Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-03-11

It is the duty of those serving the people
in public places to closely limit public ex-
penditures to the actual needs of the Gov,
eminent economically administered, because
this bounds the Ri ht of the Government
to exact tribute from the earnings Of labor
or the property Of the citizen, and because
public extravagance begets extravagance
among the people. We should never be
ashamed Of the simplicity and prudential
economies which are best suited to the op-
Grafton of q republican form of govern
ment and most compatible with the mis-
sion 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 ex-
ample to encourage, consistently with the
dignity of their official functions, that plain
way of life which among their fellow-citi
Gems aids integrity and promotes thrift and
prosperity. =
The genius of our institutions, the needs
of our own people in their home-life and the
attention which is demanded for the settle
ment and development of the resources of
our vast territory dictate the scrupulous
avoidance of any departure from that for
eign policy commended by the history, the
traditions, and the prosperity of our Re-
public. It is the policy of independence,
favored by our position and defended by
our known love of justice, and by our pow
er. It is the policy of peace suitable to
our interests. 1t is the policy of neutrali-
ty, rejecting any share in foreign broils and
ambitions upon other continents and re-
pelling their intrusion here. 1t is the poll
cy of Monroe and of Washington and JEFF
ferson peace, commerce, and honest
friendship with all nations, and entangling
alliances with nome"
A due regard for the interests and pros
perity of all the people demands that our
finances shall be established upon such
sound and sensible basis as shall secure the
safety and confidence of business interests
and make the wages of labor sure. and
steady, and that our sy stem shall be SO ad-
justed as to relieve the people from unnec-.
essary taxation, having a due regard to the
interests of capital invested and working
men employed in American industries, and
preventing the accumulation of a surplus in
the Treasury to tempt extravagance and
waste. Care for the property of the na-
tion and for the needs of future settlers re-
quire that the public domain shonld be pro-
tected from purloining schemes and unlaw
full occupation. The conscience Of the
people demands that the Indians within
our boundaries shall be fairly and honestly
treated as wards of the Government and
their education and civilization promoted
with view to their ultimate citizenship,
and that polygamy in the Territories, de-
structive of the family relation and often
sive to the moral sense of the civilized
world, shall be repressed. The laws shoald
be rigidly enforced which prohibit the i'm
migration of servile class to compete
with American labor, with no intention of
acquiring citizenship, and bringing with
them and retaining habits repugnant to our
civilization.
The people demand reform in the admin
istration of the Government, and the ap-
plication of business principles to public
affairs. As means to this end civil-ser-
vice reform should be in good fifth en-
forced. Our citizens have the right to pro-
lection from the incompetency of public
employees who hold their places solely as
the reward of partisan service, and from
the corrupting influence of those who
promise and the vicious methods of those
who expect such rewards. And those who
worthily seek public employment have the
right to insist that merit and competency
shall be recognized, instead of party sub
serviepcy or the surrender of honest politi-
cal belief. In the administration of gov
ernment pledged to do equal and exact JUS
tice to all men, there should be no pretext
for anxiety touching the protection of the
freedmen in their rights, or their security
in the enjoyment of their privileges under
the Constitution and its amendments. All
discussion as to their fitness for the place
accorded to them as American citizens is
idle and improbable, except as it suggests
the necessity for their improvement. The
fact that they are citizens entities them to
all the rights due to that relation, and
charges them with all its duties, obliga-
tions, and responsibilities.
| These topics and the constant and ever
varying wants of an active and enterprising
population may well receive the attention
and the patriotic endeavor of all who make
and execute the Federal laws. Our duties
are practical and call for Industrious appli-
cation. and intelligent perception of the
claims of public Office, and above all a firm
determination by united action to secure
to all the people of the land the full bene-
fits of the best form Of government ever
vouchsafed to man. And let us not trust
to human effort alone, but humbly ac-
knowled. ing the power and goodness of
Almighty God, who presides over the des-
tiny of nations, and who has at all times
been revealed in onr country's history, let
us invoke His aid and His blessing upon
our ldUOTSs
| TAKING THE OATH OF OFFICE.
| As the President elect concluded his ad-
dress, which occupied about twenty-four
minutes in its delivery, he turned towards
the Chief Justice with the announcement
that he was ready to take the oath of office.
Evers body uncover d their heads, and
remarkable stiffness followed as the Chief
Justice read the oath of Office. The Presi-
dent repeated every word of the oath, and
when LIE kissed the Bible, did so with an
earnestness characteristic of the man.
| THE CLEVELAND FAMILY BIBLE.
| The Bible used was one that has be-
longed to the family of President Cleveland
for many years. It is small Bible, of
plain binding, with gilded edges, about
three by Eve inches in size, and of the class
| that would sell in the store for dollar or