The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-12-08
GOVERNOR RICHARDSON.
THE INSTALLATION or OuK NEW
ENECUTINE.

Governor John Peter Richardson was
duly inaugurated on Tuesday the Both
ult., in the Opera House at Columbia.
After taking the oath of Office, Governor
Richardson made his inaugural address,
rs follows:
Gentlemen of the Senate and House
of Representatives.: 1t is with a deep
sense of the responsibility and obliea-
ton | assumed that | have just taken in
this solemn presence the constitutional
oath Of Office us Governor of South Car
Dina.
With no ordinary emotion, and with Il
heart full Of gratitude to the people of
this State, through whose partial kind
ness / am the recipient of this exalted
honor, | this day enter upon the dis
charge of its high duties, TO the faithful.
honest, vigilant and patriotic execution
of which l pledge the honor of n devoted
son of Carolina.
Sincerely distrustful OF my own abili,
ties, | confidently rely upon YOU, thcil
chosen representatives., for such wise,
liberal and conservative action rs will
render the progress of the State in
material prosperity rapid and the cxecu-
tive administration of her affairs easy.
To the most unobservant and indltlrr-
ent it must be apparent that these are
times fruitful OF vast and pressing
problems, social, industrial aud
ic, both III State and national affairs,
which demand for their solution the ablcst
talent and most umseltish patriotism.
Notwithstanding the dual nature of our
institutions and government, investing
the citizen, as ii does, with varied duties
and interests, the peculiar condition of
our State, socially and politically, during
the dark days of rcconstruction, rigidly
confined the attention of our people to
the seemingly hopeless and Hcrculean
task of wrestling from Il chaos Of cor
ruption and v~cnality i'll all their hideous
forms, and of universal malfcasancC III
official life, such as had never before dis
graced the annals of q civilized commu-
nifty, order and good government.
How successfully, how marvclously,
this has been accomplished, need / at
tempt to describe? Surely, it can never
be possible that the deep, soul-burning
humiliations, the crushing tyranny, the
ruinous taxation We SO long endured, the
bold cffrontery OF loathsome vice i'll high
places that stalked i'll open daylight
through the streets Of this beautiful
capital, have SO oon passed out of mind
and been forgotten like the idle terrors
of Il dream, amidst the quoting, rcstful
surroundings of the renewed peace, order
and good government We nov so bounti-
fully enjoy. TO the people of Carolina,
| verify believe, one of the greatest mis-
fortunes that could occur would be an
oblivious disregard of a former expert
enc that, upon the least cessation of
vigilance on their part. might, and would
almost SlIlpIV D0n1n hTpnlOp n fnrrIhln
possibility. The same clements Of evil
are here, the same forces present, though
latent; but TO this generation, who are
the witnesses OF and the sufferers from
certainly the most anomalous and cX-
t~raOrdinary condition Of political and
social life under which Il people ever
lived, ! do not think there can cvcr come
any dcluge OF LcthCan waters so over
whclming rs to sink into oblivion the bit
ter memories OF the past. Sad, JUDGED,
would be the sure results OF criminal for.
getfulncss of II lesson 50 roughly taught,
SO hcroically learned! No, this can
never be. We are again in the house oi
our fathers, as masters and rulers, and
we are here to stay as such for all time
but to stay inspired by the true instinct,
of liberty and animated solely by IL high
and patriotic purpose to dispense even.
handed Justice, to maintain the purity
of our institutions, and to secure to al
classes and conditions Of our citizens
every legal, constitutional and inherent
right OF man.
With the incStimahlc advantages O.,
good Il honest government once moro
surrounding us, like II lifc-giving atmoS
phcre, how brightthc prospect fora rapiC
advance i'll all the arts OF peace and il
the accumulation Of the wealth to which
our wonderful II Of soil ant
climate SO justly cntitlc us. True, W,
are just ut this time in a condition o.
great business depression, common tC
every interest of the whole world. and in
no way peculiar to ourselves, save, per
haps, II complications arising from tn,
transition phase through which on
agricultural industry is now passing. 10
this great interest We should certainly
give promptly that attention which its
Importance to the general welfare SO i'm
peratively demands. We should APP
proach its consideration with that calm
ness Of Judgment and freedom from pas
sion so essential to reaching wise conclu-
slonS. The Department Of Agriculture,
to whose charge it's interests have been
~lntrustcd, and whose development has
been the object OF Such earnest, faithful
and successful efforts, should be sus-
tanned and fostcrol. All laws upon our
statute books tending to the r~ctardation
OF its development, or calculated to
direct its energies into Improbable
channels, should be ut once repealed,
and such measures onlya as are absolutely
needed for its proper encouragement
should be enacted.
Perfect freedom OF action and judg-
ment is the most efficient incentive to
successful eXertion III oil the occupations
of life. This it is the duty of any govern
ment to insure to any citizen, whether
walking in the paths Of commerce., fol
lowing the professions, or gathering the
wealth of nature from ON tccming for
csts and causing our fruitful fields to
yield their abundant increase. i speak
as a farmer, who loves his calling with
an ardorinhcrited from ancestors devoted
solely to the tillagc of the SOL, and