The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-12-04
Message Of the President
United STATES to flae Two Houses of Con.
gress, at the Commencemcnt Of iie See,
Oad Session. ..- r-...

United STATES to fI,e Two Hoascs of Con.
gress, at the commencement Of tie Sec
Old Session. .... f.-...
Feuo~- Citizens Of the Senate and House Of Rep
reseatdtices: 8pt I-8ar.,..
After a brief interval the Congress of the
| United states resumes its annual legislative Ia
| bors. An all-wise and merciful Providence has
apated the pestilence which visited our shores,
leaving It's calamitous traces upon some por-
tlons OF our country. Peace, order, tranquili-
| y, ana ciVii authority have been formally de-
GIared 70 exist throughout the whole of the
| United states. In all of the States civil au-
| thorlty has superseded the coercion of arms
and the people, by their voluntary action, are
MAINTAINING their governments in full activity
| ana complete operation The enforcement of
the laws is no longer ''obstrucied in anv State
by combinations too powerful to be suppressed
by the ordinary cou.se of judicial proceed
lngs; and the animosities engendered bv the
war are RAPIDLY yielding TO the benefcent in
| 1luedces OF our free institutions, and to the
kindly effects OF unrestricted social and com
| mercial intercourse. An entire restoration of
iraternal feeling must he the carr est wislfof
every patriotic heart; and we will have accom-
| phshed our grandcst 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.
REcoNsTRUcTIor.
In my message of the 4th of December, 1868,
Congress was informed Of the measures which
had been instituted by rhe Executive with a
| view to the gradual restoration of tho States
I IN which the msurreetion occurred to their re-
latlo-.s with the Federal Government Pro-
visional Governors had been appointed, con
| ventlOns called, Governors elected LepiSla-
| lures assembled, and Senators and Reprcsen-
tatives chosen to the Congress of the United
| States. Courts bad been opened FOR the en-
forcement Of laws long in allegiance. The
blockade had been removed, oustonl-houses re-
established, and the inter- al revenue laws put
| IN force, in order that the people might con
tribute to the national income Postal opera
tions had been renewed, and efforts were being
| made to restore them to their former condition
| of efficiency. The States themselves had been
| asked to take part in the high function of
! amending the Constitution, and of thus sane
tioning the extinction Of African slavery as
| one OF the legitimate results of our intenecine
| struggle.
Having progressed thus far, the Executive
| Department found that it had accomplished
nearly all that was within,the scope of its CON
| stltutlonal authority. One thing, however yet
| remained to be done before the work of restor-
I alton could be completed, and that was the ad-
mission to Congress of loyal Senators and Rep
resentatiyes from the States whose people
had rebelled against the lawful authority of
the General Government This question de-
volved upon the respective Houses, which, by
the Constitution, arc 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 mean time the Executive Department
no other plan having been proposed by Con-
gress-continued its efforts 10 perfect as far as
was practicable, the restoration of the proper
relations between the citizens of the respective
States, the States, and the Federal Govern
ment, exteniing, from time no tlnle as the
pubic lntdrests seemed to require, he judicial
revenue, aud postal systems of the country
With the advice and consent of the Senate
the necessary officers were appointed, and ap-
proDriations made by Congress for the nav
ment of their salaries. The proposition TO
amend the Federal Constitution, so az to pre-
vent the existence of slavery within the Unit
ed states or any place subject to their .jurisdic-
tlon, was ratified by the requisite number of
States; and on the 18th Day of December,
1865, it was officially declared to have become
valid as part of the Constitution of the Unit
ed.States All of the States in which the in
surreetion had existed promptly amended
their Constitutions, so as to make them con-
form to the great change thus effected in the
organic law of the land; declared null and void
all ordinances and laws OF secession; repudi-
ated all pretended debts and obligations Great
cd Tor the revolutionary purposes of the insur-
feetion; and proceeded, in good faith, to the
enactment of fneasurrs f6r rife rroJectiof ;sirt
amelioration of the condition Of the colored
race. Congress, however, yet hesitated to adj
init 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
Haue N IaVor OF tennessee, Dy 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-fourt'i of the whole
number-relnain without representation; the
| seats OF fiftv members in the House of Repre-
| sentatives and of twenty members in the Sem
ate are yet vacant not by their own consent,
/ nv a af h,fl l.rfl
| of Congress to accept their credentials. Their
| admission, it is believed, would have accom-
| plished much towards the renewal and strength
| ening of our relations as one people, and re-
moved serious cause for discomfort ON the part
| of the inhabitants OF those States. l. would
have accorded with the great principle enunci-
! ated in the Declaration of American Indepen-
| dence, that no people OUGHT to bear the burden
OF xation, and yet be denied the right of rep
| resentation 1t would have been in consonance
with the express provisions of the Constitution,
that each State shall have at least one Repre-
sentative" and "that no State, without its con-
sent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in
the Senate" These provisions were intended
to secure to every State, and to the people of
every State, the right of representation in each
| House OF Congress; aud so important was il
deemed by the trainers of the Constitution that
the equality of the States in the Senate should
be preserved, that not even By an amendment
OF the Constitution can any State, without its
| consent, be denied a voice in that branch of the
| National Legislature.
1t is true, it has been assumed that the exist
| ence of the States was terminated by the re-
| beious acts of their inhabitants and that the
insurrection having been suppressed, they were
| thenceforward to be considered merely as con-
quered territories. The Legislative, Executive
and Judicial Departments f'ths Government
have, however, with great distinotness and un-
| form consistency, refused to sanction an as
sumption so incompatible with the nature of
our republican system, and with the professed
objects OF the war. Throughout the recent leg
islation of Congress, the undeniable fact makes
itself apparent, that these ten political COM
murities are nothing less than States of this
| Union. AT the very commencement of the re-
bellion, each House declared, with unaiimity
| as remarkable as it was significant, that the war
was not "waged, upon our part, in any spirit of
| oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or
| subJugatlon, nor purpose of overthrowing or
interfering with the rights or established insti-
| tutions of those States, but to defend and main
tain the supremacy of the Constitution and all
laws made in pursuance thereof and to pre-
| serve the Union with all the dignity equality
and rights of the several States unimpaired; I;
| and as soon as these objects We're accomplish
edtthe war ought to cease.' In some instances,
Senators were permitted to continue their leg
islative functions while in other instances Rep
resentatives were elected and admitted to seats
after their States had formally declared their
right to withdraw from the Union, and were
| endeavoring to maintain that right by force of
| arms. All of the States whose people were in
1nsurrecton, as States, were included in the
apportionment of the direct tax of twenty mil
lions Of dollars annually laid upon the United
States by the act approved 9TH August, 1861,
Congress- by the act of March 4, 1862, and by
the apportonment of representation thereun-
der, also recognized their presence as States in
the Union; nd they have, for judicial purposes,
been divided into districts, as States alone can
be divided The same recognition appears in
the recent legislation in reference to Tennes
see, which evidently rests upon the fact that
the functions of the State were not destroyed
by the rebellion, but merely suspended; and
States which, like Tennessee, attempted to re-
nounce their places in the Union.
The action of the Executive Department of
the Government upon this subject has been
equally definite and uniform, and the purpose
of the war was specifically stated in the Proc
lamation issued by my predecessor on the ed
day of September, 1862. 1t was then solcmnly
| nrnclaimnh and declared thnf ahnraafl erL "a