Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-03-12

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enunciated his words, and occasionally
turned about and paused as if to note the ef-
feet of his remarks. He spoke as follows:
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Fellow Citizens: In the presence of this
vast assemblage of my countrymen, am
about to SUPPLEMENT- and seal by the oath
which shall take, the manifestation Of the
will of a great and free people. In the en-
ercise of their power and right of self-gov-
ernment they have committed to one of
their felloW-citizenS a supreme and sacred
trust, and he here cOnsecrateS himself to
their service. This impressive ceremony
adds little to the solemn sense Of response
bility with which L contemplate the duty
I owe to all the people Of the land. Moth
ing can relieve me from the anxiety lest by
any act of mine their interest may suffer
and nothing is needed to strengthen my res
olution to engage every faculty and effort
in the promotion of their welfare.
Amid the din of party strife the peoples
choice was made, but its attendant cir
cumstances have demonstrated anew the
strength and safety of government by the
people. In each succeeding year it more
clearly appears that our Democratic princi-
pie needs no apology and that in its fear
less and faithful application is to be found
the surest guaranty Of good government.
But the best results in the operation of a
government wherein every citizen has a
share, largely depend upon a proper limita-
tion of purely partisan zeal and effort and
correct appreciation of the time when the
heat of the partisan should be merged in
the patriotism of the citizen.
| To-day the executive branch of the gov
ernment is transferred to new keeping, but
this is still the government of all the peo-
pleand it should be none the less an object
of their affectionate solicitude. At this
hour the animosity of political strife, the Bit
terness of partisan defeat and the eXultation
of partisan triumph should be supplanted
by an ungrudging acquiescence in the popu-
lar will and sober conscientious concern
for the general veal. If from this hour we
cheerfuly and honestly abandon all section
al prejudices and distrust and determine
with manly confidence in one another to
work out harmoniously the achievements
realize all the benefits which our happy
! form of government can bestoW.
On this auspiciOus occasion we may we'll
renew the pledge of our devotion to the
Constitution which, launched by the found
ers of the republic and cOnsecrated by their
prayers and patriotic devotion, has for al
most century borne the hopes and aspira-
tions of great people through prosperity
and peace, and through the shock of for
eign conflicts and the perls of domestic
strife and vicissitudes. BY the Father OF
his Country our constitution was Commend
ed for adoption as the result of spirit
of amity and mutual concession. In that
same spirit it should be administered in Or
der to promote the lasting welfare of the
country and to secure the full measure OF
it's priceless benefits to us and to those who
will succeed to the blessings of our national
life. The large variety of diverse and COM
petitive interests subject to Federal control
persistently seeking the recognition of their
claims need give us no fear that the greatest
good to the greatest number will fail to be
accomplished if in the halls of the national
legislation that spirit of amity and mutual
concession shall prevail in which the Consti-
tuition had its birth. If this involves the
surrender and disappointment of private
interests, and the abandonment of local ad'
vantages compensation will be found in the
assurance that thus the common interests
are subserved and the general welfare adj
vanced.
In the discharge of my official duty
shall endeavor to be guided by a just and
unstrained construction of the Constitution
a careful observance of the distinction be.
tween the powers granted to the Federal
government and those reserved to the States
or to the people, and by a cautious appre'
citation of those functions which by the Con
stitution, and the laws have been especially
assigned to the executive branch of the Gov
ernment. But he who takes the oath to-day
tuition of the United States only assumes the
solemn obligation which every patriotic
citizen on the farm, in the workshop, in the
busy marts of trade, and everywhere should
share with him.
The Constitution which prescribes his oath,
my countrymen, is yours. The govern
ment YOU have chosen him to administer
for time is yours. The suffrage which
executes the will of the freeman is yours.
The laws and the entire scheme of our civil
rule, from the town meetings to the State
capitols and the National Capitol, is yours.
Your every voter, as surely as your Chief
Magistrate under the same high sanction,
though in different sphere, exercises a
public trust. Nor is this all Every citi-
zen owes to the country vigilant watch
and close scrutiny of its public servants, and
fair and reasonable estimate of their tidel-
ity and usefulness. Thus is the peoples
will impressed upon the whole frame work
of our civil polity, municipal, State and
Federal, and this is the price of our liberty
and the inspiration of our faith in the Re-
public.
1t is the duty of those serving the people
in public places to closely limit public eX-
penditures to the actual needs OF the gov
ernment economically administered, be-
cause this bounds the right of the govern
ment to exact tribute from the earnings of
labor or the property Of the citizen. The
policy which begets public extravaganza
begets extravaganza among the people. We
should never be ashamed of the simplicity
and prudential economies which are best
suited to the operation of a Republican form
of government, and the most compatible
with the mission of the American people.
| Those who are selected for a limited time
to manage public affairs are still of the
people, and may do much by their example
| to encourage consistency with the dignity
of their official functions, that plain way
of life which among their fellow citizens
aids integrity and promotes thrift and pros
perity.
The genius of our institutions, the needs
of our people in their home life, and the at
| tention which is demanded for the senti-
ment and development of the resources
of our vast territory, dictate the scrupu-
| lOus avoidance of any departure from that
foreign policy commended by the history,
the traditions and the prosperity of our Re-
public. 1t is the policy of independence IA
vored by our position and defended by our
known love of justice and by our power.
1t is the policy of peace suitable to our in
terests 1t is the policy of neutrality, re-
jecting any share in foreign broils and am
bitions upon other continents, and repell-
ing their intrusion here. 1t is the policy
of Monroe and Washington and Jeffer-
son-"Peace, commerce and honest friend
ship with all nations, entangling alliances