Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1885-03-14
Tho Inaugural Address.


MT. IIcNcduu AuuacoO W0S do ioi'
lows
Fellow Citizens: In the presence OF
this vast assemblage Of my countrymea
l am about to support and seal, by the
oath which ! shall take, the manifesto
tion Of the will Of a great and free PEI.
pie. In the exercise Of their power and
right Of selfgovernment, they have
committed to one Of their fellow citizens
Il supreme and sacred trust, and he here
consecrates himself TO their service.
This impressive ceremony adds little to
the solemn semse Of responsibility with
which ] contemplate the duty due all
the people of this land. Nothing can
relieve me from anxiety lest by any act
of mine their interests may snffer, and
nothing is needed to strengthen my
resolution to engage every faculty and
! effort in the promotion Of their welfare
Amid the din and party strife the peo
PIES choice was made. but its attendant
circumstances demonstrated new
strength and safety of government by
the people. In each succeeding year it
more clearly appears that our demo
cratic principle needs no apology. and
that in its fearless and faithful applira-
tion is to be found the surest guaranty
l( P,.t tn i, ct
results in the operation of "A government
wherein every citizen has share large
ly depend upon the proper limitation Of
purely partisan zeal and effort and a
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 Il government of all the
people, and it should be none the less
an object Of their effectionatc solicitude.
At this hour the animoSities Of political
strife, the bitterness Of partisan defeat
and the exultation Of party triumph
should be supplanted by ungrudging ac-
quiescence in the popular will, and
sober, conscientious concern for the
general veal. Moreover, if from this
hour we chcerfu!lv and honestly abam.
don all sectional prejudices and distrusts,
and determine with manly confidence
in one another to work ont harmonious.
ly the achievements of our national
destiny, We shall deserve to realize all
benefits which our happy form Of gov
ernment can bestow. On this auspicions
occasion we may well renew the pledge
Of our devotion to the constitution
which, launched 10y the founders Of The
republic. and consecratcd by their pray
erS and patriotic devotion, has for
a'most "A century borne the hopes and
aspirations Of this great people through
prosperity and peace, and through the
shock Of foreign conflicts and the perils
of domestic strife and vicissitudes. By
the Father Of his Country our constitu-
tion was commended for adoption as
"the result of a spirit of amity and
mutual concession" In that same spirit
it should be administered in order to
promote the lasting welfare Of the coun.
try and to secure the full measure of its
priceless benefits to us and to those who
will succeed to the blessings of our
national life. The large variety of
diverse and competing 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
if in the halls Of national
legislation that spirit Of amity and
mutual concession shall prevail in which
the constitution had its birth If this
involves the surrender or postponement
of private interests and the abandon
ment of local advantages, compensation
will be in the assurance that thus the
common interest is subserved and the
general welfare advanced. In the dis
charge of my official duty shall en-
deavor to be guided by just and un.
strained construction Of the constitution,
\ careful observance Of the distinction
between the powers granted 10 the
federal government and those reserved
to the states or to the people, and by
cautious appreciation Of those functions
which by the constition and laws, have
been especially assigned to the executive
branch of the government. But he who
takes the oath to-day to preserve, pro-
tect and defend the constitution Of the
United States only assumes a 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 constitu-
ton which prescribes his oath, my
is yours; the government
you have chosen him to administer for
a time is yours; the suffrage which exc
cutes the will Of freemen is yours; the
laws and the entire scheme Of our evil
rule, from the town meeting to the state
capitol, are yours. Your every voter, as
surely as your chief magistrate. under
the same high sanction. though in a
different sphere, exercises public trust.