Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1866-12-07

the United States to the T2EO
Houses of Congress at the
Commencement of the Sec
OaeN Session.
Tslgosr- Citizens Of the Senate
and House Of Representatires
After brief interval the Congress of the
United States resrmes its annual legislative
labors. An all-wisc and merciful Provi-
dence @ss >abated the pestilence which visited
our shores, leaving its .calamitous traces up
co some portions Of our country. Peace,
order, tranquility, and civil authority have
been formally declared to exist throughout
the whole Of the United States In all of
the States civil authority has superseded the
coercion Of arms, and the people, by their
voluntary action. are maintaining their gov
ernments in full activity and complete oper-
alton. The enforcement of the laws is no
longer Constructed in any State by combina-
tions too powerful to be suppressed by the
ordinary course of judicial proceedings )" and
the animosities engendered by the war are
rapidly yielding to the benefcent influences
of our free institutions, and to the kindly eff
fects of unrestricted social and commercial
intercourse An entire restoration of frater-
nal feeling must be the earnest wish of every
patriotic heart; and we will have accom-
plished our grandest national achievement
when, forgetting the sad events of the past
and remembering only their instructive les
sons, we resume our onward career as free,
prosperous, and united people.
In my message of the 4th of December,
1865, Congress was informed of the meas
ures which had been instituted by the Exc
cutive with view to the gradual restoration
of the States in which the instruction oc-
cured to their relations with the General
Government. Provisional Governors had
been appointed, Conventions called, Govern
ors elected, Legislatures assembled, and
Senators and Representatives chosen to the
Congress of the United States Courts had
been opened for the enforcement of laws
long in allegiance The blockade had been
removed, custom-houses re-established, and
the internal revenue laws put in force, in
order that the people might contribute to the
national income Postal operations had been
renewed, and efforts were being made to res
tore them to their former condition of eficien-
cy. The States themselves had been asked
TO take part in the high function of amend
ing the Constitution, and of thus sanctionng
the extinction of African slavery as one of
the legitimate results of our internecine
struggle.
Having progressed thus far, the Execu-
tive Department found that it had accom-
plished nearly all that was within the scope
of its constitutional authority. One thing,
however, yet remained to be done before the
work of restoration could be completed. and
that was the admission to Congress of loyal
Senators and Representatives from the States
whose people had rebelled against the lawful
authority of the General Government. This
question devolved upon the respective Hou-
ses, which, by the Constitution, are made
the judges of the elections, returns, and
qualifications of their own members; and its
consideration at once engaged the attention
Of Congress
In the meantime, the Executive Depart
ment-no other plan having been proposed
by Congress-continued it's efforts to perfect,
as far as was practicable, the restoration of
the proper relations between the citizens of
the respective States, the States, and the
Federal Government, extending, from time to
time, as the public interests seemed to re-
quire, the judicial, revenue, and postal sys-
tens of the country. With the advice and
consent of the Senate, the necessary officers
were appointed, and appropriations made by
Congress for the payment Of their salaries
The proposition to amend the Federal Con-
etitution, so as to prevent the existence of
slavery within the United States or any place
subject to their jurisdiction, was ratified by
the requisite number of States: and on the
18th day of December, 1865, it was official
ly declared to have become valid as part of
the Constitution of the United States. All
of the States in which the instruction had
existed promptly amended their Constitu-
tions,so as to make them conform to the great
change thus effected in the organic law Of
the land; declared null and void all ordinan-
ces and laws of secession repudiated all pre-
tended debts and obligations created for the
revolutionary purposes of the instruction !:
and proceeded, in good faith, to the enact
ment of measures for the protection and anne
Iteration OF the condition of the colored race.
Congress, however, yet hesitated to admit
any of these States to representation and it
was not until towards the close of the eighth
month of the session that an exception was
made in favor of Tennessee, by the admission
Of her Senators and Representatives.
l deem it a subject of profound regret that
Congress has thus far failed to admit to seats
loyal Senators and Representatives from the
other States, whose inhabitants, with those of
Tennessee, had engaged in the rebellion. Ten
States-more than one fonrth of the whole
number-remain without representation the
seats Of fifty members in the House of Rep
resentatives and of twenty members in the
Senate are yet yacant-not by their own con-
sent, not by failure of election, but by the
refusal of Congress to accept their credentials
Their admission, it is believed, would have
accomplished much towards the renewal and
strengthening of our relations as one people,
and removed serious cause for discomfort on
the part of the inhabitants of those States. It
would have accorded with the great principle
enunciated in the Declaration of American
independence, that no people ought to bear
the burden Of taxation, and yet be denied the