ngaged in rebellion, was restored to all her
Constitutional relations to the Union by the patriotism and energy of
her patriot people. I know no reason why the State of Tennessee should
not fully enjoy all her Constitutional relations. . . . The bill under
consideration refers to certain of the States as thought they had not
been fully restored in all their Constitutional relations to the United
States. If they have not let us at once act together to secure that
desirable end at the earliest possible moment. In my judgment most of
these States, so far at least as depends upon their own acts, have
already been fully restored and should be deemed as entitled to enjoy
their Constitutional rights as members of the Union."

He reviewed at some length the minor provisions of the bill, objected
to them as unwarrantably interfering with the local administration of
justice, and declared that a system for the support of indigent persons
in the United States was never contemplated by the authors of the
Constitution. "Nor can any good reason be advanced," said the
President, "why as a permanent establishment it should be founded for
one class or color of our people more than another." He objected to it
on the ground of its expense. "The appropriations asked for by the
Freedmen's Bureau, as already established, for the current year,
amount," he said, "to $11,745,000; and it may be safely estimated
that the cost to be incurred under the pending bill will require double
that amount,--more than any sum expended in any one year of the
Administration of John Quincy Adams."

The argument of the message based on expense and extravagance was much
applauded by the opponents of the Republican party, and there was a
great expectation that it would create a strong re-action in favor of
the President; but those who thus reckoned utterly failed to appreciate
the temper of the public mind. The disbursement of vast sums in the
war had accustomed the people to large appropriations of money, and
the pecuniary aspect of the case, upon which the President had much
relied, made far less impression than he anticipated. The philanthropists
did not deem the question at issue to be one of dollars and cents;
and those less disposed to sympathize with the humanitarian
aspects of the subject had not yet learned the lesson of economy which
the adversity of after years taught them. The great expansion of our
currency, the ease with which money had been