On the record
To preserve, to improve, and to perpetuate the sources and to direct in their most effective channels the streams which contribute to the public weal is the purpose for which Government was instituted.
Source
gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Adams articulates the fundamental purpose of government as the preservation and improvement of public welfare.
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More from John Quincy Adams
Jan 21, 1828
I now transmit to Congress copies of communications received from the governor of Georgia relating to that subject.
There has, indeed, rarely been a period in the history of civilized man in which the general condition of the Christian nations has been marked so extensively by peace and prosperity.
Mar 14, 1826
It may be that in the lapse of many centuries no other opportunity so favorable will be presented to the Government of the United States to subserve the benevolent purposes of Divine Providence; to dispense the promised blessings of the…
Complaints equally groundless have been made by the commanders of the Spanish royal forces in those seas; but the most effective protection to our commerce has been the flag and the firmness of our own commanding officers.
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