[applause]

To me to present

the governor-elect of North Carolina,

 Robert Walter Scott,

 to whom the oath of office

 will be administered by the Honorable R. Hunt Parker, 

Chief Justice

 of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

 Governor-elect Scott.

[applause]

Do you, Robert Walter Scott, 

solemnly swear that you will support the
 Constitution

 and the laws of the United States?

 And do you solemnly and sincerely
 swear

 that you will be faithful and [?]

your allegiance to the State of North Carolina

 and to the constitutional powers 
and authorities

 which are or may be established for the
 government thereof

and that you will endeavor to support,
 maintain,

 and defend the Constitution of

 said state, not inconsistent

 with the Constitution of the United
 States,

to the best of your knowledge and
 ability?

 And do you sincerely swear that

 you will faithfully perform

 the duties appertaining to the office

 of Governor of the State of North
 Carolina

 to which you have been elected according
 to

 the best of your skill and ability,

and according to law,

so help you God?

I do sincerely and solemnly swear

so help me God.

Congratulations and I hope you will have a 
successful and happy administration.

Thank you, sir.

[applause]

My fellow North Carolinians,

 we are gathered here today,

 not merely to commemorate an event

 that occurs every four years.

 In a larger sense,

we are here to begin anew

the quest of hope and progress

 that began with a brave colony

 implanted nearly four centuries ago

 on a small island at our coast.

What we seek on this day

 is to reaffirm our faith

 in our future as a people.

We resolve

 to achieve, as best we can,

the full measure of the promise

 that our future holds.

Let there be no doubt

 North Carolina will move ahead.

We feel no resistance

 to progressive change.

Our history bespeaks the fact that we have
 sought it

and benefited by it.

Change is the essence of the problems and the

 opportunities that will confront us

 these next four years.

A year from now brings us to the dawn

 of a new decade.

Beyond that will be the dawn of a new
 century.

The current of our times runs swift.

Its ripples often turn to waves.

What we must learn is to master

 the waves and to direct the current.

Not that we seek always to sail smoothly,

rather that we seek a true course

 and a just destiny.

We have seen much change.

 In a generation, many of us

have seen the stable replaced by the machine

 shed, the wagon by

 the truck, the kerosene lamp

 by the electric light, the writing
 tablet by the computer.

We have seen the one room school, the
 general store,

all but vanish.

We have seen man break the barriers

 of our planet and take the first

 step in opening up the new frontiers of
 the universe.

Yes, we have seen the dust of disuse

 collect in many of our rural communities

 to a point where they can neither
 attract nor

 hold young people. To a point where

 it is harder for those communities to

 build and maintain good schools

 and churches and hospitals and
 playgrounds.

Yes, we have seen, too, our

 cities undergo a period of great

 growth from town to metropolis

 in hardly more than two decades.

Yet their growth has

 not always been all for the good.

Many of these cities now have more
 congestion,

 more crime, more social problems

 and oftentimes too much

 unreasoned change.

We should not cry out against what

 has already been ordered

for there is no retreat from it.

I view it instead as the strong challenge of

 a new day.

My administration will neither shrink
 from the obligation

 it offers nor from the opportunity it
 presents.

There is an old proverb which says,

"To think well is wise,

 to plan well, wiser.

 To do well, wisest

 and best of all."

During these four years we will think.

We will plan.

We will do.

Simply stated, the broad goals of this
 administration

 are a government that

 merits the confidence of all our people.

A balanced growth for every section of
 our state.

Realistic and adequate planning for the
 future.

A united community.

Let us here and now,

at the very outset of this administration,

 pledge ourselves to strengthen the
 confidence

 and support of our citizens in their
 government.

 To seek new ideas,

 but to temper boldness of action

 with common sense.

 To plan now for the new century,

 which is rushing upon us.

 To seek an end of divisiveness among our
 people.

I believe the first of these goals is
 foremost.

Our system of government cannot succeed
 without

 the confidence of the people.

More than that, our system of government
 cannot function

 ably unless it gains the widespread
 participation

 of the citizens, 

because our government is a trust

bonded always by the people.

It will be a primary goal of this
 administration

 to strengthen that bond, to make state

 government and the service it renders

 more responsive to the needs and
 aspirations

 of our citizens.

I, and those who serve

 with me, cannot accomplish this alone.

State government cannot pursue this goal
 alone.

We must somehow mesh its gears

 with those of municipal and county
 governments

if this goal is to be met. If government
 in this state,

taken as a whole,

 is to be the true servant.

Now, I do not propose that our government

be all things to all men

for it cannot be so. 

Yet no matter how large,

 no matter how complex,

our society becomes, I believe we can,

yes, we must avoid the disenchantment

 and disaffection of people who do not
 care

 because they do not believe they are
 heard.

Ladies and gentlemen, if that day ever
 comes,

 the public confidence will be eroded
 beyond cure

and government will

 become an empty shell

 subject to collapse.

This must be avoided at all cost.