The Portland daily press., 1867-12-04
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
,rnnow-eu,z,,ss OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE,

new in the experience OF nations. Political
science rerhapsa s highly perfected in our own
time and country as in any other, has not vet
disclosed any means by which civil wars can
be absolutely prevented, An enlightened ma
ton, however, with a wise and beneficent con-
sttutlon OF free government, NAV diminish
their frequency and mitigate their severity by
directing all Its proceeding in accordance with
It's fundamental law. When a civil war has
been brought to close it is manitestly the
hrst interest and. duty OF the state TO repair
the injuries which the war has lnnicteu' anu
10 secure the benefit of the lessons IL w ,eaeneS
as fully and as speedily as posslnie. Inns au-
was upon the 5 teI pnt only by the Execntiye
danoriment but by the insurrectiOnary States
themselves. and restoration in the first mo-
ment of peace was believed to be as easy and
certain as it was Indispensable. The expecta-
tions, however, then so reasonably and conf
IDENTIFY entertained were disappointed by legis-
lation from which felt constrained by my oh
legations to the Constitution to withhold nv
assent. 1t is, therefore, a source of profound
regret that IN complying with the obligation
imposed upon the President by the Constitu-
ton to give to Congress from time to time in
formation of the state of the Union, 1 am I'M
able to communicate any definite adjustment
satisfactory to the American people, of the
questions which since the close of the rebel
lion have agitated the public mind. On the
contrary, candor compels me to declare that al
derstood the term, and as they meant it to be
understood by us. The . MON which they es-
tabhshed can exist only where all the States
are represented in both Houses of Congress
where one State is as free as another to regu-
late its internal concerns according to its own
will, and where the laws of the central Coy
eminent strictly confined to matters of Nation
al jurisdiction, apply with equal force to all the
people of every section. That such is not the
pres emit state of the Union is a melancholy
fact, and we all must acknowledge that the
re storation of the States to their proper legal
relations with the Federal Government, and
with one another, according to the terms OF
the original compact would be the greatest
temporal blessing which God in His kindest
Providence could bestow upon the Nation. 1t
becomes our imperative duty to consider
whether or not it is Impossible to effect this
most desirable consnmmation. le .a.if. .-
u l3 utiH REcoNsTRUoIoN. i,...,,. .-f,t
The U mon and the Constitution are INSOFAR
able. As long as one is obeyed by all parties
the other will be preserved, and If one is de-
stroyed, both must perish together. The des-
truction of the Constitution will be followed by
other and still greater calamities. IT, was or
dalned not only to form a more perfect union
between the States, but to establish Justice,
insure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general well
fare. and secure the blessings of liberty to our
selves and our posterity." Nothing but i'm
parts of the country, will accomplish these
gleat ends. Without that obedience we can
look forward only to continual outrages upon
individual rights, incessant breaches of the
public peace, national weakness, financial dis
honor, the total loss of our prosperity, the gen
eral corruption of morals, aud the final ex-
tiDction OF popular freedom. To save our
country from evils SO appalling as these, we
should renew our efforts again and again
10 me the process OF restoration seems per-
..,afl. To-,
faithful application of the Constitution and
laws. The execution of the laws is not now
INSTRUCTED or opposed by physical force.
There is no military or other necessity, real or
pretended, which can prevent obedience to the
Constitution either North or South. All the
rights and all the obligations of States and in
dviduals can be protected and enforced by
means perfectly consistent with the funda-
mental law. The courts may be everywhere
open, and if open, their process would be I'M
lnpeded; crimes against the United States can
be prevented or punished by the proper Judi
cial authorities in a manner entirely pract-
cable and legal. There is, therefore, no reason
why the Constitution should not be o beyed
unless those who exercise its powers ave de-
termined that it shall be disregarded and yio-
lated The mere naked will Of this Govern
ment, or OF some one or more of its branches,
is the only obstacle that can exist to perfect
union of all the States. On TINS momentous
question, and some of the measures growing
out of it, / have had the misfortune to differ
from Congress, and have, expressed my con-
yictlons without reserve, though with becom-
ing difference to the opinion of the Legislative
department. These convictions are not only
but strengthened by subsequent
events and further reflection. The transcend
ant Importance of the subject will be suffi-
Gent excuse for calling your attention to some
OF the reasons which have SO strongly inf1u-
enced my own Judgment. The hope that we
may all favorably concur on a mode of settle
ment consistent at once with our true interest
and with oursworn duties to the Constitution,
is too natural and too just to be easily relin-
pushed. ..'..-
States lately in rebellion are still members of
the National Union When didsthey cease to
be so? The Ordinances of secession" adopted
by portion, in most of them avery small por-.
ton of their citizens, were mere utilities. If
we admit now that they were valid and effec-
tual for the purpose intended by their authors
we sever from under our feet the whole
ground upon which we justified the war
The direct contrary was averred by this gov
eminent to be its purpose, and was so under
stood by all those who gave their blood and
treasure to aid in its prosecution. 1t cannot
be that successful war waged for the preser-
walton of the Union, had the legal effect of
dissolvmg it. The victory of the nations arms
was not the disgrace of her policy; the defeat
of secession on the attle-field was not the tr-
umph of its lawless principle. Nor could Con
gress, with or without the consent of the Elk
ecutive, do anything which would have the eff
feet, directly or indirectly of separating the
States from each other. TO dissolve the IN
ion is to repeal the Constitution, which holds
it together, and that is power which does not
belong to any department of this Government,
or to all OF them united. This is so plain that
it has been Acknowledged by all branches of
the Federal Government. The Executive nv
predecessor as well as myself, and the heads of
all the departments, have uniformly acted up
on the principle, that the Union is not only un-
dissolved, but indissoluble.i Congress submit
ted an amendment of the Constitution, to be
ratified by the Southern States, and accepted
their acts of ratification as necessary and
lawful exercise of their highest function. If
they were not States, or were States out of the
Union, their consent to change in the funda-
mental law of the Z Mon would have been nu-
gatory, and Congress in asking it committed
a political absurdity. The Judiciary has also
given the solemn sanction of its authority to
the same view of the case. The judges of the.
Supreme Court have included the Southern
States in their circuits, and they are here and
elsewhere exercising Jurisdiction which does
not belong to them unless these States are
States of the Union. If the Southern States
are component parts Of the Union, the Con
stitution is the supreme law for them as it is
for all other States. They are bound to obey
it and so are we. The right of the Federal
Government, which is clear and unquestion-
able, to enforce the Constitution upon them,
implies the correlative obligation on our part
to observe its limitations and execute its guar
antees Without the Constitution we are
nothing; but through and under the Constitu-
ton we are what it makes us. We may doubt
the wisdom of the law; we may not approve of
its provisions; but we cannot violate it merely
because it seems to confine our powers within
limits narrower than we could wish. 1t is not
a question of individual, of class or sectional
Of
of duty-of high and sacred duty which we
are all sworn to perform. If we cannot sup
port the Constitution with the cheerful alacri-
ty of those who love and believe in it, we must
give to it, at least, the fidelity of public ser
wants who act under solemn obligations and
commands which they dare not disregard. r.
The constitutional DUTY is not the only one
which requires the States to be restored
There is another consideration which though
OF minor importance, is vet of great weight
On the 22d day of July, 1861, Congress declar-
ed, by an almost unanimous vote of both
Houses, that the war should be conducted
solely for the purpose of preserving the Union
and maintaining the supremacy of the Fed
eral Constitution and laws, without impairing
the dignity, equality and rights of the States
or individuals, and that when this was done
the war shonld cease. l do not say that this
is personally binding on those who
Joined in making it any more than individual
OF Congress are personally bound to
pay public debt created under law FOR
wnsch they voted. But it was solemn, pub
lie, official pledge of the national honor, and
cannot imagine upon what grounds the repu-
diation of il is to be justified If it be said that
we are not bound to keep faith with rebels,
let it be remembered that this promise was not
made to rebels only Thousands of true men
in the South were drawn to our standard by
it, and hundreds of thousands iii the North
gave their lives in the belief that it would be
carried ont. 1t was made on the day after the
first great battle of the war had been fought
and lost. All patriotic and intelligent men
then saw the necessity of giving such an assur-
ance, and believed that without it, the war
would end in disaster to our cause. Having
given that assurance in the extremity OF our