The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-03-07
CIeveIand's Inaugural Address.

FELLOW CITIZENS: In the presence OF
this vast assemblage of my countrymen, l
am about to supplement and seal by the
oath which shall take the manifestation
of the will of a great and free people. In
the exercise of their power and the right OF
self government they have committed TO
one of their fellow citizens a supreme and
sacred trust; and he here consecrates HIM
self to their service. This impressive cere-
mony adds little to the solemn sense OF re-
sponsibility with which | contemplate the
duty ! owe to all the people OF the land,
Nothing can relieve me from anxiety lest
by any act of mine their interests may sui
fer, and nothing is needed TO strengthen
my resolution TO engage every faculty ana
effort in the promotion OF their welfare
Amid the din OF party strife the people S
choice was made; but its attendant circum-
stances have demonstrated new strength
and safety Of the government 10y the peo-
pie In each succeeding year it more clear
" appears that our democratic principle
needs no apology, and that in its fearless
and faithful application is to be found the
surest guaranty of good government.
But the best results in the operation of n
government wherein every citizen has Il
share largely depend upon the proper llmi,
tation of purely partisan zeal ond effort and
Il correct appreciation of the time when the
heat of the partisan should be merged in
the patriotism of the citizen. To-day the
executive branch of the government is
transferred to new keeping. But this is
still none the less an object of their atfec
tionate solicitude. AT this hour the animos-
tiles of political strife, the bitterness of par
tisan defeat and the eXultation of partisan
triumph should be supplanted by ungrudg
ing acquiescence in the popular will and
sober, conscientious concern for the general
veal Moreover if from this hour we
cheerfully and honestly abandon all section
al prejudice and distrust, and determine,
with manly confidence in one another, to
work out tremendously the achievement
of our national destiny, we shall deserve to
realize 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, launched by the foun-
ders of the republic, and consecrated by
their prayers and patriotic devotion, has for
almost IA century borne the hopes and aspi-
rations of a great people through prosperi-
ty and peace and through the shocks of for
eign conflicts and the perils of domestic
strife and vicissitudes. BY the father of his
country our constitution was commended
for adoption as the result of spirit of am
ity and mutual concession. In that same
spirit it should be administered, in order to
promote the lasting welfare OF the country,
and to secure the full measure of its price
less benefits to us and to those who willsuc-
coed to the blessings of our national life.
The large variety of diverse and competing
interests subject to federal control, persist
emily seeking the recognition OF their
claims, need give us no fear that the grea.
test good to the greatest number" will fail
to be accomplished if, in the halls OF ma
tional legslation that spirit of amity and
mutual concession shall prevail in which
the constitution had its birth. II this in
wolves the surrender or .postponement OF
private interests and the abandonment of
local advantages, compensation will be
found in the assurance that thus the COM
mon interest Is subserved and the general
welfare advanced.
In the discharge of my official duty
shall endeavor to be guided by just and
unconstrained construction of the constitu-
ton, 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 appreci-
alton of those functions which, by the con-
stItution and laws, have been especially as
signed to the executive branch of the gov
eminent But he who takes the oath today
to preserve, protect and defend the constl-
tuition of the United States only assumes
the solemn obligation which every patriot
ic citizen on the farm, in the work shop, in
the busy marts of trade, and everywhere
should share with him. The constitution
which prescribes the oath, my countrymen,
is yours; the government you have chosen
him to administer for time is yours; the
suffrage which executes the will of free
men is yours; the laws and the entire
scheme of our civil rule, from the town
meeting to the state capitals and the natio-
nal capital, is yours, Your every voter, as
surely as 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
vigilant watch and close scrutiny of its |
public servants and fair and reasonable |
estimate of their fidelity and usefulness.
Thus is the peoples will impressed upon
the whole framework of our civil polity-
municipal, state and nationsl-an this is
the price of our liberty and the inspiration
of our faith in the republic.
1t is the duty of those serving the peo-
pie in public place to closely limit the pub
lie expenditures to the actual needs of the
government, economically administered,
because this bounds the right of the gov
eminent to exact tribute from the earnings
of labor or the property of the citizen, and
because public extravaganza begets eX-
travagance among the people. We should
never be ashamed of the simplicity and
prudential economy which are best suited
to the operation of a 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 exam
pc to encourage, consistently with the dig
nifty 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 people in the home life,
and the attention which is demanded for
the settlement and development of the re-
sources of our vast territory, dictate the
scrupulous avoidance of any departure