Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1906-04-20
New once Building for House of Repres-
enatatiYes.

The cornerstone Of the new three
million dollar Off &c building for the
House of Representatives, which will
occupy an entire city square just south
east of the Capitol. was laid Saturday
afternoon in Washington in the pres
snce Of the President, ,the Cabinet, the
Supreme Court, members of the House
and Senate, representatives OF the for
elgn governments, and great concOurse
of residents of the District of Column
bia. With the historic gavsl used by
George Washington in laying the corn
erstone of the Capitol lib years ago,
Grand Master Walter A. Brown, OF the
District Grand Lodge of Mssons,
struck the marble block three times
and pronounced it well and truly laid.
The ceremonies followed almost identi-
cally those when the gavel was welded
By the first President of the United
States. They were preceded by for
NAL parade OF the Grand Lodge and
other Masons of the District to the site.
At 1890 Grand Master Brown ascend
ed the platform and announced the
purpose for which the assem- blage had
gathered. Grand Chaplain ID. w.
Skellanger, invoked the Divine bless
ing, and then Elliott WOODS, superin-
tendent of the capitol building and
under whose supervision the present
structure is being erected, made
brief address. Following selection
by the Marine Band, which PLAYED at
intervals throughout the ceremony,
President Roosevelt stepped to the
platform and delivered the address of
the day.
Among other things the President
said:
Over century ago Washington laid
the cornerstone of the Capitol in what
was then little more than a tract of
wooded wilderness here beside the PotO-
mac. We now find it necessary to build
great additional buildings for the bus =
ness of the government, which is but
proof and example of the way in which
the nation has grown"
Mr.. Roosevelt excorlated the spirit OF
the age which causes many in their
greed for gain TO act tie part of the
man with the muckrake in. Bunyan's
Pilgrims Progress who refused 30 look
at the angel who stood over him ten.
dering a crown of life. He also por-
trayed a large class who are ever in
Weighing against this and that features
of political economy without ever
making practical suggestion to bring
about better order Of things.
There lie, )" the speaker said. ANY
amount of good in the world, a. d there
never was time when loftier and more
disinterested work for the betterment
of mankind was being done than now.
The forces that tend to evil ars great
and terrible, but the forces of truth and
love aud courage and honesty and gen
erosity and sympathy are stlonger
than ever before" The President then
referred to the efforts now being made
BY Congress to bring about more salts
factory commercial conditions 10 the
country, in which he urged that cor
porations as we'll as individuals had
rights which should be respected. In
closing the speaker said: "Virtually
and officially we must strive to bring
about clean living and right thinking.
We appreciate that the things of the
b ody are Important; but we appreciate
also that the things of the soul are i'm
measurably more important. The
foundation stone Of national life is,
and ever must be, the high individual
character of the average citizen.''
Brief addresses by speaker Cannon,
Representative Hepburn, of Iowa, and
Representative Richardson, Of Tenn,
the building commission of the House,
completed the exercises of the day.