Year: 1861

But the Constitution itself is silent as.
to which or who is to usurp the power,
and as the provision was plainly made
tor dangerous emergency, it cannot


be believed that the trainers of the,
instrument intended that in every case


the danger should run its course until


Congress should be called together, the
very assembling of which might be
prevented as was intended in this case
by the rebellion. No more extended
argument is now afforded, as an opinion.
at some length will probably be pre-
sented by the Attorney General.


Whether there shall be any legislation
on the subject, and if SO, what, is SUBJ
mitted entirely to the better judgment
of Congress. rs.,T,


The forbearance of this Government


has been so extraordinary and SO long
continued as to lead some foreign ma /,
tions to shape their action as if they
supposed the early destruction of our
National Union was probable. While
this, OF discovery, gave the Executive
some concern he is happy to say that !;
the sovereignty and rights of the
United States are now practically rep.e
resented by the foreign powers, and a.
general sympathy with the government
is manifested throughout the world.


The Reports of the Secretaries of
the Treasury, War and Navy, will give
the information in detail deemed nec-
essary and convenient for your action.
while the Executive and Departments


will stand ready to supply omissions, !.
or to communicate new facts consid-.
cred important for you to know. 1t is
nowl recommended that you give the
legal means for making this contest a
short and decisive one that you place +
at the control of the Government for
the work at least 100000 men and
S400,000,000. That number of men is
about one tenth of those of proper ages
within the regions where apparently
all are willing to engage, and the sum,
is less than twenty third part of the
money value owned by the men who
seem ready to devote the whole. A
debt of six hundred million dollars
now, is less sum per head than was <
the debt of our Revolution when we ,
came out of that struggle, and the,
money value in the country bears even
a greater proportion. Surely, each
man has as strong motive now to pre-
serve our liberties as each had then to,
establish them. A right result at this
time will be worth more to the world
than ten times the men and ten times
the money. The evidence reaching us
from the country, leaves no doubt that
the material for the work is abundant,
that it needs only the hand of legisls-
ton to give it sanction, and the hand
of the Executive to give it practical
shape and efficiency. One of the
greatest perplexities of the Govern-. /.
ment is to avoid receiving troops faster
than it can provide for them. In a


word the people will save the Govern
ment if the Government will do its part
only indifferently well. ,..f,;s 80 :; -T
1t might seem, at first thought to be


of little difference whether the present


movement at the South be called seces-.
sion or rebellion. The movers, how
ever, we'll understand the difference. /
They knew at the beginning they
could never raise their treason TO any
respectable magnitude by any name


which implies violation of law. They


knew their people possessed as much


devotion to law and order, as much


pride and reverence for their history


and the government of their country


As any other civilized and patriotic peo-


pie. They knew they could make no ,
advancement directly in the teeth of
these strong and noble sentiments.
They accordingly commenced by an in
dustrious debauching Of the public


mind. They invented an ingenious


sophism, which, conceded, was fol-


lowed by perfectly logical steps


through all the incidents of the com.


plete destruction of the Union. The


sophism itself is that any State of the


Union may, consistently with the ma


tion's Constitution, and therefore law


fully and peacefully, withdraw from the
| Union without the consent of the
Union or of any other State. A little


disguise, that the supposed right is to


be exercised only for just cause, them


selves to be sole judges, of its justice,


is too thin to merit any notice. With


rebellion thus sugar-coated they have


been drugging the minds of their Sec


tion for more than thirty years, until at.


length they have brought many good


men 70 a willingness to take up arms


against the Government, the day after,


some assemblage of men have enacted


the farce of taking their. State out OF


the Union, who could have been,
: brought to no such thing the day be-
fore. This sophism derives much, per-,
baps the whole, of its currency from


the assumption that there is some onl--


nipotent and sacred supremacy pertain,
ling to each State of our Federal Union
i Our States have neither more nor less
J, power than that reserved to them in
!, the Union by the Constitution, no ono
, ever having been a State out of the
Union. The original ones passed into
the Union even before they cast off
J their British dependence, and the new
ones came with the Union directly
4 from a position of dependence, except
J ing Texas, and even Texas in its tenn
porary dependence was never designa-
, ted as a State. The new ones only
were designated States on coming into
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