The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-11-02

,sREslpENf RoosEVEL Ask
TaERATioG 10 thank COD
FoR us GOODNESS.

fSh HlS 1QppHES
WASHINGTON D. G, NOV. Ta
President on saturday issued the an
nutsi Thanksgiving proclamation ii.
which ae pointed ont the steady.
growth Of the nation In strength.
worldly power. wealth naipupulation,
and that our average Of individual
comfort and well being Is higher than.
that Of any country in the wcrld.
For this he declares, Americans owe
1t to the Almighty to show equal prog.
ress in moral and spiritual things.
The proclamation follows
@By the President Of the United
States Of America:
"a proclamation:
'once again the season Is at hand
when. according to the ancient cus
tom Of our people, it becomes the duty
of the President to appoint a day Of
prayer and OF Thanksgiving to God.
year by year this nation grows in
strength and world power. During
the century and a quarter that has
elapsed since u entry into the circle
of independent peoples we have grown
and lrospered in material things to a
degree never known before and not
now known in any other country.
''The thirteen colonies which strug.
gled along the sea coast OF the AT,
lantlc and were hemmed in but a few
miles west Of tidewater by the Indian.
haunted wildness have been trans.
formed into the mightlest republic
witch the world has ever seen.
'lts domains stretcl across the con.
-tinent from one ia the other of : the
two greatest oceans and It exercises
dominion alike in the Arctic and
ITroplc realms.
''The growth in wealth and popu.
~Elattof has surpassed even the growth
in territory. Nowhere else in the
worlds the average Of Individual com.
fort and material well being as high
as in bur fortunate land, For the
very reason that in material well be.
ing we lave tins abounea We owe ii
Ito tile Almighty TO show equal prog.
ress In moral and spiritual things.
with nation, 80 with the individuals
who make UP a nation material well
being is an Indispensable Foundation.
But the foundation avails nothing by
Itself. That life is wasted and worse
than wasted which is spent in piliag.
heap on heqp, those things which min.
lister merely to the pleasure OF the
body and to the power than rests only
on wealth.
"upon material wellbeing as foun.
tdatfon must be raised the structure Of
THE lofty life Of the spirit, II this ma.
ticn Is properly to fulfill It's great mis-
sion and to accomplish all that we 81
%ardently hope and desire.
"The things of the body are good;
things Of the intellect better, but best
of all are the things Of the soul, for
in the nation. as in the individual, I
the long run 1t is character tina
counts.
"Let US, therefore, as d people. SCI
Sm faces resolutely against evil. and
with broad charity, with kindness AM
good will toward ali men, but with un
flincnfng. determination TO smile down
wrong, strive with all the strength
that is given US for righteousness In
public and in private lie.
'NoR. therefore, 1, Theodore Roose
welt, President of the United States,
do set apart Thursday, the 26th day
of November. next, as a}day OF gen
eral thanksgiving and prayer, and on
that day I recommend that the people
shall cease from their daily work, and,
in theIr homes or in their churches,
meet deYoutly to thank the Almighty
for the many and great blessings they
have received in the past and to pray
that they may be given strength so II