Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1866-12-07
PRESIDENT JoHNsoNs MESSAGE.
TO THE TWO HOUSES or CON
GRESS,
Monday, December 8, 1850.

fGSCHtutffS'
After brief interval the Congress of the
United States resumes its annual legislative la
bors. An all-wise and merciful Providence has
abated the pestllence which visited our shores
| leaving its calamitous traces upon some portions
| OF our country. Peace, ORDER tranquility, and
! civil authority have been formally declared to
exist throughout the whole of the Uuted
States In all Of the States civil authority has
superseded the coercion of arms and the peo
! pie, by their voluntary action, are maintaining
| their governments in full activity and complete
operation The enforcement of the laws is no
| longer Constructed in any state by combinations
too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary
course of judicial proceedings and the ami
mosities engendercd by the war are rapidly
yielding to the beneficisnt influences of our free
Institutions, and to the kindly effects of unre-
stricted social and commercial intercourse
An entire restoration of fraternal feeling must
be the earnest wish of every patriotic heart
and we will have accomplished our grandest
national achievement when, forgetting the sad
events Of the past, and remembering only their
instructive lessons, we resume our onward ca
reer as free, prosperous and united people.
THE REcoNsrRucrioN QUESTION
In my message Of the ith of December, SGj,
| Congress was informed of the measures which
had been instituted by the executive with a
view to the gradual restoration of the states in
which the instruction occurred to their relations
|
governors had been appointed conventions cal
led, governors elected, legislatures assembled,
and senators and representatives chosen to the
Congress of the United States. Courts had
been opened for the enforcement of the laws
long in allegiance. The blockade had been re-
moved, custom-houses re established, and the
| internal revenue laws put in force, in order that
the people might contribute to the national in
come. 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 functions of amending the constitution,
and of thus sanctioning the extinction Of Afri-
can slavery as one of the legitimate results of
our intenecine struggle.
Having progressed thus far the executive
found that it had accomplished nearly all that
was within the scope of its constitutional au-
thority. One thing, however, yet remained to
be bone before the work of restoration could be
completed, and that was the admission to Con-
gress OF loyal senators and representatives from
the states whose people had rebellcd against
the lawful authority of the general govern
ment. This question devolvcd upon the re-
spectivc houses, which by the constitution are
made the judges of the elections, returnes, and
qualilicatioss Of their own members; and its
consideration at once engaged the attention of
Congress In the meantime, the executive de
partment-no other plan having been proposed
by Congress continued its efforts to perfect US
for as was practicable, the restoraton of the pro-
per relations between the citizens of the respec-
tive states, the states and the federal govern
mcnt, extending from time to time as the pub
lie interests seemed to require, the judicial, rev
enue, and postal systems Of the country. With
the advice and consent of the Senate, the neces-
saly officers were appointed. and appropriations
made by Congress for the payment of their sal
aries. The proposition to amend the federal
constitution, so us to prey ent the existence of
| " hn tut ,tI,o
place subject to their jurisdiction, was ratified
by the requisite number of states and on the
} Sth day of December, 1865, it was officially
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 constitution so as to
make them conform to the great change thus
effected in the organic law of the land de
clared null and void all ordinances and laws of
secession; repudiated all pretended debts and
obligations created for the revolutionary pur-
pose Of instruction and proceeded, in good
iaith TO the enactment of measures for the pro
lection and ameeration Of the condition of the
colored race. Cong. ess, however, yet hesitated
to admit any ST those states to representation /;
and it was not until 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
deem it n subject Of profound regret that
e Congress has thus far failed to admit to seats
loyal senators and representatives from other
, states, whose inhabitants with those of Ten
nessec, had engaged in the rebellion Ten
states-more than onc-fourth of the whole num-
ber-remain without representation The seats
of fifty members in the House of Representa-
tiyes and of twenty members in the Senate are
= yet vacant-not by their own consent, not by
1 failure of election but by the refusal of Con
gress to accept their credentials Their admis-
sion, it is believed, would have accomplished
mach towards the renewal and strengthening of
our relations as one people, and removed ser-
Gus cause for discomfort on the part of the in
J habltants OF those states. II would have ac-
corded with the great principle enunciated in
, the Declaration of American independence,
that no people ought to bear the burden OF tax
alton, and yet be denied the right Of represen-
a tation. 1t would have been in consonance with
the express provisions of the constitution, that
each state shall have at least one representa-
tive, and that no state without its consent,
shall be deprived Of its equal suffrage in the
/. Senate. These provisions were intended to Sc
cure to every state, and to the people of every
state, tine right of representation in each house
OF Congress; and so important was it 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 con
o sent be denied voice in that branch of the ma,
d tonal Legislature.
# 1t IL true, it has been assumed that the exist
ence of the states was terminated by tbs rebel
lious acts of their inhabitants, and that the in
surrecton having been suppressed, they were
u thenceforward to be considered merely as con-
quered territories. The legislative, executive
. and judicial departments Of the governments
have, however, with great distnctness and un-
r. form consistency, refused to sanction an as
sumption so incompatible with the nature of our
= republican system, and with the protested OBJ
= jects Of the war, Throughout the recent legis
0 lation Of Congress, the undeniabe fact makes
d itself apparent, that these ten political commu
:. mites are nothing less than states of this Union
+ At the very commencement of the rebellion
If each house declared, with a unanmity as re
- maIkablc rs it was significant, that the war was
g not ''Waged, on our part in any spirit of OPP
- preston, nor for any purposes OF conquest O
subjugation, nor purpose of overthrowing OF
d interfering with the rights or established inst
Y lutions Of those states, but to defend and main
s. tain the supremacy Of the constitution and al
d laws made in pursuance thereof, and 10 pre-
Il serve the Union with all the dignity, equality
= and rights OF the several states unimpaired
- and that as soon as the objects were sac
s. complshed the war ought to cease" In somt
d instances senators were permitted to continue
e their legislative functions. while in other instan
ID ees representatives were elected and admitted
"A to their seats after their states had formerly de
clared their right to withdraw from the Union
and were endeavorng to maintain that right by
s. force of arms All of the states whose peopl,
a. were in Instruction states were included il
s. the apportionment Of the direct tax of twenty
mi Hone .aI Il.