Chief Executive Promises to Stay On 'Peoples' Path'
Corsicanan Pledges to Direct His Efforts to Keep State Government Adhering to Middle Course
by Alex Acheson
The Times Herald Staff Correspondent

Austin, Jan. 21 -- Beauford H. Jester of Corsicana became the thirty-sixth governor of Texas at high noon today, with the promise to direct his effort to keep the state government on that middle course he has termed the "people's path," and which he said his election had been a mandate to follow.

At the same ceremony, held at the south entrance of the State Capitol beneath a cloudless sky and before a distinguished audience, Allan Shivers of Port Arthur was sworn in as lieutenant governor.  Shivers outlined the problems which he said present 50th Legislature, members of which were present in joint session, must solve, and placed first among these adequate pay for schoolteachers and aid to veterans of World War II.

First Since War

The inaugural was the first to be held in the post-war period as well as the first in the state's second century of statehood.  Festivities scheduled in connection with it emphasized the contrast between it and the simple austere installations of chief executives during the recent war years.  On the program for later in the day were a colorful parade, two official receptions and the traditional inaugural ball scheduled at five different points in order to accommodate the crowds of dancers.

An international flavor was given the occasion by the fact that for the first time in the history of the state official delegations representing the Republic of Mexico, the Panamanian and other Latin-American nations were on hand to witness the inauguration of a governor and lieutenant governor of Texas.  The Mexican group was headed by Dr. Ramon Betets, Mexican finance minister, as the personal representative of President Miguel Aleman.

Jester asked the aid of the legislative and judicial branches of the state government in carrying out his program lying between the extremes of right and left which he said threaten democracy in Texas as well as elsewhere.

He said he would give his specific recommendations to implement this program to the legislature in general and special messages from time to time, but outlined it only in general terms in his inaugural address.

Including leadership from the state government that will bring harmonious relations between capital and labor, meeting the needs of public education, health, social welfare, law enforcement, safety, conservation of natural resources, adequate provisions for war veterans, state employees, eleemosynary and penal institutions, and National Guard.

Prayers of Public

He asked the prayers of the public to aid him in the conduct of his office, and made a special request that next Sunday church congregations sing "A Church to Keep I Have," which he described as "theat great Hymn of responsibility."

In addition to adequate support of the school system and war veterans, Shivers called for an investigation of the pardons and paroles system and an inquiry into crime causes, a better health program and corrective labor legislation that would lead to the settlement of management-labor disputes through arbitration where the public interest is paramount, rather than by strikes and lockouts.

Chief Justice James P. Alexander of the Texas Supreme Court administered the oath to Jester, using the 107-year-old Bible that has been used at the inaugurals of all past governors of Texas, and at least one president of the Republic.  Its origin is unknown.

Judge Lloyd P. Davidson of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals gave the oath to Shivers.

Jester's Family

Seated in chairs before the platform where the ceremony was held were the Senate and House of Representatives in joint session, members of the families of the two new executives, and a number of other distinguished guests.  Members of Jester's family present included his wife, his daughters, Mrs. Howard Burris and Joan, his son Beauford Jr., and his 85-year-old mother, whose husband, the late George T. Jester, was sworn in as lieutenant-governor of Texas in the same capitol building 52 years ago.

In his address today, Jester quoted from his father's inaugural address, and said the same principals it called for in state government applied today.

Shivers Family Present

 Shivers' wife and his sons, Alan, Jr. and Shary, were present to see him take the oath of his new office.

Representing the Army at the ceremony were Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright, commander of the Fourth Army, and Lt. Gen. George E. Stratemeyer, head of the Air Defense Command, from Mitchell Field, New York.

A large crowd watched from the south lawn beyond the stand.

Jester told the people of Texas that his gratitude for the trust they expressed in electing him was "surpassed only by my awareness of the great responsibility entrusted to me, and by my humility in undertaking it."

Historic Ceremony

"This ceremony today," he continued, "is distinctly historic in that it is the first inauguration of a Texas governor officially attended by high officials of the national government of the Republic of Mexico, governors of Mexican states, representatives of the Panamanian government, and various others, all bringing official greetings from our Latin-American-governments and neighbors beyond the Rio Grande and bordering up on the Gulf of Mexico.  Because of the friendship of President Aleman, the band of the Mexican Navy is here, and the republic's minister of finance, Ramon Betets, who married a Texas girl, is the official representative of President Aleman.

"In behalf of the State of Texas, I greet you and express sincere appreciation of your presence and cordial felicitations on this occasion.  To and through you, as governor of Texas, I want to assure you, your governments and your people of the desire of the government and people of Texas to know you better, to be helpful, friendly, neighbors who are bound to you with strong ties of friendship, mutual helpfulness, trade, commerce, travel and good will."

The new governor said that as the result of the war, new theories of government antagonistic to democracy are abroad in Texas, as well as other parts of the world, and that in his campaign for office he has made it clear that the path followed by government in this state was that taken by the pioneers who built it.  This path, he concluded was one of democratic principals, in which government yields to the will of the majority of the people, stems from the bottom up, and holds that those are governed best who are governed least.

The key to this sort of government, he said, is the will of the people, but that is in danger of frustration from two conflicting and extreme theories.  One of these, he said, would crush labor from the right, and the other would destroy capital, management and free enterprise from the left.  His program, he said, lies between these extremes and is "built on the principle that the people of Texas are entitled to first consideration in all public matters.  The people voted for his program, he said, and "I take their vote and my election as a mandate to proceed upon this path and to consummate that program.

"I have every reason to believe that members of the 50th Legislature, who were elected in the same elections, will likewise consider this mandate of the people of Texas."

He said "our charge from the voters of Texas" calls for a progressive and solvent state government, one that will keep pace with the possibilities of the estate and shape its destiny.  To do so, he said, the government must always be mindful that the home, church and school, are "the very foundations of our well-being," and that it should "ever strive to strengthen these foundations."

Aid Requested

Pointing to the increase in Texas industry and agriculture that lies ahead as Texas enters its second century of statehood, Jester called on the legislative and judical branches to aid the executive in furnishing the leadership necessary for the era.

"There must be leadership in government that will bring about harmonious relations between capital and labor," he said.  "it is government's duty to encourage men and women to work and receive just returns in Texas."

Jester said the state must meet the needs of public education, health, social welfare, law enforcement, safety, natural resource conservation, war veterans, state employees, eleemosynary and penal institutions, and the National Guard.

He told his audience he would have specific recommendations to make to the legislature on these subjects and other proposals made in his campaign and that he hoped the Legislature would see fit to adopt them.

He reminded them "Texans are a race of people because of the impress of the history of Texas upon them," and quoted from the William Ransom Hogan's recent book, "The Texas Republic," to prove his point.  He added he deemed it government's duty to "effectuate the spirit of Texas and Texans into the greatest state and finest civilization under heaven."

Jester said that in planning for the state, the pattern set by public servants of the past could well be followed.

He quoted from the speech which his father made on his inaugural in 1895, in which the elder Jester called for adherence to the doctrine that "the sole end of legislation should be the greatest good of the greatest number; that the government should do nothing for the citizen which the citizen is able to do for himself; that the people shall support the government, not the government the people . . . "

This concept of "our public duty is as sound today as it was half a century ago," said the new governor.

Prayers Asked

Jester concluded with his appeal for the prayers of the public and the request that next Sunday pastors have their congregations sing "A Charge to Keep I Have," which he termed "that great hymn of responsibility."

Much of Lt. Gov. Shivers' inaugural speech was devoted to the problems which confront the present legislature, in which he participates as presiding officer of the Senate.

He said he hoped that the legislature and his administration may be blessed by tomorrow's generation as the public servants who took the courageous action of guaranteeing by law that Texas school teachers should receive a decent living wage."

He said "front rank among our duties" is the obligation to provide more adequate housing protestion and instruction to World War II veterans.

The Legislature, Shivers said, must provide a first class university for Negroes.

Mother of Jester "Queen for a Day" At Son's Inaugural
by James V. Lovell
The Times Herald Staff Correspondent

Austin - Jan. 21 - No other Texas woman has been able to savor the thrill or enjoy the distinction experienced today noon by Mrs. George T. Jester, widow of a lieutenant governor and mother of a governor.

The regal bearing of the 85-year old lady - her black gown dramatizing a crown of white hair transformed the makeshift platform where her son, Beauford H. Jester, took his oath of office into a sumptuous dais supporting a queen mother.

Arrow Straight

She sat arrow-straight in her chair and looked out benignly upon the thousands of Texans who had assembled on the south side of the capitol building to hear her son and the new lieutenant governor, Allan Shivers, make their inaugural addresses.  International diplomats were present, generals and other military officers drenched in gold braid were conspicuous, visiting movie celebrities edged close for places of vantage, bands played and Army planes wheeled overhead.

Mrs. Jester was center of attention in spite of these major distractions.  From where she sat she could look down Congress Ave. toward the Driskill Hotel, the venerable inn to which she and her husband and 2-year old son Beauford, came in 1895 for another inauguration.

Not Strangers

The Jester family were not strangers to Austin.  Mr. Jester had been a member of the Lower House, was elected to the Senate where he had been floor leader for the program effected by Gov. Hogg.  Then in 1894 he had been elected lieutenant governor on the ticket with Charles A. Culberson, governor from Dallas.

Early in January, 1896, the Jesters came to Austin and took rooms in the Driskill, where she is now stopping, Mrs. Jester recalled today.

The lieutenant governor-elect busied himself greeting members of the Senate over which he was to preside and in reading to his wife the inaugural address he had prepared.  Then, on Jan. 15, the big day came.  The new lieutenant governor spoke briefly, at one point declaring, "On the fourth day of next July, a half century will have passed away since the chosen delegates of the Republic of Texas assembled in convention in this beautiful city."

Occasion Recalled

Mrs. Jester recalled this historic occasion today and her husband's remarks as she heard her son say, "Texas has entered its second century of statehood,"

Then her memory of the 1895 ceremony was brought sharply into focus as she heard her son say today:

"In our deliberations, let us adhere to the doctrine taught by all true apostles of American liberty, that the sole end of legislation should be the greatest good for the greatest number: that the government should do nothing for the citizen which the citizen is able to do for himself: that the people shall support the government, not the government the people ...

"In this day and time when all forms of paternalism are invading the politics of the state and the nation, let us stand close to the Constitution and contending as our fathers did of old for its strict construction, administer economically, and on a cash basis, the affairs of the government, with a revenue sufficient to maintain the different institutions of the state commensurate with its growth and development."

Gov. Jester was quoting directly from his father's inaugural address as lieutenant governor.  The queen mother of Texas' new first family was not surprised.  "Beauford has always been proud of his family" she had told a visitor yesterday.

The thousands of Texans assembled on the Capitol grounds today looked at the queenly lady sitting so proudly on the inauguration platform and understood why their new governor has such strong family attachment.