News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-03-12
WILLIAM C. WHITNEY.
Inaugural Address Of President
Cleveland.

Fello,c Citizens: In the presence
of this vast assemblage of my cOun-
trymen l am about TO supplement and
seal by the oath which l shall take
the manifestation of a great and free
people. In the exercise of their
power and right of self govern
ment they have committed to one Of
their fellow citizens a supreme and
sacred trust, and he here consecrates
himself to their service. The impress
sive ceremony adds little TO the SOL
enn sense Of responsibility with which
l contemplate the duty l owe to all
the people of the land. Nothing can
relieve me from anxiety lest by any
act of mine their interests may suffer,
and nothing is needed to strengthen
nay resolution 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 circumstances have demon
strated anew the strength and safety
of a government by the people. In
each succeeding year it more clearly
appears that our Democratic princi-
piles need no apology and that in its
fearless ard faithful application is to
be found the surest guaranty of good
government.
But the best results in the opera
ton of a government, wherein every
citizen has a share, largely depend
upon proper limitation of purely
partisan zeal and effort, and a correct
appreciation of the time when the
neat of the partisan should be merged
IN the patriotism of the citizen. To-
lay the executive branch of the gov
eminent is transferred to new keep
ing, but this is still the government
of all the people, and it should be
none the less an object of affection
ate solicltude. At this hour the mi
mosities of practical strife, the bitter
ness of partisan defeat and the exul-
tation of partisan triumph should be
supplanted by an ungrudging acqui-
escence in the popular will and So
bel, conscientious concern for the gen.
eral veal. Moreover, if from this
hour we cheerfully and honestly aban-
don all sectional prejudice and dis
trust, and determine with manly con-
tidence in one another to work out
tremendously the achievements OF
our national destiny, we shall deserve
to realize all the benefits which our
happy form of government can be-
stow.
On this suspicious occasion all may
well renew the pledge of our devotion
to the constitution which, launched by
the founders of the republic, and con-
secrated by their prayers and patriot
| ic devotion, has for almost a century
borne the hopes and aspirations Of
great people through prosperity and
peace, and through the shock Of for
eign conflicts and the perils of do
mestic strife and vicissitudes. By the
father of this country our constitu-
ton was commended as "the result of
amity and mutual concession" In
that same spirit it should be admins
tered in order to promote the lasting
welfare, of the country and to secure
the full measured its priceless bene-
fits to us and 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 recog-
milton of their claims need give us no
fear that ''the greatest good 10 the
greatest number will fail to accom-
plish, if, in the halls of national leeis-
lation, that spirit of amity and mu-
tual concession shall prevail in which
the constitution had It, birth. If this
involves the surrender or postpon-
ment of private interests and the
abandonment of local advantages,
compensation will be found in the as
surance that thus the common inter-
est is subserved and the general well
fare advanced. In the discharge of
my official duty 1 shall eEdeavor to
be guided by just and unstrained con-
struction of the constitution, a careful
observance of the distinction between
the powers granted to the federal gov
eminent and those reserved TO the
States, or to the people, and by
cautious appreciation of the functions
which by the constitution and laws
have been especially assigned to the
executive branch of the government.
But he who takes the oath to-day to
preserve, protect and defend the con-
stilution of the United States ouly as
sumes 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 suffrage which exc
cutes the will of freedom is yours /;
the law and the entire scheme of our
civil rule from the town-meeting t.,
the State capitals and the national
capital are yours. Your every voter.
as surely as your chief magistrate I'M
der the same high sanction, thoughin
different sphere, exercises a public
trust. Nor is this all. Every citi-
zen owes to the country a vigilant
watch and close scrutiny OF its public
servants, and fair and reasonable
estimate of their fidelity and useful
ness. Thus is the peoples will i'm
pressed upon the whole frame work
of our civil policy, municipal, State
and federal, and this is the price OF
our liberty and the inspiration of our
faith in the republic.
1t is the duty of those serving the
people in public place to closely limit
public expenditures to the actual
needs of tee government, economical
" administered, because this bounds
the right Of the government, to exact
tribute from the earnings of labor or
the property of the citizen, and be-
cause public extravaganza begets ex-
traVagance among the people, we
should never be ashamed of the sim
pllclty and prudential economies that
are best suited to the operations of a
republican form of government and
most compatible with the mission of
tne American people. Those who are
selected for limited time to manage
public affairs are still of the peopie.
and may do much by their example