Fully sensible of the responsibility imposed upon the Executive by the
act of Congress to which public attention is now called, and reluctant
to call into exercise any of the extraordinary powers thereby conferred
upon me except in cases of imperative necessity, I do, nevertheless,
deem it my duty to make known that I will not hesitate to exhaust the
powers thus vested in the Executive whenever and wherever it shall
become necessary to do so for the purpose of securing to all citizens
of the United States the peaceful enjoyment of the rights guaranteed
to them by the Constitution and laws.
It is my earnest wish that peace and cheerful obedience to law may
prevail throughout the land and that all traces of our late unhappy
civil strife may be speedily removed. These ends can be easily reached
by acquiescence in the results of the conflict, now written in our
Constitution, and by the due and proper enforcement of equal, just, and
impartial laws in every part of our country.
The failure of local communities to furnish such means for the
attainment of results so earnestly desired imposes upon the National
Government the duty of putting forth all its energies for the protection
of its citizens of every race and color and for the restoration of peace
and order throughout the entire country.
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