The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1885-03-11
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Delivered by President Cleye-
land, March 4th.


oath whish shall take, the manifesto
ton of the will of great and free peo-
pie. In the exercise of their power and |
right of selEgovernment they have COM
mitted to one of their fellow citizens a
supreme and sacred trust, and he here |
consecrates himself to their service. !
This impressive ceremony adds little to
the solemn sense of the responsibility !
with which ! contemplate the duty |
owe to all the people of the land. Moth
ing can relieve Inc from anxiety lest by
any act of mine their interests may snf.
fer, and nothing is needed TO strengthen
my resolution to engage every faculty in
effort in the promotion of their welfare.
Amid party strife the peoples choics
was made, but It's attendant circnmstan-
ces have demonstrated a new strength
and safety Of government by the people
In each succeeding year it more clearly
appears that our democratic principles
need no apology, and that in their fear
less and faithful application is to be
found the surest guaranty of good gov
eminent. But the best result, in the
operation of government wherein
every citizen has a share, largely de-
ponds upon the proper limitation of
purely partisan zeal and effort and COR
recr appreciation :of the time when the
heat of the partisan should be merged
into the patriotism Of the citizen. To-
day the executive branch of the govern
ment is transferred to new keeping
But this is still a government Of all the
people, and it should be none the less an
object of their afIectionate solicitude At
this hour the animosities of political
strife, the bitterness Of partisan defeat,
and the exuItati m of partisan triumph
should be supplanted by ungrudging ac-
quiescence in the popular will and sober,
conscientious concern for the general
veal and welfare. Moreover, if from
this hour we cheerfully and honestly
abandon all sectional prejudice and dis
tlust and determine with manly conf
dence in one another to work out har-
moniously achievements of our national
destiny, we shall deserve to receive all
the benefits which our happy form of
government can bestow.
On this suspicious occasion we may
well renew the pledge of our devotion to
the Constitution which was launched by
the founders of the Republic and conse-
Grated by their prayers. Patriotic deyo
ton has for almost a century borne the
hopes and aspirations of this great peo-
pie through prosperity and peace, and
through the shock of foreign conflicts
and the perils of domestic strife and
vicissitudes. By the Father of his Coun-
try our Constitution was commended for
adoption as 'the result of spirit of ami
ty and mutual concessions" In that
same spirit it should be administered in
order to promote the lasting welfare of
our country, and to secure the full meas !
IRE Of its priceless 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, persistently seek |
ing 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 ard ma.
tional concession shall prevail in which
the Constitution had its birth. IF this |
involves the surrender or postponement |
of private interests and the abandon |
ment Of local advantages, compensation /
will be found in the assurance that those |
of the common interests are subserved |
in the end and the general welfare adj
vanced In the discharge of my official |
duty | sliaI endeavOr to be guided by /
the just and unrestrained construction Of I
the Constitution, "a careful observance of |
the distinction between the powers |
granted to the Federal government and I
those reserved TO the States or the peo-
pie, and by the cautious appreciation of /
those injunctions which by the Constitu- I
ton and laws have been especially as
signed to the executive branch of the
government But he who takes the
oath to-day to preserve, protect and de-
fend the Constitution of the United /
States only assumes the solemn obliga-
ton which every patriotic citizen on the
farm, in the workshop, IN the busy mart
of trade, and everywhere, should share
with him. The Constitution which pre-
scribes his oath, my countrymen, is
yours. The government which 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 service
rule. from the town meeting to the State
capitols and the National capital, lis yours.
Every voter as surely as yonr Chief Mag
istrate under some high sanction. though.
in different sphere, exercises a public
trust.
Nor is this all. Every citizen owes to
his country vlgllant watch and clos
scrutiny of its public servants, and fair
and reasonable estimate If the fd ,lity !.
and usefulness Thus is the peoples
will impressed upon The whole frame
work Of our civil policy municipal,
State and Federal-and this is the price
Of our liberty ana the inspiration Of
your faith in the Republic 1t is the
inty of those serving the people in pub
ic places to closely limit the expendi-
lures to the actual needs of the govern.
nent economically administered, be- .
;ausc this bounds the right of the gov
eminent to exact tribute from the earn
ngs of labor or the property Of citizens
md because of public extravaganza
among the people.
We should never be ashamed of sim
al