Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-03-12
CIeveIand's Address.

Cleveland,S Address.
Following is the inaugural address deliy-
cred by President Cleveland:
FELLOW CITIZENS: In the presence of
this vast assemDage of my countrymen
am about to supplement and seal BY the
oath which l shall take manifestation of
the will of a great and free people. In the
exercise of their power aud the right of
self-government they have committed to
one of their fellow-citiZens a supreme and
sacred trust, and lie here consecrates it to
their service.
This impressive ceremony adds little to
the solemn sense of responsibility with
which contemplate the duty | owe to all
the people of this land; nothing can relieve
me from anxiety lest by any act of mine
their interests may suffer, and nothing is
needed to strengthen my resolution TO en-
gage every faculty and effort in the promo
ton OF their welfare. Amid the din of
party strife the peoples choice was made,
but Its attendant circumstances have DEM
onstrated new strength and the safety of
government 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 appl-
cation is to be found the surest guaranty of
good government.
But the best result in the operation of a
government wherein every citizen has a
share largely depends upon the proper lin
ltatlon OF purely partisan zeal and effort,
and correct appreciation of the time when
the heat OF thepartlsan should be merged
into the patriotism of the citizen. To-day
the executive branch of the government is
transferred to new keeping. But this is
still a government of all the people, and ii
should be none the less an object of their
affectlonate solicltude. At this hour the
animositieS of political strife, the bitterness
of partisan defeat, and the exultation of
partisan triumph should be supplanted by
ungrudglng acquiescence in the popular
will and sober, conscientious concern for
the general veal; moreover, If from this
hour we cheerfully and honestly abandon
all sectional prejudice and distrust, and de-
termine, with manly confidence in one an
other, 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 auspci0us occasion we
may well renew the pledge of our devotion
to the constitution, which, launched by the
founders OF the republic and consecrated by
their prayers ami patriotic devotion, has for
almost century borne the hopes and aspi-
ratl0ns OF great people through prosperity
and peace and through the shock of foreign
conflicts and the perils of domestic strife
and vic SIS itudeS. BY the father of his coun-
try our constitution was commended for
adoption as the result of spirit of amity
and mutual concession" In that same
spirit it should be administered in order to
promote the welfare this country and to
secure the full measure of its priceless ben
etits to us and to those who will succeed to
the blessings of our national life.
The large variety of diverse and compet-
ing interests subject to federal control per
sistently seeking the recognition of their
claims need give us no fear that 1.-THE great
est good to the greatest numbers will fail TO
be accomplished if, in the halls of national
legislation, that spirit of amity and mutual
concession shall prevail III which the con-
Stitution had its birth. If this involves the
surrender or postponement of private in
terests and the abandonment of local adyan-
tages, compensation will'be found in the as
surance that thus the common interest is
subseryed and the general welfare adj
vanced.
In the discharge of my official duty shall
endeavor to be guided by just and un-
strained construction of the constitution,
careful observance of the distinction be-
tween the powers granted to the federal
government and those reserved to the States
or to the people, and by a cautious appre-
citation of those functions which, by the
constitution and laws, have been especial
ly assigned to the executive branch of the
government But he who takes the oath
to-day to preserve, protect, and defend the
constitution of the United States only as
sumes the solemn obligation which every
patriotic citizen on the farm, in the work
shop, in the busy marts of trade, and ev-
erywhere, should share with him. The
constitution which prescribeS his oath, my
countrymen, IS yours; the government you
have chosen him to administer for time
IS yours; the suffrage which executes the
VIII OF free men is yours; the laws and the
entire scheme of our civil rule from the
town meeting to the state capital and the
national capitol is yours. 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 country
ylgilant watch and close scrutiny of its
servants and fair and reasonable estimate
OF their fidelity and usefulness. Thus is
the peoples will impressed upon the whole
framework of our civil policy-municipa
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 places to closely limit public ex-
penditureS TO- the actual needs of the govern
ment, economical Y administered, because
there are bounds to the right of government
to exact tribute from the earnings of labor
or the propert of citizens, and because
public eXtrava .ance begets extravaganza
among the people. We should never be
ashamed of the simplicity and prudential
economies which are best suited to the
operation of a republican form of govern
ment and most compatible with the mission
of the American people. Those who are
selected for limited time to manage pub
lie affairs are still of the people and may do
much by their example to encourage con-
sistently, with the dignity of their official
functions, that plain way of life which,
among their fellow-citZens, aids integrity
and promotes thrift and prosperity. The
genius of our institutions, the needs of our
people in their home life, and the attention
Jah S, .laI 60, 81 n
development of the I. sources of our vast
territory, dictate the scrupulous avoidance
OF any departure from that foreign policy,
commended by the history, the tradition
and the prosperity of our republic. 1t is
the policy of independence, favored by orr
position and defended by our known love
of justice and by our power. 1t is the pol
icy of peace, suitable to our interests. 1t
is the policy of neutrality, rejecting any
share in foreign bro Is and ambitions upon
other continents and repeling their intru-
sion here. 1t is the policy of Monroe, and
WASHINGTON, and Jefferson. Peace in
commerce and honest friendship with all
nations; entanging alliances with none.''
A due regard for the interests and pros
perity of all people mand 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 system of revenue
shail De so adjusted as to relieve the people
from unnecessary taxation, having a due
regard to the interests of capital invested
and workingmen employed in American in
dustries, and preventing the accumulation
OF surplus in the treasu Y to tempt ex-
trdyagance and waste. Care for the prop
erty OF the nation and for the needs of fii-
ture settlers require the public domain
should be projected from purloining
schemes and unlawful 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 educa-
ton and civilization promoted with view
TO their ultimate citizenship; and that po-
lygamy In the territories-destructiv of the
family relation and ffensive to the moral
sense of the civilized world--shali be re-
pressed. The laws should be rigidly en-
forced which prohibits the immigration of
a servlle class to compete with American
labor, with no intention of acquiring citi-