To express gratitude to God in the name of the people for the preservation of the United States is my first duty in addressing you. Our thoughts next revert to the death of the late President by an act of parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh. It finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the Chief Magistracy to which he had been elected; that he brought the civil war substantially to a close; that his loss was deplored in all parts of the Union, and that foreign nations have rendered justice to his memory. His removal cast upon me a heavier weight of cares than ever devolved upon any one of his predecessors. To fulfill my trust I need the support and confidence of all who are associated with me in the various departments of Government and the support and confidence of the people. There is but one way in which I can hope to gain their necessary aid. It is to state with frankness the principles which guide my conduct, and their application to the present state of affairs, well aware that the efficiency of my labors will in a great measure depend on your and their undivided approbation. The Union of the United States of America was intended by its authors to last as long as the States themselves shall last. "The Union shall be perpetual" are the words of the Confederation. "To form a more perfect Union," by an ordinance of the people of the United States, is the declared purpose of the Constitution. The hand of Divine Providence was never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than in the framing and the adopting of that instrument. It is beyond comparison the greatest event in American history, and, indeed, is it not of all events in modern times the most pregnant with consequences for every people of the earth? The members of the Convention which prepared it brought to their work the experience of the Confederation, of their several States, and of other republican governments, old and new; but they needed and they obtained a wisdom superior to experience. And when for its validity it required the approval of a people that occupied a large part of a continent and acted separately in many distinct conventions, what is more wonderful than that, after earnest contention and long discussion, all feelings and all opinions were ultimately drawn in one way to its support? The Constitution to which life was thus imparted contains within itself ample resources for its own preservation. It has power to enforce the laws, punish treason, and insure domestic tranquillity. In case of the usurpation of the government of a State by one man or an oligarchy, it becomes a duty of the United States to make good the guaranty to that State of a republican form of government, and so to maintain the homogeneousness of all. Does the lapse of time reveal defects? A simple mode of amendment is provided in the Constitution itself, so that its conditions can always be made to conform to the requirements of advancing civilization. No room is allowed even for the thought of a possibility of its coming to an end. And these powers of self-preservation have always been asserted in their complete integrity by every patriotic Chief Magistrate by Jefferson and Jackson not less than by Washington and Madison. The parting advice of the Father of his Country, while yet President, to the people of the United States was that the free Constitution, which was the work of their hands, might be sacredly maintained; and the inaugural words of President Jefferson held up "the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad." The Constitution is the work of "the people of the United States," and it should be as indestructible as the people. It is not strange that the framers of the Constitution, which had no model in the past, should not have fully comprehended the excellence of their own work. Fresh from a struggle against arbitrary power, many patriots suffered from harassing fears of an absorption of the State governments by the General Government, and many from a dread that the States would break away from their orbits. But the very greatness of our country should allay the apprehension of encroachments by the General Government. The subjects that come unquestionably within its jurisdiction are so numerous that it must ever naturally refuse to be embarrassed by questions that lie beyond it. Were it otherwise the Executive would sink beneath the burden, the channels of justice would be choked, legislation would be obstructed by excess, so that there is a greater temptation to exercise some of the functions of the General Government through the States than to trespass on their rightful sphere. The "absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority" was at the beginning of the century enforced by Jefferson as "the vital principle of republics;" and the events of the last four years have established, we will hope forever, that there lies no appeal to force. The maintenance of the Union brings with it "the support of the State governments in all their rights," but it is not one of the rights of any State government to renounce its own place in the Union or to nullify the laws of the Union. The largest liberty is to be maintained in the discussion of the acts of the Federal Government, but there is no appeal from its laws except to the various branches of that Government itself, or to the people, who grant to the members of the legislative and of the executive departments no tenure but a limited one, and in that manner always retain the powers of redress. "The sovereignty of the States" is the language of the Confederacy, and not the language of the Constitution. The latter contains the emphatic words-- This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. Certainly the Government of the United States is a limited government, and so is every State government a limited government. With us this idea of limitation spreads through every form of administration--general, State, and municipal--and rests on the great distinguishing principle of the recognition of the rights of man. The ancient republics absorbed the individual in the state--prescribed his religion and controlled his activity. The American system rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to freedom of conscience, to the culture and exercise of all his faculties. As a consequence the State government is limited--as to the General Government in the interest of union, as to the individual citizen in the interest of freedom. States, with proper limitations of power, are essential to the existence of the Constitution of the United States. At the very commencement, when we assumed a place among the powers of the earth, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by States; so also were the Articles of Confederation: and when "the people of the United States" ordained and established the Constitution it was the assent of the States, one by one, which gave it vitality. In the event, too, of any amendment to the Constitution, the proposition of Congress needs the confirmation of States. Without States one great branch of the legislative government would be wanting. And if we look beyond the letter of the Constitution to the character of our country, its capacity for comprehending within its jurisdiction a vast continental empire is due to the system of States. The best security for the perpetual existence of the States is the "supreme authority" of the Constitution of the United States. The perpetuity of the Constitution brings with it the perpetuity of the States; their mutual relation makes us what we are, and in our political system their connection is indissoluble. The whole can not exist without the parts, nor the parts without the whole. So long as the Constitution of the United States endures, the States will endure. The destruction of the one is the destruction of the other; the preservation of the one is the preservation of the other. I have thus explained my views of the mutual relations of the Constitution and the States, because they unfold the principles on which I have sought to solve the momentous questions and overcome the appalling difficulties that met me at the very commencement of my Administration. It has been my steadfast object to escape from the sway of momentary passions and to derive a healing policy from the fundamental and unchanging principles of the Constitution. I found the States suffering from the effects of a civil war. Resistance to the General Government appeared to have exhausted itself. The United States had recovered possession of their forts and arsenals, and their armies were in the occupation of every State which had attempted to secede. Whether the territory within the limits of those States should be held as conquered territory, under military authority emanating from the President as the head of the Army, was the first question that presented itself for decision. Now military governments, established for an indefinite period, would have offered no security for the early suppression of discontent, would have divided the people into the vanquishers and the vanquished, and would have envenomed hatred rather than have restored affection. Once established, no precise limit to their continuance was conceivable. They would have occasioned an incalculable and exhausting expense. Peaceful emigration to and from that portion of the country is one of the best means that can be thought of for the restoration of harmony, and that emigration would have been prevented; for what emigrant from abroad, what industrious citizen at home, would place himself willingly under military rule? The chief persons who would have followed in the train of the Army would have been dependents on the General Government or men who expected profit from the miseries of their erring fellow-citizens. The powers of patronage and rule which would have been exercised under the President, over a vast and populous and naturally wealthy region are greater than, unless under extreme necessity, I should be willing to intrust to any one man. They are such as, for myself, I could never, unless on occasions of great emergency, consent to exercise. The willful use of such powers, if continued through a period of years, would have endangered the purity of the general administration and the liberties of the States which remained loyal. Besides, the policy of military rule over a conquered territory would have implied that the States whose inhabitants may have taken part in the rebellion had by the act of those inhabitants ceased to exist. But the true theory is that all pretended acts of secession were from the beginning null and void. The States can not commit treason nor screen the individual citizens who may have committed treason any more than they can make valid treaties or engage in lawful commerce with any foreign power. The States attempting to secede placed themselves in a condition where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished; their functions suspended, but not destroyed. But if any State neglects or refuses to perform its offices there is the more need that the General Government should maintain all its authority and as soon as practicable resume the exercise of all its functions. On this principle I have acted, and have gradually and quietly, and by almost imperceptible steps, sought to restore the rightful energy of the General Government and of the States. To that end provisional governors have been appointed for the States, conventions called, governors elected, legislatures assembled, and Senators and Representatives chosen to the Congress of the United States. At the same time the courts of the United States, as far as could be done, have been reopened, so that the laws of the United States may be enforced through their agency. The blockade has been removed and the custom-houses reestablished in ports of entry, so that the revenue of the United States may be collected. The Post-Office Department renews its ceaseless activity, and the General Government is thereby enabled to communicate promptly with its officers and agents. The courts bring security to persons and property; the opening of the ports invites the restoration of industry and commerce; the post-office renews the facilities of social intercourse and of business. And is it not happy for us all that the restoration of each one of these functions of the General Government brings with it a blessing to the States over which they are extended? Is it not a sure promise of harmony and renewed attachment to the Union that after all that has happened the return of the General Government is known only as a beneficence? I know very well that this policy is attended with some risk; that for its success it requires at least the acquiescence of the States which it concerns; that it implies an invitation to those States, by renewing their allegiance to the United States, to resume their functions as States of the Union. But it is a risk that must be taken. In the choice of difficulties it is the smallest risk; and to diminish and if possible to remove all danger, I have felt it incumbent on me to assert one other power of the General Government--the power of pardon. As no State can throw a defense over the crime of treason, the power of pardon is exclusively vested in the executive government of the United States. In exercising that power I have taken every precaution to connect it with the clearest recognition of the binding force of the laws of the United States and an unqualified acknowledgment of the great social change of condition in regard to slavery which has grown out of the war. The next step which I have taken to restore the constitutional relations of the States has been an invitation to them to participate in the high office of amending the Constitution. Every patriot must wish for a general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent with public safety. For this great end there is need of a concurrence of all opinions and the spirit of mutual conciliation. All parties in the late terrible conflict must work together in harmony. It is not too much to ask, in the name of the whole people, that on the one side the plan of restoration shall proceed in conformity with a willingness to cast the disorders of the past into oblivion, and that on the other the evidence of sincerity in the future maintenance of the Union shall be put beyond any doubt by the ratification of the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which provides for the abolition of slavery forever within the limits of our country. So long as the adoption of this amendment is delayed, so long will doubt and jealousy and uncertainty prevail. This is the measure which will efface the sad memory of the past; this is the measure which will most certainly call population and capital and security to those parts of the Union that need them most. Indeed, it is not too much to ask of the States which are now resuming their places in the family of the Union to give this pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace. Until it is done the past, however much we may desire it, will not be forgotten, The adoption of the amendment reunites us beyond all power of disruption; it heals the wound that is still imperfectly closed: it removes slavery, the element which has so long perplexed and divided the country; it makes of us once more a united people, renewed and strengthened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and support. The amendment to the Constitution being adopted, it would remain for the States whose powers have been so long in abeyance to resume their places in the two branches of the National Legislature, and thereby complete the work of restoration. Here it is for you, fellow-citizens of the Senate, and for you, fellow-citizens of the House of Representatives, to judge, each of you for yourselves, of the elections, returns, and qualifications of your own members. The full assertion of the powers of the General Government requires the holding of circuit courts of the United States within the districts where their authority has been interrupted. In the present posture of our public affairs strong objections have been urged to holding those courts in any of the States where the rebellion has existed; and it was ascertained by inquiry, that the circuit court of the United States would not be held within the district of Virginia during the autumn or early winter, nor until Congress should have "an opportunity to consider and act on the whole subject." To your deliberations the restoration of this branch of the civil authority of the United States is therefore necessarily referred, with the hope that early provision will be made for the resumption of all its functions. It is manifest that treason, most flagrant in character, has been committed. Persons who are charged with its commission should have fair and impartial trials in the highest civil tribunals of the country, in order that the Constitution and the laws may be fully vindicated, the truth dearly established and affirmed that treason is a crime, that traitors should be punished and the offense made infamous, and, at the same time, that the question may be judicially settled, finally and forever, that no State of its own will has the right to renounce its place in the Union. The relations of the General Government toward the 4,000,000 inhabitants whom the war has called into freedom have engaged my most serious consideration. On the propriety of attempting to make the freedmen electors by the proclamation of the Executive I took for my counsel the Constitution itself, the interpretations of that instrument by its authors and their contemporaries, and recent legislation by Congress. When, at the first movement toward independence, the Congress of the United States instructed the several States to institute governments of their own, they left each State to decide for itself the conditions for the enjoyment of the elective franchise. During the period of the Confederacy there continued to exist a very great diversity in the qualifications of electors in the several States, and even within a State a distinction of qualifications prevailed with regard to the officers who were to be chosen. The Constitution of the United States recognizes these diversities when it enjoins that in the choice of members of the House of Representatives of the United States "the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature." After the formation of the Constitution it remained, as before, the uniform usage for each State to enlarge the body of its electors according to its own judgment, and under this system one State after another has proceeded to increase the number of its electors, until now universal suffrage, or something very near it, is the general rule. So fixed was this reservation of power in the habits of the people and so unquestioned has been the interpretation of the Constitution that during the civil war the late President never harbored the purpose--certainly never evowed the purpose--of disregarding it; and in the acts of Congress during that period nothing can be found which, during the continuance of hostilities much less after their close, would have sanctioned any departure by the Executive from a policy which has so uniformly obtained. Moreover, a concession of the elective franchise to the freedmen by act of the President of the United States must have been extended to all colored men, wherever found, and so must have established a change of suffrage in the Northern, Middle, and Western States, not less than in the Southern and Southwestern. Such an act would have created a new class of voters, and would have been an assumption of power by the President which nothing in the Constitution or laws of the United States would have warranted. On the other hand, every danger of conflict is avoided when the settlement of the question is referred to the several States. They can, each for itself, decide on the measure, and whether it is to be adopted at once and absolutely or introduced gradually and with conditions. In my judgment the freedmen, if they show patience and manly virtues, will sooner obtain a participation in the elective franchise through the States than through the General Government, even if it had power to intervene. When the tumult of emotions that have been raised by the suddenness of the social change shall have subsided, it may prove that they will receive the kindest usage from some of those on whom they have heretofore most closely depended. But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the war, it is not competent for the General Government to extend the elective franchise in the several States, it is equally clear that good faith requires the security of the freedmen in their liberty and their property, their right to labor, and their right to claim the just return of their labor. I can not too strongly urge a dispassionate treatment of this subject, which should be carefully kept aloof from all party strife. We must equally avoid hasty assumptions of any natural impossibility for the two races to live side by side in a state of mutual benefit and good will. The experiment involves us in no inconsistency; let us, then, go on and make that experiment in good faith, and not be too easily disheartened. The country is in need of labor, and the freedmen are in need of employment, culture, and protection. While their right of voluntary migration and expatriation is not to be questioned, I would not advise their forced removal and colonization. Let us rather encourage them to honorable and useful industry, where it may be beneficial to themselves and to the country; and, instead of hasty anticipations of the certainty of failure, let there be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the experiment. The change in their condition is the substitution of labor by contract for the status of slavery. The freedman can not fairly be accused of unwillingness to work so long as a doubt remains about his freedom of choice in his pursuits and the certainty of his recovering his stipulated wages. In this the interests of the employer and the employed coincide. The employer desires in his workmen spirit and alacrity, and these can be permanently secured in no other way. And if the one ought to be able to enforce the contract, so ought the other. The public interest will be best promoted if the several States will provide adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen. Until this is in some way accomplished there is no chance for the advantageous use of their labor, and the blame of ill success will not rest on them. I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the immediate realization of its remotest aims; but time is always an element in reform. It is one of the greatest acts on record to have brought 4,000,000 people into freedom. The career of free industry must be fairly opened to them, and then their future prosperity and condition must, after all, rest mainly on themselves. If they fail, and so perish away, let us be careful that the failure shall not be attributable to any denial of justice. In all that relates to the destiny of the freedmen we need not be too anxious to read the future; many incidents which, from a speculative point of view, might raise alarm will quietly settle themselves. Now that slavery is at an end, or near its end, the greatness of its evil in the point of view of public economy becomes more and more apparent. Slavery was essentially a monopoly of labor, and as such locked the States where it prevailed against the incoming of free industry. Where labor was the property of the capitalist, the white man was excluded from employment, or had but the second best chance of finding it; and the foreign emigrant turned away from the region where his condition would be so precarious. With the destruction of the monopoly free labor will hasten from all pans of the civilized world to assist in developing various and immeasurable resources which have hitherto lain dormant. The eight or nine States nearest the Gulf of Mexico have a soil of exuberant fertility, a climate friendly to long life, and can sustain a denser population than is found as yet in any part of our country. And the future influx of population to them will be mainly from the North or from the most cultivated nations in Europe. From the sufferings that have attended them during our late struggle let us look away to the future, which is sure to be laden for them with greater prosperity than has ever before been known. The removal of the monopoly of slave labor is a pledge that those regions will be peopled by a numerous and enterprising population, which will vie with any in the Union in compactness, inventive genius, wealth, and industry. Our Government springs from and was made for the people--not the people for the Government. To them it owes allegiance; from them it must derive its courage, strength, and wisdom. But while the Government is thus bound to defer to the people, from whom it derives its existence, it should, from the very consideration of its origin, be strong in its power of resistance to the establishment of inequalities. Monopolies, perpetuities, and class legislation are contrary to the genius of free government, and ought not to be allowed. Here there is no room for favored classes or monopolies; the principle of our Government is that of equal laws and freedom of industry. Wherever monopoly attains a foothold, it is sure to be a source of danger, discord, and trouble. We shall but fulfill our duties as legislators by according "equal and exact justice to all men," special privileges to none. The Government is subordinate to the people; but, as the agent and representative of the people, it must be held superior to monopolies, which in themselves ought never to be granted, and which, where they exist, must be subordinate and yield to the Government. The Constitution confers on Congress the right to regulate commerce among the several States. It is of the first necessity, for the maintenance of the Union, that that commerce should be free and unobstructed. No State can be justified in any device to tax the transit of travel and commerce between States. The position of many States is such that if they were allowed to take advantage of it for purposes of local revenue the commerce between States might be injuriously burdened, or even virtually prohibited. It is best, while the country is still young and while the tendency to dangerous monopolies of this kind is still feeble, to use the power of Congress so as to prevent any selfish impediment to the free circulation of men and merchandise. A tax on travel and merchandise in their transit constitutes one of the worst forms of monopoly, and the evil is increased if coupled with a denial of the choice of route. When the vast extent of our country is considered, it is plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of commerce between the States ought to be sternly guarded against by appropriate legislation within the limits of the Constitution. The report of the Secretary of the Interior explains the condition of the public lands, the transactions of the Patent Office and the Pension Bureau, the management of our Indian affairs, the progress made in the construction of the Pacific Railroad, and furnishes information in reference to matters of local interest in the District of Columbia. It also presents evidence of the successful operation of the homestead act, under the provisions of which 1,160,533 acres of the public lands were entered during the last fiscal year--more than one-fourth of the whole number of acres sold or otherwise disposed of during that period. It is estimated that the receipts derived from this source are sufficient to cover the expenses incident to the survey and disposal of the lands entered under this act, and that payments in cash to the extent of from 40 to 50 per cent will be made by settlers who may thus at any time acquire title before the expiration of the period at which it would otherwise vest. The homestead policy was established only after long and earnest resistance; experience proves its wisdom. The lands in the hands of industrious settlers, whose labor creates wealth and contributes to the public resources, are worth more to the United States than if they had been reserved as a solitude for future purchasers. The lamentable events of the last four years and the sacrifices made by the gallant men of our Army and Navy have swelled the records of the Pension Bureau to an unprecedented extent. On the 30th day of June last the total number of pensioners was 85,986, requiring for their annual pay, exclusive of expenses, the sum of $8,023,445. The number of applications that have been allowed since that date will require a large increase of this amount for the next fiscal year. The means for the payment of the stipends due under existing laws to our disabled soldiers and sailors and to the families of such as have perished in the service of the country will no doubt be cheerfully and promptly granted. A grateful people will not hesitate to sanction any measures having for their object the relief of soldiers mutilated and families made fatherless in the efforts to preserve our national existence. The report of the Postmaster-General presents an encouraging exhibit of the operations of the Post-Office Department during the year. The revenues of the past year, from the loyal States alone, exceeded the maximum annual receipts from all the States previous to the rebellion in the sum of $6,038,091; and the annual average increase of revenue during the last four years, compared with the revenues of the four years immediately preceding the rebellion, was $3,533,845. The revenues of the last fiscal year amounted to $14,556,158 and the expenditures to $13,694,728, leaving a surplus of receipts over expenditures of $861,430. Progress has been made in restoring the postal service in the Southern States. The views presented by the Postmaster-General against the policy of granting subsidies to the ocean mail steamship lines upon established routes and in favor of continuing the present system, which limits the compensation for ocean service to the postage earnings, are recommended to the careful consideration of Congress. It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Navy that while at the commencement of the present year there were in commission 530 vessels of all classes and descriptions, armed with 3,000 guns and manned by 51,000 men, the number of vessels at present in commission is 117, with 830 guns and 12,128 men. By this prompt reduction of the naval forces the expenses of the Government have been largely diminished, and a number of vessels purchased for naval purposes from the merchant marine have been returned to the peaceful pursuits of commerce. Since the suppression of active hostilities our foreign squadrons have been reestablished, and consist of vessels much more efficient than those employed on similar service previous to the rebellion. The suggestion for the enlargement of the navy-yards, and especially for the establishment of one in fresh water for ironclad vessels, is deserving of consideration, as is also the recommendation for a different location and more ample grounds for the Naval Academy. In the report of the Secretary of War a general summary is given of the military campaigns of 1864 and 1865, ending in the suppression of armed resistance to the national authority in the insurgent States. The operations of the general administrative bureaus of the War Department during the past year are detailed and an estimate made of the appropriations that will be required for military purposes in the fiscal year commencing the 1st day of July, 1866. The national military force on the 1st of May, 1865, numbered 1,000,516 men. It is proposed to reduce the military establishment to a peace footing, comprehending 50,000 troops of all arms, organized so as to admit of an enlargement by filling up the ranks to 82,600 if the circumstances of the country should require an augmentation of the Army. The volunteer force has already been reduced by the discharge from service of over 800,000 troops, and the Department is proceeding rapidly in the work of further reduction. The war estimates are reduced from $516,240,131 to $33,814,461, which amount, in the opinion of the Department, is adequate for a peace establishment. The measures of retrenchment in each bureau and branch of the service exhibit a diligent economy worthy of commendation. Reference is also made in the report to the necessity of providing for a uniform militia system and to the propriety of making suitable provision for wounded and disabled officers and soldiers. The revenue system of the country is a subject of vital interest to its honor and prosperity, and should command the earnest consideration of Congress. The Secretary of the Treasury will lay before you a full and detailed report of the receipts and disbursements of the last fiscal year, of the first quarter of the present fiscal year, of the probable receipts and expenditures for the other three quarters, and the estimates for the year following the 30th of June, 1866. I might content myself with a reference to that report, in which you will find all the information required for your deliberations and decision, but the paramount importance of the subject so presses itself on my own mind that I can not but lay before you my views of the measures which are required for the good character, and I might almost say for the existence, of this people. The life of a republic lies certainly in the energy, virtue, and intelligence of its citizens; but it is equally true that a good revenue system is the life of an organized government. I meet you at a time when the nation has voluntarily burdened itself with a debt unprecedented in our annals. Vast as is its amount, it fades away into nothing when compared with the countless blessings that will be conferred upon our country and upon man by the preservation of the nation's life. Now, on the first occasion of the meeting of Congress since the return of peace, it is of the utmost importance to inaugurate a just policy, which shall at once be put in motion, and which shall commend itself to those who come after us for its continuance. We must aim at nothing less than the complete effacement of the financial evils that necessarily followed a state of civil war. We must endeavor to apply the earliest remedy to the deranged state of the currency, and not shrink from devising a policy which, with-out being oppressive to the people, shall immediately begin to effect a reduction of the debt, and, if persisted in, discharge it fully within a definitely fixed number of years. It is our first duty to prepare in earnest for our recovery from the ever-increasing evils of an irredeemable currency without a sudden revulsion, and yet without untimely procrastination. For that end we must each, in our respective positions, prepare the way. I hold it the duty of the Executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditures, and a sparing economy is itself a great national resource. Of the banks to which authority has been given to issue notes secured by bonds of the United States we may require the greatest moderation and prudence, and the law must be rigidly enforced when its limits are exceeded. We may each one of us counsel our active and enterprising countrymen to be constantly on their guard, to liquidate debts contracted in a paper currency, and by conducting business as nearly as possible on a system of cash payments or short credits to hold themselves prepared to return to the standard of gold and silver. To aid our fellow-citizens in the prudent management of their monetary affairs, the duty devolves on us to diminish by law the amount of paper money now in circulation. Five years ago the bank-note circulation of the country amounted to not much more than two hundred millions; now the circulation, bank and national, exceeds seven hundred millions. The simple statement of the fact recommends more strongly than any words of mine could do the necessity of our restraining this expansion. The gradual reduction of the currency is the only measure that can save the business of the country from disastrous calamities, and this can be almost imperceptibly accomplished by gradually funding the national circulation in securities that may be made redeemable at the pleasure of the Government. Our debt is doubly secure--first in the actual wealth and still greater undeveloped resources of the country, and next in the character of our institutions. The most intelligent observers among political economists have not failed to remark that the public debt of a country is safe in proportion as its people are free; that the debt of a republic is the safest of all. Our history confirms and establishes the theory, and is, I firmly believe, destined to give it a still more signal illustration. The secret of this superiority springs not merely from the fact that in a republic the national obligations are distributed more widely through countless numbers in all classes of society; it has its root in the character of our laws. Here all men contribute to the public welfare and bear their fair share of the public burdens. During the war, under the impulses of patriotism, the men of the great body of the people, without regard to their own comparative want of wealth, thronged to our armies and filled our fleets of war, and held themselves ready to offer their lives for the public good. Now, in their turn, the property and income of the country should bear their just proportion of the burden of taxation, while in our impost system, through means of which increased vitality is incidentally imparted to all the industrial interests of the nation, the duties should be so adjusted as to fall most heavily on articles of luxury leaving the necessaries of life as free from taxation as the absolute wants of the Government economically administered will justify. No favored class should demand freedom from assessment, and the taxes should be so distributed as not to fall unduly on the poor, but rather on the accumulated wealth of the country. We should look at the national debt just as it is--not as a national blessing, but as a heavy burden on the industry of the country, to be discharged without unnecessary delay. It is estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury that the expenditures for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1866, will exceed the receipts $112,194,947. It is gratifying, however, to state that it is also estimated that the revenue for the year ending the 30th of June, 1867, will exceed the expenditures in the sum of $111,682,818. This amount, or so much as may be deemed sufficient for the purpose, may be applied to the reduction of the public debt, which on the 31st day of October, 1865, was $2,740,854,750. Every reduction will diminish the total amount of interest to be paid, and so enlarge the means of still further reductions, until the whole shall be liquidated; and this, as will be seen from the estimates of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be accomplished by annual payments even within a period not exceeding thirty years. I have faith that we shall do all this within a reasonable time; that as we have amazed the world by the suppression of a civil war which was thought to be beyond the control of any government, so we shall equally show the superiority of our institutions by the prompt and faithful discharge of our national obligations. The Department of Agriculture under its present direction is accomplishing much in developing and utilizing the vast agricultural capabilities of the country, and for information respecting the details of its management reference is made to the annual report of the Commissioner. I have dwelt thus fully on our domestic affairs because of their transcendent importance. Under any circumstances our great extent of territory and variety of climate, producing almost everything that is necessary for the wants and even the comforts of man, make us singularly independent of the varying policy of foreign powers and protect us against every temptation to "entangling alliances," while at the present moment the reestablishment of harmony and the strength that comes from harmony will be our best security against "nations who feel power and forget right." For myself, it has been and it will be my constant aim to promote peace and amity with all foreign nations and powers, and I have every reason to believe that they all, without exception, are animated by the same disposition. Our relations with the Emperor of China, so recent in their origin, are most friendly. Our commerce with his dominions is receiving new developments, and it is very pleasing to find that the Government of that great Empire manifests satisfaction with our policy and reposes just confidence in the fairness which marks our intercourse. The unbroken harmony between the United States and the Emperor of Russia is receiving a new support from an enterprise designed to carry telegraphic lines across the continent of Asia, through his dominions, and so to connect us with all Europe by a new channel of intercourse. Our commerce with South America is about to receive encouragement by a direct line of mail steamships to the rising Empire of Brazil. The distinguished party of men of science who have recently left our country to make a scientific exploration of the natural history and rivers and mountain ranges of that region have received from the Emperor that generous welcome which was to have been expected from his constant friendship for the United States and his well-known zeal in promoting the advancement of knowledge. A hope is entertained that our commerce with the rich and populous countries that border the Mediterranean Sea may be largely increased. Nothing will be wanting on the part of this Government to extend the protection of our flag over the enterprise of our fellow-citizens. We receive from the powers in that region assurances of good will; and it is worthy of note that a special envoy has brought us messages of condolence on the death of our late Chief Magistrate from the Bey of Tunis, whose rule includes the old dominions of Carthage, on the African coast. Our domestic contest, now happily ended, has left some traces in our relations with one at least of the great maritime powers. The formal accordance of belligerent rights to the insurgent States was unprecedented, and has not been justified by the issue. But in the systems of neutrality pursued by the powers which made that concession there was a marked difference. The materials of war for the insurgent States were furnished, in a great measure, from the workshops of Great Britain, and British ships, manned by British subjects and prepared for receiving British armaments, sallied from the ports of Great Britain to make war on American commerce under the shelter of a commission from the insurgent States. These ships, having once escaped from British ports, ever afterwards entered them in every part of the world to refit, and so to renew their depredations. The consequences of this conduct were most disastrous to the States then in rebellion, increasing their desolation and misery by the prolongation of our civil contest. It had, moreover, the effect, to a great extent, to drive the American flag from the sea, and to transfer much of our shipping and our commerce to the very power whose subjects had created the necessity for such a change. These events took place before I was called to the administration of the Government. The sincere desire for peace by which I am animated led me to approve the proposal, already made, to submit the question which had thus arisen between the countries to arbitration. These questions are of such moment that they must have commanded the attention of the great powers, and are so interwoven with the peace and interests of every one of them as to have insured an impartial decision. I regret to inform you that Great Britain declined the arbitrament, but, on the other hand, invited us to the formation of a joint commission to settle mutual claims between the two countries, from which those for the depredations before mentioned should be excluded. The proposition, in that very unsatisfactory form, has been declined. The United States did not present the subject as an impeachment of the good faith of a power which was professing the most friendly dispositions, but as involving questions of public law of which the settlement is essential to the peace of nations; and though pecuniary reparation to their injured citizens would have followed incidentally on a decision against Great Britain, such compensation was not their primary object. They had a higher motive, and it was in the interests of peace and justice to establish important principles of international law. The correspondence will be placed before you. The ground on which the British minister rests his justification is, substantially, that the municipal law of a nation and the domestic interpretations of that law are the measure of its duty as a neutral, and I feel bound to declare my opinion before you and before the world that that justification can not be sustained before the tribunal of nations. At the same time; I do not advise to any present attempt at redress by acts of legislation. For the future, friendship between the two countries must rest on the basis of mutual justice. From the moment of the establishment of our free Constitution the civilized world has been convulsed by revolutions in the interests of democracy or of monarchy, but through all those revolutions the United States have wisely and firmly refused to become propagandists of republicanism. It is the only government suited to our condition; but we have never sought to impose it on others, and we have consistently followed the advice of Washington to recommend it only by the careful preservation and prudent use of the blessing. During all the intervening period the policy of European powers and of the United States has, on the whole, been harmonious. Twice, indeed, rumors of the invasion of some parts of America in the interest of monarchy have prevailed; twice my predecessors have had occasion to announce the views of this nation in respect to such interference. On both occasions the remonstrance of the United States was respected from a deep conviction on the part of European Governments that the system of noninterference and mutual abstinence from propagandism was the true rule for the two hemispheres. Since those times we have advanced in wealth and power, but we retain the same purpose to leave the nations of Europe to choose their own dynasties and form their own systems of government. This consistent moderation may justly demand a corresponding moderation. We should regard it as a great calamity to ourselves, to the cause of good government, and to the peace of the world should any European power challenge the American people, as it were, to the defense of republicanism against foreign interference. We can not foresee and are unwilling to consider what opportunities might present themselves, what combinations might offer to protect ourselves against designs inimical to our form of government. The United States desire to act in the future as they have ever acted heretofore; they never will be driven from that course but by the aggression of European powers, and we rely on the wisdom and justice of those powers to respect the system of noninterference which has so long been sanctioned by time, and which by its good results has approved itself to both continents. The correspondence between the United States and France in reference to questions which have become subjects of discussion between the two Governments will at a proper time be laid before Congress. When, on the organization of our Government under the Constitution, the President of the United States delivered his inaugural address to the two Houses of Congress, he said to them, and through them to the country and to mankind, that-- The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people. And the House of Representatives answered Washington by the voice of Madison: We adore the Invisible Hand which has led the American people, through so many difficulties, to cherish a conscious responsibility for the destiny of republican liberty. More than seventy-six years have glided away since these words were spoken; the United States have passed through severer trials than were foreseen; and now, at this new epoch in our existence as one nation, with our Union purified by sorrows and strengthened by conflict and established by the virtue of the people, the greatness of the occasion invites us once more to repeat with solemnity the pledges of our fathers to hold ourselves answerable before our fellow-men for the success of the republican form of government. Experience has proved its sufficiency in peace and in war; it has vindicated its authority through dangers and afflictions, and sudden and terrible emergencies, which would have crushed any system that had been less firmly fixed in the hearts of the people. At the inauguration of Washington the foreign relations of the country were few and its trade was repressed by hostile regulations; now all the civilized nations of the globe welcome our commerce, and their governments profess toward us amity. Then our country felt its way hesitatingly along an untried path, with States so little bound together by rapid means of communication as to be hardly known to one another, and with historic traditions extending over very few years; now intercourse between the States is swift and intimate; the experience of centuries has been crowded into a few generations, and has created an intense, indestructible nationality. Then our jurisdiction did not reach beyond the inconvenient boundaries of the territory which had achieved independence; now, through cessions of lands, first colonized by Spain and France, the country has acquired a more complex character, and has for its natural limits the chain of lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east and the west the two great oceans. Other nations were wasted by civil wars for ages before they could establish for themselves the necessary degree of unity; the latent conviction that our form of government is the best ever known to the world has enabled us to emerge from civil war within four years with a complete vindication of the constitutional authority of the General Government and with our local liberties and State institutions unimpaired. The throngs of emigrants that crowd to our shores are witnesses of the confidence of all peoples in our permanence. Here is the great land of free labor, where industry is blessed with unexampled rewards and the bread of the workingman is sweetened by the consciousness that the cause of the country "is his own cause, his own safety, his own dignity." Here everyone enjoys the free use of his faculties and the choice of activity as a natural right. Here, under the combined influence of a fruitful soil, genial climes, and happy institutions, population has increased fifteen-fold within a century. Here, through the easy development of boundless resources, wealth has increased with twofold greater rapidity than numbers, so that we have become secure against the financial vicissitudes of other countries and, alike in business and in opinion, are self-centered and truly independent. Here more and more care is given to provide education for everyone born on our soil. Here religion, released from political connection with the civil government, refuses to subserve the craft of statesmen, and becomes in its independence the spiritual life of the people. Here toleration is extended to every opinion, in the quiet certainty that truth needs only a fair field to secure the victory. Here the human mind goes forth unshackled in the pursuit of science, to collect stores of knowledge and acquire an ever-increasing mastery over the forces of nature. Here the national domain is offered and held in millions of separate freeholds, so that our fellow-citizens, beyond the occupants of any other part of the earth, constitute in reality a people. Here exists the democratic form of government; and that form of government, by the confession of European statesmen," gives a power of which no other form is capable, because it incorporates every man with the state and arouses everything that belongs to the soul." Where, in past history, does a parallel exist to the public happiness which is within the reach of the people of the United States? Where in any part of the globe can institutions be found so suited to their habits or so entitled to their love as their own free Constitution? Every one of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his home, must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not now acknowledge, in the words of Washington, that "every step by which the people of the United States have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency"? Who will not join with me in the prayer that the Invisible Hand which has led us through the clouds that gloomed around our path will so guide us onward to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection that we of this day may be able to transmit our great inheritance of State governments in all their rights, of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, to our posterity, and they to theirs through countless generations?
To express gratitude to God in the name of the people for the preservation of the United States is my first duty in addressing you. Our thoughts next revert to the death of the late President by an act of parricidal treason. The grief of the nation is still fresh. It finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the Chief Magistracy to which he had been elected; that he brought the civil war substantially to a close; that his loss was deplored in all parts of the Union, and that foreign nations have rendered justice to his memory. His removal cast upon me a heavier weight of cares than ever devolved upon any one of his predecessors. To fulfill my trust I need the support and confidence of all who are associated with me in the various departments of Government and the support and confidence of the people. There is but one way in which I can hope to gain their necessary aid. It is to state with frankness the principles which guide my conduct, and their application to the present state of affairs, well aware that the efficiency of my labors will in a great measure depend on your and their undivided approbation. The Union of the United States of America was intended by its authors to last as long as the States themselves shall last. "The Union shall be perpetual" are the words of the Confederation. "To form a more perfect Union," by an ordinance of the people of the United States, is the declared purpose of the Constitution. The hand of Divine Providence was never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than in the framing and the adopting of that instrument. It is beyond comparison the greatest event in American history, and, indeed, is it not of all events in modern times the most pregnant with consequences for every people of the earth? The members of the Convention which prepared it brought to their work the experience of the Confederation, of their several States, and of other republican governments, old and new; but they needed and they obtained a wisdom superior to experience. And when for its validity it required the approval of a people that occupied a large part of a continent and acted separately in many distinct conventions, what is more wonderful than that, after earnest contention and long discussion, all feelings and all opinions were ultimately drawn in one way to its support? The Constitution to which life was thus imparted contains within itself ample resources for its own preservation. It has power to enforce the laws, punish treason, and insure domestic tranquillity. In case of the usurpation of the government of a State by one man or an oligarchy, it becomes a duty of the United States to make good the guaranty to that State of a republican form of government, and so to maintain the homogeneousness of all. Does the lapse of time reveal defects? A simple mode of amendment is provided in the Constitution itself, so that its conditions can always be made to conform to the requirements of advancing civilization. No room is allowed even for the thought of a possibility of its coming to an end. And these powers of self-preservation have always been asserted in their complete integrity by every patriotic Chief Magistrate by Jefferson and Jackson not less than by Washington and Madison. The parting advice of the Father of his Country, while yet President, to the people of the United States was that the free Constitution, which was the work of their hands, might be sacredly maintained; and the inaugural words of President Jefferson held up "the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad." The Constitution is the work of "the people of the United States," and it should be as indestructible as the people. It is not strange that the framers of the Constitution, which had no model in the past, should not have fully comprehended the excellence of their own work. Fresh from a struggle against arbitrary power, many patriots suffered from harassing fears of an absorption of the State governments by the General Government, and many from a dread that the States would break away from their orbits. But the very greatness of our country should allay the apprehension of encroachments by the General Government. The subjects that come unquestionably within its jurisdiction are so numerous that it must ever naturally refuse to be embarrassed by questions that lie beyond it. Were it otherwise the Executive would sink beneath the burden, the channels of justice would be choked, legislation would be obstructed by excess, so that there is a greater temptation to exercise some of the functions of the General Government through the States than to trespass on their rightful sphere. The "absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority" was at the beginning of the century enforced by Jefferson as "the vital principle of republics;" and the events of the last four years have established, we will hope forever, that there lies no appeal to force. The maintenance of the Union brings with it "the support of the State governments in all their rights," but it is not one of the rights of any State government to renounce its own place in the Union or to nullify the laws of the Union. The largest liberty is to be maintained in the discussion of the acts of the Federal Government, but there is no appeal from its laws except to the various branches of that Government itself, or to the people, who grant to the members of the legislative and of the executive departments no tenure but a limited one, and in that manner always retain the powers of redress. "The sovereignty of the States" is the language of the Confederacy, and not the language of the Constitution. The latter contains the emphatic words-- This Constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land, and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. Certainly the Government of the United States is a limited government, and so is every State government a limited government. With us this idea of limitation spreads through every form of administration--general, State, and municipal--and rests on the great distinguishing principle of the recognition of the rights of man. The ancient republics absorbed the individual in the state--prescribed his religion and controlled his activity. The American system rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to freedom of conscience, to the culture and exercise of all his faculties. As a consequence the State government is limited--as to the General Government in the interest of union, as to the individual citizen in the interest of freedom. States, with proper limitations of power, are essential to the existence of the Constitution of the United States. At the very commencement, when we assumed a place among the powers of the earth, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by States; so also were the Articles of Confederation: and when "the people of the United States" ordained and established the Constitution it was the assent of the States, one by one, which gave it vitality. In the event, too, of any amendment to the Constitution, the proposition of Congress needs the confirmation of States. Without States one great branch of the legislative government would be wanting. And if we look beyond the letter of the Constitution to the character of our country, its capacity for comprehending within its jurisdiction a vast continental empire is due to the system of States. The best security for the perpetual existence of the States is the "supreme authority" of the Constitution of the United States. The perpetuity of the Constitution brings with it the perpetuity of the States; their mutual relation makes us what we are, and in our political system their connection is indissoluble. The whole can not exist without the parts, nor the parts without the whole. So long as the Constitution of the United States endures, the States will endure. The destruction of the one is the destruction of the other; the preservation of the one is the preservation of the other. I have thus explained my views of the mutual relations of the Constitution and the States, because they unfold the principles on which I have sought to solve the momentous questions and overcome the appalling difficulties that met me at the very commencement of my Administration. It has been my steadfast object to escape from the sway of momentary passions and to derive a healing policy from the fundamental and unchanging principles of the Constitution. I found the States suffering from the effects of a civil war. Resistance to the General Government appeared to have exhausted itself. The United States had recovered possession of their forts and arsenals, and their armies were in the occupation of every State which had attempted to secede. Whether the territory within the limits of those States should be held as conquered territory, under military authority emanating from the President as the head of the Army, was the first question that presented itself for decision. Now military governments, established for an indefinite period, would have offered no security for the early suppression of discontent, would have divided the people into the vanquishers and the vanquished, and would have envenomed hatred rather than have restored affection. Once established, no precise limit to their continuance was conceivable. They would have occasioned an incalculable and exhausting expense. Peaceful emigration to and from that portion of the country is one of the best means that can be thought of for the restoration of harmony, and that emigration would have been prevented; for what emigrant from abroad, what industrious citizen at home, would place himself willingly under military rule? The chief persons who would have followed in the train of the Army would have been dependents on the General Government or men who expected profit from the miseries of their erring fellow-citizens. The powers of patronage and rule which would have been exercised under the President, over a vast and populous and naturally wealthy region are greater than, unless under extreme necessity, I should be willing to intrust to any one man. They are such as, for myself, I could never, unless on occasions of great emergency, consent to exercise. The willful use of such powers, if continued through a period of years, would have endangered the purity of the general administration and the liberties of the States which remained loyal. Besides, the policy of military rule over a conquered territory would have implied that the States whose inhabitants may have taken part in the rebellion had by the act of those inhabitants ceased to exist. But the true theory is that all pretended acts of secession were from the beginning null and void. The States can not commit treason nor screen the individual citizens who may have committed treason any more than they can make valid treaties or engage in lawful commerce with any foreign power. The States attempting to secede placed themselves in a condition where their vitality was impaired, but not extinguished; their functions suspended, but not destroyed. But if any State neglects or refuses to perform its offices there is the more need that the General Government should maintain all its authority and as soon as practicable resume the exercise of all its functions. On this principle I have acted, and have gradually and quietly, and by almost imperceptible steps, sought to restore the rightful energy of the General Government and of the States. To that end provisional governors have been appointed for the States, conventions called, governors elected, legislatures assembled, and Senators and Representatives chosen to the Congress of the United States. At the same time the courts of the United States, as far as could be done, have been reopened, so that the laws of the United States may be enforced through their agency. The blockade has been removed and the custom-houses reestablished in ports of entry, so that the revenue of the United States may be collected. The Post-Office Department renews its ceaseless activity, and the General Government is thereby enabled to communicate promptly with its officers and agents. The courts bring security to persons and property; the opening of the ports invites the restoration of industry and commerce; the post-office renews the facilities of social intercourse and of business. And is it not happy for us all that the restoration of each one of these functions of the General Government brings with it a blessing to the States over which they are extended? Is it not a sure promise of harmony and renewed attachment to the Union that after all that has happened the return of the General Government is known only as a beneficence? I know very well that this policy is attended with some risk; that for its success it requires at least the acquiescence of the States which it concerns; that it implies an invitation to those States, by renewing their allegiance to the United States, to resume their functions as States of the Union. But it is a risk that must be taken. In the choice of difficulties it is the smallest risk; and to diminish and if possible to remove all danger, I have felt it incumbent on me to assert one other power of the General Government--the power of pardon. As no State can throw a defense over the crime of treason, the power of pardon is exclusively vested in the executive government of the United States. In exercising that power I have taken every precaution to connect it with the clearest recognition of the binding force of the laws of the United States and an unqualified acknowledgment of the great social change of condition in regard to slavery which has grown out of the war. The next step which I have taken to restore the constitutional relations of the States has been an invitation to them to participate in the high office of amending the Constitution. Every patriot must wish for a general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent with public safety. For this great end there is need of a concurrence of all opinions and the spirit of mutual conciliation. All parties in the late terrible conflict must work together in harmony. It is not too much to ask, in the name of the whole people, that on the one side the plan of restoration shall proceed in conformity with a willingness to cast the disorders of the past into oblivion, and that on the other the evidence of sincerity in the future maintenance of the Union shall be put beyond any doubt by the ratification of the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which provides for the abolition of slavery forever within the limits of our country. So long as the adoption of this amendment is delayed, so long will doubt and jealousy and uncertainty prevail. This is the measure which will efface the sad memory of the past; this is the measure which will most certainly call population and capital and security to those parts of the Union that need them most. Indeed, it is not too much to ask of the States which are now resuming their places in the family of the Union to give this pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace. Until it is done the past, however much we may desire it, will not be forgotten, The adoption of the amendment reunites us beyond all power of disruption; it heals the wound that is still imperfectly closed: it removes slavery, the element which has so long perplexed and divided the country; it makes of us once more a united people, renewed and strengthened, bound more than ever to mutual affection and support. The amendment to the Constitution being adopted, it would remain for the States whose powers have been so long in abeyance to resume their places in the two branches of the National Legislature, and thereby complete the work of restoration. Here it is for you, fellow-citizens of the Senate, and for you, fellow-citizens of the House of Representatives, to judge, each of you for yourselves, of the elections, returns, and qualifications of your own members. The full assertion of the powers of the General Government requires the holding of circuit courts of the United States within the districts where their authority has been interrupted. In the present posture of our public affairs strong objections have been urged to holding those courts in any of the States where the rebellion has existed; and it was ascertained by inquiry, that the circuit court of the United States would not be held within the district of Virginia during the autumn or early winter, nor until Congress should have "an opportunity to consider and act on the whole subject." To your deliberations the restoration of this branch of the civil authority of the United States is therefore necessarily referred, with the hope that early provision will be made for the resumption of all its functions. It is manifest that treason, most flagrant in character, has been committed. Persons who are charged with its commission should have fair and impartial trials in the highest civil tribunals of the country, in order that the Constitution and the laws may be fully vindicated, the truth dearly established and affirmed that treason is a crime, that traitors should be punished and the offense made infamous, and, at the same time, that the question may be judicially settled, finally and forever, that no State of its own will has the right to renounce its place in the Union. The relations of the General Government toward the 4,000,000 inhabitants whom the war has called into freedom have engaged my most serious consideration. On the propriety of attempting to make the freedmen electors by the proclamation of the Executive I took for my counsel the Constitution itself, the interpretations of that instrument by its authors and their contemporaries, and recent legislation by Congress. When, at the first movement toward independence, the Congress of the United States instructed the several States to institute governments of their own, they left each State to decide for itself the conditions for the enjoyment of the elective franchise. During the period of the Confederacy there continued to exist a very great diversity in the qualifications of electors in the several States, and even within a State a distinction of qualifications prevailed with regard to the officers who were to be chosen. The Constitution of the United States recognizes these diversities when it enjoins that in the choice of members of the House of Representatives of the United States "the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature." After the formation of the Constitution it remained, as before, the uniform usage for each State to enlarge the body of its electors according to its own judgment, and under this system one State after another has proceeded to increase the number of its electors, until now universal suffrage, or something very near it, is the general rule. So fixed was this reservation of power in the habits of the people and so unquestioned has been the interpretation of the Constitution that during the civil war the late President never harbored the purpose--certainly never evowed the purpose--of disregarding it; and in the acts of Congress during that period nothing can be found which, during the continuance of hostilities much less after their close, would have sanctioned any departure by the Executive from a policy which has so uniformly obtained. Moreover, a concession of the elective franchise to the freedmen by act of the President of the United States must have been extended to all colored men, wherever found, and so must have established a change of suffrage in the Northern, Middle, and Western States, not less than in the Southern and Southwestern. Such an act would have created a new class of voters, and would have been an assumption of power by the President which nothing in the Constitution or laws of the United States would have warranted. On the other hand, every danger of conflict is avoided when the settlement of the question is referred to the several States. They can, each for itself, decide on the measure, and whether it is to be adopted at once and absolutely or introduced gradually and with conditions. In my judgment the freedmen, if they show patience and manly virtues, will sooner obtain a participation in the elective franchise through the States than through the General Government, even if it had power to intervene. When the tumult of emotions that have been raised by the suddenness of the social change shall have subsided, it may prove that they will receive the kindest usage from some of those on whom they have heretofore most closely depended. But while I have no doubt that now, after the close of the war, it is not competent for the General Government to extend the elective franchise in the several States, it is equally clear that good faith requires the security of the freedmen in their liberty and their property, their right to labor, and their right to claim the just return of their labor. I can not too strongly urge a dispassionate treatment of this subject, which should be carefully kept aloof from all party strife. We must equally avoid hasty assumptions of any natural impossibility for the two races to live side by side in a state of mutual benefit and good will. The experiment involves us in no inconsistency; let us, then, go on and make that experiment in good faith, and not be too easily disheartened. The country is in need of labor, and the freedmen are in need of employment, culture, and protection. While their right of voluntary migration and expatriation is not to be questioned, I would not advise their forced removal and colonization. Let us rather encourage them to honorable and useful industry, where it may be beneficial to themselves and to the country; and, instead of hasty anticipations of the certainty of failure, let there be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the experiment. The change in their condition is the substitution of labor by contract for the status of slavery. The freedman can not fairly be accused of unwillingness to work so long as a doubt remains about his freedom of choice in his pursuits and the certainty of his recovering his stipulated wages. In this the interests of the employer and the employed coincide. The employer desires in his workmen spirit and alacrity, and these can be permanently secured in no other way. And if the one ought to be able to enforce the contract, so ought the other. The public interest will be best promoted if the several States will provide adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen. Until this is in some way accomplished there is no chance for the advantageous use of their labor, and the blame of ill success will not rest on them. I know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the immediate realization of its remotest aims; but time is always an element in reform. It is one of the greatest acts on record to have brought 4,000,000 people into freedom. The career of free industry must be fairly opened to them, and then their future prosperity and condition must, after all, rest mainly on themselves. If they fail, and so perish away, let us be careful that the failure shall not be attributable to any denial of justice. In all that relates to the destiny of the freedmen we need not be too anxious to read the future; many incidents which, from a speculative point of view, might raise alarm will quietly settle themselves. Now that slavery is at an end, or near its end, the greatness of its evil in the point of view of public economy becomes more and more apparent. Slavery was essentially a monopoly of labor, and as such locked the States where it prevailed against the incoming of free industry. Where labor was the property of the capitalist, the white man was excluded from employment, or had but the second best chance of finding it; and the foreign emigrant turned away from the region where his condition would be so precarious. With the destruction of the monopoly free labor will hasten from all pans of the civilized world to assist in developing various and immeasurable resources which have hitherto lain dormant. The eight or nine States nearest the Gulf of Mexico have a soil of exuberant fertility, a climate friendly to long life, and can sustain a denser population than is found as yet in any part of our country. And the future influx of population to them will be mainly from the North or from the most cultivated nations in Europe. From the sufferings that have attended them during our late struggle let us look away to the future, which is sure to be laden for them with greater prosperity than has ever before been known. The removal of the monopoly of slave labor is a pledge that those regions will be peopled by a numerous and enterprising population, which will vie with any in the Union in compactness, inventive genius, wealth, and industry. Our Government springs from and was made for the people--not the people for the Government. To them it owes allegiance; from them it must derive its courage, strength, and wisdom. But while the Government is thus bound to defer to the people, from whom it derives its existence, it should, from the very consideration of its origin, be strong in its power of resistance to the establishment of inequalities. Monopolies, perpetuities, and class legislation are contrary to the genius of free government, and ought not to be allowed. Here there is no room for favored classes or monopolies; the principle of our Government is that of equal laws and freedom of industry. Wherever monopoly attains a foothold, it is sure to be a source of danger, discord, and trouble. We shall but fulfill our duties as legislators by according "equal and exact justice to all men," special privileges to none. The Government is subordinate to the people; but, as the agent and representative of the people, it must be held superior to monopolies, which in themselves ought never to be granted, and which, where they exist, must be subordinate and yield to the Government. The Constitution confers on Congress the right to regulate commerce among the several States. It is of the first necessity, for the maintenance of the Union, that that commerce should be free and unobstructed. No State can be justified in any device to tax the transit of travel and commerce between States. The position of many States is such that if they were allowed to take advantage of it for purposes of local revenue the commerce between States might be injuriously burdened, or even virtually prohibited. It is best, while the country is still young and while the tendency to dangerous monopolies of this kind is still feeble, to use the power of Congress so as to prevent any selfish impediment to the free circulation of men and merchandise. A tax on travel and merchandise in their transit constitutes one of the worst forms of monopoly, and the evil is increased if coupled with a denial of the choice of route. When the vast extent of our country is considered, it is plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of commerce between the States ought to be sternly guarded against by appropriate legislation within the limits of the Constitution. The report of the Secretary of the Interior explains the condition of the public lands, the transactions of the Patent Office and the Pension Bureau, the management of our Indian affairs, the progress made in the construction of the Pacific Railroad, and furnishes information in reference to matters of local interest in the District of Columbia. It also presents evidence of the successful operation of the homestead act, under the provisions of which 1,160,533 acres of the public lands were entered during the last fiscal year--more than one-fourth of the whole number of acres sold or otherwise disposed of during that period. It is estimated that the receipts derived from this source are sufficient to cover the expenses incident to the survey and disposal of the lands entered under this act, and that payments in cash to the extent of from 40 to 50 per cent will be made by settlers who may thus at any time acquire title before the expiration of the period at which it would otherwise vest. The homestead policy was established only after long and earnest resistance; experience proves its wisdom. The lands in the hands of industrious settlers, whose labor creates wealth and contributes to the public resources, are worth more to the United States than if they had been reserved as a solitude for future purchasers. The lamentable events of the last four years and the sacrifices made by the gallant men of our Army and Navy have swelled the records of the Pension Bureau to an unprecedented extent. On the 30th day of June last the total number of pensioners was 85,986, requiring for their annual pay, exclusive of expenses, the sum of $8,023,445. The number of applications that have been allowed since that date will require a large increase of this amount for the next fiscal year. The means for the payment of the stipends due under existing laws to our disabled soldiers and sailors and to the families of such as have perished in the service of the country will no doubt be cheerfully and promptly granted. A grateful people will not hesitate to sanction any measures having for their object the relief of soldiers mutilated and families made fatherless in the efforts to preserve our national existence. The report of the Postmaster-General presents an encouraging exhibit of the operations of the Post-Office Department during the year. The revenues of the past year, from the loyal States alone, exceeded the maximum annual receipts from all the States previous to the rebellion in the sum of $6,038,091; and the annual average increase of revenue during the last four years, compared with the revenues of the four years immediately preceding the rebellion, was $3,533,845. The revenues of the last fiscal year amounted to $14,556,158 and the expenditures to $13,694,728, leaving a surplus of receipts over expenditures of $861,430. Progress has been made in restoring the postal service in the Southern States. The views presented by the Postmaster-General against the policy of granting subsidies to the ocean mail steamship lines upon established routes and in favor of continuing the present system, which limits the compensation for ocean service to the postage earnings, are recommended to the careful consideration of Congress. It appears from the report of the Secretary of the Navy that while at the commencement of the present year there were in commission 530 vessels of all classes and descriptions, armed with 3,000 guns and manned by 51,000 men, the number of vessels at present in commission is 117, with 830 guns and 12,128 men. By this prompt reduction of the naval forces the expenses of the Government have been largely diminished, and a number of vessels purchased for naval purposes from the merchant marine have been returned to the peaceful pursuits of commerce. Since the suppression of active hostilities our foreign squadrons have been reestablished, and consist of vessels much more efficient than those employed on similar service previous to the rebellion. The suggestion for the enlargement of the navy-yards, and especially for the establishment of one in fresh water for ironclad vessels, is deserving of consideration, as is also the recommendation for a different location and more ample grounds for the Naval Academy. In the report of the Secretary of War a general summary is given of the military campaigns of 1864 and 1865, ending in the suppression of armed resistance to the national authority in the insurgent States. The operations of the general administrative bureaus of the War Department during the past year are detailed and an estimate made of the appropriations that will be required for military purposes in the fiscal year commencing the 1st day of July, 1866. The national military force on the 1st of May, 1865, numbered 1,000,516 men. It is proposed to reduce the military establishment to a peace footing, comprehending 50,000 troops of all arms, organized so as to admit of an enlargement by filling up the ranks to 82,600 if the circumstances of the country should require an augmentation of the Army. The volunteer force has already been reduced by the discharge from service of over 800,000 troops, and the Department is proceeding rapidly in the work of further reduction. The war estimates are reduced from $516,240,131 to $33,814,461, which amount, in the opinion of the Department, is adequate for a peace establishment. The measures of retrenchment in each bureau and branch of the service exhibit a diligent economy worthy of commendation. Reference is also made in the report to the necessity of providing for a uniform militia system and to the propriety of making suitable provision for wounded and disabled officers and soldiers. The revenue system of the country is a subject of vital interest to its honor and prosperity, and should command the earnest consideration of Congress. The Secretary of the Treasury will lay before you a full and detailed report of the receipts and disbursements of the last fiscal year, of the first quarter of the present fiscal year, of the probable receipts and expenditures for the other three quarters, and the estimates for the year following the 30th of June, 1866. I might content myself with a reference to that report, in which you will find all the information required for your deliberations and decision, but the paramount importance of the subject so presses itself on my own mind that I can not but lay before you my views of the measures which are required for the good character, and I might almost say for the existence, of this people. The life of a republic lies certainly in the energy, virtue, and intelligence of its citizens; but it is equally true that a good revenue system is the life of an organized government. I meet you at a time when the nation has voluntarily burdened itself with a debt unprecedented in our annals. Vast as is its amount, it fades away into nothing when compared with the countless blessings that will be conferred upon our country and upon man by the preservation of the nation's life. Now, on the first occasion of the meeting of Congress since the return of peace, it is of the utmost importance to inaugurate a just policy, which shall at once be put in motion, and which shall commend itself to those who come after us for its continuance. We must aim at nothing less than the complete effacement of the financial evils that necessarily followed a state of civil war. We must endeavor to apply the earliest remedy to the deranged state of the currency, and not shrink from devising a policy which, with-out being oppressive to the people, shall immediately begin to effect a reduction of the debt, and, if persisted in, discharge it fully within a definitely fixed number of years. It is our first duty to prepare in earnest for our recovery from the ever-increasing evils of an irredeemable currency without a sudden revulsion, and yet without untimely procrastination. For that end we must each, in our respective positions, prepare the way. I hold it the duty of the Executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditures, and a sparing economy is itself a great national resource. Of the banks to which authority has been given to issue notes secured by bonds of the United States we may require the greatest moderation and prudence, and the law must be rigidly enforced when its limits are exceeded. We may each one of us counsel our active and enterprising countrymen to be constantly on their guard, to liquidate debts contracted in a paper currency, and by conducting business as nearly as possible on a system of cash payments or short credits to hold themselves prepared to return to the standard of gold and silver. To aid our fellow-citizens in the prudent management of their monetary affairs, the duty devolves on us to diminish by law the amount of paper money now in circulation. Five years ago the bank-note circulation of the country amounted to not much more than two hundred millions; now the circulation, bank and national, exceeds seven hundred millions. The simple statement of the fact recommends more strongly than any words of mine could do the necessity of our restraining this expansion. The gradual reduction of the currency is the only measure that can save the business of the country from disastrous calamities, and this can be almost imperceptibly accomplished by gradually funding the national circulation in securities that may be made redeemable at the pleasure of the Government. Our debt is doubly secure--first in the actual wealth and still greater undeveloped resources of the country, and next in the character of our institutions. The most intelligent observers among political economists have not failed to remark that the public debt of a country is safe in proportion as its people are free; that the debt of a republic is the safest of all. Our history confirms and establishes the theory, and is, I firmly believe, destined to give it a still more signal illustration. The secret of this superiority springs not merely from the fact that in a republic the national obligations are distributed more widely through countless numbers in all classes of society; it has its root in the character of our laws. Here all men contribute to the public welfare and bear their fair share of the public burdens. During the war, under the impulses of patriotism, the men of the great body of the people, without regard to their own comparative want of wealth, thronged to our armies and filled our fleets of war, and held themselves ready to offer their lives for the public good. Now, in their turn, the property and income of the country should bear their just proportion of the burden of taxation, while in our impost system, through means of which increased vitality is incidentally imparted to all the industrial interests of the nation, the duties should be so adjusted as to fall most heavily on articles of luxury leaving the necessaries of life as free from taxation as the absolute wants of the Government economically administered will justify. No favored class should demand freedom from assessment, and the taxes should be so distributed as not to fall unduly on the poor, but rather on the accumulated wealth of the country. We should look at the national debt just as it is--not as a national blessing, but as a heavy burden on the industry of the country, to be discharged without unnecessary delay. It is estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury that the expenditures for the fiscal year ending the 30th of June, 1866, will exceed the receipts $112,194,947. It is gratifying, however, to state that it is also estimated that the revenue for the year ending the 30th of June, 1867, will exceed the expenditures in the sum of $111,682,818. This amount, or so much as may be deemed sufficient for the purpose, may be applied to the reduction of the public debt, which on the 31st day of October, 1865, was $2,740,854,750. Every reduction will diminish the total amount of interest to be paid, and so enlarge the means of still further reductions, until the whole shall be liquidated; and this, as will be seen from the estimates of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be accomplished by annual payments even within a period not exceeding thirty years. I have faith that we shall do all this within a reasonable time; that as we have amazed the world by the suppression of a civil war which was thought to be beyond the control of any government, so we shall equally show the superiority of our institutions by the prompt and faithful discharge of our national obligations. The Department of Agriculture under its present direction is accomplishing much in developing and utilizing the vast agricultural capabilities of the country, and for information respecting the details of its management reference is made to the annual report of the Commissioner. I have dwelt thus fully on our domestic affairs because of their transcendent importance. Under any circumstances our great extent of territory and variety of climate, producing almost everything that is necessary for the wants and even the comforts of man, make us singularly independent of the varying policy of foreign powers and protect us against every temptation to "entangling alliances," while at the present moment the reestablishment of harmony and the strength that comes from harmony will be our best security against "nations who feel power and forget right." For myself, it has been and it will be my constant aim to promote peace and amity with all foreign nations and powers, and I have every reason to believe that they all, without exception, are animated by the same disposition. Our relations with the Emperor of China, so recent in their origin, are most friendly. Our commerce with his dominions is receiving new developments, and it is very pleasing to find that the Government of that great Empire manifests satisfaction with our policy and reposes just confidence in the fairness which marks our intercourse. The unbroken harmony between the United States and the Emperor of Russia is receiving a new support from an enterprise designed to carry telegraphic lines across the continent of Asia, through his dominions, and so to connect us with all Europe by a new channel of intercourse. Our commerce with South America is about to receive encouragement by a direct line of mail steamships to the rising Empire of Brazil. The distinguished party of men of science who have recently left our country to make a scientific exploration of the natural history and rivers and mountain ranges of that region have received from the Emperor that generous welcome which was to have been expected from his constant friendship for the United States and his well-known zeal in promoting the advancement of knowledge. A hope is entertained that our commerce with the rich and populous countries that border the Mediterranean Sea may be largely increased. Nothing will be wanting on the part of this Government to extend the protection of our flag over the enterprise of our fellow-citizens. We receive from the powers in that region assurances of good will; and it is worthy of note that a special envoy has brought us messages of condolence on the death of our late Chief Magistrate from the Bey of Tunis, whose rule includes the old dominions of Carthage, on the African coast. Our domestic contest, now happily ended, has left some traces in our relations with one at least of the great maritime powers. The formal accordance of belligerent rights to the insurgent States was unprecedented, and has not been justified by the issue. But in the systems of neutrality pursued by the powers which made that concession there was a marked difference. The materials of war for the insurgent States were furnished, in a great measure, from the workshops of Great Britain, and British ships, manned by British subjects and prepared for receiving British armaments, sallied from the ports of Great Britain to make war on American commerce under the shelter of a commission from the insurgent States. These ships, having once escaped from British ports, ever afterwards entered them in every part of the world to refit, and so to renew their depredations. The consequences of this conduct were most disastrous to the States then in rebellion, increasing their desolation and misery by the prolongation of our civil contest. It had, moreover, the effect, to a great extent, to drive the American flag from the sea, and to transfer much of our shipping and our commerce to the very power whose subjects had created the necessity for such a change. These events took place before I was called to the administration of the Government. The sincere desire for peace by which I am animated led me to approve the proposal, already made, to submit the question which had thus arisen between the countries to arbitration. These questions are of such moment that they must have commanded the attention of the great powers, and are so interwoven with the peace and interests of every one of them as to have insured an impartial decision. I regret to inform you that Great Britain declined the arbitrament, but, on the other hand, invited us to the formation of a joint commission to settle mutual claims between the two countries, from which those for the depredations before mentioned should be excluded. The proposition, in that very unsatisfactory form, has been declined. The United States did not present the subject as an impeachment of the good faith of a power which was professing the most friendly dispositions, but as involving questions of public law of which the settlement is essential to the peace of nations; and though pecuniary reparation to their injured citizens would have followed incidentally on a decision against Great Britain, such compensation was not their primary object. They had a higher motive, and it was in the interests of peace and justice to establish important principles of international law. The correspondence will be placed before you. The ground on which the British minister rests his justification is, substantially, that the municipal law of a nation and the domestic interpretations of that law are the measure of its duty as a neutral, and I feel bound to declare my opinion before you and before the world that that justification can not be sustained before the tribunal of nations. At the same time; I do not advise to any present attempt at redress by acts of legislation. For the future, friendship between the two countries must rest on the basis of mutual justice. From the moment of the establishment of our free Constitution the civilized world has been convulsed by revolutions in the interests of democracy or of monarchy, but through all those revolutions the United States have wisely and firmly refused to become propagandists of republicanism. It is the only government suited to our condition; but we have never sought to impose it on others, and we have consistently followed the advice of Washington to recommend it only by the careful preservation and prudent use of the blessing. During all the intervening period the policy of European powers and of the United States has, on the whole, been harmonious. Twice, indeed, rumors of the invasion of some parts of America in the interest of monarchy have prevailed; twice my predecessors have had occasion to announce the views of this nation in respect to such interference. On both occasions the remonstrance of the United States was respected from a deep conviction on the part of European Governments that the system of noninterference and mutual abstinence from propagandism was the true rule for the two hemispheres. Since those times we have advanced in wealth and power, but we retain the same purpose to leave the nations of Europe to choose their own dynasties and form their own systems of government. This consistent moderation may justly demand a corresponding moderation. We should regard it as a great calamity to ourselves, to the because of good government, and to the peace of the world should any European power challenge the American people, as it were, to the defense of republicanism against foreign interference. We can not foresee and are unwilling to consider what opportunities might present themselves, what combinations might offer to protect ourselves against designs inimical to our form of government. The United States desire to act in the future as they have ever acted heretofore; they never will be driven from that course but by the aggression of European powers, and we rely on the wisdom and justice of those powers to respect the system of noninterference which has so long been sanctioned by time, and which by its good results has approved itself to both continents. The correspondence between the United States and France in reference to questions which have become subjects of discussion between the two Governments will at a proper time be laid before Congress. When, on the organization of our Government under the Constitution, the President of the United States delivered his inaugural address to the two Houses of Congress, he said to them, and through them to the country and to mankind, that-- The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people. And the House of Representatives answered Washington by the voice of Madison: We adore the Invisible Hand which has led the American people, through so many difficulties, to cherish a conscious responsibility for the destiny of republican liberty. More than seventy-six years have glided away since these words were spoken; the United States have passed through severer trials than were foreseen; and now, at this new epoch in our existence as one nation, with our Union purified by sorrows and strengthened by conflict and established by the virtue of the people, the greatness of the occasion invites us once more to repeat with solemnity the pledges of our fathers to hold ourselves answerable before our fellow-men for the success of the republican form of government. Experience has proved its sufficiency in peace and in war; it has vindicated its authority through dangers and afflictions, and sudden and terrible emergencies, which would have crushed any system that had been less firmly fixed in the hearts of the people. At the inauguration of Washington the foreign relations of the country were few and its trade was repressed by hostile regulations; now all the civilized nations of the globe welcome our commerce, and their governments profess toward us amity. Then our country felt its way hesitatingly along an untried path, with States so little bound together by rapid means of communication as to be hardly known to one another, and with historic traditions extending over very few years; now intercourse between the States is swift and intimate; the experience of centuries has been crowded into a few generations, and has created an intense, indestructible nationality. Then our jurisdiction did not reach beyond the inconvenient boundaries of the territory which had achieved independence; now, through cessions of lands, first colonized by Spain and France, the country has acquired a more complex character, and has for its natural limits the chain of lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east and the west the two great oceans. Other nations were wasted by civil wars for ages before they could establish for themselves the necessary degree of unity; the latent conviction that our form of government is the best ever known to the world has enabled us to emerge from civil war within four years with a complete vindication of the constitutional authority of the General Government and with our local liberties and State institutions unimpaired. The throngs of emigrants that crowd to our shores are witnesses of the confidence of all peoples in our permanence. Here is the great land of free labor, where industry is blessed with unexampled rewards and the bread of the workingman is sweetened by the consciousness that the because of the country "is his own because, his own safety, his own dignity." Here everyone enjoys the free use of his faculties and the choice of activity as a natural right. Here, under the combined influence of a fruitful soil, genial climes, and happy institutions, population has increased fifteen-fold within a century. Here, through the easy development of boundless resources, wealth has increased with twofold greater rapidity than numbers, so that we have become secure against the financial vicissitudes of other countries and, alike in business and in opinion, are self-centered and truly independent. Here more and more care is given to provide education for everyone born on our soil. Here religion, released from political connection with the civil government, refuses to subserve the craft of statesmen, and becomes in its independence the spiritual life of the people. Here toleration is extended to every opinion, in the quiet certainty that truth needs only a fair field to secure the victory. Here the human mind goes forth unshackled in the pursuit of science, to collect stores of knowledge and acquire an ever-increasing mastery over the forces of nature. Here the national domain is offered and held in millions of separate freeholds, so that our fellow-citizens, beyond the occupants of any other part of the earth, constitute in reality a people. Here exists the democratic form of government; and that form of government, by the confession of European statesmen," gives a power of which no other form is capable, because it incorporates every man with the state and arouses everything that belongs to the soul." Where, in past history, does a parallel exist to the public happiness which is within the reach of the people of the United States? Where in any part of the globe can institutions be found so suited to their habits or so entitled to their love as their own free Constitution? Every one of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his home, must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not now acknowledge, in the words of Washington, that "every step by which the people of the United States have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency"? Who will not join with me in the prayer that the Invisible Hand which has led us through the clouds that gloomed around our path will so guide us onward to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection that we of this day may be able to transmit our great inheritance of State governments in all their rights, of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, to our posterity, and they to theirs through countless generations?
to express gratitude to god in the name of the people for the preservation of the united states is my first duty in addressing you our thoughts next revert to the death of the late president by an act of parricidal treason the grief of the nation is still fresh it finds some solace in the consideration that he lived to enjoy the highest proof of its confidence by entering on the renewed term of the chief magistracy to which he had been elected that he brought the civil war substantially to a close that his loss was deplored in all parts of the union and that foreign nations have rendered justice to his memory his removal cast upon me a heavier weight of cares than ever devolved upon any one of his predecessors to fulfill my trust i need the support and confidence of all who are associated with me in the various departments of government and the support and confidence of the people there is but one way in which i can hope to gain their necessary aid it is to state with frankness the principles which guide my conduct and their application to the present state of affairs well aware that the efficiency of my labors will in a great measure depend on your and their undivided approbation the union of the united states of america was intended by its authors to last as long as the states themselves shall last the union shall be perpetual are the words of the confederation to form a more perfect union by an ordinance of the people of the united states is the declared purpose of the constitution the hand of divine providence was never more plainly visible in the affairs of men than in the framing and the adopting of that instrument it is beyond comparison the greatest event in american history and indeed is it not of all events in modern times the most pregnant with consequences for every people of the earth the members of the convention which prepared it brought to their work the experience of the confederation of their several states and of other republican governments old and new but they needed and they obtained a wisdom superior to experience and when for its validity it required the approval of a people that occupied a large part of a continent and acted separately in many distinct conventions what is more wonderful than that after earnest contention and long discussion all feelings and all opinions were ultimately drawn in one way to its support the constitution to which life was thus imparted contains within itself ample resources for its own preservation it has power to enforce the laws punish treason and insure domestic tranquillity in case of the usurpation of the government of a state by one man or an oligarchy it becomes a duty of the united states to make good the guaranty to that state of a republican form of government and so to maintain the homogeneousness of all does the lapse of time reveal defects a simple mode of amendment is provided in the constitution itself so that its conditions can always be made to conform to the requirements of advancing civilization no room is allowed even for the thought of a possibility of its coming to an end and these powers of have always been asserted in their complete integrity by every patriotic chief magistrate by jefferson and jackson not less than by washington and madison the parting advice of the father of his country while yet president to the people of the united states was that the free constitution which was the work of their hands might be sacredly maintained and the inaugural words of president jefferson held up the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad the constitution is the work of the people of the united states and it should be as indestructible as the people it is not strange that the framers of the constitution which had no model in the past should not have fully comprehended the excellence of their own work fresh from a struggle against arbitrary power many patriots suffered from harassing fears of an absorption of the state governments by the general government and many from a dread that the states would break away from their orbits but the very greatness of our country should allay the apprehension of encroachments by the general government the subjects that come unquestionably within its jurisdiction are so numerous that it must ever naturally refuse to be embarrassed by questions that lie beyond it were it otherwise the executive would sink beneath the burden the channels of justice would be choked legislation would be obstructed by excess so that there is a greater temptation to exercise some of the functions of the general government through the states than to trespass on their rightful sphere the absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority was at the beginning of the century enforced by jefferson as the vital principle of republics and the events of the last four years have established we will hope forever that there lies no appeal to force the maintenance of the union brings with it the support of the state governments in all their rights but it is not one of the rights of any state government to renounce its own place in the union or to nullify the laws of the union the largest liberty is to be maintained in the discussion of the acts of the federal government but there is no appeal from its laws except to the various branches of that government itself or to the people who grant to the members of the legislative and of the executive departments no tenure but a limited one and in that manner always retain the powers of redress the sovereignty of the states is the language of the confederacy and not the language of the constitution the latter contains the emphatic words this constitution and the laws of the united states which shall be made in pursuance thereof and all treaties made or which shall be made under the authority of the united states shall be the supreme law of the land and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding certainly the government of the united states is a limited government and so is every state government a limited government with us this idea of limitation spreads through every form of administration general state and municipal and rests on the great distinguishing principle of the recognition of the rights of man the ancient republics absorbed the individual in the state prescribed his religion and controlled his activity the american system rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness to freedom of conscience to the culture and exercise of all his faculties as a consequence the state government is limited as to the general government in the interest of union as to the individual citizen in the interest of freedom states with proper limitations of power are essential to the existence of the constitution of the united states at the very commencement when we assumed a place among the powers of the earth the declaration of independence was adopted by states so also were the articles of confederation and when the people of the united states ordained and established the constitution it was the assent of the states one by one which gave it vitality in the event too of any amendment to the constitution the proposition of congress needs the confirmation of states without states one great branch of the legislative government would be wanting and if we look beyond the letter of the constitution to the character of our country its capacity for comprehending within its jurisdiction a vast continental empire is due to the system of states the best security for the perpetual existence of the states is the supreme authority of the constitution of the united states the perpetuity of the constitution brings with it the perpetuity of the states their mutual relation makes us what we are and in our political system their connection is indissoluble the whole can not exist without the parts nor the parts without the whole so long as the constitution of the united states endures the states will endure the destruction of the one is the destruction of the other the preservation of the one is the preservation of the other i have thus explained my views of the mutual relations of the constitution and the states because they unfold the principles on which i have sought to solve the momentous questions and overcome the appalling difficulties that met me at the very commencement of my administration it has been my steadfast object to escape from the sway of momentary passions and to derive a healing policy from the fundamental and unchanging principles of the constitution i found the states suffering from the effects of a civil war resistance to the general government appeared to have exhausted itself the united states had recovered possession of their forts and arsenals and their armies were in the occupation of every state which had attempted to secede whether the territory within the limits of those states should be held as conquered territory under military authority emanating from the president as the head of the army was the first question that presented itself for decision now military governments established for an indefinite period would have offered no security for the early suppression of discontent would have divided the people into the vanquishers and the vanquished and would have envenomed hatred rather than have restored affection once established no precise limit to their continuance was conceivable they would have occasioned an incalculable and exhausting expense peaceful emigration to and from that portion of the country is one of the best means that can be thought of for the restoration of harmony and that emigration would have been prevented for what emigrant from abroad what industrious citizen at home would place himself willingly under military rule the chief persons who would have followed in the train of the army would have been dependents on the general government or men who expected profit from the miseries of their erring the powers of patronage and rule which would have been exercised under the president over a vast and populous and naturally wealthy region are greater than unless under extreme necessity i should be willing to intrust to any one man they are such as for myself i could never unless on occasions of great emergency consent to exercise the willful use of such powers if continued through a period of years would have endangered the purity of the general administration and the liberties of the states which remained loyal besides the policy of military rule over a conquered territory would have implied that the states whose inhabitants may have taken part in the rebellion had by the act of those inhabitants ceased to exist but the true theory is that all pretended acts of secession were from the beginning null and void the states can not commit treason nor screen the individual citizens who may have committed treason any more than they can make valid treaties or engage in lawful commerce with any foreign power the states attempting to secede placed themselves in a condition where their vitality was impaired but not extinguished their functions suspended but not destroyed but if any state neglects or refuses to perform its offices there is the more need that the general government should maintain all its authority and as soon as practicable resume the exercise of all its functions on this principle i have acted and have gradually and quietly and by almost imperceptible steps sought to restore the rightful energy of the general government and of the states to that end provisional governors have been appointed for the states conventions called governors elected legislatures assembled and senators and representatives chosen to the congress of the united states at the same time the courts of the united states as far as could be done have been reopened so that the laws of the united states may be enforced through their agency the blockade has been removed and the reestablished in ports of entry so that the revenue of the united states may be collected the department renews its ceaseless activity and the general government is thereby enabled to communicate promptly with its officers and agents the courts bring security to persons and property the opening of the ports invites the restoration of industry and commerce the renews the facilities of social intercourse and of business and is it not happy for us all that the restoration of each one of these functions of the general government brings with it a blessing to the states over which they are extended is it not a sure promise of harmony and renewed attachment to the union that after all that has happened the return of the general government is known only as a beneficence i know very well that this policy is attended with some risk that for its success it requires at least the acquiescence of the states which it concerns that it implies an invitation to those states by renewing their allegiance to the united states to resume their functions as states of the union but it is a risk that must be taken in the choice of difficulties it is the smallest risk and to diminish and if possible to remove all danger i have felt it incumbent on me to assert one other power of the general government the power of pardon as no state can throw a defense over the crime of treason the power of pardon is exclusively vested in the executive government of the united states in exercising that power i have taken every precaution to connect it with the clearest recognition of the binding force of the laws of the united states and an unqualified acknowledgment of the great social change of condition in regard to slavery which has grown out of the war the next step which i have taken to restore the constitutional relations of the states has been an invitation to them to participate in the high office of amending the constitution every patriot must wish for a general amnesty at the earliest epoch consistent with public safety for this great end there is need of a concurrence of all opinions and the spirit of mutual conciliation all parties in the late terrible conflict must work together in harmony it is not too much to ask in the name of the whole people that on the one side the plan of restoration shall proceed in conformity with a willingness to cast the disorders of the past into oblivion and that on the other the evidence of sincerity in the future maintenance of the union shall be put beyond any doubt by the ratification of the proposed amendment to the constitution which provides for the abolition of slavery forever within the limits of our country so long as the adoption of this amendment is delayed so long will doubt and jealousy and uncertainty prevail this is the measure which will efface the sad memory of the past this is the measure which will most certainly call population and capital and security to those parts of the union that need them most indeed it is not too much to ask of the states which are now resuming their places in the family of the union to give this pledge of perpetual loyalty and peace until it is done the past however much we may desire it will not be forgotten the adoption of the amendment reunites us beyond all power of disruption it heals the wound that is still imperfectly closed it removes slavery the element which has so long perplexed and divided the country it makes of us once more a united people renewed and strengthened bound more than ever to mutual affection and support the amendment to the constitution being adopted it would remain for the states whose powers have been so long in abeyance to resume their places in the two branches of the national legislature and thereby complete the work of restoration here it is for you of the senate and for you of the house of representatives to judge each of you for yourselves of the elections returns and qualifications of your own members the full assertion of the powers of the general government requires the holding of circuit courts of the united states within the districts where their authority has been interrupted in the present posture of our public affairs strong objections have been urged to holding those courts in any of the states where the rebellion has existed and it was ascertained by inquiry that the circuit court of the united states would not be held within the district of virginia during the autumn or early winter nor until congress should have an opportunity to consider and act on the whole subject to your deliberations the restoration of this branch of the civil authority of the united states is therefore necessarily referred with the hope that early provision will be made for the resumption of all its functions it is manifest that treason most flagrant in character has been committed persons who are charged with its commission should have fair and impartial trials in the highest civil tribunals of the country in order that the constitution and the laws may be fully vindicated the truth dearly established and affirmed that treason is a crime that traitors should be punished and the offense made infamous and at the same time that the question may be judicially settled finally and forever that no state of its own will has the right to renounce its place in the union the relations of the general government toward the inhabitants whom the war has called into freedom have engaged my most serious consideration on the propriety of attempting to make the freedmen electors by the proclamation of the executive i took for my counsel the constitution itself the interpretations of that instrument by its authors and their contemporaries and recent legislation by congress when at the first movement toward independence the congress of the united states instructed the several states to institute governments of their own they left each state to decide for itself the conditions for the enjoyment of the elective franchise during the period of the confederacy there continued to exist a very great diversity in the qualifications of electors in the several states and even within a state a distinction of qualifications prevailed with regard to the officers who were to be chosen the constitution of the united states recognizes these diversities when it enjoins that in the choice of members of the house of representatives of the united states the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature after the formation of the constitution it remained as before the uniform usage for each state to enlarge the body of its electors according to its own judgment and under this system one state after another has proceeded to increase the number of its electors until now universal suffrage or something very near it is the general rule so fixed was this reservation of power in the habits of the people and so unquestioned has been the interpretation of the constitution that during the civil war the late president never harbored the purpose certainly never evowed the purpose of disregarding it and in the acts of congress during that period nothing can be found which during the continuance of hostilities much less after their close would have sanctioned any departure by the executive from a policy which has so uniformly obtained moreover a concession of the elective franchise to the freedmen by act of the president of the united states must have been extended to all colored men wherever found and so must have established a change of suffrage in the northern middle and western states not less than in the southern and southwestern such an act would have created a new class of voters and would have been an assumption of power by the president which nothing in the constitution or laws of the united states would have warranted on the other hand every danger of conflict is avoided when the settlement of the question is referred to the several states they can each for itself decide on the measure and whether it is to be adopted at once and absolutely or introduced gradually and with conditions in my judgment the freedmen if they show patience and manly virtues will sooner obtain a participation in the elective franchise through the states than through the general government even if it had power to intervene when the tumult of emotions that have been raised by the suddenness of the social change shall have subsided it may prove that they will receive the kindest usage from some of those on whom they have heretofore most closely depended but while i have no doubt that now after the close of the war it is not competent for the general government to extend the elective franchise in the several states it is equally clear that good faith requires the security of the freedmen in their liberty and their property their right to labor and their right to claim the just return of their labor i can not too strongly urge a dispassionate treatment of this subject which should be carefully kept aloof from all party strife we must equally avoid hasty assumptions of any natural impossibility for the two races to live side by side in a state of mutual benefit and good will the experiment involves us in no inconsistency let us then go on and make that experiment in good faith and not be too easily disheartened the country is in need of labor and the freedmen are in need of employment culture and protection while their right of voluntary migration and expatriation is not to be questioned i would not advise their forced removal and colonization let us rather encourage them to honorable and useful industry where it may be beneficial to themselves and to the country and instead of hasty anticipations of the certainty of failure let there be nothing wanting to the fair trial of the experiment the change in their condition is the substitution of labor by contract for the status of slavery the freedman can not fairly be accused of unwillingness to work so long as a doubt remains about his freedom of choice in his pursuits and the certainty of his recovering his stipulated wages in this the interests of the employer and the employed coincide the employer desires in his workmen spirit and alacrity and these can be permanently secured in no other way and if the one ought to be able to enforce the contract so ought the other the public interest will be best promoted if the several states will provide adequate protection and remedies for the freedmen until this is in some way accomplished there is no chance for the advantageous use of their labor and the blame of ill success will not rest on them i know that sincere philanthropy is earnest for the immediate realization of its remotest aims but time is always an element in reform it is one of the greatest acts on record to have brought people into freedom the career of free industry must be fairly opened to them and then their future prosperity and condition must after all rest mainly on themselves if they fail and so perish away let us be careful that the failure shall not be attributable to any denial of justice in all that relates to the destiny of the freedmen we need not be too anxious to read the future many incidents which from a speculative point of view might raise alarm will quietly settle themselves now that slavery is at an end or near its end the greatness of its evil in the point of view of public economy becomes more and more apparent slavery was essentially a monopoly of labor and as such locked the states where it prevailed against the incoming of free industry where labor was the property of the capitalist the white man was excluded from employment or had but the second best chance of finding it and the foreign emigrant turned away from the region where his condition would be so precarious with the destruction of the monopoly free labor will hasten from all pans of the civilized world to assist in developing various and immeasurable resources which have hitherto lain dormant the eight or nine states nearest the gulf of mexico have a soil of exuberant fertility a climate friendly to long life and can sustain a denser population than is found as yet in any part of our country and the future influx of population to them will be mainly from the north or from the most cultivated nations in europe from the sufferings that have attended them during our late struggle let us look away to the future which is sure to be laden for them with greater prosperity than has ever before been known the removal of the monopoly of slave labor is a pledge that those regions will be peopled by a numerous and enterprising population which will vie with any in the union in compactness inventive genius wealth and industry our government springs from and was made for the people not the people for the government to them it owes allegiance from them it must derive its courage strength and wisdom but while the government is thus bound to defer to the people from whom it derives its existence it should from the very consideration of its origin be strong in its power of resistance to the establishment of inequalities monopolies perpetuities and class legislation are contrary to the genius of free government and ought not to be allowed here there is no room for favored classes or monopolies the principle of our government is that of equal laws and freedom of industry wherever monopoly attains a foothold it is sure to be a source of danger discord and trouble we shall but fulfill our duties as legislators by according equal and exact justice to all men special privileges to none the government is subordinate to the people but as the agent and representative of the people it must be held superior to monopolies which in themselves ought never to be granted and which where they exist must be subordinate and yield to the government the constitution confers on congress the right to regulate commerce among the several states it is of the first necessity for the maintenance of the union that that commerce should be free and unobstructed no state can be justified in any device to tax the transit of travel and commerce between states the position of many states is such that if they were allowed to take advantage of it for purposes of local revenue the commerce between states might be injuriously burdened or even virtually prohibited it is best while the country is still young and while the tendency to dangerous monopolies of this kind is still feeble to use the power of congress so as to prevent any selfish impediment to the free circulation of men and merchandise a tax on travel and merchandise in their transit constitutes one of the worst forms of monopoly and the evil is increased if coupled with a denial of the choice of route when the vast extent of our country is considered it is plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of commerce between the states ought to be sternly guarded against by appropriate legislation within the limits of the constitution the report of the secretary of the interior explains the condition of the public lands the transactions of the patent office and the pension bureau the management of our indian affairs the progress made in the construction of the pacific railroad and furnishes information in reference to matters of local interest in the district of columbia it also presents evidence of the successful operation of the homestead act under the provisions of which acres of the public lands were entered during the last fiscal year more than of the whole number of acres sold or otherwise disposed of during that period it is estimated that the receipts derived from this source are sufficient to cover the expenses incident to the survey and disposal of the lands entered under this act and that payments in cash to the extent of from 40 to 50 per cent will be made by settlers who may thus at any time acquire title before the expiration of the period at which it would otherwise vest the homestead policy was established only after long and earnest resistance experience proves its wisdom the lands in the hands of industrious settlers whose labor creates wealth and contributes to the public resources are worth more to the united states than if they had been reserved as a solitude for future purchasers the lamentable events of the last four years and the sacrifices made by the gallant men of our army and navy have swelled the records of the pension bureau to an unprecedented extent on the 30th day of june last the total number of pensioners was requiring for their annual pay exclusive of expenses the sum of the number of applications that have been allowed since that date will require a large increase of this amount for the next fiscal year the means for the payment of the stipends due under existing laws to our disabled soldiers and sailors and to the families of such as have perished in the service of the country will no doubt be cheerfully and promptly granted a grateful people will not hesitate to sanction any measures having for their object the relief of soldiers mutilated and families made fatherless in the efforts to preserve our national existence the report of the presents an encouraging exhibit of the operations of the department during the year the revenues of the past year from the loyal states alone exceeded the maximum annual receipts from all the states previous to the rebellion in the sum of and the annual average increase of revenue during the last four years compared with the revenues of the four years immediately preceding the rebellion was the revenues of the last fiscal year amounted to and the expenditures to leaving a surplus of receipts over expenditures of progress has been made in restoring the postal service in the southern states the views presented by the against the policy of granting subsidies to the ocean mail steamship lines upon established routes and in favor of continuing the present system which limits the compensation for ocean service to the postage earnings are recommended to the careful consideration of congress it appears from the report of the secretary of the navy that while at the commencement of the present year there were in commission 530 vessels of all classes and descriptions armed with guns and manned by men the number of vessels at present in commission is 117 with 830 guns and men by this prompt reduction of the naval forces the expenses of the government have been largely diminished and a number of vessels purchased for naval purposes from the merchant marine have been returned to the peaceful pursuits of commerce since the suppression of active hostilities our foreign squadrons have been reestablished and consist of vessels much more efficient than those employed on similar service previous to the rebellion the suggestion for the enlargement of the and especially for the establishment of one in fresh water for ironclad vessels is deserving of consideration as is also the recommendation for a different location and more ample grounds for the naval academy in the report of the secretary of war a general summary is given of the military campaigns of 1864 and 1865 ending in the suppression of armed resistance to the national authority in the insurgent states the operations of the general administrative bureaus of the war department during the past year are detailed and an estimate made of the appropriations that will be required for military purposes in the fiscal year commencing the 1st day of july 1866 the national military force on the 1st of may 1865 numbered men it is proposed to reduce the military establishment to a peace footing comprehending troops of all arms organized so as to admit of an enlargement by filling up the ranks to if the circumstances of the country should require an augmentation of the army the volunteer force has already been reduced by the discharge from service of over troops and the department is proceeding rapidly in the work of further reduction the war estimates are reduced from to which amount in the opinion of the department is adequate for a peace establishment the measures of retrenchment in each bureau and branch of the service exhibit a diligent economy worthy of commendation reference is also made in the report to the necessity of providing for a uniform militia system and to the propriety of making suitable provision for wounded and disabled officers and soldiers the revenue system of the country is a subject of vital interest to its honor and prosperity and should command the earnest consideration of congress the secretary of the treasury will lay before you a full and detailed report of the receipts and disbursements of the last fiscal year of the first quarter of the present fiscal year of the probable receipts and expenditures for the other three quarters and the estimates for the year following the 30th of june 1866 i might content myself with a reference to that report in which you will find all the information required for your deliberations and decision but the paramount importance of the subject so presses itself on my own mind that i can not but lay before you my views of the measures which are required for the good character and i might almost say for the existence of this people the life of a republic lies certainly in the energy virtue and intelligence of its citizens but it is equally true that a good revenue system is the life of an organized government i meet you at a time when the nation has voluntarily burdened itself with a debt unprecedented in our annals vast as is its amount it fades away into nothing when compared with the countless blessings that will be conferred upon our country and upon man by the preservation of the nation life now on the first occasion of the meeting of congress since the return of peace it is of the utmost importance to inaugurate a just policy which shall at once be put in motion and which shall commend itself to those who come after us for its continuance we must aim at nothing less than the complete effacement of the financial evils that necessarily followed a state of civil war we must endeavor to apply the earliest remedy to the deranged state of the currency and not shrink from devising a policy which being oppressive to the people shall immediately begin to effect a reduction of the debt and if persisted in discharge it fully within a definitely fixed number of years it is our first duty to prepare in earnest for our recovery from the evils of an irredeemable currency without a sudden revulsion and yet without untimely procrastination for that end we must each in our respective positions prepare the way i hold it the duty of the executive to insist upon frugality in the expenditures and a sparing economy is itself a great national resource of the banks to which authority has been given to issue notes secured by bonds of the united states we may require the greatest moderation and prudence and the law must be rigidly enforced when its limits are exceeded we may each one of us counsel our active and enterprising countrymen to be constantly on their guard to liquidate debts contracted in a paper currency and by conducting business as nearly as possible on a system of cash payments or short credits to hold themselves prepared to return to the standard of gold and silver to aid our in the prudent management of their monetary affairs the duty devolves on us to diminish by law the amount of paper money now in circulation five years ago the circulation of the country amounted to not much more than two hundred millions now the circulation bank and national exceeds seven hundred millions the simple statement of the fact recommends more strongly than any words of mine could do the necessity of our restraining this expansion the gradual reduction of the currency is the only measure that can save the business of the country from disastrous calamities and this can be almost imperceptibly accomplished by gradually funding the national circulation in securities that may be made redeemable at the pleasure of the government our debt is doubly secure first in the actual wealth and still greater undeveloped resources of the country and next in the character of our institutions the most intelligent observers among political economists have not failed to remark that the public debt of a country is safe in proportion as its people are free that the debt of a republic is the safest of all our history confirms and establishes the theory and is i firmly believe destined to give it a still more signal illustration the secret of this superiority springs not merely from the fact that in a republic the national obligations are distributed more widely through countless numbers in all classes of society it has its root in the character of our laws here all men contribute to the public welfare and bear their fair share of the public burdens during the war under the impulses of patriotism the men of the great body of the people without regard to their own comparative want of wealth thronged to our armies and filled our fleets of war and held themselves ready to offer their lives for the public good now in their turn the property and income of the country should bear their just proportion of the burden of taxation while in our impost system through means of which increased vitality is incidentally imparted to all the industrial interests of the nation the duties should be so adjusted as to fall most heavily on articles of luxury leaving the necessaries of life as free from taxation as the absolute wants of the government economically administered will justify no favored class should demand freedom from assessment and the taxes should be so distributed as not to fall unduly on the poor but rather on the accumulated wealth of the country we should look at the national debt just as it is not as a national blessing but as a heavy burden on the industry of the country to be discharged without unnecessary delay it is estimated by the secretary of the treasury that the expenditures for the fiscal year ending the 30th of june 1866 will exceed the receipts it is gratifying however to state that it is also estimated that the revenue for the year ending the 30th of june 1867 will exceed the expenditures in the sum of this amount or so much as may be deemed sufficient for the purpose may be applied to the reduction of the public debt which on the 31st day of october 1865 was every reduction will diminish the total amount of interest to be paid and so enlarge the means of still further reductions until the whole shall be liquidated and this as will be seen from the estimates of the secretary of the treasury may be accomplished by annual payments even within a period not exceeding thirty years i have faith that we shall do all this within a reasonable time that as we have amazed the world by the suppression of a civil war which was thought to be beyond the control of any government so we shall equally show the superiority of our institutions by the prompt and faithful discharge of our national obligations the department of agriculture under its present direction is accomplishing much in developing and utilizing the vast agricultural capabilities of the country and for information respecting the details of its management reference is made to the annual report of the commissioner i have dwelt thus fully on our domestic affairs because of their transcendent importance under any circumstances our great extent of territory and variety of climate producing almost everything that is necessary for the wants and even the comforts of man make us singularly independent of the varying policy of foreign powers and protect us against every temptation to entangling alliances while at the present moment the reestablishment of harmony and the strength that comes from harmony will be our best security against nations who feel power and forget right for myself it has been and it will be my constant aim to promote peace and amity with all foreign nations and powers and i have every reason to believe that they all without exception are animated by the same disposition our relations with the emperor of china so recent in their origin are most friendly our commerce with his dominions is receiving new developments and it is very pleasing to find that the government of that great empire manifests satisfaction with our policy and reposes just confidence in the fairness which marks our intercourse the unbroken harmony between the united states and the emperor of russia is receiving a new support from an enterprise designed to carry telegraphic lines across the continent of asia through his dominions and so to connect us with all europe by a new channel of intercourse our commerce with south america is about to receive encouragement by a direct line of mail steamships to the rising empire of brazil the distinguished party of men of science who have recently left our country to make a scientific exploration of the natural history and rivers and mountain ranges of that region have received from the emperor that generous welcome which was to have been expected from his constant friendship for the united states and his zeal in promoting the advancement of knowledge a hope is entertained that our commerce with the rich and populous countries that border the mediterranean sea may be largely increased nothing will be wanting on the part of this government to extend the protection of our flag over the enterprise of our we receive from the powers in that region assurances of good will and it is worthy of note that a special envoy has brought us messages of condolence on the death of our late chief magistrate from the bey of tunis whose rule includes the old dominions of carthage on the african coast our domestic contest now happily ended has left some traces in our relations with one at least of the great maritime powers the formal accordance of belligerent rights to the insurgent states was unprecedented and has not been justified by the issue but in the systems of neutrality pursued by the powers which made that concession there was a marked difference the materials of war for the insurgent states were furnished in a great measure from the workshops of great britain and british ships manned by british subjects and prepared for receiving british armaments sallied from the ports of great britain to make war on american commerce under the shelter of a commission from the insurgent states these ships having once escaped from british ports ever afterwards entered them in every part of the world to refit and so to renew their depredations the consequences of this conduct were most disastrous to the states then in rebellion increasing their desolation and misery by the prolongation of our civil contest it had moreover the effect to a great extent to drive the american flag from the sea and to transfer much of our shipping and our commerce to the very power whose subjects had created the necessity for such a change these events took place before i was called to the administration of the government the sincere desire for peace by which i am animated led me to approve the proposal already made to submit the question which had thus arisen between the countries to arbitration these questions are of such moment that they must have commanded the attention of the great powers and are so interwoven with the peace and interests of every one of them as to have insured an impartial decision i regret to inform you that great britain declined the arbitrament but on the other hand invited us to the formation of a joint commission to settle mutual claims between the two countries from which those for the depredations before mentioned should be excluded the proposition in that very unsatisfactory form has been declined the united states did not present the subject as an impeachment of the good faith of a power which was professing the most friendly dispositions but as involving questions of public law of which the settlement is essential to the peace of nations and though pecuniary reparation to their injured citizens would have followed incidentally on a decision against great britain such compensation was not their primary object they had a higher motive and it was in the interests of peace and justice to establish important principles of international law the correspondence will be placed before you the ground on which the british minister rests his justification is substantially that the municipal law of a nation and the domestic interpretations of that law are the measure of its duty as a neutral and i feel bound to declare my opinion before you and before the world that that justification can not be sustained before the tribunal of nations at the same time i do not advise to any present attempt at redress by acts of legislation for the future friendship between the two countries must rest on the basis of mutual justice from the moment of the establishment of our free constitution the civilized world has been convulsed by revolutions in the interests of democracy or of monarchy but through all those revolutions the united states have wisely and firmly refused to become propagandists of republicanism it is the only government suited to our condition but we have never sought to impose it on others and we have consistently followed the advice of washington to recommend it only by the careful preservation and prudent use of the blessing during all the intervening period the policy of european powers and of the united states has on the whole been harmonious twice indeed rumors of the invasion of some parts of america in the interest of monarchy have prevailed twice my predecessors have had occasion to announce the views of this nation in respect to such interference on both occasions the remonstrance of the united states was respected from a deep conviction on the part of european governments that the system of noninterference and mutual abstinence from propagandism was the true rule for the two hemispheres since those times we have advanced in wealth and power but we retain the same purpose to leave the nations of europe to choose their own dynasties and form their own systems of government this consistent moderation may justly demand a corresponding moderation we should regard it as a great calamity to ourselves to the because of good government and to the peace of the world should any european power challenge the american people as it were to the defense of republicanism against foreign interference we can not foresee and are unwilling to consider what opportunities might present themselves what combinations might offer to protect ourselves against designs inimical to our form of government the united states desire to act in the future as they have ever acted heretofore they never will be driven from that course but by the aggression of european powers and we rely on the wisdom and justice of those powers to respect the system of noninterference which has so long been sanctioned by time and which by its good results has approved itself to both continents the correspondence between the united states and france in reference to questions which have become subjects of discussion between the two governments will at a proper time be laid before congress when on the organization of our government under the constitution the president of the united states delivered his inaugural address to the two houses of congress he said to them and through them to the country and to mankind that the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered perhaps as deeply as finally staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the american people and the house of representatives answered washington by the voice of madison we adore the invisible hand which has led the american people through so many difficulties to cherish a conscious responsibility for the destiny of republican liberty more than years have glided away since these words were spoken the united states have passed through severer trials than were foreseen and now at this new epoch in our existence as one nation with our union purified by sorrows and strengthened by conflict and established by the virtue of the people the greatness of the occasion invites us once more to repeat with solemnity the pledges of our fathers to hold ourselves answerable before our for the success of the republican form of government experience has proved its sufficiency in peace and in war it has vindicated its authority through dangers and afflictions and sudden and terrible emergencies which would have crushed any system that had been less firmly fixed in the hearts of the people at the inauguration of washington the foreign relations of the country were few and its trade was repressed by hostile regulations now all the civilized nations of the globe welcome our commerce and their governments profess toward us amity then our country felt its way hesitatingly along an untried path with states so little bound together by rapid means of communication as to be hardly known to one another and with historic traditions extending over very few years now intercourse between the states is swift and intimate the experience of centuries has been crowded into a few generations and has created an intense indestructible nationality then our jurisdiction did not reach beyond the inconvenient boundaries of the territory which had achieved independence now through cessions of lands first colonized by spain and france the country has acquired a more complex character and has for its natural limits the chain of lakes the gulf of mexico and on the east and the west the two great oceans other nations were wasted by civil wars for ages before they could establish for themselves the necessary degree of unity the latent conviction that our form of government is the best ever known to the world has enabled us to emerge from civil war within four years with a complete vindication of the constitutional authority of the general government and with our local liberties and state institutions unimpaired the throngs of emigrants that crowd to our shores are witnesses of the confidence of all peoples in our permanence here is the great land of free labor where industry is blessed with unexampled rewards and the bread of the workingman is sweetened by the consciousness that the because of the country is his own because his own safety his own dignity here everyone enjoys the free use of his faculties and the choice of activity as a natural right here under the combined influence of a fruitful soil genial climes and happy institutions population has increased within a century here through the easy development of boundless resources wealth has increased with twofold greater rapidity than numbers so that we have become secure against the financial vicissitudes of other countries and alike in business and in opinion are and truly independent here more and more care is given to provide education for everyone born on our soil here religion released from political connection with the civil government refuses to subserve the craft of statesmen and becomes in its independence the spiritual life of the people here toleration is extended to every opinion in the quiet certainty that truth needs only a fair field to secure the victory here the human mind goes forth unshackled in the pursuit of science to collect stores of knowledge and acquire an mastery over the forces of nature here the national domain is offered and held in millions of separate freeholds so that our beyond the occupants of any other part of the earth constitute in reality a people here exists the democratic form of government and that form of government by the confession of european statesmen gives a power of which no other form is capable because it incorporates every man with the state and arouses everything that belongs to the soul where in past history does a parallel exist to the public happiness which is within the reach of the people of the united states where in any part of the globe can institutions be found so suited to their habits or so entitled to their love as their own free constitution every one of them then in whatever part of the land he has his home must wish its perpetuity who of them will not now acknowledge in the words of washington that every step by which the people of the united states have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency who will not join with me in the prayer that the invisible hand which has led us through the clouds that gloomed around our path will so guide us onward to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection that we of this day may be able to transmit our great inheritance of state governments in all their rights of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor to our posterity and they to theirs through countless generations
express gratitude god name people preservation united states first duty addressing thoughts next revert death late president act parricidal treason grief nation still fresh finds solace consideration lived enjoy highest proof confidence entering renewed term chief magistracy elected brought civil war substantially close loss deplored parts union foreign nations rendered justice memory removal cast upon heavier weight cares ever devolved upon one predecessors fulfill trust need support confidence associated various departments government support confidence people one way hope gain necessary aid state frankness principles guide conduct application present state affairs well aware efficiency labors great measure depend undivided approbation union united states america intended authors last long states shall last union shall perpetual words confederation form perfect union ordinance people united states declared purpose constitution hand divine providence never plainly visible affairs men framing adopting instrument beyond comparison greatest event american history indeed events modern times pregnant consequences every people earth members convention prepared brought work experience confederation several states republican governments old new needed obtained wisdom superior experience validity required approval people occupied large part continent acted separately many distinct conventions wonderful earnest contention long discussion feelings opinions ultimately drawn one way support constitution life thus imparted contains within ample resources preservation power enforce laws punish treason insure domestic tranquillity case usurpation government state one man oligarchy becomes duty united states make good guaranty state republican form government maintain homogeneousness lapse time reveal defects simple mode amendment provided constitution conditions always made conform requirements advancing civilization room allowed even thought possibility coming end powers always asserted complete integrity every patriotic chief magistrate jefferson jackson less washington madison parting advice father country yet president people united states free constitution work hands might sacredly maintained inaugural words president jefferson held preservation general government whole constitutional vigor sheet anchor peace home safety abroad constitution work people united states indestructible people strange framers constitution model past fully comprehended excellence work fresh struggle arbitrary power many patriots suffered harassing fears absorption state governments general government many dread states would break away orbits greatness country allay apprehension encroachments general government subjects come unquestionably within jurisdiction numerous must ever naturally refuse embarrassed questions lie beyond otherwise executive would sink beneath burden channels justice would choked legislation would obstructed excess greater temptation exercise functions general government states trespass rightful sphere absolute acquiescence decisions majority beginning century enforced jefferson vital principle republics events last four years established hope forever lies appeal force maintenance union brings support state governments rights one rights state government renounce place union nullify laws union largest liberty maintained discussion acts federal government appeal laws except various branches government people grant members legislative executive departments tenure limited one manner always retain powers redress sovereignty states language confederacy language constitution latter contains emphatic words constitution laws united states shall made pursuance thereof treaties made shall made authority united states shall supreme law land judges every state shall bound thereby anything constitution laws state contrary notwithstanding certainly government united states limited government every state government limited government us idea limitation spreads every form administration general state municipal rests great distinguishing principle recognition rights man ancient republics absorbed individual state prescribed religion controlled activity american system rests assertion equal right every man life liberty pursuit happiness freedom conscience culture exercise faculties consequence state government limited general government interest union individual citizen interest freedom states proper limitations power essential existence constitution united states commencement assumed place among powers earth declaration independence adopted states also articles confederation people united states ordained established constitution assent states one one gave vitality event amendment constitution proposition congress needs confirmation states without states one great branch legislative government would wanting look beyond letter constitution character country capacity comprehending within jurisdiction vast continental empire due system states best security perpetual existence states supreme authority constitution united states perpetuity constitution brings perpetuity states mutual relation makes us political system connection indissoluble whole exist without parts parts without whole long constitution united states endures states endure destruction one destruction preservation one preservation thus explained views mutual relations constitution states unfold principles sought solve momentous questions overcome appalling difficulties met commencement administration steadfast object escape sway momentary passions derive healing policy fundamental unchanging principles constitution found states suffering effects civil war resistance general government appeared exhausted united states recovered possession forts arsenals armies occupation every state attempted secede whether territory within limits states held conquered territory military authority emanating president head army first question presented decision military governments established indefinite period would offered security early suppression discontent would divided people vanquishers vanquished would envenomed hatred rather restored affection established precise limit continuance conceivable would occasioned incalculable exhausting expense peaceful emigration portion country one best means thought restoration harmony emigration would prevented emigrant abroad industrious citizen home would place willingly military rule chief persons would followed train army would dependents general government men expected profit miseries erring powers patronage rule would exercised president vast populous naturally wealthy region greater unless extreme necessity willing intrust one man could never unless occasions great emergency consent exercise willful use powers continued period years would endangered purity general administration liberties states remained loyal besides policy military rule conquered territory would implied states whose inhabitants may taken part rebellion act inhabitants ceased exist true theory pretended acts secession beginning null void states commit treason screen individual citizens may committed treason make valid treaties engage lawful commerce foreign power states attempting secede placed condition vitality impaired extinguished functions suspended destroyed state neglects refuses perform offices need general government maintain authority soon practicable resume exercise functions principle acted gradually quietly almost imperceptible steps sought restore rightful energy general government states end provisional governors appointed states conventions called governors elected legislatures assembled senators representatives chosen congress united states time courts united states far could done reopened laws united states may enforced agency blockade removed reestablished ports entry revenue united states may collected department renews ceaseless activity general government thereby enabled communicate promptly officers agents courts bring security persons property opening ports invites restoration industry commerce renews facilities social intercourse business happy us restoration one functions general government brings blessing states extended sure promise harmony renewed attachment union happened return general government known beneficence know well policy attended risk success requires least acquiescence states concerns implies invitation states renewing allegiance united states resume functions states union risk must taken choice difficulties smallest risk diminish possible remove danger felt incumbent assert one power general government power pardon state throw defense crime treason power pardon exclusively vested executive government united states exercising power taken every precaution connect clearest recognition binding force laws united states unqualified acknowledgment great social change condition regard slavery grown war next step taken restore constitutional relations states invitation participate high office amending constitution every patriot must wish general amnesty earliest epoch consistent public safety great end need concurrence opinions spirit mutual conciliation parties late terrible conflict must work together harmony much ask name whole people one side plan restoration shall proceed conformity willingness cast disorders past oblivion evidence sincerity future maintenance union shall put beyond doubt ratification proposed amendment constitution provides abolition slavery forever within limits country long adoption amendment delayed long doubt jealousy uncertainty prevail measure efface sad memory past measure certainly call population capital security parts union need indeed much ask states resuming places family union give pledge perpetual loyalty peace done past however much may desire forgotten adoption amendment reunites us beyond power disruption heals wound still imperfectly closed removes slavery element long perplexed divided country makes us united people renewed strengthened bound ever mutual affection support amendment constitution adopted would remain states whose powers long abeyance resume places two branches national legislature thereby complete work restoration senate house representatives judge elections returns qualifications members full assertion powers general government requires holding circuit courts united states within districts authority interrupted present posture public affairs strong objections urged holding courts states rebellion existed ascertained inquiry circuit court united states would held within district virginia autumn early winter congress opportunity consider act whole subject deliberations restoration branch civil authority united states therefore necessarily referred hope early provision made resumption functions manifest treason flagrant character committed persons charged commission fair impartial trials highest civil tribunals country order constitution laws may fully vindicated truth dearly established affirmed treason crime traitors punished offense made infamous time question may judicially settled finally forever state right renounce place union relations general government toward inhabitants war called freedom engaged serious consideration propriety attempting make freedmen electors proclamation executive took counsel constitution interpretations instrument authors contemporaries recent legislation congress first movement toward independence congress united states instructed several states institute governments left state decide conditions enjoyment elective franchise period confederacy continued exist great diversity qualifications electors several states even within state distinction qualifications prevailed regard officers chosen constitution united states recognizes diversities enjoins choice members house representatives united states electors state shall qualifications requisite electors numerous branch state legislature formation constitution remained uniform usage state enlarge body electors according judgment system one state another proceeded increase number electors universal suffrage something near general rule fixed reservation power habits people unquestioned interpretation constitution civil war late president never harbored purpose certainly never evowed purpose disregarding acts congress period nothing found continuance hostilities much less close would sanctioned departure executive policy uniformly obtained moreover concession elective franchise freedmen act president united states must extended colored men wherever found must established change suffrage northern middle western states less southern southwestern act would created new class voters would assumption power president nothing constitution laws united states would warranted hand every danger conflict avoided settlement question referred several states decide measure whether adopted absolutely introduced gradually conditions judgment freedmen show patience manly virtues sooner obtain participation elective franchise states general government even power intervene tumult emotions raised suddenness social change shall subsided may prove receive kindest usage heretofore closely depended doubt close war competent general government extend elective franchise several states equally clear good faith requires security freedmen liberty property right labor right claim return labor strongly urge dispassionate treatment subject carefully kept aloof party strife must equally avoid hasty assumptions natural impossibility two races live side side state mutual benefit good experiment involves us inconsistency let us go make experiment good faith easily disheartened country need labor freedmen need employment culture protection right voluntary migration expatriation questioned would advise forced removal colonization let us rather encourage honorable useful industry may beneficial country instead hasty anticipations certainty failure let nothing wanting fair trial experiment change condition substitution labor contract status slavery freedman fairly accused unwillingness work long doubt remains freedom choice pursuits certainty recovering stipulated wages interests employer employed coincide employer desires workmen spirit alacrity permanently secured way one ought able enforce contract ought public interest best promoted several states provide adequate protection remedies freedmen way accomplished chance advantageous use labor blame ill success rest know sincere philanthropy earnest immediate realization remotest aims time always element reform one greatest acts record brought people freedom career free industry must fairly opened future prosperity condition must rest mainly fail perish away let us careful failure shall attributable denial justice relates destiny freedmen need anxious read future many incidents speculative point view might raise alarm quietly settle slavery end near end greatness evil point view public economy becomes apparent slavery essentially monopoly labor locked states prevailed incoming free industry labor property capitalist white man excluded employment second best chance finding foreign emigrant turned away region condition would precarious destruction monopoly free labor hasten pans civilized world assist developing various immeasurable resources hitherto lain dormant eight nine states nearest gulf mexico soil exuberant fertility climate friendly long life sustain denser population found yet part country future influx population mainly north cultivated nations europe sufferings attended late struggle let us look away future sure laden greater prosperity ever known removal monopoly slave labor pledge regions peopled numerous enterprising population vie union compactness inventive genius wealth industry government springs made people people government owes allegiance must derive courage strength wisdom government thus bound defer people derives existence consideration origin strong power resistance establishment inequalities monopolies perpetuities class legislation contrary genius free government ought allowed room favored classes monopolies principle government equal laws freedom industry wherever monopoly attains foothold sure source danger discord trouble shall fulfill duties legislators according equal exact justice men special privileges none government subordinate people agent representative people must held superior monopolies ought never granted exist must subordinate yield government constitution confers congress right regulate commerce among several states first necessity maintenance union commerce free unobstructed state justified device tax transit travel commerce states position many states allowed take advantage purposes local revenue commerce states might injuriously burdened even virtually prohibited best country still young tendency dangerous monopolies kind still feeble use power congress prevent selfish impediment free circulation men merchandise tax travel merchandise transit constitutes one worst forms monopoly evil increased coupled denial choice route vast extent country considered plain every obstacle free circulation commerce states ought sternly guarded appropriate legislation within limits constitution report secretary interior explains condition public lands transactions patent office pension bureau management indian affairs progress made construction pacific railroad furnishes information reference matters local interest district columbia also presents evidence successful operation homestead act provisions acres public lands entered last fiscal year whole number acres sold otherwise disposed period estimated receipts derived source sufficient cover expenses incident survey disposal lands entered act payments cash extent 40 50 per cent made settlers may thus time acquire title expiration period would otherwise vest homestead policy established long earnest resistance experience proves wisdom lands hands industrious settlers whose labor creates wealth contributes public resources worth united states reserved solitude future purchasers lamentable events last four years sacrifices made gallant men army navy swelled records pension bureau unprecedented extent 30th day june last total number pensioners requiring annual pay exclusive expenses sum number applications allowed since date require large increase amount next fiscal year means payment stipends due existing laws disabled soldiers sailors families perished service country doubt cheerfully promptly granted grateful people hesitate sanction measures object relief soldiers mutilated families made fatherless efforts preserve national existence report presents encouraging exhibit operations department year revenues past year loyal states alone exceeded maximum annual receipts states previous rebellion sum annual average increase revenue last four years compared revenues four years immediately preceding rebellion revenues last fiscal year amounted expenditures leaving surplus receipts expenditures progress made restoring postal service southern states views presented policy granting subsidies ocean mail steamship lines upon established routes favor continuing present system limits compensation ocean service postage earnings recommended careful consideration congress appears report secretary navy commencement present year commission 530 vessels classes descriptions armed guns manned men number vessels present commission 117 830 guns men prompt reduction naval forces expenses government largely diminished number vessels purchased naval purposes merchant marine returned peaceful pursuits commerce since suppression active hostilities foreign squadrons reestablished consist vessels much efficient employed similar service previous rebellion suggestion enlargement especially establishment one fresh water ironclad vessels deserving consideration also recommendation different location ample grounds naval academy report secretary war general summary given military campaigns 1864 1865 ending suppression armed resistance national authority insurgent states operations general administrative bureaus war department past year detailed estimate made appropriations required military purposes fiscal year commencing 1st day july 1866 national military force 1st may 1865 numbered men proposed reduce military establishment peace footing comprehending troops arms organized admit enlargement filling ranks circumstances country require augmentation army volunteer force already reduced discharge service troops department proceeding rapidly work reduction war estimates reduced amount opinion department adequate peace establishment measures retrenchment bureau branch service exhibit diligent economy worthy commendation reference also made report necessity providing uniform militia system propriety making suitable provision wounded disabled officers soldiers revenue system country subject vital interest honor prosperity command earnest consideration congress secretary treasury lay full detailed report receipts disbursements last fiscal year first quarter present fiscal year probable receipts expenditures three quarters estimates year following 30th june 1866 might content reference report find information required deliberations decision paramount importance subject presses mind lay views measures required good character might almost say existence people life republic lies certainly energy virtue intelligence citizens equally true good revenue system life organized government meet time nation voluntarily burdened debt unprecedented annals vast amount fades away nothing compared countless blessings conferred upon country upon man preservation nation life first occasion meeting congress since return peace utmost importance inaugurate policy shall put motion shall commend come us continuance must aim nothing less complete effacement financial evils necessarily followed state civil war must endeavor apply earliest remedy deranged state currency shrink devising policy oppressive people shall immediately begin effect reduction debt persisted discharge fully within definitely fixed number years first duty prepare earnest recovery evils irredeemable currency without sudden revulsion yet without untimely procrastination end must respective positions prepare way hold duty executive insist upon frugality expenditures sparing economy great national resource banks authority given issue notes secured bonds united states may require greatest moderation prudence law must rigidly enforced limits exceeded may one us counsel active enterprising countrymen constantly guard liquidate debts contracted paper currency conducting business nearly possible system cash payments short credits hold prepared return standard gold silver aid prudent management monetary affairs duty devolves us diminish law amount paper money circulation five years ago circulation country amounted much two hundred millions circulation bank national exceeds seven hundred millions simple statement fact recommends strongly words mine could necessity restraining expansion gradual reduction currency measure save business country disastrous calamities almost imperceptibly accomplished gradually funding national circulation securities may made redeemable pleasure government debt doubly secure first actual wealth still greater undeveloped resources country next character institutions intelligent observers among political economists failed remark public debt country safe proportion people free debt republic safest history confirms establishes theory firmly believe destined give still signal illustration secret superiority springs merely fact republic national obligations distributed widely countless numbers classes society root character laws men contribute public welfare bear fair share public burdens war impulses patriotism men great body people without regard comparative want wealth thronged armies filled fleets war held ready offer lives public good turn property income country bear proportion burden taxation impost system means increased vitality incidentally imparted industrial interests nation duties adjusted fall heavily articles luxury leaving necessaries life free taxation absolute wants government economically administered justify favored class demand freedom assessment taxes distributed fall unduly poor rather accumulated wealth country look national debt national blessing heavy burden industry country discharged without unnecessary delay estimated secretary treasury expenditures fiscal year ending 30th june 1866 exceed receipts gratifying however state also estimated revenue year ending 30th june 1867 exceed expenditures sum amount much may deemed sufficient purpose may applied reduction public debt 31st day october 1865 every reduction diminish total amount interest paid enlarge means still reductions whole shall liquidated seen estimates secretary treasury may accomplished annual payments even within period exceeding thirty years faith shall within reasonable time amazed world suppression civil war thought beyond control government shall equally show superiority institutions prompt faithful discharge national obligations department agriculture present direction accomplishing much developing utilizing vast agricultural capabilities country information respecting details management reference made annual report commissioner dwelt thus fully domestic affairs transcendent importance circumstances great extent territory variety climate producing almost everything necessary wants even comforts man make us singularly independent varying policy foreign powers protect us every temptation entangling alliances present moment reestablishment harmony strength comes harmony best security nations feel power forget right constant aim promote peace amity foreign nations powers every reason believe without exception animated disposition relations emperor china recent origin friendly commerce dominions receiving new developments pleasing find government great empire manifests satisfaction policy reposes confidence fairness marks intercourse unbroken harmony united states emperor russia receiving new support enterprise designed carry telegraphic lines across continent asia dominions connect us europe new channel intercourse commerce south america receive encouragement direct line mail steamships rising empire brazil distinguished party men science recently left country make scientific exploration natural history rivers mountain ranges region received emperor generous welcome expected constant friendship united states zeal promoting advancement knowledge hope entertained commerce rich populous countries border mediterranean sea may largely increased nothing wanting part government extend protection flag enterprise receive powers region assurances good worthy note special envoy brought us messages condolence death late chief magistrate bey tunis whose rule includes old dominions carthage african coast domestic contest happily ended left traces relations one least great maritime powers formal accordance belligerent rights insurgent states unprecedented justified issue systems neutrality pursued powers made concession marked difference materials war insurgent states furnished great measure workshops great britain british ships manned british subjects prepared receiving british armaments sallied ports great britain make war american commerce shelter commission insurgent states ships escaped british ports ever afterwards entered every part world refit renew depredations consequences conduct disastrous states rebellion increasing desolation misery prolongation civil contest moreover effect great extent drive american flag sea transfer much shipping commerce power whose subjects created necessity change events took place called administration government sincere desire peace animated led approve proposal already made submit question thus arisen countries arbitration questions moment must commanded attention great powers interwoven peace interests every one insured impartial decision regret inform great britain declined arbitrament hand invited us formation joint commission settle mutual claims two countries depredations mentioned excluded proposition unsatisfactory form declined united states present subject impeachment good faith power professing friendly dispositions involving questions public law settlement essential peace nations though pecuniary reparation injured citizens would followed incidentally decision great britain compensation primary object higher motive interests peace justice establish important principles international law correspondence placed ground british minister rests justification substantially municipal law nation domestic interpretations law measure duty neutral feel bound declare opinion world justification sustained tribunal nations time advise present attempt redress acts legislation future friendship two countries must rest basis mutual justice moment establishment free constitution civilized world convulsed revolutions interests democracy monarchy revolutions united states wisely firmly refused become propagandists republicanism government suited condition never sought impose others consistently followed advice washington recommend careful preservation prudent use blessing intervening period policy european powers united states whole harmonious twice indeed rumors invasion parts america interest monarchy prevailed twice predecessors occasion announce views nation respect interference occasions remonstrance united states respected deep conviction part european governments system noninterference mutual abstinence propagandism true rule two hemispheres since times advanced wealth power retain purpose leave nations europe choose dynasties form systems government consistent moderation may justly demand corresponding moderation regard great calamity good government peace world european power challenge american people defense republicanism foreign interference foresee unwilling consider opportunities might present combinations might offer protect designs inimical form government united states desire act future ever acted heretofore never driven course aggression european powers rely wisdom justice powers respect system noninterference long sanctioned time good results approved continents correspondence united states france reference questions become subjects discussion two governments proper time laid congress organization government constitution president united states delivered inaugural address two houses congress said country mankind preservation sacred fire liberty destiny republican model government justly considered perhaps deeply finally staked experiment intrusted hands american people house representatives answered washington voice madison adore invisible hand led american people many difficulties cherish conscious responsibility destiny republican liberty years glided away since words spoken united states passed severer trials foreseen new epoch existence one nation union purified sorrows strengthened conflict established virtue people greatness occasion invites us repeat solemnity pledges fathers hold answerable success republican form government experience proved sufficiency peace war vindicated authority dangers afflictions sudden terrible emergencies would crushed system less firmly fixed hearts people inauguration washington foreign relations country trade repressed hostile regulations civilized nations globe welcome commerce governments profess toward us amity country felt way hesitatingly along untried path states little bound together rapid means communication hardly known one another historic traditions extending years intercourse states swift intimate experience centuries crowded generations created intense indestructible nationality jurisdiction reach beyond inconvenient boundaries territory achieved independence cessions lands first colonized spain france country acquired complex character natural limits chain lakes gulf mexico east west two great oceans nations wasted civil wars ages could establish necessary degree unity latent conviction form government best ever known world enabled us emerge civil war within four years complete vindication constitutional authority general government local liberties state institutions unimpaired throngs emigrants crowd shores witnesses confidence peoples permanence great land free labor industry blessed unexampled rewards bread workingman sweetened consciousness country safety dignity everyone enjoys free use faculties choice activity natural right combined influence fruitful soil genial climes happy institutions population increased within century easy development boundless resources wealth increased twofold greater rapidity numbers become secure financial vicissitudes countries alike business opinion truly independent care given provide education everyone born soil religion released political connection civil government refuses subserve craft statesmen becomes independence spiritual life people toleration extended every opinion quiet certainty truth needs fair field secure victory human mind goes forth unshackled pursuit science collect stores knowledge acquire mastery forces nature national domain offered held millions separate freeholds beyond occupants part earth constitute reality people exists democratic form government form government confession european statesmen gives power form capable incorporates every man state arouses everything belongs soul past history parallel exist public happiness within reach people united states part globe institutions found suited habits entitled love free constitution every one whatever part land home must wish perpetuity acknowledge words washington every step people united states advanced character independent nation seems distinguished token providential agency join prayer invisible hand led us clouds gloomed around path guide us onward perfect restoration fraternal affection day may able transmit great inheritance state governments rights general government whole constitutional vigor posterity countless generations
express gratitude god name people preservation united state first duty address thought next revert death late president act parricidal treason grief nation still fresh find solace consideration live enjoy high proof confidence enter renew term chief magistracy elect bring civil war substantially close loss deplore part union foreign nation render justice memory removal cast upon heavy weight care ever devolve upon one predecessor fulfill trust need support confidence associate various department government support confidence people one way hope gain necessary aid state frankness principle guide conduct application present state affair well aware efficiency labor great measure depend undivided approbation union unite state america intend author last long state shall last union shall perpetual word confederation form perfect union ordinance people united state declare purpose constitution hand divine providence never plainly visible affair men frame adopt instrument beyond comparison great event american history indeed event modern time pregnant consequence every people earth member convention prepare brought work experience confederation several state republican government old new need obtained wisdom superior experience validity require approval people occupy large part continent act separately many distinct convention wonderful earnest contention long discussion feeling opinion ultimately draw one way support constitution life thus imparted contains within ample resource preservation power enforce law punish treason insure domestic tranquillity case usurpation government state one man oligarchy become duty united state make good guaranty state republican form government maintain homogeneousness lapse time reveal defect simple mode amendment provide constitution condition always make conform requirement advance civilization room allow even think possibility come end power always assert complete integrity every patriotic chief magistrate jefferson jackson less washington madison part advice father country yet president people united state free constitution work hand might sacredly maintain inaugural word president jefferson hold preservation general government whole constitutional vigor sheet anchor peace home safety abroad constitution work people united state indestructible people strange framer constitution model past fully comprehend excellence work fresh struggle arbitrary power many patriot suffer harass fear absorption state government general government many dread state would break away orbit greatness country allay apprehension encroachment general government subject come unquestionably within jurisdiction numerous must ever naturally refuse embarrassed question lie beyond otherwise executive would sink beneath burden channel justice would choke legislation would obstruct excess great temptation exercise function general government state trespass rightful sphere absolute acquiescence decision majority begin century enforce jefferson vital principle republic event last four year establish hope forever lie appeal force maintenance union bring support state government right one right state government renounce place union nullify law union large liberty maintain discussion act federal government appeal law except various branch government people grant member legislative executive department tenure limit one manner always retain power redress sovereignty state language confederacy language constitution latter contain emphatic word constitution law united state shall make pursuance thereof treaty make shall make authority united state shall supreme law land judge every state shall bind thereby anything constitution law state contrary notwithstanding certainly government united state limited government every state government limit government u idea limitation spread every form administration general state municipal rest great distinguish principle recognition right man ancient republic absorb individual state prescribe religion control activity american system rest assertion equal right every man life liberty pursuit happiness freedom conscience culture exercise faculty consequence state government limit general government interest union individual citizen interest freedom state proper limitation power essential existence constitution united state commencement assume place among power earth declaration independence adopt state also article confederation people united state ordain establish constitution assent state one one give vitality event amendment constitution proposition congress need confirmation state without state one great branch legislative government would want look beyond letter constitution character country capacity comprehend within jurisdiction vast continental empire due system state best security perpetual existence state supreme authority constitution united state perpetuity constitution bring perpetuity state mutual relation make u political system connection indissoluble whole exist without part part without whole long constitution united state endure state endure destruction one destruction preservation one preservation thus explain view mutual relation constitution state unfold principle seek solve momentous question overcome appal difficulty meet commencement administration steadfast object escape sway momentary passion derive healing policy fundamental unchanging principle constitution find state suffer effect civil war resistance general government appear exhaust united state recover possession fort arsenal army occupation every state attempt secede whether territory within limit state hold conquered territory military authority emanate president head army first question present decision military government establish indefinite period would offer security early suppression discontent would divide people vanquisher vanquish would envenom hatred rather restored affection establish precise limit continuance conceivable would occasion incalculable exhaust expense peaceful emigration portion country one best mean think restoration harmony emigration would prevent emigrant abroad industrious citizen home would place willingly military rule chief person would follow train army would dependents general government men expect profit misery err power patronage rule would exercise president vast populous naturally wealthy region great unless extreme necessity willing intrust one man could never unless occasion great emergency consent exercise willful use power continue period year would endanger purity general administration liberties state remain loyal besides policy military rule conquer territory would imply state whose inhabitant may take part rebellion act inhabitant ceased exist true theory pretend act secession begin null void state commit treason screen individual citizen may commit treason make valid treaty engage lawful commerce foreign power state attempt secede place condition vitality impair extinguished function suspend destroyed state neglect refuse perform office need general government maintain authority soon practicable resume exercise function principle act gradually quietly almost imperceptible step seek restore rightful energy general government state end provisional governor appoint state convention call governor elect legislature assemble senator representative choose congress united state time court united state far could do reopen law united state may enforce agency blockade remove reestablished port entry revenue united state may collect department renews ceaseless activity general government thereby enable communicate promptly officer agent court bring security person property opening port invite restoration industry commerce renews facility social intercourse business happy u restoration one function general government bring bless state extend sure promise harmony renew attachment union happen return general government know beneficence know well policy attend risk success require least acquiescence state concern implies invitation state renew allegiance united state resume function state union risk must take choice difficulty smallest risk diminish possible remove danger felt incumbent assert one power general government power pardon state throw defense crime treason power pardon exclusively vested executive government unite state exercise power take every precaution connect clear recognition bind force law united state unqualified acknowledgment great social change condition regard slavery grown war next step take restore constitutional relation state invitation participate high office amend constitution every patriot must wish general amnesty early epoch consistent public safety great end need concurrence opinion spirit mutual conciliation party late terrible conflict must work together harmony much ask name whole people one side plan restoration shall proceed conformity willingness cast disorder past oblivion evidence sincerity future maintenance union shall put beyond doubt ratification propose amendment constitution provide abolition slavery forever within limit country long adoption amendment delay long doubt jealousy uncertainty prevail measure efface sad memory past measure certainly call population capital security part union need indeed much ask state resume place family union give pledge perpetual loyalty peace do past however much may desire forgotten adoption amendment reunite u beyond power disruption heals wind still imperfectly close remove slavery element long perplexed divided country make u united people renew strengthen bound ever mutual affection support amendment constitution adopt would remain state whose power long abeyance resume place two branch national legislature thereby complete work restoration senate house representative judge election return qualification member full assertion power general government require hold circuit court united state within district authority interrupt present posture public affair strong objection urge hold court state rebellion exist ascertained inquiry circuit court united state would hold within district virginia autumn early winter congress opportunity consider act whole subject deliberation restoration branch civil authority united state therefore necessarily refer hope early provision make resumption function manifest treason flagrant character commit person charge commission fair impartial trial high civil tribunal country order constitution law may fully vindicate truth dearly establish affirm treason crime traitor punish offense make infamous time question may judicially settle finally forever state right renounce place union relation general government toward inhabitant war call freedom engage serious consideration propriety attempt make freedman elector proclamation executive take counsel constitution interpretation instrument author contemporary recent legislation congress first movement toward independence congress united state instruct several state institute government leave state decide condition enjoyment elective franchise period confederacy continue exist great diversity qualification elector several state even within state distinction qualification prevail regard officer choose constitution united state recognize diversity enjoin choice member house representative united state elector state shall qualification requisite elector numerous branch state legislature formation constitution remain uniform usage state enlarge body elector accord judgment system one state another proceed increase number elector universal suffrage something near general rule fix reservation power habit people unquestioned interpretation constitution civil war late president never harbor purpose certainly never evowed purpose disregard act congress period nothing find continuance hostility much less close would sanction departure executive policy uniformly obtain moreover concession elective franchise freedman act president united state must extend color men wherever find must establish change suffrage northern middle western state less southern southwestern act would create new class voter would assumption power president nothing constitution law united state would warrant hand every danger conflict avoid settlement question refer several state decide measure whether adopt absolutely introduce gradually condition judgment freedman show patience manly virtues sooner obtain participation elective franchise state general government even power intervene tumult emotion raise suddenness social change shall subside may prove receive kindest usage heretofore closely depend doubt close war competent general government extend elective franchise several state equally clear good faith require security freedman liberty property right labor right claim return labor strongly urge dispassionate treatment subject carefully keep aloof party strife must equally avoid hasty assumption natural impossibility two race live side side state mutual benefit good experiment involve u inconsistency let u go make experiment good faith easily dishearten country need labor freedman need employment culture protection right voluntary migration expatriation question would advise force removal colonization let u rather encourage honorable useful industry may beneficial country instead hasty anticipation certainty failure let nothing want fair trial experiment change condition substitution labor contract status slavery freedman fairly accuse unwillingness work long doubt remain freedom choice pursuit certainty recover stipulate wage interest employer employ coincide employer desire workman spirit alacrity permanently secure way one ought able enforce contract ought public interest best promote several state provide adequate protection remedy freedmen way accomplished chance advantageous use labor blame ill success rest know sincere philanthropy earnest immediate realization remotest aim time always element reform one great act record brought people freedom career free industry must fairly open future prosperity condition must rest mainly fail perish away let u careful failure shall attributable denial justice relate destiny freedman need anxious read future many incident speculative point view might raise alarm quietly settle slavery end near end greatness evil point view public economy become apparent slavery essentially monopoly labor lock state prevail incoming free industry labor property capitalist white man exclude employment second best chance find foreign emigrant turn away region condition would precarious destruction monopoly free labor hasten pan civilized world assist develop various immeasurable resource hitherto lain dormant eight nine state nearest gulf mexico soil exuberant fertility climate friendly long life sustain denser population find yet part country future influx population mainly north cultivated nation europe suffering attend late struggle let u look away future sure laden great prosperity ever know removal monopoly slave labor pledge region people numerous enterprising population vie union compactness inventive genius wealth industry government spring make people people government owe allegiance must derive courage strength wisdom government thus bound defer people derives existence consideration origin strong power resistance establishment inequality monopoly perpetuity class legislation contrary genius free government ought allow room favor class monopoly principle government equal law freedom industry wherever monopoly attain foothold sure source danger discord trouble shall fulfill duty legislator accord equal exact justice men special privilege none government subordinate people agent representative people must hold superior monopoly ought never grant exist must subordinate yield government constitution confers congress right regulate commerce among several state first necessity maintenance union commerce free unobstructed state justify device tax transit travel commerce state position many state allow take advantage purpose local revenue commerce state might injuriously burden even virtually prohibit best country still young tendency dangerous monopoly kind still feeble use power congress prevent selfish impediment free circulation men merchandise tax travel merchandise transit constitute one worst form monopoly evil increase couple denial choice route vast extent country consider plain every obstacle free circulation commerce state ought sternly guard appropriate legislation within limit constitution report secretary interior explain condition public land transaction patent office pension bureau management indian affair progress make construction pacific railroad furnishes information reference matter local interest district columbia also present evidence successful operation homestead act provision acres public land enter last fiscal year whole number acre sell otherwise disposed period estimate receipt derive source sufficient cover expense incident survey disposal land enter act payment cash extent 40 50 per cent make settler may thus time acquire title expiration period would otherwise vest homestead policy establish long earnest resistance experience prove wisdom land hand industrious settler whose labor create wealth contributes public resource worth united state reserve solitude future purchaser lamentable event last four year sacrifice make gallant men army navy swell record pension bureau unprecedented extent 30th day june last total number pensioner require annual pay exclusive expense sum number application allow since date require large increase amount next fiscal year mean payment stipend due exist law disabled soldier sailor family perish service country doubt cheerfully promptly grant grateful people hesitate sanction measure object relief soldier mutilate family make fatherless effort preserve national existence report present encouraging exhibit operation department year revenue past year loyal state alone exceed maximum annual receipt state previous rebellion sum annual average increase revenue last four year compare revenue four year immediately precede rebellion revenue last fiscal year amount expenditure leave surplus receipt expenditures progress make restore postal service southern state view present policy grant subsidy ocean mail steamship line upon establish route favor continue present system limit compensation ocean service postage earnings recommend careful consideration congress appear report secretary navy commencement present year commission 530 vessel class description arm gun man men number vessel present commission 117 830 gun men prompt reduction naval force expense government largely diminish number vessel purchase naval purpose merchant marine return peaceful pursuit commerce since suppression active hostility foreign squadron reestablish consist vessel much efficient employ similar service previous rebellion suggestion enlargement especially establishment one fresh water ironclad vessel deserve consideration also recommendation different location ample ground naval academy report secretary war general summary give military campaign 1864 1865 end suppression arm resistance national authority insurgent state operation general administrative bureau war department past year detail estimate make appropriation require military purpose fiscal year commence 1st day july 1866 national military force 1st may 1865 number men propose reduce military establishment peace foot comprehend troop arm organize admit enlargement fill rank circumstance country require augmentation army volunteer force already reduce discharge service troop department proceed rapidly work reduction war estimate reduce amount opinion department adequate peace establishment measure retrenchment bureau branch service exhibit diligent economy worthy commendation reference also make report necessity provide uniform militia system propriety make suitable provision wound disabled officer soldier revenue system country subject vital interest honor prosperity command earnest consideration congress secretary treasury lay full detailed report receipt disbursement last fiscal year first quarter present fiscal year probable receipt expenditures three quarter estimate year follow 30th june 1866 might content reference report find information require deliberation decision paramount importance subject press mind lay view measure require good character might almost say existence people life republic lie certainly energy virtue intelligence citizen equally true good revenue system life organize government meet time nation voluntarily burden debt unprecedented annals vast amount fade away nothing compare countless blessing confer upon country upon man preservation nation life first occasion meeting congress since return peace utmost importance inaugurate policy shall put motion shall commend come u continuance must aim nothing less complete effacement financial evil necessarily follow state civil war must endeavor apply early remedy derange state currency shrink devising policy oppressive people shall immediately begin effect reduction debt persist discharge fully within definitely fix number year first duty prepare earnest recovery evils irredeemable currency without sudden revulsion yet without untimely procrastination end must respective position prepare way hold duty executive insist upon frugality expenditures spar economy great national resource bank authority give issue note secure bond united state may require great moderation prudence law must rigidly enforce limit exceed may one u counsel active enterprising countryman constantly guard liquidate debt contract paper currency conduct business nearly possible system cash payment short credit hold prepared return standard gold silver aid prudent management monetary affair duty devolve u diminish law amount paper money circulation five year ago circulation country amount much two hundred million circulation bank national exceeds seven hundred million simple statement fact recommend strongly word mine could necessity restrain expansion gradual reduction currency measure save business country disastrous calamity almost imperceptibly accomplish gradually funding national circulation security may make redeemable pleasure government debt doubly secure first actual wealth still great undeveloped resource country next character institution intelligent observer among political economist fail remark public debt country safe proportion people free debt republic safe history confirms establish theory firmly believe destine give still signal illustration secret superiority spring merely fact republic national obligation distribute widely countless number class society root character law men contribute public welfare bear fair share public burden war impulse patriotism men great body people without regard comparative want wealth throng army fill fleet war hold ready offer live public good turn property income country bear proportion burden taxation impost system mean increase vitality incidentally imparted industrial interest nation duty adjust fall heavily article luxury leave necessary life free taxation absolute want government economically administer justify favored class demand freedom assessment tax distribute fall unduly poor rather accumulated wealth country look national debt national blessing heavy burden industry country discharge without unnecessary delay estimate secretary treasury expenditure fiscal year end 30th june 1866 exceed receipt gratify however state also estimate revenue year end 30th june 1867 exceed expenditures sum amount much may deem sufficient purpose may apply reduction public debt 31st day october 1865 every reduction diminish total amount interest pay enlarge mean still reduction whole shall liquidate see estimate secretary treasury may accomplish annual payment even within period exceed thirty year faith shall within reasonable time amazed world suppression civil war think beyond control government shall equally show superiority institution prompt faithful discharge national obligation department agriculture present direction accomplish much develop utilizing vast agricultural capability country information respect detail management reference make annual report commissioner dwell thus fully domestic affair transcendent importance circumstance great extent territory variety climate produce almost everything necessary want even comfort man make u singularly independent varying policy foreign power protect u every temptation entangle alliance present moment reestablishment harmony strength come harmony best security nation feel power forget right constant aim promote peace amity foreign nation power every reason believe without exception animate disposition relation emperor china recent origin friendly commerce dominion receive new development please find government great empire manifest satisfaction policy repose confidence fairness mark intercourse unbroken harmony united state emperor russia receive new support enterprise design carry telegraphic line across continent asia dominion connect u europe new channel intercourse commerce south america receive encouragement direct line mail steamship rise empire brazil distinguish party men science recently leave country make scientific exploration natural history river mountain range region receive emperor generous welcome expect constant friendship united state zeal promote advancement knowledge hope entertain commerce rich populous country border mediterranean sea may largely increase nothing want part government extend protection flag enterprise receive power region assurance good worthy note special envoy bring u message condolence death late chief magistrate bey tunis whose rule include old dominion carthage african coast domestic contest happily end left trace relation one least great maritime power formal accordance belligerent right insurgent state unprecedented justified issue system neutrality pursued power make concession mark difference material war insurgent state furnish great measure workshops great britain british ship man british subject prepare receive british armament sallied port great britain make war american commerce shelter commission insurgent state ship escape british port ever afterwards enter every part world refit renew depredation consequence conduct disastrous state rebellion increase desolation misery prolongation civil contest moreover effect great extent drive american flag sea transfer much shipping commerce power whose subject create necessity change event take place call administration government sincere desire peace animate lead approve proposal already make submit question thus arisen country arbitration question moment must command attention great power interwoven peace interest every one insure impartial decision regret inform great britain decline arbitrament hand invite u formation joint commission settle mutual claim two country depredation mention excluded proposition unsatisfactory form decline united state present subject impeachment good faith power profess friendly disposition involve question public law settlement essential peace nation though pecuniary reparation injure citizen would follow incidentally decision great britain compensation primary object higher motive interest peace justice establish important principle international law correspondence place ground british minister rest justification substantially municipal law nation domestic interpretation law measure duty neutral feel bound declare opinion world justification sustain tribunal nation time advise present attempt redress act legislation future friendship two country must rest basis mutual justice moment establishment free constitution civilize world convulse revolution interest democracy monarchy revolution united state wisely firmly refuse become propagandist republicanism government suit condition never seek impose others consistently follow advice washington recommend careful preservation prudent use bless intervening period policy european power united state whole harmonious twice indeed rumor invasion part america interest monarchy prevail twice predecessor occasion announce view nation respect interference occasion remonstrance united state respect deep conviction part european government system noninterference mutual abstinence propagandism true rule two hemisphere since time advanced wealth power retain purpose leave nation europe choose dynasty form system government consistent moderation may justly demand correspond moderation regard great calamity good government peace world european power challenge american people defense republicanism foreign interference foresee unwilling consider opportunity might present combination might offer protect design inimical form government united state desire act future ever act heretofore never drive course aggression european power rely wisdom justice power respect system noninterference long sanctioned time good result approve continent correspondence united state france reference question become subject discussion two government proper time lay congress organization government constitution president united state deliver inaugural address two house congress say country mankind preservation sacred fire liberty destiny republican model government justly consider perhaps deeply finally stake experiment intrust hand american people house representative answer washington voice madison adore invisible hand lead american people many difficulty cherish conscious responsibility destiny republican liberty year glide away since word speak united state pass severer trial foresee new epoch existence one nation union purify sorrow strengthen conflict establish virtue people greatness occasion invite u repeat solemnity pledge father hold answerable success republican form government experience prove sufficiency peace war vindicate authority danger affliction sudden terrible emergency would crush system less firmly fix heart people inauguration washington foreign relation country trade repress hostile regulation civilize nation globe welcome commerce government profess toward u amity country felt way hesitatingly along untried path state little bound together rapid mean communication hardly know one another historic tradition extend year intercourse state swift intimate experience century crowd generation create intense indestructible nationality jurisdiction reach beyond inconvenient boundary territory achieve independence cession land first colonize spain france country acquire complex character natural limit chain lake gulf mexico east west two great ocean nation waste civil war age could establish necessary degree unity latent conviction form government best ever know world enable u emerge civil war within four year complete vindication constitutional authority general government local liberty state institution unimpaired throng emigrant crowd shore witness confidence people permanence great land free labor industry bless unexampled reward bread workingman sweeten consciousness country safety dignity everyone enjoy free use faculty choice activity natural right combine influence fruitful soil genial clime happy institution population increase within century easy development boundless resource wealth increase twofold great rapidity number become secure financial vicissitude country alike business opinion truly independent care give provide education everyone bear soil religion release political connection civil government refuse subserve craft statesman become independence spiritual life people toleration extend every opinion quiet certainty truth need fair field secure victory human mind go forth unshackled pursuit science collect store knowledge acquire mastery force nature national domain offer hold million separate freehold beyond occupant part earth constitute reality people exist democratic form government form government confession european statesman give power form capable incorporate every man state arouse everything belongs soul past history parallel exist public happiness within reach people united state part globe institution find suited habit entitle love free constitution every one whatever part land home must wish perpetuity acknowledge word washington every step people united state advance character independent nation seem distinguish token providential agency join prayer invisible hand lead u cloud gloomed around path guide u onward perfect restoration fraternal affection day may able transmit great inheritance state government right general government whole constitutional vigor posterity countless generation