If the appropriations made by Congress shall not
exceed the amount estimated, the means in the Treasury will be
sufficient to defray all the expenses of the Government, to pay off the
next installment of $3,000,000 to Mexico, which will fall due on the
30th of May next, and still a considerable surplus will remain, which
should be applied to the further purchase of the public stock and
reduction of the debt. Should enlarged appropriations be made, the
necessary consequence will be to postpone the payment of the debt.
Though our debt, as compared with that of most other nations, is small,
it is our true policy, and in harmony with the genius of our
institutions, that we should present to the world the rare spectacle of
a great Republic, possessing vast resources and wealth, wholly exempt
from public indebtedness. This would add still more to our strength,
and give to us a still more commanding position among the nations of
the earth.
The public expenditures should be economical, and be confined to such
necessary objects as are clearly within the powers of Congress.
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