Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1866-01-06
AMERICAN TOPICS.

AMERICAN TOPICS.
The Presidents Message Axsss-Ensl.us
Hen sas :" sS Si nsassins the U...ed State.
countries Compsred-The Tempcrsry
Cure against Disunien no secari,y
against Another Outbreak.
[Erom the London Times Dee ool
President johnson hAs 10 peruos,is
the States to forgive and forget; TO shake HANDS
over the graves of families, the wreck OF for
tunes, andAhe absolute extinction of in terest.
and classes. II, in the process, and nv tse
way, he says what is neither civil nor VET
dufe true about other nations, we feel thsi
Is Inls rs not a time 70 be over-sensitiye. The
Iresldent must complain Of somebody, and
W, VIA sseaPeeoa 80 good as the Mother Coun-
uyi a%ays In the wrong, always the aggres-
own In the questions handled bv the Pre-
CENT, ana IL ls one which compels us 70 snea.
n,hi IN ane interest," OF truth and sense, were we
turn and have Its day. lt is nothing less thaa
an illusion to suppose there can Ia "a -
suiution, at once wise, symmetncsi. veil
balanced, and perfect that shall sscnra
the. prosperity, happiness and conssn,
OF great variety Of races =.
lures and conditions. Our own Empire has
never advanced any such claim. The Bri.,~n
constitution, described in our books and r,p-
resented, Justly, as combining the monarchial
arlstoerate and democratic systems, is rather
the nearest and beet description of facts than
lteu constitution or system. Prom the days
when the native population had TO submit or
make terms with successive hosts OF Invaders.
or When one monarch had 10 accept the dicta-
ton Of his harOns, and another 10 cali the cono
mons 10 his aid; when alternate kings invited
or dehed the Pope; when we gradually, SLOW
~. ano not very smoothly, were ascending IN
our present position through civil wars royaI
executions, dethronements, conq uests and a.
dluons OF new realms, and such variety of
events that our neighbors called ours a novel
not history, we never hoped for more than 10
make the best of things. We proceeded, indeeo
as lar as possible, upon legal and constitution
al principles, but we never ventured TO believe
@ lnat we Were making perfect spontaneous,
self-eontaining, and self-regulating constitu
ton; that would not go out of order, but must
lnfalllbly right itself We. too, lt must be Ie
membered, are a federation, IN a more real ana
actual sense than the ~Unitsd states Oar ia
not mixed multitude, Ike th,4rs, GRADUALLY
accumulated, and mixed IL arrives by the
very circumstances Of its immigration We
have had TO combine whole reals. still intact
sull INDIGENOUS in their people, and compIeis
IN their social system. Even i'm the central and
most ancient part Of this United Kingdom in
our hives Of new industry and sudden pros
PeIi'y, aho IN the very metropolis we have
had, and stlll have, institutions which we re-
spect as much We do any nominal mari ~
the o-called Constitution. To make ali fhas,
things work well together, and be a politicaI
unity, is at least as hard task as any the ITnT.
tied States had TO deal with. and our erp,ri,,r.
in these mGers enfiles as 20 attention eren aryo,,
the atlantic If there be one lesson more than
another we are all ready TO teach TO yVillinc
scholars. IL is that there is no such thing as -
perfect Constitution, and that what we nave
10 90 on each successive occasion is to make
the best of things, and start the good shin of the
Commonwealth-not hence TO eteruity hut
from this port to the next, a generation on: be-
yond that we dare not venture 70 say The
test IN these matters is commonly a yery sim
pie one. Even If we suppose that the
Union is now in no danger OF shipwrecF
from the diversities of religion OF peculiar
domestic institutions, such slavery OF no.
lygamy, there is the diversity OF mate
rial interests anticipated by the Union itself
President johnson, while crying down the
pfNr int
was expressly provided no State should levy
duties TO clog the transit OF check the prosperi-
ty OF the neighboring States. But no political
formula, no deed Of social compact whatever
could prevent one State from being so differ
emily circumstznced from another that the
same Union tax and the same tariff might en-
rich one and impoverish the other, and even
aggrandlse one at the cost Of all the rest BE-
fore the war is many months over, the Presi-
dent boasts that the revenue already paid by
the loyal States exceeds by many millions that
ever paid before by the whole Union Bat I.f
anybody glance OueT the t,nmeHse and rery rre0uIay
oOuered BY the States, and sag lckether 4 viii
erer be easy 10 deriSe fiscal system IOhieh shall
poSs equally upon all from the Atlantic 10 he Pa
cifc, from the ST Lawrence 10 de Rio CSrdnae
for the present the American Government
looks with neighborly pity on the internal
troubles of Mexico, but il invites all nations to
take refuge in its charmed circle, and Mexico.
we presume, is an expected guest But what
system OF taxation, or even of government.
will serve equally for New England
and the ancient Empire, partly Spanish
partly lholan, uhuer uOplcal sun! The fur
ther the Union pushes from its center. the
more Will II encounter that vast variety OF
conditions which tax the utmost skill OF State
craft and defy nstitution- moRgers When
the material Is widely different, and the cir
cumstances are still more so, the arrangement
can never be symmetrical, the Union perfect
or the working quite smooth. Nor can any-
thing be done for all time, " hen the materials
are ever changing. The President breaches 10
he States a homily upon union, disinterested-
ness and mutual forgiveness. They are to ac-
knowledge only one sovereign, that is the Con-
stltution OF the whole Union. They had better
listen, for they must The condemned felon
Will never hear another sermon, so he NAV as
well attend to this. II is the only plan Of life
LETT. With all our heart we advise the South
ern people TO accommodate themselves 10 their
hard circumstances. But their utmost sub
mission will not fuse and assimilate all the
races and conditions of the New World, or
give eternal and universal efficacy TO a paper
Constitution. We hare it once out of gear,
and do not Orselues in that BisfOTtEne, dad
its temporary cure, perfect security against az
other.