Fellow-Citizens:
Under
Providence I have been called a second time to act as
Executive over this great nation. It has been my endeavor
in the past to maintain all the laws, and, so far as lay
in my power, to act for the best interests of the whole
people. My best efforts will be given in the same
direction in the future, aided, I trust, by my four years'
experience in the office.
When
my first term of the office of Chief Executive began, the
country had not recovered from the effects of a great
internal revolution, and three of the former States of the
Union had not been restored to their Federal relations.
It
seemed to me wise that no new questions should be raised
so long as that condition of affairs existed. Therefore
the past four years, so far as I could control events,
have been consumed in the effort to restore harmony,
public credit, commerce, and all the arts of peace and
progress. It is my firm conviction that the civilized
world is tending toward republicanism, or government by
the people through their chosen representatives, and that
our own great Republic is destined to be the guiding star
to all others.
Under
our Republic we support an army less than that of any
European power of any standing and a navy less than that
of either of at least five of them. There could be no
extension of territory on the continent which would call
for an increase of this force, but rather might such
extension enable us to diminish it.
The
theory of government changes with general progress. Now
that the telegraph is made available for communicating
thought, together with rapid transit by steam, all parts
of a continent are made contiguous for all purposes of
government, and communication between the extreme limits
of the country made easier than it was throughout the old
thirteen States at the beginning of our national
existence.
The
effects of the late civil strife have been to free the
slave and make him a citizen. Yet he is not possessed of
the civil rights which citizenship should carry with it.
This is wrong, and should be corrected. To this correction
I stand committed, so far as Executive influence can
avail.
Social
equality is not a subject to be legislated upon, nor shall
I ask that anything be done to advance the social status
of the colored man, except to give him a fair chance to
develop what there is good in him, give him access to the
schools, and when he travels let him feel assured that his
conduct will regulate the treatment and fare he will
receive.
The
States lately at war with the General Government are now
happily rehabilitated, and no Executive control is
exercised in any one of them that would not be exercised
in any other State under like circumstances.
In
the first year of the past Administration the proposition
came up for the admission of Santo Domingo as a Territory
of the Union. It was not a question of my seeking, but was
a proposition from the people of Santo Domingo, and which
I entertained. I believe now, as I did then, that it was
for the best interest of this country, for the people of
Santo Domingo, and all concerned that the proposition
should be received favorably. It was, however, rejected
constitutionally, and therefore the subject was never
brought up again by me.
In
future, while I hold my present office, the subject of
acquisition of territory must have the support of the
people before I will recommend any proposition looking to
such acquisition. I say here, however, that I do not share
in the apprehension held by many as to the danger of
governments becoming weakened and destroyed by reason of
their extension of territory. Commerce, education, and
rapid transit of thought and matter by telegraph and steam
have changed all this. Rather do I believe that our Great
Maker is preparing the world, in His own good time, to
become one nation, speaking one language, and when armies
and navies will be no longer required.
My
efforts in the future will be directed to the restoration
of good feeling between the different sections of our
common country; to the restoration of our currency to a
fixed value as compared with the world's standard of
values gold and, if possible, to a par with it; to the
construction of cheap routes of transit throughout the
land, to the end that the products of all may find a
market and leave a living remuneration to the producer; to
the maintenance of friendly relations with all our
neighbors and with distant nations; to the reestablishment
of our commerce and share in the carrying trade upon the
ocean; to the encouragement of such manufacturing
industries as can be economically pursued in this country,
to the end that the exports of home products and
industries may pay for our imports the only sure method
of returning to and permanently maintaining a specie
basis; to the elevation of labor; and, by a humane course,
to bring the aborigines of the country under the benign
influences of education and civilization. It is either
this or war of extermination: Wars of extermination,
engaged in by people pursuing commerce and all industrial
pursuits, are expensive even against the weakest people,
and are demoralizing and wicked. Our superiority of
strength and advantages of civilization should make us
lenient toward the Indian. The wrong inflicted upon him
should be taken into account and the balance placed to his
credit. The moral view of the question should be
considered and the question asked, Can not the Indian be
made a useful and productive member of society by proper
teaching and treatment? If the effort is made in good
faith, we will stand better before the civilized nations
of the earth and in our own consciences for having made
it.
All
these things are not to be accomplished by one individual,
but they will receive my support and such recommendations
to Congress as will in my judgment best serve to carry
them into effect. I beg your support and encouragement.
It
has been, and is, my earnest desire to correct abuses that
have grown up in the civil service of the country. To
secure this reformation rules regulating methods of
appointment and promotions were established and have been
tried. My efforts for such reformation shall be continued
to the best of my judgment. The spirit of the rules
adopted will be maintained.
I
acknowledge before this assemblage, representing, as it
does, every section of our country, the obligation I am
under to my countrymen for the great honor they have
conferred on me by returning me to the highest office
within their gift, and the further obligation resting on
me to render to them the best services within my power.
This I promise, looking forward with the greatest anxiety
to the day when I shall be released from responsibilities
that at times are almost overwhelming, and from which I
have scarcely had a respite since the eventful firing upon
Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, to the present day. My
services were then tendered and accepted under the first
call for troops growing out of that event.
I
did not ask for place or position, and was entirely
without influence or the acquaintance of persons of
influence, but was resolved to perform my part in a
struggle threatening the very existence of the nation. I
performed a conscientious duty, without asking promotion
or command, and without a revengeful feeling toward any
section or individual.
Notwithstanding
this, throughout the war, and from my candidacy for my
present office in 1868 to the close of the last
Presidential campaign, I have been the subject of abuse
and slander scarcely ever equaled in political history,
which to-day I feel that I can afford to disregard in view
of your verdict, which I gratefully accept as my
vindication.
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