The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-03-13
PRESIDENT WILSON'S INAUGUR.
AL ADDRESS.

AL ADDhFISS.
There has been change of gov
eminent. 1t began two years ago,
when the house Of representatives
became democratic by decisive ma
jority. 1t has now been completed.
The senate about to assemble will
also be democratic The offices Of
president and vice president have
been put into the hands of demo
Gratis. What does the change mean?
This is the question that is upper
most in our minds today. That IS
the question l am, going to try to
answer, in order, if | may. to inter-
pref the occasion.
1t means much more than the
mere success of a party. The sue
cess of party means little except
when the nation is using that party
for a large and definite purpose. NO
one can mistake the purpose tor
which the nation now seeks to use
the democratic party. 1T seeks to
use it to interpret change IN It's
own plans and point Of view. Some
old things with which we had grown
familiar, and which had begun to
creep into the very habit OF our
thought and of our lives, have alter
ed their aspect as We have latterly
looked critically upon them, with
fresh, awakened eyes; have dropped
their DISCUSSES and shown them
selves alien and sinister. Some new
things, as we look frankly upon
them, willing to comprehend their
real character. have come to assume
the aspect of things long believed IN
and familiar, stuff Of our own con-
victions. We have been refreshed
by a new insight into our own life.
We see that in many things that
life is very great. 1t is incompar-
ably great in it's material aspects,
in its body of wealth, in the diver
sity and sweep of its energy, IN the
industries which have been concelV-
ed and built up by the genius OF
individual men and the llmltless en-
terprise of groups of men. 1t is
great. also, very great, III its moral
force. Nowhere else in the world
have noble men and women exhibit
ed in more striking forms the beauty
and the energy Of sympathy and help
fulness and counsel i'll their efforts
to rectify wrong, alleviate suffering.
and set the weak in the way OF
strength and hope. We have built
up. moreover, great system OF gov
eminent, which has stood through a
long age as in many respects model
for those who seek to set liberty up
on foundations that will endure
against fortuitous change. against
storm and accident. Our life con-
tains every great thing. and con-
rich ahllpi1VcA
But the evil has come with the
good, and much fine gold has been
cOrrOded. With riches has come in
excusable waste. We have squand-
cred a great part Of what we might
have used, and have not stopped to
conserve the exceeding bounty OF
nature, without which our genius for
enterprise would have been worth
less and impotent, scOrning to be
careful, shamefully prodigal as we'll
as admirably efficient. We have
been proud of our industrial achieve
ments, but we have not hitherto
stopped thoughtfully enough to count
| the human cost, the cost of lives
snuffed out. of energies overtaxed
| and broken, the fearful physical and
spiritual cost ofNthe men and women
and children upon whom the dead
weight and burden Of it all has fall
en- pitilessly the years through. The
groans and agony of it all had not
yet reached our ears, the solemn
| moving undertone of our life, COM
ing up out of the mines and factories
and out of every home where the
struggle had it's intimate and famil-
| lar seat. With the great govern
ment went many deep secret things
| which we too long delayed to look
| into and scrutinize with candid, fear
| less eyes. The great government we
| loved has too often been made use
of for private and selfish purposes,
and those who used it had forgotten
the people.
At last a vision has been vouch-
safed us of our life as whole. We
see the bad with the good, the debas-
ed with the sound. the decadent with
the vital. With this vision we ap-
proach new affairs. Our duty is to
cleanse, to reconsider, to restore. to
correct the evil without impairing
the good, to purify and humanize
every process OF our common life
without weakening or sentimentaliz-
ing it. There has been something
crude and heartless and unfeeling
in our haste to succeed and be great.
Our thought has been Let every
man look out for himself, let every
generation look out for ITSELF while
we reared giant machinery which
made it impossible that any but
those who stood at the levers of con-
troll should have chance to look out
for themselves. We have not forgot
ten our morals. We remembered
we'll enough that we had set up a
policy which was meant to serve the
humblest as we'll as. the most power
full, with an eye single to the stand
ards of justice and fair play, and re-
membered it with pride. But we
were very needless and in a hurry
to be great.
We have come now to the sober
second thought. The scales of heed
lessness have fallen from our eyes.
We have made up our minds to
square every process of our national
life again with che standards we SO
proudly set up at the beginning and
| hovo alwavc carried at Our hearts