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Fellow-Citizens:
I APPEAR before you
this day to take the solemn oath "that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States and will to the
best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of
the United States."
In entering upon
this great office I must humbly invoke the God of our fathers for
wisdom and firmness to execute its high and responsible duties in
such a manner as to restore harmony and ancient friendship among the
people of the several States and to preserve our free institutions
throughout many generations. Convinced that I owe my election to the
inherent love for the Constitution and the Union which still
animates the hearts of the American people, let me earnestly ask
their powerful support in sustaining all just measures calculated to
perpetuate these, the richest political blessings which Heaven has
ever bestowed upon any nation. Having determined not to become a
candidate for reelection, I shall have no motive to influence my
conduct in administering the Government except the desire ably and
faithfully to serve my country and to live in grateful memory of my
countrymen.
We have recently
passed through a Presidential contest in which the passions of our
fellow-citizens were excited to the highest degree by questions of
deep and vital importance; but when the people proclaimed their will
the tempest at once subsided and all was calm.
The voice of the
majority, speaking in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, was
heard, and instant submission followed. Our own country could alone
have exhibited so grand and striking a spectacle of the capacity of
man for self-government.
What a happy
conception, then, was it for Congress to apply this simple rule,
that the will of the majority shall govern, to the settlement of the
question of domestic slavery in the Territories. Congress is neither
"to legislate slavery into any Territory or State nor to
exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free
to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way,
subject only to the Constitution of the United States."
As a natural
consequence, Congress has also prescribed that when the Territory of
Kansas shall be admitted as a State it "shall be received into
the Union with or without slavery, as their constitution may
prescribe at the time of their admission."
A difference of
opinion has arisen in regard to the point of time when the people of
a Territory shall decide this question for themselves.
This is, happily, a
matter of but little practical importance. Besides, it is a judicial
question, which legitimately belongs to the Supreme Court of the
United States, before whom it is now pending, and will, it is
understood, be speedily and finally settled. To their decision, in
common with all good citizens, I shall cheerfully submit, whatever
this may be, though it has ever been my individual opinion that
under the Nebraska-Kansas act the appropriate period will be when
the number of actual residents in the Territory shall justify the
formation of a constitution with a view to its admission as a State
into the Union. But be this as it may, it is the imperative and
indispensable duty of the Government of the United States to secure
to every resident inhabitant the free and independent expression of
his opinion by his vote. This sacred right of each individual must
be preserved. That being accomplished, nothing can be fairer than to
leave the people of a Territory free from all foreign interference
to decide their own destiny for themselves, subject only to the
Constitution of the United States.
The whole
Territorial question being thus settled upon the principle of
popular sovereignty—a principle as ancient as free government
itself—everything of a practical nature has been decided. No other
question remains for adjustment, because all agree that under the
Constitution slavery in the States is beyond the reach of any human
power except that of the respective States themselves wherein it
exists. May we not, then, hope that the long agitation on this
subject is approaching its end, and that the geographical parties to
which it has given birth, so much dreaded by the Father of his
Country, will speedily become extinct? Most happy will it be for the
country when the public mind shall be diverted from this question to
others of more pressing and practical importance. Throughout the
whole progress of this agitation, which has scarcely known any
intermission for more than twenty years, whilst it has been
productive of no positive good to any human being it has been the
prolific source of great evils to the master, to the slave, and to
the whole country. It has alienated and estranged the people of the
sister States from each other, and has even seriously endangered the
very existence of the Union. Nor has the danger yet entirely ceased.
Under our system there is a remedy for all mere political evils in
the sound sense and sober judgment of the people. Time is a great
corrective. Political subjects which but a few years ago excited and
exasperated the public mind have passed away and are now nearly
forgotten. But this question of domestic slavery is of far graver
importance than any mere political question, because should the
agitation continue it may eventually endanger the personal safety of
a large portion of our countrymen where the institution exists. In
that event no form of government, however admirable in itself and
however productive of material benefits, can compensate for the loss
of peace and domestic security around the family altar. Let every
Union-loving man, therefore, exert his best influence to suppress
this agitation, which since the recent legislation of Congress is
without any legitimate object.
It is an evil omen
of the times that men have undertaken to calculate the mere material
value of the Union. Reasoned estimates have been presented of the
pecuniary profits and local advantages which would result to
different States and sections from its dissolution and of the
comparative injuries which such an event would inflict on other
States and sections. Even descending to this low and narrow view of
the mighty question, all such calculations are at fault. The bare
reference to a single consideration will be conclusive on this point.
We at present enjoy a free trade throughout our extensive and
expanding country such as the world has never witnessed. This trade
is conducted on railroads and canals, on noble rivers and arms of
the sea, which bind together the North and the South, the East and
the West, of our Confederacy. Annihilate this trade, arrest its free
progress by the geographical lines of jealous and hostile States,
and you destroy the prosperity and onward march of the whole and
every part and involve all in one common ruin. But such
considerations, important as they are in themselves, sink into
insignificance when we reflect on the terrific evils which would
result from disunion to every portion of the Confederacy—to the
North, not more than to the South, to the East not more than to the
West. These I shall not attempt to portray, because I feel an humble
confidence that the kind Providence which inspired our fathers with
wisdom to frame the most perfect form of government and union ever
devised by man will not suffer it to perish until it shall have been
peacefully instrumental by its example in the extension of civil and
religious liberty throughout the world.
Next in importance
to the maintenance of the Constitution and the Union is the duty of
preserving the Government free from the taint or even the suspicion
of corruption. Public virtue is the vital spirit of republics, and
history proves that when this has decayed and the love of money has
usurped its place, although the forms of free government may remain
for a season, the substance has departed forever.
Our present
financial condition is without a parallel in history. No nation has
ever before been embarrassed from too large a surplus in its
treasury. This almost necessarily gives birth to extravagant
legislation. It produces wild schemes of expenditure and begets a
race of speculators and jobbers, whose ingenuity is exerted in
contriving and promoting expedients to obtain public money. The
purity of official agents, whether rightfully or wrongfully, is
suspected, and the character of the government suffers in the
estimation of the people. This is in itself a very great evil.
The natural mode of
relief from this embarrassment is to appropriate the surplus in the
Treasury to great national objects for which a clear warrant can be
found in the Constitution. Among these I might mention the
extinguishment of the public debt, a reasonable increase of the Navy,
which is at present inadequate to the protection of our vast tonnage
afloat, now greater than that of any other nation, as well as to the
defense of our extended seacoast.
It is beyond all
question the true principle that no more revenue ought to be
collected from the people than the amount necessary to defray the
expenses of a wise, economical, and efficient administration of the
Government. To reach this point it was necessary to resort to a
modification of the tariff, and this has, I trust, been accomplished
in such a manner as to do as little injury as may have been
practicable to our domestic manufactures, especially those necessary
for the defense of the country. Any discrimination against a
particular branch for the purpose of benefiting favored corporations,
individuals, or interests would have been unjust to the rest of the
community and inconsistent with that spirit of fairness and equality
which ought to govern in the adjustment of a revenue tariff.
But the squandering
of the public money sinks into comparative insignificance as a
temptation to corruption when compared with the squandering of the
public lands.
No nation in the
tide of time has ever been blessed with so rich and noble an
inheritance as we enjoy in the public lands. In administering this
important trust, whilst it may be wise to grant portions of them for
the improvement of the remainder, yet we should never forget that it
is our cardinal policy to reserve these lands, as much as may be,
for actual settlers, and this at moderate prices. We shall thus not
only best promote the prosperity of the new States and Territories,
by furnishing them a hardy and independent race of honest and
industrious citizens, but shall secure homes for our children and
our children's children, as well as for those exiles from foreign
shores who may seek in this country to improve their condition and
to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty. Such
emigrants have done much to promote the growth and prosperity of the
country. They have proved faithful both in peace and in war. After
becoming citizens they are entitled, under the Constitution and laws,
to be placed on a perfect equality with native-born citizens, and in
this character they should ever be kindly recognized.
The Federal
Constitution is a grant from the States to Congress of certain
specific powers, and the question whether this grant should be
liberally or strictly construed has more or less divided political
parties from the beginning. Without entering into the argument, I
desire to state at the commencement of my Administration that long
experience and observation have convinced me that a strict
construction of the powers of the Government is the only true, as
well as the only safe, theory of the Constitution. Whenever in our
past history doubtful powers have been exercised by Congress, these
have never failed to produce injurious and unhappy consequences.
Many such instances might be adduced if this were the proper
occasion. Neither is it necessary for the public service to strain
the language of the Constitution, because all the great and useful
powers required for a successful administration of the Government,
both in peace and in war, have been granted, either in express terms
or by the plainest implication.
Whilst deeply
convinced of these truths, I yet consider it clear that under the
war-making power Congress may appropriate money toward the
construction of a military road when this is absolutely necessary
for the defense of any State or Territory of the Union against
foreign invasion. Under the Constitution Congress has power "to
declare war," "to raise and support armies," "to
provide and maintain a navy," and to call forth the militia to
"repel invasions." Thus endowed, in an ample manner, with
the war-making power, the corresponding duty is required that
"the United States shall protect each of them [the States]
against invasion." Now, how is it possible to afford this
protection to California and our Pacific possessions except by means
of a military road through the Territories of the United States,
over which men and munitions of war may be speedily transported from
the Atlantic States to meet and to repel the invader? In the event
of a war with a naval power much stronger than our own we should
then have no other available access to the Pacific Coast, because
such a power would instantly close the route across the isthmus of
Central America. It is impossible to conceive that whilst the
Constitution has expressly required Congress to defend all the
States it should yet deny to them, by any fair construction, the
only possible means by which one of these States can be defended.
Besides, the Government, ever since its origin, has been in the
constant practice of constructing military roads. It might also be
wise to consider whether the love for the Union which now animates
our fellow-citizens on the Pacific Coast may not be impaired by our
neglect or refusal to provide for them, in their remote and isolated
condition, the only means by which the power of the States on this
side of the Rocky Mountains can reach them in sufficient time to
"protect" them "against invasion." I forbear for
the present from expressing an opinion as to the wisest and most
economical mode in which the Government can lend its aid in
accomplishing this great and necessary work. I believe that many of
the difficulties in the way, which now appear formidable, will in a
great degree vanish as soon as the nearest and best route shall have
been satisfactorily ascertained.
It may be proper
that on this occasion I should make some brief remarks in regard to
our rights and duties as a member of the great family of nations. In
our intercourse with them there are some plain principles, approved
by our own experience, from which we should never depart. We ought
to cultivate peace, commerce, and friendship with all nations, and
this not merely as the best means of promoting our own material
interests, but in a spirit of Christian benevolence toward our
fellow-men, wherever their lot may be cast. Our diplomacy should be
direct and frank, neither seeking to obtain more nor accepting less
than is our due. We ought to cherish a sacred regard for the
independence of all nations, and never attempt to interfere in the
domestic concerns of any unless this shall be imperatively required
by the great law of self-preservation. To avoid entangling alliances
has been a maxim of our policy ever since the days of Washington,
and its wisdom's no one will attempt to dispute. In short, we ought
to do justice in a kindly spirit to all nations and require justice
from them in return.
It is our glory
that whilst other nations have extended their dominions by the sword
we have never acquired any territory except by fair purchase or, as
in the case of Texas, by the voluntary determination of a brave,
kindred, and independent people to blend their destinies with our
own. Even our acquisitions from Mexico form no exception. Unwilling
to take advantage of the fortune of war against a sister republic,
we purchased these possessions under the treaty of peace for a sum
which was considered at the time a fair equivalent. Our past history
forbids that we shall in the future acquire territory unless this be
sanctioned by the laws of justice and honor. Acting on this
principle, no nation will have a right to interfere or to complain
if in the progress of events we shall still further extend our
possessions. Hitherto in all our acquisitions the people, under the
protection of the American flag, have enjoyed civil and religious
liberty, as well as equal and just laws, and have been contented,
prosperous, and happy. Their trade with the rest of the world has
rapidly increased, and thus every commercial nation has shared
largely in their successful progress.
I shall now proceed
to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution, whilst humbly
invoking the blessing of Divine Providence on this great people.
  
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