Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1864-08-17
Message Of the President GG' GEsc
Omitted States Ge aEEe ssh OE
January, aSGE.

Jaauay 9, 186l.-Read and reJe7Ted,
tcith instructions, to selectc onm,tice o.
.fre, and oro2e1'ed to be printed.
To tie Senate aud House o. Representatives.:
At the opening Of your present session
! called your attention to the dangers
which threatened the existence of the
Union. ! cXprcssc,l my opinion e.iy
concerning the ol;-iHai &. uses OF these
dangers, and recommended auci measures
as | believed would have the effect of
tranquiIizing the country and saving II
from the peril in which it had been need
lessly and most unfortunately involved.
Those opinions and recommcn iations /
DO not propose now TO repeat. My own
convictions upon the whole subject re
main unchanged.
The fact that great calamity was I'M
pending over the nation wa even At that
time acknowledged - every intelligent
citizen. 1t had already made itself felt
Throughout the length and breadth Of the
land. The necessary consequences OF the
alaIm thus produced was most depiorabie.
The imports fell off with a rapioiity never
known before, except in time OF war, III
the history of our foreign commerce;
the Treasury was unexpectedly lett with
out the means which it had reasonably
counted upon TO meet the public engage.
ments; rade was paralyzed; manuiac-
lures were stopped the best public Sc
rites suddenly sunk in the market; every
species OF property deprecated more or
less; and thousands Of poor men, who
depanded on their daily labor for their
daily bread, were turned out OF employ
ment.
deeply regret that l am not able to
oiye YOU any any information upon the
State Of the Union which is more salts
factory than what | was then obliged 10
communicate. On the contrary, matters
are still worse at present than they then
were. When Congress met, strong
hone pcrvaded the whole public mind that
some amicablc adjustment OF the sub
iect would speedily be made by the re
nresentatives of the States and OF !ho
neople. which might restore peace be
tween the conflicting sections OF the couI-
try. That hope has been diminished by
every hour of delay; and as the prospect
of n b!oodless settlement fades away, Ihe
nublic distress becomes more and more
aooravated. As evidence of this 1t Is
only necessary to say that the Treasury
notes authorized by the Act of 18th De
cember last were advertised, according 10
the law, and that no responsible bidder
offered to take any considerable sum at
mar or at a lower rate Of interest than
twelve per cent. From these facts 1t ap-
pears that, in a Government organized
like ours. domestic strife, or even a well
grounded fear of civil hostilities, IS more
destructive to our public and private HI
forests than the most formidable foreign
war
In nv annual me; sage expressed the
conviction. which | have long deliberately
held. and which recent reflection has only
tended to deepen and confirm, that no
State has right by It's own act TO secede
from the Union, or throw off It's Federal
obligations at pleasure. l also declared
nv opinion to be that, even II that rl@hi
existed and should be exercised by any
State of the Confederacy, the Executive
Department of this Government had n"