The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-03-04
They Must Make a Speech.

who takes the oath of Office 10 deliver an
| inaugural address TO the people, whose
| chief ma gistrate he is 10 be. This custom,
| begun by George Washington, has never
been broken nor has there been through the
| history of the government any wide differ
| ences in the character Of the speeches with
| which presidents have begun their official
| service. In two features nearly all OF the
| addresses have been cast in the same mold,
| for almost without exception they have
been begun with an introductory sentence.
| expressing In some form the gratitude Of
\ the president for the high honor which the
people have conferred upon him. and they
| Rave ended by an invocation Of the help OF
| the Supreme Being in performing the du-
| ties Of the Office. The body Of the address
has varied according to the spirit of the
times IN which II has been made. The in
augural speeches of the first presidents,
| those who served during the first quarter
| century OF the government, were largely
1 treaties upon republic form Of govern
ment, contrasting the peace and prosperi-
| ~ which 1t gave to the people OF the United
| States with the wars which were disturb
/ ing the monarchies Of Europe, and praising
| the balance between the federal authori-
| ties and the states secured by the consi-
1 tuition
| In later years, particularly since the war
Of the rebellion, the presidents have given
/ themselves to the discussion Of absorbing
| current issues. and judged by the stand
/ ards of the more modern addresses those
| Of the old school style. II reviewed, might
seem somewhat ponderous and academic
| The inaugural utterances OF the presidents
have rarely been tinged with partsanship,
and they have not often been the most I'M
| portant Official utterances Of the men who
have spoken them With the notable ex-
| ception OF Lincoln's second inaugural ad-
| dress the inaugurals are not held in the
| first rank of state papers, either by their
] rhetorical or political worth. The whole OF
Lincoln's second inaugural is preserved in
the school readers and rec;ted on the plat
| form. but other presidents have spoken
| few sentences on their installation which
have been considered epigrammatic or are
| otter quoted. The more important and his
| tor,c utterances of the presidents, those
| which have marked out policies, have been
1 conveyed through messages to congress.
| The average length of an inaugural adj
/ dress has been about 5000 words. enough
| to fill two columns Of a newspaper, and
| they have taken about forty minutes for
| their delivery. The longest address ever
| made was that by General William II. Har-
| r:son which contained $500 words: the
shortest was that with which George Wash
| lrgton began his second term. The latter
| was a formal and personal utterance OF
| only 1874 words, and did not touch upon any
| public questions. The inaugural was In the
| old Independence Hall in Philadelphia
| where the Third congress sat in 1872, and
| was In the room where the Declaration OF
l Independence had been signed. All the Of
| ficials of the government and foreign am
| bassadors, with prominent citizens, were
| present Washin gton's first address, made
| in the Federal building in New York on
| April 30, 17S9. contained LOO words. None
| of the speeches, except General William
| Henry Harrison's have been more than
| 5000 words long, while the vice-presidents
| who have been called to the presidency by
| the death Of four presidents have made
very brief proclamations. except John Ty-
I ler. Three distinguished soldiers have been
| elected to the presidency, Andrew Jackson,
| Zachary Taylor and Grant. have been mer
of action rather than Of speech, and have
spoken hardly more than thousand words
In their inaugurals.
\ Inc inaugural CSCeulOnleS OF INC uist I'VE
presidents were held IN the senate chamber
but Madison was sworn in and made his al
dress in the house of representatives, and
| several other inaugurations took place In
the house. because this was the larger hal
| Of the two John Quincy Adams was inau
| surated in the house also, but Andrew
| Jackson spoke on the east portico of tins
CAPITOL to the multitude which was the great
est the city had ever sheltered. and which
Daniel Webster said could be fed only by q
miracle. These people mobbed the plat
form after I'D Hickory had spoken, snt
endangered his life by their eagerness &c
chake his hand.
| Every inaugural address has been read
from manuscript, except that of Frankl'r
iPerce. The president from New Hamp
| shire delivered an grafton Of forty minutes
| length without the aid Of manuscript. hav,
ing committed It TO memory. and with con
| siderable rhetorical effect. George Wash
ington, It Is related, was extremely nervou:
| when he spoke his first inaugural He
| tIembled v:sibly, and when ne attempted Z
| gesture once or twice & was so awkwart
that a spectator, writing OF the affair, re
marked that he wished the president haf
not attempted oratory, as he did not wish
to think him not first in everything,
After Washington had pad his second
| brief inaugural in the senate chamber h
Put the manuscript on the vice-president:
| table, sat down for few minutes. Their
rose and withdrew, those in the hall stand
ing until he passed out. Then the manu-
scrip was taken up By the clerk OF tbs
house and again read from beginning tc
end.
i @-r- <vcs "a ~
with the then untried duties OF the chic
executive under the new constitution. Il
| contained ore unique statement which has
never been repeated Washington said
when ] was honored With a call into the
| service OF my country, then on the eve o.
| an arduous struggle for ITS liberties. the
Light in which I contemplated my duty re
| quired that should renounce everp pecuni-
airy compensation. From this resolution
! have In no instance departed; and be!ns
| still under the impressions which produced
il, must decline as inapplicable 10 myself
| any share in the personal enoluments
| which may be :ndispensably included In a
| permanent provision for the executive de-
partment. and mus; accordingly pray that
the pecuniary estimates for the station IN
which I am placed may. during my con-
tfnuznce in Il. be limited 20 such actual ex-
penditures as ne public good may b.
| thought 20 require"
Thomas Jefferson. in his second inaugu-
raj rebuked the press for defamation o.
| the administration, and suggested punish
| nent for SANDER, but drew the conclusion
| that under the greatest freedom Of discus
! son the truth must prevail for the first
| tine nsuch an address reviewed the poll
1 teal issues OF the day n detail
The frs. mention of slavery, which was
| &c be the crucial issue Of the next quarter
| century. was made by Van Buren, n lo1
l - L., Ia Ia