Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-03-05
THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
suosT AND SENSIBLE PAPER.


Fellow Citizens, lin the presence OF
This vast assemblagc Of my country
men am about TO supplement and seal
by the oath which ] shall take the
manifestation of the will Of great and
free people, In the exercise Of their
mower and right Of sels-government,
they have committed 10 one OF their
fellow-citizens supreme and sacred
trust and he here consecrates himself
to their service. This impressive cerc-
monv adds little to the solemn sense OF
responsibility with which ] contemplate
the duty | owe to all the people OF the
land. Nothing can relieve me from
anxiety lest by any act Of mine their IN
terests may suffer, and nothing Is need
ed to strengthen my resolution to en-
gage every faculty and effort in the
promotion OF their welfare.
SAFETY OF DEMOCRACY.
Amid the din of party strife the peo-
ple's choice was made, but its attend
ant circumstances have demonstrated
anew the strength and safety OF gov
eminent by the people. In each sue
ceeding year it more clearly appears
that our democratic principle needs no
apology, and that in its fearless and
faithful application is to be found the
surest guarantee Of good government.
But the best results in the operation oil
a government wherein every citizen
has share largely depend upon pro-
per limitation 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.
DUTY OF THE HOUR.
To-day the executive branch Of the
Government is transferred to new keep
ing. but this is still the Government OF
the people, and it should be none the
less an object of their aflectionate soli-
citude. At this hour the animosities of
political strife, the bitterness of parti-
san defeat, and the exultation Of parti-
san triumph should be supplanted by an
ungrudging scquiescence in the popular
will, and a sober, conscientious con-
Germ for the general veal. Moreover,
if from this hour we cheerfully and
honestly abandon all sectional prejudice
and distrust, and determine with manly
confidence 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 bestow. On
this suspicious occasion we may well
renew hepledge of our devotion to the
Constitution, which. launched by the
founders of the republic and consecrated
by their prayers and patriotic devotion.
has for almost century borne the
hopes and the aspirations of great
people through prosperity and peace,
and through the shock Of foreign con-
flicts and the perils Of domestic strife
and yicissitudes.
wAsHINGTON'S WORDS.
BY the Father Of his Country our
Constitution was commended for adop-
ton as Z" the result of spirit of amity
and mutual concession In that same
spirit il should be administered in order
TO promote the lasting welfare of the
country and to secure the full measure
of its priceless benefits to US and those
who will succeed to the blessings of our
national life. The large variety of di-
verse 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 accomplished if in the halls of
national legislation that spirit of
amity and mutual concession shall
prevail in which the Constitu-
ton had its birth. If this in
wolves the surrender or postponement
of private interests and the abandon
ment of local advantages. compensation
will be found in the assurance that thus
the common interest is subserved and
the general welfare advanced.
THE CONSTITUTION iIIs GUIDE.
In the discharge Of my official duty |
shall endcavor to be guided by just
and unstrained construction of the Con-
stitution, a careful observance Of the
distinction between the powers granted
TO the Federal Government and those
reserved to the States or to the people,
and by cautious appreciation Of those
functions which by the Constitution
and laws have been especially assigned
to the executive branch of the Govern
ment.
HIS OATH THE PEOPLES OATH.
But he who takes the oath to-day to
preserve, protect. and defend the Con-
stitution Of the United States only 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 pre-
scribes his oath. my countrymen, is
yours the Government you have
chosen him to administer for time is
yours the suffrage who executes the
will of ircemen is yours; the laws and
the entire scheme of our civil rule.
from the town meetings to the State
capitals and the national capital,
is yours. Your every voter, as surely
as your Chief Magistrate, under the
same high sanction. though in a differ
ent sphere. exercises a public trust.
Nor is this all. Every citizen owes to
the country yigilant watch and close
scrutiny of its public servants and fair
and reasonable estimate of their fidelity
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 ofour
faith in the republic.
PUBLIC SERVANTS.
1t is the duty Of those serving the
people in public place to closely limit
public expenditures to the actual
needs Of the Government economically
administered, because this bounds the
right OF the Government 10 exact
trihute from the earnings of lahor ar