Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1861-01-16
The Observation-Disclosures

mended such measures as l believed would
have the effect Of tranquilizing the country
saving it from the peril in which it had
been needlessly and most unfortunately
thrown
These opinions and recommendations |
do not propos, now to repeat My own
convictions upon tie whole subject remain
unchanged. The fact that a great calamity
was impending over the nation was. even
at that tine, acknowledged by eyry intel
lisent citizen. 1t had already made itself
felt throughout the length and breadth of
the land. The necessary consequences of
the alarm thus produced were most deplo-
rable. Imports fell off with a rapidity
never known before, exc, pit in time of war,
in the history of our foreign commerce
The Treasury was unexpectedly left with
out means which it had reasonably count
cd upon, to meet the public engagements
Trade was paralyzcd. manufactures were
stopped, the best public securities suddenly
sunk in the market every species of prop
erty deprecated more or less, and thou
sands of poor men. who depended upon
their daily labor for their bread, wero
turned out of employment.
l deeply regret that am not able to give
you any information upon the state Of the
Union which is more satistory than what
l was then obliged to communicate. On
the contrary, matters are still worse at
present than they then were. When
Congress met, a strong hope perTaded the
whole public mind that some amicable ad-
justment of the subject would be speedily
made by the representatives of the States,
which might restore peace between the con-
Hicting sections Of tie country. That hope
has been diminished by every hour of de
lay, and as the prospect Of a bloodless set
temsnt fades away. the public distress be-
comes more and more aggravated. As an
evidence of this it is only necessary to say
tie Treasury notes authorized by the act
of the 18th of December last, were adver-
tised according to law, and that no respon-
sible bidder offered to take any consider
able sum at par at a lower rate of interest
than twelve per cent.
From these facts it appears that, in a
government organized Ike ours. domestic
strife, or even q well grounded fear of
civil hostilities is more destructive of our
public and private interests than the most
formidable foreign war.
In my annual Message I expressed the
conviction, which l 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 Onion, or throw off its federal obliga-
tons at pleasure, l also declare my opin-
ion 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 authority under
the Constitution to recognize its validity
by acknowledging the independence Ofsu;h
State. This left me DO alternative as the
executive officer under the Constitu-
ton Of the Cuited States, but to collect
The public revenues and protect the public
property. SO far as thi5 might be practicable
under existing laws. This is still my pur-
pose. Ny province is to execute, not to
make the laws. 1t belongs to Congress
exclusively to repeal, modify, or enlarge
their provisions to meet exigencies as they
I possess no dispensing power. 1
had no right to make aggressive
war on any State and l I'm perfectly salts
fed that the Constitution has wisely with
held that power even from Congress. But
the right and the duty Of her military force
defensiyely, against those who resist the
federal officers in the exercise Of their ie-
gal 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 pro-
portions as to place the subject entirely
above and beyond executive control. The
fact cannot be disguised that We are in the
midst of a great revolution Therefore |
commend the question to Congress, as the
only human tribunal under Providence,
possessing the power to meet tn. existing
emergency. TO them exclusively belongs
the power to declare war, or to authorize
the employment Of military force in all
cases contemplated By the Constitution,
and they alone possess the power to remove
all the grievances that might lead to war,
and 70 secure peace and union to this dis
tracted country. On them, and on them
rests the responsibility. The Union
is 4 sacred trust left by our Revolutionary
to their descendants, and never did
any other people inherit so rich a legacy.
1t has rendered US prosperous in peace and
in war. The national flag has
foated in glory over every sea, and under
its shadow American citizens have found
protection and respect in all lands beneath
the sun. If we descend to considerations
Of purely material interest, when, in the
of all time, has a ~eonfederacy been
held together by such strong ties of mutual
interest? Each portion of it is dependent
ipon all, and all upon each portion, for
prosperity and domestic security. Free
.rade throughout the whole supplies the
wants Of one with the productions of an
,ther, and s~catters wealth everywhere.-i
The great planting and farming States re-
Iwire the aid Of the commercial and navi-
Eating States to send their productions
o domestic and foreign markets, and
uruish the naval power to render their
ransp0rtatioas secure against all hostile
Should the onion perish in the midst of
be present excitement, We have already
lad a sad foretastc of the universal suffer
ug xh;ch you'd result from its distruetiop.
he calamity you'd be severe in every poF-
ien Of the URioa. and would be quite as
,neat, to sag tie least. in the Southern as
n the Northern States.
The greatest ~aggraEat;on Of the evil and
gOula place rs in the most unfa-