Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1877-01-03
GENERAL WADE HAMPTON'S
INA UG URdL.
upuS BEING SWORN IN As GOVERNOR Oh
SOUTH cAnoLISA, Dec. IL, 1876.


Representatives =
1t is with feelings Of the proioundest
solicitudc that | assume the arduous
duties and grave responsibilities OF the
high position TO which tho people Of
South Carolina have called me. 1t IL
amid events unprecedented in this Re
public that ! take the chair Us Chef
Magistrate OF this State. After years
~ asAasl >.,NsScpss1s5- 4nd atarS'As
trthipBi'tT:.sss'ty". enas a..L' siiff.T'
cipled polliicnl adventurrrs, the honest
nconle. yf The State. wilhcut regard TO
party or race, with one voice demand
cd reform and with one purpose de.
voted themselves earnestly, solemnly,
to tho attainment OF this end. With
u lofty patriotism never surpassed,
with u patience never equalled, with u
courage never excelled, and with n
sublime sense ofduty which finds scarce
n parallel in the history OF the world,
they saborlinated every personal feel.
ing TO the public veal and conseerated
themselves to the sacred work of re.
dceming their PROSTATE State. To the
accomplishment OF this task they ded-
icatcd themselves with unialtcring
confidence and with unshaken faith,
trusting alone 10 the justice OF their
cause and commencing that cause rev.
ercntly to tho protection of the Al
mighty.
When the corrupt party which for
eight years past has held sway in the
SMte--bringing its civilization into dis
grace and making its government a
public scandal--saw that the demand
for reform found responsive echo in
tho popular heart and that the verdict
of tho people would be pronounced
against those who have degraded tho
State, they appealed to federal inter,
vcntion and by n libel on our whole
people, us false "a was base. called in
the soldiers of the United States army
TO act as supervisors Of our election.
In time of profound peace, when no
legal officer had been resisted in the
proper discharge Of his functions, we
have witnessed spectacle abhorreni
TO every patriotic heart and fatal to
the republican inslitutions--federal
troons used To premeie the success nt
political party. Undismayed, though
shocked by this gross violation of the
constitution Of the country, our people,
with a determination that no force
could subdue, no fraud could defeat.
kept steadily and peacefully in the
path OF duty, resolved to assert their
rights as American ireemen at the bal.
lot box-that great court Of final
resort, before which must be tried the
grave questions of the supremacy Of
the constitution and the stability Of
institutions.
Whit the verdict of the people Of
South Carolina has been you need not
be told. Ii has reverberated through
out the State, and its cchos come back
to us from every land whore liberty IL
yenerated, declaring, in tones that
cannot be mistaken, that, standing on
the consultation OF our country, We
propose TO obey its laws. TO preserve
as lar as in US hes, its peace and honor
cycry pledge made By us for reform
and honest government We intend "a
prove TO the world lhesincerity Of her
declaration and the sole motive which
inspirel the grand contest we have ~
successfully made was not the paltry
ambition for party supremacy, but th,
sacred hope Of redeeming our State
1t was the hope that led our people "a
u victory which was grander in itf
proportions, greater in its success, no
bier in its achievement and brighter
in its promise Of prosperity than any
other ever waged on tins continent
But it was sought TO wrest the fruit,
of this magnificent victory from the
hands that won IL by a gigantic fraud
and a base conspiracy. When th,
members elect Of the general assembly
repaired to the capitol to take the seat
to which the people OF South Carolins
had assigned them, armed eoldicrs o
the federal government confronted
them, and their certificates of election
were examined and passed upon BY
corporal of the guard.
A spectacle so humiliating to FIRE,
people and no fatal to republican insti
tutions has never been presented il
America. II could have been witness
cd even here, where civil liberty ha,
for years been but mockery, had no
tho ruthless hand Of military power
struck down the most sacred guarante,
Of the constitution; for the tread o
armed soldiers, as no made his roundi
through the halls Of legislation, wa
over the PROSTATE form OF liberty her
self II was amid these ominous, thes,
appalling scenes that tho members o
the general assembly were called OF
to assume their duties as the Represen
tatives of free State, and that Stat,
one of the original thirteen who wor
our independence and framed our con
stitution.
That tho natural, patriotic indgna
ton Of our people did not find expires
sion in voice is creditable in the high
est degree to them ; and this was due
in large measure, to the statesmanliks
and dignifed conduct Of those mem
bers Of the general assembly who hac
| k,ap vnoda tho w,ct,rua nf th,. e<~o..