The Kenosha telegraph and tribune. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1859-1860, 1860-01-05
Presidents Message.
FELLOW CITIZENS OF TIE SENATE
Horrow or,

| AND HOUSE OF RHPRESEETAr rvEs:
Our deep and heartfelt gratitude is due to tina
Almighty power which has bestowed upon us sn Ct
varied and numerous blessings throughout tx
past year. The general health of the country ha
been excellent; our harvests have been unusl all,
plentiful, and prosperity smiles throughout tn
land. Indeed, notwithstanding our dement's, v
have much reason to believe from the past even,
In our history, that we have enjoyed the special
protection of Divine Providence ever since our or
lgin as nation. We have been exposed to many
threatening and alarming difficulties in our pro
gress but on each successive occasion the impend-
ing cloud has been dis,ipated at the moment il
appeared ready to burst upon our heads, and the
danger to our institutions has passed away MAY
we ever be under the divine guidance and protec-
| ton.
| HARPER's FERRY.
Whilst it is the duty of the President ''from time
| to time to give to Congress information of the
state of the Union," shall not refer in detail to
the recent sad and bloody occurrences at Harpsr,s
FERRY. Still it is proper to observe that these
events, however bad and cruel in themselves, de-
rive their chief Importance from the apprehension
that they are but symptoms of an incurable dis
ease in the public mind, which may break ont in
still more dangerous outrsges, aud terminate at
last in open war by the North to abolish slav-
cry in the South. Whilst for myself L entertain
no such apprehension, they ought to afford solemn
warning to Us all to beware of the approach of
danger Our Union is q stake of such inestimable
value as to demand our constant and watchful
Aigilance for it's preservation. In this view, let
me implore my countrymen, North and South, to
cultivate the ancient feeling of mutual forbersncs
and good will towards each other, and strive to
allay the demon sptrit of sectional hatred and
strife now alivata tie land. This advice proceeds
from the Ae&E* Of an old public functonary whose
services commSaced in the last generation, among
the wise end servAtive statesmen Of that day,
,ll who ay,1
dearest earthly wish is to leave his country tran
| Gull, ,prosperous united and powerful.
We ought to rehectthat in this age, and especi-
ally in this country, there is incessant tux and
refux efpublc opinion. Questions which in their
day assumed most threatening aspect, have now
nearly gone from the memory of men, They are
'FYolcanoes burnt out and on the lava and ashes
and squalid scori9e of old eruptions grow the
peaceful olive, the cheering vine, and the sustain
ing corn" guch, in my opinion, will prove to be
the fate of the present sectional excitement should
those who wisely seek to apply the remedy, con-
tnue always to confne their efforts within the pale
OF the Constitution. IF this course be pursued, the
existing agitation on the subject of domestic sla
very, like everything human will have its day and
give place to other and less threatening controvers
les. Public opinion in this country is all power
full, and when it reaches dan gerous excess upon
any question, the good sense of the people will
furnish the corrective and bring 1t back within
safe limits Still, to hasten the suspicious result,
at the present crisis, we ought to remember that
every rational creature must be presumed to in
tend the natural consequences of his own teach
ings. Those who announce a5stract doctrines
subyersive of the Constitution and the Union must
not be surprised should their he ated partizars ad
vance one step further, and attempt by violence
to carry these doctrines into prsctica, effect. In
this view of the subject it ought never to be for
gotten that, however great may have been the po-
litica advantages resulting from the Union to eve
nv portion Of our common country, these Will all
prove 70 be Is nothing should the time ever arrive
when they cannot be enjoyed without serious dan
ger to the personal safety Of the people of fifteen
members OF the c0nfederacy. Ii the peace of the
domestic freside throughout these States should
ever be invaded--ifthe mothers OF families within
this extensive region should not be able to retire
to rest at night without suffering dreadful appre
tensions of what may be their own fate and that
of their children before morniag-it would besvain
to recount to such people the political benefits
which result to them from the Union. Self-pre-
servation is the first instinct nature; and there
fore any state of society in which the sword is all
the time suspended over the heads of the people,
must at last become intolerable, But indulge
in no such gloomy forcbodings. On the contrary,
firmly believe that the events at Harper's Ferry,
by causing the people to pause and reflect upon
the possible peril to their cherished institutions,
will be the means, under Providence, of allaying
the existing excitement and preventing future out
breaks Of a similar character. They will resolve
that the Constitution and the Union shall net be
endangered by rash counsels, knowing that, should
.the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be
broken at the fountain, human power uld
never unite the scattered and hostile fragments
rfs SLAVERY N THE TERRITORIES.
/ cordially congratulate you upon the final set
Element by the Supreme Court of the United States
of the question of slavery in the Territories which
had ted an aspect so truly formidable at the
Of my odp mi oh
has been established of every citizen to take his
property of any kind, including slaves, into the
common Territories belonging equally to all the
States of the confederacy, and to have Unprotected
there under the federal constitution Neither Con-
gress nor Territorial Legislature, any human
power has any authority to annual or impair this
vested right. The supreme judicial tribunal of
the country, which is ordinate branch of the
government, has sanctioned and affirmed these
principles of constitutional law, manfestly just
in themst Ives, and so well calculated to promote
peace and harmony among the States. 1t is q
striking proof of the sense of justice which is in
herent in our people, that the property in slaves
has never been disturbed, to my knowledge, in
any of the Territories.-Even throughout the late
troubles in Kansas there has not been any attempt,
as am credibly iAformed, to interfere, in sing
le instance, with the right of the master Had any
such attempt been made the judiciary would doubt
less have afforded adequate remedy. Should
they fail to do this hereafter, it will then be time
enough to strengthen their hands by farther legis
lation. Had it been decided that either Congress
or the Territorial Legislature possess the power to
annul impair the rghtto property in slaves, the
evil would be intolerable. In the latter event,
there would be struggle for a majority of the
members ofthe Legislature at each successive cleo
ton, aud the sacred rights of property held under
the Federal Constitution, would depend for the
tins being on the result. The agitation would
thus be rendered ineessant whilst the Territorial
condition remained, and its baneful influence
would keep alive dangerous excitement among
the people of the several States ar p
Thus has the status of a Territory, during the
intermediate period from its first settlement until
it shall become State, been irreyecably fixed by
the final decision of the Supreme Court. Forum
ate has been this for the prosperity of the Terrific
ries, as well the tranquility fthe States Now,
emigrSnts from the North and the South, the East
and the West, will meet in the territories on a
common platform, having brought with them that
species of property best adapted, in their own
opinion to promote their welfare From natural
causes the slavery question will in each case soon
virtually settle itsef-and before the Territory is
prepared for admission as a State into the Union
this decision. way or the other, will have been
sorgOne conclusion. Meanwhile the settlement
of the new Territory will proceed without serious
Interruption and its progress and prosperity will
mot be endangered retarded by violent political
| struggloa. t,..
When in the progress Of events the inhabitants
of any Territory shall have reached the number
required to form state, they will then proceed,
| In a regular manner, and in the exercise of the
rights Of popular sovereignty, to form eonstitu-
ton preparatory to admission into the Union
After this has been done, to employ the language
| of the Kansas and Nebraska act, they "shall be
received into the Union with or without slavery,
as their Institution may prescribe at the time of
their admission" This sound principle has happily
been recognized, in some form other by an al
most unanimous vote of both houses of the last
| Congress. .a
THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.
| All lawful means at my command have been
employed, and shall continue to be employed to
execute the laws against the African slave trade. At
ter smost careful and rigorous examination ofour
coasts and a thorough investigation Of the subject,
we have not been able to discover that any slaves
have been imported into the United States except
the cargo By the Wanderer, numbering between
three and four hundred. Those engaged in this
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