Show THE inauguration washington wednesday march 4 1857 the th procession started for the capitol about noon it was very long and presented a beautiful atif ua appearance the military of 0 the district and our community were fully tilly f represented buchanan and breckinridge rode in in an open carriage surrounded by the keystone ace stone club preceded by the military and an a representation by a lady of the goddess of liberty mounted on a high platform 1 drawn by six horses and followed by b y a model of a ship of war of considerable size made bythe mechanics of the washington navy yard then followed the various clubs engine companies sc ac mr buchanan reached the capitol about I 1 pm and proceeded to deliver his inaugural address the crowd was wag tremendous and the cheering ve very ry enthusiastic twenty ent y four military companies seven clubs and associations and several fire companies participated participate d in in the procession the oath was administered to mr buchanan after the reading of the inaugural THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS fellmy fellow citizens I 1 appear before day to take the solemn oath that I 1 will faithfully execute the office of president of the L united eted states and will to the best of my m ability preserve presen e protect and defend the constitution or of the united states in entering upon this great office I 1 must humbly invoke invoice the god of our fathers for wisdom and firmness to execute its high and responsible duties irl ill in sucha such a manner as to restore e harmony and the ancient friendship among the people of the several State states sand and to preserve our free institutions throughout g many generations convinced that I 1 owe my election to the in inherent love for the constitution and the union which still animates the hearts of the american people let me earnestly ask their powerful f ul sup support port in in sustaining all just measures calculated to perpetuate these the richest political blessings blessin s which heaven hea ven has ever bestowed upon any nation having determined not to become a cand candidate 1 for reelection re election I 1 shall have no 0 motive to ia fluence influence my conduct in in administering the government gov eminent except faithfully to serve e my country and to liv live e in in the grateful gratte gritte ful tul memory of my ngy countrymen we have recently pass pabs p isse d through a presidential contest in in which the tha passions of our fellow citizens were excited to the highest degree by questions of deep and vital importance but when the people proclaimed their will the tempest at once subsided and all was calm the voice of the majority speak sp eakin ingin jil iii the manner prescribed by the constitution was heard leard and instant submission follow followed ed our own country could alone have llave exhibited so grand and striking a spectacle of the capacity ell eli of mail man for self seif s government a conception then was if for congress to apply this simple rule that the will of the majority shall govern to the settlement of 0 the question of 0 domestic slavery jn n the territories congress is neither to legislate slavery into any territory or state nor to exclude it but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way subject only to the constitution of the united states as a natural consequence congress has hag also pres prescribed bribed that when the territory of kansas shall be admitted as a state it shall be received into the union with or without sa s1 slaver avery as constitution may prescribe at the time of their admission A different opinion has arisen in regard rard to the time when a people of a territory shall decide this question for themselves this is happily a matte matter et but little practical importance anu and and beside it is a judicial question which legitimately belongs to the supreme court of the united states before defore before whom it is now pending in t and will it is understood be speedily and finally settled sett settled leW to their decision in common with all good citizens I 1 shall cheerfully submit whatever thea thia may be though it has been my nay individual opinion that under the nebraska kansas act the appropriate e period will beahen be when the number of actual residents in the territories shall justify the formation of a constitution with a view to its admission as a state into the union but be this as it way iray if it is i 3 the imperative and indispensable duty of tile the government ot of the united states to secure to every resident reside ht inhabitant the free and independent expression of his opinion by his vote this sacred right of each individual must be preserved this being accomplished nothing can be fairer than to leave the people of a territory free from all foreign interference to decide their awn own destiny for themselves subject only Constitution of the united states the whole territorial question beill being thus settled upon the principle of popular sovereignty a principle as ancient as free government itself every thin thing of a practical nature has been decided and no other question remains for adjustment because all agree that under the constitution slavery in the states is beyond the reach of any human power except that of the respective respect ire ive states themselves them wherein it exists may we not hot then hope that the long agitation on this subject is approaching its end an and arid d that the geographical parties to which it has given birth hirth lirt so much dreaded by the father of his country will speedup become extinct most happy will it be for the country when the public mind shall be diverted from this Ru question estion to others of more pressing and tibal importance the whole pro vess desa ress of athis this agitation which has hag scarcely known bbown any intermission for more than twenty years while it has been productive of no positive good to any human being it has been the prolific source of great evils to the master to the slave and to the whole country it las has alienated and estranged tile the people of the sister bistel Stat States eafrom from each other and has even seriously serio isly endangered the very existence of tile the union nor has the danger yet entirely ceased under our system there eliere is a remedy for all mere political evils in the sound sense and sober judgment of the people time is is a great corrective the political subjects which but a few years ago exasperated the public mind have passed away and are nearly forgotten but this question of domestic slavery is of far greater importance than any mere political question because should the agitation continue it may eventually endanger the personal safety of a large portion of our countrymen where the institution exists in that event no form of government however productive of material benefits can compensate for the loss of peace and domestic security around the family altar let every union loving g man therefore exert his best influence to suppress this agitation which since the recent legislation of congress is without vit hout any legitimate object it js s anevil an evil of the times flees that men have undertaken to calculate the mere material value of the union reasoned estimates have been presented of the pecuniary profits and local advantages which would result to different states and sections from its dissolution and of the comparative injuries which such an event would inflict on other states and sections even descending to this low and narrow view of the mighty question all such calculations are at fault the bare reference to a sin sinie single le consideration will be conclusive on this point we at present enjoy a free trade throughout our extensive and expansive country such as the world never witnessed this trade is con ducted on railroads and canals on noble rivers and arms of the sea which bind together the orth north and the he south the east and the west of our confederacy annihilate this trade arrest its free progress by the geographical lines iines of jealous adf and hostile states and sou S iou lou ou destroy the prosperity and onward march of the whole and every part and involve all ah in one common ruin but stich such considerations important im as they are in themselves sink sinic into insignificance when we reflect on the terrific evils which would result from disunion to every portion of the confederacy to the north not more than to the south to the east not more than to the west these I 1 shall shail not attempt to portray because I 1 feel an humble confidence that the kind hind providence which inspired our fathers with wisdom to frame the most perfect form of government and union ever devised by man will not noi suffer suiter it to perish until it shall shail have been peacefully instrumental by its example in the ext extension elsion of civil and religious liberty throughout the world next in importance to the maintenance of tile the constitution and the union is the duty of preserving the government free from the taint or br even suspicion of corruption public virtue js is the vital spirit of republics and history proves that when this has decayed and the love of money has usurped its place although the forms of free government may remain for a season the substance has departed for ever our present financial condition is without a parallel arallen in history 1 no nation has ever before been been heen embarrassed from too large a surplus in its treasury this almost necessarily gives fives birth to extravagant legislation legislation it produces wild schemes of eapen expenditures I 1 and begets arace of speculators and jobbers whose ingenuity is exerted in contriving and promoting ex to obtain the public money the party through gli its official agents whether vi right fully or wrongfully is suspected and the ch char ar acter of the government suffers in the estima tion of the people this is in itself a very ver y great evil the natural mode of relief from this embarrassment ras is to appropriate tiie tile surplus in the treasury to great national objects for which a clear warrant ean can be found in the constitution among these I 1 might mention the extinguishment of the public debt a reasonable increase of the navy which is at present inadequate to the protection of our vast tunnage afloat now greater great r t han ban ulan that of any other nation as well as the defence of our extended sea bea coast it is beyond all question the true principle thae that no more revenue ought to be collected from the people than the amount necessary to defray the expenses of a wise economical and efficient administration of f the government to reach this point it was necessary to resort to of the tariff and this has been accomplished in such a manner to do us as s little injury as may have been practicable to t our domestic manufactures especially those n necessary for the defence of the country any discrimination against a particular branch for the purpose of benefiting favored corporations individuals or interests would have been unjust to the rest reft of tile the community and inconsistent with that spirit of fairness and equality which ought to govern in the adjustment stin nt of a revenue tarlee tariff abat but the squandering of the public money sinks into comparative in insignificance as a temptation to corruption when compared with the squandering of the public lands no nation in the tide of time bas has ever been blessed with so richland ach and noble nobie all an inheritance as we enjoy in the public I 1 lands dads in administering this important trust while it may maybe be wise to grant rani rant portions of them for the improvement ollic of th e remainder apt yit we should never neker forget afat it is our cardinal licy llcy to reserve these lands as muchas much as mayio mayto maya be e for actual settlers and this at moderate prices prices we shall thus not only best promote the prosperity of the new states by f furnishing I 1 them a hardy and independent race of lione ilone honest st and industrious citizens but shall secure homes for our children and our childrens children as well as for those exiles fromor eign shores who may seek in this country to improve their condition and to enjoy the blessings of civil and religious liberty stich such emigrants have done much to promote the growth and prosper ity of the country they have proved faithful both in peace and in war after becoming citizens they are the constitution Cons and laws to be placed on perfect equality with native born citizens and in this character they should ever be kindly recognized tiie the federal constitution is a grant grani Wom from the state to congress of certain specific powers and ana the question whether this grant shall be liberally or strictly construed has more or less divided political parties from the beginning i without entering into the argument I 1 desire to state at the commencement commencement of my administration tra tion that long experience and observation have convinced me that a strict construction of the powers of tile the government is the only true as well as A the only safe theory of the constitution whenever in our past history doubtful eave powers have been exercise exercised 1 by congress they have never failed to produce injurious injury us and unhappy liap y consequences many such instances magrl might t be adduced if this were the proper occasion Z kither ether ither is it lie lle necessary essa ry for the public service to strain the language of the constitution because all the great and useful powers required for a successful administration of the government both in peace and in war have been deen been granted either in express term terms s or by y the plainest implication while deeply convinced of these truths I 1 yet consider it clear clearl thag that haf under the war mahib making power congress may appropriate money towa toward ia the construction of a military road whenn when this is absolutely necessary for the defence of oi any state or territory of the me union against foreign invasion under the constitution congress has power to declare war to raise and support armies to provide and maintain a navy and to call forth the militia to repel inva invasion klon slon thu thus s endowed in id an ample manner with the war making power the corresponding duty is required that the united states shall protect each dach of them the states against invasion how is it po possible sible sibie to afford this protection to california and our pacific possession pbs session except by a military road I 1 through the territory of the united states over which men and munitions of war may be speedily transported from the atlantic states to meet and repel the invader in case of a war with a naval power much stronger than our own we should then have no other available access to the pacific coast because such a power would instantly close the route across the isthmus of central amer ica ca it is 13 impossible to conceive that wille while the Const constitution construction Rution has expressly required congress to defend all the states it should yet vet deny to them by any fair construction the only y possible means me ansby by which one of these states cair can be defended defend defended eY beside the government gov er ament eyer since its origin has been in the constant practice of constructing military roads it might also be wise to consider whether the love iove for the union which now animates our fellow citizens on the pacific coast may baynot not be he impaired by our neglect or refusal to provide for them in their remote and isolated condition the only means by which tile the power of the states on this side of the R rock mountains can reach them in in sufficient time to protect them against invasion I 1 forbear for tor the present from expressing an opinion as to |