Speech Transcript:

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.