Among The Numerous Advantages Promised By A

Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting An Establishment Of Religion, Or Prohibiting The Free Exercise Thereof.

Is The Appointment Of Chaplains To The Two Houses Of Congress Consistent With The Constitution, And With The Pure Principle Of Religious Freedom? In Strictness The Answer On Both Points Must Be In The Negative. The Constitution Of The U. S. Forbids Everything Like An Establishment Of A National Religion. The Law Appointing Chaplains Establishes A Religious Worship For The National Representatives, To Be Performed By Ministers Of Religion, Elected By A Majority Of Them, And These Are To Be Paid Out Of The National Taxes. Does This Not Involve The Principle Of A National Establishment ... ?

A Just Security To Property Is Not Afforded By That Government, Under Which Unequal Taxes Oppress One Species Of Property And Reward Another Species.

A Distinction Of Property Results From That Very Protection Which A Free Government Gives To Unequal Faculties Of Acquiring It.

That The Foundation Of Our National Policy Should Be Laid In Private Morality. If Individuals Be Not Influenced By Moral Principles, It Is In Vain To Look For Public Virtue; It Is, Therefore, The Duty Of Legislators To Enforce, Both By Precept And Example, The Utility, As Well As The Necessity, Of A Strict Adherence To The Rules Of Distributive Justice.