The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1913-01-10
PARK TRAMMELL
IS |NAUGURATED
NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF
FLORIDA TAKES OATH OF OF
FICE AT TALLAHASSEE.
MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE
Governor TrammeIl Outlines the Pol
icy of His Administration and Ad-
Vocates Many improvements.

Tallahassee. Fla, Jan. 7, 1913
Hon. Park Trammell was inaugural
ed Governor of Florida today. Tht
oath of office was administered by tn,
Chief Justice of the Supreme Cour
in accordance with the custom i,
this State.
After the impressive ceremony O
delivering the great seal of the Stat,
OF Florida by Governor Gilchrist t,
Governor Trammell, the new execu
tive delivered his inaugural address
which follows, in part:
Ladies and Fellow-Citizens
In the breath and in the shirt O
the solemn oath which has Just beef
administered to me by the State.
highest judicial official officer, | de
sire now, not in any empty sense o
formality, but with all the sincerit,
and ealnestness which l possess, t.
pledge my time, my best services anC
whatever of ability l have, to the
cause of Florida; her moral advance
ment, her material growth, the bet
terment of her institutions, the hap
plness of her citizens, and to the ad
minlstering of all the affairs of gov
eminent in manner which will pro
tect, promote and foster the interep
and welfare of the people of this
great State.
Since it was decreed by the sover
egn will of the people of Florida thai
upon this day | should succeed to the
office Of Governor, l have, | assure
you, been filled with the keenest and
most sincere gratitude for the honor
conferred upon me, and have priced
more than anything beneath the
Heavens the token of confidence re
corded by my fellow-citizens. | am
profoundly thankful for this oppor,
tunity, at the very threshold of the
administration upon which we are
about to enter, to say that, come
what may, l shall always stand a
debtor to the people of Florida, and
it shall be both my pleasure and my
constant purpose, by proper regard
for my fellow-man, by an answering
fidelity and loyalty to every public
trust to manifest my gratitude and
heartfelt appreciation for the honor
of having been called to the Chief
Magistracy Of our State.
enter upon the duties of this i'm
portant office fully mindful that to
the man who has the right conception
of his duty, the ambition to serve
in a public capacity is not for the
purpose Of enriching himself, the pun
ishment of enemies or rewarding at
the public expense his friends, nor
that he may extend any special priv
ileges to any person or class; but
he is moved by the higher and nobler
purpose of rendering the greatest
service of which he is capable to the
whole people. So far as human linn
itatons and my own capacity will
permit, | now assure you that my of
fetal conduct during the next four
years shall be ever guided and gov
erned by this high conception of pub
lie duty.
Politically. we are at the dawn of
a new era in the history of this great
Nation-an era marked by an unpar-
alleled awakening of the public con-
science upon the problems of the age
and in the matter of demanding the
highest service from public officials.
The masses have grasped full real
iZation of the fact that the foundation
of free government rest upon the con-
sent and should be guided by the will
of the people. Government is for the
general good, and that public servant
who fails to honestly exert all his en-
ergies towards securing the greatest
possible benefits for his constituents
has fallen short of fulfilling the just
and reasonable demands which should
be expected of those called to posi-
tons of public trust. Nothing short
of the most constant devotion to duty
is going to satisfy the people under
the happy new conditions of popular
concern about political affairs-and l
believe nothing else should satisfy
them
For about a score of years the con.
test has waged heavily in this coun.
try-as it has, indeed, throughout the
civilized worId-between the old or.
der of special privilege and the re.
formed idea of equal opportunity and
fair play for all. We marvel at the
progress being made by the various
professions and sciences and crafts;
but. as / see it, one of the most sig,
nifcant evolutions in history, which
the world has made in our own gener-
alton. has been the real awakening of
the people to the glorious realization
that they are, in fact, their own
rulers.