The Huntington argus. [volume] (Huntington, W. Va.) 1872-1905, 1885-03-12

the assurance that thus common
interest is subserved and the general
welfare advanced.
In the discharge of my official
duty 1 shall endeayor to be guided
by a just and unstrained construction
of the Constitution, by 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 their func-
tions, which by the Constitution and
the law, have been especially assigned
to the executive branch Of the
government. But he who takes the
oath to-day to preserve and defend
the Constitution of the United
States" assumes only the solemn
obligation which every patriotic citi-
zen, on the farm, in the workshop, IN
the busy marts of trade, and every
where, should share with him. The
constitution which prescribes his oath,
my countrymen, is yours. The gov
ernment you have chosen him to
administer for time is yours. The
suffrage which executes the will of
freemen is yours. The laws and the
entire scheme of our civil rule, from
town meeting to State capitols, and
the national capitol, is yours. Your
every voter as surely as your chief
magistrate, under the same high
sanction, though in different sphere,
exercises a public trust. Nor is this
all. Every citizen owes to his
country vigilant watch and close
scrutiny of its public servants, and a
fair and reasonable estimate of their
Gdelity and usefulness, Thus is the
peoples will impressed upon the
whole framework of the civil polity,
municipal, State and Federal. This
is the price of our liberty, and the
inspiration of our faith in the repub-
lie.
1t is the duty of those serving the
people in public places to closely limit
public expenditures to actual needs Of
government economically admins
tered, because this bounds the right
Of the government to exact tribute
from the earnings of the labor or the
prosperity of the citizens, and
because public extravaganza begets
extravaganza among the people. We
should never be ashamed of that
simplicity and prudential economy
which are best suited to the operation
of republican form of government
and most compatible with the mission
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
example to encourage, consistently
with dignity, in their official positions
that plain way of life which, among
fellow.citizeHs, aids integrity and
promotes thrift and prosperity.
The genius of our isptitutioDs, the
needs of our people in their home
life, and the attention demanded for
the settlement and development of
the resources of our vast territory,
dictate a scrupulOus avoidance of any
departure from that foreign policy
commended by the history, tradition
and the prosperity of our republic;
its policy Of independence, favored
by our position and defended by our
known love of justice, and by our
power; its policy Of neutrality,
rejecting any share 10 foreign broils
and animosities upon other continents
and repelIing intrusionshere; its poll
cy of Monroe, Washington, Jefferson,
"peace, commerce, and honest friend
ship with all nations, entangling
alliances with none"
A due regard for the interests and
prosperity of all the people demands
that our finances shall be established