Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1862-12-27
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

of the public press, to form dlspassion-
ate estimate of its merits The first notice
able feature in connection with it is that
no annual message ever yet delivered to
Congress has received so Few eaconiums
The papers which nos, strongly and ard
entity support the A Administration find in
it much to condemn, and but little which
they heartily endorse. The comments of
the Tribune, Independent ard kindred
papers evince beyond doubt chagrine
and disappointment, rather than gra:ifi
cation, at The style and character of This
state paper No combination of circum.
stances have ever occurred or are likclv to
occur, which would seem 81 well calculat,
ed to call out all the gifts and powers OF
q statesman; our country desolated with
hostile armies every branch of industry
paralized; the land filled with the wall of
mourning; our very exi>tance as nation
trembling in the balance, aud yet there is
nv w NuC SiN iO VI oCukilttSIt vi Inc
Message that would indicate that the Pre-.
sident had even yet awaked to reaIiza-
ton of the fact that there was any body
hurt. There is no m"re Of feeling, o. ami
nation, or sympathy than Lincoln the
lawyer would have exhibited in the Lii
nois courts.
There is in tie Message lot word of
COMMUNICATION for the alscri,y with which
a million Of men have, at the call of their
country abandoned the peaceful pursuits
OF life and shoudered their muskets for
its defence. No alu<jon to the heroism
with which they have fought-the patience
with which they have suffered and the
cheerfulness with which so many have
given their lives. One would suppose
that while our Chief Magistrate was de.
voting three or four columns of his mes
sage to the negro that at leas. paragraph
might have been spared for compliment,
ing our own brave soldiers.
Upon the subject Of our foreign .ela.
tons and ordinary domestic affairs the
President is exceedingly brief, and com.
munitates nothing of special interest.
The question Of finances seems to be
source Of considerable anxiety to the Pre-.
sident, and in this he no doub, has the
sympathy Of all his friends. His recon-
mendations however On this subject &C
cordng to the concurrent opinion of nearly
every paper il the Union are crude and
impractica5ie. An attempt to INACCURATE
the system which he proposes it is con.
ceded by his own supporters would result
in such q disturbance Of the National
finance. as would add to our other disas.
tiers universal bankruptcy.
The main portion Of the Message is
devoted to a coasdera ion Of the negro,
and is a strange medly Of incongrui'ies.
Attention is first called TO the emancipa-
ton proclamation Of the ed September
last, which i. will be remembered pro.
claims freedom to all the slaves who may
be held within the territory which may be
in state Of re bellion on the first of
January next. He then enters upon an
elaborate argument in favor OF what he
calls compensated emaucipation-in the
progress Of which he triump han,ly demol
ishes his proclamation, ard establishes
that gradual emanci patton extending
through the present century is the only
feasible and practicable mode of proce.
dure. To carry into effect this system he
recommends an amendment of the Con.
stituton, granting authority to liberare
the slaves by purchase, aud to colonize
them at the public expense. Here then
while calling attention to his own sweep.
ing proclamation which proclaims liberty
to the captive within a few days, he asks
an amendment of the Constitution that
will give authority to do the same thing
within forty years.
The radicals of the North have derived
large share of their stock 10 trade from
the circumstance that the odiouS word
slave does not occpr in the Constitution.
and now their President gives The precise
language he desires to have incorporated
in his amendment, and although the
whole consists of but few short para
graphs this much despised word has four
distinct appearances. Again, in his argn.
ment the President is so forgetful of the
dogmas Of his party as distinctly to recog.
nize the legal right Of property in slaves
to exonerate the slave holder from moral
culpabilty-and to acknowledge that we
Of the North share about equally with
them in RESP onsibility Having exhausted
the subject and proven the unsoundness
of bis proclamation, the President con
cludes BY the grave announcement that
proceedings under the proclamation will
not be staid because OF his recommends
ton, but that the timely adop,ios Of the
plan be doubts not would stay proceed
ings. To sum up. the following appears