Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/303

This page needs to be proofread.

GROVER CLEVELAND 253 the inaugural parade, a procession numbering more than 100,000 men. In the address he urged the people of all parties to lay aside political ani mosities in order to sustain the government. He declared his approval of the Monroe doctrine as a guide in foreign relations, of strict economy in the administration of the finances, of the protection of the Indians and their elevation to citizenship, of the security of the freedmen in their rights, and of the laws against Mormon polygamy and the impor tation of a servile class of foreign laborers. In re spect to appointments to office he said that the peo ple demand the application of business principles to public affairs, and also that the people have a right to protection from the incompetency of pub lic employes, who hold their places solely as a re ward for partisan service, and those who worthily seek public employment have a right to insist that merit and competency shall be recognized, instead of party subserviency or the surrender of honest political belief. On the following day he sent to the senate the nominations for his cabinet officers as follows: Secretary of state, Thomas F. Bayard, of Dela ware; secretary of the treasury, Daniel Manning, of New York; secretary of war, William C. Endi- cott, of Massachusetts; secretary of the navy, William C. Whitney, of New York; postmaster- general, William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin; attorney-