Reasoning from the
Constitution itself and from the actual situation of the country, I feel
not only entitled but bound to assume that with the Federal courts
restored and those of the several States in the full exercise of their
functions the rights and interests of all classes of people will,
with the aid of the military in cases of resistance to the laws,
be essentially protected against unconstitutional infringement or
violation. Should this expectation unhappily fail, which I do not
anticipate, then the Executive is already fully armed with the powers
conferred by the act of March, 1865, establishing the Freedmen's Bureau,
and hereafter, as heretofore, he can employ the land and naval forces of
the country to suppress insurrection or to overcome obstructions to the
laws.
In accordance with the Constitution, I return the bill to the Senate,
in the earnest hope that a measure involving questions and interests so
important to the country will not become a law, unless upon deliberate
consideration by the people it shall receive the sanction of an
enlightened public judgment.
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