Red Wing sentinel., 1861-03-13

Inaugural Address Of President Lincoln,
Delivered at the Capitol. March It'll, at -
O'Clock, NJ.
Fcllo,r C;tiscna Of the United States:
ln compliance with custom rs old us th,.
Government is itself, appear before you t.
address you briefly, and to take in your pres.
ence the oath prescribed hy the Constitution
Of the United. States, to he tuk,n by the
President before lie enters on the execution
OF the duties Of his Office. do not consider
It necessary at present for mo to discuss those
matters OF ADMINISTRATION about which there
is no special anxiety or excitement. Apprc-
henslon seems to exist among the people OF
tho Southern States. that w tic accession OF
Republican Administration their property,
and their peace, and personal security, are TO
b: endangered.
There hos never been any reasonable cause
Tor such apprehension; indeed tic most ample
evidence TO the contrary has all the while ex-
is'e''' anu been open to their inspection. l,
is found in nearly all tho published speeches
III him who row addresses YOU / DO but
quote from one Of those speeches, when de.
clare that have no purpose directly or in.
directly, to Interfere with tic institution o!
slavery in the States where il exists. l be.
hevc have no right 10 do SO. end have No
inclination to do 50. Those who nominated
and elected INC dill so with full knowledge
that had maGc this and many similar dcvla.
rations, and had never recalled them: and
more than tlis they placed in the platform
for my acceptance as a law TO themselves and
10 me, clear and emphatic resolution, which
now read:
Resolved, That the maintenance, iuviolatc
OF tue rights Of the States, and especially the
right OF each State, to order and control its
own domestic institutions according to its own
Judgment exclusively. is essential to that bal,
"nce OF power on which the perfection and
endurance Of our political fabric depends, and
VIC dcnouncc tic lawless invasion by all armc,
force Of the soil Of any State or Territory, no
matter under what prctcxt, as the gravest Of
crimes.
now reitcratc my sentiments. end in doin:
so only press upon the public attention the
most conclusive evidence Of which the cast. is
susceptible, that the pr perty, peace, and SC.
cnrity OF no section nrc to be in unywise en-.
elangcred by the now incoming administration
add, too, that all the protection which con.
sistcntly with the Constitution and the laws
can be given, will be checrfuly given to all
the States when lawfully demanded for what.
ever cause, as checriully to one section as to
another.
There Is much controversy about the tleliv.
ering up OF fugitives from service or labor
The clause ] now read is as plainly written in
the Constitution as any other OF its provis.
ions: i" No person held to service or labor in
one State, under the laws thereof, escaping
into another, shall in consequence of any law
or regulation therein, be discharged from sucl,
service or labor but shall be delivered up Of;
claim Of the party to whom such service or
labor my be due" 1t was intended BY those
who made it for the rcclaiming Of what we
call fugitive slaves, and the intention Of the
lawsivcr is the law. All members of Con-
gresss swear their support to the whole Con-
s.itution, to this provision as much as to
any other mission, then, that slaves, whose
escape comes within the terms of this clause,
shall he delivered up. Their oaths arc
unanimous. Now il they would make tho
effort in good temper, they could not, with
nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass
law by means Of which to keep good that
unanimous oath. There is some difference
Of opinion whether this clause should be en-
forced by National Or State authority, but
surely that difference is not very material
one Ii the slave is to be surrendered, it
can be of but little consequence to him or to
others by which authority it is done, and
should any one in any case be content that
his oath shall be unkcpt for merely unsu5.
stantial controversy as to how it shall be
kept? Again, in any law upon this subject,
ought not alt the safeguards ofliberty known
in civilized and human jurisprudence, to be
introduced so that freemen may rot be in
any case surrendered as slave, and might
it not be we'll at the same time 10 provide a
law for the enforcement of that clause in
the Constitution which guarantees that the
citizens ofcach State shall be entitled to all
the privileges and immnnitics Of citizens in
the several States? take the official oath
to-day with no mental reservations and
with no purpose to construe the Constitu-
tion or laws by any hypocritical rules, and
while do not choose now to specify par
ticularly acts Of Congress as proper to be
enforced, do suggest that it will be much
safer for all, both in office and private rela-
tions, to conform to and abide by all those
acts which stand uprepealed than TO violate
any Of them, trusting to find impunity in
having them held to be unconstitutional
1t is scyenty-two years since tho first in
auguration Ola President under our present
Constitution. During that period fifteen
different and greatly distinguished citizens
have in succession administered the execu-
tive branch Of the Government. They have
oonductedit through many per;ls, and gen
orally with great success, yet with all this
scope for prscededt, | now enter upon the
same task for the brief constitutional term
offour years, under great and peculiar diff
culties. Disruption Of the Fedral Uuion,
heretofore only menanced, is now forridably
attempted. l hold that, in contemplation
of universal law and of the Constitution, the
union Of these States is perpetual. Perpitu.
ity is implied. it not expressed, in the fonda-
mental law Of all National Goyernments-
it is safe to assert that Government
proper never had provisions in its or.
ganic law for its own termination. Continue
to execute all the express provision o:
our National Constit ution, and the Union
will endure forevcr,it being impossible to
destroy it except by some action not proyid-
cd for in the instrument ITSELF
scsho I1r:koI tok>