taxes. that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant. that the intrinsic embarrassment from the selection of the proper object which is always a choice of difficulties ought to be a decisive motive for a condit construction of the conduct of business and the measures for obtaining revenue that they may dictate. observe good faith and justice forwards all nations and cultivate peace and harmony. religion and morality enjoy this conduct and could it be good policy does not enjoy it? it will be worthy of a free and enlightened and a great nation. to give to mankind the magnanimous and two novel example of a people always guided by an exalted the justice

and benevolence. in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would repay any temporary advantages that might be lost by a steady adherence to it. can can it be that they have not connected the nation with the virtue? the experiment at least is recommended by every sentiment which ennobled human nature. alas is it rentered impossible by the vices? in the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential that permanent against particular nations and passion at attachment should be exclude and in place of them, just a feeling towards all should be cultivated. the nation which indulges towards another a hatred or ha bitual fondness is in some

degree a slave. a slave to animosity or affection either of which is sufficient to lead it to duty or interest. anti-pathy against another disposes each more readily to offer insult to injury. slight causes and indistractible -- hence frequent collisions and venom and bloody contests, the nation prompt bide ill will and resentment, sometimes em pails towards the government. contrary to the best c calculations of policy. the government participates and adopts through passion what reason would reject. at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility by pride and ambition

and another sinister and personicious motives. sometimes the liberty of nations has been the victim. likewise a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. sympathy for the favorite nation and facilitating the illusion of a common interest in places where no common interest exists and infusing into one the other betrays the former into a participation and the quarrels and wars of the latter with e without adequate inducements or justiveications. it also leads to concessions for the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is doubly to injury the consessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have

been retained and exciting jealously, ill will and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are with held. it gives to am pishs corrupted citizens facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country sometimes even with popularity with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation. a deference for public opinion or a we will have for public good. the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. as avenues to such attachments that are alarming to the truly enlightened patriot. how many opportunities to they afford to tamper with? to practice the arts of is

seduction and mislead public opinion and influence or awe the public councils. such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great or powerful nation dooms the former to be a satellite of the latter. against the insydual whiles of foreign influence, i conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens, the jealous of a free people should be awake since history and experience proves that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. that jealously to be useful must be impartial. or else is becomes the instrument of a very influence to be avoided instead of a defense against it. excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike for another cause those whom they see danger only on one side and serve to vail and even second the arts of influence on

the other. real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and oduous wheel they usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests. the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations to have with them as little political connection as possible. so far as we have formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect faith. here let us stop. europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a remote relation. hence she must be engaged in controversies, the causes of which are foreign to our concerns. hence therefore it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties and the ordinary politics, but the

ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships. our detach and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. if we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injuries from external annoyance and take an attitude as we may at any time resolve upon to be respected. when belligerent nations making acquisitions will not hazard the giving of provocation. when we may choose peace or war as the interest guided by justice shall counsel. why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation and why put on to stand on the foreign ground and interweave the

destiny with any part of europe and entangle in the toil of ambition e rifle ship, interest, humor or caprice? it's our true policy to steer clear of alliance with any portion of the foreign world. so far i mean we are now at liberty to do it. for let me not be misunderstand to existing engagements. i hold the them no likely to private affairs that honesty is always the best policy. i repeat it therefore, let those engagements be disturbed in the genuine sense, but it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a suspectable defensive posture. we may trust a temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

>> harmony and a liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by policy, humanity and interest. even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand neither seeking or granting favor or preferences, consulting the initial course of things, diffusing and diversifying by means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing. establishing with power so disposed in order to give trade a stable course to define the rights of our merchants and enable the government to support them conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and opinion will permit. the temporary and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall tick tate. keeping in view that it is in

one nation to look for disinterested favors from another and must pay with a portion of independence for whatever it shall accept by such acceptance it may place itself in the condition of having given e85 lens for nominal favors and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. there can be no greater error than to exec or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. it is an illusion that experience must cure that adjusts pride ought to discard. in offering to you my country men, these council of an old and affectionate friend, i dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression i can wish, they will control the usual current of the passions or prevent the nation from running the course that hitherred to mark the destiny of nations. if i may flatter myself that

they may be productive of a partial benefit, some occasional good they may now and then infuriate the party spirit to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue and guard against patriotism, this will be for the so lis tud by which they have been dictated. how far in the discharge of my official duties i have been guided by the principals that have been dilynniated the public records and other evidence of my conduct must witness to you and to the worth. to myself the assurance is that i have at least believed myself to be guided by them. in relation to the still subsisting war in europe, my proclamation of the 22nd of april, 1793 is the index to my plan. sanctioned by your approving voice and that was your

representatives in both houses of congress, the spirit of that measure continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. after deliberate examination with the aid of the best lights i could obtain, i was well satisfied our country under all the circumstances of the case had a right to take and was bound in duty and interest to take a neutral position. having taken it, i determined as far as should depend upon me to maintain it with moderation, perseverance and firmness. the considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it's not necessary to detail. i will only observe that according to my understanding of the matter, that right so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers has been virtually admitted by all. the duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred without

anything more. from the obligation that justice and humanity imposed on every nation in cases in which it is free to act to maintain in violent relations towards other nations. the inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. with me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country and settle and mature the yet recent institutions and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency that is necessary to give it humanly speaking the command of its own fortunes. in reviewing, i am unconscious of intentional error and too sensitive of my defects that i may have committed many errors.

whatever they may be, i besieged the al might to mitigate the evils to which they may tend. i shall carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence and after 45 years of my life dedicated to service with an upright we will have, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to o blifian. relying on kindness as in this and other things and the for vent love towards it which is natural to a man who views the native soil to himself and several generations, i anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which i promise myself to realize the sweet enjoyment of partaking in the midst of my fellow citizens the benign influence of good laws under a free government. the ever favorite object of my

heart and the happy reward as i trust of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. george washington, united states 17 september 1796. recently visited many sites in little rock, the capital of arkansas. learn more all weekend long on american history tv. >> douglas mac arthur was arguably one of the most influential military figures in history. you are actually filming in the birth place of douglas mac arthur which was one of the little known facts for a lot of people. mac arthur's father was in the u.s. military following his service in the civil war.

they actually came to little rock arkansas and spent about 18 months serving at the arsenal that existed on the site where the building is located. he brought with him to little rock his wife and two sons and they lived in the apartments that was contained in the structure. in the following january 26th, 1880, douglas was born here and six months after his birth, his father was transferred outside of arkansas and came back to arkansas one time in his life in 1952 when he was 72 years of age. during that visit in 1952 here on the grounds for the first time publicly he acknowledged in the speech to 10,000 people that he was returning to the place of his birth. for us that's a very significant part of our site's history and

building's history and embrace his connection and proudly include him in the name of our museum. 1952 was a very pivotal point in mac arthur's career. that bring us us to this room we are seeing rights now. in april of 1951 after a very lengthy military service that spanned three worldwide conflicts, world war one and corea he was relieved of command by president truman. it's important for us to consider that the korean conflict occurred five years after the end of world war ii. that was a conflict that had spanned all over the globe. millions had died and lives had been affected by it and here we were years later getting into another conflict and for americans a country that most people had no idea where it was. the united nations forces were

led by mac arthur and he disagreed with the way the war was conducted and made his disagreement with the president public and because of that truman decided he was in command and bring him home. >> it was with personal regret i found myself compelled to take this action. general mac arthur is one of the greatest military commanders, but the cause of world peace is much more important than any individual. >> at the time mac arthur was held as a hero. he returned after a lengthy absence and received by praise on the west coast and the east coast. he addressed the session of congress. >> mr. senator, mr. speaker, and distinguished members of the congress, i stand on with a

sense of deep humility and great pride. >> he was as i said welcomed as a hero and truman was scorned. the issues that have been examined since that time, i think even transcending the korean war and the issue of civilian control of the military. the issue of the containment communism and an overlooked issue, the issue of the conduct of a limited war versus the conduct of a total war. i think really that is the crux of what mcarthur's dilemma was in fighting. if you look at the way wars were fought from world war ii prior to that time, the basic philosophy was simply this. the politicians to get us into a war is in the military figures

in to fight the war. the objective is to destroy your enemy and the politicians negotiate peace, and then you try to return to normal. and that's what happened in most of the wars through world war ii. but the advent of nuclear weaponry totally changed the way warfare could be conducted. because if you went into a conflict with a goal of totally annihilating your enemy with use of nuclear bombs, you would not only destroy them, you could also destroy yourself and our entire population. so the way wars were traditionally fought was changing, was evolving. and for someone like mcarthur, who in 1950, he was 70 years old. and you have to understand that mcarthur had been trained in the military tactics of west point in the early 1900s. and the tactics worked in world

war i. they worked in world war ii. but with korea he was having to work on constraints that went against how he had been trained. but the realities dictated that he could not totally go against and throw everything you have, all your ars nel of weapons against your enemy. you have to credit mcarthur in believing in his principles. he had been taught all his life from his father through his military service that you oe bay your commander in chief. many would feel he did so because he felt like his point was so right that he was willing to sack fis his career, which he ultimately did. and the war continued on until the conclusion a few years

later. there are people who would argue had mcarthur been allowed to pursue the war as aggressively as he wished, that we would not see the political influences that are there today between north and south korea. you have to remember, was this country, was the world ready to go into another potentially worldwide conflict over north and south korea? >> since i took the oath on the plain at west point and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished. i still remember the refrain of one of the most popular ballots

of that day, which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die. they just fade away. and like the old soldier of that ballot, i now close my military career and just fade away. an old soldier who tried to do his duty as god gave him the light to see that duty. good-bye. >> all weekend long american history tv is featuring little rock, arkansas. little more about little rock and find out where c-span's local content vehicles are going next online at

c-span.org/localcontent. you're watching american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span 3. >> this monday watch american history tv in prime time on c-span 3 with a look at the 34th president, dwight david eisenhower. at 8:00 p.m., frank gary on his design for the memorial. following that is the president's granddaughter, susan eisenhower, expressing her opposition to the gehry designed memorial. and then an a film produced by the u.s. army. between 1861 and 1868, clara barton, known as the angel of the battlefield and founder of the american red cross lived in this washington, d.c. building. she employed 12 clerks on the third floor in her missing soldiers office where they received over 60,000 letters

from families searching for lost sons and husbands. a carpenter for the general services administration was helping to prepare the building for demolition when he discovered this office signed in the attic. american history tv visited the building to learn about the missing soldier's office and to hear the story of richard lyons, who worked alone for months to save the building from demolition. >> this is the original staircase that was never renovated or changed much as all. just a few repairs done it. when you walk up the staircase and put your hand on the banister, you're walking in clara barton's footsteps. she did this for about eight years during the civil war era and just after when she operated a missing soldier's office in space. and eventually she ended up leaving because her health

became so poor and she was so exhausted from the work she had done during the war that she couldn't find these sets of stairs anymore. she moved out late in december of 186. that's pretty much when she closed down her operations here in washington. clara had five of these produced during the war. sent out almost 100,000 kpop pis. we only know of a handful in existence today. one of my ideas is to find a copy of each role, one through five, so we can show people exactly all the names and exactly what kind of work she was doing during that period of time. she started out in one room. i read an account from a family

member who said she had one room, she divided the room in half because she started to collect supplies for soldiers and she needed so much space that she put the wall up in the background. half was for supplies. the other half for a living space. that's when edward shah moved out of the building. he left this building and moved in some smaller space. i'm not sure where yet. he's an intriguing personality that we're researching to find out what his role was, his relationship with clara barton.

>> i work for the general service administration as a carpenter. in 1996 they sent us out to the buildings that they acquired from the pennsylvania avenue development corporation to clean them up, make sure nobody was living in them. it was the day before thanksgiving. in '96. i made my way up the steps. i got in here. no lights. no nothing. i came over here and looked around. and nothing was here. so i happened to witness, you don't usually witness one. but i witnessed an accident. i'm standing here watching to see what happens. i felt like somebody staped me on the shoulder.

i turned around and wasn't nobody there. when i turned back around, i turned around like this, and the corner of my eye i seen an envelope hanging between the ceiling and the wall. it was all levelled off and everything. on my hands and knees. i pick it up and move it out of the way. and when i turned it over, it's got missing soldiers office. third story, room night. miss clara barton.