LATER AMERICAN NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXV, Issue 1613, 14 February 1866, Page 3

LATER AMERICAN NEWS.

(From the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, Dec. 6.) PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S MESSAGE. Chicago, Dec. 5. The President's message opens as follows:-— "To express gratitude to God, in the name ef the people, for the preservation of the United States, is my first duty in addressing you. Our thoughts next revert to the death of the late President, by the act of parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh, bat it finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence, by entering on a renewed terra of the chief magistracy which he had. been elected to; that he brought civil war substantially to a close; that his loss was deplored ia all parts of the Union; and that foreign nations have rendered justice to his memory. His removal cast upon me a heavier i weight of cares than ever, devolved upon any i one of my predecessors. To fulfil my trust, I need the support and confidence, of all who are associated with me in the various departments of the Government, and the support and confidence of the people. There is but one way in which I can hope to receive from them that necessary aid. It is to state will frankness the principles which will guide my conduct, and their applications to the present state of affairs." The message then discusses the powers of the Constitution of the United States, and the relations of the states of the Union. It is not right of a state government to renounce its own place in the Union, or to nullify the laws of the Union. The lorgest liberty is to be maintained in the discussion of the acts of the Federal Government; but there is no appeal from its laws except to the various branches of the Government itself, or to the people. The sovereignty of the states is the language of the Confederacy, and not the language of the Constitution. He then says :—" The true theory is, that all the pretended acts of secession were from the beginning null and void. The states cannot commit treason nor screen individual citizens who may have committed treason. The states attempting to secede placed themselves in a condition where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished. Their functions were suspended but not destroyed ; but if any state neglects or refuses to perform its offices, there is more neel that the general Government shou'd maintain all its authority, and as soon as practicable, resume the exercise of all its functions. On this principle I have acted, and have sought to restore the rightful energy of the general Government, as well as that of the states. To that end, provincial governors have been appointed for the rebellious states, conventions have been called, governor's elected, legislatures assembled, and representatives and senators chosen to the Congress of the United States. I know very well this policy is attended with some risk, and that for its success ( it requires the acquiescence of the states which it concerns that it implies an invitation to those states, by renewing allegiance to the United States, to resume their functions as states of the Union; but it is a risk that must be taken. No state can throw a defence over treason. The power of pardon is executive, vested in the Executive Governmeut of the United

States. In exercising that power, I hare taken every precaution to connect with it the clearest recognition of the binding force of the laws of the United States, and the unqualified acknowledgment of the great change of the condition in regard to slavery which has grown out of the war." Again he says All the parties in the late terrible conflict must work together in harmony. It is not too much to ask, in the name of the whole people, that on one side the plan of restoration shall proceed in conformity with a willingness to cast the disorders of the past into oblivion, and on the other, the evidence of sincerity—the future maintenance of the Union—shall be put beyond any doubt by a ratification of the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which provides for the abolition of slavery for ever within the limits of our country. The adoption of the amendment unites the United States beyond all power of disruption again. It is manifest that treason, the most flagrant in character, has been committed ; but persons who are charged with its commission should have fair and impartial trials in the highest tribunals of the country, in order that the Constitution and laws may be fully vindicated, the truth clearly established and affirmed, that traitors should be punished, and the offence made infamous ; whilst at the same time, the question may be judicially settled, finally and for ever, that no state of its own accord has the right to renounce its place in the Union." The relations of the general Government towards the four millions of inhabitants whom the war has called into freedom has engaged the serious attention of the President, more I especially on the propriety of attempting to | make the freed men .electors. In the proclaj ' mation of the executive, he took for his counsel the Constitution itself, the interpretations of that instrument by its authors and contemporaries, and the more recent legislation by congress. The President thinks the granting of the elective franchise to the freed men would have been an assumption of power which neither the Constitution nor the laws of the United States would have warranted. On the other hand, every danger of conflict is avoided whin the settlement of the question is referred to the States themselves. "In my judgment," he says, " the freed men, if they show patience and many virtues, will the sooner obtain participation in the elective franchise through the states than through the general Government, even if it had the power to intervene. Good faith requires security for the freed men in their liberty ; their right to labour, and their right to claim a part of the returns of their labour. The President urges a dispassionate treatment of this subject aloof from all party strife. The President discusses the department reports. Under the provisions of the Homestead Law, 1,160,533 acres of land were entered during the last fiscal year. On the Ist of May the total number of persons on the pension list was 85,956 —requiring for their annual pay 8,023,445d01. The revenue of the poßt-office the past year foots up 145,561 dol. 53c., and expenditure 135,947d01. 28c. By the report of the Secretary of the Navy, at the commencement of the present year there were in commission 530 vessels, armed with 3000 guns, manned by 51,000 men. The number of vessels now in commission is 117, with 830 guns, 12,128 men. By the report of the Secretary of War, the military force on the Ist of May was 1,000,516 npen. Over 800,000 of these men have been mustered out, and the department is still-rapidly reducing the number. The war estimates have decreased from 516,240,231d01. to 33,814,461d01., which amount, in the opinion of the department, is adequate for the peace establishment. The President discusses the financial question at length. He recommends the people to be constantly on their guard to liquidate the debts contracted by a paper currency, and by conducting business as nearly as possible on a cash basis, or short credit, to hold themselves prepared to return to a specie standard. The gradual reduction of the currency is the only measure that can save the business of the couutry from disastrous calamities. It is estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury that the expenditure for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1866, will exceed the receipt 112,194,957d015. It is gratifying, however, to state that it is also estimated that the revenue for the year ending the 30th June, 1867, will.* exceed the expenditure by the sum of 111,632,818d01. This amount, or so much as may be deemed sufficient for the purpose, may be applied to the reduction- of the public debt, which, on the 3lst October, 1863, was 2,740,854,750 dol. In regard to our relations with GreatJ Britain, the Presidenthas declined the proposition of that power for the formation of a joint commission to settle the mutual claims between the two countries. The President closes with a virtual affirmation of the Monroe doctrine. The correspondence between the United States and France on the subject, at a proper time, will be laid before Congress. It is stated that the report of the Secretary of the Navy places special stress on the necessity of making the navv-yard at Mare Island equal to the first depot in the Union. It is estimated that he will recommend that a depot be established on Puget Sound. The question of the claim of the Hudson Bay Company for lands in Washington territory is adverted to in various stite papers ; but from the extravagant demands of the company, there is little prospect of our Government acceding thereto. The San Juan Island question is considered settled, as the authorities at Victoria, V. 1., have made the products of that island foreign. This Act is accepted as a virtual withdrawal of British claims to the territory.

(From the Argus, Jan. 30.)

The Kadosh, from San Francisco, brings 760 tons of wheat and 320 quarter-sacks of flour. She has papers to the 4th of December. She reports the Japan loading for Melbourne ; the Constance, for Auckland ; and a barque for Sydney. The latest quotations were— flour, 6 dols. to 7 dols. ; wheat, 2 dol. to 2£ dols. : but the markets were weakening; oats, 1 dol. 50 c. to 1 dol. 60 c.", and firm ; barley, 1 dol. to 1 dol. 10 c. The produce markets generally were dull. The latest dates from New York are to the Ist of December. President Johnson is much displeased wilh the elections in North Carolina. He writes to GovernorHolden, threatening to keep the affairs of that State unsettled until the action Of the people is more consonant to the President's reconstruction policy. General Grant has publicly expressed himself opposed to Maximilian, whose advent, he says, was part of the rebellion ; and as France did not ask America's consent thereto, neither should France be consulted without restoring the Republican Goveri ment. He protests against France interfering, unless to involve herself in war with the United States. 4 - . All coloured troops are being removed to garrisons along the sea-coast. Grant favours keeping 75,000 men, in a regular standing Sickles has succeeded Gilmore as Governor of Charleston and commander of South Carolina. The President has restored habeas corpus throughout the Union, except in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Columbia, New Mexico, and Arizona.