On the record
The national defense must be provided for as well as the support of Government; but both should be accomplished as much as possible by immediate taxes, and as little as possible by loans.
Said by
John Adams
Source
gutenberg.orgJohn Adams: “The national defense must be provided for as well as the support of Government; but both should be accomplished as much…”
Editor's note · Context
Adams advocates for funding national defense through immediate taxes rather than loans.
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Such circumstances call with peculiar importunity not less for a disposition to unite in all those measures on which the honor, safety, and prosperity of our country depend than for all the exertions of wisdom and firmness.
In short, commerce has made this country what it is, and it can not be destroyed or neglected without involving the people in poverty and distress.
A manly sense of national honor, dignity, and independence has appeared which, if encouraged and invigorated by every branch of the Government, will enable us to view undismayed the enterprises of any foreign power and become the sure…
On the contrary, to extend and invigorate them is our true policy.