Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. VIII.: James A. Garfield | Page 7

national interest."
The Constitution guarantees absolute religious freedom. Congress is
prohibited from making any law respecting an establishment of religion
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The Territories of the United
States are subject to the direct legislative authority of Congress, and
hence the General Government is responsible for any violation of the
Constitution in any of them. It is therefore a reproach to the
Government that in the most populous of the Territories the
constitutional guaranty is not enjoyed by the people and the authority
of Congress is set at naught. The Mormon Church not only offends the

moral sense of manhood by sanctioning polygamy, but prevents the
administration of justice through ordinary instrumentalities of law.
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,
especially of that class which destroy the family relations and endanger
social order. Nor can any ecclesiastical organization be safely permitted
to usurp in the smallest degree the functions and powers of the National
Government.
The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory basis until it is
regulated by law. For the good of the service itself, for the protection of
those who are intrusted with the appointing power against the waste of
time and obstruction to the public business caused by the inordinate
pressure for place, and for the protection of incumbents against intrigue
and wrong, I shall at the proper time ask Congress to fix the tenure of
the minor offices of the several Executive Departments and prescribe
the grounds upon which removals shall be made during the terms for
which incumbents have been appointed.
Finally, acting always within the authority and limitations of the
Constitution, invading neither the rights of the States nor the reserved
rights of the people, it will be the purpose of my Administration to
maintain the authority of the nation in all places within its jurisdiction;
to enforce obedience to all the laws of the Union in the interests of the
people; to demand rigid economy in all the expenditures of the
Government, and to require the honest and faithful service of all
executive officers, remembering that the offices were created, not for
the benefit of incumbents or their supporters, but for the service of the
Government.
And now, fellow-citizens, I am about to assume the great trust which
you have committed to my hands. I appeal to you for that earnest and
thoughtful support which makes this Government in fact, as it is in law,
a government of the people.
I shall greatly rely upon the wisdom and patriotism of Congress and of
those who may share with me the responsibilities and duties of
administration, and, above all, upon our efforts to promote the welfare
of this great people and their Government I reverently invoke the
support and blessings of Almighty God.

March 4, 1881.

SPECIAL MESSAGES.
Executive Mansion, _Washington, April 6, 1881. To the Senate of the
United States:_
I transmit herewith in response to the resolution of the Senate of the
18th ultimo, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying
papers, in relation to the capitulations of the Ottoman Empire.
JAMES A. GARFIELD
Executive Mansion, _Washington, May 20, 1881. To the Senate of the
United States:_
I transmit herewith a report of the Secretary of State, with
accompanying papers, submitted in response to the Senate resolution of
the 12th ultimo, touching the case of Michael P. Boyton.[A]
JAMES A. GARFIELD
[Footnote A: Arrested and imprisoned by authorities of Great Britain.]

EXECUTIVE ORDER.
Executive Mansion, _Washington, May 28, 1881._
Dear Sir:[A] I am directed by the President to inform you that the
several Departments of the Government will be closed on Monday, the
30th instant, to enable the employees to participate in the decoration of
the graves of the soldiers who fell during the rebellion.
Very respectfully,
J. STANLEY BROWN, Private Secretary.
[Footnote A: Addressed to the heads of the Executive Departments,
etc.]

DEATH OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ASSASSINATION TO
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES ABROAD.
[From the Washington Post, July 3, 1881.]
Department of State, _Washington, July 2, 1881._
James Russell Lowell, _Minister, etc., London:_
The President of the United States was shot this morning by an assassin
named Charles Guiteau. The weapon was a large-sized revolver. The

President had just reached the Baltimore and Potomac station, at about
9.20, intending, with a portion of his Cabinet, to leave on the limited
express for New York. I rode in the carriage with him from the
Executive Mansion and was walking by his side when he was shot. The
assassin was immediately arrested, and the President was conveyed to a
private room in the station building and