The Republican journal., 1897-03-11
McKinley's inaugural Address.
He FayOrs International Bimetallism. Com.
mission 10 Look Into the Currency Laws at
Home. Reciprocity Urged. General Reference
to Foreign Affairs. An Extra Session OF Con.
greSs Called

gress Called.
WASHINGTON, March 4. Following is the
inaugural address of President William Nc
kinley delivered at the capitol after taking
the oath of Office:
Fellow citizens, In obedience to the will
OF the people and i'll their presence by the
authority vested i'll me by this oath assume
the arduous and responsible duties of Presi-
dent of the United States, relying on the
guidance of almighty God.
Our faith teaches us that there is no safer
reliance than upon the God of our fathers
who has so singularly favored the American
people III every national trial and who will
not forsake us so long as We obey his com
mands and walk humbly in his footsteps
The responsibilities of high trust to which
L have been cailed-alWays of grave import
ance-are augmented by the prevailing husi-
ness conditions entalllng ldleness upon will
ing labor and loss to useful enterprise. The
country is suffering from industrial disturb
ances from which speedy relief must be had
Our financial system needs some revision.
Our money is all good now, hut its value
must not further be threatened 1t should
all be put upon an enduring basis, not sub
Ject to easy attack, nor its stability to doubt
or dispute, Our currency should continue
under the supervision Of the government.
The several forms OF our paper money offer,
IN my Judgment, a constant embarrassment
to the government and to a safe balance in the
treasury. Therefore l believe it necessary to
devise system, which, without diminish
ing the circulating medium OF offering pre-
mium for its contraction, will present a
remedy for those arrangements, which, tenn
porary III their nature, might we'll in the
years OF our prosperity have been displaced
by wiser provisions. With adequate revenue
secured, but not until then, we can enter
upon such changes in our fiscal laws as will,
w IN La lnS rjn .tyT ND To
money, no louger impose upon the govern
ment the necessity OF maintaining so large a
gold reserve, with its attendant and inevit-
able temptations to speculation
Most of our financial laws are the out
growth of experience and trial and should
not be amended without investigation and
demonstration of the wisdom of proposed
changes, We must "be sure We are right
and make haste slowly
Ii, therefore, Congress i'll its wisdom shall
deem it expedient to create a commission to
take under early consideration the revision of
our coinage and currency laws and give them
that exhaustive, careful and dispassonate
examination that their Importance demands
L snail cordially concur III such action. LII
such power is vested in the President, it is
my purpose to appoint commission of
prominent, well informed citizens of differ
ent parties who Will command confidence
both on account of their ability and special
fitness for the work. Business experience
and public training may thus be com bned
and the patriotic zeal of the friends of the
country be so directed that such report
Will be made as to receive the support of all
parties, and our finances cease so be the sub.
Ject OF mere partisan contention. The eX-
pertinent is, at all events worth a trial, and
in my opinion it can but, prove beneficial to
the entire country.
The question of international bimetallism
Will have early and earnest attention. 1t
Will be my constant endeaYOr to secure it by
cooperation with the other great CONNER
ciai powers of the world Until that con.
ditlon is realized, when the parity between
our gold and silver money springs from and
is supported by the relative value of two
metals, the value of the silver already coin
ed ami of that which may hereafter be coin
ed, must he kept constantly at par with gold
by every resource at our command. The
credit OF the government, the Integrity of
IT'S currency and the invlolability of it's
obligations must be preserved. This was
the commenting verdict of the people and it
Will not be unheedeu.
Economy is demanded in every branch of
the government at all times, hut especially
III periods like the present of depression in
business and distress among the people The
seVertst economy must be observed in all
public expenditures, aud extravaganza stop.
ped wherever ii is found, and prevented
wherever in the future it may be developed.
IL the revenues are to remain as now, the
only relief that can come must be from de-
creased expenditures.
But the present must not become the per-
manent condition OF the government.
1t has been our uniform practice to retire,
not increase our outstanding obligations, and
tins poilcy must again be resumed and Wig
orously enforced Our revenues should al
Ways be large enough to meet with ease and
promptness not only our current expenses
and the principal and interest of the public
debt, but to make proper and liberal pro-
VISION for that most deserving body of pub
lie creditors, the soldiers and sailors and the
widows and orphans Who are the pensioners
Of the United States.
The government should not be permitted
to run behind, or increase its debt, in times
like the present. Suitably to provide against
this Is the mandate of duty the certain and
easy remedy for most of our financial difficult
ties. A deficiency is inevitable so long as
the expenditures of the government exceed
its receipts. 1t can only be met by loans or
an increased revenue. While large annual
surplus of revenue may invite waste and ex-
travagance, Inadequate revenue creates dis
trust and undermines public and private
credit. Neither should be encouraged. Be-
tween more loans and more revenue, there
ought to be but one opinion.
We should have more revenue, and that
without delay, hindrance or postponement,
A surplus in the treasury created by loans
Is not permanent or safe reliance. 1t will
suffice while it lasts, but it cannot last long
while the outlays OF the government are
gre ter than its receipts, has been the
case during the past two years. Nor must
it be forgotten that however much such
loans may temporarily relieve the situation,
the government is still indebted for the sur
surplus thus accrued which it must ultimate
ly pay while its ability to pay is not strength
ened, but weakened by continued deficit.
Loans are imperative in great emergencies
to preserve the government or its credit,
but a failure to supply needed revenue in
time of peace for the maintenance of
either has no Justification. The best
way for the government to maintain it's
credit is to pay as it goes-not by resorting g
to loans but by keeping out of dH0t-through
| all adequate income secured by system Of
| taxation, external or internal, or both.
1t is the settled policy of the government
pursued from the beginning and practiced
the bulk of our revenue from taxes upon
foreign products entering the United States
Tor sale and consumption; and avoiding for
the most part every form of direct taxation,
except i'll time OF war. The country is
clearly opposed to any needless additions to
the subjects OF internal taxation and is COM
mitted by its latest popular utterance to the
system of tariff taxation. There can be no
misunderstanding, ,either, about the principle
upon which this tariff taxation shall be lev
led. Nothing has ever been made palmer at a
general election than that the controlling
principle in the raising of revenue from
duties on imports is ZealOuS care for Ameri-