The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-03-06

the very existence of which it was i'm
possible that they should foresee. Mod
ern life Is both complex and intense,
and the tremendous changes wrought
by the extraordinary industrial deyel-
opment of the half century are felt in
every fiber Of our social and political
being. Never before have men tried
so vast and formidable an experiment
as that of administering the affairs
of continent under the forms Of
democratic republic. The conditions
which have told for our marvellous ma
terial well being, which have devel-
oped to a very high degree our energy,
self reliance and individual initiative,
also have brought the care and anxiety
inseparable from the accumulation Of
great wealth In industrial centers. Up
on the success Of our experiment much
depends, not only as regards our own
welfare, but rs regards the welfare
of mankind. If we fail. the cause Of
free self government throughout the
world will rock to its foundations. and
therefore our responsibility is heavy
to ourselves, TO the world as 1t Is to-
day and to the generations yet unborn.
There is good reason why we should
fear the future, but there Is every
reason why we should face 1t seriously,
neither hiding from ourselves the gray
ity of the problems before us nor fear
ing to approach these problems With
the unbending. unfllnching purpose to
solve them Alright
"Yet, after all, though the problems
are new, though the tasks set before us
differ from the tasks set before our
fathers who founded and preserved
this republic, the spirit in which these
tasks must be undertaken and these
problems faced If our duty is to be
well done, remains essentially un'
changed We know that self govern
ment is difficult. We know that nc
people needs such high traits Of char.
acter as that people which seeks tc
| govern its affairs Alright through the
| freely expressed will of the free men
who compose II. But we have faith
that we shall not prove false to the
memories of the men of the mighty
past They did their work. They left
us the splendid heritage we now en-
joy. We in our turn have an assured
confidence that we shall be able tc
| leave this heritage unwasted and en-
larged to our children and our chill
dren's children.
| "To do so we must show not mere
ly in great crisis, but in the every
day affairs of life. the qualities OF
practical intelligence, Of courage, OF
hardihood and endurance and, above
all, the power of devotion to a lofty
ideal, which made great the men who
founded this republic In the days OF
Washington, which made great the
men who preserved this republic in the
days of Abraham Lincoln"
At the inaugural ball every natior
In the civilized world, every state II
the Union, every branch of the military
establishment OF the United States
was represented among the 12.0O(
guests who gathered to do honor t
the Inauguration Of President Roose
velt's second term, and once more
Washington's greatest social function
will go down In history as a perma
nent success. In that vast assemblag'
were men whose names are household
words the country over, men whose
fame has spread beyond the seas, mel
who control the destinies Of great for
eign states, attended by Brilliant.
uniformed STATS and all accompanies
by beautifully gowned and superb.
jeweled women, presenting a seem
which could be excelled in its beaut,
and brllliancy in no capital In tn
world.