Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1870-01-28

ernoT, and directs that be shall take care
that the laws be faithfully executed. The
supreme earthly authority recognized BY Us,
therefore, is the law-the rightfully deter
mined viii Of the people. NO citizen is so
exalted as to be above, and none so low as
to be beneath its power The Executive is
as much the subject Of the laws Of the State
as the humblest individual within its bor-
ders In pursuance of these principles, and
10 the execution Of the laws, have endeav-
ored during my term ofofice, faithfully to
discharge every official duty with full
reference to my sworn obligation, and as /
shall answer at the last great day.
II should be our earnest effort to faith
fully discharge all our obligations and re-
sponsjbilities, both as citizens and magis-
trates, We should cease to tolerate any
thing as politically right that is morally
wrong, and actively prescribe the oorrup
ton which TOO frequently marks the admin
istraton Of public aifairs--an evil to which
attention cannot too frequently or too for
cibly be invited. No sign more certainly
indicates the downfall of free institutions
than the Indifference of the people TO the
moral depravity Of those in authority. All
history warns us to hold to our integrity as
we value our national existence, ForcibIy
impressed with these ideas, call upon all
legislators, and upon all other good citizens.
aud especially upon the conductors of the
public press-the ever faithful sentiments
Of free people--to aid in giving that tone
to public sentiment which shall purify our
State, and relieve her from the reproaeh Of
even eountenancing those who would make
traffic Of their Offices in violation Of their
obligations, Look to il we'll and closely,
fellow citizens, and begin at once to teach
your servants that the public will'' must
be obeyed, and the public veal is the
FIRST object TO be attained in a free govern
ment. Ifyou permit spectators 70 enrich
themselves out of the public Treasury, and
at the same time to corrupt the Law making
branch of the government, you pave the
way to anarchy, you set the example which
tempts to crime, and offer to the world an
evidence, most conclusive, that self govern
ment is failure
Owing to the many efforts made ON the
part Of the free traders for the aboishment
of the natural and wholesome protection
now afforded to our home industry and to
labor, I consider it subject which claims
a portion Of our title and attention. -four
national industry aud natural productions,
represented by thousands Of factories, mines
and other sources of labor, are to be pre-
served, there should be no reduction Of du-
ties which shall enable the underpaid and
overworked population Of the Old World to
flood our States with the products Of their
mines and workshops at the cost of our de-
struction The articles thus admitted would
undersel the products of our artizlns at our
very doors, and our factories would be clos
ed, as heretofore, by similar causes. This
viii throw out of employment thousands of
industrious men, and entail ruin upon them
and their families, merely for the benefit
and aggrandizement Of foreign manufac-
tureTs and capitalists As soon as our in
dustrial arms are paralyzed and competition
Is destroyed, the monopolist can command
his own price, and it is thus clear that the
policy Of free trade can never permanently
benefit any country that will sanction its
adoption. ImpeIed by every feeling of in
terest, humanity and justice for our arti
zans and laborsrs, we should unhesitatiugly
set cur faces against this heresy We
should, therefore, not only earnestly legis-
late for the benefit Of capital, but for the
toiIing sons and daughters of our country.
It should be our constant effort to improve
tteir social condition, to advance their intel
lectua status, and above all to shield them
from the deslitutions which is threatened
BY the enemies of protection to our industri
al pursuits.
In my several messages to the Legislature
have taken occasion to refer to a subject
which | regard as Of paramount importance
to the prosperity and even the stability of
our government. No nation can long exist
that attempts to violate any of its obliga
tons The most prominent among these is
the faithful payment of all its Indebtedness
No good reason can be given for the repudi
alton Of a single farthing | said in my
message of January, 1868, TIE people of
Pennsylvania, ever true to the Union, and
answering in their determination to pre-
serve its honor, integrity and perpeyuisy, are
proud and free to assert the saersdness Of
the national debt, and that its ultimate pay
ment in full must be secured In my mes
/ sage of 1869, / called attention to the same
subject, in these words The voice Of
Pennsylvania, as well as that of majority
Of the States, has at the ballot box pro-
claimed to the world that all our national
/ indebtedness, 10 matter how heavy the
4 burden, will be paid according to the letter
and spirit of the agreements made aud en-
tered iuto at the time the debt was contract
4 ed and that 10 this, as IN all other respects,
our individual and national honor must aud
shall be preserved These sentiments, 50
clearly expressed, have taken frequent oc-
casion to reiterate aud it affords ne great
satisfaction to observe that many who have
heretofore been hostile to, or silent on this
most important subject, are becoming warm
in their advocacy of the principles here e.
inundated
I Those who saved this government from
the destruction designed BY treason, are they
who viii perpetuate it as a blessing for fu
ture generations. All that is asked of the
people is to strengthen and uphold thc
hands of the men who have been called t
DO the work Of reconstruction, and wher
that work IS finished in the spirit in which
it has been begun by the present Nationa
Administration, we will have governmen
and country mighty in their munifoenee
glorious 10 their prosperity.