Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1860-12-14
The Presidents Message,
FeHo,0- Citizens of the Senate and House
Of Repre- sentat1UeS

{
Iperous in its material interests. The gen
eral health has been excellent, our harvest:
have been abundant, and plenty smile:
throughout the land. Our commerce anc
manufactures have been prosecuted will
energy and industry, and have yielded fail
and ample returns. In short no nation il
the tide of time, has ever presented spec
tacle of greater material prosperity, than
We have done until very recent period
Why is it, then, that discomfort now ex
tensively prevails, and the union of the
States, which is the source of all these
blessings, is threatened with destruction
| The long continued and Incorporate in
reference of the Northern people with
the question Of slavery in the Southern
States, has at length produced its natura
effects. The different sections of the
Union are now arrayed against each other
and the time has arrived so much dreaded
by the Father of his country, when hostile
geographical parties have been formed. !
have long foreseen, and often forewarned,
my countrymen of the now impending
danger. This does not proceed solely
from the claim on the part OF Congress OF
Territorial Legislatures to exclude slavery
from the Territories nor from The efforts
of different States to defeat the execution
of the Fugitive Slave Law. All OF any of
these evils might have been endured by
the South, without danger to the Union,
as others have been, in the hope that time
and reflection might apply the remedy.
The immediate peril arises, not so much
| from these causes, as from the fact that
the violent agitation Of the slavery question
throughout the North, for the last quarter
of a century, has at length produced its
maiign influence on the slaves, and inspired
them with vague notions of freedom !;
hence sense OF security no longer exists
around the family altar. This feeling of
peace at home has given place to appre-
| tensions of servile insurrection. Many a
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 it shall pervade
the masses of the Southern people, then
| disunion will be inevitable. Sell -preser-
| walton is the first law of nature, aud has
been implanted In the heart of man By his
Creator for the wisest purposes, and no
political union, however fraught with
| blessings and benefits III all other respects,
can long continue, if the necessary conse-
quences be to render the homes and fire.
sides of nearly half the parties to it habit
uaIIy and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or
! later the bonds of such union must be
severed. 1t is my conviction that this fa-
| tai period has not yet arrived, and my
PRAYER to God is that be would preserve
the Constitution and the Union throughout
all generations. But let us take warning
IN time and remove the cause of danger.
/ 1t cannot be denied that for five and TWEEN
| tY years, the agitation against Slavery in
the South has been i"cessant. In 1885,
pictorial hand bills and iufammatory ap-
peals were circulated extensively through
out the South, of a character TO excite the
passions of the slaves-and in the lsngu
age of Gen, jackson, to stimulate them to
insurrection, and produce all the horrors
of a servile 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 the never
ending subject, and appeals in pamphlet,
and other forms, endorsed by distinguished
names, have been sent forth from this cen
trail point, and spread broadcast over the
4 Union How easy would it be fer the
American people to settle the slavery ques-
ton forever, and to restore peace aud
/ harmony to this distracted country. They
alone can do it. All that is necessary to
accomplish this object, and all which the
slave States have ever contended for, is to
be let alone, and permitted TO manage
their domestic institution in their own
way, as sovereign States. They. and they
alone, are responsible before God and the
world for the slavery existing among
them.
For this the people of the North are not
more responsible, and have no n ore right
to interfere, than with similar institutions
in Russia or Brazil! Upon their good
sense and patriotic forbesrance | confess |
greatly rely. Without their aid it is be-
yond the power of any President, no mat
ter what may be his own political procfv-
tiles, to restore peace aud harmony anon 9
the States. Wisely limited and restrained
as is his power under our Constitution
and laws, he alone can accomplish but
/ little for good or evil. on such moment
Gus question and this brings me to OBJ
serve that the election of any one of our
fellow -citizens to the Office of President,
does not in itself afford just cause for dis
solving the Union. Tins is more especi-
ally true if his election has been effected by
a mere plurality, and MOI majority ofthe
people, and has resulted from transient and
temporary causes which may probably
never again occur. In order to justify a
resort to revolutionary resistance the Fed
eral Government must be guilty of de-
| liberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise
OF powers given not by the Constitution
| The late Presidential election, however, has
been held in strict conformity with its
express provisions. How then can the re-
suit justify revolution to destroy this
very Constitution Reason, justice and
regard for the Constitution all quire
that we shall wait for some overt and
dangerous act on the part OF the Pres dent
elect before resorting to such remedy.
| 1t is said, however, that the antecedents