The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1866-12-06
PRESIDENTS lt.lEssAGE

After brief interval the Congress OF the |
United States resumes its annual legislative ID
bors. .f1. .s-. ..s 1,1o |
An all-wise and nerciful providence mas ABA
ted the pestiIence which visited our shores, |
leaving lis calamitous traces upon some pot- |
tions Of our country. Peace. order, tranquil |
tv and civil authority have been formally de-
clared to exist throughout the whole OF the
United States. In all the states viEauthori-
tv has superceded the coercion OF arms, and
the people, by their voluntary action, are
the government in full activity
and complete operation. The enforcement OF
the laws is no longer obstructed in any state
by combinations too powerulito be suppressed
by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings,
and the animosities engendered by the war
are rapidly yielding to the benehcent ln1uen'
ces of our free institutions, and to the kindly
effects of unrestricted social and commercial
intercourse. An entire restoration OF tfater-
nal feeling must be the earnest wish OF every
patriotic heart And we will have accom-
plished our grandest national achievement
when forgetting the-s sad events of the past
and remembering only their instructive les
sons, we resume our career as a free, prosper
GUS and united people.
RESTORATION OF THE STATES.
In my message of the 18th of August 1865,
Congress was informed of the measures which
had been instituted by the Executive, with
view to the gradual restoration Of the states
in which the instruction occurred to their re-
lations with the general government. Pro
Visional Governors had been appointed con-
VentlOns called; governors elected; leglsla-
lures assembled and senators and representa-
tives elected to the u. S. Congress; courts had
been opened for the enforcement of the laws
long in allegiance; the blockade had been re-
moved; custom houses established, and the in
ternal 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 and efficiency. The
states themselves had been asked to take part
in the high function of amending the consti-
tuition, and of thus sanctioning the extinction
of African slavery as one of the legitimate re-
suits of our internecne struggle. Having
progressed thus far, the executive depart
ment found that it had accomplished nearly
all that was within the scope of its constitll-
tional authority. One thing, however, re-
NAMED to be done before the work of restora-
ton could be completed, and that was the adj
mission to congress of loyal senators and rep
Fesentatives from the states whose people had
rebelled against the lawful authority Of the
general government. This question dey0lved
upon the respective houses, which by the con
stitutiOn, are made the Judges of the election,
returns and qualifications of their members,
and its consideration at once engaged the at
tentiOn Of Congress. In the meantime, the
executive department, no other plan having
been proposed by Congress, continued in its
efforts to perfect as far as was practicable, the
restoration ofthe proper relations between the
citizens OF the respective states, and the states
and the federal government-eXtending from
time to time, as the public interests seemed to
require, the judicial revenue and postal sys-
TENS of the country, and with the advice and
consent of the Senate the proper officers were
appointed and appropriations made by Con-
gress for the payment of their salaries.
The proposition to amend the federal const-
tuition so as to prevent the existence OF slavery
within the United States, or any place subject
to their jurisdiction, was ratified by the reQui-
site number of states, and on the 18th day of
December, 1865, it was officially declared to
have become valid as q part of the cOnstitu-
ton of the United States All the states in
which the instruction had existed promptly
amended their constitutions so as to make
them conform to the great change thus efIec-
ted in the organic law of the land, declared
null and void all ordinances and laws of seces-
sion; repudiated all pretended debts and OBJ
legations created for the revolutionary purpo-
ses OIthe instruction. and proceeded in good
faith to the enactment of measures for the
protection and amelioration of the condition
OF the colored race. Congress- however vet
hesltated to admit any Of these states to rep
resentatlon, and it was not until towards the
close OF the eighth month Of the session that
an exception was made in favor of Tennessee
by the admission of her senator's and represen-
tatlFes In the exclusion 's loyal southern
senators and representatN - : deem it sub
lect OF profound regret that Congress has thus
far failed to admit TO seats the loyal senators
ana representatives from the other states
whose inhabitants with those OF Tennessee
had engaged in the rebellion. Ten states
more than one-fOurth of the whole number
remain without representation; the seats Of
fifty members in the House of Representatives
ana OF twenty members in the Senate are yet
vacant. Not by their own c0nsent-not bv q
failure OF election-but by the refusal of Con-
gTcSS to accept their credentials Thair al
mission 1T IL bQIiaNa6.
plished much towards the renewal and
strengthening Of our relations as one peor,lr
ana removed serious cause for discomfort on
the part of the inhabitants of those states. 1t
would have accorded with the great principle
enunciated in the declaration OF American in
dependence, that no people ought to bear the
burden OF taxation and yet be denied the right
of representation. 1t would have been in con-
sonance with the express provisions of the
constitution, that each state shall have at
least one representative, and that no state.
without its consent, 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 repre-
sentatiOn 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 consent, be denied voice
in that branch of the national IerisIatrrc #
is true it has been assumed that the existence
OF the states was terminated by the rcbellioUs
acts Of their inhabitants, and that the insur |
rectlon having been suppressed they were
to be considered merely rs con- |
qpered territories. The legislative and Judi |
cidl departments of the government have |
however, with great distinctness and uniform
consistency, refused to sanction an assuInD- |
ton so incompatible with the nature of orr
republican system and the professed objects of
the war. Throughout the recent legislation of
! la Ia n1y.,g - g
parent that the ten political communities are
nothing less than states of this Union At |
The very commencement Of this rebellion each
House declared, with unanimity as remark |
able as 1t was significant, that the war was |
not WagCd upon our part in any spirit Of on |
preston nor for any purpose Of conquest or
9ubJuSatl0n, nor Tor the purpose of overthrow |
nS or interfering with the rights or establish |
u INSTITUTIONS or those states; but to defend |
ina MAINTAIN tue supremacy of the constitu- |
ion, and all laws made in. pursuance thereof |
md to preserve the Union, with all the dipni
y, equ&hty and rights of the several states |
and, that as soon as these objects
we're accomplished, the war ought to cease =
II some instances senators were permitted to
continue their legislative functions while i'm
'ther instances Representatives were elected |
ma ADMITTED to seats after their states had i
ormally declared their right tOwithdraw from /
he Union, and were endeavoring to maintain l.
hat right by force of arms
All Of the states whose people were in in
as states, were included in The an Il
.ortionment Of the direct tax of twenty mil |,
ions OF dollars annually laid upon the United
'tates by the act approved the 5th Of Ano1Is+
SOL Congress, by the act of March Attn, 7SG2'
nd by the apportionment of representation +
hereunder, also recognized their presence L
5 states III the Union, and they have for in
icial purposes been divided into districts T,
tates alone can be divided. The same re as
Itlon appeared in the recent legisjr &c cog
4 .AtlO
pom the fact that the functioy g ,SSn ny rests
we're not destroyed by the req, me- u tne state
SUSPENDED and that pgncpie Is p OF c maGs
ttPempted to to I,l0sg Sta Tennessee
IN The action Of The executive Tod In I19 en-
5u5 5ne { S9gheiE.nment upon this subject Wn
t - .oe and unitorm, and the purpose
=. .ue war was specifically stated in the proc
lmation issued by by predecessor on The ODD |
ay of September, 1862. TWAS then solemniy
proclaimed and declared that hereafter as
eretofore the war will be prosecuted for the
Inject of praetically RESTORING the coDstitn+;a,,