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 82.9 
 

Bar .ibra*y 
 
 GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 iltlUlTitJ iSSHHY OF UTAH 
 
 GENTLEMEN or THE COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF 
 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRRRITORY OF 
 UTAH: 
 
 The appointment of the President of the 
 United States having devolved upon me the 
 powers of Governor of this Territory, I now 
 have the honor of addressing to you my first 
 Executive message. The recent date of my 
 appointment, and my arrival here only three 
 days since, will, of necessity, render very im- 
 perfect what I may say to you, either by 
 way of information of the state of affairs in 
 this Territory, or of recommendation of meas- 
 ures of legislation; hence, I shall postpone 
 the consideration of much local matter for a 
 Bpecial communication, if necessary, and de- 
 vote the most of the message to a review of 
 the causes of the war which now is devasta- 
 ting our land, trusting that what I may say 
 may not be regarded as idle words by this re- 
 mote colony of people of the United Stated. 
 
 I come[among you,the people of Utah,as one 
 of you, to make this my home; and though 
 a stranger to you, I have the earnest desire 
 and hope, which are stimulants of strenuous 
 effort on my part,that our now brief acquaint- 
 ance may ripen into one of mutual respect and 
 confidence, promotive alike of the honor and 
 welfare of the United States, and of the beet 
 interests of the people of Utah. 
 
 I enter on the discharge of my duties, as 
 the representative of Federal authority in this 
 Territory, at an eventful period in th history 
 of the United States. You, in common with 
 the people of the whole civilized world, are 
 now looking upon the painful spectacle of the 
 people of this American Federal Union at war 
 with each other. The noblest structure of 
 political government ever created by the 
 wants, or devised by the wisdom of men, 
 is passing through the ordeal of civil war. 
 Eleven of the slave-holding States, have open- 
 ly repudiated the authority of the Federal 
 
 Constitution, and are now attempting, by 
 force of arms, to establish an independent na- 
 tional government, und^r the name of '-The 
 Confederate States of America," into which 
 a desperate and powerful, if not a numerous, 
 minority of the people of Kentucky, Missouri 
 and Maryland, are endeavoring to draw those 
 slave-holding States. 
 
 It is, perhaps, unnecessary for me to en- 
 large upen what is probably already known 
 to you, of the origin and progress of the war. 
 I may, however, enumerate as among its 
 causes: First Different systems of labor 
 and social life in the slave-holding S ates, 
 involving essentially d fferent opinions as to 
 the morality ad expediency of the domestic 
 slavery of the African race. In the North- 
 ern States, productive labor, which is the 
 basis of the material prosperity of society, is 
 free and honorable- its way is legally unob- 
 structed to wealth and honor. In the South- 
 ern States, labor is mainly servile or enslaved 
 and, therefore, degraded. 
 
 Second Conflict of sectional interests; the 
 most populous and wealthy portions of the 
 Northern States desiring to favor their com- 
 mercial and manufacturing interests, which 
 are predominant, by protective tariffs against 
 foreign manufactures. The Southern States, 
 on the other hand, whose interests are mainly- 
 agricultural, aiming to develop their agricul- 
 tural wealth by freedom of trade; and each 
 endeavoring to make the Federal Government 
 auxiliary to its own sectional policy. 
 
 Third Antagonistic political theories, co- 
 eval with the formation of the Federal Union, 
 in regard to Federal and State rights; the 
 Northern States having generally practically 
 accepted the theory which recognizes the su- 
 premacy of the Federal Government, as a na- 
 tional government, created by the people of 
 the United States as one nation; and the 
 Southern States having at generally adopted 
 
that theory of the Constitution, kn wn as the 
 strict construction or State's Rights theory, 
 which holds the Constitution to be a com- 
 pact or league between co-equal sovereign 
 States, united in a confederacy not consoli- 
 dated under a national government. The 
 ladical substantial difference be weenie tws 
 theories may perhaps be summed up in these 
 words: The people "of the Northern States 
 generally regard their allegiance to the Fed- 
 eral Government, as paramount to their alle- 
 piance to their State Governments. While 
 the people of the Southern States, as eeneral- 
 ly hold that their allegiance to their States 
 is superior to their all'giance to the Federal 
 Government. Hence a Northern man regards 
 his S ate as having no political sovereign 
 rights, except as a member of the Federal 
 Union. And that, therefore; the secession of 
 i State fioia the Unlbn, or its resistance of 
 Federal authority, is an act of rebellion or 
 revolution to be put: down by the strong arm 
 of Federal powerjwhereas, a Southern State's- 
 jiehts man considers his State as having po- 
 litical rights and severeignty, above and in- 
 dependent of the Federal Union; and that-, 
 therefore, it may, for cause to be determ ; ned 
 by its own discretion, withdraw from the 
 Union, or resist its authority, without afford- 
 ing just cause of war upon it. 
 
 It is deeply to be deplored that differences 
 so radical should exist among the people of 
 the United States, for their tendency is to im- 
 pftir f .he harmony of feeling and unity of in- 
 terest and purpose, which are essential to the 
 full developmejit of the national prosperity and 
 power. No wise man who surveys the magni- 
 ficent and imperial territory upon which the 
 Providence of God has placed the people of tke 
 United States, can fail to believe that they 
 should remain one nation and one people; it 
 may be one from Tmany, but yet one among 
 the nations, and that their true interests and 
 glery are in unity and peace. But deplorable 
 as the differences are, that have resulted in 
 civil war, they do exist, and it is a historic 
 truth that they did exist co-eval with the for- 
 mation of the Federal Union and Constitu- 
 tion. In the convention of wise and patriotic 
 men, who formed the Federal Constitution of 
 1787, thest differences constituted the most 
 serious obstacles to the framing of the Con- 
 stitution, and, afterwards, to its adoption by 
 the people. Had the councils of men of ex- 
 treme and violent opinions prevailed, and the 
 jealousy between some of the States been fos- 
 tered, and the assertion of their separate sov- 
 ereignty been carried to its natural result s, 
 the American States, after having nobly 
 struggled to a glorious success through the 
 se-ven years war for independence, instead of 
 forming the union which gave them strength 
 
 and dignity, and started them upon a career 
 of matchless prosperity, would have been 
 divided into petty States, without rational re- 
 sources, without national dignity and, 1 power, 
 and ever at the mercy of foreign foe* and of 
 the British Empire against which their united 
 struggle had given them success. But the mer* 
 to whom the destiny of the United States was 
 committed at the close of the war of the Rev- 
 olution, were Patriots and Statesmen. They 
 were men of large hearts and clear heads.*- 
 They plainly saw the dangers which threat^ 
 ened to divide the States, and they sought to 
 avoid them. They therefore mutually dis- 
 carded sectional views and jealousies, and 
 brought to the formation of the Federal Con- 
 stitution "a spirit of amity, and the mutual 
 deference and concession which the peculiarity of 
 their political situation rend(red indisgensiblej* 
 They did not urge differences of opinion or 
 comflicting interests to their logical result's^ 
 they conceded they yielded they comprom- 
 ised. The Constitution, the work of 
 their hands, was based on compromise. 
 The jealousy between large ar.d small 
 States was compromised by giving to each 
 State equal representation in the Senate, and 
 numerical representation in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives. The differences between the- 
 advocates of a strong national government 
 on- the one hand, and a limited federal govern- 
 ment, wi'h strictly denned powers, on the- 
 other, were compromised by making a gov- 
 ernment partly national and partly federal. 
 As to all its external and foreign relations, 
 the government became a national one. In 
 its internal relations, it remained federal, 
 each State retaining its sovereignty and in- 
 dependence, as to all its local and internal 
 concerns. The differences of anti-slavery 
 men and of the advocates of slavery were re- 
 conciled by fixing a period when the Congress 
 should have power to terminate the foreign 
 slave-trade, which was a subject within the 
 legitimate scope of national legislation, and 
 by virtually recognizing slarery, without 
 naming the words slavery or slaves, as the 
 creatuie of local law, and by leaving slavery 
 in the States as the Constitution found it 
 a domestic institution the subject of local 
 or State, not of Federal, legislation. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wise compromises of 
 the Constitution, it was not to be expected 
 that the causes which produced diversity of* 
 opinions and difficulty in framing the Federal 
 Government, would wholly cease to operate 
 with the growth and prosperity of the nation. 
 The experience of human nature gave no 
 guaranty of so benign a result. Brave and 
 patriotic and intelligent,as they proved them- 
 se ves to be in the establishment of their in- 
 dependence and in forming their system of- 
 
3 
 
 government, the American people had no 
 claim to immunity from the general failings 
 of men. Wise as was the plan of government 
 they adopted, they were liable to depart from 
 its spirit, and thus impair its efficiency, and 
 endanger its existence. There was, however, 
 strong hope in patriotic men tkat the wisde-m 
 of tee people, the practical good e-ense -char- 
 acteristic of the race, would, always prevent 
 the caus s o? jealousy and dissention between 
 different sections ef the Union froifi comiiig 
 into angry collision and overleaping the limits 
 -and safeguards -of their self-created Constitu- 
 tion. In this hope, there has been diappoirat- 
 ment. Tne people of theUnited States ha^e not 
 ^proved themselves to be as wise as the fathers 
 ,of the Republic hoped they would be. Pisr-e- 
 garding the injunctions of Washington in his 
 farewell.&ddress, and the teachirgo of his il- 
 Justrous cpmpeers; disregarding the sacred 
 compromise of the Constitution itself, *nen 
 indifferent sections of the Union hive not 
 ailed,reckl<rss of consequences, to u-rge radical 
 opinions upon various qu-estiens of policy, 
 espec'al y the question of domestic slavery, 
 that could not but terminate,when thus urged, 
 in the formation of sectional parties, and a 
 .consequent destruction ef th-e harmori}) and 
 Eioral power of the Union, which are the main 
 elements of its p rpetuity. 
 
 It is not my purpose to take a partizan, but 
 Si dispassionate and p .triotic view of our na- 
 iional troubles, and in doir g so I would falsify 
 the truth of history shoul I I fail to say that 
 ^neither the Northern people ner the Southern 
 -people are whoWy free from blaiiie for the 
 4,'reat evil that has come upon the ration. 
 Upon a questien like that of slavery which 
 <has beea the most prominent among the 
 causes distu bing the harmony of the Union; 
 A question involving moral, religious, s cial 
 and political considerations, concerning which 
 wise and good men in different ages have 
 avidely differed,it was r.t wise for men in either 
 jsec'ion of th? Union to assume to be wholly 
 -right and their opponents wholly wrong, 
 ior wise to allow differences of opinion 
 4o ri> en into a sechional party spirit and 
 hatred, si intense and rancorous that they 
 .us ;rped fetee throne of reason, and incapacita- 
 ted men from seeing meaauree and events, ex- 
 cept as through a glass d tr-kly. The &tmG3- 
 j;here of passion is -ever an unsafe medium 
 through which to look either upon men or 
 things. The Federal Constitution had dea5t 
 with ;he subject of slavery as a pili'ical one, 
 in the spirit of compromise aad it was the 
 duty of all men loyal t the Constitution to 
 continue so ' 'ieal wi h it. It was n^t, there- 
 fore, well for the people of either section, to 
 give'keed and influence f o the sayings of men 
 of extreme opinions in regard to it. The for- 
 
 mation of a political party in the Northern 
 States, upon the distinct basis of hostility to 
 slavery, insignificant as that party was in its 
 beginning, was ominous of evil. The people 
 should have foreseen that beneath the rending 
 and disintegrating power of such <i wedge of 
 disunion., the Federal Ui.ion, tbo-igh strong as 
 gnarled oak, must eventually be rent asunder. 
 It has been a cardinal e-ror ef the people of 
 the Northern States, towards their Souther?! 
 bre'hren, to permit a faEitkal abolition partv 
 in the North to enlarge its borders and 
 strengthen its stakes, and to gain political 
 consequence and power, un'il th t opinion has 
 been created among the Southern people that 
 tke whole Northern mind is imbued with bit- 
 ter hostility to the Southern people, and a de- 
 termination to destroy, threap h ;he interven- 
 tion of Federal pjwer, the Southern domestic 
 ins itution of negre s-rvitucl-e. Influenced by 
 this opinion, Union loving men of the South- 
 ern States .h we been led to the conclusion 
 that the ha-mony of the Union was forever -at 
 an end, and to lo jfk ? almost without regret, 
 upon the prospect of its d ^solution, an idea 
 once utterly repulsive to tke whele American 
 mind. On the other hand, impartial justice 
 demands that I shou'd say, that the people ci. ! 
 the South, sensitive, hot blooded, impulsive, 
 and fond of ru-le, instigated and misled by ani- 
 bitious political leaders, have been too muc.ii 
 disposed too sc.-ff at and defy the intelligent 
 moral sentiment of the Northern people on 
 the subject ef slavery, and to force them by 
 arrogant anl insolent denunciation, to for- 
 mally approve, as a political and social good, 
 what they firmly believe to be a political and 
 social evil. The people ef the South have un- 
 wisely claimed a political importance and 
 powerfor their domestic institution <*f slavery, 
 not belonging to it. Tiiey have claimed ri.^lr,* 
 for it under the Federal Constitution wuu-i. 
 tke Constitution does not award to it. In tin- 1 , 
 the people of neither section have been UH 
 ling, as to this exciting question of sla\ei), 
 to let each other alone, a-'d in the spirit " 
 mutual forbearance and kindness and natiou-i I 
 brotherhoed to pursue the even tenor of their 
 way, rach conten' to form and regulate its 
 domestic institutions in its own way, subject 
 only to the Constitution of (he United States. 
 From year to y j ar, for many years past, 
 the disharmony of the Federal Union, 
 growing out of the s ibjeci; of slavery and the 
 other causes of difference to which i have x a!- 
 luded, has been increasing, en-'onragedS by 
 abolitionists at the North ana the u Ha slavery 
 men rf the South. Against th s agitation the 
 wisest and best men of the Republic have 
 manfully con: ended. The stuggle of 1820, in 
 regard to the admission of Missouri into the 
 Union, a struggle which shook th Union tfi 
 
its center as with the throes of dissolution, 
 was safely passed by a compromise, whole- 
 some at the time, but not, as the result has 
 shown, resting upon a permanent self-adjust- 
 ing principle, adapted to all future cases that 
 in ght arise with the expansion of national 
 territory and the changing relations of States. 
 The next great struggle was that resulting in 
 the Compromise Measure of 1850, wi'h which 
 the history of your own Territory is identified. 
 Your organic law was one of theseCompromise 
 measures, and it bears the impress of the 
 minds of the great s f atemen Clay, Webster 
 and Douglas, whose voices were potent in the 
 national S -nate, but are now hushed in death. 
 It recogn'zes the right of a people of an or- 
 ganized Territory ( o exercise their legislative 
 powers up. n all rightful subjects of legisla- 
 tion, consistent with the Constitution of the 
 United St tes, and to be admitted as a State 
 into the Union with or without slavery asj.heir 
 Constitution may prescribe at the time of 
 their admission. 
 
 The Compromise of 1850 was of vital mo- 
 ment to you, if I may say f o, the peculiar 
 peop'e of Utah, for it embraced a principle 
 upon which you seized as a protection to you 
 in your right of conscience, and in the for- 
 mation and regu'ation of your own domestic 
 and social polity, so long aa it conforms to 
 republican principles of government and to 
 the supreme law of the Federal Constitution. 
 It is, however, to be observed that as under 
 the name of liberty many unblushing crimes 
 have been committed, so under the docrine of 
 the sovereignty of the people of a S ate or 
 Territory, excesses may be attempted which 
 were never con'emp'ated by the framers of 
 the Constitution of the United States, to be 
 guarded against and destructive of the great 
 ends of government; h nee, under such cir- 
 cumstance-? it should be the duty of Congress 
 to act pro re nata more with reference to the 
 equity of the case than to the question of the 
 legality or constitutionality of the power to be 
 exercised, a course which will be found in- 
 dispensable t<> the main'enance of internal 
 peace, concord a> d justice, each of which is 
 an element of Unio-i. 
 
 The Compromise of 1^50 met the approval 
 of the nation, except perhaps thi small mi- 
 nority of men of radical opinions, with whom 
 agitation and controversy are ever congenial 
 elements, and to whose political mportance 
 they are necessi ies. It seemed to bring back 
 and settle the admin'stration of the govern- 
 ment, upon the principle of con promise by 
 which the Consti ution itself wa- formed. It 
 distinctly recognized as the true solution of 
 1he quest'on of siave-y, and of all other ques 
 tions o? domestic or local policy in the Stat -s 
 and Territories- the prncipie that each 
 
 State and Territory should decide for itself, 
 independent of the will or action of Congress, 
 what local or domestic institutions, consistent 
 with\the nation's or%anic'Jaw t the people st.ould 
 have. 
 
 The Compromise measure of 1850 worked 
 well, but it did not satisfy u'tra men North or 
 South. Their fiery and intolerant zeal could 
 not be calmed even by that great and wise 
 measure of peace. Therefore to carry out to 
 what he bel.eved to be the logical and proper 
 resuPsthe principle of the Compromise Meas- 
 ure of 1850, and to establish a principle upon 
 which all Territories of the United States 
 should thereafter be organized, and to put an 
 end to the agitation in Congress, or as a 
 question of Federal policy, on the subject of 
 slavery in the national Territories, Senator 
 Douglas, of Illinois, introduced into the or- 
 ganic laws of Kansas and Nebraska, in 1854, 
 a distinct declaration of the intention of Con^ 
 gress not to legislate slavery into any State 
 or Territory, nor to exclude it therefrom, but 
 to leave the peojle 'hereof perfectly free to 
 form and regulate their domestic institutio s 
 in their own way, subject only to theConstitu- 
 tion of the United States. This was as clear 
 and comprehensive a declaration of the sov- 
 ereignity of the the people of theTerritories of 
 the United States, over their own 1< cal af- 
 fairs, as any well meaning people cordially 
 loyal to the Federal Constitution could desire. 
 To remove every obstacle to the freo aetioji of 
 this great principle of democraticgovernment, 
 the 8th section of the act of Congress of 
 March 6th, 1820, kno vn as the Missou i Com- 
 promie, which prohibited sla\ery nor h of 
 latitude 36? 30; r, was declared inoperative 
 and void, and as inconsistent with the princi- 
 ple of non-intervention by Congress witli 
 slavery in the States aad Territories, as recog- 
 nized by the compromise legislation of 1850. 
 
 A measure so radical and far-reaching, in-, 
 volving the abrogation of the time-honored 
 Missouri Compromise restriction, was not at 
 once clearly and fully understood by the peoi 
 pie, and it therefo. e so greaMy agitated tl\& 
 public mind, an 1 met with such bold and vig-. 
 orous opposition in the north as to make even 
 the friends of the great p inciple doubt the 
 propriety of introducing so suddenly a mea- 
 sure so s j arc ! ing in its consequences. I need 
 not say that I was among the opponents of the 
 abrogation of that "restriction," because the 
 pait es to the compromise could not be remits 
 ted to their former staiu = j but as the true ra-. 
 lat on of the great principle of popu'ar right 
 as embodied in the Ka sas and Nebraska act, 
 to the subject of slavery, vas developed, the 
 opposition thereto lost force, and the peo le 
 virtually endorsed the measure by the election, 
 of Mr. Buchanan in I85tj. 
 
5 
 
 History hag not yet fully pronounced her 
 impartial verdict upon the wisdom of the 
 Kansas-Nebraska act of legislation of 1854, 
 but fair-minded men of all parties are rap dly 
 coming to the conclusion, aside from the un- 
 fortunate embitterinents it created by the re- 
 peal of the Mis ouri Compromise, that it af- 
 forded the best practical disposition by Con- 
 gress of an exciting and dangerous ques ion, 
 one which threatened the longevity o" our in- 
 stitutions. This assertion is confirm j d by the 
 fact that the party of the Administration now 
 in power, which was organiz d and triumph- 
 ed upon tne basis of congressional prohibi ion 
 of slavery in national territory, by its ma- 
 joaty in Cong; ess this v ry year, organized 
 the territories of Nevada, Colorado and Da- 
 cotah substantially on the very prine p'e <..f 
 congressional non-intervention with slavery, 
 v/hic'i v/ s the distinctive fatu e of tiie Kan- 
 eas-Nebraska act of 1854 
 
 Had the principles of that act been ceneral'y 
 approved, and fairly carried out, without in- 
 terference from the Federal Government, then 
 under the adm nistration of P esid nt Buchan- 
 an, it can not be doubted that the civil war 
 that now clothes th^ land n mourning, would 
 have been avoided. Bat it was not to be. 
 Men of s rong anti-si i-ery opinions ia the 
 north, vvhohad I oked upon the Kansas act as 
 r.n instrume .t by which slavery was o be in- 
 troduced into Kansas, --et to work, even pend- 
 ing die passage of that act, to till up that 
 territory byt'ree imrnigran s from the nor-h^rn 
 States, white on the other hand, political 
 le ders in tie south, who had honed by the 
 Kansas act for the same result which no: 
 rn'Ti feared, s ; t <,n foot a movement from 
 Misscud and other slave-hoi dug States, to 
 possess thcmsolvos of political p.wer in Kan- 
 sas, so as to establish slavery there. These 
 opposing tides of immigration, or inv ..:<u-ion, as 
 it in part i.i:;vUt be j islly calle.i, led on by 
 v olent, and in many caaes lawless men on 
 both sides, soon came in collision on the plain? 
 of Ki:isas, and the Kinsas c.i il war was he 
 result. 
 
 I:, is due to truth to say thai, in the con- 
 flict of opposing forces, the southern leaders 
 were able to command the aid of Mr. Buchan- 
 an's Administration. Its ; ower and patron- 
 age were unscrupulously b. ought to 'bear to 
 Btreng-h n the siave-holdin interest in mak- 
 ing Kuisas a slave State. This bold and b* i 
 attempt in the interest of s avery, and in th-e 
 face of its o ganic law, to over-ride the popu- 
 lar will of the people of Kansas, signally 
 and justly failed. The attempt an ; its fa lu e 
 clem 'ralized the Democratic parry, the most 
 powerful political party known to American 
 history, and at the same time co ..bi ed in 
 formidable union wi h iiia great Republican 
 
 party of 18GO, the at'ti-slavery opinion of the 
 north. With 'he defeat of their cherished hope 
 of forcing slavery into the national territories 
 by means of the abrogation of the Mi sourt 
 Compromise and the Died Scott decision, the 
 ambitious political leaders of the south saw- 
 that the sceptre of th-ir political power had 
 departed, and they became desperate and 
 treasonable. 
 
 Unable to defeat the nomination for Presi- 
 dent, of Mr. Douglas the champion of p :pu- 
 lar sovereignty and the acKnowledgcci leader 
 of the northern democracy, by the Charleston 
 convention of 1800 the southern faction with 
 the co-operation < a few northern a ! lies, 
 divid d the Democrat c par'y and prepared 
 the way, not only for the success of the oppo- 
 sition at the north, but for the dissolution of 
 the Federal Unnn. 
 
 Tiie conspiracy to destroy the Democratic 
 pirty and Senator D -uglas was successful. 
 The Noithn'ii Democracy stood faithfully by 
 its brave and patriotic leader, and most of the 
 Free S ates st .'od by the patriotic leader of 
 the Republican party Abrah-.m Lincoln, and 
 his party trium, lied. The event was seized 
 as a pretext for open treason, a.-id was soon 
 fo'lov/ed by the secession of South Carolii :. 
 ajid other Blast-holding States, and the open- 
 ing of civil war in the bombardment of Fort 
 Sumte r . 
 
 F esh from the excitement of the great cam- 
 paign of 18 ,0, >.h-j p rty in power, flushed in 
 with success, an.i the secession leaders of t:ie 
 South, desperate with disappointment and de- 
 feat, were neither in tha mood to survey caim- 
 ly the- angry sea of natio al affairs. The 
 spirit of co > prom'se the guardian genius of 
 the u iiy of the nation and is constitution, 
 was for a time discarded or unheeded. Be- 
 iwe n the secess on of South Carolina and the 
 fail of Fort Sumter, a few noble and manly 
 effort-* were made in Congress and in the 
 Peace Conference of 1861, to r -enthrone com- 
 promise and to stay the swelling tide that was 
 bearing the nation to the yawning abyss of 
 civil war, but they were in v*in. The enraged 
 sea roiied no'c back when Canute gave com- 
 iv: and, and the Pow r that rules the pea and 
 the storm, and holds the nations In the i oilow 
 of His hand, was too strong for even the 
 efforts of wisdom and patri tism to stay liLs 
 purposes. For wise purposes whi h his 01 y 
 will revea 1 , Provi lonce . has permitted tLe 
 American people to be tried in (he furnac. o!! 
 affliction, which is now heated for them. 
 
 There can be no difference of opinion *m -ng 
 men, unbiassed by passion or prejudice, as lo 
 where re^.ts the responsibi ity of beginning 
 tu s civil war. Whatever may be on-' opinion 
 of the fol y and violence of aboiit on sts m 
 the Nortli-^-or p.o-siaveiy u.ejiiii Lh 
 
6 
 
 up to the hour when the national banner came 
 down before the guns of the Confederate 
 States, at Fort Sumter, the Federal Govern- 
 ment had been void of offence towards the 
 South in regard to its peculiar ins itution of 
 slavery. It had fulfilled all its constitutional 
 obligations to them even if it had not gone 
 beyond them as in the case of Kansas, in the 
 interest of slaveholders, and in no respect had 
 the South sustained any wrong at the hands 
 of the Northen people, but what could have 
 better been remedied by calm and kind ap- 
 peals to the intelligence and justice cr Nor- 
 then majorities, under the forms and within 
 the jurisdiction of the Constitution, than by a 
 dissolution of the Federal Union, and an ap- 
 peal to arms in the ordeal of civil \v*r. 
 
 Attacked, as it was, by op r n and Avowed 
 rebellion, the Federal Government the trus- 
 tee of the whole nation and the representative 
 of its power and glory before the world 
 could not but stand upon its defence, and re- 
 pel force by force. To have admitted by 
 passive acquiescence, in the attemp ed with- 
 drawal of the cotton States, the doctrine of 
 secession as a constitutional right of any 
 State would have be^n an act of imb cility 
 in the Government, worse than suicide. It 
 would have been a victual abdication of gov- 
 ernmental power, and treason to theAmerican 
 peopl . The Government could not, wi'hout 
 degradation and dishonor, do otherwise 
 than defend itself. This is its true position. 
 The war, so far a* the Federal Government 
 is concerned, is a war to defend the national 
 existence and Constituti n; not to change the 
 Constitution not to subvert the Federal sys- 
 tem of Government not to abolish African 
 slavery, nor to interfere with the social and 
 domestic institutions of the people of any of 
 the States or Territories not to subvert the 
 sovereignty < f Spates and hold them as con- 
 quered provinces not to wantonly de<, as ato 
 and destroy. The Government must discharge 
 its high and holy duty to tho American people 
 of maintaining the government given th j m by 
 f heir f .ther?, by compelling rebellion (by the 
 strong pow r it has madly invoked) to lay 
 down its arm 3 , end yield to season and the 
 authority (f the nation's fundamental 'aw. 
 This be assured, men of Utah, is the h : gh 
 pu-pose which gu des the policy and measures 
 of the Federal Administration, and nerves 
 the h-inds and hearts of the men who follow 
 the banner of the Union. The Government 
 is fully aw ke to its mighty responsibility-, 
 and it will mari'ully meet it in the fear of God 
 and in confidence of h s aid. Men of Utah, 
 are you ready -o assis ? 
 
 The war, thus developed by even's frnn the 
 causes which I have s atr-d,has in fact begun. 
 It n no mean contest. The r. bellion or revo- 
 
 lution, by whatever name men see fit to c'.ll 
 it, is one of giant proportions. It is backed by 
 the power of ten millions of people, whom 
 their leaders represent to be of one mind to 
 carry it forward- to success. On the other 
 hnnd, the rebellion is met in the spirit of an 
 earnest and determined patriotism by over 
 twenty millions of free people, intelligent, 
 brave, rich in material resources and power of 
 war, strong in moral power, and resolved as 
 with one will, in the strength of God and their 
 own power, that the Federal Un ; or., the na- 
 tional life the issue of a struggle in which 
 heroic hearts shed their blood like water 
 must and shall be preserved. Men of 
 Utah, do you 1 ke this resolution? If 
 need be three millions of stalwart mpii 
 stand ready, upon Northern soil, to assume 
 arms and to ccnnuer or die in defence of a 
 government whose existence, up to the hour 
 \\hen lawless ambition struck at its life, was 
 the the glory and the hops of the civilized 
 nations of the earth. Men of Utah! are you 
 re<uly to join that host? 
 
 A'treasonable attempt has been made by 
 parricidal hands to destroy a government 
 based in clear acknowiedgtne t of the univer- 
 sal rights and intelligent capacity of man for 
 self government a government wb/ch, while 
 it hoi s in itself the material and moral pow r 
 of a puissant nation to build up or to destr y, 
 to attack or def =nd, has yet even in its opera- 
 tio s and influences upon its people, been as 
 ge> tie and beneficent as the genial r. ys of the 
 sun or tho dews that distil from evening air 
 upon the earth on which they fall. 
 
 "The g~eat question now before the Ame i- 
 can people and the world is. shall this great 
 and beneficent government, whose name and 
 flag have been a shield to its people all over 
 the earth, and a hope to the cppresse i of all 
 nations, bo now destroyed by th- hands of its 
 own sons? Shall it go down amid the horrors 
 and desolation of civil war, leaving only the 
 blackness of ashes to mark where it stood; or 
 shall it f merge and rise in renewed strength 
 and beauty from the clouds and darkness that 
 rest upon it? Shall it, or no*:, as the Holy 
 Word describes the Christian Church, once 
 more come up out of the wilderness, fair 
 as the nun, clear as the moon, and 
 terrible as an army with bamiprs. Men 
 of Utah! what answer will yo\i mak>? 
 Why need I ask you where you stand on this 
 g r eat question? He-e, in this peaceful valley, 
 which you, by wonderful p rseverance and in- 
 dustry, have reclaimed from a state of na'ure, 
 and innde its s'erile plains blossom as the 
 rose, as few peop'e on earth could, and for 
 which you are entitled to the thanks of tho 
 nation here, far removed from the scenes of 
 conflict, wh re your brethren and fellow citi- 
 
zena are ruthlessly shedding each other's 
 blood, you can not but look with deep, earnest 
 interest upon the struggle and its final nsu't. 
 United, as you are, in the bonds of a peculiar 
 faith and social life, which has, in a measure, 
 separated you, as a peculiar people, from your 
 American brethren, you aie yet bound to them 
 by the ties of kinHred, language and country, 
 and the recogni Jon and worship of the same 
 Divine Father and Lo-dand Savior Jesus 
 Christ. You are a people of the United 
 States, and I was rejoiced to hear how 
 you stand affected toward the Fed ral Gov- 
 ernment the Unt n and tbe Constitution. 
 In tbe city of Washington, a few weeks ago, 
 it was my pleasure to read t!;e first dispatch 
 of the President of the Mormon Church, the 
 sentiment of which was correct, and a 'so 
 about the same time to read anoth-r from the 
 then Acting - Govern r the Hon. Frank 
 Fuller, which signified the loyal faith of this 
 people to the great Federal Government. 
 This important message, on the lightning's 
 wings, ws but a confirmation o! 1 prev ous ut- 
 terances of Ex- Governor Brigham Young, ex- 
 pre?sive of his h gh appreciation of the Con- 
 stitution of the United States. He had before 
 s id: 
 
 "I want t n say to everv man, the Constitu.- 
 tion of the Uni ed States, as framed by our 
 fatb.es s, was revealed was put into their 
 hearts by the Almighty, who sits enthroned 
 in the midst of the heavens; although un- 
 known to 'hem, -it was dictated by the revela- 
 tions of Jesus Christ, and I tel! you, in the 
 name of Jesus Chris*-, it is as good as I 
 could ever ask for. I say unto you, magnify 
 the laws. Th^re ia no law in the United States, 
 or in the Constitution, but I am ready to make 
 h no-able." 
 
 It confirmed also the words another of your 
 eminent men, General D. H Wells, when, in 
 speaking of i.he sentiments of the Mormon 
 people towards t: e Un ted St tes, he said: 
 
 "That country that Const tu'ion those 
 institutions were ail ours: they are st ; ll onrs. 
 Our fath is weie heroes of the Revolution. 
 Under the rnastr spirits of an Adams, a Jef- 
 ferson, a Washington, thry declared and 
 maintained their independence; and under the 
 guidance of the Spirit of Truth they fulfilled 
 their miss on, whoreanto they were sent from 
 the presence of t!:e Father." 
 
 And again, he said in your behalf: 
 
 "IS'ever! no, never, will we desert our coun- 
 try's cause; ii' ver wiii \ve be found arrayed on 
 the side of her enemi s, although she herself 
 may cherish them in her bosom; although she 
 may launch forth the thunderbolts of war, 
 which may return and spend th?ir fury upon 
 her own head. Never! no, never, will we per- 
 mit the weakness of human nature to tiiumph 
 
 over our 1 ve of country, our devotion to frer 
 institutions, handed down to us by our honor- 
 ed sir- s, and m de dear by a thousand tender 
 recollections." 
 
 And now that thecoun'ryis still the same 
 the Constitution the same the i etitutions 
 the sam^ all ' urs, and a state of war ex'sta 
 will you not be found arrayed on the sule of 
 that Constitution that Union that Govern- 
 ment "revealed and put into the hearts of our 
 fathers by the Almighty?" 
 
 Belie- ing that such noble sentiments of pa- 
 triotism animated the breasts of the people of 
 Utah. I underto -.k the long and tedious jour- 
 ney which has brought me here to your iso- 
 lated home amoim the mountains of Deser^t, 
 trusting that I should find here the same faith, 
 and hopo, and love for the Federal Union, its 
 Constitution, and its laws, as animate the 
 hearts and i.erve the arms of my own people of 
 Indiana, nearly forty -'housand <f whose 
 youth are already scattered from Missouri 'o 
 the Atlantic coast, under art; s for the n tion's 
 defence; ai.d that nob'e State is prepared to 
 triple, on the field of battle, the number of 
 her sons, when the nation's need calls for 
 them. 
 
 If wisdom and tru* patriotism, and f !e 
 sp rit of enlightened C ristain human! y, con- 
 tinue to gu rd the policy of tho Federal gov- 
 ernment in the conduct of t! e war, as 
 there is i>o doubt they will do, there 
 can be no question of i s final result. T-in- 
 porary reverses to the Federal arms, afford 
 no cdterion of the ultimate victory; that must 
 be with tbe str: ngf j st arm, Sustained as it is 
 by the right. Weary of a contest, ho-eiess 
 as it ia disastrous, the peopl-j of :he South, 
 seeing by the course of the Federal Govern- 
 ment that it has no design in the war to do 
 aurhtbut maintain the rightful authority and 
 dignity of the Constitution, and learning that 
 they have been wickedly misled by designing 
 men, will ultimately, and ere Ion , lay down 
 their arms and be conteir, nay, gitfd, to take 
 their old places in the Union, co-equal 
 sharers in all the rights &nd powers incident 
 to it. 
 
 I h ve deemed it due to the occasion tlr n s 
 to dwell somewhat at i in national 
 
 affairs, and have ] v/ th 
 
 them in a patriotic and e It, so that 
 
 they might be seen' as they an\, ^-i-'i there be 
 no misunderstanding between us in rcgaid to 
 them. 
 
 That the true intores'. oH the people of Utah 
 is with the Federal [In 'on no rational man 
 can doubt; and let no man uv' 3 A different 
 course, for such will be a dangerous a e. 
 
 The boundaries or! place it 
 
 within territory cooperated by the laws of 
 nature to free labor; its isolated position calls 
 
8 
 
 for the p 'otection of a powerful government 
 and for its aid in the development of its mate- 
 rial resources. Surrounded as it is by organi- 
 ze J Territories of the United States, anon to 
 dcve'ope to the propor'ions and power of free. 
 States of the Union, Utah has a common in- 
 terest and common destiny with them. Iso- 
 lated it is weak, and this let no men contro- 
 vert; united in the bonds of t^ie Federal Un on 
 It shares its powers, its prosperity, its glory 
 and its ultimate destiny. Let this sink deep 
 into the hearts of all true men of Utah. 
 
 In reference to my own policy as the execu- 
 tive authority of this Territor}', I have only 
 o s\y'that I am here fai hfu ly and honestly 
 and fearlessly to discharge my duty under the 
 laws *nd Constitution of the United States 
 and the lawa of the Territory .of Utah con- 
 sistent with them. In the language of your 
 distinguished c tizen Brigham Young, <! say 
 unto you I will magnify the laws; there is no 
 law of the United States, or in the Constitu- 
 tion but I am rea iy to make honorab e," and 
 to this end I shall, as is my right, ask and 
 confidently expect the cordial co-operation of 
 the Legislature and people of Utah, as they 
 will find in me a cordial co-wo ker in al! ;tut 
 concerns their peace and substantial good. 
 
 Keeping in view the loyalty of this pople, 
 I refer yo i to the act of Congress, entitled 
 {( An Ac' to provide increased revenue from im- 
 ports, to pny interest on the public debt, and 
 for other purposes: Approved, Aug. 5, 18l)l, by 
 which the sum of $26,982 is levied on th s 
 Territory to be collected annually either 
 through officers of your own appointment, or 
 by such as the law itself provides, of a Fe ie- 
 ral character. Let this law be in de honor- 
 ablt ; let it be magnified at the eariest possible 
 period by legislative action and thus put 
 yourselves be 'ore the world vindicated of the 
 charge i.f disloyalty, which I regret to say 
 has obtained some credence in portions of 
 he United States. 
 
 Tue establishment of the Orer'and D.iily 
 Mai : from he Missouri river ho the Pacific 
 Ocean, being one of the great st enter; rises 
 ever undeitaken on this continent, and of vast 
 importance and advantage to 'his Territory, 
 iind tat: corn pa- y having man festetl astom-h- 
 ing and commendable ability and energ}*- in 
 th i transportation o? th > mail si ce it has had 
 possession of the route, I d em it entitled i;o 
 the u'most; confidence of the public and 
 of the Government of the United Slates 
 And pii^sii-'j,- as it does for so many hundred 
 miles through ihe Indian country, the secur - 
 ty of the mail and th^ safety of the passen- 
 gers and emnloyeos of ihe company, a--ide 
 from the safety ef the great tide oi' immigra- 
 tion and travel push ng westward, ^demand 
 the pr/otee ion of the Government of the Unit- 
 
 ed States; and, to this end, I recommend that 
 you memorialize Congress on the subject, 
 asking appropria uns of money to improve 
 the roads and build bridges at places on 
 that line and in your Territory, such as seem 
 indispensible. Also the appointment of 
 agents at convenient distances along the line, 
 to meet and confer with the Indians and sup- 
 ply their wants, as well aa the occupation of 
 commanding points, by a small yet efficient 
 mi itary force, passing frequently along the 
 line, keeping good order and peace, and giv- 
 ing safety to mail and travelers against sav- 
 age and civilized marauders. My recerit 
 travel over the line from t ie Missouri river'to 
 this c ty, s itisftes me of the necessity of such 
 action on the part of Congress. 
 
 In connection with t .is, is the location and 
 construction of a railway to connect the roads 
 constructed westward to the Missouri river, 
 with the road built eastward iu California. 
 Trade and business between tha eastern and 
 western sections of the United Stales appear 
 to have selected by the aiage an I telegraph 
 routes, ihe most convenient route for this 
 great artery of commerce and bond of unional 
 strength, which, as it passes nearly the en- 
 tire length through the Territories of the 
 United States, may, without a question as to 
 the Constitutional power of Congress, be lo- 
 cated and constructed by the authority ot: 
 Congress and with the funds of the United 
 S.ate^. The character of the country is such 
 for the greater part of the distance, thai it is 
 too much to expect that it can be constru -ted 
 by private capital; and, as i must becom > a 
 national road, it is right that it sh uid be 
 made by the natioi. On thi* subject I also 
 recommend you to memorialize Congress. 
 
 The extinguishment" o 9 the In i;an title to 
 s ich portions of the Territo y as may be de- 
 sirable for ag iculture, a pea-s to be equally 
 demanded by the cond tion of the Indians ;.nd 
 the progress of settlement. The purvey of 
 the public lands and the establishment of 
 l.i nd o H'C^B, the appointment of proper 
 officers, arid the sale of the lands, wi'l enable 
 the g -tilers to pronire title to the lands occu- 
 pied a d improved bv them; which seems to 
 me to be necessary for their security and pros- 
 p-rity. 
 
 Free grants of land having been made by 
 th? Gen ral Government to the first settlers 
 of some other Territories, and the p oprieiy 
 o. p SUCH a course having, in most instances, 
 b en proved I de^m it eminently p o er and 
 wise for Congress to grant the same privileges 
 and bounties to the setiiers of this T^ruory; 
 and to effect thig, 1 urge you to make early 
 application to C ngre\s. 
 
 Th acts of Congress organr/.ing' fcbe Terri- 
 tories of Colorado *nd Nev .da, having dig- 
 
9 
 
 arranged the boundaries of some of the judi- 
 cial districts of the Territory, as also the 
 limits of some of the counties of the Terri- 
 tory, I bring the subject to your notice that 
 it may receive your action with as litttle de- 
 lay as possible. 
 
 The stability of a Con?titution, and hence 
 of a government, depends more on public 
 opinion than it does on ifs structure; and the 
 principles of a people will prevail regardless 
 of Constitution or Jaws. Hence, to have a 
 good Constitution respected, if and the gov- 
 ernment revered by the governed, the peo- 
 ple must be enlightened and free, and vigilant 
 in their duties. That mind which is enslaved 
 ia not a free agent; nor can it enjoy freedom. 
 When the will is a vassal, nothing is more 
 degrading. A mind, not its own, can not be 
 free it ia a slave and in chains, though so 
 well gilded as not to be self-seen. And it is 
 in such a state of society that encroachments 
 on private rights are common, and permanent 
 mischief hourly deplored. 
 
 Without education and intelligence geiifral 
 and diffuse, the best constitution and govern- 
 ment, and laws the most wise, can never, in a 
 democra'ic government, have permanent 
 claims to longevity, nor the people, peace, 
 tranquility or justice. 
 
 In a good government, where wisdom and 
 intelligence bear sway, the laws have a moral 
 force far beyond the fears which their penal- 
 ties awaker; for, in such a condition of 
 things, as the laws support all, s > all sup- 
 port the law; and ^very infraction thereof is 
 a thrust at the peace ai}d security of every 
 citizen. 
 
 With these remarks, I command to you *he 
 subject of education, which, I sincerely hope, 
 
 will be fostered by you, and the children of 
 the Territory thereby educated; educated in 
 the habits and principles of freemen. I have 
 more especial reference to common school?, 
 which are to educate the masses, because ihe 
 situa-iun of your Territory is such tha% at 
 present, colleges can not be sustained. Such 
 schools are indispensihle to the great happi- 
 ness and glory of the Territory. Every child 
 in the Territory should be educated, because 
 they are the children of the Territory and the 
 subject of its guardian ca-e. 
 
 The condition of the Territorial Peniten- 
 tiary not having been reported to me, I can 
 convey no information to you conce.niiig 
 that institution. 
 
 The financial condition of the Territory h^s 
 been reported to me by the Auditor and Treas- 
 urer of the Territ ry,respectively; and 1 here- 
 with submit their repor s, as accompanying 
 documents for your consideration. 
 
 Haying now presented you with the sub? 
 stance of my message, I deem it proper to 
 conjure you, as I would all other American 
 citizens, to remember that, if ever there was 
 an hour which, more than another, called for 
 loud and earnest enunciations of true Ameri- 
 can principles, inspired by the memory of the 
 past ai.d the greatest hop-s o l the future, the 
 unity and peace, of the Union f the States^ 
 that hour is NOW. Let us, theref re, be a{I 
 encouraged by the patriot's hope, that peac& 
 may again return. Let us be true to God, 
 true to oursel/ea, and true to our country and 
 mankind, and all will be well. 
 
 JOHN VV. IUWSQX. 
 
 Great Salt Lake City, U. T., 
 Dec. 10th, 1801.