US Presidency
1877

It must be a government which submitsloyally and heartily to the Constitution and the laws the laws of thenation and the laws of the States themselves accepting and obeying faithfullythe whole Constitution as it is. Resting upon this sure and substantial foundation, the superstructureof beneficent local governments can be built up, and not otherwise. Infurtherance of such obedience to the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, and in behalf of all that its attainment implies, all so-called party interestslose their apparent importance, and party lines may well be permitted tofade into insignificance. The question we have to consider for the immediatewelfare of those States of the Union is the question of government or nogovernment; of social order and all the peaceful industries and the happinessthat belongs to it, or a return to barbarism.