Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1864-12-15
The Presidents Message.

Considering that the President whose
fourth annual message is now before us. is
to preside for four years more over the des-
TIMES of the country, through period of
difficulty and peril. it would crafty the ma
tional pride, even OF his political opponents,
if this document exhibited him as a states
man Of good abilities. But we have not
that consolation \ more tame. ,iciune,
commonplace state paper never Cmenatcd
from man clothed with HIGH rcsponsibil-
ties. II IS, in the main, a tcpid recital Of
certain points and statistic from the reports
OF the heads nf the executive departments,
in a style not better than is attained by eve
~ abridger Of documents in newspaper
1t docs not reach even the subordinate lncr-
its of method and proportion. The Navy,
which bas done next tO nothing besides
maintaining the blockade, occupies five
times the space given to the Army; and the
notice Of our military operation. is in two
widely separated parts. rs if the materials Of
the message had been tumblcd together bv
accident. Faults Of arrangement however.
are trivial when compared with poverty of
matter, The brc,ity of the message would.
under any circumstances, be II merit but in
this case the merit would have been more
conspicuous, had it been still shorter. Sue
cnctness resulting from closeness and CON
dcnsatiOn, is a very different thing from the
pcnury of barren intellect The intellect
ual poverty of the message is in no degree
atoncd for by patriotic fcryor or elevation
of sentiment 1t is amazing that man
called to be the chief actor in the most mo-
mcntous civil struggle the world ever saw
is lifted to no inspiration. If Mr.. Lincoln
understood his epoch, one would naturally
expect that its grandeur would impress his
imagination. But the message is as cold as
/ it is feeble. We would not be understood
by this criticism rs implying that a state
paper should ever be a rhapsody; but mind
deeply impressed easily stirs other minds TO
their proloundcst depths without any breach
of official decorum. forecasting sagacity
and vigorous grasp Of the situation would
be worth all the feeling in the world but
when Il chicl-magi >tratC CannCt instruct and
guide, it would be some partial atonement
if hc could inspire clcctrily, or encourage.
But in Mr.. Lincoln debility Of intellect
keeps company with n torpor and vulgarity
OF feeling. lie never rises to the level or
even appreciates the proprctics Of great
occasion. The coarse and scanty drarcry
in which he clothes his starycling conccp-
tions is perhaps merit it can, at any rate,
be said in his favor that his style matches
well with his matter,
In each Of his last two messages, Mr..
Lincoln made a lahorious effort TO rise above
the dead level OF commonplace, by the RE-
,ontaton Of project. But in both cases
hi- feat of statcsman-h hip was unsuccessful
In 1852 he cXpoundcd at great length a
scheme for compcn atcd emancipation in all
/ the slave states to be completed by the year
1900. This was the only salient thing in
that message; but it was treated with con
tempt even by his own party. 1t did not
live long enough to cry; 30 far as we can rec
olicct, IT never received the compliment of
/ discussion in the body to which it was ad-
/ dressed. In 1863, hc propoundcd another
scheme, but, to escape the contemptuous
treatment Of its predecessor. it was cunning
" devised to dispense with the congrcssion-
al corporation. This was the famous re
construction project, in which he astutcly
argued that setting up new state govern
mcnt3 and prescribing the qualifications for
suffrage was right which he could exercise
IN virtue of--thc pnrdoning power His
own party in Congress was 50 far from ac-
qulcscng IN this odd assumptions that they
.lutcrposcd and passed an act to SupcrScdc
hes Plan; and when he vetoed it, the Rcpub-
llcan chairman Of the appropriate commit
tees of the two houses gave him public
castlgation III paper marked by great force
of reasoning and yigor OF invcctivc Even
the party convention that nominated him
for reelection was prudcntly shy of ndors-
ing his reconstruction project Warned by
these failures, he makes in the present mes
sage no attempt to turn his vehicle (no
coach but cart ou' oGthc rut of tritc com
mon-placc. He contents his ambition with
dull abstracts of the reports of his sccrcta-
ries, and eeryilc echoes of the Republican
press With one or two significant cXccp-
| tons, there is not Il new idea in the Message;
certainly none that any mortal will rcmcm-
bcr when the message l. Il month old.
/ Such document affords no scope for par
/ ticular comment 1t is beneath it. It is
idle to conIute what nobody will remember;
and as commentator, even the Republican
organs will be at n loss where to bcstuw it.
Mr.. Lincoln holds ont no hope of peace; he
has nothing more original to say on thi,
interesting subject than to rcitcrate aud
expand his niagara manifesto. Ina curnu.
financial recommendation he dcvintcs for
once into originality, but il is an originality
which is painfully suggestive of "A low tone
of moral feeling Wcmust indeed conccdc
to Mr.. Lincoln the possession Of Il pcrfcctly
balanced character; his conscience is worthy
of his intellect and his sense of decorum
worthy of both. lie gravely recommends
that our government shall raise money from
our citizens by corrupting their sense OF
pecuniary honor lie wants Congress to
pass an act to protect the purchasers of GOV
crnmcnt bonds from paying their honest
debts He gravoly recommends that this
species of property shah be placed beyond
the reach not only Of taxation but of credit
ors THIS, from the President of the Uni
ted States, is II crcditabIc proposal But
when foreign nations, who never hit upon
this refinement, shall see our government
suggesting 10 our citizens safe method of
eyading their private obligations, will they
not be apt to infer that where such moral,
ity prevails, it will be an easy step to public
reputation? Private and public debts
stand on the same ground of moral oblga-
ton, bat the average conscience of men is
commonly supposed to be the weaker in re-
ton to public engagements 1t is spccta-
Gle as astounding aS it is melancholy TO see
the chief magistrate of great nation ask
ing Congress to enable citizens to cheat their
creditors out OF their honest dues -Neic
/ lok World.
The Fight al sarnhnnSvS9lc.
7 NLNN NJ H., Al