US Presidency
1881

To the House of Representatives: Having considered the bill entitled An act to facilitate the refunding of the national debt, I am constrained to return it to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, with the following statement of my objections to its passage: The imperative necessity for prompt action and the pressure of public duties in this closing week of my term of office compel me to refrain from any attempt to make a full and satisfactory presentation of the objections to the bill. The importance of the passage at the present session of Congress of a suitable measure for the refunding of the national debt which is about to mature is generally recognized. It has been urged upon the attention of Congress by the Secretary of the Treasury and in my last annual message. If successfully accomplished, it will secure a large decrease in the annual interest payment of the nation, and I earnestly recommend, if the bill before me shall fail, that another measure for this purpose be adopted before the present Congress adjourns.