PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



611 



At your late session a joint resolution was adopted 

 authorizing the President to take measures for fucil- 

 u proper representation of the industrial inter- 

 ihe United States at the exhibition of the indus- 

 try of all nations to be holden at London in the year 

 I regret to sav I have been unable to give per- 

 sonal attention to this subject a subject at once so 

 interesting in itself, and so extensively and intimately 

 connected with the material prosperity of the world. 

 Through the Secretaries of State and of the Interior a 

 plan or system has been devised, and partly matured, 

 and which will be laid before you. 



Under and bv virtue of the" act of Congress entitled 

 " An act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary 

 purposes," approved August i5, lv.U, the legal claims 

 of certain persons to the labor and service of certain 

 other persons have become forfeited ; and numbers of 

 the hitter, thus liberated, are already dependent on the 

 United States, and must be provided for in some way. 

 Besides this, it is not impossible that some of the States 

 will pass similar enactments for their own benefit re- 

 spectively, and by operation of which persons of the 

 same class will be thrown upon them for disposal. In 

 such case I recommend that Congress provide for ac- 

 cepting such persons from such States, according to 

 some mode of valuation, in lieu, pro tanto, of direct 

 or upon some other plan to be agreed on with 

 such States respectively ; that such persons, oa such 

 acceptance bv the General Government, be at once 

 deemed free ;" and that, in any event, steps be taken 

 for colonizing both classes, (or the one first mentioned, 

 if the other shall not be brought into existence,) at 

 some place or places in a climate congenial to them. 

 It miaht be well to consider, too, whether the free 

 colored people already in the United States could not, 

 so for as individuals "may desire, be included in such 

 colonization. 



To carry out the plan of colonization may involve 

 the acquiring of territory, and also the appropriation 

 of money beyond that to be expended in the territorial 

 acquisition. Having practised the acquisition of terri- 

 tory for nearly sixty years, the question of constitu- 

 tional power to do so is no longer an open one with 

 us. The power was questioned at first by Mr. Jeffer- 

 son, who, however, in the purchase of Louisiana, yield- 

 ed his scruples on the plea of great expediency. If it 

 be said that the onlv legitimate object of acquiring ter- 

 ritory is to furnish homes for white men, this measure 

 effects that object ; for the emigration of colored men 

 leaves additional room for white men remaining or 

 coming here. Mr. Jefferson, however, placed the im- 

 portance of procuring Louisiana more on political and 

 commercial grounds than on providing room for popu- 

 lation. 



On this whole proposition, including the appropria- 

 tion of money with the acquisition of territory, does 

 not the expediency amount to absolute necessity that, 

 without which the Government itself cannot be per- 

 petuated f 



The war continues. In considering the policy to be 

 adopted for suppressing the insurrection, I have been 

 anxious and careful that the inevitable conflict for this 

 purpose shall not degenerate into a violent and re- 

 morseless revolutionary struggle. I have, therefore, 

 in every case, thought it proper to keep the integrity 

 of the Union prominent as the primary object of the 

 contest on our part, leaving all questions which are 

 not of vital military importance to the more deliberate 

 action of the Legislature, 



In the exercise of my best discretion I have adhered 

 to the blockade of the ports held bv the insurgents, in- 

 stead of putting in force, by proclamation, the law of 

 Congress enacted at the late session for closing those 

 ports. 



So, also, obeying the dictates of prudence, as well as 

 the obligations of law. instead of transcending, I have 

 adhered to the act of Congress to confiscate 'property 

 used for insurrectionary purposes. If a new law upon 

 the same subject shall'be proposed, its propriety will 

 be duly considered. The Union must be preserved ; 

 and hence, all indispensable means must be employed. 



We should not be in haste to determine that radical 

 and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as 

 well as the disloyal, are indispensable. 



The inaugural address at the beginning of the Ad- 

 ministration, and the message to Congress at the late 

 special session, were both mainly devoted to the do- 

 mestic controversy out of which the insurrection and 

 consequent war have sprung. Nothing now occurs to 

 add or subtract, to or from, the principles or general 

 purposes stated and expressed in those documents. 



The last ray of hope for preserving the Union peace- 

 ably, expired at the assault upon Fort Sumter ; and a 

 general review of what has occurred since may not be 

 unprofitable. What was painfully uncertain then, is 

 much better defined and more distinct now ; and the 

 progress of events is plainly in the right direction. 

 The insurgents confidently claimed a strong support 

 from north of Mason and Dixon's line ; and the friends 

 of the Union were not free from apprehension on the 

 point. This, however, was soon settled definitely, and 

 on the right side. South of the line, noble little'Dela- 

 ware led off right from the first. Maryland was made 

 to seem against the Union. Our soldiers were assault- 

 ed, bridges were burned, and railroads torn up within 

 her limits ; and we were many days, at one time, with- 

 out the ability to bring a single regiment over her soil 

 to the capital. Now her bridges and railroads are re- 

 paired and open to the Government ; she already gives 

 seven regiments to the cause of the Union, and none 

 to the enemy ; and her people, at a regular election, 

 have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a 

 larger aggregate vote than they ever before gave to 

 any candidate or any question. Kentucky, too, for 

 some time in doubt, is now decidedly, and, I think, un- 

 changeably, ranged on the side of the Union. Missouri 

 is comparatively quiet, and, I believe, cannot again be 

 overrun by the" insurrectionists. These three States 

 of Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, neither of which 

 would promise a single soldier at first, have now an 

 aggregate of not less than forty thousand in the field 

 for the Union ; while, of their citizens, certainly not 

 more than a third of that number, and they of d'oubt- 

 ful whereabouts and doubtful existence, aVe in arms 

 against it. After a somewhat bloody struggle of 

 months, winter closes on the Union people of Western 

 Virginia, leaving them masters of their own country. 



An insurgent force of about fifteen hundred, for 

 months dominating the narrow peninsular region, con- 

 stituting the counties of Accomac and Northampton, 

 and known as eastern shore of Virginia, together with 

 some contiguous parts of Maryland, have laid down 

 their arms ; and the people there have renewed their 

 allegiance to, and accepted the protection of, the old 

 fiag. This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of 

 the Potomac, or east of the Chesapeake. 



Also we have obtained a footing at each of the iso- 

 lated points on the southern coast, of Hatteras. Port 

 Roval, Tybee Island, near Savannah, and Ship Island ; 

 and we likewise have some general accounts of popular 

 movements, in behalf of the Union, in 2orth Carolina 

 and Tennessee. 



These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union 

 is advancing steadily and certainly southward. 



Since your last adjournment, Lieutenaut-General 

 Scott has retired from the head of the army. During 

 his long life, the nation has not been unmindful of his 

 merit ; yet, on calling to mind how faithfully, ably, 

 and brilliantly he has served the country, from a time 

 far back in our history, when few of the now living had 

 been born, and thenceforward continually, I cannot but 

 think we are still his debtors. I submit, therefore, for 

 your consideration, what further mark of recognition 

 is due to him, and to ourselves as a grateful people. 



With the retirement of General Scott came the ex- 

 ecutive duty of appointing, in his stead, a general-in- 

 chief of the army. It is a fortunate circumstance that 

 neither in council nor country was there, so far as I 

 know, any difference of opinion as to the proper per- 

 son to be selected. The retiring chief repeatedly ex- 

 pressed his judgment in favor of General McCl'ellan 

 for the position ; and in this the nation seemed to give 



