The Russellville Democrat., 1876-12-14
The Democrat :,
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Mir. Grants Eighth and Last
 Annual Message.

TtsSHlHttNcSs
 In submitting my eighth and last annual message to congress, 1t seems proper that should re- fer to and in some degree reca- pitulate the events an official acts of the past eight y ar'. It was my fortune, or misfo tune, to be called to the office of chief eX- ecntive without any previous training. From the age of sey- enteen 1 had never even witness cd the excitement attending a presidential campaign but twice antecedent to my own candidacy, and at but one of them l was eli. yible as voter. Under such circumstances it is but reasona. ble to suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred, even had there been no difference of opinion between the executive, bound by an oath to the strict performance of his duties, and writers and debaters. It is not necessarily evidence of & blander on the part of the executive, be. cause there are those differences of views. That mistakes have been made all can see and l ad- init; but 1t see.4- s to me oftener in the selections made of assist ants appointed to aid Tn carrying out the various duties of admlnis- tering the government. In near ly every case they were selected without a personal acquaintance with tue appointees, but on rec ommcndation of the representa- tives chosen directly by the peo- pie. It is impossible where so many trusts are to be allotted, that the right parties should be chosen in every instance. His tory shows that no administration from the time of Washington to the present has been free from these mistakes. But 1 leave comparisons to history, only claiming that 1 have acted in every instance from conscien tious desire to do what was right, constitutionally within the law, for the very best interests of the whole people. The failures have been errors of judgment and not of the heart.
 My civil career commenced at tue utmost critical and difficult time, less than four years before the country had emerged from a confilct such as no other nation had survived. Nearly one halt of the stat had revolted against the government, and of these re- mainiug faithful to the union a large per centage of the popula- tion sl mratlized with the rebell- ion, and made an enemy in the rear almost as dangerous as the more terrible one in the front.
 The latter committed errors of juegment, but they maintained them, openly and courageously. The former re e~cived the protec tion Of the govern .nent they would see destroyed; and the ad- vantage to be gained out of the then existing state of affairs, many of them by obtaining con tracts and by whaling the gov ernment in the delivery of theil goods. Immediately on the ces sation of hostil;ties the then no ble president, who had carried the country so far through it's perils, fell a martyr to his patriot ism at the hands of an assassin The intervening time to my first inauguration was tiled up witt wrangling between congress ano the new executive as to the best mode of reconstruction, or, tt speak plainly as to whether the control of the government should be thrown immediately into tht hands Of those who had recently and persisently tried to destroy It or whether the v,ctors should ~ continue to have an equal voice with them in the control. Recon struction, as finally agreed upon was this and only this, excep that the late slave was enfran 4 chised, giving the union loving nlon-supporting votes of th' fullesC sense of the word they would not disappoint this expec tation. Hence at the beginning of my first administration th' work of reconstruction, much em barrassed by the long delay, vlr tuaily commenced. It was tn, work of the legislative branch o government. My province Wal wholly Tn approving their acts which 1 did most heartily, urgin; the legislatures of the states tha had not done so, to ratii'y tn, fifteenth amendment to the con stitution. The country was labor ing under an enormous debt, con tracted in the suppression of tn rebellion. and taxation was s oppressive as to discourage prod uctlons. Another danger als threatened us-a foreign wal The last difficulty had to be al ju ted, and was satisfactorily ad justed without war and in
 manner highly honorable to a
 parties concerned.
 The War deht has been reduces
 within the last seven years nearl