The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1909-07-02
GOVERNOR BROWNS
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
Gentlemen Of the General Assembly,
Ladies and Fellow Citizens:

for the purpose Of taking the oath
which binds me to the duties Of chief
executive CT this commonwealth.
Before taking this oath | pause q
few moments 10 invoke the blessing
Of Almighty God upon not only the
state we love so WELL but also upon
every human creature whose life-lines
are east within her borders, and TO
voice few words Of goodwill and Of
cheer to all.
II is true that clouds Of dtscord have
for q time obscured the sky Of our
peace, that paralysis has stagnasaa
the warm blood of manly endeavOrs
but, emerging from the Rhadows into
the radiance OF the rising sun. We
know today SIS we have ever believed
that the heart OF Georgia still beats
true to the music OF progress, that
the hand Of Georgia welding right
eous power, will ever protect impair
TALLY and completely all who with
sincere souls place themselves and
their interests under her shield.
In this hour when our states sons
have assembled to do homage to her
laws, let us look not back upon the
checkered past, but face the future
and it's opportunities with the Will to
do justice and to dwell together In
amity.
must here express the conviction
that our fathers, In framing the or
ganic law of our commonwealth, fixed
the executive, legislative and judicial
| departments as the balance-wheels Of
| government Interference OF either
with the others was forbidden, and
each within its circle was supreme,
save that the governor, by the orderly
( exercise OF the veto, was invested
with the power to stay hasty or Ill
considered legislation.
] pledged my obedience to the con-
stitution in it's entirety. | shall under
take to execute every duty it imposes
| upon me. ! shall not attempt to grasp
any power it directly or by inference
| denies to me.
Each citizen filling an Office estab-
| lished under the constitution is re-
| sponsible for the administration OF It's
| functions, and no one in another de-
| partment is authorized to interfere
| with the exercise of such administra-
tive powers.
| Equality under the laws is the COM
| mon right Of our citizenship, constitu-
tionalism is the password of the
| pdlAIOb, Ju6lttG sWACt4S TIC 6WOKu WHICH
strikes down the wrong, which pro-
tects the pure; and the voice Of rea-
| son we perforce must heed, for we
| cannot ignore the truth that reason
| cOerceS while it cOaxes. In obedience
70 the constitution, we fulfill duty, we
secure pleasure, for while that great
instrument commands it protects.
/ will not today consume time In
proposing speciTic plans OF procedure
in our governmental labors. You who
are here assembled know the prob
lens which confront us; and at an
early day we will counsel together,
we will cooperate in the endeavor
to lessen the burdens OF the people,
and to restore economic conditions
which will enable all work to prosper.
In the meantime, il there have been
! differences let us put them behind US;
let harmony guide our thoughts and
accord characterize our acts; let us
1 bear in mind that we are Georgians,
and that the interest Of each Georgian
is the interest of all Georgians, and
let us prove to the world that wisdom
! endowed, constitution-Obeyin and
honor-loving Georgia holds forever
sacred the guarantee that under her
aegts abide as regnant forces justice.
| faith and truth.
| ask you, therefore, to remember
/ that as great as are our opportuni-
| ties, so great are our obligations, that
! the laws OF our state are not enacted
| to confer more power ON those named
as officials, but to furnish and apply
| the machinery whereby the oficials
can protect in equality Of rights all
/ the people, their peers. And in the ap-
1 plicatfOn OF those laws we cannot
! eliminate the personal equation from
! the problem, for both the official and
| the private citizen are bound to mu-
/ tually responsive action In the protec-
ton of society, to the extent that In
I all matters affecting the interest Of
the public, the private citizen should
! hold his word to be as Weighty with
| fidelity TO fact as the oficial holds
his oath. Let US then, to safeguard
that protection, discard haste and i'm
| pulse and with faith in God and in
ourselves promulgate instead the
propaganda of elaboration and reclp-
| rocal rights, of conservatism and
common sense. And in promulgating
| that propaganda we ever face the
fact that the people are the power:
notNthe handspring only, but the great
rolling river clear with fntelIigence
and masterful with might, shining
with justice and sweet with truth,
| controlled by no one but controlling
every one.
My countrymen, love Is not an emp
ty idea, and fraternity not a dream.
All things peaceable are possible 70
those whose will is to do the right
| The glory OF Georgia can be found
in a united manhood. II, then, In the
exercise Of the faculties with which
the Deity has endowed us, we acquire