Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-02-24
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF GOV
ERNOR PORTER.

telloW-cltlzenS OF the Senate and
House of Representatives / appear
before you this day to take the solemn
oath that Il will perform with fidelity
the duties of the Office to which / have
been elected" by the people Of Ten
nessee. In entering upon this great
Office, for the second time, it is due TO
the people of the State that | should
express my thanks to them for this
now proof of their confidence il in
spires me with energy and determi-
nation to perform its duties with cour-
age. The two years past have been
years of plentiful harvests, the people
of Tennessee have been blessed with
health, the comfy of States has been
preserved, the order and security guar
anteed by the law has been maintained;
the people preserve their ancient
rights power is exercised by rulers
appointed by themselves they mould
and form and modify their laws at
their own sovereign will; the cause of
popular education is on the advance,
and yet we have been rewarded with
the prosperity that usually accompa-
nies these conditions. Our people are
discontented; property has deprecia-
ted confidence has been impaired ;
prices are not remunerative. Some
thing of the responsibility for this
must be attributed to causes that orig
mate outside of the kState, and are
stimulated by agencies independent of
our control; but to our own internal
policy and practice we owe much for
this condition our legislation has been
excessive.
In State comparatively new, laws
must be modified and statutes amend
ed, but wholesale legislation leads the
public mind into a state of "perplexity
and doubtful dilemma" and makes
the citizen discontented with his own
government, and with those who exc
cute its laws. Statutes should be
measured fairly and 90 unaltered and
without amendment until they are
tested. The enactment of ponderous
volumes makes a scarecrow of the law,
stimulates litigation and brings cOnfu-
sion to the minds of judges, lawyers
and laymen alike. When conserva-
tism in legislation is practiced the law
"sits empress, crowning good, repressiDg
ILL.,"
Federal legislation, contrived to fos-
ter and protect antagonistic interests,
coupled with our own over production,
has caused prostration in business If
we would escape this condition, we
must disregard those eapricious hu-
mors of the hour that ascribe personal
blunders. Let us multiply the varie-
ties of our pursuits letus address our
selves to the creation of new industries
and home market for our surplus
productions let US make education
free to all the children Of the State
then we can exhibit to the world a
State great IN the area Of its territory,
great in the fertility of its soil, and in
the richness and volume of its mineral
deposits, but greater in the command
ing excellence of its institutions, the
impartiality of its laws and the virtue
of its citizens.
Recent events have made deep inno-
vations on the principles of the Con-
stitutiOn; bad precedents live forev-
er, good ones only perish" =" Under
cover of the bad ones power is being
consolidated and centralized, and the
barriers of the State governments as
coordinate powers are being daily
weakened. Mr.. Jefferson said, "Giv.
ing little to-day and little to-mor-
row, advancing its noiseless steps like
a thief over the field of jurisdiction
until all shall be usurped from the
States and the government of all be
consolidated into one. When all gov
ernment, domestic and foreign, in lit
tie as in great things, shall be drawn
to Washington as the center Of all
power, it will render powerless the
checks provided of one government on
the other, and will become as venal
and oppressive as the government from
which we separated" There is no
peace, no solid order, no safety for
ourselves except by the maintenance
of constitutional liberty, and in this
hour Of public anxiety let us reaf6rm
our loyalty to the grand principle and
our faith in its ultimate triumph.
At the close Of the address, Chief
Justice Deaderick administered the
following oath to Gov. Porter:
DO you solemnly swear that, az
Governor of the State Of Tennessee
you will support the Constitution oi
the United States and Of the State oi
Tennessee, aud that you will faithfully
maintain and enforce the laws made
in pursuance thereof. You do further
solemnly swear that you will faithfully
discharge the duties Of Governor oi
I the State, to which Office you have
been elected. You do further swear
that you have not directly, or indirectly
given, accepted or knowingly carried 1
challenge in writing or otherwise tC
any person, being a citizen of thii
State, either in OF out Of the State, Oh
aided or abetted therein, since yoI
have been a citizen of the State, anC
that you will not, during your contin
uance in Office, be guilty Of either o.
these acts, so help you God"
Gov. Porter attached his signature
to the oath and Judge Deaderick wroti
the following Immediately underneath
Sworn and subscribed before me
this 18th day Of February, 1877.
JAMES w. DEADERIoK,
"Chief Justice Of the Supreme Cour
of Tennessee.