we may possibly except the Missouri Compro
mise irapairing in the slightest degree, the rights
81 Of the South to their property in slaves. And il
may also be observed, judging from present indica
tons, that no probability exists of the passage
asuch m act by majority Of both Houses, either ii
= s'the present or the next Congress. Surely, under
these circumstances ought to be restrained from
present action by the precept Of Him who spake a.
. never man spake, that Sufficient unto the day il
Sthe evil thereof" The day of evil may never come
unless We shall rashly bring it upon ourselves.
- It is alleged as one cause for immediate secession
~ that the Southern States denied equal right
nj; with the other States in the common Territore
): But by what authority are these denied? Not b,
Congress- which has never passed, and bcev
never will pass any act to exclude slavery from
these Territories; and certainly not by the Supreme
J Court, which has soemnly decided that slaves ar
property, and, like all other property, their owner
Ava Arsonl1 tnN al, Al.