The National tribune., 1907-05-02
THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH.
Largely Observation-Disclosures to AEgrexaf-
ed Wealth-Maxins of Washington.
People Judged by Deeds.


Hitherto each generation among us
has had its allotted task, now heavier.
now lighter. In the Revolutionary War
the business was to achieve independ-
ehce. Immediately afterward there was
an even more momentous task. that to
achieve the National unity and the ca
pscity for orderly development. with out
which our liberty, our independence.
would have been a curse and not a
blessing. In each of these two contests,
While there were many great leaders
from many different States. it is but
fair to say that the foremost place was
taken by the soldiers and the states
men of Virginia; and to Virginia was
reserved the honor of producing the
hero of both movements. the hero of
the war, and of the peace that made
good the results of the war-George
Washington, while the two great politi-
cal tendencies of the time can be SYM
boliZed by the names of two other great
observation-disclosures and MARSHALL
from one of whom we inherit the abid-
ing trust in the people which is the
foundation stone of democracy and
from the other the power to develop
on behalf of the peple a coherent and
powerful Government. a genuine and
representative nationality.
Second Great Cri.is.
Two generations past before the Sec
ond great crisis of our history had to
be faced. Then came the civil war;
terrible and bitter in itself and in its
aftermath. but a struggle from which
the Nation finally emerged united in
fact as well as in name, united forever.
Oh, my hearers, my fellow-countrymen,
great indeed has been our good fortune;
for as time clears away the mists that
once shrouded brother from brother
and made each look "as thru a glass
darkly" at the other, We can all feel the
same pride in the valor, the devotion
and the fealty toward the right as It
was given to each to see the right,
shown alike by the men who wore the
blue and by the men who wore the gray.
Rich and prosperous tho we are as
people, the proudest heritage that each
of us has, no matter where he may
dwell. North or South, East or West,
Is the immaterial heritage of feeling,
the right to claim as his own all the
valor and all the Steadfast devotion to-
duty shown by the men of both the
great armies, of the soldiers whose lead
er was Grant and the soldiers whose
leader was Lee. The men and the
women Of the civil war did their duty
braveIy and well in the days that were
dark and terrible and splendid. We,
their descendants, who pay proud hon.
age to their memories and glory in the
feats of might of one side no less than
Of the other, need to keep steadily I'M
mind that the homage which counts is
the homage of heart and of hand, and
not Of the lips. the homage of deeds and
not of words only. We, too, in curl
turn. must prove our truth by our en-
deavor. We must show ourselvesI
worthy sons of the men of the mighty
days by the way in which We meet the
problems of our own time. We carry
our heads high because our fathers did
Well In the years that tried mems souls:
and we must in our turn so bear our
selves that the children who come afterl
us may feel that We, too, have done curl
duty
Maxin Of Washingtsn.
We cannot afford to forget the maxim