1869年3月4日，星期四
……
The country having just emerged from a great rebellion，many questions will come before it for settlement in the next four years which preceding Administrations have never had to deal with．In meeting these it is desirable that they should be approached calmly，without prejudice，hate，or sectional pride，remembering that the greatest good to the greatest number is the object to be attained．This requires security of person，property，and free religious and political opinion in every part of our common country，without regard to local prejudice．All laws to secure these ends will receive my best efforts for their enforcement．
这个国家刚刚从一场巨大的动乱中崛起。今后四年，它有许多问题要解决，而这些问题是以往历届政府从未遇到过的，面对这些问题，我们应该冷静对待，不怀偏见，不怀仇恨和地区优越感，随时记住我们的目标是为最大多数人谋最大利益。这就要求全国各地普遍地确保人身、财产的安全，宗教信仰与发表政见的自由，摈弃地域的偏见。我将全力履行旨在实现这些目标的一切法律。
A great debt has been contracted in securing to us and our posterity the Union．The payment of this，principal and interest，as well as the return to a specie basis as soon as it can be accomplished without material detriment to the debtor class or to the country at large，must be provided for．To protect the national honor，every dollar of Government indebtedness should be paid in gold，unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the contract．Let it be understood that no repudiator of one farthing of our public debt will be trusted in public place，and it will go far toward strengthening a credit which ought to be the best in the world，and will ultimately enable us to replace the debt with bonds bearing less interest than we now pay．To this should be added a faithful collection of the revenue，a strict accountability to the Treasury for every dollar collected，and the greatest practicable retrenchment in expenditure in every department of Government．
为了使我们与我们的后代保持联邦制度，国家背负了一笔巨额债务，偿还债款的本金和利息以及恢复硬币制度必须有妥善的安排，必须使债务人和国家不受物质损失，为了维护国家的荣誉，除非债约中另有规定，所有政府公债均应用黄金来偿还。应当明白，即使拒绝偿还公债中的一角钱，也会使政府不为公众所信任。我们必须进一步加强我们的信用制度，它应是世界上最可信赖的，以便能使我们以发行债券来代替借款，而支付较低的利息。为此，我们必须切实征税，财政部对征得的每一美元的使用均应严格核算，并实际地紧缩政府各部门的开支。
When we compare the paying capacity of the country now，with the ten States in poverty from the effects of war，but soon to emerge，I trust，into greater prosperity than ever before，with its paying capacity twenty－five years ago，and calculate what it probably will be twenty－five years hence，who can doubt the feasibility of paying every dollar then with more ease than we now pay for useless luxuries？Why，it looks as though Providence had bestowed upon us a strong box in the precious metals locked up in the sterile mountains of the far West，and which we are now forging the key to unlock，to meet the very contingency that is now upon us．
在衡量国家的偿还能力时，我们看到由于战争的结果，有10个州今天仍处于贫困之中。但我坚信，经济很快就会比过去任何时候都繁荣。把我们现在的偿付能力和25年前相比，并计算25年后的偿付能力，谁还会怀疑那时我们支付每一美元将比我们现在付款购买无益的奢侈品更加容易呢？这是肯定的，上苍赐给了我们一个坚固的金箱，它被深藏在遥远的西部荒山中，而现在我们正在打造一把开启金箱的钥匙，以应付当前的困境。
Ultimately it may be necessary to insure the facilities to reach these riches and it may be necessary also that the General Government should give its aid to secure this access；but that should only be when a dollar of obligation to pay secures precisely the same sort of dollar to use now，and not before．Whilst the question of specie payments is in abeyance the prudent business man is careful about contracting debts payable in the distant future．The nation should follow the same rule．A prostrate commerce is to be rebuilt and all industries encouraged．
总之，为了获得这些宝藏，必须保证必要的手段，同时必须得到联邦政府的帮助。但是，必须保证偿还的每一美元与当前使用的美元等值，而不是以前的价值。以硬币偿付的问题尚未解决，谨慎的商人正小心地处理须经长期偿付的债务，国家也应当遵循这样的原则。我们特重建不景气的商业；振兴所有的工业。