The Buchanan County guardian. (Independence, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1858-1864, 1860-12-11
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE,
Felioa0 Citizens of the Senate and Hous
Of Representations

Throughout the year since our las
meeting, the country has been eminent
prosperous in its material interests. Tn,
general health has been excellent, GU
harvcsts have been abundant, and plenty
smiles throughout the land Our com
merce and manufacturers have been pros
ecuted with energy and industry, ano
have yielded fair and ample returns. Ii
short no nation in the tide of time, ha
ever shown a spectacle of greater mater
ial prosperity, than we have done until ;
very recent period. Why is it, then
that discomfort now extensively prevails
and the union of the States, which is til,
source of all these blessings, is threa ten
ed with destruction ? The long con
tinued and Incorporate interference o
the Northern people with the question o
slavery in the Southern States, has a
length produced It's natural effects. The
different sections Of the Union are now
arrayed against each other, and the tim,
has arrived SO much dreaded by tn,
Father Of His Country, when hostile ge
ographical parties have been formed
have long foreseen and often forewarned
my countrymen of the now impendin.
danger. This does not proceed soel,
from the claim on the part Of Congress
or the Territorial Legislatures to exclud,
slavery from the Territories nor from
the efforts of different States to deiea
the execution Of the Fugitive Slave Law
All or any of these evils might have
been endured by the South, without dan
ger to the Union, as other have been
in the hope that time and reflection
might apply the remedy. The immedi
ate peril arises, not SO much from these
causes, as from the fact that the violent
agitation of the slavery question through
cut the North for the last quarter of a
century, has at length produced its ma,
lign influence OH the slaves, and inspir.
ed them with vague notions Of freedom
hence a sense Of security no longer ex-
lists around the family altar This feel
ing of peace at home has given place tc
apprehensions of servile instruction
Many matron throughout the South
retres at night in dread Of what may be
fall herself and her children before the
morning. Should this apprehension o
domestic danger, whether real or mag
mary, extend and intensity itself until il
shall pervade the masses Of the Southern
people, then dsuuion will be inevitable
Self preservation Is the first law of ma
ture, and has been implanted in the
heart OF man BY his Creator for the wi
sest purposes, and no political union
however fraught with blessings and ben.
ehts IN all other respects, can long con
tinue, il the necessary consequences bt
to render the homes and firesides of near
ly half the parties to it habitually ane
hopelessl Y insecure. Sooner or later tht
bonds Of such union must be severed
1t is my conviction that this fatal periot
has not yet arrived, and my prayer t.
God is that he would preserve the Con
sitution and the Union throughout al
generations. But let us take warning il
time and remove the cause Of danger
1t cannot be denied that for five an,
twenty years, the agitation in the Nortl
against Slavery in the South has beer
lncessant. In 1895, pictorial hand bill
and inflammatory appeals were circula
ted extensively throughout the South
of character to excite the passions 0
the slayes-and in the language Of Gen
Jackson, to stimulate them to insurrec
ton, and produce all the horrors Of
servile war. This agitation has eve
since been continued by the public press
BY the proceedings of State and Count,
Conventions, and by abolition sermon
and lectures. The time Of Congress
has been occupied ia violent speeches OF
the never ending subject and appeals il
pamphlet, and other forms, endorsed b,
disting uished names, have been sen
forth from this central point, aud spread
broadcast over the Union. How cas-,
would 1t be for the American people t
settle the slavery question forever, anC
restore peace and harmony to this dis
tractcd country. They alone can do it
All that is necessary to accomplish lhi
object, and all which the slave State.
have ever contended for is 10 be lie
alone, and permitted to manage their do
meslic institutions in their own way, a.
sovereign States. They, and they aIon,
are responsible before God and the worlc
for the slavery existing among them
For this the people Of the North are no
more responsible, and have no more
right to interfere, than with similar in
stltutions in Russia or Brazil. Upon
their good sense and patriotic forbear.
anee can greatly rely. Without their
aid 1t is beyond the power of any Presi
dent, no matter what may be his owr
political procliylties, to restore peace and
harmony among the States. Wisely lin.
tied and restrained rs his power under
our Constitution aud laws is, he alone
can accomplish but Iittle for good Of
EVIL, on such momentous question and
this brings me 10 observe that the cleo
lion of any one Of our fellow CITIZENS to
the Office of President, does not in il.
self afford Just cause for dissolying the
Union. This is more especially true il
his election has been effected By mere
plurality, and not majority of the PEG
pie, and has resulted from transient and
causes which may probably
never again occur. In order to Justify
a report to revolutionary resistance, the
Federal Government must be guilty Of a
deliberate, palpable and dangerous exer-
a. n D. h..