, 1861-01-17
ANNUAL MESSAGE
PRESIDENT BUCHANAN.
FslloW Caisens of The Senate and

House Of Representatives.
Throughout the year, since our last meeting,
the country has been eminently prosperous in
its material interests the general health has been
excellent our harvests have been abundant, and
plenty smiles throughout the land our COM
merce and manufactures have been prosperous
with energy and industry, and have yielded fair
and ample returns--in short, no nation in the
tide Of time has ever presented spectacle oil
greater material prosperity than we have done,
until a very recent period.
Why Is il, then, that discomfort now exten'
sively prevails, and the union or the States,
which is the source Of all these blessings, is
threatened with destruction? The long.contin-
ued and intemperate interference OF the North
ern people with the question Of slavery in the
Southern States, has at length produced its nat
ural effects. The different sections Of the Union
arc 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 iOrvseen aud
often forewarned my cOuntrymen Of the now
impending danger. This does not proceed solely
from the claim on the part Of Congress, or the
Territorial Legislatures, to exclude slavery from
the Territories, nor from the efforts Of different
States to defeat the execution Of the Fugitive
Slave laval or any Of these evils might have
been endured by the South, without danger to
the Union, rs 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 fro the TACT that the violent at
tacks Of the Slavery question throughout the
North, for the last quarter Of injury. has at
length produced its IN 'lign influence OH slaves,
aud inspired them with vague notions Of freedom.
Hence security no longer exists around the FAM
lily altar. The feeling Of peace at home has given
place to apprehensions Of servile insurrection /;
many a matron throughout the South rrtires at
night in dread Of what may befall herself and her
children before the morning. Should this appre-
henSiOn Of domestic danger, whether real or inIa-
ginary, extend and intensity itself until it should
peTvade the masses Of the Southern people, then
disunOn will be inevitable.
SclEpreservatiOn is the first law Of nature,
and has been implanted in the heart Of man by
his Creator for the wiscst purposes and no pO.
litical Union, however fraught with blessings and
benefits in all other respects, can long cOhtiGut,
if the necessary consequences be tn render the
homes and firesides Of ,arly half the parties to
it habituay and hOpele>Sly insecure. Sooner
or later, the bonds Of such union must be se-
vered. Il is my conviction that this fatal period
has not yet arrived, and my prayer t0 G0d is
that He 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 twenty
years the agitation at the North against slavery
In the South has been incessant In 1885, pic
lorial hand.bils and infammatOry appeals were
circulated extensively throughout the South, Of a
character to excite the passions Of the slaves and
in the language Of Gen. jackson, to Stimulate
them to insurrcction, and produce all the hOr-
rOrs of civil war;
The agitation has ever since been continued
by the public press, by thOproceedirgs Of State
and County Conventions, and by Abolition ser
mons 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 central point and
sprCad broadcast over the UnOL How easy
would il he for the Am!rican prople TO settle the
Slavery question fnrever, and TO restore peace
and harmony to this distracted country. They
alone can do Il. All that is necessary TO accom-.
plish this object and all which the Slave States
have ever eontended for. is, 10 be let alone and
permitted to manage th,ir domestic institutions 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 more right to interfere,
than with similar institutions in Russia or Brazil.
Upon their good sense and patriotic inrhearance,
I confess still greatly rely. Without their aid,
II is beyond the power Of any Prcsthn', no nat.
ter what may bo his political procliYitieS to re-
store peace aud harmony among the States Y
Wisely limited and restrained as is his power
under our Constitution aud laws he alone can
accomplish hut little for good or evil on such a
mOIRentOW 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, oI
Itself, afford just cause for diSsolving the Union.
This is more especially true if his election has
been effected by mere plurality, and not ma.
jority OF the people, and has resulted from tran.
sient and temporary causes, which may proba.
bly, never again occur. In order TO justify a re.
sort to revolutionary resistance, tho Federal Gov.
ernment must be guilty Of deliberate, palpable,
and dangerous exercise Of power, not granted 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 q revolution to destroy this very
Constitution! Reason, Justice and regard for the
Constitution, all require that VIC shall wait foI
some overt and dangerous act on the part OF the
President elect, befre resOrting to such n remedy
| lt IL said, however, that the antecedcnts Of the
| PRESIDENT elect have been sufficient to Justify the
iears ot the South that no will attempt to invade
their constitutional rights; but are such appTe
hensiOns Of contingent danger in the future suf
icient to justify the immediate destruction Of the
nOhlest system Of government ever devised by
mOrtalS?
From the very nature Of his Office, and IL
high responsibilities he must necessarily hC
conservative. The stern duty Of administering
the vast and complicated counri's Of this Gov
ernment, affords in itself a guarantee that he
will not attempt any violation Of clear COnsti
tutional right. Alter all, he is no more than the
chief executive officer Of the Government; bis
province is not to make, but executs lis laws,
and Il b q remarkable fact in our history that,
notwithstanding the repeated efforts Of the anti.
| Slavery DaFtv nat n single act has ever nassel