Speech Transcript:

Fellow-Citizens:

We have assembled to repeat the public ceremonial, begun by
Washington, observed by all my predecessors, and now a time-honored
custom, which marks the commencement of a new term of the
Presidential office. Called to the duties of this great trust, I
proceed, in compliance with usage, to announce some of the leading
principles, on the subjects that now chiefly engage the public
attention, by which it is my desire to be guided in the discharge of
those duties. I shall not undertake to lay down irrevocably
principles or measures of administration, but rather to speak of the
motives which should animate us, and to suggest certain important
ends to be attained in accordance with our institutions and essential
to the welfare of our country.

At the outset of the discussions which preceded the recent
Presidential election it seemed to me fitting that I should fully
make known my sentiments in regard to several of the important
questions which then appeared to demand the consideration of the
country. Following the example, and in part adopting the language, of
one of my predecessors, I wish now, when every motive for
misrepresentation has passed away, to repeat what was said before the
election, trusting that my countrymen will candidly weigh and
understand it, and that they will feel assured that the sentiments
declared in accepting the nomination for the Presidency will be the
standard of my conduct in the path before me, charged, as I now am,
with the grave and difficult task of carrying them out in the
practical administration of the Government so far as depends, under
the Constitution and laws on the Chief Executive of the nation.

The permanent pacification of the country upon such principles and by
such measures as will secure the complete protection of all its
citizens in the free enjoyment of all their constitutional rights is
now the one subject in our public affairs which all thoughtful and
patriotic citizens regard as of supreme importance.

Many of the calamitous efforts of the tremendous revolution which has
passed over the Southern States still remain. The immeasurable
benefits which will surely follow, sooner or later, the hearty and
generous acceptance of the legitimate results of that revolution have
not yet been realized. Difficult and embarrassing questions meet us at
the threshold of this subject. The people of those States are still
impoverished, and the inestimable blessing of wise, honest, and
peaceful local self-government is not fully enjoyed. Whatever
difference of opinion may exist as to the cause of this condition of
things, the fact is clear that in the progress of events the time has
come when such government is the imperative necessity required by all
the varied interests, public and private, of those States. But it
must not be forgotten that only a local government which recognizes
and maintains inviolate the rights of all is a true self-government.

With respect to the two distinct races whose peculiar relations to
each other have brought upon us the deplorable complications and
perplexities which exist in those States, it must be a government
which guards the interests of both races carefully and equally. It
must be a government which submits loyally and heartily to the
Constitution and the laws--the laws of the nation and the laws of the
States themselves--accepting and obeying faithfully the whole
Constitution as it is.

Resting upon this sure and substantial foundation, the superstructure
of beneficent local governments can be built up, and not otherwise. In
furtherance of such obedience to the letter and the spirit of the
Constitution, and in behalf of all that its attainment implies, all
so-called party interests lose their apparent importance, and party
lines may well be permitted to fade into insignificance. The question
we have to consider for the immediate welfare of those States of the
Union is the question of government or no government; of social order
and all the peaceful industries and the happiness that belongs to it,
or a return to barbarism. It is a question in which every citizen of
the nation is deeply interested, and with respect to which we ought
not to be, in a partisan sense, either Republicans or Democrats, but
fellow-citizens and fellowmen, to whom the interests of a common
country and a common humanity are dear.

The sweeping revolution of the entire labor system of a large portion
of our country and the advance of 4,000,000 people from a condition of
servitude to that of citizenship, upon an equal footing with their
former masters, could not occur without presenting problems of the
gravest moment, to be dealt with by the emancipated race, by their
former masters, and by the General Government, the author of the act
of emancipation. That it was a wise, just, and providential act,
fraught with good for all concerned, is not generally conceded
throughout the country. That a moral obligation rests upon the
National Government to employ its constitutional power and influence
to establish the rights of the people it has emancipated, and to
protect them in the enjoyment of those rights when they are infringed
or assailed, is also generally admitted.

The evils which afflict the Southern States can only be removed or
remedied by the united and harmonious efforts of both races, actuated
by motives of mutual sympathy and regard; and while in duty bound and
fully determined to protect the rights of all by every constitutional
means at the disposal of my Administration, I am sincerely anxious to
use every legitimate influence in favor of honest and efficient local
'self'-government as the true resource of those States for the
promotion of the contentment and prosperity of their citizens. In the
effort I shall make to accomplish this purpose I ask the cordial
cooperation of all who cherish an interest in the welfare of the
country, trusting that party ties and the prejudice of race will be
freely surrendered in behalf of the great purpose to be accomplished.
In the important work of restoring the South it is not the political
situation alone that merits attention. The material development of
that section of the country has been arrested by the social and
political revolution through which it has passed, and now needs and
deserves the considerate care of the National Government within the
just limits prescribed by the Constitution and wise public economy.

But at the basis of all prosperity, for that as well as for every
other part of the country, lies the improvement of the intellectual
and moral condition of the people. Universal suffrage should rest
upon universal education. To this end, liberal and permanent
provision should be made for the support of free schools by the State
governments, and, if need be, supplemented by legitimate aid from
national authority.

Let me assure my countrymen of the Southern States that it is my
earnest desire to regard and promote their truest interest--the
interests of the white and of the colored people both and
equally--and to put forth my best efforts in behalf of a civil policy
which will forever wipe out in our political affairs the color line
and the distinction between North and South, to the end that we may
have not merely a united North or a united South, but a united
country.

I ask the attention of the public to the paramount necessity of
reform in our civil service--a reform not merely as to certain abuses
and practices of so-called official patronage which have come to have
the sanction of usage in the several Departments of our Government,
but a change in the system of appointment itself; a reform that shall
be thorough, radical, and complete; a return to the principles and
practices of the founders of the Government. They neither expected
nor desired from public officers any partisan service. They meant
that public officers should owe their whole service to the Government
and to the people. They meant that the officer should be secure in his
tenure as long as his personal character remained untarnished and the
performance of his duties satisfactory. They held that appointments
to office were not to be made nor expected merely as rewards for
partisan services, nor merely on the nomination of members of
Congress, as being entitled in any respect to the control of such
appointments.

The fact that both the great political parties of the country, in
declaring their principles prior to the election, gave a prominent
place to the subject of reform of our civil service, recognizing and
strongly urging its necessity, in terms almost identical in their
specific import with those I have here employed, must be accepted as
a conclusive argument in behalf of these measures. It must be
regarded as the expression of the united voice and will of the whole
country upon this subject, and both political parties are virtually
pledged to give it their unreserved support.

The President of the United States of necessity owes his election to
office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political party, the
members of which cherish with ardor and regard as of essential
importance the principles of their party organization; but he should
strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best
who serves the country best.

In furtherance of the reform we seek, and in other important respects
a change of great importance, I recommend an amendment to the
Constitution prescribing a term of six years for the Presidential
office and forbidding a reelection.

With respect to the financial condition of the country, I shall not
attempt an extended history of the embarrassment and prostration
which we have suffered during the past three years. The depression in
all our varied commercial and manufacturing interests throughout the
country, which began in September, 1873, still continues. It is very
gratifying, however, to be able to say that there are indications all
around us of a coming change to prosperous times.

Upon the currency question, intimately connected, as it is, with this
topic, I may be permitted to repeat here the statement made in my
letter of acceptance, that in my judgment the feeling of uncertainty
inseparable from an irredeemable paper currency, with its fluctuation
of values, is one of the greatest obstacles to a return to prosperous
times. The only safe paper currency is one which rests upon a coin
basis and is at all times and promptly convertible into coin.

I adhere to the views heretofore expressed by me in favor of
Congressional legislation in behalf of an early resumption of specie
payments, and I am satisfied not only that this is wise, but that the
interests, as well as the public sentiment, of the country
imperatively demand it.

Passing from these remarks upon the condition of our own country to
consider our relations with other lands, we are reminded by the
international complications abroad, threatening the peace of Europe,
that our traditional rule of noninterference in the affairs of
foreign nations has proved of great value in past times and ought to
be strictly observed.

The policy inaugurated by my honored predecessor, President Grant, of
submitting to arbitration grave questions in dispute between ourselves
and foreign powers points to a new, and incomparably the best,
instrumentality for the preservation of peace, and will, as I
believe, become a beneficent example of the course to be pursued in
similar emergencies by other nations.

If, unhappily, questions of difference should at any time during the
period of my Administration arise between the United States and any
foreign government, it will certainly be my disposition and my hope
to aid in their settlement in the same peaceful and honorable way,
thus securing to our country the great blessings of peace and mutual
good offices with all the nations of the world.

Fellow-citizens, we have reached the close of a political contest
marked by the excitement which usually attends the contests between
great political parties whose members espouse and advocate with
earnest faith their respective creeds. The circumstances were,
perhaps, in no respect extraordinary save in the closeness and the
consequent uncertainty of the result.

For the first time in the history of the country it has been deemed
best, in view of the peculiar circumstances of the case, that the
objections and questions in dispute with reference to the counting of
the electoral votes should be referred to the decision of a tribunal
appointed for this purpose.

That tribunal--established by law for this sole purpose; its members,
all of them, men of long-established reputation for integrity and
intelligence, and, with the exception of those who are also members
of the supreme judiciary, chosen equally from both political parties;
its deliberations enlightened by the research and the arguments of
able counsel--was entitled to the fullest confidence of the American
people. Its decisions have been patiently waited for, and accepted as
legally conclusive by the general judgment of the public. For the
present, opinion will widely vary as to the wisdom of the several
conclusions announced by that tribunal. This is to be anticipated in
every instance where matters of dispute are made the subject of
arbitration under the forms of law. Human judgment is never unerring,
and is rarely regarded as otherwise than wrong by the unsuccessful
party in the contest.

The fact that two great political parties have in this way settled a
dispute in regard to which good men differ as to the facts and the
law no less than as to the proper course to be pursued in solving the
question in controversy is an occasion for general rejoicing.

Upon one point there is entire unanimity in public sentiment--that
conflicting claims to the Presidency must be amicably and peaceably
adjusted, and that when so adjusted the general acquiescence of the
nation ought surely to follow.

It has been reserved for a government of the people, where the right
of suffrage is universal, to give to the world the first example in
history of a great nation, in the midst of the struggle of opposing
parties for power, hushing its party tumults to yield the issue of
the contest to adjustment according to the forms of law.

Looking for the guidance of that Divine Hand by which the destinies
of nations and individuals are shaped, I call upon you, Senators,
Representatives, judges, fellow-citizens, here and everywhere, to
unite with me in an earnest effort to secure to our country the
blessings, not only of material prosperity, but of justice, peace,
and union--a union depending not upon the constraint of force, but
upon the loving devotion of a free people; "and that all things may
be so ordered and settled upon the best and surest foundations that
peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be
established among us for all generations."