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VOLUME a. DE8 ABC, AHKAN8AS, DECEMBER 81. 1867._jCTUMBER 40.
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PROFESSIONAL ( ARDS. _
• Z. P. H. FARR,
afi.TTOS.iraT A.T LAW,
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.
klOBT. S- ANDERSON, WM. J. THOMPSON,
Jackronport, Ark. A ugutta, Ark.
Anderson A Thompson,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
Jacksonport and Augusta, Ark.
Will attend the Courts of Jackson, Wood
ruff, and adjoining Counties, and to special
eases in any section of the State. Address
wither office. maylti-ly
*. C PIOKdTT. L. M. It AMS A VR.
picKisrr a n.vM«iAUH,
attorneys it law,
AUGUSTA, ARKANSAS.
Will practice in the counties of Woodruff.
Jackson. White and Craighead. Special at
tention given to collections of all claims en
trusted to their care apr6-ly
J. R. P. ALDRIDGE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Cotton Plant, Arkansas.
Will practice in the Circuit Courts of
Woodrutf county, and the Circuit Courts of
the seventh .Indicia'. District, and give prompt 1
attention to all business entrusted to hi?
care. jan!2
- ■ — ALL 3 17
Offers hi* services to the citizens of I
Dos Arc ami vicinity in the practice of |
medicine. Thankful for past favors,1
and by attention to business he expects
to share a liberal prtronage.
Office—One door east of Buraev's 1
Drug Store. snpiil
11. H. QANTT. W. J. llliONAlt.H.
GANTT & BRON AUGH,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW.
Will practice* in the counties of Prairie.
White, Woodruff. Monroe, Arkansas and Pu
laski. Prompt ntttcntion given to the collec
tion of claims Tuxes will be paid and titles
investigated for non-residents. aprl4-5»m
J E. t.ATBWOOD, J. S. THOMAS,
GATEWQ'D & THOMAS,
A? SAW
DBS IRC, ARKINSAS.
«. N. It KDGF.PKTft. T. BI.AKK KKNT. j
HEDGEPETH £ RENT,
ATTORN SYS AT LAW.
DE3 ARC, ARKANSAS.
WILL practice in all of the courts of:
Prairie county, and the circuit courts
of the surrounding counties. niar‘24-fim
.1 IMKS H. V ATTF.KSON, LUCIAN C. OACSE.
Augusta, Ark. Jaeksunport, Ark.
Patterson & Gausc,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
Jurkssnport aid Aniruna, Irkansa.,.
Will practice in the Counties of Woodruff, l
Jackson, Independence, White, Lawrence, j
Randolph, Green. Craighead and Cross, and
attend to special cases in any part of the j
State. Address either office. my!8-ly :
'
1*M. B. COODY. D. MCRAE.
COODY & McRAE,
Arswwm* &ir uw
8EARCY, WHITE COUNTY,
AUKAXHAN.
Will practice in all the courts of Arkansas.
mar24
KOL. F. CLARK. HAM. W. WILLIAMS.
JOE W. MARTIN.
CLARK. WILLIAMS & MARTIN,
Attorneys at Law,
# UTTLE ROCK, ARK4HAS.
llfILL practice in all the Courts, prosecute
VV Claims of all kinds, collect debts, aud
KM, act as Real Estate and General Agrntt.
Oruca—Markham Street, near State House.
Iapril28-tf
-S W. HICKS. Formerly of the firm of Cypert A
Hicks.
II, R. FIELDING, Formerly of Athens, Ala.
HICKS & FIELDING.
ATTGftSKYS AT LAW,
Searcy, White (o., Arkansas.
TITILL practice in this and the adjacent
Y\| counties, in the District Courts, and Su
preme Court of the State.
N. W. WILLIAMS. T. M. GIBSON.
WILLIAMS & GIBSON,
ATTORNEYS AT 1AYT,
Des Arc and Devall’S Bluff, Ark.
WILL practice in Prairie and adjoining
Counties. All business confided to their enre
| • will be promptly attended to. septl'1 tf.
ji c, JONSON, Office—West Point, Arkansas.
.1X0. VI. MOORE, Office—Searcy, Arkansas.
JONSON A MOORE,
Attorneys at Law,
solicitors nr chancery;
— AND—
General Land and Collecting Agents*
NEARCY, AH K A TVS AH.
Will give proraptattentiou to any business
in the counties of Independence, Jackson.
Woodruff. Monroe. Prairie, TV bite. Conway
and Van Porto mar9
\
PROFESSIONAL CARDS.
geo k. MnaTO*. v- v*rona*.
MORTON & VANOSAN.
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
AND
SOLICITORS IN CHANCERY,
DES ARC, ARKANSA8.
WILL practice in theCourte of the counties
of Pyairic. White, Jackson, Woodruff and
Particular attention given to the
of claims any where In the State.
UR. ROST. B. TREIETAMT
Tenders his professional services to
the citizens of Des Arc and vicinity.
Office—At Johnson & Davis' Drug
Store. _scp21^
THOMAS J. MARSH,
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELLOR
A.t Law,
DES ARC, A R K AX SA S.
Fartcular attention given to the
collection of all kinds of claims against
the Government.
Office—On Buena Vista street next
door to 3. M. Burney’s drug store,
may 26
WK- T- JONES,
AITSOAM** A? SAW*
BROWNSVILLE, ARKANSAS.
WILL practice in the counties of Pulaski.
Prairie, Monroe. Woodruff, Jackson snd
White Prompt attention given to the collec
tion of claims. aprl4-1y
DR. «• VT. BNRNE?,
RESIDENT PIIYSICIAM,
Being permanently located at Des
Arc, will continue the practice of his
profession in all its branches. Special
attention given to the treatment of
acute and chronic diseases. scp21
F. LEPTIE1V,
Watchmaker and Jeweler,
DES ARC, ARKANSAS.
I am now prepared to do ai.l
kinds of mirk in my line. Meud
»g. Cleaning. Ac.
_Thar.kful for past favor*. I solicit a
‘outimmune of the patronage heretofor. be
ifowed on me. fcb28-tf
IAMES J. GALLAGHER.
Attorney at L« w,
COTTOX PL XT, WOODRUFF CO, RK.
AVill practice where called.
*ep28-tf. _
DR. .1 A. RO('SEL41'\n office, is
now at Johnson A. Davis’ Drug Store ;
ran be tie consulted at bis room at the Harvey
House, lie will give his undivided attention
10 Chronic Diseases of every descrip
tion.
The best of references can be furnished, by
applying to
I>R. J. A. ROUSEI.AUX,
junl-tf Dcs Aro, Arkansas.
© 1
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3 | 2 • H K ^
SsES 9 8
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S! s 5 cc g
IrSfl' a
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3 p § (> 5
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3 ce
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_ _»•_
ENTERTAINMENT!!
The undersigned having m
opened a IIOUMV Of Enter- Jem
tain meat, on Buena Vista Street, near
the Steamboat Landtag, for the accommoda
tion of
TRAVELERS AND BOARDERS.
By the day, week, or month, solicits the pat
ronage of those visiting Dee Arc. The fare
will be as good as the market affords, and
terras moderate.
Clive me a trial, aud I will endeavor to give
satisfaction.
BENJAMIN HAYLEY.
Des Arc, Ark., March 28, 1867—12m
A r kaTn sas gTa ze t t e,
LITTLE ROCK, ARK.
Terms—Invariably in Advanon.
DAILY, $10 00 per annum; $1 00 per month
for any lees period.
WEEKLY. 5* 00 per annum; $2 60 to cluba
of t« o or mrr.
' PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE.
THE FAILURE OF RESTORATION.
Fellov-citizmt of the Senate and Home of Rep
ruentativee:
The continued disorganization of the
Union to which the President has so
often called the attention of Congress
is yet a subject of profound and patri
otic concern. We may, however, find
some relief from that anxiety in the
reflection that the painful political sit
uation, although before untried by our
selves, is not new in the experience of
nations. Political science, perhaps as
highly perfected in our own time and
country as in any other, has not yet
disclosed any means by which civil wars
can be absolutely prevented. An en
lightened nation, however, with a wise
uud bcnificent Constitution of free
government may diminish their fre
quency aud mitigate their severity, by
directing all its proceedings in accord
ance with its fundamental law. When
civil war has been brought to a close it
is manifestly the first interest and duty
of the State to repair the injuries which
war has inflicted, and to secure the
benefit of the lessons it teaches as fully
and speedily as possible. This duty
was upou the termination of the re
bellion promptly accepted, not only by
the Executive Department, but by the
insurrectionary States themselves, aud'
restoration as the first movement of
peace was believed to be as easy aud
certain as it was indispensable. The
expectations, however, then so reason
ably and confidently entertained, were
disappointed by legislation from which
I felt constrained by my obligations to
the Constitution to withhold my assent.
It is, therefore, a source of profound
regret, that, in complying with the ob
ligation imposed upou the President bv
the Constitution to give to Congress,
from time to time, information of the
state of the Union,” I am unable to :
communicate any definite adjustment
satisfactory to the American people, of
the questions which, since the close of
the rebellion, have agitated the public
mind. On the contrary, candor com
.v«1a * A /1aa1«»A ! 1 1 tilAA
there is no union, as our fathers under
stood the term, and as they meant it to
be understood by us. The union which
they established can exist only where
all the States arc represented in both :
Houses of Congress: where one State
is as free as another to regulate its in- j
ternal concerns according to its own j
will; and where the laws of the Central j
Government, strictly confiued to mat-;
ters of national jurisdiction, apply with j
equal force to all the people of every
section. That such is not the present j
state of the Union is n melancholy fact; j
And, since we all must acknowledge .
that the restoration of the States to their i
proper legal relations with the Federal
Government, and with otic another, ac
:ording to the terms of the original
:ompart, would be the greatest tem
poral blessing which God in his kindest
providence could bestow upon this un
ion, it becomes our imperative duty
:o consider whether or not it is im
possible to effect this most dcsiruhlq
consummation.
RESTORATION MAY RE EFFECTED BY AD
HERING TO THE CONSTITUTION.
The Union and the Constitution are
nscparable. As long as one is obeyed
py all parties the other will be pre
icrved ; and if one is destroyed both
uust perisli together. The destruc- ;
•ion of the Constitution will be follow- j
:d by other and greater calamities- It
ivas ordained not only “to form a more
perfect Union” between the States, but
‘to establish justice, insure domestic
ranquility, provide for the common
iefcusc, promote the general welfare,
tnd secure the blessings of liberty to
purselves and our posterity.” Notliing
Put implicit obedience to its require
ments in all parts of the country will
Accomplish this great end. Without
that obedience we can look forward
only to continual outrages on Individ
_I _! _I. A •__ » I t._. c _U 11 _
iiivvnoaiik ui vnvmo vs i puonv
peace, national weakness, financial dis
honor, total loss of our property, gen
eral corruption 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. To roe
the process of restoration seems per
fectly plain and simple. It consists
merely in a faithful application of the
Constitution and laws. The execution
of the laws is not now obstructed or
opposed by physical force. There is
no military or other necessity, real or
pretended, which can prevent obedi
ence to the Constitution, either North
or South. All the rights aud all the
obligations of States and individuals
can be protected aud enforced by
means perfectly consistent with funda
mental law. Court# may be every
where opened, and if opened their pro
cess would be unimpeded. Crimes
against the United States can be pre
vented or punished by the proper ju
dicial authorities in a manner entirely
practicable and legal.
There is, therefore, no reason whv
the Constitution should not be obeyed,
unless those who exercise its powers
have determined that it shall be disre
garded and violated. The mere naked
will of this Government, or of some
one or more of its branches, is the only
obstacle that can exist to the perfect
union of all the States.
On this momentous question and
some of the measures growing out of
it, I had the misfortune to differ lrom
Congress, and have expressed mv con
victions without reserve, though with
becoming deference to the opinion of
the legislative department. Those con
victions were not only unchanged but
strengthened by subsequent eveuts and
further reflections. The transcendent
importance of the subject will be a suf
ficient excuse for calling your attention
to some reasons which have so strong
ly influenced my own judgment. The
hope that we may all finally concur in
a mode of set tlement consistent at once
with our true interests and with our
sworn duties to the Constitution is too
natural and just to be easily relinquish
ed.
THE UNION UNBROKEN BT REBELLION.
It is clear to my apprehension that
the States lately iu rebellion are still
members of the National Union. When
did they cease to be so? The ordin
anees of succession adopted by a por- i
tion of those States, in most of them by ,
a very small portion of their citizeus,
were mere nullities. If we admit now
that they were valid and effectual for I
the purpose intended by their authors,
we sweep from under our feet the
whole ground upon which we justified
the war.
Were those State* afterwards expell- j
*d from the Union by war? The di- :
rect contrary was averred by this Gov
ernment to "be its purpose, and was sc
understood by all those who gave thoii
blood and treasure to aid in its prose
cution. It cannot be that a successful
war, waged for the preservation of th<
Union, had the legal effect of dissolv
ing it.
The victory of the nation s arms wn»
not the disgrace of her policy. The
defeat of secession on the battlefield
was not the triumph of its lawless
principles. Nor could Congress, with
or without the consent of the Execu
tive, do anything which would have
the effect, directly or indirectly, ol
separating States from each other. To
dissolve the Union is to repeal the
Constitution which holds it together;
and that is a power which does not be
long to any department of this Gov
ernment, or to all of them united.
This is so plain that it has been ac
knowledged by all branches, of the
Federal Government, legislative and
executive. My predecessor, as well as
myself and the" Heads of Departments,
have uniformly acted upon the princi
ple that the Union is not only undis
solved but indissulable. Congress sub
mitted an amendment of the Constitu
tion to be ratified by the Southern
States, and accepted their acts of rati
fication as a necessary and lawful ex
ercise of their highest function. If
they were not States, or were States
out of the Uniop, their consent to a
change in the fundamental law of the
Union would be nugatory; and Con
gress, in asking it, committed a politi
cal absurdity. The Judiciary has also
given the solemn sanction of its au
thority to the same view of the ease.
The Judges of the Supreme Court have
included the Southern States in their
circuits, and they arc constantly, in
banco and elsewhere, exercising juris
diction which does uot belong to them
unless those States are States of the
Union.
If-the Southern States are compo
nent parts of the Union, the Constitu
tion is tlte supreme law for them, as it
is for all other States. They are bound
to obey it, and so are we. The right of
mu rcacini uutu mm.ni, n imu 10 viun
and unquestionable, to enforce the
Constitution upon them, implies the
correlative obligation on our part to
observe its limitations and execute its
guaranties. Without the Constitution
we are nothing; by, through and under
the Constitution we are what it makes
ns. We may doubt the wisdom of the
law, we may not approve of its provi
lions, but we cannot violnte it merely
because it seems to confine our powers
within limits narrower than we could
wish. It is not a question of individ
ual, or class, or sectional interest,
much less of party predominance, but
jf duty, which we are all sworn to
perform. If we cannot support the
[’(institution witli the cheerful alacrity
jf those who love and believe in it, we
nust give to it, at least, the fidelity of
public servants, who are each under
solemn obligations and commands
ivhich they do not disregard.
CHE WAR PLEDGES OF THE GOVERNMENT.
Constitutional duty is not the only
jnc which requires States to be re
stored. There is another considera
tion, which, though of minor impor
tance, is yet of great weight.
On the 22d of July, IStil, Congress
leclared, by an almost unanimous vote
jf both Houses, that the war should be
“conducted solely for the purpose of
preserving the Union and maintaining
he supremacy of the Federal Consti
tution and laws without impairing the
lignity, equality and rights of States
>r individuals,’' and that when this was
lone the war should cease. I do not
lay that this declaration is personally
finding on those who joined in making
t, any more than individual niembei-s
jf Congress are personally bound to
aav a public debt created under a law
i'or which they voted; but it was a
solemn, public, official pledge of nation
il honor, and I cannot imagine upon
what ground repudiation of it is to be
justified. If it be said that we are not
bound to keep faith with rebels, let it
be remembered that this promise was
not made to rebels only, thousands
af true men in the South were drawn
to our standard by it, and hundreds of
thousands in the North gave their lives
in the belief that it would be carried
out.
It was made on the day after the first
great battle of the war had beeu fought
and lost. All patriotic and intelligent
men then saw the necessity of giving
luch an assurance, and believed that
without it the war would end in dis
aster to our cause. Having given that
assurance in the extremity of our peril,
violation of it now, in the day of our
power, would be a rude rending of
that good faith which holds the moral
world together. Our country would
cease to have any claim upon the con
fidence of men. It would make the
war not ouly a failure but a fraud.
REPEAL OF THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS.
Being sincerely convinced that these
views are correct, 1 would be unfaith
ful to my duty did I not recommend
the repeal of the acts of Congress which
place ten of the Southern States under
the domination of military masters.—
If calm reflection shall satisfy a ma
jority of your honorable bodies that
the acts referred to are not only a vio
lation of the national faith, but in di
rect conflict with the Constitution. I
dare not permit myself to doubt that
you will immediately strike them from
the statute books. To demonstrate the
unconditional character of those acts
I need do no more than refer to their
general provisions.
It must be seen at once that they are
authorized to dictate w lmt altercations
shall be made in ttie Constitutions of
tlie several States, to control elections
of State Legislatures and Slate officers,
members of Congress and election of
President and Vice-President, by ar
bitrarily declaring who shall vole and
who shall be excluded from that priv
ilege : to dissolve State Legislatures or
prevent them from assembling; to dis
miss judges and other civil tunction
aries' of States, and appoint others
without regard to the State ; to organ
ize and operate all the political machin
ery of the State; to regulate the whole
administration of their domestic and
local affairs according to the mere will
of strange and irresponsible agents sent
among them for that nnrpo.se. These
arc powers not granted to the Federal
Government: nor to nnv one of it*
branches. Not being granted, wc vio
late our trust by assuming them as pal
pably as we would by acting in the
face of a positive interdict; for the
Constitution forbids us to do whatever
it doe* not affirmatively authorize, ei
ther by express word* or clear iiupli
cation. If the authority we desire tc
use does not come to us through tin
I Constitution, we can excercise it only
| by usurpation, and usurpation is the
most dangerous of political crimes
Hy Hint crime the enemies of free gov
ernment in all ages have worked oul
1 their designs against public liberty and
private right. It leads directly and
immediately to the establishment ol
absolute ruie; for undclcgated powei
: is always unlimited and unrestrained
UNCONSTITUTIONAL FEATURES OF Till
ACTS.
The arts of Congress in question arc
not only objectionable for their as
sumption Of ungranted powers, but
many of theirprovisions are in conflict
witli tbe direct prohibitions of theCon
stitutiou. The Constitution commands
that a republican form of governmenl
shall be guaranteed to all the States
that no person shall be deprived ol
either life, liberty, or property, with
out due process of law, arrested with
out a judicial warrant, or punished
I without a fair trial before an impartial
i jury; that the privilege of habeas cor
| pus shall not bedeniediutime ofpeace;
and that no bill of attainder shall be
| passed even against a single individ
' ual; yet the system of measures es
I tablisiicd by these acts of Congress
I docs totally subvert and destroy the
| form as well as substance of rcpubli
: can government in ten States to which
I they apply.
It binds them hand and foot in abso
! lute slavery and subjects them to a
strange and hostile power, more un
j limited and likely to be abused than
| any other now known among civilized
I men. It tramples down all those rights
; in winch the essence of liberty consists
; and which free government is always
most careful to protect. It denies ha
beas corpus and trial by jury. Per
sonal freedom, property and life if as
sailed by the passion, prejudice or
rapacity of the ruler, have no security
whatever. It has the effect of a bill of
attainder or bill of pninsand penalties,
not upon a few individuals, but upon
whole masses; including millions who
inhabit the subjected States, and even
their unborn children. These wrongs
being expressly forbidden, cannot be
constitutionally inflicted upon any
portion of our people, no matter how
they have come within our jurisdic
tion. and no matter whether they live
in Slates, territories or districts.
1 have no desire to save from the
proper and just consequences of their
great crime those who were in rebel
lion against the Government, but as a
mode of punishment the measures un
der consideration are the most unrea
sonable that could be invented. Many
of those people are perfectly innocent.
Many kept their fidelity to the Union
untainted to the last. Many were iu
i capable of any legal offense. A large
portion even of the persons able to
bear arms were forced into the rebel
lion against their will, and of thoso
i w ho arc guilty with their own consent
the degrees of guilt are as various as
the shades of their character mid tem
I per. Hut these acts of Congress con
found them altogether in oue common
j doom.
IXDIS0K1 MIX'ATE VEXGEAXCE.
' upon classes, sects and parties, or upon
I whole communities, for offenses com
; mined by a portion of them against
j governments to which they owed obe
dience, were common in the barbarous
| ages of the world; but Christianity
and civilization have made such pro
gress that recourse to a punishment so
cruel and unjust would meet with the
condemnation of all unpredjudiced and
1 right-minded men. The punitive jus
tice of the age, especially of this coun
i try, docs not consist of stripping
I whole States of their liberties and re
! during all their people, without dis
tinction, to a condition of slavery.
It deals separately with each individual,
confines itself to the forms of law, and
vindicates its own purity by an impar
tial examination of every case before a
competent judicial tribunal.
If this docs not satisfy all our desires
with regard to the Southern rebels, let
us console ourselves by reflecting that
a free Constitution triumphant in war
i and unbroken in pence, is worth far
more to us and our children than the
gratification of any present feeling.
DERATION or THE EVIL.
I am aware it is assumed that this
system of government for the Southern
States is not to be perpetual. It is
true tlilij military government is to be
only provisional; but It is through this
temporary evil that a greater evil is to
be made perpetual. If the guaranties
of the Constitution can be broken pro
visionally to serve a temporary pur
pose, ami in a part only of the country,
we can destroy them everywhere, and
for all time. Arbitrary measures often
change, but they gene'ruly change for
the worse.
It is the curse of despotism (list it
has no halting place. Intermitted exer
cise of its power brings no sense of
security to its subjects ; for they can
never know what moro they will be
called to endure when its red right
band is armed to plague them again.
Nor is it possible to conjecture bow or
when power, unrestrained by taw, may
seek its victims. States that are Btiil
in the Union may be enslaved at any
moment: for if the Constitution does
not protect all, it protects none. It. is
manifestly and avowedly the objects of
these laws to confer upon negroes the
privilege of voting; to disfranchise
such number of white citizens as will
give the former a clear majority nt all
elections in the Southern States. This
to 'he minds of some persons is so im
portant that a violation of the Constitu
tion is justified as a means of bringing
it about. The morality is always false
which excuses a wrong because it pro
poses to accomplish a desirable end.
i We are not permitted to do evil that
< good may come. But in this ease the
end is evil, as well as the means.
NKOKO SI I’REMACY.
Tile subjugation of States to negro
domination would bo worse than the
military despotism under which they
are now suitering. It was believed
before Congress passed the act that the
people would endure any amount of
military oppression for any length of
time rather than degrade themselves
I by subjection to the negro rare. Thero
i fore they have been left without a
| choice. Negro suffrage was established
I by act ofCongres*, and military officers
were c uimaudcd to su; srintend the
process of clothing the negro race with
1 the political privileges formerly hc
: longing to white men.
Tiie blacks in the South are entitled
to be well and humanely governed, and
i to have the protection of Just laws for
ill their right- nf person and property.
I If it were practicable at this time to
| give them a government exclusively
I their own, under which they might
manage their own affairs in theit own
way, it would become a grave question
whether we ought to do so, or whether
common humanity would not require
us to save them from themselves. But
under the circumstances, this is a spec
ulative point. It is not proposed mere
ly that they shall govern themselves,
but that they shall rule the white race,
make and administer State laws, elect
Presidents and members of Congress,
and Bhape, to a greater or less extent,
the future destiny of the country.
Would such a trust’aud power be safe
iu such hands? The peculiar qualities
which should characterize any people
who are fit to decide upon the manage
ment of public affairs for a great State
have seldom been combined in any
race. It is the glory of white men to
know that they have had these qualities
in sufficient measure to build upon this
continent a great political fabric and
preserve its stability for more than
ninety years, while in every other part
of the world all similar experiments
have failed. But if anything can be
proved hv known facts, if all reasoning
upou evidence is not abandoned, it
must be acknowledged that in the pro
gress of natians negroes have shown
less capacity for government than any
other race of people. No independent
government of any form has ever been
successful in their hands. On the con
trary, whenever they have been left to
their own devices they have shown a
constant tendency to relapse into bar
barism. In the Southern States, how
ever, Congress has undertaken to con
i fer upon them the privilege of the bal
| lot. Just released from slavery it may
j be doubted whether as a class they
! know more than their ancestors how
to organize and regulate civil society.
Indeed, it is admitted that the blacks
of the South are not only regardless of
the rights and property’ hut so utterly
I ignorant of public affairs that their vo
! ting can consist of nothing more than
carrying a ballot to the place where
uiL'y arc uhttii'u iu ut'puwn it. l iiri*u
not remind you that the exercise ofthc
elective franchise is the highest attri
bute of an American citizen, and wheu
: guided by virtue, intelligence, patriot
ism and proper appreciation of our
free institutions, it constitutes the true
basis of the democratic form of govern
ment in which the sovereign power is
lodged in the body of the people. A
trust artificially created—not for its
| own sake, but solely as a means of pro
moting the general welfare—its influ
ence for good must necessarily de
1 pend upon the elevated character and
j true allegiance ofthe elector. It ought,
therefore, to be reposed in none except
those who nre fitted morally nnd men
tally to administer it well; for if con
ferred upon persons who do not justly
estimate its value and who are indif
; ferei.t as to its results, it will only
serve as a means of placing power iu
the hands of the unprincipled and am
; bilious, and must eventuate in the
1 complete destruction of that liberty of
which it should be the most powerful
j conservator.
I have therefore, heretofore, urged
upon your attention the great danger
to be apprehended from any untimcl)
extension of the elective franchise to
any now class in our country, especial
ly when a large majority of tliut class,
in wielding the power thus placed in
their hands, cannot be expected to cor
rectly comprehend the duties and res
ponsibilities which pertain to suffrage.
Yesterday as it were, four millions of
persons were held in a state of slavery
that existed for generations. To-day
they are freedmen, and are assumed by
law to be citizens. It cannot be pre
sumed from their previous coudition
of servitude that as a class they are
well informed as to the nature of our
Government as the intelligent foreign
er who makes our land the home of
his choice. In the ease of the latter,
neither a residence of five years and
knowledge of our institutions which it
gives, nor attachment to the principles
of the Constitution, are the only con
ditions upon which he can be admitted
to citizenship. He must prove, in ad
dition, a good moral character, and
thus crivp reasonable vrnund for the
belief that he will be faithful to the ob
ligations which he assumes as a citizen
of a republic.
Where the people, the source of all
political power, speak by their suffrage
through the instrumentality of the bal
lot box, it must be carefully guarded
against the control of those who are
corrupt in principle, and enemies of
free institutions; for it can only be
come to our social and political system
a safe conductor of healthy and popu
lar sentiment, when kept free from de
moralizing influences.
Controlled through fraud and usur
pation by designing men, anarehy and
despotism must inevitably follow. In
the hands of the patriotic and worthy
our Government will be preserved up
on the principles of the Constitution
inherited from our fathers.
NEGRO SUFFRAGE.
It follows that in admitting to the
ballot box a new class of voters not
qualified for the exercise of the elec
tive franchise, we weaken our system
of government, instead of adding to its
strength and durability. 1 yield-to no
one iu attachment to that rule of gen
eral suffrage which distinguishes our
policv as a nation; but there is a limit,
wisely observed hitherto, which makes
the ballot a privilige and a trust, and
which requires of some classes a time
suitable for probation and preperatiou.
To give it indiscriminately to a new
cless wholly unprepared bv previous
habits and opportunity to perform the
trust which it demands is to degrade
it and Anally destroy its power, for it
may bo safely assumed that no political
truth is better established than that
such an indiscriminate and all-embra
cing extension of popular suffrage must
end in its overthrow and destruction.
I repeat the expression of my wil
lingness to join with any plan within
the scope of our constitutional author
ity which promises to better the con
dition of the negroes in the South, liv
encouraging them in industry, the en
lightenment and improvement of their
ttiorals, and giving protection to alt
their just rights as freemen ; but to
transfer our political inheritance to
them, would, in iny opinion, be an
abandonment of a duty which we owe
alike to the memory of our fathers and
to the riglus of our children.
The plan of putting the Southern
States wholly, and the Federal Govern
ment partially, into the bauds of ne
groes, is proposed at a time peculiarly
unpropltinas. The foundations of so
*
ciety have been broken up by civil war.
Industry must be reorganized, justice
I re-established, public credit maintain
ed, and order brought out ofconfusion.
To accomplish these ends would require
all the wisdom and virtue of tlje great
men who formed our institutions orig
inally. I confidently believe that their
descendants will be equal to the ardu
ous task before them; but It is worse
than madness to-expect that negroes
will do it for ns. Certainly we ought
not to ask their assistance until we des
pair of our own competency. The
great difference between the two races
in physical mental and moral charac
teristics will prevent an amalgamation
or fusion of them together in one ho
mogeneous mass. If the inferior ob
tains ascendancy over the other, it will
govern with reference only to its own
interests; for it will recognize no com
mon interest, and create such a tyran
ny as this continent has never vet" wit
nessed. Already negroes are influ
enced by promises of confiscation and
plunder. They are taught to regard as
an enemy every white man who has
any respect for the rights of his own
race. If this continues, it must become
worse and worse, until all order will
be subverted, all industry ce*se, and
the fertile fields of the South grow up
iii^o a wilderness. Of all the dangers
which our nation has yet encountered,
none are equal to those which must re
sult from the success of the effort now
making to Africanize half our country.
THE COST.
I would not put considerations of
money in competition with justice and
right; but the expenses incident to
reconstruction under the system adopt
ed by Congress aggravate" what I re
gard as the intrinsic wrongs of the
measure itself. It has cost uncounted
millions already, and, if persisted in,
will add largely to the weight of taxa
tion, already too oppressive to be
borne without just complaint, and may
finally reduce the treasury of the na
tion to a condition of bankruptcy.
We may not delude ourselves. It
will require a strong standing army,
and firnhnhlv more than In-n Imndrud
; millions of dollars pcrnnnum, to main
tain the supremacy of the negro gov
! ernments after they are established.
The sum thus thrown away would, if
properly used, form a sinking fund
large enough to pay the whole nation
al debt in less than fifteen years. It is
vain to hope that negroes will main
tain their ascendancy themselves.
Without the military power, they are
wholly incapable of holding in subjec
tion the white people of the South.
I submit to the judgment of Congress
whether the public credit may not be
injuriously affected by a system of
measures like this. With our debt,
and the vast private interests which are
complicated with it, we cannot be too
cautious of a policy which might, by
possibility, impair' the confidence of
the world in our government. That
confidence can only bo retained by
carefully inculcating the principles of
justice and honor on the popular mind,
and by the most scrupulous fidelity to
all our engagements of every sort,
j Any serious breach of organic law,
persisted in for a considerable time,
cannot but create a fear for the stabili
ty of our institutions. Habitual viola- i
tion of prescribed rules which we bind
ourselves to observe, must demoralize
the people. Our only standard of civil
duty being set at naught, the sheet
anchor of our political morality is lost
public conscience sways from ils moor
ings, aud yields to every impulse of
passion and interest. If "we repudiate
the Constitution, we will not be expec
ted to care much for mere pecuniary
obligations.
THE PRESERVATION OF THE PUBLIC
CREDIT.
The violation of such a pledge as we
made on the 22d of July, 1861, will as
suredly diminish the market value of
our other promises. Besides, if we
now acknowledge that the national
debt was created, not to hold States in
the Union, as taxpayers were led to
suppose, but to expel them from it,
and baud them over to be governed by
negroes, the moral dutv to pay it may
seem much less clear, i say it mat seem
so ; for I do not admit that it. or any
other argument in favor of repudiation,
can ue entertained as sound ; but its in
fluences on some classes of minds may
well be apprehended. The financial
honor of a great commercial nation,
largely indebted, and with a republi
can form of government administered
by agents of popular choice, is a thing
of such delicate texture, and the des
■ truction of it would be followed by
such unspeakable calamity, that every
true patriot must desire to avoid what
ever might expose it to the slightest
danger. The great interest of the coun
try require immediate relief from these
| enactments.
j BUSINESS IN THE SOUTH IS PARALYZED
by a sense of general insecurity, by the ter
1 ror of confiscation, and the dread of negro
supremacy Southern trade, from which the
North would have derived so great a profit
under a government of law, atill languishes,
and can never be revived while it can be fet
tcred by the arbitrary power which makes all
its operations unsafe. That rich country—
the riohest in natural resources the world
ever saw—is worse than lost if it be not soon
placed under the protection of a free consti
tution. Instead of being, as it ought to be, a
source of wealth and powder, it will become an
intolerable burden upon the rest of the ua
tion.
TilK LATE ELECTIONS.
Another reason for retracing our steps will
doubtless be seen by Congress in the late
manifestations of public opinion on this sub
ject. We live in a couutry where popular will
always forces obedience to itself sooner or
I later It is vain to think of opposing it with
anything short of legal authority backed by
! overwhelming force. It canuot have escaped
your attention that from the day on which
1 Congress fairly and formally preseuted the
proposition to govern the Southern States by
military force, with a view to the ultimate
j establishment ot uegro supremacy, every ex
pression of gcueral sentiment has been more j
or less adverse to it.
The atfeotion of this generation cannot be !
detached from the institutions of their ances- j
j tors. Their determination to preserve the |
inheritance of free government in their own
i hands, and transmit it undivided and unim
paired to their own posterity, is too strong to i
l lie successfully opposed. Every weaker pas
; skill will disappear before the love of liberty
and law, for which the American people are
i distinguished above all others iu the work,
row; a ok tuk kxucttivk.
How far the duty of the President to pro
serve, protect, and defend the Constitution
requires him to go in opposing an unconsti- I
tutional act of Congress is a very seriou* and
important question, on which I have deliber
ated much and tell extremely anxious to
reach a proper conclusion. Where an act
has heeu passed according to the forms of the
Constitution by the supreme legislative au
thority of'the country, qxoentive resist cnee to
it, especially in times ef high party excite
ment, would be likely to produce violent co’«
lission between the respective Adherents of tbt
two branches of the Goa^rnment. Thi*
would be simply civil war, and civil war mutt
be resorted to only ns a last remedy for the
worst of evils.
Whatever might tend to provoke it should
be most carefully avoided. A faithful and
conscientious magistrate will concede verv
much to honest error, and something even to
perverse malice, before he will endanger the
public peace; and he will not adopt forcible
measures’, or such as might lead to force, as
long as the chances which are peaceable
remain open to him, or to his constituents It
is true that cases may occur in which the
executive would be compelled to stand on its
rights and maintain them regardles of eone«~
quenccs.
WHKN THE EXECUTIVE MAT RESIST AH ACT Of
CONGRESS.
If Congress should pa.™ an act. which if
not only in palpable conflict with the Con
situation , but will certainly, if carried out,
produce immediate and irreparable injury
to the organic structure of the Government,
and if there be neither judicial remedy for
the wrongs it inflicts, no power in tqe people
to prelect themselves without the official aid
to their elected defenders; if, for instanoe,
the legislative department should pass an
net. even through all the forms of law, to
abolish a co ordinate department ; in such
a case the President must take the high r«
sponsibilites of his office and save the life of
the nation at all hazards.
The so-called reconstruction acts, though
as plainly unconstitutional as any that can
be imagined,’ were not believed to be within
the class last mentioned. The people were
not wholly disarmed of the power of self-de
fense. lu all the Northern States they still
hold in their hands the sacred right of the
ballot, and it was s'afe to believe that in due
time they would come to the rescue of their
own institutions. It gives me pleasure to
add that the anpeal to our common constitu
ents was not taken in vain, and that my con
fidence n their wisdom and virtue seems not
to have been misplaced.
It is well and publicly known that enor
mous frauds have been perpetrated on th<*
treasury, aud that colossal fortunes have
been made at public expense. This species
of corruption has increased and is increasing,
and if not diminished will soon bring us into
total ruin and disgrace.
The public creditors And fax payers are
alike interested in an honest administration
of the finances, and neither class will lonp
__ J. . I. _ L' -I. L. I.J LI .1
exposed. For this discreditable state oT
things there arc several causes; some of the
taxes are so laid as to present an irresistible
temptation to evade payment. The great
sums officers are tendered fur connivance at
fraud create a pressure which is more than
the virtue of many can withstand, and there
can be no doubt that open disregard of con
stitutional obligations avowed by some of the
highest and most influential men in the coun
try has greatly weakened the moral sense of
those who serve in subordinate places
The expenses of the United States, includ
ing the interest on the public debt, are more
than six times as much as they were seven
years ago. To collect and disburse this vast
amount, requires careful supervision, as well
as tystonmtio vigilftU'e. The system has
never been perfected and was much disor
ganized by tho tenure of office bill, which has
almost destroyed official accountability. The
President may be thoroughly convinced that
an officer is incapable, dishonest, or unfaith
ful to the Constitution, but under the law
which 1 have named, his utmost endeavors to
complain to the Senate and ask the privilege
of supplying his placo with a better man (if
the Senate be regarded a* personally hostile
to the President), it ia natural and not alto
gether unreasonable for the offioer to expect
that it will take his part as far as possible to
restore him to his place and give him a tri
umph over his executive superior officer; and
he has other chances of impunity arising
from accidental defects of evidence made in
investigating it and secrecy of hearing it,
and it is not wonderful that official malfeas
ance should become bold in proportion as de
linquents learn to think themselves safe, t
am entirely persuaded that under such a rule
she President cannot perform the great duty
assigned to him of seeing the laws faithfully
executed, and that it disables him roost espe
cially from enforcing that rigid accountabili
ty which is necessary to the due execution of
revenue laws.
The Constitution invests the President with
authority to decide whether a removal shall
be made in any given case. The act of Con
gress declares iu substance that he shall only
accuse such as he supposes unworthy of their
confidence. The Constitution makes him sole
judge in the premises, but the statute takes
away his jurisdiction and transfers it to the
Senate, and leaves him nothing but the odb
ous and sometimes impracticable duty of be
coming a prosecutor.
The proseention is to be conducted before
a iriDunai wnoet memners are not use mm
responsible to the whole people, but to
separate constituent bodies, and who may
hear his accusation with great disfavor.
The senate is absolutely without any known
standard of decision aplicable to suob a case.
Its judgment cannot be antietpatod, for it is
not governed by any rule. The law does not
define what shall be deemed good cause for
removal. It is impossible even to conjecture
what may or may not be so considered by the
6’enate. The uature of subject forbids dear
proof; if the charge be incapacity, what evi
dence will support it? Fidelity to the Con
stitution may be understood or misunderstood
in a thousand different ways, and by violent
party men in violent party times, unfaithful
ness to the Constitution may even cotnfc to be
considered meritorious. If an officer be ac
cused of dishonesty, how shall it be made
out ? Will it be inferred from acts unconnected
with public duty, from private history or
from general reputation, or must the Presi
dent await the commission of an actual mis
demeanor in office, and shall he in the mean
time risk character and the interest of tha
nation in the hands of men to whom he can
not give his confidence, and must he forbear
his complaint until the mischief is done and
cannot be prevented? If his seal in the pub
lic service should impel him to anticipate an
overt Act, must he move at the peril of being
tried himself for the offense of slandering his
subordinates? In the present circumstances
of the country seme one must be held re
sponsible for official delinquency of every
kind. It is extremely difficult to say where
responsibility should be thrown if it be not
left where it has been placed by the Constitu
tion. But all just men will admit that the
President ought to be entirely relieved from
such responsibility if he cannot meet it by
reason of restrictions placed by law upon his
actions. Unrestricted power of removal from
office is a very great one to be trusted even to
a magistrate chosen by geueral suffrago of
the whole people, aud accountable directly to
them for his acts. It is undoubtedly liable to
abuse, and at some periods of our history has
been abused. If it be thought desirable and
constitutional that it should be so limited as
to make the President merely a ccmn:e*\ in
former agairMt other public agont* he should
at least be penuited to uot In that capacity
before some open tribunal, independent of
party politics, ready to investigate the g.»riia
.if every case, furnished aith moans of
of taking evidence and hound to decide ac
cording to au established rule. This would
guarantee the sate tv of the accuser when he
acts in good faith, and at the same time secure
the rights of ti.e other party, I speak, uf
course.with all proper respect for the present
Senate, but it does seem to me that any legis
lative body can be commoted as to insure
its fitness for these functions It is not the
theory of the Government that public offices
CONXlNrKD ON '.ECo>i> f4U£v