The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1865-12-14
9oIdiitaI.
Inaugural Address of Gov. Orr.
.r Al, O..,+o

and House Of Representatives
The Constitution Of South Carolina re
quires that the oath of Office of the Gov
ernor shall be taken in your presence
and immcmorial usage requires him tc
make, on such occasion, q brief cxposi
ton of the principles which will contro
his administration.
The high honor conferred on me by a
majority of my fcllow-citizcus, in choos
ing me their first Governor under the
new Constitution, and the oventfui peri.
cd in the States history when the selec-
tion is made, fills me with sense of the
profoundcst gratitude. I approach its
grave duties and responsibilities with the
deepest humility, and with q sincere dis
trust of my capacity to discharge them
in such manner as TO satisfy tho rcasona-
BILE expectation of the State.
Under these circumstances, can ven
turc with safety to make at least one
pledge to the people Of this ancient Com
monwealth: that all the zeal and energy
of my nature, during my official term,
shall be earnestly and constantly devoted
60 their scrrice. With the uniform prac-
ticc of that partiality which caused them
to elevate me 10 this great Office, trust
they will exercise generous confidence
in all the acts of my administration. al
ways eiving me full credit for just and
patriotic motives.
The State is now just entering upon q
new and untried career, where there is
much 10 hope for and not little to fear.
All of our old landmarks in politics have
been swept off by the fires of war Our
social and industrial systems have per-
fshc5l from the same unrolenting and un-
pitying cause Some of our most distin-
eaishcd citizens, and many of our most
promising young men, have fallen mar
tyrs to the ancient principles of South
Carolina. Grief over the bicrs of the
loved ones has filed every household,
and the tears of the widow ard the Or
phan have bedcwcd every hcarthstone.
And yet, amid the general wreck in all
tho relations of life, it would be unmanly
to despond. The highest courage and
the stcrncst iortitudo is demanded when
ever the heaviest calamitics overtakc and
threaten 10 cngulph us.
The people of South Carolina seeded
from tho Federal Union under an earnest
and honest conviction that they had the
constitutional right SO to do; and they
were equally earnest and honest in the
conviction that their interest and the Sc
eurity of very large property in slaves
required them to resort to this extreme
measure. .Othor States united with her
to set up q new Government. The Ex-
ecutivo, the Legislative, and the judicial
Departments of the United States Gov
ernment all denied the right which wo
had asserted, and war ensued. All par
ties knew that slavery was the real foun-
dation of tho collision between the sec
tions. The South engaged in it to pre-
servo and pcrpctuate it; tho North to
destroy it. -Four years Of bloody, desc
lating war was spent in settling tho issue,
which had been committed to the arbi-
trament of tho sword, and that High
Tribunal from which there is no earthly
anpcal decided the cause against us. 1t
was q final, irrcvcrsiblc decree We were
exhausted, our armies surrendered, our
last available recruit had been sent to the
front, and our resources were all con-
sumcd. We succumbcd to the power Of
the United States, and under tho wise
and magnanimous policy of President
Johnson we will, hope and believe: very
soon be restored to all our personal and
political rights in the Federal Union, on
terms of pcrfsc5 equality with all the
States of that powerful sistcrhood.
The war has decided, first: That emo
or more of the States OF tho Federal
Union have not the right, at will, to So
code tberefrom. The doctrine of scces-
sion. which was held to bc orthodox in
the State Rights school of politics, is
uow exploded for any practical purpose
gBo. theory of absolute sovereignty Of a
Ratio Of tss Federal Union Grom whence
wess .derisea, tho right to scccdc) which
wsssihalicud! almost universally to be q
sounc:, constitutional construction, must
alsu5esoiatcrially modified to conform .tc