Evening journal., 1907-11-13
PRESIDENT
OPPOSES MOTTO
"In God We Trust" Will Not
be on Coins if Roosevelt
Can Prevent II
SETS FORTH Ills REASONS
IN A CIRCULAR LETTER
By THE JOURNALS special wire.

BY THE JOURNALS Special Wire
WASHINGTON. Nov. BIN Goa
We Trust" win not be upon any
United states coins designed I'm tho
future, n the President can prevent
the use Of that motto lie has writ
ten vigorous letter ON the subject
copies Of which are now being mailed
to am correspondents who have scnr
him protests on The absence OF tho
words on the new gold pieces IN
order 10 make his position on the sub
icct perfectly plain 90 AN the people.
Secretary Loeb to-day gave ouf copies
of the letter. which is IN part. as !ol-
lows;
Dear Sir When the question Of
the new coinAge came up we looked
into the law and found there was no
warrant therein for putting "ln Cod
We Trust on the coins. As the
custom. although without legal war
rant had grown up. however, J might
have felt at liberty 90 keep the in-
scriptlon had I approved of its being
on the coinage. But as ] did not ap-
prove of il 1 old not direct that it
should again De put cn.
Ny own feeling is due 90 my very
firm conviction That to put such "a
motto on coins, or go use 10 ln amy
Kindred manner not only does no good
but does positive harm and in oncct
irrcvtrcncc which comes dangerously
Gloss 20 sacrilecc. A beautiful ana
solemn sentence. such ass the one in
question. should De treated and uttor-
ga only with that fine reverence which
necessarily implies certain cNalta-
tion of spirit. ANY use which tends
90 choapen and, above an, any use
which tends 20 secure iis being treated
ga spirit of levity IS from every
standpoint profoundly 90 be regretted.
10 is a motto which it is indeed well
to have Inscribed ON our great national
monuments in our temples OF justice.
in our legislative halls. and IN build
ings such as those ut West Point and
AnnapolIs-ln short. wherever it will
tend TO arouse and inspire a lofty DO
yotion TO chcapen such a.motto by
use on coins. Is just as IL would be to
cheapcn it by use on postage stamps
or in advertisements
In all my life ] have never heard
amy human being speak rcvcrcntly OF
this motto ON the coins or show any
sign of its having appealed tp aH
! emotion In him. But I have literally
hundreds of times heard It used as am
occasion of, and ncitement TO. the
I snooring ridiculc which &C. is above an
things undesirable that SO beautiful
and exalted a phrase should excite
For example. throughout the long con.
/ test. oXtesding over several decades
on the free coinage question. the exist
euce of this motto on the coins was q
/ constant source Of jest and ridicul'
ana this was unavoidable Everyone
! must remember the iunumorable car.
toons and articles based on phrases
like I'm God We Trust for the other
eight cents" I'm God We Trust for the
short weight" I'm God We Trust foI
the thlrtv-seven cents we do not pay;
and SO forth ana SO forth.
/ Surely / ann well within bounds WHOM
1 ] say that the use OF the phrase which
| invites constant levitv Of this type 8.
most undesirable. III Congress alte'
the law and directs me 20 replace on
/ the coins the sentence in question. the
| direction win be Immediately put into
effect but I trust that the religious
sentiment Of the country. the spirit OF
/ reverence I'm the country viii prevent
any such action being taken.
Sincerely yours,
Theodore Roosevelt