The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1869-03-19
VOL. 64.-WH0LE No. 5,483.

have been their purpose rather to make
the defence of the Constitution and u
Mon crime, and TO punish fidelity to
an oath of office, If counter to party die
tation, by all the means at their COM
mand.
Happily for the peace of the country,
the war has determined against the as
sumed power of the States to withdraw
atpleasure from the Union. The insti-
tuition of slavery also found its destrGc-
tiOn in rebellion commenced in its in
terest. Itshould be borne in mind how
ever, that the war neither i'm paired nor
destroyed the constitution, bat on the
contrary, preserved its existence, and
made apparant its real power and en-
during strength. All the rights gran
ted to the States or reserved to the peo-
pie are, therefore, inact. Among
those rights is that of the people
of each State to declare the quaIifi-
cations of their own State electors. 1t
is now assumed that congress can con-
troll this vital right, which can never
be taken away from the States without
impairing the fundamental principles
of the government itself. 1t is neces-
sary to the existence of the States as
well as the protection of the liberties
the elector in whom the political pow
er of the State shall be lodged involves
the right Of the State to govern itself.
When deprived of this perogative, the
States will have no power worth retain
ing. All will be gone. and they will
be subjected to the arbitrary will Of
Congress. The government will then
be centralized if not by the passage of
laws, then by the adoption, through
partiZan influence, of an amendment
directly in conflict with the original
design Of demonstration. This proves
how necessary it is the people should
require the administration of the three
great departments Of the government
to be strictly within the limits of the
Constitution. Their boundaries have
been accurately defined, and neither
should be allowed to trespass on the
other, nor above all, to encrOach upon
the reserved rights of the people and
the States. The troubles of the past
four years will prove to the nation
blessings, if they produce so desirable
a result. Upon those who became
young men amid the sound Of cannon
and the din ofarms, and who quietly
returned to the farms, the factories,
and the schools of the land will princi-
bdliy uGNOlNC ltlS 5oiSHlll uulN "a pCA-
petuating the Union of the States, in
defence Of which hundreds of thousands
oftheir comrades expired and hundreds
of millions of national obligations were
incurred. A manly people will not neg
lect the training necessary to resist ag-
gTessiOn, but they should be Jealous
lest the civil be made subordinate to
the military element. We need to en-
courage in every legitimate way study
of the Constitution for which the war
was waged, knowledge of, and rever-
ence for, whose wise checks, by those SO
| soon to occupy the places filled by
| their seniors, Will be the only hope of
| preserving the Republic. The young
men of the nation not yet under the
control Of party must resist the ten
dcncy to CentlaliZatlon, an OutgrOWn
of the great rebellion, and be familiar
with the fact that the country consists
of the United States" and that when
the States surrendered certain great
rights for the sake of a more perfect
Union, they retained rights AS valuable
and impOrtanta5 those they relinquish-
ed for the common veal. This sound
old doctrine, far different from the
teachings that led to the attempt to Sc
cede, and q kindred theory that the
y
the rash acts of cOnspiratOrs that hap
pened to dwell within their borders,
must be received and advocated with
the enthusiasm of early manhood, or
the People will be ruled by corrupt
combinations at the commercial CEN
tres, which plethOric from wealth, amt
ally migrate to the capital of the ma
ton to purchase special legislation.
Until the representatives of the people
in COngrSs more fully exhibit the di-
verse views and the interests of the
whole nation, and laws cease to be
made without full discussion at the be-
hest of some party leader, there will
never be a proper respect shown by the
laW-making power either 10 the judi
cial or executive branch of the govern
ment. The generation just beginning
to use the ballot box, it is believed, on
ly need that e,r attention should be
called to these considerations to indi-
cate by their votes that they wish their
representatives to obsere all the re-
straintS which the people, in adopting
the Constitution, intended to impose
on party excess.
CamlyTeviewing my administration
of the government, feel that with
sense of accountability to G0d-having
CJHSCltItlVUSIF CiiuSttNOiCN w
charged my whole duty, have moth
irg to regret. Events have proved the
correctness of the policy set forth in
my first and subsequent messages. The
woes which have followed the rice
ton of f0rebearance, magnanimity and
constitutional rule are known and de-
plored by the nation. 1t is matter of
pride and qualification, in retiring from
the most exalted position in the gift of
a free people, to feel and know that ina
long, arduous and eventful public life
my action has never been influenced
by desire for gain, and that | can, in
all sincerity, inquire, whom have l de-
frauded whom have / oppressed? ? or
at wnose hand have | received any
bribe to blind my eyes herewith? No
responsibility for wars that have been
waged, or blood that has been shed,
rests upon me. My thoughts have
been those of, peace and my effort has
ever been to allay contentious among
my cOuntrynen.
Forgetting the past, let us return 20
the first principles of the government,
and unfurling the banner of our coun-
try, inscribe upon it in ineffaccable
characters, "The Constitution and u
ion, one and insepar&ble."
ANDREW j )HNsON.
Washington, d. G. March 4, 1869.
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CHEAP APPLEs.-A Maine man
who raises large quantity OF fine ap-