To the People of the United States 致美国人民
FELLOW-CITIZENS: Before my arrival at the seat of Government the painful communication was made to you by the officers presiding over the several Departments of the deeply regretted death of William Henry Harrison, late President of the United States. 同胞们：在我抵达政府所在地之前，各部门负责人已经把令人痛惜的消息告知你们：美国前总统威廉·亨利·哈里森不幸逝世。
Upon him you had conferred your suffrages for the first office in your gift, and had selected him as your chosen instrument to correct and reform all such errors and abuses as had manifested themselves from time to time in the practical operation of the Government. 你们曾投票推举他担任人民所能授予的最高职务，选定他作为你们信赖的人，去纠正和改革政府实际运作中不时显露的种种错误与弊端。
While standing at the threshold of this great work he has by the dispensation of an all-wise Providence been removed from amongst us, and by the provisions of the Constitution the efforts to be directed to the accomplishing of this vitally important task have devolved upon myself. 就在他站到这项伟大事业的门槛上时，全知的天意却使他离开了我们；依照宪法规定，完成这一至关重要任务的责任便落到了我的肩上。
This same occurrence has subjected the wisdom and sufficiency of our institutions to a new test. 同一事件也使我们制度的智慧与完备性经受了一场新的考验。
For the first time in our history the person elected to the Vice-Presidency of the United States, by the happening of a contingency provided for in the Constitution, has had devolved upon him the Presidential office. 我国历史上第一次出现这样的情况：当宪法所规定的特定情形发生后，当选美国副总统的人承接了总统职务。
The spirit of faction, which is directly opposed to the spirit of a lofty patriotism, may find in this occasion for assaults upon my Administration; and in succeeding, under circumstances so sudden and unexpected and to responsibilities so greatly augmented, to the administration of public affairs I shall place in the intelligence and patriotism of the people my only sure reliance. 党争精神与崇高的爱国精神截然相反，可能借此机会攻击我的政府；而我在如此突然、意外的情形下接掌公共事务，责任又骤然加重，因此只能把人民的才智与爱国心作为自己唯一可靠的依靠。
My earnest prayer shall be constantly addressed to the all-wise and all-powerful Being who made me, and by whose dispensation I am called to the high office of President of this Confederacy, understandingly to carry out the principles of that Constitution which I have sworn "to protect, preserve, and defend." 我将不断向创造我的全知全能者虔诚祈祷；正是依照他的安排，我受命担任这个联邦的总统，从而能够明智地践行我已宣誓“保护、维护并捍卫”的那部宪法的原则。
The usual opportunity which is afforded to a Chief Magistrate upon his induction to office of presenting to his countrymen an exposition of the policy which would guide his Administration, in the form of an inaugural address, not having, under the peculiar circumstances which have brought me to the discharge of the high duties of President of the United States, been afforded to me, a brief exposition of the principles which will govern me in the general course of my administration of public affairs would seem to be due as well to myself as to you. 在行政首脑就职时，他通常有机会以就职演说的形式，向同胞阐明指导其政府的政策；然而，由于促使我承担美国总统崇高职责的特殊情势，我未能获得这样的机会。因此，无论对我自己还是对你们，我似乎都有责任简要说明在处理公共事务的总体过程中将支配我行动的原则。
In regard to foreign nations, the groundwork of my policy will be justice on our part to all, submitting to injustice from none. 对外关系方面，我的政策基础是：对所有国家，我方以正义相待；对任何国家的不义，我们都不屈从。
While I shall sedulously cultivate the relations of peace and amity with one and all, it will be my most imperative duty to see that the honor of the country shall sustain no blemish. 我将孜孜不倦地同各国培育和平友好关系，同时也负有最迫切的责任，确保国家荣誉不受任何玷污。
With a view to this, the condition of our military defenses will become a matter of anxious solicitude. 为此，我国军事防御状况将成为我深切关注的问题。
The Army, which has in other days covered itself with renown, and the Navy, not inappropriately termed the right arm of the public defense, which has spread a light of glory over the American standard in all the waters of the earth, should be rendered replete with efficiency. 陆军往昔曾赢得赫赫声名；海军被恰当地称为公共防御的右臂，曾使美国旗帜的荣光照耀世界各处海域。两者都应具备充分的战斗效能。
In view of the fact, well avouched by history, that the tendency of all human institutions is to concentrate power in the hands of a single man, and that their ultimate downfall has proceeded from this cause, I deem it of the most essential importance that a complete separation should take place between the sword and the purse. 历史充分证明，一切人为制度都有把权力集中到一人手中的倾向，而它们最终的覆灭也往往源于此。因此，我认为，让军权与财权彻底分离至关重要。
No matter where or how the public moneys shall be deposited, so long as the President can exert the power of appointing and removing at his pleasure the agents selected for their custody the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy is in fact the treasurer. 无论公款存放在何处、采用何种方式，只要总统能够随意任免负责保管公款的人员，那么陆海军总司令实际上也就是国库主管。
A permanent and radical change should therefore be decreed. 因此，应当作出永久而彻底的改变。
The patronage incident to the Presidential office, already great, is constantly increasing. 总统职位所附带的任官权力本已十分庞大，而且仍在不断增长。
Such increase is destined to keep pace with the growth of our population, until, without a figure of speech, an army of officeholders may be spread over the land. 这种增长注定会与我国人口增长同步，直至遍布全国的官员真的形成一支大军，而不再只是修辞上的比喻。
The unrestrained power exerted by a selfishly ambitious man in order either to perpetuate his authority or to hand it over to some favorite as his successor may lead to the employment of all the means within his control to accomplish his object. 一个自私而野心勃勃的人若不受约束地行使权力，为了延续自己的权势，或把权力交给属意的继承人，可能动用其掌控的一切手段来达到目的。
The right to remove from office, while subjected to no just restraint, is inevitably destined to produce a spirit of crouching servility with the official corps, which, in order to uphold the hand which feeds them, would lead to direct and active interference in the elections, both State and Federal, thereby subjecting the course of State legislation to the dictation of the chief executive officer and making the will of that officer absolute and supreme. 罢免官员的权力若不受合理约束，官僚群体便必然滋生卑躬屈膝的奴性。为了扶持供养他们的权力之手，他们会直接、积极地干预州和联邦选举，使各州立法受行政首脑支配，并让此人的意志变得绝对而至高无上。
I will at a proper time invoke the action of Congress upon this subject, and shall readily acquiesce in the adoption of all proper measures which are calculated to arrest these evils, so full of danger in their tendency. 我将在适当时机请求国会就此采取行动，并欣然接受一切有助于遏止这些危险弊端的适当措施。
I will remove no incumbent from office who has faithfully and honestly acquitted himself of the duties of his office, except in such cases where such officer has been guilty of an active partisanship or by secret means--the less manly, and therefore the more objectionable has given his official influence to the purposes of party, thereby bringing the patronage of the Government in conflict with the freedom of elections. 凡忠实、诚实履行职务的在任官员，我都不会罢免；但若有人积极从事党派活动，或以隐秘手段把职务影响力用于党派目的，使政府任官权与选举自由发生冲突，则不在此列，因为这种手段更不光明，也就更应受到反对。
Numerous removals may become necessary under this rule. 按照这项原则，可能有许多官员必须撤换。
These will be made by me through no acerbity of feeling--I have had no cause to cherish or indulge unkind feelings toward any--but my conduct will be regulated by a profound sense of what is due to the country and its institutions; nor shall I neglect to apply the same unbending rule to those of my own appointment. 我作出这些撤换绝非出于怨愤，因为我没有理由对任何人心怀或放任恶意；我的行动将以对国家及其制度所负责任的深刻认识为准则，对我亲自任命的人也同样严格，绝不姑息。
Freedom of opinion will be tolerated, the full enjoyment of the right of suffrage will be maintained as the birthright of every American citizen; but I say emphatically to the official corps, "Thus far and no farther." 意见自由将得到容许，充分行使选举权将作为每一位美国公民与生俱来的权利而得到维护；但我要明确告诫官僚群体：“到此为止，不得越界。”
I have dwelt the longer upon this subject because removals from office are likely often to arise, and I would have my countrymen to understand the principle of the Executive action. 我之所以对这个问题多加论述，是因为撤换官员的情形可能经常出现，而我希望同胞们理解行政部门采取行动所遵循的原则。
In all public expenditures the most rigid economy should be resorted to, and, as one of its results, a public debt in time of peace be sedulously avoided. 一切公共支出都应实行最严格的节约，由此还应审慎避免在和平时期背负公债。
A wise and patriotic constituency will never object to the imposition of necessary burdens for useful ends, and true wisdom dictates the resort to such means in order to supply deficiencies in the revenue, rather than to those doubtful expedients which, ultimating in a public debt, serve to embarrass the resources of the country and to lessen its ability to meet any great emergency which may arise. 明智而爱国的选民绝不会反对为有益目标承担必要负担；真正的智慧要求我们采用这种方式弥补财政收入不足，而不是诉诸那些最终形成公债、妨碍国家资源并削弱国家应对重大危机能力的可疑权宜之计。
All sinecures should be abolished. 一切有名无实的闲职都应废除。
The appropriations should be direct and explicit, so as to leave as limited a share of discretion to the disbursing agents as may be found compatible with the public service. 拨款应当直接而明确，在公共服务所允许的范围内，把拨款执行人员的自由裁量限制到最低程度。
A strict responsibility on the part of all the agents of the Government should be maintained and peculation or defalcation visited with immediate expulsion from office and the most condign punishment. 政府所有工作人员都应承担严格责任；凡侵吞公款或造成亏空者，都应立即革职，并受到最严厉的惩罚。
The public interest also demands that if any war has existed between the Government and the currency it shall cease. 公共利益还要求，政府与货币之间如果曾经存在任何冲突，现在都应停止。
Measures of a financial character now having the sanction of legal enactment shall be faithfully enforced until repealed by the legislative authority. 现已获得法律认可的财政措施，在立法机关废止之前都应得到忠实执行。
But I owe it to myself to declare that I regard existing enactments as unwise and impolitic and in a high degree oppressive. 但我必须坦率声明，我认为现行法令既不明智，也不妥当，而且具有严重的压迫性。
I shall promptly give my sanction to any constitutional measure which, originating in Congress, shall have for its object the restoration of a sound circulating medium, so essentially necessary to give confidence in all the transactions of life, to secure to industry its just and adequate rewards, and to reestablish the public prosperity. 凡由国会提出、旨在恢复健全流通货币且符合宪法的措施，我都会迅速批准；这种货币对于建立日常交易的信心、保证劳动获得公正而充分的回报，以及恢复公共繁荣都至关重要。
In deciding upon the adaptation of any such measure to the end proposed, as well as its conformity to the Constitution, I shall resort to the fathers of the great republican school for advice and instruction, to be drawn from their sage views of our system of government and the light of their ever-glorious example. 在判断任何此类措施是否适合实现既定目标、是否符合宪法时，我将向伟大共和学派的先贤求取教诲，从他们对我国政体的睿智见解和永远光辉的榜样中获得指引。
The institutions under which we live, my countrymen, secure each person in the perfect enjoyment of all his rights. 同胞们，我们赖以生活的制度保障每个人充分行使自己的一切权利。
The spectacle is exhibited to the world of a government deriving its powers from the consent of the governed and having imparted to it only so much power as is necessary for its successful operation. 它向世界展示了这样一种政府：权力来自被治理者的同意，所获授权也仅限于保证政府有效运作所必需的程度。
Those who are charged with its administration should carefully abstain from all attempts to enlarge the range of powers thus granted to the several departments of the Government other than by an appeal to the people for additional grants, lest by so doing they disturb that balance which the patriots and statesmen who framed the Constitution designed to establish between the Federal Government and the States composing the Union. 受托管理政府的人必须谨慎克制，不得试图扩大人民赋予政府各部门的权力范围，除非请求人民追加授权；否则，他们就会破坏宪法制定者原本要在联邦政府与组成联邦的各州之间建立的平衡。
The observance of these rules is enjoined upon us by that feeling of reverence and affection which finds a place in the heart of every patriot for the preservation of union and the blessings of union--for the good of our children and our children' s children through countless generations. 每一位爱国者心中都怀有敬重与热爱之情，珍视联邦及其带来的福祉，为我们的子孙和世世代代谋福；这种情感要求我们遵守上述准则。
An opposite course could not fail to generate factions intent upon the gratification of their selfish ends, to give birth to local and sectional jealousies, and to ultimate either in breaking asunder the bonds of union or in building up a central system which would inevitably end in a bloody scepter and an iron crown. 相反的做法必然滋生只求满足私利的派系，引发地方与区域间的猜忌，最终不是割断联邦纽带，就是建立一个以血腥权杖和铁王冠收场的中央集权体制。
In conclusion I beg you to be assured that I shall exert myself to carry the foregoing principles into practice during my administration of the Government, and, confiding in the protecting care of an everwatchful and overruling Providence, it shall be my first and highest duty to preserve unimpaired the free institutions under which we live and transmit them to those who shall succeed me in their full force and vigor. 最后，请相信我将在任内竭尽全力把上述原则付诸实践。我信赖永远警醒、主宰万事的天意所给予的保护；我首要而崇高的职责，是完整维护我们赖以生活的自由制度，并以其全部力量与活力传给后人。