I Cannot Find Any Authority In The

In Expressing Briefly My Views Upon An Important Subject Which Has Recently Agitated The Nation..., I Fervently Hope That The Question Is At Rest And That No Sectional Or Ambitious Or Fanatical Excitement May Again Threaten The Durability Of Our Institutions.

With The Union My Best And Dearest Earthly Hopes Are Entwined.

Frequently The More Trifling The Subject, The More Animated And Protracted The Discussion.

The Constitutionality And Propriety Of The Federal Government Assuming To Enter Into A Novel And Vast Field Of Legislation, Namely, That Of Providing For The Care And Support Of All Those ... Who By Any Form Of Calamity Become Fit Objects Of Public Philanthropy. ... I Cannot Find Any Authority In The Constitution For Making The Federal Government The Great Almoner Of Public Charity Throughout The United States. To Do So Would, In My Judgment, Be Contrary To The Letter And Spirit Of The Constitution And Subversive Of The Whole Theory Upon Which The Union Of These States Is Founded.

I Never Justify, Sustain, Or In Any Way Or To Any Extent Uphold This Cruel, Heartless, Aimless Unnecessary War.