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+ MAS 22
+ Sierra Vegas Resort
+ Las Vegas, Nevada
+ April 16 — April 19, 2018
The premier conference for multimedia technlogy celebrates its + 22nd anniversay with extensive coverage of new and exciting + developments in media and entertainment.
+Please join us by filling out your registration information below. Go + to the Accommodation Page to reserve lodging at the + conference center.
+Email mas22@example.com for questions related to + accommodation, traveling to the conference, or submitting presentation + proposals.
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+ In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly and to take in your + presence the + oath prescribed by the + Constitution of the United States to be taken by the President + before he enters on the execution of this office.
+I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special + anxiety or excitement.
+Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration + their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such + apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open to their inspection. It + is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I + declare that--
+I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I + believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.
+Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had + never recanted them; and more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, + the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read:
+Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the + rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control + its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the + perfection and endurance of our political fabric depend; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any + State or Territory, no matter what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.
+I now reiterate these sentiments, and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of + which the case is susceptible that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now + incoming Administration. I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the + Constitution and the laws, can be given will be cheerfully given to all the States + when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause--as cheerfully to one section as to another.
+There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly + written in the + Constitution as any other of its provisions:
++ No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into + another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be + delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. +
+It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive + slaves; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. All members of Congress swear their support to the whole Constitution--to + this provision as much as to any other. To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause + shall be delivered up their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the + effort in good temper, could they not with nearly equal unanimity frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that + unanimous oath?
+There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority, but surely + that difference is not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of but little consequence to him or to + others by which authority it is done. And should anyone in any case be content that his oath shall go unkept on a merely + unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept?
+Again: In any law upon this subject ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to + be introduced, so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to + provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the + Constitution which guarantees that the citizens of each State shall be entitled + to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States?
+I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the + Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to + specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official + and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to + find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
+It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our National Constitution. During that period + fifteen different and greatly distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. + They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope of precedent, I now + enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of four years under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of + the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted.
+I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the + Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not + expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a + provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National + Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in + the instrument itself.
+Again: If the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of contract merely, can + it, as acontract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it--break + it, so to speak--but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it?
+Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual + confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the + Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and continued by the + Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then + thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the + Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects + for ordaining and establishing the + Constitution was + to form a more perfect Union.
+But if destruction of the Union by one or by a part only of the States be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than + before the + Constitution, having lost the vital element of perpetuity.
+It follows from these views that no State upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and + ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the + United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.
+I therefore consider that in view of the + Constitution and the laws the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability, I + shall take care, as the + Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be + faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, and Ishall perform it so far as + practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means or in some authoritative manner + direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will + constitutionally defend and maintain itself.
+In doing this there needs to be no bloodshed or violence, and there shall be none unless it be forced upon the national + authority. The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the + Government and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no + invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. Where hostility to the United States in any interior locality + shall be so great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no + attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the Government + to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating and so nearly impracticable withal that I + deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices.
+The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. So far as possible the people + everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. The course here + indicated will be followed unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every + case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to circumstances actually existing and with a view and a hope + of a peaceful solution of the national troubles and the restoration of fraternal sympathies and affections.
+That there are persons in one section or another who seek to destroy the Union at all events and are glad of any pretext to + do it I will neither affirm nor deny; but if there be such, I need address no word to them. To those, however, who really love + the Union may I not speak?
+Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and + its hopes, would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any + possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are + greater than all the real ones you fly from, will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake?
+All profess to be content in the Union if all constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right + plainly written in the + Constitution has been denied? I think not. Happily, the human mind is so constituted + that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written + provision of the + Constitution has ever been denied. If by the mere force of numbers a majority should + deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might in a moral point of view justify revolution; certainly + would if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so + plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guaranties and prohibitions, in the + Constitution that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can + ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No + foresight can anticipate nor any document of reasonable length contain express provisions for all possible questions. Shall + fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authority? The + Constitution does not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the + Territories? The + Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the + Territories? The + Constitution does not expressly say.
+From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and + minorities. If the minority will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease. There is no other alternative, + for continuing the Government is acquiescence on one side or the other. If a minority in such case will secede rather than + acquiesce, they make a precedent which in turn will divide and ruin them, for a minority of their own will secede from them + whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new confederacy a + year or two hence arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who + cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this.
+Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new union as to produce harmony only and prevent + renewed secession?
+Plainly the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and + limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign + of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible. The rule of a + minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism + in some form is all that is left.
+I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I + deny that such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit as to the object of that suit, while they are + also entitled to very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all other departments of the Government. And + while it is obviously possible that such decision may be erroneous in any given case, still the evil effect following it, being + limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled and never become a precedent for other cases, can + better be borne than could the evils of a different practice. At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the + policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme + Court, the instant they are made in ordinary litigation between parties in personal actions the people will have ceased to be + their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Nor is + there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases + properly brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes.
+One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and + ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive- slave clause of the + Constitution and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave trade are each as + well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law + itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I + think, can not be perfectly cured, and it would be worse in both cases after the separation of the sections than before. The + foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section, while fugitive + slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other.
+Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable + wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the + different parts of our country can not do this. They can not but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or + hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory + after separation than before? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully + enforced between aliens than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you can not fight always; and when, after much loss + on both sides and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, are again + upon you.
+This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing + Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of + amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be + ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National + Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize + the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the + instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the + people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to + originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others, not + especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or refuse. I + understand a proposed amendment to the + Constitution--which amendment, however, I have not seen--has passed Congress, to the + effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of + persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular + amendments so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its + being made express and irrevocable.
+The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have referred none upon him to fix terms for the + separation of the States. The people themselves can do this if also they choose, but the Executive as such has nothing to do + with it. His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his + successor.
+Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the + world? In our present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right? If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with + His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely + prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of the American people.
+By the frame of the Government under which we live this same people have wisely given their public servants but little power + for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. + While the people retain their virtue and vigilance no Administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can very seriously + injure the Government in the short space of four years.
+My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If + there be an object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be + frustrated by taking time; but no good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old + Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing + under it; while the new Administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were admitted that + you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. + Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land are still + competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty.
+In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will + not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to + destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it.
+I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not + break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living + heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will + be, by the better angels of our nature.
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