The suburban citizen., 1901-03-09
President Pageant
Usually
Tascful-Beautiu Gowns Worn
the Inaugural Ball
at the Inaugural Ball

great procession which followed them
The. brilliant and impressive scene ir
the Senate when the Vice President
elect was inducted into Office was re.
served for a few hundreds. The public
had no part in it. While the distin.
guished audience was gathering in the
Senate chamber the President, in a lit
tie side room, was signing the bills
which the dying Congress was sending
him.
The greatest curiosity existed to see
Roosevelt, the man who has been so
much in the public eye during recent
years, and instantly all eyes were turned
toward him when he was announced.
He halted a moment beneath the clock
at the entrance, drew himself up until
he seemed a foot taller, and marched
down the aisle He acknowledged the
round of applause that greeted him, and
smiled up at the gallery, where his wife
and children sat. The President, who
was the last to enter, got an even more
enthusiastic reception. He never looked
better, and never seemed more graceful
and at ease.
AS the first of those from the Sen
ate appeared a fine drizzling mist be-
gan falling, which changed quickly into
a pelting rain. Soon it was a veritable
downpour. The forbidding aspect drove
some back in the rotunda, but many
handsomely gowned women, most ol
the senators and representatives, every
member OF the Supreme Court, and the
entire bespangled diplomatic corps
braved the elements They stood on
the platform in huddled groups, most OF
them without umbrellas, with the rain
trickling down their backs. The diplo-
matte corps suffered most, with their
bedraggled chapeaux, ostrich plumes
and court hnery. The President and
Vice-President, Mrs. Mckinley, the
chief justice and several others in the
rallied and covered inciosure jutting outq
into the crowd were protected from the
storm.
There in the presence of 10000, and
in the sight OF twice that number Of
people standing in a soaking rain, the
President took the oath of office and de-
livered his second inaugural. The hush
ed multitude waited breathlessly to see
him kiss the Bible, and then. despite the
rain, they awakened the echoes ofArling-
ton, across the Potomac, with their ap-
piause. Hardly had the inaugural been
finished when the rain abated, turning
into a drizzling mist again, and later
ceasing altogether.
The Inaugural speech of President
Mckinley was in part as follows:
My Fellow Citizens:
When we assembled here on the
Fourth of March, 1897, there was great
anxiety with regard to our currency
and credit Now | have the
satisfaction to announce that the Con
gress just closed has reduced taxation
SAL, ,ooo, 900.
The national verdict of 1896 has for
the most part been executed. What
ever remains unfulhlled is a continuing
obligation resting with undiminished
force upon the Executive and the Con-
gress.
We should not permit our great pros
perity to lead us to reckless ventures
in business or profigacy in public ex-
penditures.
Honesty, capacity and industry are
nowhere more indispensable than in
public employment.
We are now at peace with the world.
and it is my fervent prayer if differences
arise they may be settled by
peaceful arbitration.
Inc nauOndl purpose is indicated
through national election. 1t is the
constitutional method Of ascertaining
the public will.
Sectionalism has disappeared. Divi-
sion on public questions can no longer
be traced by the war maps OF 1861.
These are some national questions in
the solution Of which patriotism should
exclude partisanship.
Hope maketh not ashamed" The
prophets OF evil were not the builders
OF the Republic, nor in its crises since
have they saved or served it,
Our institutions will not deteriorate
by extension and our sense of Justice
will not abatc under tropic suns in dis
tant seas. The path OF pro-
gress is seldom smooth. New things
are often found hard to do.
We face at this moment a most inn
portant question-that Of the future re-
lations of the United States and Cuba.
Our countrymen should not be de-
ceived We are not waging war against
the inhabitants OF the Philippine Is
lands. A portion OF them are making
war against the United States