This is a bill passed by Congress in time of peace.

I have carefully examined the bill 'to regulate the tenure of certain civil offices.'

Under these circumstances, as a depositary of the executive authority of the nation, I do not feel at liberty to unite with Congress in reversing it by giving my approval to the bill.

The power of removal was incident to that duty, and might often be requisite to fulfill it.

It places at his free disposal all the lands and goods in his district, and he may distribute them without let or hindrance to whom he pleases.

As the nature of government requires the power of removal, it was maintained that it should be exercised in this way by the hand capable of exerting itself with effect.

I submit to Congress whether this measure is not in its whole character, scope, and object without precedent and without authority.

The bill, however, would seem to show upon its face that the establishment of peace and good order is not its real object.

It should induce us to pause in a course of legislation which, looking solely to the attainment of political ends, fails to consider the rights it transgresses, the law which it violates, or the institutions which it imperils.

I know no other way in which they can be preserved and maintained except by a constant adherence to them through the various vicissitudes of national existence, with such adaptations as may become necessary, always to be effected, however…

The bill in this respect conflicts, in my judgment, with the Constitution of the United States.

It reduces the whole population of the ten States--all persons, of every color, sex, and condition, and every stranger within their limits--to the most abject and degrading slavery.

I am unable to give it my assent, for reasons so grave that I hope a statement of them may have some influence on the minds of the patriotic and enlightened men with whom the decision must ultimately rest.

All the information I have on the subject convinces me that the masses of the Southern people and those who control their public acts [...] are completely united in the effort to reorganize their society on the basis of peace and to…

For these reasons I return the bill to the Senate, in which House it originated, for the further consideration of Congress which the Constitution prescribes.

The history of the world has been written in vain if it does not teach us that unrestrained authority can never be safely trusted in human hands.

The subject was long and earnestly debated in the Senate, and the early construction of the Constitution was, nevertheless, freely accepted as binding and conclusive upon Congress.

While a just, proper, and watchful jealousy of executive power constantly prevails, as it ought ever to prevail, yet it is equally true that an efficient Executive is an indispensable security for tranquillity at home and peace, honor, and…