Emerging from a rebellion of gigantic magnitude, aided, as it was,
by the sympathies and assistance of nations with which we were at
peace, eleven States of the Union were, four years ago, left without
legal State governments. A national debt had been contracted; American
commerce was almost driven from the seas; the industry of one-half of
the country had been taken from the control of the capitalist and placed
where all labor rightfully belongs--in the keeping of the laborer. The
work of restoring State governments loyal to the Union, of protecting
and fostering free labor, and providing means for paying the interest
on the public debt has received ample attention from Congress. Although
your efforts have not met with the success in all particulars that might
have been desired, yet on the whole they have been more successful than
could have been reasonably anticipated.