The
Constitution provides that the President shall, from time to time,
communicate information on the state of the Union. The message which is
now under consideration gives us very little, indeed, beyond that which
the world--less, indeed, than reading men generally--knew before it was
communicated.
What, Senators, to-day is the condition of the country? From every
corner of it comes the wailing cry of patriotism, pleading for the
preservation of the great inheritance we derived from our fathers. Is
there a Senator who does not daily receive letters appealing to him to
use even the small power which one man here possesses to save the rich
inheritance our fathers gave us? Tears are trickling down the stern
faces of men who have bled for the flag of their country, and are
willing now to die for it; but patriotism stands powerless before the
plea that the party about to come into power laid down a platform, and
that come what will, though ruin stare us in the face, consistency must
be adhered to, even though the Government be lost.
In this state of the case, then, we turn and ask, What is the character
of the Administration? What is the Executive department doing? What
assurance have we there for the safety of the country? But we come back
from that inquiry with a mournful conviction that feeble hands now hold
the reins of state; that drivelers are taken in as counselors, not
provided by the Constitution; that vacillation is the law; and the
policy of this great Government is changed with every changing rumor of
the day; nay, more, it is changing with every new phase of causeless
fear.
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