Morning journal and courier., 1881-03-05
GEHERAL GARFlELD,S INAUGURAL,

liberty and law. Before continuing the on. l ward march let us pause on this height for l a moment to strengthen our faith and renew
 our hope by glance at the pathway along which our people have travelled. It is now three days more than hundred years since the adoption of the first written Constitution of the United States, the articles of confed- eration and perpetual union. The new re- public was then beset with danger on every
 hand It 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
 at Yorktown, had not been fought The
 colonists were struggling not only against
 the armies of @ great nation, but against the
 settled opinions of mankind, for the world
 did not believe that the supreme authority of
 government could be safely entrusted to the
 people themselves. We cannot overestimate
 the fervent love of liberty, the intelligent
 courage and the saving common sense with
 which our fathers made the great experiment
 of self-government. When they found after short trial that the confederacy of States was
 too weak to meet the necessities of Vigor- ous and expanding republic, they boldly set it aside, and in it's stead established a na- tional union founded directly upon the will Of the people, endowed with future powers of self preservation. and with ample authority for the accomplishment of it's great objects under this Constitution. The boundaries of AACCO0n AhfO OCcu CuAdTSSll, Ll0-IOuuQaLlOQS of order and peace have been strengthened, and the growth in all the better clements of national life has vindicated the wisdom of the founders, and given new hope to their descendants Under this Constitution our people long ago made themselves safe against danger from without, and secured for their mariners and flag equality of rights 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 citizens to secure the manifold blessings of local self government. The ju- risdiction of this Constitution now covers an area fifty times greater than that of the orig inal thirteen States and a population twenty times greater than that of 17SO. The su- preme trial of the Constitution came at last under the tremendous pressure or civil war. We ourselves are witnesses that the Union emerged from the blood and fire of that con fict purified and made stronger for all the benefcent purposes of good government, and now at the close of this first century of growth with the inspirations of its history in their hearts, OUT people have lately re- viewed the condition of their nation, passed judgment upon the conduct and opinions of political parties, and have registered their will concerning the future administration of the government To interpret and to exe- cute that will in accordance with the Consti- tuition is the paramount duty of the Execu- tive. Even from this brief review it is mani fest that the nation is resolutely facing to the front, resolved to ever employ it's best ener- gies in developing the great possibilities of the future, sacredly preserving whatever has been gained to liberty and good government during the century Our people are deter mined to leave behind them all those bitter controversies concerning things which have been irrevocably settled, and the further dis cussion of which can only stir up strife and delay the onward march.
 THE SUPREMACY OF THE NATION.
 The supremacy of the nation and it's laws should be no longer subject of debate. That discussion which for half a century closed at last in the high court of war by 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 the States and the people. This decree does not disturb the anatomy of the States nor interfere with any of their necessary rules of local self government but it does fix and establish the permanent supremacy of the Union. The will of the Nation, speaking with the voice of battle and through the amended Constitution, has fulfilled the great promise of 1776 by proclaiming " Liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof"
 NEGRO SUFFRAGE.
 
 ry to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 17S7. No thoughtful man can fail to ap- preciate it's benefcent effect upon our insti- 5utions and the people. It has freed us from the perpetual danger of war and dissolution. It has added immensely to the moral and in dustrial forces of our people. It has ibera- ted the master as well as the slave from 8 re- ation which wronged and enfeebled both. It has surrendered to their own guardianship the manhood of more than five million of people and has opened to each one of them @ career of freedom and usefulness. It has given new inspiration to this power of self help in both races by making labor more honorable to the one and more necessary to the other. The influence of the force will grow greater and bear richer fruit with the coming years. No doubt the great change has caused serious disturbance to our South ern community. This is to be deplored, though it was unavoidable; but those who resisted the change should remember that un- der our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race between slavery and equal citizenship. There can be no per manent disfranchised peasantry in the United States; freedom can never yield it's fullness of blessings so long as the law or it's places the smallest obstacle in the pathway of any virtuous citizen. The race has already made remarka- ble progress with unquestioning devotion to the Union. With a patience and gent1eness not born of fear, they have followed the light as God gave them to see the light" They are rapid ly laying the material foundations of self support, widening the circle of intelligence and beginning to enjoy the blessings that gather around the homes of the industrious poor They deserve the generous encourage ment of all good men. So far as my au- thority can lawfully extend, they shall enjoy the full and equal protection of the Constitu- ton and the laws.
 The free enjoyment of equal suffrage is still in question, and a frank statement of the issue may aid it's solution It is alleged that in many communities negro citizens are denied the freedom of the ballot. In so far as the truth of this allegation is ad- mitted, it is answered that in many places honest local government is impossible if the mass of uneducated negroes are allowed to vote. These are grave allegations. So far as the latter is true it is the only paiation that can be offered for opposing the freedom or the ballot
 Bad local government is certainly great evil which ought to be prevented, but to v1o- late the freedom and sanctity of the suffrage is more than an evil it is crime which, if persisted in, will destroy the government it. self. Suicide is not 8 remedy. If in other lands it be high treason to compass the death 0f the King, It should De counIeO no leSS u crime here to strangle our sovereign power md stihe it's voice. It has been said that un- settled questions have no piety for the repose ,f nations It should be said with the ut- most emphasis, that this question of suffrage will never give repose or safety to the States ,r to the nation, until each within it's own jurisdiction makes and keeps the ballot free md pure by the strong sanctions of law.
 NATIONAL EDUCATION.
 But the danger which arises from ignor- ance in the voter cannot be denied. It covers field far wider than that of negro suffrage and the present condition of that race. It is danger that turks and hides in he sources and fountains of power in every state We have no standard, by which to measure the disaster that may be brought 1pon us by ignorance and vice in the citizens when joined to corruption and fraud in the suffrages The voters of the Union, who make and unmake Constitutions and upon whose will hang the destinies of our govern ment, can transmit the supreme authority to no successor save the coming generation of voters, who are the sole heirs of the sover- eign power. If that generation comes to it's inheritance blinded by ignorance and cor rupted by vice, the fall of the republic will be certain and renediless The census has