It Is Not Part Of The Functions

In My Judgment It Is The Duty Of Congress, While Respecting To The Uttermost The Conscientious Convictions And Religious Scruples Of Every Citizen, To Prohibit Within Its Jurisdiction All Criminal Practices ... Nor Can Any Ecclesiastical Organization Be Safely Permitted To Usurp In The Smallest Degree The Functions And Powers Of The National Government.

[i]t Would Be Unjust To Our People And Dangerous To Our Institutions To Apply Any Portion Of Revenues Of The Nation Or Of The States To The Support Of Sectarian Schools.

The Prosperity Which Now Prevails Is Without Parallel In Our History. Fruitful Seasons Have Done Much To Secure It, But They Have Not Done All. The Preservation Of The Public Credit And The Resumption Of Specie Payments, So Successfully Attained By The Administration Of My Predecessors, Have Enabled Our People To Secure The Blessings Which The Seasons Brought.

The Refunding Of The National Debt At A Lower Rate Of Interest Should Be Accomplished Without Compelling The Withdrawal Of The National-bank Notes, And Thus Disturbing The Business Of The Country.

It Is Not Part Of The Functions Of The National Government To Find Employment For People - And If We Were To Appropriate A Hundred Millions For This Purpose, We Should Be Taxing Forty Millions Of People To Keep A Few Thousand Employed.