The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-03-06
WORDS OF
ROOSEVELT
Message Of Ne~ President
to American People
NO FEAR FOR FUTURE
Faith that We Shall Not Prove
False 10 Memories Of
The Past
NO FEAR FOR FUTURE
Faith that We Shall Not Prove

WASHINGTON, March 6.-rheodore
Roosevelt is now the president Of the
United States by the voice of the peo-
pie. He has passed, self reliant and
aggressive, into the category Of chief
magistrates who have been elected by
the popular vote.
Standing bareheaded in a nipping
northwest wind on the east portico OF
the capitol, facing great concourse
of admirers from all over the Union,
Mr.. Roosevelt typifed the active and
impusive figure that his admirers
worship and his enemies decry.
Mr.. Roosevelt swore, with uplifted
hand, to uphold the constitution and
obey the laws of the United States.
Then in an address as remarkable for
its brevity as for its scope he dedicat-
ed the next four years of his life to the
solution of those great economic prob
lens which have been thrust into the
very foreground of American politics
and the Importance of which he has
emphasized. He said.
MY Fellow Citizens-No people on
earth have more cause to be thankful
than ours, and this is said rsyerently,
in no spirit of boastfulness in our own
strength, but with gratitude to the
Giver of Good, who has blessed us with
the conditions which have enabled us
to achieve so large measure Of well
being and of happiness. To us as a peo-
pie 1t has been granted to lay the foun-
dations of our national life in new
continent. We are the heirs of the
ages, and yet we have had to pay few
of the penalties which in old countries
are exacted by the dead hand of by
gone civilization We have not been
obliged to fight for our existence
against any alien race. and yet our life
has called for the vigor and effort
without which the manlier and harder
virtues wither away. Under such con-
ditions 1t would be our own fault If we
failed, and the success which we have
had in the past, the success which we
confidently believe the future will
bring, should cause in us no feeling of
vainglory, but rather deep and abid-
Ing realization of all which life has
offered us-a full acknowledgment of
the responsibility which is ours and a
fixed determination to show that under
q free government mighty people can
thrive best, alike as regards the things
of the body and the things of the soul.
much has been given TO us, and
much will rlghtfully be expected from
us. We have duties to others and
duties to ourselves, and we can shirk
neither. We have become great ma
ton, forced by the fact of its great
ness into relations with the other ma
tons of the earth, and we must behave
as beseems people with such respon-
sibilities. Toward all other nations,
large and small, our attitude must be
one Of cordial and sincere friendship.
We must show not only In our words
but in our deeds that we are earnestly
DESTROYS Of securing their good will by
acting toward them In spirit Of just
and generous recognition of all their
rights. But justice and generosity In
a nation, as in IN individual, count
most when shown not by the weak
but by the strong. While ever careful
to refrain from wronging others, we
must be no less inslstent that we are
not wronged ourselves. We wish
peace, but we wish the peace Of jus.
tice, the peace Of righteousness. We
! wish 1t because we think 1t Is right
and not because we are afraid. Nc
weak nation that acts rightly and just
| ly should ever have cause to fear us
and no strong power should ever be
able to single us out as subject fol
insolent aggression.
| Our relations with the other power:
Of the world are important but still
more important are our relations
among ourselves. Such growth IL
wealth, in population and in power al
this nation has seen during the centur.
and quarter of its national life Is in
evitably accompanied by like growth
in the problems which are ever before
every nation that rises to greatness
Power Invariably means both respon
sibillty and danger Our forefather
faced certain perlls which we hav,
outgrown. We now face other perlls