Delaware State journal and statesman., 1865-12-07

congress OF the United States. The Court
OF the United States have also been reopene
as lar as could be done, so that the laws Q
the United States may be enforced throug
their agency.
The President knows very well that thi
p0llcy Is attended with some risk, but it is
risk that must he taken In the choice O
dlihculties il is the smallest risk, and TO di
nllnlsh, and if possible, to remove all dan
ger, the President has felt il incumbent OF
nm to assert the power of pardon; but ex
acting IN that connection the clearest recog
milton of the binding force of the laws of the
United States, and an acknowledgment tha
slavery has been abolished by the war lie
has also invited the States themselves tC
participate in the high office of amending
the Constitution.
Every patriot, continues the President
must wish Tor general amnesty at the ear
ilesi epoch consistent with the public good,
ana he intimates that this will assuredly
follow the adoption of the Constitutional
amendment by the States lately in insurrec.
tion SO long, he says as the adoption Of
TINS amendment is delayed, so long will doubt
and jealousy, and uncertainty, prevail; and
he asks the States in question TO give this
pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace. On
their adoption Of the amendment il would
remain for the States to resume their places
in the tive branches of the National Legis.
lature, and thereby complete the work OF
restoration. II rests, nevertheless, with the
Senators and Representatives in Congress to
Judge of the qualifications of their own
members
Congress is next called upon to provide
for the restoration Of the Circuit Courts of
the United States in States where the author
NY of the Courts have been INTERRUPTED. II
is manifest we are told, that treason, the
most flag ant in character, has been commit
ted; and it is also requisite that persons
charged with its commission should have
fair and impartial trials before the highest
tribunals oi the country, in order thai the
Constitution and the laws may be fully vim
dicaied, and the question of the right of a
state to renounce its place in the Union iu-
dieially settled.
In regard to granting to the freedmen the
right OF suffrage, the President claims that
he took counsel OF the Constitution itself
and has been guided by the interpretations
put upon that instrument by its authors and
their contemporaries, and by recent legsla
ton in Congress. After reviewing these
several authorities and the course adopted
by President Lincoln, he declares that it
rests with the States to decide for themselves
the conditions for the enjoyment of the clcc
llVe franchise, and that nothing has at any
time occurred that would have sanctioned
any departure 10y the Executive from policy
which has 50 uniformly obtained Moreover,
such concession ON the part of the Presi-
dent could not have been limited to the States
formerly in msurrection, but must have
included all the States of the Union. and
would have established change of suffrage
IN the Northern, Middleand Western States.
not less than in the southern and SOuthwes
tern II would have been an assumption of
power which nothing in the Constitution or
laws of the States would have warranted
In the judgment of the President, the freed
men, II they show patience and manly yir-
tues, Will sooner obtain participation in the
elective franchise through the States them
selves, than through the General Govern
menl, even if it had the power to intervene.
But whilst it is not competent for the Gov
Nernmcnt to Interfere in the matter of the
franchise, it is clear that good faith requires
that the freedmen shall be secured in their
liberty and their property; the right to labor
ana to claim the just reward of their labor
INC interests Of the employer and employed
alike require that the substitution OF labor
by contract for the status Of slavery should
work to the advantage of both. Ii the one
ought to be able to enforce the contract so
ought the other, and the public interest will
be best promoted if the several States should
themselves provide adequate protection and
remedies for freedmen.
Amer denouncing monopolies, perpetuities
and class legislation, as being contrary to the
genius otiree government, the President gives
bnet abstract of the reports of the various
secretaries OF Departments; suggests more
equitable adjustment of the taxes; advocates
q gradual reduction of the currency. and
Then passes in review our relations with for
eign Powers.
With regard 10 the course pursued by
England during the late war, and especially
in respect to the Confederate cruisers fitted
out in her ports, and her refusal to recor-
nize the claim of the United States for in
dennity for losses sustained ON the hipl
seas, the President, after alluding to the di-
plOmatic correspondence on these questions
closes this portion of his message, by SAVING
that he feels bound to declare his oninion
before, Congress and before the world that
the Justification ol England cannot be sus
tanned before the tribunal of nations, and
that, whilst he does not advise any present
attempt at redress by legislation, the friend.
ship of the two nations must rest for the flu
turc on the basis Of mutual Justice.
Taking up next the Mexican question, he
refers 10 the non interference in the concerns
Of other nations which he claims TO have
been the invariablc policy of the United
/ fIAAt'7' lllo NbA9loltul llOupfallO0 on our
part he says, may justly demand CORES.
| ponding moderation on the part of others.
He winds up his remarks on this subject by
declaring that we should egaru il as n great
calamity TO ourselves, to the cause of good
government and to the peace of the world,
should any European Power challenge the
American People, as il were, to the defence
OF republicanism against foreign interfer
encc. We cannot fOrcsee and are unwilling
to consider what opportunities might present
themselves, what combinations might ofIei
TO protect ourselves against designs inimica
TO our form of government The United
states desire to act in the future as they have
ever acted heretofore; they never will bC
driven from that course but by the aggres
sion of European Powers; and we rely or
the justice of those Powers to respect tho
system of non-interlerence which has so lone
been sanctioned by time, and which, by il.
good results, has approved itself to both con
tncnts
Finally, he passes under review the pro
grcss made by the United States in wealtl
and population, and closes with an accoun
OF the advantages which il possesses over al
other nations in its climate its fertility o
soil, and its happy institutions, "where tol
erationis extended to every opinion, in tn,
quiet certainty that truth needs only fai
field to obtain the victory
UNI
For the Journal and Statesman
WHY DON'T THEY REPORTt
Mr.. EprroB.--
Some time ago the Railroad
Company made application to the City Coun