Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-01-12

THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
10 ne Senate and
House Of Representatives.
AT The opening Of your present session !
called your attention TO the dangers which
threatened the existenge OF the Union.
expressed opinion freely concerning the orig
inal causes Of these dangers, and recommend
ed such measures as believed would have
the effect OF tranquilizing the country-sav-
ing It from the peril in which it had been
needlessly and most unfortunately thrown.
These opinions and recommendations do
not propose now to repeat. My own conyic-
tions upon the whole subject remain un-
changed. The tact that a great calamity was
impending over the nation was, even at that
time, acknowledged by every intelligent citi-
zen. II had already made itself felt through
out the length and breadth Of the lapd. The
necessary consequences Of the alarm thus
produced were most deplorable. Imports
fell of with rapidity never known before,
except in time Of war, in the history OF our
foreign commerce. The Treasury was une1-
pectedly left without means, which it had
reasonably counted upon, to meet the public
engagements. Trade was paralyzed, manu-
iactures were stopped, the best public securi-
ties suddenly sunk in the market every
species of property deprecated more or less,
and thousands Of poor men, who depended
upon their daily labor for their daily bread
were turned out Of employment.
deeply regret that am not able to give
YOU any information upon the state OF the
| Mon whian is more satisfactory than what
was then obliged to communicate On the
contrary, matters are still worse at present
than they then were. When Congress met,
strong hope pervaded the whole public
mind that some amicable adjustment Of the
subject would be speedily made by the repre-
sentatives of the States, which might restore
peace between the conflicting sections Of the
country. That hope has been diminished by
every hour Of delay, and as the prospect Of
a bloodless settlement fades away, the public
distress becomes more and more aggravated.
As an evidence Of this il is only necessary to
say the Treasury notes authorized by the act
Of the 18th of December last, were advertis-
ed according to law, and that no responsible
bidder offered to take any considerable sum
at par at a lower rate Of interest than twelve
per cent
From these facts it appears that in gov
| ernment organized like ours, domestic strife,
| or ever a well grounded fear of civil hOstili-
| ties is more destructive Of our public and
private interests than the most formidable
foreign war.
In my annual Message expressed the coA-
viction, which have long deliberately held,
and which recent reflection has only tended
to deepen and confirm, that no State has the
right of its own act to secede from the Union,
or throw off its federal obligations at pleasure,
/ also declare my opinion to be that, even if
that right existed, and should be exercised by
any State in the Confederacy, the Executive
department of this Government had no au-
thority under the Constitution to recognize It's
validity by acknowledging the Independence
of such State This left me no alternative as
the chief executive officer under the COnsti-
tuition of the United States, but to collect the
public revenues and protect the public pro
perty, so far as this might be practicable uu-
der existing laws. This is still my purpose
Ny province is to execute, not to make the
laws. 1t belongs to Congress exclusively to
| repeal modify, OF enlarge their provisions to
meet ,,exigencies as they occur. possess no
dispensing power. certainly had no right
to make aggressive war on any State, and
am perfectly satisfied that the Constitution
has wisely withheld that power even from
Congress. But the right and the duty OF her
military force defensively, against these who
resist the federal officers in the exercise OF
their legal functions and against those who
assail the property of the federal government,
is clear and undeniable. But the dangerous
and hostile attitude Of the States towards each
other has already transcribed and cast into
the shade the ordinary executive duties already
provided for by law, and has assumed such
vast and alarming proportions as to place the
subject entirely above and beyond executive
contral. The fact cannot be disguised that
we are in ike midst ofa great revolution
! Therefore, 1 commend the question to Con-
gress, as the only human tribunal under Pro-
| vidence, possessing the power to meet the ex-
isting emergency. To them exclusively be-
longs the power to declare war, or to author
ize the employment Of military force IN all
cases contemplated by the Constitution, and
they alone possess the power to remove all
Lie grievances that might lead to war. and to
secure peace and union to this distracted
country. On them, and on them alone, rests
the responsibility. The Union is sacred
trust left oy our Revolutionary fathers to
their descendants, and never did any other
people inherit so rich a legacy. 1t has rem
dered US prosperous in peace and triumphant
q war. The national flag has hoated in
| glory over every sea, and under its shadow
American citizens have found protection.and
respect in all LANDS beneath the sun. If we de
sceud to considerations Of purely material in
terest, when, in the history Of all time, has a
confederacy been held together by such Strong
ties of mutual INTEREST," Each portion Of il
is dependent upon all, and all upon each pOr-
ton, for prosperity and domestic security
'ree trade throughout the whole supplies the
wants of one with the productions ofanother,
and scatters wealth everywhere. The great
planting and farming States require the aid Of
the commercial and navigating States to send
their productions to domestic and foreign
markets, and furnish the naval power to rem
der their transportations secure against all
hostile attacks.
Should the Onion perish IN the midst oi
the present excitement we have already had
a sad foretaste Of the universal suffering
which would result from its destruction,
The calamity would be severe in every por-
ton of the Union, and would be quite as
great, to say the least in the Southern as in
the Northern States.
The greatest aggravatiOn of the evil and
that which would place us in the most IN
favorable light, both before the world and
posterity, is as l am firmly convinced, that
the secession movement has been chiefly
based upon Misrepresentation at the South OF
the sentiments of the majority in several Of
the northern States. Let the question be
answered from the political assemblies to the
ballot box, and the people themselves would
speedily redress the serious grievances which
the South have suffered. But, in Heaven's
name, let the trial be made before we plunge
into an armed conflict upon the mere assump-
ton that there is no other alternative. Time
is a great conservative power. Let US pause
at the momentous point, and afford the peO-
pie, both of the North and South, an opDor-
/ l. 4hok