It is to be hoped that no international question can
now arise which a government confident in its own strength and
resolved to protect its own just rights may not settle by wise
negotiation; and it eminently becomes a government like our own,
founded on the morality and intelligence of its citizens and
upheld by their affections, to exhaust every resort of honorable
diplomacy before appealing to arms. In the conduct of our foreign
relations I shall conform to these views, as I believe them
essential to the best interests and the true honor of the country.
The appointing power vested in the President imposes delicate and
onerous duties. So far as it is possible to be informed, I shall
make honesty, capacity, and fidelity indispensable prerequisites
to the bestowal of office, and the absence of either of these
qualities shall be deemed sufficient cause for removal.
It shall be my study to recommend such constitutional measures to
Congress as may be necessary and proper to secure encouragement
and protection to the great interests of agriculture, commerce,
and manufactures, to improve our rivers and harbors, to provide
for the speedy extinguishment of the public debt, to enforce a
strict accountability on the part of all officers of the
Government and the utmost economy in all public expenditures; but
it is for the wisdom of Congress itself, in which all legislative
powers are vested by the Constitution, to regulate these and other
matters of domestic policy.
Pages:
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192