The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-02-16
WORDS OF WISDOM.
The Prophetic Message Of President John.
son in 1867.
Pleasant Reading for Grant and His
Cabinet.
s.. Us Views Oh the Constitution, the South,
the Negro, etc.


ten, and IN view OF its wonderful ful6llm en
Of its predictions, it stands to-day monu
ment Of wisdom of which the great Tennes
seean may well be proud.
Eight years have passed since it was writ
ten, but there is scarcely word or line
that the writer could wish to have omitted O,
changed. 1t is grand in its perfect truthful
ness. and as truth is immutable, time will no,
impair its worth Or beauty, but rather bring
them out into more bold relief
How different such words Of wisdom, such
profound and statesmanlike reflections from
the weak and disgusting emana.ions from the
present incumbent Of the White House
Well may the Senate tremble when Andrew
johnson once more enters its portals Well
may the Senatorial pigmies quail when they
confront the man who went into Office rich
and came out poor-thel man who acknowl.
edges no human being as his master and
who has brains Of his own, and would not
for q kingdom crawl, ANONYMOUSLY, at the feet
of the man who rules Washington by nod OF
his empty head.
When a civil war has been brought to a
close, it is manifestly the first interest and
duty of the State to repair the injuries which
the war has inflicted, and to secure the benefit
Of the lessons it teaches as fully and as
speedily as possible. This duty was, upon
the termination of the rebellion, promptly
accepted, not only by the Executive Depart
ment, but by the insurrectionary States them
selves, and restoration, in the first moment
sOf ho1i 70 no o,I
tain as it was Indispensable The ex oecta-
tons, however, then SO reasonably and conf
IDENTIFY entertained, were disappointed by
legislation from which I felt constrained, by
my obligations to the Constitution, to with
hold my assent.
1t is, therefore, source Of profound re-
greet, that in complying with the obligation
imposed upon the President by the Constitu-
ton, to give to Congress from time to time
information of the state of the Union, am
unable to communicate any definite adjust
ment, satisfactory to the American people, Of
the questions which, since the close Of the
rebellion, have agitated the public mind. On
the contrary, candor compels me to declare
that at this time there is no Union as our
fathers understood the term, and as they meant
it to be understood by u.s. The Union which
they established can exist only where all the
States are represented in both Houses Of Con-
gress where one State is as free as another to
gulate its internal concerns according to its own
will, and where the laws Of the Central Govern
ment, strictly confined to matters OF national
jurisdiction, apply with equal force to all the
people of every section. That such is not the
present estate of the Union" is a melancholy
fact, and we all must acknowledge that the
restoration 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 this nation.
1t becomes our imperative duty to consider
whether or not it is impossible to effect this
most desirable consummation.
The Union and the Constitution are insep-
arabic. As long as one is obeyed by all
parties tlf other will be preserved; and If one
is destroyed, both hust perish together. The
destruction of the Constitution will be followed
by other and still greater calamities. It was
ordained not only to form more perfect
union between the States, but to establish
Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide
for the common defense, promote the general
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
OURS elves and our posterity."
Nothing but implicit obedience to its re.
,guirements in all parts OF the country Will
accomplish these great ends Without that
obedience, we can look forward only to con-
tinual outrages upon individual rights, in
cessant breaches of the public peace, ma
tional weakness, financial dishonor, the total
loss of our prosperity, the general corrup.
ton Of morals, and the final extinction OF
popular freedom. To save our country from
evils SO appalling as these, we should renew
our efforts again and again :.
If the Southern States are component parts
of the Union, the Constitution is the supreme
law for them, as it is for all the other States
Thew are bound to obey it, and so are We
The right of the Federal government, which
is clear and unquestionable, to enforce the
{ Constitution upon them, implies the correla-
five obligation on our part to observe its limi-
tations and execute its guarantees. Without
the Constitution we are nothing; by, through.
and under the Constitution we are what 1t
makes MS. We may doubt the Wis
dom of the law; we may not approve
Of its provisions, but we cannot violate
II merely because it seems to connne our
,nowers within limits narrower than we could
wish It is not question Of individual OF
lass. or sectional interest. much less OF party
.predominance, but of duty-of hign ana
sacred duty-which we are al! sworn TO per
form. If we cannot support the CONSTITUTION
with the cheerful alacrity OF those VINO love
and believe IN IL, We uuoV Sh'0 ~
the fidelity of public servants who act unuer
our solsmn Obligations and commands which
they darY not disregard.
The constitutional. duty is not the Only y. one
which requires the States TO De re sbonob
Of minor Importance, is yet Of great weight
IN the 22d day of July, 1861, Congress ae-
Jared. by an almost unanimous vote OF oo'a
Houses, that the war should be conducted TED
solely for the purpose OF pres esoo s. the
Union. and m sintaining the supremacy o. Ine
.Federal Constitution and laws, without i'm
pairing the dignity, equality and rights q
She States or individuals
u.v;nr civan that assurance in the ex'
~a nni q enr neril the violation of it now,
the day Of our power would be rude 1Sa m rsnal
world together our country you'd e. sea @en e
have any claim upon the conndt in;lsr % bm
It could make the war not only J""A'' -