The Detroit times., 1913-07-15

No task more trying could have
been set for the president than the
duty of speaking TO the veterans ana
people of the United States from the
battlefield OF Gettysburg. The mar
yelous address delivered by Abraham
Lincoln in 1864 became at once, and
bids fair to forever remain classic.
in the literature of the world. 1t Is
so brief that every scaool child In the
United States knows II by heart, and
the concluding sentepce is known and
quoted wherever tae English language
Is spoken. IL thus expressed the no
Bile aspiration:
That these dead shall not have
died in vain that this nation under
God shall have new birth OF
freedom; and that government OF
the people, by the people, for the
people. shall not perish from the
earth"
Mr. Wilson's speych in many ways
resembles. without any appearance OF
imitation, Mr.. Lincolns address He
touched briefly upon the history OF
the fifty crowded years which have
followed the great battle, and then
asks in all seriousness and humility:
DO we deem the nation com
plete and finished? Has it yet
squared itself with its own stand
ards set up at its BIRTH when it
made that first noble. naive ap-
peal TO the moral judgment of
mankind To take notice that
government had now at - been
established which was to serve
men, not masters ?"
Mr.. Wilson, as a rule, conveys his
meaning by lntimation, rather than by
downright statement. Had he spoken
his inmost thought explicitly, he would
have declared that neither government
for the people, nor government by the
people, had prevailed in the United
States since the close of the civil war.
Indeed he might have gone further
and said that the rule of the people
had never been established In the
early days OF the republic, the suffrage
was restricted. and those In authority
frankly distrusted the masses. With
the general extension of the suffrage
aros q the slavery question. which be
deviled the politics Of the country un-
I'll settled, not by vote OF the peo-
pie. but by civil war. From the CON
c'usion OF the civil war until the pres.
ent time, the people have been plum
dered by plutocracy which has domi-
mated the mechanism of both political
parties, has corrupted congress and
the state legislatures, has trafficked in
judgcships. has INSTRUCTED all progress
bivN legislation and marked for de-
Structfon all men of courage and in
dependent thought.
Is new day dawning with the ac-
cession Of Woodrow Wilson to the
presidency? There are many who
nope so. because for the past ten years
there has been an unmistakable awak-
ening Of conscience among the people
OF the republic. there has been serious
study of social and economic ques-
tiOns. and there has been evolved the
general belief that the welfare OF the
people is not measured by the wealth
Of the nation. and that the state must
assume many obligations which are
now left to chance or charity. Mr..
Roosevelt was quick TO seize the ris-
ing tide. but was handicapped in the
last campaign by the deep-seated pref
udice against third term, and by a
certain suspicion Of his sincerity, bas-
ed upon the fact that during his seven
years Of power he had never grappled
with the tariff and the financial ques
lions.
Mr.. Wilson is graphing With both
he is leading a progressive battle
which may meet with many set-backs