The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-03-14
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND.
THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
A BRIEF AND PITHY GRAFTON
A Grand Democratic Jubilee
of a Free Pe0ple..Scemes
at the National Capital
ON March Ath, IS.
From the Washington Star
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

ment and seal by the oath which /
shall take, the manifestation of the
will of great and free people. In
the exercise of their power and right
of self government, they have COM
mitted to one of their fellow citizens
supreme and sacred trust; and he
here consecrates himself to their
service
This impressive ceremony adds
little to the solemn sense of respon-
sibility with which / 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 interest may suffer, and moth
ing is needed to strengthen my reso-
luton to engage every faculty and
effort in the promotion Of their well
fare.
Amid the din of party strife the
peoples choice was made; but its at
tendant circumstances have demon
strated 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
fearless and faithful application is
to be found the surest guaranty of
good government.
But the best results in the opera
ton Of government, wherein every
citizen has share, largely depend
upon a proper limitation of purely
partisan zeal and effort, and cor
rect 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 government is transferred TO
new keeping. But this is still the
government of all the people, and it
should be none the less an object of
their affectionate solicitude. At this
hour the animosities of political
strife, the bitterness of partisan de-
feat and the exultation of partisan
triumph should be supplanted by an
ungrudging acquiescence in the pop
ular will, and sober, conscientious
concern for the general veal. More
over, 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 achieve
ments of our national destiny, we
shall deserve to realize all the ben
efits which our happy form of gov
eminent can bestOw.
On this suspicious occasion we
may well renew the pledge of our de-
votion to the Constitution, which,
launched by the founders of the Re-
public, and consecrated by their
prayers and patriotic devotion, has
for almost century borne the hopes
and aspirations of great people
through prosperity and peace, and
through the shock of foreign con-
flicts and the perils of domestic
strife and vicissitudes.
BY the Father of his Country our
Constitution was commended for
adoption as "the result of spirit of
amity and mutual concession" In
that same spirit it should be admin
istered, in order to promote the last.
ing welfare of the country, and to
secure the full measure of it's price
less benefits to us and to those who
will succeed to the blessings of our
national life. The large variety Of
diverse and competing interests sub
ject to federal control, pcrsistently
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 con-
cession shall prevail in which the
Constitution had it's birth. If this
involves the surrender or postpone
ment of private interests and the
abandonment of local advantages,
compensation will be found in the
assurance that thus the common in
terest is subserved and the general
welfare advanced.
In the discharge of my official
duty / shall endeaver to be guided
by just and unstrained construc-
ton of the Constitution, careful
observance of the distinction be-
tween the powers granted to the fed
eral government and those reserved
to the State or to the people, and by
a cautions appreciation of the func-
tions which, by the Constitution and
laws, have been especially assigned
to the executive branch of the gov.
eminent.
But he who takes the oath to day
to preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution 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 Con-
stitution which provides his oath,
my countryman, is yours, the gov
eminent you have chosen him to adj
minister for time is yours; the suf
frage which executes the will of free
men is youls; the laws and the en-
tire scheme of our civil rule from the
town meeting 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 different sphere
exercises public trust. Nor is this
all. Every citizen owes to the coun-