The New York herald., 1877-03-06
The inaugural Address.

| WHICH IL cOUiu DC improved, eitneI III SuS
stance or temper. 1t may be said that
promises are cheap and performance diff
cult; but, however true this may be as o
! general rule, we can see no good reason for
distrusting the new Presidents ability to
fulfil the engagements which he has volun-
teered to make. Indeed, he will find it
| easier to keep his excellent promises than
| to break them. They reflect the just
! sentiment and deliberate wishes OF
majority Of the American people OF both
political parties. and President who pro-
claims his purpose to do the things which
! the enlightened public opinion Of his coun-
| trymen most urgently demands cannot fail
if his methods should be as skilful as his OBJ
| jects are well chosen With such a chart as
| President Hayes has marked out for his ad-
m;ristration he will sail with the current
and not against it. His letter OF acceptance
I, might have been regarded as snare to catch
votes and classed with electioneering
. premises which are SO often made only to pc
broken But the repetition o! those prom
ises with more explicit emphasis in the in
augural address would merely furnish his
opponents with weapons unless he means
20 execute them in good faith. At any rate,
as we cannot yet judge him by his acts, it is
fair to judge him by his pledges and until
he does acts by which the pledges are for
feited, common candor requires that we ac-
cept his declarations. He has at least made
satisfactory beginning SO far he has
evinced wisdom that would not dis
credit the most illustrious Of his
predecessors. It is the clear duty of
the country to encourage. support and
strengthen him by such strong testimonies
of appreciation and Endorsement as will en-
of public sentiment. 1t will be easy for
him to keep his admirable pledges if they are
warmly responded to by the applauding
voice Of the whole people. Even democrats
should give him generous good words, see
ing that he engages to do the very things
which they would have expected Of Mr. Til
den. 1t would puzzle them to tell in what
respect Mr.. Tilden himself could have pre-
pared a more satisfactory inaugural address.
The address is devoted to three capital
and two subordinate subjects, understand
ing the word subordinate to mean, not
unimportant, but not of immediate urgency.
The three urgent topics, on which it is
shape its policy at once, are the Southern
question, civil service reform, and the
finances the two which are not so pressing
are our foreign relations-which are left
in so satisfactory state by the re-
firing administration that they present no
difficulties which engage public attention
and universal education, which is rather the
business Of the States than of the federal
government The most urgent subject Of
all, the one which requires the promptest
action by the President, is the settlement
and pacifcation of the South on the basis of
local self-government. This question meets
President Hayes at the threshold of his ad-
way, before many days shall have gone over
his head decide it he must, not merely by
declarations, but by immediate practical
action which will test the value of the
declarations, and either establish their sin
cerity or expose their hollowness. Within
few days President Hayes will be compelled,
by the force of circumstances, to recognize
either Nichols or Packard, and thereby
commit himself beyond retreat to sustain
the one he acknowledges until the expira-
ton of his term of Office. 1t is incon-
ceivable that the President should have
taken the strong ground he has done in his
address if he felt any doubt as to whether
- 1
the ensuing week or month. We believe
that he has infexibly made up his mind
that he has planted himself immovably on
the right side of this important question.
Nothing could be more explicit than this part
of the address. ''The people of those States,
says President Hayes, ''are still impover-
ished, and the inestimable blessing of wise,
honest and peaceful local self-government is
not fully enjoyed. Whatever difference of
opinion may exist as to the cause of this
condition of things. the fact is clear that, in
the progress of events, the time has come
when such government is the imperative
necessity required by all the varied inter-
ests, public and private, of those States"
He maintains, very Justly, that efficient and
tranquil selfgovernment is possible only
when resting on the foundation of
equal justice to all citizens, and
| in his attempts to establish local
| rule on that secure foundation he
asks 'the cordial cooperation of all who
cherish an interest in the welfare Of the
country, trusting that party ties and the
prejudice of race will be freely surrendered
in behalf of the great purpose to be accom-
plished.' He expresses solicitude for the
material welfare rs we'll as the political
tranquility Of the South, and thinks it
''needs and deserves the considerate care Of
the national government within the just
limits prescribed by the constitution and