The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-03-06
WHY ~ INAUGURATION PARADE

pzra1s O. ra--o.s celebrating a triumph,
AozoTs serde5 ;ae ss. ese-.sre o. tne nation.
c-usezs @: s. greg e.-ez-ass -e.oizlaE over
s2o.ser er.ae=c. -s 81 q. stability ot the re9ub-o.
zg,s1s -s-E ,e commemorate it 81.
Waite tsa.s4-.zs zaa -e=5-ezs q. thousands l1oh-
c1~ ,s@rv s- ts1.- A1e-..ee.s-a ard ga taat
taxr a-z t,.--as = -sqaH.3e and no, sua3ects OK
--1o--a-cz--;sae zs 81. izzas-ra.aa 81 theory
Al e=eae-e~ssa1 s.ta19, n 5-.,a;e cid world
c5-c@essaa ~.,er&ers. - mass e. humanity cut
go- god g.-e- p 1sg,.- Haa45.sq-.as and forced
cheering. mingled Hita iafreeasac outbreaks Of
hoaest arp,suss. Aotel Keepers, merchants. board
irz hoase 4slst-asses and street vendors made
rich. hundreds q thousands e dollars thrown 70
the WIND. trains packed with tired sleepy dis
gusted travellers ana morning aster-tAat is an
Inauguration. ii tia views q the cynical
Here are the beautiful and the vulgar In con,
tIast, the one existing In the imagination OF the
dreamers. the other cold wordsworth fact. If
seen by the uusympathetic eye and not through
brighthued glasses.
There IS. however another view Of the inau-
euraton ceremonies. which is. neither the cynical
nor tho ideal These hundreds OF thousands who
see the ceremony. bcGool themselves into the be-
lief that they are having good time and leave
broken In purse and weary In BODY ana spirit
get something ont Of it all after they nave re-
cuperated In their fnnermost souls they know
that there has been nothing but vulgar display
but they feel drawn more closely 10 the big
government at Washington. They have feeling
that it il their government and their president
whom they have inauEUra-od. Washington is not
a ar. Of foreign country, congressman and sena
tors are not tier rulers, the president is not
their king These places and these men are Of
the people, with the same thoughts, the same
viewpoint. the same virtues and faults with
which they are endowed. They chief exc
cutive go out and another come In and no strug
gle no bitter feeling. no heart-burntug. They are
reminded Of the difference between our real
republic and the spurious one to the south
Mingled with the triumph that one is coming in
is real sympathy and fellow-feeling for him who
goes out
These thoughts are not the thoughts of the
inauguration visitors or Of those who take part
in the celebration, but they come later. They
make their impression and though the crowd
leaves
viii never come again, 1t is with the deep under
lying thought that there could be nothing like
II in any other country under the sun, because
there Is no other country like this Coronation'
may be more splendid and the sight may be bet
ter worth seeing but no coronation crowd car
leave with the thought that It was their corona
ton and that they had part in 1t. Visitors te
the inauguration of a president of the United
States form a part OF the ceremony, but those
TO coronation visitors only
The man who heads the procession up Penn
sylvania avenue is there because the people OF
the country put him there; the center OF Interest
Mt coronation is the center of interest because
the people of the country allow him TO me. One
makes; the other consents.
There are drawbacks to inauguration cere
monies in washington. but they are the draw
backs which 20 with democracy and with de
rrocratic government and with the faults OF
human nature After al the ceremony is worth
white.