The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-03-12
THE INAUGURAL.
Full Text Of President Cleyeland'S
First Communication to the People.

| FFILow-CITIzENs: In the presence Of this vast
| ssscmbiage of my countrymen am about to sup
| PIGMENT and seal by the osth which shall take,
people In the exercise of their power and right of
| self government, they have committed To one Of
| their feliow-oitizens supreme ana sacred trust
aud he here consecrates himself - their service.
This impressive ceremony adds little 10 the
solemn sense of Response ability with which con-
| template the duty owe 10 all the people OF the
| land. Nothing relieve me from anxiety lest
by any act of mine their interests may suffer; and
nothing Is needed to strengthen my resolution TO
engage every faculty and effort in tho promotion
| of their welfare.
| Amid the din of party strife
THE PEOPLES CHOICE
was made; but its attendant circumstances have
demonstrated anew the strength and safety oil
! government by the people. In each succeeding
year il more clearly appears that our Democratic
principle needs apology and that IN ITS fearless
and faithful application Is TO be found the surest
| guarantee OF good government.
Bot the best results in the operation OF gov
crnment wherein every citizen has II share, largely
depend upon proper limitation of purely partisan
zeal and effort and u correct appreciation OF tue
| time when the heat of the partisan should pe
merged III the patriotism Of the citizen.
To-day the executive branch OF the Government
i transferred keeping But this il still the
the less object of their aiectionate soiicitude
AT this hour the animositieS of political strife the
bitterness of partisan defeat and the eyultaton of
! partisan triumph should be suppianted by I'm ur-
/ gTadging acquescence in the popular will, and a
sober, conscientious concern for the general veal
! Moreover if from this hour We eheerfuily and
honestly abandon all sectional prejudice and dis
| trust, and determine, with manly confidence IN
| one another, TO work out harmoniously the
! achievements of national destiny, we shall
deserve to realize all the benefits which our happy
| form of government can bestew.
On this suspicious occasion may well renew
| the pledge OF our devotion to the Constitution,
which, launched by the founders of the Republic,
and conseerated by their prayers and patriotic de-
.votion has for almost a century borne the hopes
he IN of a
perity and peace and through the shock of foreign
conflicts and the pers of domestic strife and vicis-
STUDIES
| BY the Father of his Country our Constitution
was comm ended for adoption IA " the result OF q
| spirit of amty and mutual concession" In that
sanfe spirit it should be administered, in order to
promote the lasting welfare of the country and TO
secure the full measure of its priceless benefits TO
and To those who will succeed to the blessings
| of national life. The large variety of diverse
and competing interests subject to Federal CONTROL
persstently seeking the recognition of their claims,
need give us fear that the greatest good to the
greatest number will fail to be accomplished if in
the halls of national legislation that spirit of amty
and mutual concession shall prevail in which the
Constitution had its birth. Ii this involves the
render or postponement of private interests and
the abandonment of local advantages, compensa-
ton viii he found iii the assurance that thus the
common interest is subserved and the general well
| fare advanced.
In the discharge of my official duty shall en-
Geavor to be guided by Just and unstrained con-
sriietion of the Constitution. careful observance
of the distinction between the powers granted to
the Federal Government and those reserved 10 the
states or to the people and by cautious apprccia-
ton of those functions which, by the Constitution
and laws. have been especially assigned to the Ex-
ecutIVc branch of the Governments.
OBLIGATION RESTING ON ALL.
Bat 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 the farm, iii the work.
shop. in the busy martS of trade, and everywhere,
should share with him. The Constitution which
preserbes his oath, my countrymen Is yours; the
Government you have chosen him to administer
| for time is yours; the suffrage which executes
the will OF freemen is yours; the laws and the
tire scheme OF our civil rule from the town meet
ing to the State Captols and the National Capitol.
IL yours. Your every voter, surely your
| Chief Magistrate, under the same high sanction,
though in a different sphere, exercises a public
| trust. Nor is this all. Every citizen owes to the
country a vgilant watch and close scrutiny of its
public servants, and fair and reasonable estimate
of their fidelity and usefulness. Thus is the peo-
pies will impressed upon the whole framework of
our civil polity, municipal, State and Federal; and
this is the price of our liberty and the inspiration Of
our faith In the Republic.
PLEA FOR ECONOMY.
IT is the duty of those serving the people in pub
lie place to closely limit public expenditures the
actual needs of the Government, economically adj
ministered, because this bounds the right of the
Government 10 exact tribute from the earnings of
labor the property of the citizen. and because
public extravaganza begets extravagance among
the people. We should never he ashamed of the
| simplicity and prudential economies which best
| suited to the operation of n republican form Of
ana compatible Win The
| SION OF the American people. Those who are
selected, for limited time, to manage public sffairs
are still OF the people, and may do much by their
example TO encourage, consistently with the dignity
OF their official functions, that plain way of life
| which among their fellow-citizens aids integrity
and promotes thrift and prosperity.
OUR FOREIGN POLICY
The genius of institutions the needs of our
people in their home life and the attention which
Il demanded for the settlement and DEVELOPMENT of
the resources of our vast territory, dictate the
| foreign policy commended by the history the
traditions, and the prosperity of our Republic II is
the policy of independence, favored by position
and defended by our known love of justice and by
power. II is the policy of peace suitable to our
interests. 1t Is TIE policy Of neutrality, rejecting
any share in foreign broils and ambitions upon
other continents, and repeng their intrusion here
| 1t is the policy of Monroe, of Washington. and
Jefferson " Peace commerce. and honest friend
| ship with all nations; entangiing alliances with
none"
A due regard for the interests and prosperity of
| all the people demands that
OUR FINANCES
shall be established upon such a sound and sensible
basis shall secure the safety and confidence of
business interests and make the wages of labor sure
| and steady and that our system of revenue shall be
SO adjusted to relieve the people from unneces-
sary taxation, having due regard to the interests
of capital invested and workingmen employed in
| American industries and preventing the accum ula-
ton OF Il surplus in the Treasury TO tempt ex-
| travagance and waste. Care for the property of
the Nation and for the needs of future settlers re-
HuifeS inc pubic uOnlhin should he protected
from purloining schemes and unlawful occupation
| THE INDIANS.
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 n
| view to their ultimate citizenship; and that
polygamy in the Territories, destructive of the
family relation and offensive TO the moral sense
| of the civilized world, shall be reprcssed The
laws should be rigidly enforced which prohibit the
immigration of n seryile class TO compete with
| American labor with no intention of acquiring cti-
zenship, and bringing with them and retaining
habits and customs repugnant to our civilization.
CIVIL SERVICE.
The people demand reform in the administration
of the Government and the application of business
principles to public affairs As a means to this end
civil service reform should be in good enforced
incompetency of public employees who hold their
places solely the reward of partisan service and
from the corrupting influence of those who promise
and the vicious method of those who expect such
rewards. And those who worthily seek public EN-.
ployment have the right TO insist that merit and
competency shall he recognized instead of party
subserviency, or the surrender of honest political
belief.
| THE FREEDMEN.
| In the ADMINISTERS of a Government uled1ed
TO do equal and exact justice all men there shouId
be pretext for anxiety touching the protection OF
the freedmen in their rights their security in the
enjoyment of their privileges under the Constitu-
ton and its amendments. All discussion as to their
fitness for the place accorded TO them Us American
| citizens is idle and Improbable except as il suo
! gests the necessity for their Improvement The
fact that they citizens entities them TO all the
| rights due TO that relation, and charges them with
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