The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1908-11-17
BEGUN
FOR THE INAUGURATION
City Of Washington Pays All Expenses, Without
Any Help From Congress

Sperry's battleship feet be brought
here from Hampton Roads and given
the place Of honor at the head OF the
column. The fleet is due to return from
it's trip around the world in February
and ther would be great interest in
seeing the men who had accomplished
the most remarkable naval voyage in
all history. 1t would be very desirable
to have the battleships themselves
here, but they cannot be brought up
the Potomac river, their draft being too
great to get over Kettle Bottom shoals.
They might be brought to Annapolis,
and as there is now an electric line run
ming from Washington to the Mary
land capital, it would afford thousands
OF people an opportunity to see the big
fighters.
Interest in the feet at that time will
be greater even than it is now. When
the battleships pass in the Virginia
capes after having circled the globe,
they will be reviewed by President
Roosevelt and President-elect Taft,
and its completion will bring to the
public an appreciation Of how remark
able has been the voyage. Officers and
enlisted men alike have won the plaud-
its OF the world by the manner in which
they have conducted themselves, and
they would attract more attention in
the inaugural parade than any other
possible feature.
The adyisability is being discussed
OF having the parade next March pure
ly military one, confined chiefly to
regular troops, bluejackets and marines,
with the citizen soldiery represented
by the national guard of the Distrtct
OF Columbia. In the past state tropps
have been invited and all sorts of non
military organizations have partici-
pated. This makes the parade monoto-
nous and much longer than it should
be, in view of the fact that inaugura-
tion day weather is usually bad. A
procession made up Of a number OF
regiments of regular infantry and cav
airy, several batteries of field artillery,
companies from the engineer, signal
and hospital corps of the army, marines
and bluejackets from the navy, the
corps of cadets from West Point anu
Annapolis, and the District of Column
bia militia would, by showing all the
branches of the service, have an educa-
tional value and at the same time
would not be tiresome.
This plan was proposed at the last
Inauguration but was vetoed by Presi-
dent Roosevelt, much as he approved OF
1T on principle. He disapproved of tho
plan for his own Inauguration because
there had been 80 much talk of the
imam on horseback" during the cam
paign, and had his inaugural parade
been made strictly military affair, the
cry of mllitarism' would have been
renewed and given color. As NO ono
has ever thought of accusing Mr.. TAFT
of being "man on horseback the
objection would not lie against mill
tary parade at his inaugural.
Every four years a campaign is
launched to have the date of the inau-
guration changed from March to late
in April or early in May, but it always
dies out after the dead have been
buried and the colds contracted which
did not prove fatal have been cured.
Every one admits that to change the
date is highly desirable, but the agita-
ton has never yet had enough stamina
to carry it through.
There is no good reason why the
date OF inauguration should not be
changed, except that it would require
an amendment to the constitution, and
there is getting to be a notion that the
constitution is as Interchangeable as the
the laws of the Medes and Persians.
Reluctance to undertake an amendment
IN this respect is due, of course, to the
fact that it would open the way to
other attempts, and it is recognized as
wise policy that the constitution should
be changed only for the weightiest