First among these is
strict integrity in fulfilling all our obligations; second, to secure
protection to the person and property of the citizen of the United
States in each and every portion of our common country, wherever he may
choose to move, without reference to original nationality, religion,
color, or politics, demanding of him only obedience to the laws and
proper respect for the rights of others; third, union of all the States,
with equal rights, indestructible by any constitutional means.
To secure the first of these, Congress has taken two essential steps:
First, in declaring by joint resolution that the public debt shall be
paid, principal and interest, in coin; and, second, by providing the
means for paying. Providing the means, however, could not secure the
object desired without a proper administration of the laws for the
collection of the revenues and an economical disbursement of them.
To this subject the Administration has most earnestly addressed
itself, with results, I hope, satisfactory to the country. There has
been no hesitation in changing officials in order to secure an efficient
execution of the laws, sometimes, too, when, in a mere party view,
undesirable political results were likely to follow; nor any hesitation
in sustaining efficient officials against remonstrances wholly
political.
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