The subjects of education and agriculture are of great interest to the
success of our republican institutions, happiness, and grandeur as a
nation. In the interest of one a bureau has been established in the
Interior Department--the Bureau of Education; and in the interest of
the other, a separate Department, that of Agriculture. I believe great
general good is to flow from the operations of both these Bureaus if
properly fostered. I can not commend to your careful consideration too
highly the reports of the Commissioners of Education and of Agriculture,
nor urge too strongly such liberal legislation as to secure their
efficiency.
In conclusion I would sum up the policy of the Administration to be a
thorough enforcement of every law; a faithful collection of every tax
provided for; economy in the disbursement of the same; a prompt payment
of every debt of the nation; a reduction of taxes as rapidly as the
requirements of the country will admit; reductions of taxation and
tariff, to be so arranged as to afford the greatest relief to the
greatest number; honest and fair dealings with all other peoples, to the
end that war, with all its blighting consequences, may be avoided, but
without surrendering any right or obligation due to us; a reform in the
treatment of Indians and in the whole civil service of the country;
and finally, in securing a pure, untrammeled ballot, where every man
entitled to cast a vote may do so, just once at each election, without
fear of molestation or proscription on account of his political faith,
nativity, or color.
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