The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-09-05
WILSON ACCEPTS
LINCOLN HOME
Pays Tribute to Martyr as En-
bOdiment Of Democracy.
100000 ATTEND CEREMONY

Little Log Cabin is Housed in Granite
Memorial Building in La Rue coun-
ty, KY.
Hodgenville, KY, Sept. 5.-"We are
not worthy to stand he'e unless We
ourselves being in deed ard IN truth
raa. democrats mad servants of NAH
kind, ready to give our very lives 1of
the freedom and justice and spiritual
exaltaticn of the great nation which
shelters and nurtures u.s..
With these words President Wilson
closed a tribute to the memory OIL
Abraham Lincoln before the humble
log cabin in LaRue county, where the
civil war president was born.
A crowd of &C, 900 people, massed un'
der the lot sun on the hillsides about
the cabin, cheered the president as
he spoke of Lincoln as the embodiment
of democracy. Before delivering his
address, the president entered the
granite memorial building housing the
cabin, and for several minutes STOOD
IeVSTSHlly liz ~ "> = q
structure. AS he walked up the gran
lite steps leading to the cabin band
played patriotic airs and the crowd
cheered again and again.
The President and Mrs. Wilson, Sec
retar:.. of War Baker and Senator vii
liams, of Mississippi, signed the regis
ter outside the cabin, and then walked
CT ~ tho hntt0m
Of the path. More han 10000 motor
cars from near and distant points al
most covered the fields. The crowd
was SAID to be one of the largest ever
assembled in this section.
The presidents address was fire.
Quently interrupted by applause, and
as he closed there was cheer after
cheer.
The speakers of the ceremonies in
cident to the transfer of the cabin tt
the federal government included, with
the resident, General John R. Castle
man, of Louisville: Secretary Baker
Senator John Sharp Williams, of Mis-
souri,: coseph w. Folk, former govern
or of Missouri, and Robert T. Collier
Of New York.
rhe Lincoln homestead was acquired
by popular subscriptions through tie
Lincoln Farm association.
The president, in his address, said
mo more significant memorial could
have been presented to the nation than
this 1t expresses so much of what is
singular and noteworthy in the history
Of the country; it suggests so many
of the things that we prize most high,
government. How eloquent this little
house within this shrine is of the vigoT
OF democracy There is nowhere IN
the land any home so remote, so hum
Bile, that It may not contain the power
of Mid and heart and conscience TO
which nations yield and history sub.
1nits its processes.
Mature pays no tribute to arfstoc-
racy, subscribes to no creed of caste,
renders fealty to no monarch or master
o. any name or kind. Genius Is no
snob. It does not run after titles or
; seek by preference the high circles Of
society. It affects humble company as
well as great. 1t pays no special trio
ute to universities or learned societies
or conventional standards of great
ness. but serenely chooses its own
c.mrades, its own haunts, its own
cradle even, and its own life Of ad-
venture and of training Here is proof
of it..
"Thfs little hut was the cradle of one
of the great sons of men, a man of
singular, delightful, vital genius who
presently emerged upon the great
stage CT the nations history, gaunt,
shy. u1gainly, but dominant and ma
iestfc, a natural ruler of men, him
self inevitably the central figure ef the
great lot. No man can explain this,
but every man can see how it demon
strates the vigor of democracy, where
every door is open in every hamlet and
countryside, in city and wilderness
alike, for the ruler to emerge when
he will and claim his leadership in the
free life. Such are the authentic
proofs of the validity and vitality of
democracy.
Here Lincoln had his beginning.
Here the end and sonsummation of
that great life seem remote and a bit
Incredible. And yet there was no
break anywhere between beginning
and end, no lack Of natural sequence
anywhere. Nothing really incredible
happened. Lincoln was unaffectedly
as much at home in the White House
rs he was here"