PUBLIC DOCCMK 



63) 



Untie their legislative . hile in <-\\\<-r in- 



.I ami id 

 .lly deelared their 

 the I'moii, uinl wen- eiideuv 

 All of the 

 insurrection a- 

 the apportionment of the 

 v millions of dollars annually htid upon 

 s by the act approved August 6, 

 ml \<y 



thereunder, also 



|.re-etiri ns States in the t'ninn; 



r judicial purposes, been divided 



done '-.in In- divided. The 



.ppears in tlie recent legislation in 



lently rests upon 



tin- functions of tin- State were not de- 



'rllion, lint merely suspended ; and 



>f course np]>licab"le to those States 



whion, like Tennessee, attempted to renounce their 



>n. 



Tin- action of the Executive Department of the 

 urn-tit upon this subject has been equally defi- 

 nite nnd uniform, nnd the purpose of the war was 

 specifically stated in the proclamation issued by my 

 - on the 22d day of September, 1862. It 

 hen solemnly proclaimed and declared that 

 " hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted 

 for the object of practically restoring the constitu- 

 relation between the United States and each 



- and the people thereof, in which States 

 that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed." 



The recognition of the States by the Judicial De- 

 partment of the Government has also been clear 

 'in-ln-ive in all proceedings affecting them as 

 , had iu the Supreme, Circuit, and District 



In the admission of Senators and Representatives 

 from any nnd all of the States, there can be no just 

 ground of apprehension that persons who are dis- 

 loyal will be eluthed with the powers of legislation : 

 for this could not happen when the Constitution and 

 the laws are enforced by a vigilant and faithful Con- 

 jrress. Each House is made the "judge of the elec- 

 returns, and qualifications of its own mem- 

 and may, "with the concurrence of two- 

 thirds, expel a member." When a Senator or Hep- 

 nts his certificate of election, he 

 may at once be admitted or" rejected ; or, should 

 there be any question as to his eligibility, his cre- 

 dentials may be referred for investigation to the ap- 

 propriate committee. If admitted to a seat, it must 

 be. upon evidence satisfactory to the House of which 

 he thus becomes a member, that he posseBses the requi- 

 site constitutional and legal qualifications. If refused 

 admission as a member for want of due allegiance to 

 the (iovcrnment, and returned to his constituents, 

 they are admonlihed that none but persons loyal to 

 the I'nited State-; will be allowed a voice in the legis- 

 lative councils of the nation, and the political power 

 and moral influence of Congress are thus effectively 

 exerted in the interests of loyalty to the Government 

 and fidelity to the I'li'mn. 'I'pon this question, so 

 vitally affecting the restoration of the Union and the 

 permanency ot our present form of government, my 

 convictions, heretofore expressed, have undergone 

 no cltange ; but, on the contrary, their correctness 

 has been confirmed by reflection and time. If the 

 admission of loyal members to seats in the respective 

 Houses of Congress was wise and expedient a year 

 ago, it is no less wise and expedient now. If this 

 anomalous condition is right now if, in the exact 

 condition of these States at the present time, it is 

 lawful to exclude them from representation, 1 do 

 not see that the question will be changed by the 

 efllnx of time. Ten years hence, if these States re- 

 main ns they are, the right of representation will 

 be no stronger the right of exclusion will be no 

 weaker. 



The Constitution of the United States makes it 



the duty of the President to recommend to the eon- 

 Utawtum of CoogMM "Mb manures h he (hall 

 >ary or expedient." I know of no rnea*- 

 lire more imperatively demanded by every consider- 

 ation of national interest, sound policy, and equal 

 ju-tiee, than the admission of loyal member- 

 the now unrepresented States. This would consum- 

 mate the work of restoration, and exert a most salu- 

 tary influence in the reOstablishment of peace, har- 

 mony, and fraternal feeling. It would tend greatly 

 to renew the confidence of the American people ia 

 the vigor and stability of their institutions. It 

 would bind us more closely together as a nation, 

 and enable us to show to the world the inherent and 

 recuperative power of a Government founded upon 

 the will of the people, and established upon the prin- 

 ciple of liberty, justice, and intelligence. Our in- 

 creased strength and enhanced prosperity would ir- 

 refragably demonstrate the fallacy of the arguments 

 against free institutions drawn from our recent na- 

 tional disorders by the enemies of republican gov- 

 ernment. The admission of loyal members from the 

 States now excluded from Congress, by allaying 

 doubt and apprehension, would turn capital, now 

 awaiting an opportunity for investment, into the 

 channels of trade and industry. It would alleviate 

 the present troubled condition of those States, and, 

 by inducing immigration, aid in the settlement of 

 fertile regions now uncultivated, and lead to an in- 

 creased production of those staples which havo 

 added so greatly to the wealth of the nation and tho 

 commerce of the world. New fields of enterprise 

 would be opened to our progressive people, and 

 soon the devastations of war would be repaired, and 

 all traces of our domestic differences effaced from 

 the minds of our countrymen. 



In our efforts to preserve "the unity of govern- 

 ment which constitutes us one people," by restoring 

 the States to the condition which they held prior to 

 the rebellion, we should be cautious, lest, having 

 rescued our nation from perils of threatened disin- 

 tegration, we resort to consolidation, and in the end 

 absolute despotism, as a remedy for the recurrence 

 of similar troubles. The war having terminated, 

 and with it all occasion for the exercise of powers 

 of doubtful constitutionality, we should hasten to 

 bring legislation within the boundaries prescribed 

 by the Constitution, and to return to the ancient 

 landmarks established by our fathers for the guidance 

 of succeeding generations. " The Constitution which 

 at any time exists, until changed by an explicit nnd 

 authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly oblig- 

 atory upon all." " If, in the opinion of the people, 

 the distribution or modification of the constitutional 

 powers be, in any particular, wrong, let it be cor- 

 rected by an amendment in the way in which the 

 Constitution designates, but let there be no change 

 by usurpation ; for" "it is the customary weapon 

 by which free governments are destroyed. Wash- 

 ington spoke these words to his countrymen, when, 

 followed by their love and gratitude, he voluntarily 

 retired from the cares of public life. " To keep in 

 all things within the pale of our constitutional pow- 

 ers, and cherish the Federal Union as the only rock 

 of safety," were prescribed by Jefferson as rules of 

 action to endear to his " countrymen the true prin- 

 ciples of their Constitution, and promote a Union of 

 sentiment and action equally auspicious to their hap- 

 - and safety." Jackson held that the action 

 of the General Government should always be strictly 

 confined to the sphere of its appropriate duties, and 

 justly and forcibly urged that our Government is 

 not to be maintained nor our Union preserved " by 

 invasions of the rights and powers of tho s. 



. In thus attempting to make our General 

 Government strong we make it weak. Its trno 

 strength consists in leaving individuals and State* 

 as much as possible to themselves ; in making it -elf 

 felt, not in its power, but in its beneficence ; not in 

 its control, but in its protection ; not in binding th 



