Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-08-17
ADDRESS OF THE NATIONAL CON-

The Address invokes the people Of the Uni
| ted States to remember that the war has ended,
and that the nation is again at peace and to
accent with all their legitimate consequences
the political results Of the war First, it las
established, beyond all controversy, the suprem-
acy of the national Government as defined and
limited by the Constitution, and the
permanent inaissolubiIity Of the Federal
Union rs necessary consequence. And, sec
end, it has put and end, finally, to the existence
Of slavery upon the soil or within the Jurlsdlc-
ton of the United States. The Government
Of the United States maintained by force OF
arms the supreme authority over all territory
and over all States and people within its juris-
diction which the Constitution conters upon it !;
but it acquired thereby no new power, no en-
larged jurisdiction, no rights either Of terrltor,
al possession or OF civil authority which it did
Constitution is to-day precisely as it was before
the war-the supreme law OF the land-any-
thing in the constitution or laws Of the States
notwithstanding and to-day, precisely as be-
fore the war, all powers not conferred by the
Constitution upon the General Government,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the several States or to the people thereof,
During the war every Executive message and
proclamation explicitly declared that the sole
purport Of the war was to MAINTAIN the author
ity of the Constitution and preserve the lnteg-
ritv Of the Union, and Congress ratified this
solemn declaration. Congress has since pro
claimed that the Government has the right OF
conouerors to subject the territority conquered
and its inhabitants to such penalties as the leg
islativc department may see fit to impose
Under this claim the clause of the Constitution
declaring that no State without its consent shall
be denied equal suffrage in the Senate has been
annulled and ten States arc deprived OF repre-
scntation, although the Federal courts are re-
opened and taxes imposed. This claim so en-
forced involves as fatal an overthrow of the
Constitution as that sought to be effected by
the States during the war. The right asserted is
that Congress, in formal possession OF authority
may exclude any States from representation
until they comqly with such conditions as they
dictate After controyertlng radical doctrines
the address says:
we do not hesitate to affirm that there is
no section of the country where the Constltu:
ton and laws of the United States find more
prompt and entire obedience than in those
States and among those people who were lately
in arms against them, or where there is less
purpose or Danger VI any 1ULuIt itttiupL W
overthrow their authority"
"No people has ever yet existed whose loyal
ty and faith, such treatment, long continued,
would not ALLEVIATE and impair. And the ten
millions of Americans who live in the South
would be unworthy citizens of free country,
degenerate sons of an heroic ancestry, unfit ever
to become guardians of the rights and liberties
beoueathed to US by the fathers and founders
of this Republic if they could accept with un-
complaining submissiveness the humiliations
thus sought to be imposed upon them. Re
sentiment of injustice is always and everywhere
essential to freedom, and the spirit which
prompts the States and people lately in lnsur
rection, insurgents now no longer, to protest
against the imposition of unj ust and degrading
conditions, makes them all tie more worthy to
share in the government OF a tree common
wealth. and gives still frmer assurance OF the
future power and freedom of the Republic; for
whatever responsibility the Southern people
may have incurred in resisting the authority Of
the National Government and in taking up
arms for its overthrow, they may be held to
answer Tor as individuals before the judicial tri-
bunals Of the land, and for their conduct as So
cieties and organized communities they have
already paid the most fearful penalty that can
fall or offending States, in the losses, the suf
forings, and humiliatons Of unsuccessful war
But whatever may be the guilt Or the punish
ment of the conscious authors of the insurrec-
tion, candoc and common justice demand con-
ccsSSon to the great mass OF those who became
involved in its risks and acted upon what they
deemed to be their duty, and IN defence OF what
they had been taught to believe were their
rights, Or under Il compulsion, physical and
moral, which they were powerless to resist
n, 10 b,n bof 10
as have been the bercavementS and the
losses OF this war, they have fallen exclu-
svely upon neither section and upon neither
party; that they have fallen, indeed, with far
greater weight upon those with whom the war
begun; that in the death of relatives and
friends, the dispersion Of families, the disrup-
ton of social systems and social ties, the over
throw Of governments, of law and of order, the
destruction of property and of forms and modes
ard means Of industry, the loss Of political,
commercial, and moral influence in any shape
and form, which great calamities we are sure
the States and people which engaged in the
war against the Government Of the United
States have suffered tenfold more than those
who remained in allegiance to It's Constitution
and laws These considerations may not, as
they certainly do not, Justify the action of the
people OF the insurgcnt States but no humane,
generous mind will refuse to them very con-
siderable weight in determining the line Of
conduct which the Government of the United
States should pursue towards them. They
accept, if not with alacrity certainly without
sullent resentment, the defeat and overthrow
they have sustained. They acknowledge and
acQuiescc in the results to themselves and the
country which that defeat involves; they no
longer claim for any State the right tc seccde
from the Union; they no longer assert for any
State an allegiance paramount to that which
is due to the General Government They
have accepted the destruction Of slavery
abolished it BY their State constitution-and
concurred with the States and people Of the
whole Union in prohibiting its existence for
ever upon the soil OF within the jurisdiction Of
the United States They indicate and evince
their purpose: just 50 fast as may. be possible
and safe, to adapt their domestic laws to the
.opl;tinn ,f tl,air on1 To coni,ro