Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-12-04
MESSAGE.

tive labors. An all-wise and merciful
Providence has abated the pestilenee which
visited our shores, leaving its calamitous
traces upon some portions of our country
Peace, order, tranquility, and civil author
ity havebeen formally declared to exist,
throughout the whole of the United
States. In s all, of the States clyll
authority has superseded the coercion OF
arms, and the people, by their voluntary
action, are maintaining their Governments
in full activity and complete operation
The enforcement Of the laws1s no longer
Constructed In any State by combinations
too powerful to be suppressed by the ordi-
nary course of judicial .proceediugs;p and
the animosities engendefed by the war
are rapidly yielding to the beneficient
influences of our free institutions. and
to the kindly effects Of unrestricted
social and commercial intercourse. An
entire restoration of fraternal feeling
must be the earnest wish OF every
patriotic heart; and we will have Ac-
complished our grandest national achieve.
menr when, forgetting the sad events of
the past, and remembering only their In
structiye lessons, we resume our onward
career as free, prosperous, and united
In nv message Of December A, 1865, Con-
grtss was informed Of the measures which
had been instituted by the Executive with
view to the gradual restoration of the
States In which the insurrection occurred
TO their relations with the General Govern
ment. Provisional Governors had been
appointed, Conventions called, Governors
elected, Legislatures assembled, and Sena-
tors and Representatives chosen to the Con-
gress of the United States. Courts had
been opened for the enforcement of laws
long In abeyance. The blockade had been
removed, custom houses re-establlshed,
and the internal revenue laws put
in force, In order that the peo-
pie might contribute to the Ma
tional income, Postal operations 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
sanctioning the extinction of African slav-
cry as one of the legitimate results OF our
internecine struggle.
Having progressed thus far, the Execu-
I tive Department found that it had accom-
plished nearly all that. was within the
scope of its constitutional authority. One
thing. however, vet 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 au-
th&tsfty of the General Government. This
question devolved upon the respective
Houses, 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 ss-continued its 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 require: the judicial,
revenue, and postal systems Of the country
With the advice and consent of the Sen
ate,the necessary officers were appointed,
and appropriations made by Congress for
the PAYMENT of their salaries. The propo-
sition TO amend the Federal Constitution,
so as 10 prevent the existence of slavery
within the United States or any
place subject to their juris-
diction, was ratified by the requisite num-
Der of States; and on the lSth day oil De
cember, 1865, it was officially declared 10
have become valid rs part of the Consti-
tution of the United States. All of the
States in which the insurrection had eX-
listed 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 ordi-
nances and laws of secession; repudiated all
pretended debts and obligations created for
the revolutionary purposes of the insurrec-
ton and proceeded, in good faith, to the en-
actment of measures for the protection and
amelioration of the condition of the colored
race. Congress, however, yet hesitated to
admit any of these States 10 representation;
and it was not until towards the close Of the
eighth month of the session that an excep-
tion was made in favor of Tennessee, by the
admission Of her Senator's and Represents
tives. b,,re
deem it q subject of profound regret that
Congress has thus far tailed to admit to seats
loyal Senators and Representatives from the
other States, whose Inhabitants, with those
of Tennessee, had engaged in the rebellion.
Ten States7-more than onefourth OF the
whole nufilber4remain without representa-
tion the seats of fifty membersin the House
of Representativesand of twenty members in
the Senate are yet vaoant--nota by their
own consent, not by failure of election, but
by the refusal of Congress to accept their Gre
dentials. Their admission, it is believed,
would have accomplished much, towards
the renewal and strengthening of
our relations as one people, and re-
moved serious cause for discoHtent on the
part of the inhabitants of those States
IL wonId have accorded with the great prin-
ciple q enunciated In the Declaration of
American Independence, that no people
ought to bear the burden of taxation, and
yet be denied the right of representation
It would have been in consOnance with the
express provisions Of the Constitution, that
n"each State shall have at least one Repre-
sentative" and "that no State, with
out its consent, shall be depriv-
cd of its equal suffrage in the
Senate" These provisions were intended to
secure to every State, and to the people OF ev-
cry State, the right Of representation in each
House Of Congress; and SO important was IT
deemed by the trainers of the Consultation
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-0f the National Legislature.
It is true, it has been assumed that the
existence of the States was terminated by
the rsbellious acts of their inhabitants, and
that the instruction having been suppress
ed, they we're thenceforward to be consid-
cred merely as conquered territories. The
Legislative, Executive and Judicial Depart
ments of the Government have, however
with great distinctness and uniform cOnsis
teney, refused to sanction an assump
tion SO incompatible with the nature
,ofsour Republican system, and with tie pro
fessed objects of the war. Throughout the
recent legislation Of Congress, the undenia