Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-03-06
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
WILSON OUTLINES PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION HE
WILL WORK FOR DURING HIS ADMINS
TRATlON IN BRIEF INAUGURAL
ADDRESS.

upon the noesssity OF the govern
nent to sell it's bonds SO years ago
and perfectly adapted to concern
trat'ns cash and restricting cred
.t.; an industrial system which,
take i on all its sides, financial
capital in leading strings, restricts
the liberties and limits the oppor- !.
tunities of labor and exploits with
out renewing or conserving the
natural resources of the country;
body Of agricultural activities
never yet given the efficiency Of
great business undertakings or
served as it should be through the
fundamentally Of science taken
directly to the farm, or afforded the
facilities of credit best suited to it's
practical needs; water courses un
developed, waste places unre-
claimed, forests INTENDED, fast dis
appearing without plan Of prospect
OF removal, unregarded waste heaps
perhaps no other nation has the
most effective means of produc-
tion, but we have not studied cost
or economy az we should either az
organizers of industry, as states
mon, or AZ individuals.
Governing for Humanity.
Nor have we studied and perfected
the means by which government may
be put at the service of humanity, in
safeguarding the health of the nation,
the health of its men and its women
and It's children, as we'll as their rights
In the struggle for existence This is
no sentimental duty. The firm basis
OF government is justice, not pity.
Ihese are matters of justice. There
can be no equality of opportunity, the
hrst essential of justice in the body
dren be not shielded in their lives
their very vitality, from the conse-
quences Of great industrial and social
processes which they cannot alter
control. or singly cope with. Society
must see to it that it does not itself
crush or weaken or damage it's own
constituent parts. The first duty OF
law Is to keep sound the society it
serves. Sanitary laws, pure food laws,
and laws determining conditions of la
Dor which individuals are powerless to
determine for themselves are intimate
parts of the very business of Justice
and legal efficiency.
These are some of the things we
ought to do, and not leave the others
neglected. fundamental safeguarding
of property and of individual right
This is the high enterprise of the new
day. to lift everything that concerns
our life as nation to the light that
shines from the hearthfire Of every
mans conscience and vision of the
right. 1T is 4. inconceivable that we
should do this as partisans; it is in
conceivable we should do it in igno-
rance OF the facts as they are or in
blind haste. We shall restore. not de-
stroy. We shall deal with our eco
nomic system as it is and as 1t may
be modified. not as it might be if we
had clean sheet of paper to write
upon; and step by step we shall make
it what it should be- in the spirit Of
those who question their own wisdom
and seek counsel and knowledge, not
shallow self satisfaction or the excite
ment of excursions whittier they can
not tell. Justice and only justice, shall
always be our motto.
Not Political Task.
And vet it will be no cool process
of mere science. The nation has been
deeply stirred by solemn passion.
OF ideals lost, of government too often
debauched and make an instrument of
evil. The feelings with which we face
this new age of right and opportunity
sweep across our heart strings like
some air out of Gods own presence,
where justice and mercy are recon-
ciled and the judge and the brother
mere task of politics, but a task which
shall search US through and through.
whether we be able to understand our
time and the need of our people,
whether we be indeed their spokes-
men and interpreters, whether we have
the pure heart to comprehend and the
rectified will to choose our high course
of action.
"'This is not day Of triumph; il i.
a. day Of dedication. Hero muster, not
the forces Of party, but the forces o,
humanity. Mons hearts wait upon US
mems lives hang in the balance; mon,
hopes call upon US to say what we will
trust? Who dares fail to try? sum
mon al! honest men, all patriotic, al
forward looking mon, to my side. Goo
helping mo, | will not fail them, If they
will but counsel and sustain mel"
q rs i