should be kept.

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.

I venture to refer to the position I have occupied on financial
questions during a long service in Congress, and to say that time and
experience have strengthened the opinions I have so often expressed on
these subjects.

The finances of the Government shall suffer no detriment which it may be
possible for my Administration to prevent.

The interests of agriculture deserve more attention from the Government
than they have yet received. The farms of the United States afford homes
and employment for more than one-half our people, and furnish much the
largest part of all our exports. As the Government lights our coasts for
the protection of mariners and the benefit of commerce, so it should
give to the tillers of the soil the best lights of practical science and
experience.

Our manufactures are rapidly making us industrially independent, and are
opening to capital and labor new and profitable fields of employment.
Their steady and healthy growth should still be matured. Our facilities
for transportation should be promoted by the continued improvement of
our harbors and great interior waterways and by the increase of our
tonnage on the ocean.

The development of the world's commerce has led to an urgent demand for