Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-03-15
THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
Citizenship, Pensions, Civil Service and
Purity of Elections and Other Matters.

ne Deals WIN Protection, american
Citizenship, Pensions, Civil Service and
Purity of Elections and Other Matters.
There is no constitutional or legal require
ment that the president shall take the oath Of
office in the presence Of the people. But there
is so manifest an appropriateness in the pub
lie induction to Office Of the chief executive
officer of the nation that from the beginning
of the government the people, to whose serv-
ice the official oath consecrates the officer,
have been called to witness the solemn cere-
monial. The oath taken in the presence Of
the people becomes a mutual covenant, the
officer covenants to serve the whole body of
the people by faithful execution of the laws,
so that they may be the unfailing defense
and security of those who respect and observe
them, and that neither wealth and station,
nor the power of combinations shall be able
to evade their just penalties, or to wrest them
from beneficent public purpose to serve the
ends of cruelty or selfishness.
My promise is spoken, yours unspoken, but
not the less real and solemn. The people of
every state have here their Representatives.
Surely do not misinterpret ii spirit of the
occasion when / assume that the whole body
of the people covenant with me and with
each other to-day to support and defend the
constitution Of the union of the states. to
yield willing obedience to all the laws and
each to every other citizen his equal civil and
political rights. Entering thus solennly in
covenant with each other, we may reverently
invoke and confidently expect the favor and
help of Almighty God, that He will give to
me wisdom, strength and fidelity and to our
people a spirit of fraternity and love of
Righteousness and peace.
The Nations Progress.
This occasion derives peculiar interest from
the fact that the presidential term, which be-
gins this day, is the twenty-sixth under our
constitution. The first Inauguration of Pres.
ident Washington took place in New York.
where congress was then sitting, on the 3Oth
day of April, 1850, having been deferred by
reason of delays attending the organization
of the congress and the canvass Of the
electoral vote. Our people have already
worthily observed the centennials of the
declaration of independence, of the battle of
Yorktown and Of the adoption of the con.
stitution, and will shortly celebrate in New
York the institution of the second great de-
partment of our constitutional scheme of
government. When the centennial Of the
institutions of the judicial department by the
organization Of the supreme court shall have
been suitably observed, as l trust it will be.
our nation will have fully entered its second
century.
will not attempt to note the marvellous
and, in a great part happy, contrasts between
our country as it steps over the Threshold
into its second century of organized existence
under the constitution, and that weak. but
wisely ordered young nation that looked I'M
dauntedly down the first century, when all its
years stretched out before it. Our people
will not fail at this time to recall the Incl
dents which accompanied the institution of
government under the constitution, or to find
inspiration and guidance in the teachings and
example of Washington and his great asso-
ciates. and hope and courage in the contrast
which thirty-eight populous and prosperous
states offer to the thirteen states, weak in
everything except courage and the love of
liberty, that then fringed our Atlantic sea-
board
The territory of Dakota has now a popula-
ton greater than any Of the original states
Except Virginia) and greater than the aggre-
gate of five of the smaller states in 1890. The
center of population, when our national
Capitol was located, was east of Baltimore,
and it was argued by many wellinformed
persons that it would move eastward rather
than westward. Yet, in 1880, it was found
to be near Cincinnati. and the new census,
about to be taken. Will show another stride
occupied seat 1t the right Of the presiding
officer, and the committee of Arrangements
sat on the left
the house of representatives and members