US Presidency
1875

In connection with this important question I would also call your attention to the importance of correcting an evil that, if permitted to continue, will probably lead to great trouble in our land before the close of the nineteenth century. It is the accumulation of vast amounts of untaxed church property. In 1850, I believe, the church property of the United States which paid no tax, municipal or State, amounted to about $ 83,000,000. In 1860 the amount had doubled; in 1875 it is about $ 1,000,000,000. By 1900, without check, it is safe to say this property will reach a sum exceeding $ 3,000,000,000. So vast a sum, receiving all the protection and benefits of Government without bearing its proportion of the burdens and expenses of the same, will not be looked upon acquiescently by those who have to pay the taxes.