Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1869-03-26
WALlALLA, S. G. FRIDAY, MABCn 2o, 1869.

So'h NIO
usurpation by Legislative attempts to exerc;
TINS power in favor Of party adherents. I'll,
$ nave co'lsp'red to change the system of O,
gover"ment by prefcrripg charges against I'll
, PRESIDENT in the form Of articles of impeacl
$ ment, and contrm%p Latiag, before hearing G
, trial, that he should be placed in arrest, hsl
In ourance' and when it became their p~leasur
70 pronounce his sentence. driven from pIac
ana power in disgrace. They have in tim
o' peace increased the national debt by
reckless expenditure of the public money AN,
thus added to the burdens which alread,
Weigh upon the people. They have permit
'c" the 'atlon to suffer the evils of a derangec
currency, to the enhancement in price of al
tue necessaries of Lille. They have maintained
II iarge standing army, for the enforcement
OF thor measures of opposition. They hav.
engaged in class legislation, aud bn ilt up and
encouraged monoplies, that the few might ba
enriched at the expense of the many. They
nave tailed to act upon Important treaties
thereby endangering our present peaceful re.
latlons nth foreign powers.
Their course of usurpation has not been
limited to inroads upon the Executive Depart
ment. by unronstit utional and oppressive
enactnen!s, the pcnple Of ten Sta h,s of the
Union have been reduced to "A condition more
'nte'ernhIe than that from which the patriots
OF the Revolution rebellei. Millions Of Amer.
lean c'tizcns eau now say Of their oppreasors
with more truth than our f.thers did of
british tyrantSi that they have ..forhilden
the governors TO pass laws Of Immediate auj
pressing Importance, unless suspended until
their assent should be Obtained :" that thcy
have 'rcfused to pass other laws Tor the ae.
commodntinn of large districts Of people. un.
less those people would %relinquish the right
OF representation in the Lcgislature-a right
lnest'm'ble to them and formidable to tyrsnts
only;' that they have "made Judges dcper.
dent upon their will alone for the tenur.
OF their Offices and the amount and payment
OF their s%alaries;'' that they have "erectei a
multitude of new Offices, aud sent hithcr
swar'ns OF officers to harrass our people and en-,
out their substance - that they have s.atrec
ira to render the military independent of and
to the civil power "combincd with
others to subject us to u jurisdiction foreign
to our Constitution and unacknowlcdgel by
our laws" ''qunrtercd large bodies of armed
troops among us protected them by a mock
trial from punishment for any mt rider which
they should commit on the inhabitant of these
States" imposed taxes upon US without our
"dcprived US in many cases of the
benefit of trial by jury "tAken away our
charters, excited domestic insurrection
'mongst us, abolished our most valuable laws.
altered fundamentally the forms Of our gov.
'rnment, suspended our own Legislatures. ind
themselves invested with power to
for US in all cases whatsoever"
1t cannot, therefore, be charged that nv
'm5ition has been Of that ordinary or crimi
lal kind which, to the dctrimcnt of the peo
rights ami liberties, ever seeks to grasp
lore aud unwarrautcd powers, and, to accom-.
fish its purposes, pandcrs too often to popu
II prejudices and party aims.
What, then, have been the aspirations
'hich guided NE in my Alicia acts? Those
cts need not at this time an elaborate expla I;
They have been elsewhere com T,
rehensivcly stated and fully discussed I
nd become a part of the nations history
~ them [ am willing to be Judged. knowing 4
however imperfect, they at least show ,
the impartial m'ni th,t my sole ambition q
,s been to restore tho Unipn Of the States. l.
ithfully to execute tho Office of President, q
ID, to the best of my ability. to preserve, pro &c
ct and defend the Constitution. [ cannot r.
oensured if my efforts have boon impcdcd r.
the interests of party faction, and if n pols !,
7 which was intended to rcassurc and con >,
late the people of both sections of the coun. f
: was made the occasion of ina,ming and ~
giding still further those who, only recently h
arms against each other, yet, as individuals r.
d citizens, were sincerely DESTROYS, as I shall IN
err believe, Of burying all hostile feelings in y,
, grave Of tho past. The bitter war WIS n
ged on tho p,rt Of tho government to vim y
the Constitution and save tho Union ~
d if | have erred IN trying to bring about q,
,ore speedy an | lasting peace, to %extinguish q,
art burnings and ennities, and to prevent =,
ubles in the South which, retarding mate hc
] prosperity in that region, injurlously af DE-
ted the whole country, / am quite content n,
rest my case with tho moro deliberate ,b
Ign emit of the people, and as Ihayo already