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