Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-03-10
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
PRESIDENT GARFIELD.

PRESIDENT GARFIELD.
Fello,U-citizens: We stand to day on an emf
nence which overlooks a hundred years of ma
but crowned with the triumphs of liberty and
law Before continuing the onward march,
let us pause OIL this height, to strengthen our
faith and renew our hope by a glance at the
pathway along which our people have travelled.
1t is now thee days more than hundred
years since the adoption of the first written
constitution of the United States, ''the Arti-
cles of Confederation and perpetual union. !"
The new Republic was then beset with danger
on every hand. 1t had not conquered a place
in the family of nations. The decisive battle
of the war for independence, whose centennial
anniversary will soon be gratefully celebrated
vt Yorktown, had not been fought. The colo
nsts were struggling not only against the AZ
mics of great nation, but against the settled
opinions of mankind, for the world did not then
believe that the supreme authority OF govern
ment could he safely entrusted to the guardi-
anship of the people themselves.
We cannot Over-estimate the fervent love
of liberty, the intelligent courage and saving
common sense with which our fathers made
the great experiment of self-government.
| When they found, after a short trial, that the
Confederacy WAS too weak to meet the ncces-
sites of vigorous and expanding Republic,
they boldly set it aside; and, in its stead, es-
tablished a National Union, founded directly
upon the will of the people, endowed with full
powers Of self-meservation, and with ample
authority for the accomplishment of its great
objects. Under this Constitution the bounda-
ries of freedom have been enlarged, the fOun-
datiOns of order. and peace have been strength
ened, and the growth of our people in all the
better elements of national life has indicated
the wisdom of the founders and given new
hope to their descendants.
Under the Constitution, our people, long ago,
made themselves safe against danger from
without and secured for their mariners and
flag equality of right on all the seas. Under
this Constitution twenty-five States have been
added to the Union, with constitutions and
laws framed and enforced by their own citi-
Zens to secure the manifold blessings OF local
self-government. Thejurisdiction of this Con-
stitutiOn now covers an area fifty times great
er than that of the original Thirteen States,
and a population twenty times greater than
that of 1880
THE CIVIL WAR.
The supreme trial of the Constitution came
at last under the tremendous pressure of civil
war. We ourselves are the witnesses that the
Union emerged from the blood and fire of
that conflict, purified and made stronger for
all the beneticentpurposes of good government,
and now at the close of the first century of its
growth, with the inspirations of it's history in
their hearts, our people have lately reviewed
the condition of the nation, passed judgment
upon the conduct and opinions of political
parties and have registered their will concern.
ing the future administration of the Govern
| To ir,fa o1,1 fhofI
accordance with the Constitution, is the para
mount duty of the Executive
Even from this brief review, it is manifest
that the nation is resolutely facing to the
front, resolved to employ it's best energies in
developing the great possibilities of the future,
and sacredly preserving whatever has been
gained to liberty and good government during
the past century. Our people are determined
to leave behind them all those bitter contro-
versies concerning things which have been
irrevocably settled, and the further discussion
of which can only stir up strife and delay the
onward march. The supremacy of the nation
and it's laws should be no longer the subject
of debate. That discussion which for half a
century threatened the existence of the Union
was closed at last in the high court of war by
Il decree from which there is no appeal, that
the Constitution and the laws made in pur-
suance thereof are, and shall continue to be,
the supreme law of the land, binding alike
upon States and people. This decree does not
disturb the autonomy of the States, nor inter
fere with any of their necessary rights of local
self-government; but it does fix and establish
the permanent supremacy of the Union.
EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION.
The will of the nation, speaking with the
voice of battle and through the amended Con-
stituton, has fulfilled the great promise of 1776
by proclaiming liberty throughout the land to
all the inhabitants thereof. The elevation of
the negro race from slavery to the full rights of
citizenship is the most important political
change we have known since the adoption of
the Constitution Of 1857. No thoughtful man
can fail to appreciate it's beneficent effects on
our institutions and people. 1t has freed us
from perpetual danger of war and dissolution.
1t has added immensely to the moral and in
dustrial forces of our people 1t has liberated
the master as we'll as the slave, from relation
which wronged and enfeebled both. 1t has
surrendered to their own guardianship the
manhood of more than five millions of people,
and has opened to each of them career OF
freedom and usefulness. 1t has given new III
spration to the power of self-help in both races
by making labor more honorable to the one
and more necessary to the other. The infu-
ence of this force will grow greater and bear
richer fruit with the coming years. No doubt
the great change has caused serious disturb
ance to our Southern communities. This is
to be deplored, though it was perhaps unavoid.
able; but those who resisted the change should
remember that, under our institutions, there
was no middle ground for the negro race be.
tween slavery and equal citizenship. There
can he no permanent dsfranchised peaSantry
in the United States. Freedom can never
yield it's fullness ofDlessingS so long as the law
or the administration places the smallest OBJ
stacle in the pathway of any virtuOus citizen.
The emancipated race has already made re-
markable progress With unquestioning de-
vOton to the Union, with patience and gentle
ness not born of fear, they have followed the
light as God gave them to see the light. They
are rapidly laying the material foundations OF
self-support, widening thecircl of intelligence
and beginning to enjoy the blessings that gath
er around the homes of the Industrious poor.
They deserve the generous encouragement OF
all good men. So far as my authority can law
fully extend, they shall enjoy the full and
equal protection of the Constitution. The
full and free enjoyment of equal suffrage is
still in question, and frank statement of the
issue may aid it's solution.
FREEDOM OF THE BALLOT.
It is alleged that in many communities ne
gro citizens are practically denied the freedom
of the ballot. In so far as the truth of this al
legation is admitted, it is answered that in
many places honest local government is impos-
sible if the mass of uneducated negroes are
allowed to vote. These are grave allegations.
So far as the matter is true it is the only pal
! liation that can be offered for opposing the
freedom of the ballot. Bad local government
is certainly great evil which ought to be pre-:
vented, but to violate the freedom and sancti-
ty of the suffrage is more than an evil. 1t is
| a crime which, if persisted in, will destroy the