The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1904-01-16
GOV. VARDAMAN'S
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

lhpII tk wv flllIfH WIN NV 'iNAh ina
he Is the source Of all political pow
er, as his labor Is the source Of all
material wealth. Whatever bitterness
or acrimony the recent campaign may
have engendered, the wounds inflicted
In the contest for place. the disap'
pointmcnts and heart buTnings that
resulted from the conflict, let us try
TO moIlify. conciliate and mutually for
give. Join hands, united In heart and
mind, ald present a solid front as we
march forward TO meet the grave re-
spOnsibilitica Of the future. LII" Is
too short to be taken up In remember
ing or brO0ding over digagreeablc or
immatcrial things. Experience Is Of
no good, unless it makes man wiser
and better. He who hates hurts him
self. for hatred p]OisUns the heart, be
clouds the judgment and PARALLELS the
Imagination
The state has the right 10 demand
Of every citizen the beat there is In
him. The great problem which riser
mountain high in the pathway Of the
State'a future, throwing its chilling
shadows over the most glorious posi-.
bilities, would alarm a less heroic ana
rcsourcriuI people. But the white PEG
pie Of Mississippi have always proven
themselves equal to every emergency,
and. believing, az do, that,
that which they have done IL but
an earnest Of the things that they shall
do" | am confident that under the d.
rcctiOn Of al Advise Providence
which by all It's dtspcnsation proves
that everything was created for 4 def
mite purpose and TO perform a Ger.
tain necessary function in the economy
of the world, TINT this paramount
prOblcm-thr race question will ulti-
matcly be settled. and settled justly
protecting alike the interests OF the
negro ald the white man, That the
negro was created for some good pur-
pose, time has demonstrated, but that
good purpose Is not participation in
the government of white men, The
crime Of all the ages against civiliza-
tiOn was committed, when in the
']agOni1inR spasm Of Infatuated men,
just after the civil war, the North *.
pressed its hatred Of the white people
of the South in the amendments to
the Federal constitution, which invest
ed the negro with all the rights an
privileges Of citizenship, The intlu-
cncpe which dethrOned the reason. the
dust and smoke Of a bred preiudlces
and anImositics have been blown
away by the winds Of common sense,
the sections reunited by the spirit OF
Anglo Saxon brotherhood, and that
mistake stands out naked to all the
world in all Of its stupidity and ugli-
ness. II is the bastard offspring OF
the ~eXigeuCies of war and Unsuitable
greed for gain. The nation should
correct this CrrOr-this s~tupcnduOus
soIecism and now is the time to do it.
| have no patience with the notion
entertained by men who insist that 1T
is impOlitic to press the question
now" 1t Is never too carly to correct
a mistake, to expose an error, or to eX-
plOde a lie, Now Is the time to do it,,
and believe the Southern people
should take the Initiative. They are
familiar with all the facts; they alone
are capable of informing the world OF
the profound. God,stamped, timc.tiXed
and malterable inCOmpotency OF the
negro for citizenship In a white mans
country. This is Il serious matter, and
the moral obligation resting upOl the
white man into whose hands the des-
tiny of the negro race, rs well as the
future of the State, has been commit
ted, should develop the best there is
L., blp, IL, ,apnat agfaTl d, No IN.
Just, but It is no time for siCkly sentt'
ment. believe in Justice, | believe
In the sympathetic and love prompt
ilgs OF the human heart, but the sur.
geon whose heart. rather than his
head. guides him in the treatment Of
a desperate case. Is an unsafe doctor.
The nation should act In this matter,
and act now. proCras'ination will
only Comp|iCate and Intensity the diff
hculties. In the meantime, the South
ern States must protect themselves.
Mississippi must conserve her " civ
ilizatiOn. and by law maintain white
supremacy. The welfare of the negro
demands II, as much as the interests
of the white man. My fellow citizens,
the eyes of the world are upon Mis-,
sissippi today, No more important
hour in all her history has been pass
ed than that TO which the hald of
Time Is now pointing. 1t is n time
for unalloyed patriotism 10 show forth
the integrity of its metal in the cruel
BILE of courage, of craftsmanship and
selfsaCTifCe-fO for manhood to flower
in its glory Of divine potency, as II
has Powered IN every crucial moment
of the states history, Be not de,
TERED, dtssuaded or inundated, my
countrymen, by the siren song Of the
Gordid materialist-"that We are doing
well enough" Eternal vigilance Is the
price of liberty. When the stupid and
c~unsCienceless dollar becomes the god,
peCuniary interest the only thing to be
considered, and honesty in and out OF
Office but refined eXpedienCy-when
that becomes the order of the day, the
beginning of the end of free govern,
ment Is at hand, Dcmosthenes, in one
of his superb Orations, stated the cause
of GrCece's downfall in these undy.
ing words: What has ruined Greece?
Envy when a man received a bride;
laughter when he confessed II; mercy
to the convicted. and hatred to those
who Denounced the crime'-all the
usual Accomplishments Of corruption.
| Beneath the crushing weight Of crime
that suu.crowned civili2ation-the first
born of democracy-whose glorious eff
mlgence Eliminates the dark pages
of the past and still throws a mellow
glow over the present, went down
never to rise again; the blight of cor
ruptIon had destroyed the very germ
Of life. Would It not, | submit, be
wise for lis to pause, survey the field,
and II possible avoid the snares into
which that glorious democracy Of an,
! cient times fell to its ruin?
The disposition on the part Of the
masses in recent years has,
turn the reins of govSfnm9
the favored few, apa9
A-A EL ~ D1H