laws be just and the Government be practically administered strictly
within the limits of power prescribed to it, we may discard all
apprehensions for the safety of the Union.
With these views of the nature, character, and objects of the
Government and the value of the Union, I shall steadily oppose the
creation of those institutions and systems which in their nature tend
to pervert it from its legitimate purposes and make it the instrument
of sections, classes, and individuals. We need no national banks or
other extraneous institutions planted around the Government to control
or strengthen it in opposition to the will of its authors. Experience
has taught us how unnecessary they are as auxiliaries of the public
authorities - how impotent for good and how powerful for mischief.
Ours was intended to be a plain and frugal government, and I shall
regard it to be my duty to recommend to Congress and, as far as the
Executive is concerned, to enforce by all the means within my power the
strictest economy in the expenditure of the public money which may be
compatible with the public interests.
A national debt has become almost an institution of European
monarchies. It is viewed in some of them as an essential prop to
existing governments. Melancholy is the condition of that people whose
government can be sustained only by a system which periodically
transfers large amounts from the labor of the many to the coffers of
the few. Such a system is incompatible with the ends for which our
republican Government was instituted. Under a wise policy the debts
contracted in our Revolution and during the War of 1812 have been
happily extinguished. By a judicious application of the revenues not
required for other necessary purposes, it is not doubted that the debt
which has grown out of the circumstances of the last few years may be
speedily paid off.
I congratulate my fellow-citizens on the entire restoration of the
credit of the General Government of the Union and that of many of the
States. Happy would it be for the indebted States if they were freed
from their liabilities, many of which were incautiously contracted.
Although the Government of the Union is neither in a legal nor a moral
sense bound for the debts of the States, and it would be a violation of
our compact of union to assume them, yet we can not but feel a deep
interest in seeing all the States meet their public liabilities and pay
off their just debts at the earliest practicable period. That they will
do so as soon as it can be done without imposing too heavy burdens on
their citizens there is no reason to doubt. The sound moral and
honorable feeling of the people of the indebted States can not be
questioned, and we are happy to perceive a settled disposition on their
part, as their ability returns after a season of unexampled pecuniary
embarrassment, to pay off all just demands and to acquiesce in any
reasonable measures to accomplish that object.
One of the difficulties which we have had to encounter in the practical
administration of the Government consists in the adjustment of our
revenue laws and the levy of the taxes necessary for the support of
Government. In the general proposition that no more money shall be
collected than the necessities of an economical administration shall
require all parties seem to acquiesce. Nor does there seem to be any
material difference of opinion as to the absence of right in the
Government to tax one section of country, or one class of citizens, or
one occupation, for the mere profit of another. "Justice and sound
policy forbid the Federal Government to foster one branch of industry
to the detriment of another, or to cherish the interests of one portion
to the injury of another portion of our common country." I have
heretofore declared to my fellow-citizens that "in my judgment it is
the duty of the Government to extend, as far as it may be practicable
to do so, by its revenue laws and all other means within its power,
fair and just protection to all of the great interests of the whole
Union, embracing agriculture, manufactures, the mechanic arts,
commerce, and navigation." I have also declared my opinion to be "in
favor of a tariff for revenue," and that "in adjusting the details of
such a tariff I have sanctioned such moderate discriminating duties as
would produce the amount of revenue needed and at the same time afford
reasonable incidental protection to our home industry," and that I was
"opposed to a tariff for protection merely, and not for revenue."
The power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises" was
an indispensable one to be conferred on the Federal Government, which
without it would possess no means of providing for its own support. In
executing this power by levying a tariff of duties for the support of
Government, the raising of revenue should be the object and protection
the incident. To reverse this principle and make protection the object
and revenue the incident would be to inflict manifest injustice upon
all other than the protected interests. In levying duties for revenue
it is doubtless proper to make such discriminations within the revenue
principle as will afford incidental protection to our home interests.
Within the revenue limit there is a discretion to discriminate; beyond
that limit the rightful exercise of the power is not conceded. The
incidental protection afforded to our home interests by discriminations
within the revenue range it is believed will be ample. In making
discriminations all our home interests should as far as practicable be
equally protected. The largest portion of our people are
agriculturists. Others are employed in manufactures, commerce,
navigation, and the mechanic arts. They are all engaged in their
respective pursuits and their joint labors constitute the national or
home industry. To tax one branch of this home industry for the benefit
of another would be unjust. No one of these interests can rightfully
claim an advantage over the others, or to be enriched by impoverishing
the others. All are equally entitled to the fostering care and
protection of the Government. In exercising a sound discretion in
levying discriminating duties within the limit prescribed, care should
be taken that it be done in a manner not to benefit the wealthy few at
the expense of the toiling millions by taxing lowest the luxuries of
life, or articles of superior quality and high price, which can only be
consumed by the wealthy, and highest the necessaries of life, or
articles of coarse quality and low price, which the poor and great mass
of our people must consume. The burdens of government should as far as
practicable be distributed justly and equally among all classes of our
population. These general views, long entertained on this subject, I
have deemed it proper to reiterate. It is a subject upon which
conflicting interests of sections and occupations are supposed to
exist, and a spirit of mutual concession and compromise in adjusting
its details should be cherished by every part of our widespread country
as the only means of preserving harmony and a cheerful acquiescence of
all in the operation of our revenue laws. Our patriotic citizens in
every part of the Union will readily submit to the payment of such
taxes as shall be needed for the support of their Government, whether
in peace or in war, if they are so levied as to distribute the burdens
as equally as possible among them.
The Republic of Texas has made known her desire to come into our Union,
to form a part of our Confederacy and enjoy with us the blessings of
liberty secured and guaranteed by our Constitution. Texas was once a
part of our country - was unwisely ceded away to a foreign power - is
now independent, and possesses an undoubted right to dispose of a part
or the whole of her territory and to merge her sovereignty as a
separate and independent state in ours. I congratulate my country that
by an act of the late Congress of the United States the assent of this
Government has been given to the reunion, and it only remains for the
two countries to agree upon the terms to consummate an object so
important to both.
I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the
United States and Texas. They are independent powers competent to
contract, and foreign nations have no right to interfere with them or
to take exceptions to their reunion. Foreign powers do not seem to
appreciate the true character of our Government. Our Union is a
confederation of independent States, whose policy is peace with each
other and all the world. To enlarge its limits is to extend the
dominions of peace over additional territories and increasing millions.
The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our Government.
While the Chief Magistrate and the popular branch of Congress are
elected for short terms by the suffrages of those millions who must in
their own persons bear all the burdens and miseries of war, our
Government can not be otherwise than pacific. Foreign powers should
therefore look on the annexation of Texas to the United States not as
the conquest of a nation seeking to extend her dominions by arms and
violence, but as the peaceful acquisition of a territory once her own,
by adding another member to our confederation, with the consent of that
member, thereby diminishing the chances of war and opening to them new
and ever-increasing markets for their products.
To Texas the reunion is important, because the strong protecting arm of
our Government would be extended over her, and the vast resources of
her fertile soil and genial climate would be speedily developed, while
the safety of New Orleans and of our whole southwestern frontier
against hostile aggression, as well as the interests of the whole
Union, would be promoted by it.
In the earlier stages of our national existence the opinion prevailed
with some that our system of confederated States could not operate
successfully over an extended territory, and serious objections have at
different times been made to the enlargement of our boundaries. These
objections were earnestly urged when we acquired Louisiana. Experience
has shown that they were not well founded. The title of numerous Indian
tribes to vast tracts of country has been extinguished; new States have
been admitted into the Union; new Territories have been created and our
jurisdiction and laws extended over them. As our population has
expanded, the Union has been cemented and strengthened. As our
boundaries have been enlarged and our agricultural population has been
spread over a large surface, our federative system has acquired
additional strength and security. It may well be doubted whether it
would not be in greater danger of overthrow if our present population
were confined to the comparatively narrow limits of the original
thirteen States than it is now that they are sparsely settled over a
more expanded territory. It is confidently believed that our system may
be safely extended to the utmost bounds of our territorial limits, and
that as it shall be extended the bonds of our Union, so far from being
weakened, will become stronger.
None can fail to see the danger to our safety and future peace if Texas
remains an independent state or becomes an ally or dependency of some
foreign nation more powerful than herself. Is there one among our
citizens who would not prefer perpetual peace with Texas to occasional
wars, which so often occur between bordering independent nations? Is
there one who would not prefer free intercourse with her to high duties
on all our products and manufactures which enter her ports or cross her
frontiers? Is there one who would not prefer an unrestricted
communication with her citizens to the frontier obstructions which must
occur if she remains out of the Union? Whatever is good or evil in the
local institutions of Texas will remain her own whether annexed to the
United States or not. None of the present States will be responsible
for them any more than they are for the local institutions of each
other. They have confederated together for certain specified objects.
Upon the same principle that they would refuse to form a perpetual
union with Texas because of her local institutions our forefathers
would have been prevented from forming our present Union. Perceiving no
valid objection to the measure and many reasons for its adoption
vitally affecting the peace, the safety, and the prosperity of both
countries, I shall on the broad principle which formed the basis and
produced the adoption of our Constitution, and not in any narrow spirit
of sectional policy, endeavor by all constitutional, honorable, and
appropriate means to consummate the expressed will of the people and
Government of the United States by the reannexation of Texas to our
Union at the earliest practicable period.
Nor will it become in a less degree my duty to assert and maintain by
all constitutional means the right of the United States to that portion
of our territory which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains. Our title to
the country of the Oregon is "clear and unquestionable," and already
are our people preparing to perfect that title by occupying it with
their wives and children. But eighty years ago our population was
confined on the west by the ridge of the Alleghanies. Within that
period - within the lifetime, I might say, of some of my hearers - our
people, increasing to many millions, have filled the eastern valley of
the Mississippi, adventurously ascended the Missouri to its
headsprings, and are already engaged in establishing the blessings of
self-government in valleys of which the rivers flow to the Pacific. The
world beholds the peaceful triumphs of the industry of our emigrants.
To us belongs the duty of protecting them adequately wherever they may
be upon our soil. The jurisdiction of our laws and the benefits of our
republican institutions should be extended over them in the distant
regions which they have selected for their homes. The increasing
facilities of intercourse will easily bring the States, of which the
formation in that part of our territory can not be long delayed, within
the sphere of our federative Union. In the meantime every obligation
imposed by treaty or conventional stipulations should be sacredly
respected.
In the management of our foreign relations it will be my aim to observe
a careful respect for the rights of other nations, while our own will
be the subject of constant watchfulness. Equal and exact justice should
characterize all our intercourse with foreign countries. All alliances
having a tendency to jeopard the welfare and honor of our country or
sacrifice any one of the national interests will be studiously avoided,
and yet no opportunity will be lost to cultivate a favorable
understanding with foreign governments by which our navigation and
commerce may be extended and the ample products of our fertile soil, as
well as the manufactures of our skillful artisans, find a ready market
and remunerating prices in foreign countries.
In taking "care that the laws be faithfully executed," a strict
performance of duty will be exacted from all public officers. From
those officers, especially, who are charged with the collection and
disbursement of the public revenue will prompt and rigid accountability
be required. Any culpable failure or delay on their part to account for
the moneys intrusted to them at the times and in the manner required by
law will in every instance terminate the official connection of such
defaulting officer with the Government.
Although in our country the Chief Magistrate must almost of necessity
be chosen by a party and stand pledged to its principles and measures,
yet in his official action he should not be the President of a part
only, but of the whole people of the United States. While he executes
the laws with an impartial hand, shrinks from no proper responsibility,
and faithfully carries out in the executive department of the
Government the principles and policy of those who have chosen him, he
should not be unmindful that our fellow-citizens who have differed with
him in opinion are entitled to the full and free exercise of their
opinions and judgments, and that the rights of all are entitled to
respect and regard.
Confidently relying upon the aid and assistance of the coordinate
departments of the Government in conducting our public affairs, I enter
upon the discharge of the high duties which have been assigned me by
the people, again humbly supplicating that Divine Being who has watched
over and protected our beloved country from its infancy to the present
hour to continue His gracious benedictions upon us, that we may
continue to be a prosperous and happy people.
***
Zachary Taylor
Inaugural Address
Monday, March 5, 1849
ELECTED by the American people to the highest office known to our laws,
I appear here to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution, and, in
compliance with a time-honored custom, to address those who are now
assembled.
The confidence and respect shown by my countrymen in calling me to be
the Chief Magistrate of a Republic holding a high rank among the
nations of the earth have inspired me with feelings of the most
profound gratitude; but when I reflect that the acceptance of the
office which their partiality has bestowed imposes the discharge of the
most arduous duties and involves the weightiest obligations, I am
conscious that the position which I have been called to fill, though
sufficient to satisfy the loftiest ambition, is surrounded by fearful
responsibilities. Happily, however, in the performance of my new duties
I shall not be without able cooperation. The legislative and judicial
branches of the Government present prominent examples of distinguished
civil attainments and matured experience, and it shall be my endeavor
to call to my assistance in the Executive Departments individuals whose
talents, integrity, and purity of character will furnish ample
guaranties for the faithful and honorable performance of the trusts to
be committed to their charge. With such aids and an honest purpose to
do whatever is right, I hope to execute diligently, impartially, and
for the best interests of the country the manifold duties devolved upon
me.
In the discharge of these duties my guide will be the Constitution,
which I this day swear to "preserve, protect, and defend." For the
interpretation of that instrument I shall look to the decisions of the
judicial tribunals established by its authority and to the practice of
the Government under the earlier Presidents, who had so large a share
in its formation. To the example of those illustrious patriots I shall
always defer with reverence, and especially to his example who was by
so many titles "the Father of his Country."
To command the Army and Navy of the United States; with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties and to appoint ambassadors and
other officers; to give to Congress information of the state of the
Union and recommend such measures as he shall judge to be necessary;
and to take care that the laws shall be faithfully executed - these are
the most important functions intrusted to the President by the
Constitution, and it may be expected that I shall briefly indicate the
principles which will control me in their execution.
Chosen by the body of the people under the assurance that my
Administration would be devoted to the welfare of the whole country,
and not to the support of any particular section or merely local
interest, I this day renew the declarations I have heretofore made and
proclaim my fixed determination to maintain to the extent of my ability
the Government in its original purity and to adopt as the basis of my
public policy those great republican doctrines which constitute the
strength of our national existence.
In reference to the Army and Navy, lately employed with so much
distinction on active service, care shall be taken to insure the
highest condition of efficiency, and in furtherance of that object the
military and naval schools, sustained by the liberality of Congress,
shall receive the special attention of the Executive.
As American freemen we can not but sympathize in all efforts to extend
the blessings of civil and political liberty, but at the same time we
are warned by the admonitions of history and the voice of our own
beloved Washington to abstain from entangling alliances with foreign
nations. In all disputes between conflicting governments it is our
interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral, while our
geographical position, the genius of our institutions and our people,
the advancing spirit of civilization, and, above all, the dictates of
religion direct us to the cultivation of peaceful and friendly
relations with all other powers. It is to be hoped that no
international question can now arise which a government confident in
its own strength and resolved to protect its own just rights may not
settle by wise negotiation; and it eminently becomes a government like
our own, founded on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and
upheld by their affections, to exhaust every resort of honorable
diplomacy before appealing to arms. In the conduct of our foreign
relations I shall conform to these views, as I believe them essential
to the best interests and the true honor of the country.
The appointing power vested in the President imposes delicate and
onerous duties. So far as it is possible to be informed, I shall make
honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites to the
bestowal of office, and the absence of either of these qualities shall
be deemed sufficient cause for removal.
It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional measures to
Congress as may be necessary and proper to secure encouragement and
protection to the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and
manufactures, to improve our rivers and harbors, to provide for the
speedy extinguishment of the public debt, to enforce a strict
accountability on the part of all officers of the Government and the
utmost economy in all public expenditures; but it is for the wisdom of
Congress itself, in which all legislative powers are vested by the
Constitution, to regulate these and other matters of domestic policy. I
shall look with confidence to the enlightened patriotism of that body
to adopt such measures of conciliation as may harmonize conflicting
interests and tend to perpetuate that Union which should be the
paramount object of our hopes and affections. In any action calculated
to promote an object so near the heart of everyone who truly loves his
country I will zealously unite with the coordinate branches of the
Government.
In conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the high
state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has
conducted our common country. Let us invoke a continuance of the same
protecting care which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence
we this day occupy, and let us seek to deserve that continuance by
prudence and moderation in our councils, by well-directed attempts to
assuage the bitterness which too often marks unavoidable differences of
opinion, by the promulgation and practice of just and liberal
principles, and by an enlarged patriotism, which shall acknowledge no
limits but those of our own widespread Republic.
***
Franklin Pierce
Inaugural Address
Friday, March 4, 1853
My Countrymen:
IT a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know the personal
regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne to a position so
suitable for others rather than desirable for myself.
The circumstances under which I have been called for a limited period
to preside over the destinies of the Republic fill me with a profound
sense of responsibility, but with nothing like shrinking apprehension.
I repair to the post assigned me not as to one sought, but in obedience
to the unsolicited expression of your will, answerable only for a
fearless, faithful, and diligent exercise of my best powers. I ought to
be, and am, truly grateful for the rare manifestation of the nation's
confidence; but this, so far from lightening my obligations, only adds
to their weight. You have summoned me in my weakness; you must sustain
me by your strength. When looking for the fulfillment of reasonable
requirements, you will not be unmindful of the great changes which have
occurred, even within the last quarter of a century, and the consequent
augmentation and complexity of duties imposed in the administration