Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1866-12-05
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
70 THE
Two Houses of Congress,
THE


Session Of the Thirty Ninth
Congress.
FclIOrO-eitiaens Of the Senate and House Of
Representatives:
After brief interval the Congress Of the
United States resumes its annual legisIa-
tive duties. An all-wise and merciful
Providence has abated the pestilence which
visited our shores, leaving its calamitous
traces upon some portions Of our country.
Peace, order, tranquility, and civil au-
thority have been formally declared to ex-
list 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has superseded the coercion of arms, and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 governments in full
activity and complete operation. The en-
forcement of the lawsis no longer "obstruct-
ed in any State by combinations too power
ful to be suppressed by the ordinary course
Of judicial proceedings" and the animosi-
ties engendered by the war are rapidly
yielding to the benifcent influences of our
free institutions, and TO the kindly effects
Of unrestricted social and commercial In
tercourse. An entire restoration of frater-
nal feeling must be the earnest wish of
every patriotic heart and we will have ac-
complished our grandest national achieve
ment when, forgetting the sad events of the
past, and remembering only their instructive
lessons, we resume our onward career as a
free, prosperous, and united people.
RESTORATION.
In my message of the 4th of December,
1865, Congress was informed of the meas
ures which had been instituted by the Ex-
ecutive with view to the gradual res tora-
ton Of the States in which the insurrec-
ton occurred to their relations with the
General Government. Provisional COVER
nors had been appointed, conventions
called, governors elected, legislatures as
sembled, and Senators and Representatives
chosen TO the Congress of the United States
Courts had been opened for the enforce
ment Of laws long in allegiance. The block
ade 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 restore them to their
former condition of efficiency. The States
themselves had been asked to take part in
the high function Of amending the Consti-
tuition, and Of thus sanctioning the extinc-
ton of African slavery as one Of the legiti.
mate results of our internecine struggle.
Having progressed thus far, the Execu-
tive Department found that it had accom-
plished nearly all that was within Telescope
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 Houses, which, by the Con-
stitution are made the Judges Of the cleo |
TONS returns, and qualifications of their
own members; and its consideration at
once engaged the attention of Congress.
In the meantime, the Ey ecutive Depart |
ment-no other plan having beeU.propOsed |
by Congress-continued its efforts to per- |
feet, as far as possible, the restoration of
the proper relations between the citizens of
the respective States, and the Federal Gov |
ernment 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 Senate the necessary officers were APP |
pointed, and appropriations made by Con-
gress for the payment of their salaries |
The proposition to amend the Federal |
Constitution, 80 as to prevent the existence |
of slavery within the United States or any |
place subject to their jurisdiction, was rati- |
fed by the requisite number of States and |
on the 18th day Of December 1865 it was /
officially declared to have become valid as |
a part of the Constitution of the United |
States. All Of the States in which the in /
surrection 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 seces-
sion; repudiated all pretended debts and /
obligations created for the revolutionary |
purposes Of the instruction; and pro-
ceeded, in good faith, to the enactment of
measures for the protection and ameliora-
ton Of the condition of the colored race |
Congress, however, yet hesitated to admit |
any Of these States to representation and |
II was not until towards the close of the |
eighth month of the session that an excep-
tion was made in favor of Tennessee, bv |
the admission of her Senators and Repre- |
sentatives.
l deem tia subject of profound regret
that Congress has thus far failed to admit |
to seats loyal Senators and Representatives
from the other States, whoseinhabitants, with
those Of Tennessee, had engagedin the rebel |
lion. Ten States-more than one-fourth |
of the whole number-remain without rep
resentation; the seats of fifty members in |
the House of Representatives and of twen-
ty members in the Senate are vet vacant
not by their own consent not bv a failure |
of election but by the refusal of Congress
70 accept their credentials. Their admis- |
sion, it is believed, would have accomplish
ed much towards the renewal and strength |
ening of our relations as one people, and |
removed serious cause for discomfort on the |
part of the inhabitants of those States. Ii |
would have accorded with the great prin-
Ciple enunciated in the Declaration of
American Independence, that no people |
ought to bear the burden of taxation. and |
vet be denied the right of representation. |
1t would have been in consonance with the
express provisions of the Constitution. |
that " each State shall have at least one