Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-01-29
Governor Hoyt's Inaugural ADJ
dress,


Gentlemen of the Senate and House Of
Representatives., and Feilou Citizens !:
We are associated, to day, in observ-
ance of a time-honored custom. To
you, the occasion which convenes us
is merely ceremonial in its character.
And yet not only to you who are
gathered Immediately within the
sound of my voice, but to all the citi-
zens of the State it is an occasion of
serious import You and they are to
witness a Chief Magistracy of your
Commonwealth. To myself, it is
more significant. While / gratefully
accept my share of the pleasure incl
dent to a pageant like this, it is sug
gestive of delicate duties and grave
responsibilities. Elected to be Chief
Magistrate of the State, my official
life begins here and now.
You have witnessed in my assump
ton of the oath of office, sacred
appeal to Almighty God and a sol
emn pledge of fidelity in the dis
charge of my official obligations
"The Supreme Executive power shall
be vested in the Governor, who shall
take care that the laws be faithfully
executed" This is the language OF
our State Constitution. 1t briefly,
simply and adequately defines my
principal duty. 1 fully understand
these world fully comprehend the
oath l have just taken. The people
of Pennsylvania expect me to keep
that oath. BY the help of then
prayers, and by the favor of Divine
Providence, / expect to keep it.
1t viii be a common pleasure to us,
to be exempted from giving special
attention, at this time, to matters OF
public business. The conspicuous
ability, and the long and varied ex-
perience of my distinguished prede-
cessor, has permitted nothing to es-
cape his attention which copcerned
the public good, or was of sufficient
Importance to be commended to the
special action Of the General Assem-
bly,, or which might challenge the
consideration of the people. His last
Annual Message is a document at
once so iudicious, timely and com
prehenEive IN its review of public
affairs and It's recommendations, as to
relieve Inc. for the present, from all
care in respect to that branch OF the
executive duty. L ma. therefore, re
gard myself as at liberty to glance at
some topics, not inappropriate to the
occasion, in which all good citizens
feel a deep concern.
The question uppermost in the
mind OF the country relates to the
revival of business. The last five
years viii be memorable in our Ma
tional history as period of indus
trial depression and consequent social
distress. These five years have dis
closed the causes of our troubles,
and their experience should lead us
up to the true methods of recovery.
They will be found to lie in the moral
forces of society and not in legisla-
tive enactments or executive inter
ference. / shall offer you no dis
course upon the financial theories
which have vexed us during these
years. We have come, with great
unanimity, to recognize the actual
facts which lie at the bottom of this
whole subject. A generation of
younger business men had come upon
the stage at a period OF excitement,
following the war, and of speculation,
fairly reaching the degree of gam
bling The vastly expanded credit
which men gave one to another, IN
all forms of business, the result of an
inflated currency, led to unnatural
values, as measured in such currency.
The temptations for contracting debts
were great and not easily resisted
We spent more than we earned we
iuS:oot that "the extravaganza of the
rich was not the gain Of the poor, y
"that profuslo2 and waste were not
for the good of iii,ade, and that
everything consumed ana destroyed
was so much lost in the labor N,c,ich
had produced it. Circulating capital
was locked up in fixed property. The
wages fund was impaired. We aban-
doned the maxims of experience and
the simplest truths in political econ
omy. We measured values by stan
dard not common to the civilized
world with whom we were in daily and
necessary commercial intercourse.
We failed to remember that the issue
of paper money, whether greenbacks,
National bank notes, bills of ex-
change or checks, did not add a dol
lar to the wealth of the nation, and
that while indispensable as circula-
ting medium, it could only have a
representative value We did not
advert sufficiently to the present ply
sical and financial fact, that by the
tacit agreement of the nations, the
precious metals are the only stan
dard of value, the only current
money with the merchant" We did
not seem to know that the instincts
of practical, shrewd and enterpris-
ing nation of business men must
finally and forever reject the use of
an irredeemable currency. At the
last, pay day came, as it always must,
and bankruptcy came with it, as it
always will under like causes. Our
capacity to consume was destroyed.
The producer was without buyers for
his merchandise Debtor and cred
itor alike had to pause for the day of
settlement. A system of economy
and saving was forced upon us. 1t
cost us hard struggle, self-denial
and suffering, but the result was
health, moral and financial. The vir-
tues of sobriety and industry, re-
newed in practice, give us discipline
and strength They widened and
deepened our manhood and woman
hood. Discarding the cheap devices
of mere theorists, the dishonest pro
posals of mere agitators, and the
charlatanry of political economy
which undertook to teach us how to