State of the Union | Page 7

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 by virtue of the act of Congress entitled "An act to
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," approved
August 6, 1861, the legal claims of certain persons to the labor and
service of certain other persons have become forfeited, and numbers of
the latter 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 respectively, 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 accepting such persons from such States,
according to some mode of valuation, in lieu, pro tanto, of direct taxes,
or upon some other plan to be agreed on with such States respectively;
that such persons, on such acceptance by 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 might be well to consider, too, whether the free colored people
already in the United States could not, so far 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 practiced the acquisition
of territory for nearly sixty years, the question of constitutional power
to do so is no longer an open one with us. The power was questioned at
first by Mr. Jefferson, who, however, in the purchase of Louisiana,
yielded his scruples on the plea of great expediency. If it be said that
the only legitimate object of acquiring territory 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 importance of
procuring Louisiana more on political and commercial grounds than on
providing room for population.
On this whole proposition, including the appropriation of money with
the acquisition of territory, does not the expediency amount to absolute
necessity--that without which the Government itself can not be
perpetuated ?
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 remorseless 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 pan, 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 by the insurgents, instead 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 Administration and the
message to Congress at the late special session were both mainly
devoted to the domestic 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 peaceably 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 Delaware led off right from the first. Maryland was made to
seem against the Union. Our soldiers