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This is the day of my Inauguration as Governor of the State of Alabama. And on this day I feel a deep obligation to renew my pledges, my covenants with you...the people of this great state.
General Robert E. Lee said that "duty" is the most sublimest word in the English language and I have come, increasingly, to realize what he meant. I shall do my duty to you, God helping...to every man, to every woman...yes, and to every child in this State. I shall fulfill my duty toward honesty and economy in our State government so that no man shall have a part of his livelihood cheated and no child shall have a bit of his future stolen away.
I have said to you that I would eliminate the liquor agents in this state and that the money saved would be returned to our citizens...I am happy to report to you that I am now filling orders for several hundred one-way tickets and stamped on them are these words...."for liquor agents...destination:...out of Alabama." I am happy to report to you that the big-wheeling cocktail-party boys have gotten the word that their free whiskey and boat rides are over...that the farmer in the field, the worker in the factory, the businessman in his office, the housewife in her home, have decided that the money can be better spent to help our children's education and our older citizens...and they have put a man in office to see that it is done. It shall be done. Let me say one more time....no more liquor drinking in your governor's mansion.
I shall fulfill my duty in working hard to bring industry into our state, not only by maintaining an honest, sober and free-enterprise climate of government in which industry can have confidence..but in going out and getting it...so that our people can have industrial jobs in Alabama and provide a better life for their children.
I shall not forget my duty to our senior citizens...so that their lives can be lived in dignity and enrichment of the golden years, nor to our sick, both mental and physical...and they will know we have not forsaken
