nger, I have felt it incumbent on me to assert | ing the autumn or early winter, nor until Cone other power of the General Government-gress should have "an opportunity to consider power of pardon. As no State can throw a and act on the whole subject." To your delibfence over the crime of treason, the power of erations the restoration of this branch of the rdon is exclusively vested in the executive civil authority of the United States is therefore vernment of the United States. In exercising necessarily referred, with the hope that early at power, I have taken every precaution to provision will be made for the resumption of all anect it with the clearest recognition of the its functions. It is manifest that treason, most ading force of the laws of the United States, flagrant in character, has been committed. d an unqualified acknowledgment of the great Persons who are charged with its commission ial change of condition in regard to slavery should have fair and impartial trials in the hich has grown out of the war. highest civil tribunals of the country, in order that the Constitution and the laws may be fully vindicated; the truth clearly established and affirmed that treason is a crime, that traitors should be punished and the offence made infamous; and, at the same time, that the question be judicially settled, finally and forever, that no State of its own will has the right to renounce its place in the Union.

The next step which I have taken to restore e constitutional relations of the States, has been invitation to them to participate in the high fice of amending the Constitution. Every paiot must wish for a general amnesty at the rliest epoch consistent with public safety. For is great end there is a need of a concurrence all opinions, and the spirit of mutual conciltion. All parties in the late terrible conflict The relations of the General Government toust work together in harmony. It is not too wards the four millions of inhabitants whom uch to ask, in the name of the whole people, the war has called into freedom have engaged at, on the one side, the plan of restoration my most serious consideration. On the proall proceed in conformity with a willingness priety of attempting to make the freedmen elec> cast the disorders of the past into oblivion; tors by the proclamation of the Executive, I nd that, on the other, the evidence of sincerity took for my counsel the Constitution itself, the 1 the future maintenance of the Union shall be interpretations of that instrument by its auut beyond any doubt by the ratification of the thors and their contemporaries, and recent legisroposed amendment to the Constitution, which lation by Congress. When, at the first moverovides for the abolition of slavery forever ment towards independence, the Congress of the within the limits of our country. So long as the United States instructed the several States to doption of this amendment is delayed, so long institute governments of their own, they left each vill doubt and jealousy and uncertainty pre- State to decide for itself the conditions for the ail. This is the measure which will efface the enjoyment of the elective franchise. During ad memory of the past; this is the measure the period of the confederacy, there continued which will most certainly call population and to exist a very great diversity in the qualificaapital and security to those parts of the Union tions of electors in the several States; and even hat need them most. Indeed, it is not too much within a State a distinction of qualification preo ask of the States which are now resuming vailed with regard to the officers who were to heir places in the family of the Union to give be chosen. The Constitution of the United this pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace. States recognises the diversities when it enjoins Until it is done, the past, however much we may that, in the choice of members of the House of desire it, will not be forgotten. The adoption Representatives of the United States, "the elecof the amendment reunites us beyond all power tors in each State shall have the qualifications of disruption. It heals the wound that is im-requisite for electors of the most numerous perfectly closed; it removes slavery, the element which has so long perplexed and divided the country; it makes of us once more a united people, renewed and strengthened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and support.

branch of the State legislature." After the formation of the Constitution, it remained, as before, the uniform usage for each State to enlarge the body of its electors, according to its own judgment; and, under this system, one The amendment to the Constitution being State after another has proceeded to increase adopted, it would remain for the States, whose the number of its electors, until now universal powers have been so long in abeyance, to re- suffrage, or something very near it, is the genesume their places in the two branches of the na- ral rule. So fixed was this reservation of power tional legislature, and thereby complete the in the habits of the people, and so unquestioned work of restoration. Here it is for you, fellow- has been the interpretation of the Constitution, citizens of the Senate, and for you, fellow-citi-that during the civil war the late President never zens of the House of Representatives, to judge, each of you for yourselves, of the elections, returns, and qualifications of your own members. The full assertion of the powers of the General Government requires the holding of circuit courts of the United States within the districts where their authority has been interrupted. In the present posture of our public affairs, strong objections have been urged to holding those courts in any of the States where the rebellion has existed; and it was ascertained, by inquiry, that the circuit court of the United States would not be held within the district of Virginia dur

5

harbored the purpose-certainly never avowed the purpose-of disregarding it; and in the acts of Congress, during that period, nothing can be found which during the continuance of hostilities, much less after their close, would have sanctioned any departure by the Executive from a policy which has so uniformly obtained. Moreover, a concession of the elective franchise to the freedmen, by act of the President of the United States, must have been extended to all colored men, wherever found, and so must have established a change of suffrage in the Northern,. 'Middle, and Western States, not less than in the

condition must, after all, rest mainly on the selves. If they fail, and so perish away, let be careful that the failure shall not be attri table to any denial of justice. In all that r lates to the destiny of the freedmen, we n not be too anxious to read the future; many cidents which, from a speculative point of vie might raise alarm, will quietly settle themselve

Southern and Southwestern. Such an act would | The career of free industry must be fairly opera have created a new class of voters, and would to them: and then their future prosperity have been an assumption of power by the President which nothing in the Constitution or laws of the United States would have warranted. On the other hand, every danger of conflict is avoided when the settlement of the question is referred to the several States. They can, each for itself, decide on the measure, and whether it is to be adopted at once and absolutely, or introduced gradually and with conditions. In my judgment, the freedmen, if they show patience and manly virtues, will sooner obtain a participation in the elective franchise through the States than through the General Government, even if it had power to intervene. When the tumult of emotions that have been raised by the suddenness of the social change shall have subsided, it may prove that they will receive the kindliest usage from some of those on whom they have heretofore most closely depended.

Now that slavery is at an end or near its er the greatness of its evil, in the point of view public economy, becomes more and more app ent. Slavery was essentially a monopoly labor, and as such locked the States where t prevailed against the incoming of free indust Where labor was the property of the capital the white man was excluded from employmen or had but the second best chance of finding t and the foreign emigrant turned away from i region where his condition would be so preca ous. With the destruction of the monopo free labor will hasten from all parts of the civ

measurable resources which have hitherto la dormant. The eight or nine States nearest t Gulf of Mexico have a soil of exuberant fertility a climate friendly to long life, and can sustais denser population than is found as yet in ar part of our country. And the future influx population to them will be mainly from th North, or from the most cultivated nations: Europe. From the sufferings that have atten ed them during our late struggle, let us loc away to the future, which is sure to be laden for them with greater prosperity than has eve before been known. The removal of the mo nopoly of slave labor is a pledge that those re gions will be peopled by a numerous and enter prising population, which will vie with any i the Union in compactness, inventive genia, wealth, and industry.

But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the war, it is not competent for the General Government to extend the elective fran-ized world to assist in developing various and i chise in the several States, it is equally clear that good faith requires the security of the freedmen in their liberty and in their property, their right to labor, and their right to claim the just return of their labor. I cannot too strongly urge a dispassionate treatment of this subject, which should be carefully kept aloof from all party strife. We must equally avoid hasty assumptions of any natural impossibility for the two races to live side by side, in a state of mutual benefit and good will. The experiment involves us in no inconsistency; let us, then, go on and make that experiment in good faith, and not be too easily disheartened. The country is in need of labor, and the freedmen are in need of employment, culture, and protection. While their right of voluntary migration and expatriation is not to be questioned, I would not advise their forced removal and colonization. Let us rather encourage them to honorable and useful industry, where it may be beneficial to themselves and to the country; and, instead of hasty In reply to the resolution adopted by the Ser anticipations of the certainty of failure, let there ate on the 12th instant, I have the honor to be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the ex-state that the rebellion waged by a portion periment. The change in their condition is the substitution of labor by contract for the status of slavery. The freedman cannot fairly be accused of unwillingness to work, so long as a doubt remains about his freedom of choice in his pursuits, and the certainty of his recovering his stipulated wages. In this the interests of the employer and the employed coincide. The employer desires in his workmen spirit and alacrity, and these can be permanently secured in As the result of the measures instituted by no other way. And if the one ought to be able the Executive, with the view of inducing & to enforce the contract, so ought the other. The resumption of the functions of the States compublic interest will be best promoted if the sev-prehended in the inquiry of the Senate, the eral States will provide adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen. Until this is in some way accomplished, there is no chance for the advantageous use of their labor; and the

blame of ill success will not rest on them.

Message on the late Insurrectionary States. To the Senate of the United States:

of the people against the properly-constitute authorities of the Government of the Unite States has been suppressed; that the United States are in possession of every State in which the insurrection existed; and that, as far as could be done, the courts of the United States have been restored, post offices re-established, and steps taken to put into effective operation the revenue laws of the country.

people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor gia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee, have reorganized their respective State governments, and "are yielding obedience to the laws and Government of the UniI know that sincere philanthropy is earnest ted States" with more willingness and greater for the immediate realization of its remotest promptitude than under the circumstances could aims; but time is always an element in reform. reasonably have been anticipated. The proIt is one of the greatest acts on record to have posed amendment to the Constitution, provid brought four millions of people into freedom. 'ing for the abolition of slavery forever within

With your approval, and also that of the honorable Secretary of War, I left Washington city on the 27th of last month for the purpose of making a tour of inspection through some of the Southern States, or States lately in rebellion, and to see what changes were necessary to be made in the disposition of the military forces of the country; how these forces could be reduced and expenses curtailed, &c.; and to learn, as far as possible, the feelings and intentions of the citizens of those States toward the General Government.

e limits of the country, has been ratified by the scope of the inquiries made by the Senate ach one of those States, with the exception of of the United States in their resolution of the ississippi, from which no official information 12th instant, I have the honor to submit the folas yet been received; and in nearly all of lowing: em measures have been adopted or are now ending, to confer upon freedmen rights and rivileges which are essential to their comfort, rotection, and security. In Florida and Texas he people are making commendable progress 1 restoring their State governments, and no oubt is entertained that they will at an early eriod be in a condition to resume all of their practical relations to the Federal Government. In that portion of the Union lately in reellion" the aspect of affairs is more promising han, in view of all the circumstances, could well have been expected. The people throughut the entire South evince a laudable desire to enew their allegiance to the Government, and o repair the devastations of war by a prompt nd cheerful return to peaceful pursuits. An biding faith is entertained that their actions will conform to their professions, and that, in acknowledging the supremacy of the Constituion and the laws of the United States, their oyalty will be unreservedly given to the Govnent, whose leniency they cannot fail to appreciate, and whose fostering care will soon Festore them to a condition of prosperity.

The State of Virginia being so accessible to Washington city, and information from this quarter therefore being readily obtained, I hastened through the State without conversing or meeting with any of its citizens. In Raleigh, North Carolina, I spent one day; in Charleston, South Carolina, two days; Savannah and Augusta, Georgia, each one day. Both in traveling and while stopping, I saw much and conversed freely with the citizens of those States, as well as with officers of the army who have been stationed among them. The following are the conclusions come to by me:

the highest tribunal-arms-that man can resort to. I was pleased to learn from the leading men whom I met, that they not only accepted the decision arrived at as final, but, now that the smoke of battle has cleared away and time has been given for reflection, that this decision has been a fortunate one for the whole country, they receiving like benefits from it with those who opposed them in the field and in council.

It is true that in some of the States the de- I am satisfied that the mass of thinking men moralizing effects of the war are to be seen in of the South accept the present situation of afccasional disorders; but these are local in fairs in good faith. The questions which have character, not frequent in occurrence, and are heretofore divided the sentiments of the people apidly disappearing as the authority of civil law of the two sections-slavery and States rights, is extended and sustained. Perplexing ques- or the right of a State to secede from the Union tions were naturally to be expected from the-they regard as having been settled forever by great and sudden change in the relations between the two races; but systems are gradually devoloping themselves under which the freedman will receive the protection to which he is justly entitled, and by means of his labor make himself a useful and independent member of the community in which he has his home. From all the information in my possession, and from that which I have recently derived from the most reliable authority, I am induced to cherish the belief that sectional animosity is surely and rapidly merging itself into a spirit of nationality, and that representation, connected with a properly-adjusted system of taxation, will result in a harmonious restoration of the relations of the States to the national Union.

The report of Carl Schurz is herewith transmitted, as requested by the Senate. No reports from Hon. John Covode have been received by the President. The attention of the Senate is invited to the accompanying report of Lieutenant General Grant, who recently made a tour of inspection through several of the States whose inhabitants participated in the rebellion. ANDREW JOHNSON. WASHINGTON, D. C., December 18, 1865. Accompanying Report of General Grant. HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE U. S., WASHINGTON, D. C., December 18, 1865. SIR: In reply to your note of the 16th inst., requesting a report from me giving such information as I may be possessed of, coming within

Four years of war, during which law was executed only at the point of the bayonet throughout the States in rebellion, have left the people possibly in a condition not to yield that ready obedience to civil authority the American people have generally been in the habit of yielding. This would render the presence of small garrisons throughout those States necessary until such time as labor returns to its proper channels, and civil authority is fully established. I did not meet any one, either those holding places under the Government or citizens of the Southern States, who think it practicable to withdraw the military from the South at present. The white and the black mutually require the protection of the General Government.

There is such universal àcquiescence in the authority of the General Government throughout the portions of the country visited by me, that the mere presence of a military force, without regard to numbers, is sufficient to maintain order. The good of the country and economy require that the force kept in the interior, where there are many freedmen, (elsewhere in the Southern States than at forts upon the sea-coast no force

is necessary,) should all be white troops. The towns, and cities. In such cases I think it wil reasons for this are obvious without mentioning be found that vice and disease will tend to the many of them. The presence of black troops, extermination, or great reduction of the colore lately slaves, demoralizes labor both by their ad-race. It cannot be expected that the opinion yice and by furnishing in their camps a resort held by men at the South for years can t for the freedmen for long distances around. changed in a day; and therefore the freedme White troops generally excite no opposition, and require for a few years not only laws to protec therefore a small number of them can maintain them, but the fostering care of those who w order in a given district. Colored troops must give them good counsel, and in whom they can be kept in bodies sufficient to defend themselves. rely. It is not the thinking men who would use violence toward any class of troops sent among them by the General Government, but the ignorant in some cases might, and the late slave seems to be imbued with the idea that the property of his late master should by right belong to him, or at least should have no protection from the colored soldier. There is danger of collisions being brought on by such causes.

My observations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens of the Southern States are anxious to return to self-government within the Union as soon as possible; that while reconstructing, they want and require protection from the Government; that they are in earnest in wishing to do what they think is required by the Government, not humiliating to them as citizens, and that if such a course was pointed out they would pursue it in good faith. It is to be regretted that there cannot be a greater commingling at this time between the citizens of the two sections, and particularly of those intrusted with the law-making power.

The Freedmen's Bureau, being separate from the military establishment of the country, requires all the expense of a separate organization. One does not necessarily know what the other is doing, or what orders they are acting under. It seems to me this could be correctel by regarding every officer on duty with troops in the Southern States as agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and then have all orders from the head of the bureau sent through department commanders. This would create a responsibility that would secure uniformity of action through out all the South; would insure the orders and instructions from the head of the bureau being carried out; and would relieve from duty and pay a large number of employés of the Govern ment.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,
U. S. GRANT,
Lieutenant General

His Excellency A. JOHNSON,

President of the United States.

Voto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, February 19, 1866.

To the Senate of the United States:

I have examined with care the bill which originated in the Senate, and has been passed by the two Houses of Congress, to amend an act entitled "An act to establish a Bureau for the relief of Freedmen and Refugees," and for other purposes. Having, with much regret, come to the conclusion that it would not be consistent with the public welfare to give my approval to the measure, I return the bill to the Senate with my objections to its becoming a law.

I did not give the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau that attention I would have done if more time had been at my disposal. Conversations on the subject, however, with officers connected with the bureau lead me to think that in some of the States its affairs have not been conducted with good judgment or economy, and that the belief, widely spread among the freedmen of the Southern States, that the lands of their former owners will, at least in part, be divided among them, has come from the agents of this bureau. This belief is seriously interfering with the willingness of the freedmen to make contracts for the coming year. In some form the Freedmen's I might call to mind, in advance of these ob Bureau is an absolute necessity until civil law jections, that there is no immediate necessity for is established and enforced, securing to the freed- the proposed measure. The act to establish a men their rights and full protection. At present, bureau for the relief of freedmen and refugees, however, it is independent of the military es- which was approved in the month of March tablishment of the country, and seems to be last, has not yet expired. It was thought strinoperated by the different agents of the bureau gent and extensive enough for the purpose in according to their individual notions. Every-view in time of war. Before it ceases to have where General Howard, the able head of the bureau, made friends by the just and fair instructions and advice he gave; but the complaint in South Carolina was, that when he left things went on as before. Many, perhaps the majority, of the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau advise the freedmen that by their own industry they must expect to live. To this end they endeavor to secure employment for them, and to see that both contracting parties comply with their engagements. In some instances, I am sorry to say, the freedman's mind does not seem to be disabused of the idea that a freedman has the right to live without care or provision for the future. The effect of the belief in division of "lands is idleness and accumulation in camps,

effect, further experience may assist to guide us to a wise conclusion as to the policy to be adopted in time of peace.

I share with Congress the strongest desire to secure to the freedmen the full enjoyment of their freedom and property, and their entire independence and equality in making contracts for their labor; but the bill before me contains provisions which, in my opinion, are not warranted by the Constitution, and are not well suited to accomplish the end in view.

The bill proposes to establish, by authority of Congress, military jurisdiction over all parts of the United States containing refugees and freedmen. It would, by its very nature, apply with most force to those parts of the United States in