Speech Transcript:

Fellow-Citizens:

In obedience to the will of the people, and in their presence, by the
authority vested in me by this oath, I assume the arduous and
responsible duties of President of the United States, relying upon
the support of my countrymen and invoking the guidance of Almighty
God. Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the
God of our fathers, who has so singularly favored the American people
in every national trial, and who will not forsake us so long as we
obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps.

The responsibilities of the high trust to which I have been
called--always of grave importance--are augmented by the prevailing
business conditions entailing idleness upon willing labor and loss to
useful enterprises. The country is suffering from industrial
disturbances from which speedy relief must be had. Our financial
system needs some revision; our money is all good now, but its value
must not further be threatened. It should all be put upon an enduring
basis, not subject to easy attack, nor its stability to doubt or
dispute. Our currency should continue under the supervision of the
Government. The several forms of our paper money offer, in my
judgment, a constant embarrassment to the Government and a safe
balance in the Treasury. Therefore I believe it necessary to devise a
system which, without diminishing the circulating medium or offering a
premium for its contraction, will present a remedy for those
arrangements which, temporary in their nature, might well in the
years of our prosperity have been displaced by wiser provisions. With
adequate revenue secured, but not until then, we can enter upon such
changes in our fiscal laws as will, while insuring safety and volume
to our money, no longer impose upon the Government the necessity of
maintaining so large a gold reserve, with its attendant and
inevitable temptations to speculation. Most of our financial laws are
the outgrowth of experience and trial, and should not be amended
without investigation and demonstration of the wisdom of the proposed
changes. We must be both "sure we are right" and "make haste slowly."
If, therefore, Congress, in its wisdom, shall deem it expedient to
create a commission to take under early consideration the revision of
our coinage, banking and currency laws, and give them that exhaustive,
careful and dispassionate examination that their importance demands, I
shall cordially concur in such action. If such power is vested in the
President, it is my purpose to appoint a commission of prominent,
well-informed citizens of different parties, who will command public
confidence, both on account of their ability and special fitness for
the work. Business experience and public training may thus be
combined, and the patriotic zeal of the friends of the country be so
directed that such a report will be made as to receive the support of
all parties, and our finances cease to be the subject of mere partisan
contention. The experiment is, at all events, worth a trial, and, in
my opinion, it can but prove beneficial to the entire country.

The question of international bimetallism will have early and earnest
attention. It will be my constant endeavor to secure it by
co-operation with the other great commercial powers of the world.
Until that condition is realized when the parity between our gold and
silver money springs from and is supported by the relative value of
the two metals, the value of the silver already coined and of that
which may hereafter be coined, must be kept constantly at par with
gold by every resource at our command. The credit of the Government,
the integrity of its currency, and the inviolability of its
obligations must be preserved. This was the commanding verdict of the
people, and it will not be unheeded.

Economy is demanded in every branch of the Government at all times,
but especially in periods, like the present, of depression in
business and distress among the people. The severest economy must be
observed in all public expenditures, and extravagance stopped
wherever it is found, and prevented wherever in the future it may be
developed. If the revenues are to remain as now, the only relief that
can come must be from decreased expenditures. But the present must not
become the permanent condition of the Government. It has been our
uniform practice to retire, not increase our outstanding obligations,
and this policy must again be resumed and vigorously enforced. Our
revenues should always be large enough to meet with ease and
promptness not only our current needs and the principal and interest
of the public debt, but to make proper and liberal provision for that
most deserving body of public creditors, the soldiers and sailors and
the widows and orphans who are the pensioners of the United States.

The Government should not be permitted to run behind or increase its
debt in times like the present. Suitably to provide against this is
the mandate of duty--the certain and easy remedy for most of our
financial difficulties. A deficiency is inevitable so long as the
expenditures of the Government exceed its receipts. It can only be
met by loans or an increased revenue. While a large annual surplus of
revenue may invite waste and extravagance, inadequate revenue creates
distrust and undermines public and private credit. Neither should be
encouraged. Between more loans and more revenue there ought to be but
one opinion. We should have more revenue, and that without delay,
hindrance, or postponement. A surplus in the Treasury created by
loans is not a permanent or safe reliance. It will suffice while it
lasts, but it can not last long while the outlays of the Government
are greater than its receipts, as has been the case during the past
two years. Nor must it be forgotten that however much such loans may
temporarily relieve the situation, the Government is still indebted
for the amount of the surplus thus accrued, which it must ultimately
pay, while its ability to pay is not strengthened, but weakened by a
continued deficit. Loans are imperative in great emergencies to
preserve the Government or its credit, but a failure to supply needed
revenue in time of peace for the maintenance of either has no
justification.

The best way for the Government to maintain its credit is to pay as
it goes--not by resorting to loans, but by keeping out of
debt--through an adequate income secured by a system of taxation,
external or internal, or both. It is the settled policy of the
Government, pursued from the beginning and practiced by all parties
and Administrations, to raise the bulk of our revenue from taxes upon
foreign productions entering the United States for sale and
consumption, and avoiding, for the most part, every form of direct
taxation, except in time of war. The country is clearly opposed to
any needless additions to the subject of internal taxation, and is
committed by its latest popular utterance to the system of tariff
taxation. There can be no misunderstanding, either, about the
principle upon which this tariff taxation shall be levied. Nothing
has ever been made plainer at a general election than that the
controlling principle in the raising of revenue from duties on
imports is zealous care for American interests and American labor.
The people have declared that such legislation should be had as will
give ample protection and encouragement to the industries and the
development of our country. It is, therefore, earnestly hoped and
expected that Congress will, at the earliest practicable moment,
enact revenue legislation that shall be fair, reasonable,
conservative, and just, and which, while supplying sufficient revenue
for public purposes, will still be signally beneficial and helpful to
every section and every enterprise of the people. To this policy we
are all, of whatever party, firmly bound by the voice of the
people--a power vastly more potential than the expression of any
political platform. The paramount duty of Congress is to stop
deficiencies by the restoration of that protective legislation which
has always been the firmest prop of the Treasury. The passage of such
a law or laws would strengthen the credit of the Government both at
home and abroad, and go far toward stopping the drain upon the gold
reserve held for the redemption of our currency, which has been heavy
and well-nigh constant for several years.

In the revision of the tariff especial attention should be given to
the re-enactment and extension of the reciprocity principle of the
law of 1890, under which so great a stimulus was given to our foreign
trade in new and advantageous markets for our surplus agricultural and
manufactured products. The brief trial given this legislation amply
justifies a further experiment and additional discretionary power in
the making of commercial treaties, the end in view always to be the
opening up of new markets for the products of our country, by
granting concessions to the products of other lands that we need and
cannot produce ourselves, and which do not involve any loss of labor
to our own people, but tend to increase their employment.

The depression of the past four years has fallen with especial
severity upon the great body of toilers of the country, and upon none
more than the holders of small farms. Agriculture has languished and
labor suffered. The revival of manufacturing will be a relief to
both. No portion of our population is more devoted to the institution
of free government nor more loyal in their support, while none bears
more cheerfully or fully its proper share in the maintenance of the
Government or is better entitled to its wise and liberal care and
protection. Legislation helpful to producers is beneficial to all.
The depressed condition of industry on the farm and in the mine and
factory has lessened the ability of the people to meet the demands
upon them, and they rightfully expect that not only a system of
revenue shall be established that will secure the largest income with
the least burden, but that every means will be taken to decrease,
rather than increase, our public expenditures. Business conditions
are not the most promising. It will take time to restore the
prosperity of former years. If we cannot promptly attain it, we can
resolutely turn our faces in that direction and aid its return by
friendly legislation. However troublesome the situation may appear,
Congress will not, I am sure, be found lacking in disposition or
ability to relieve it as far as legislation can do so. The
restoration of confidence and the revival of business, which men of
all parties so much desire, depend more largely upon the prompt,
energetic, and intelligent action of Congress than upon any other
single agency affecting the situation.

It is inspiring, too, to remember that no great emergency in the one
hundred and eight years of our eventful national life has ever arisen
that has not been met with wisdom and courage by the American people,
with fidelity to their best interests and highest destiny, and to the
honor of the American name. These years of glorious history have
exalted mankind and advanced the cause of freedom throughout the
world, and immeasurably strengthened the precious free institutions
which we enjoy. The people love and will sustain these institutions.
The great essential to our happiness and prosperity is that we adhere
to the principles upon which the Government was established and insist
upon their faithful observance. Equality of rights must prevail, and
our laws be always and everywhere respected and obeyed. We may have
failed in the discharge of our full duty as citizens of the great
Republic, but it is consoling and encouraging to realize that free
speech, a free press, free thought, free schools, the free and
unmolested right of religious liberty and worship, and free and fair
elections are dearer and more universally enjoyed to-day than ever
before. These guaranties must be sacredly preserved and wisely
strengthened. The constituted authorities must be cheerfully and
vigorously upheld. Lynchings must not be tolerated in a great and
civilized country like the United States; courts, not mobs, must
execute the penalties of the law. The preservation of public order,
the right of discussion, the integrity of courts, and the orderly
administration of justice must continue forever the rock of safety
upon which our Government securely rests.

One of the lessons taught by the late election, which all can rejoice
in, is that the citizens of the United States are both law-respecting
and law-abiding people, not easily swerved from the path of
patriotism and honor. This is in entire accord with the genius of our
institutions, and but emphasizes the advantages of inculcating even a
greater love for law and order in the future. Immunity should be
granted to none who violate the laws, whether individuals,
corporations, or communities; and as the Constitution imposes upon
the President the duty of both its own execution, and of the statutes
enacted in pursuance of its provisions, I shall endeavor carefully to
carry them into effect. The declaration of the party now restored to
power has been in the past that of "opposition to all combinations of
capital organized in trusts, or otherwise, to control arbitrarily the
condition of trade among our citizens," and it has supported "such
legislation as will prevent the execution of all schemes to oppress
the people by undue charges on their supplies, or by unjust rates for
the transportation of their products to the market." This purpose will
be steadily pursued, both by the enforcement of the laws now in
existence and the recommendation and support of such new statutes as
may be necessary to carry it into effect.

Our naturalization and immigration laws should be further improved to
the constant promotion of a safer, a better, and a higher citizenship.
A grave peril to the Republic would be a citizenship too ignorant to
understand or too vicious to appreciate the great value and
beneficence of our institutions and laws, and against all who come
here to make war upon them our gates must be promptly and tightly
closed. Nor must we be unmindful of the need of improvement among our
own citizens, but with the zeal of our forefathers encourage the
spread of knowledge and free education. Illiteracy must be banished
from the land if we shall attain that high destiny as the foremost of
the enlightened nations of the world which, under Providence, we ought
to achieve.

Reforms in the civil service must go on; but the changes should be
real and genuine, not perfunctory, or prompted by a zeal in behalf of
any party simply because it happens to be in power. As a member of
Congress I voted and spoke in favor of the present law, and I shall
attempt its enforcement in the spirit in which it was enacted. The
purpose in view was to secure the most efficient service of the best
men who would accept appointment under the Government, retaining
faithful and devoted public servants in office, but shielding none,
under the authority of any rule or custom, who are inefficient,
incompetent, or unworthy. The best interests of the country demand
this, and the people heartily approve the law wherever and whenever
it has been thus administrated.

Congress should give prompt attention to the restoration of our
American merchant marine, once the pride of the seas in all the great
ocean highways of commerce. To my mind, few more important subjects so
imperatively demand its intelligent consideration. The United States
has progressed with marvelous rapidity in every field of enterprise
and endeavor until we have become foremost in nearly all the great
lines of inland trade, commerce, and industry. Yet, while this is
true, our American merchant marine has been steadily declining until
it is now lower, both in the percentage of tonnage and the number of
vessels employed, than it was prior to the Civil War. Commendable
progress has been made of late years in the upbuilding of the
American Navy, but we must supplement these efforts by providing as a
proper consort for it a merchant marine amply sufficient for our own
carrying trade to foreign countries. The question is one that appeals
both to our business necessities and the patriotic aspirations of a
great people.

It has been the policy of the United States since the foundation of
the Government to cultivate relations of peace and amity with all the
nations of the world, and this accords with my conception of our duty
now. We have cherished the policy of non-interference with affairs of
foreign governments wisely inaugurated by Washington, keeping
ourselves free from entanglement, either as allies or foes, content
to leave undisturbed with them the settlement of their own domestic
concerns. It will be our aim to pursue a firm and dignified foreign
policy, which shall be just, impartial, ever watchful of our national
honor, and always insisting upon the enforcement of the lawful rights
of American citizens everywhere. Our diplomacy should seek nothing
more and accept nothing less than is due us. We want no wars of
conquest; we must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression. War
should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed;
peace is preferable to war in almost every contingency. Arbitration
is the true method of settlement of international as well as local or
individual differences. It was recognized as the best means of
adjustment of differences between employers and employees by the
Forty-ninth Congress, in 1886, and its application was extended to
our diplomatic relations by the unanimous concurrence of the Senate
and House of the Fifty-first Congress in 1890. The latter resolution
was accepted as the basis of negotiations with us by the British
House of Commons in 1893, and upon our invitation a treaty of
arbitration between the United States and Great Britain was signed at
Washington and transmitted to the Senate for its ratification in
January last. Since this treaty is clearly the result of our own
initiative; since it has been recognized as the leading feature of
our foreign policy throughout our entire national history--the
adjustment of difficulties by judicial methods rather than force of
arms--and since it presents to the world the glorious example of
reason and peace, not passion and war, controlling the relations
between two of the greatest nations in the world, an example certain
to be followed by others, I respectfully urge the early action of the
Senate thereon, not merely as a matter of policy, but as a duty to
mankind. The importance and moral influence of the ratification of
such a treaty can hardly be overestimated in the cause of advancing
civilization. It may well engage the best thought of the statesmen
and people of every country, and I cannot but consider it fortunate
that it was reserved to the United States to have the leadership in
so grand a work.

It has been the uniform practice of each President to avoid, as far
as possible, the convening of Congress in extraordinary session. It
is an example which, under ordinary circumstances and in the absence
of a public necessity, is to be commended. But a failure to convene
the representatives of the people in Congress in extra session when
it involves neglect of a public duty places the responsibility of
such neglect upon the Executive himself. The condition of the public
Treasury, as has been indicated, demands the immediate consideration
of Congress. It alone has the power to provide revenues for the
Government. Not to convene it under such circumstances I can view in
no other sense than the neglect of a plain duty. I do not sympathize
with the sentiment that Congress in session is dangerous to our
general business interests. Its members are the agents of the people,
and their presence at the seat of Government in the execution of the
sovereign will should not operate as an injury, but a benefit. There
could be no better time to put the Government upon a sound financial
and economic basis than now. The people have only recently voted that
this should be done, and nothing is more binding upon the agents of
their will than the obligation of immediate action. It has always
seemed to me that the postponement of the meeting of Congress until
more than a year after it has been chosen deprived Congress too often
of the inspiration of the popular will and the country of the
corresponding benefits. It is evident, therefore, that to postpone
action in the presence of so great a necessity would be unwise on the
part of the Executive because unjust to the interests of the people.
Our action now will be freer from mere partisan consideration than if
the question of tariff revision was postponed until the regular
session of Congress. We are nearly two years from a Congressional
election, and politics cannot so greatly distract us as if such
contest was immediately pending. We can approach the problem calmly
and patriotically, without fearing its effect upon an early
election.

Our fellow-citizens who may disagree with us upon the character of
this legislation prefer to have the question settled now, even
against their preconceived views, and perhaps settled so reasonably,
as I trust and believe it will be, as to insure great permanence,
than to have further uncertainty menacing the vast and varied
business interests of the United States. Again, whatever action
Congress may take will be given a fair opportunity for trial before
the people are called to pass judgment upon it, and this I consider a
great essential to the rightful and lasting settlement of the
question. In view of these considerations, I shall deem it my duty as
President to convene Congress in extraordinary session on Monday, the
15th day of March, 1897.

In conclusion, I congratulate the country upon the fraternal spirit
of the people and the manifestations of good will everywhere so
apparent. The recent election not only most fortunately demonstrated
the obliteration of sectional or geographical lines, but to some
extent also the prejudices which for years have distracted our
councils and marred our true greatness as a nation. The triumph of
the people, whose verdict is carried into effect today, is not the
triumph of one section, nor wholly of one party, but of all sections
and all the people. The North and the South no longer divide on the
old lines, but upon principles and policies; and in this fact surely
every lover of the country can find cause for true felicitation. Let
us rejoice in and cultivate this spirit; it is ennobling and will be
both a gain and a blessing to our beloved country. It will be my
constant aim to do nothing, and permit nothing to be done, that will
arrest or disturb this growing sentiment of unity and cooperation,
this revival of esteem and affiliation which now animates so many
thousands in both the old antagonistic sections, but I shall
cheerfully do everything possible to promote and increase it.

Let me again repeat the words of the oath administered by the Chief
Justice which, in their respective spheres, so far as applicable, I
would have all my countrymen observe: "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." This is the obligation I have reverently taken before the
Lord Most High. To keep it will be my single purpose, my constant
prayer; and I shall confidently rely upon the forbearance and
assistance of all the people in the discharge of my solemn
responsibilities.