The sun., 1917-03-06
President Accompanied by
Mrs. Wilson To and
From Capitol.
PRECEDENT BROKEN
BY HER APPEARANCE
Detectives and Secret Ser
vice Men Watch Crowds
Along Route.

WASHINGTON. Marcn 6.-President
Wilson took his public oath Of ONCE At
1o:45 this afternoon. tho frst Demo-
cratic President to succeed himself since
Andrew Jackson. In his inaugural ad-
dress, delivered before q great throng at
the Capitol, he dedicated himself to
the cause Of peace, to be secured. II pos
siblc. by an armed neutrality. and re-
iterated the principles proclaimed In his
address before the Senate as a means
Of securing an end to war.
A President-elect Of the United
States, hemmed in by troops and es-
corted to and from the Capitol through
a lane Of soldiery--that Is what this
city saw to-day for the first time since
the cloud Of civil war cast Its shadow
upon Lincoln's first inaugural
The President drove from the Capitol
with Mrs. Wilson in an open four-in-
hand. His carriage was begirt by the
Second Cavalry. In addition to the secret
service men. Stretched along Pennsyl-
vania avenue from the White House to
the Capitol. eight feet apart. were the
soldiers Of the Twelfth and Sixty-ninth
New York regiments. their rifles at
present arms.
These precautions were considered
necessary for the first time in more than
a half century. They gave the sombre
note to an otherwise brilliant spectacle
and brought home to many the realiza-
tion that times were perilous
Glad Cere mony IL Over.
Everybody in ofY,cial life in WASH
ington cognizant Of the fears that have
prevailed In the last few days Is breath
ing easier now that the inaugural cere-
mony is all over. Perhaps these fears
were groundless. but at any rate they
have been here in Washington for many
days. That was why the President was
not behind his escort but in the midst
OF II. and why for the first time on the
tops of buildings along the route and
even on the roof of the Capitol detec-
tives and secret service men by the
hundreds watched ard waited with eyes
hxed constantly on the crowds below
No untoward incident, however, marked
the ceremony. The President seemed to
throw aside his cares. The skies were
smiling. The city. filled with visitors
and caparisoned for a holiday. greeted
the President with cheers. As the result
OF northwest wind that whipped hats
from many heads and came bowling
around the corner OF the Capitol only a
few hundred persons could hear his ad :
dress. and before he had proceeded far
people began to leave the plaza. In which
they had been packed like berries In a
bowl.
For the first time the wife of a Presi
dent-elect accompanied him both to and
from the Capitol. Indeed throughout the
day Mrs. Wilson never left her husbands $
side.
Eight years ago Mrs. Taft accompanied
her husband from the Capitol to the
White House after the inaugural cere.
mony. This was because Mr.. Roosevelt,
the retiring President, elected to 70 i'm
mediately from the Capitol to the rail-
road station. It has been the custom for
President who was to succeed himself
to ride to tho Capitol with the chairman
OF the committee on arrangements. But
to-day this precedent was set aside and
Mrs. Wilson accompanied the President
both up and down the avenue. Like Mrs.
Taft. she also sat with her husband on
the dais on which he took the oath.
Far Less Of Crowd.
It was the smallest inaugural crowd
that Washington had seen in many
years. The fact that the Government
was practically continuing without a
change even in the Cabinet may have
accounted somewhat for this. The great
crowds that came here for the Cleveland
and Roosevelt inauguratons were moth.
ing like duplicated to-day. and of course
much Of the interest felt in Mr.. Wilson's
induction into office four years ago was
lacking this time.
Il,,t - tbera a,idopt d.a....
numbers there was also evident some.
thing that lifted this national spectacle
out of the class Of commonplace inaugu.
rails. Whether II was n now feeling OF
patriotism, the thrill produced by peril.
Gus times. or realization of common
country. as typified In It's Chief Execu.
tive. something was in the air. II stiff.
fened up the troops. Among them were
boys from the country's great military
schoOls-an object lesson for all of the
advantages OF universal training. II put
zest into the cheering. Patriotism, mill.
tant patriotism. was dominant
While trumpets blared and martial
accoutrements ratified prophet,cally
about him the President In his address
pictured the deep wrongs the United
States patiently had borne in the con
flict Of other peoples without wishing to
that the tragedies OF another continent
had removed provncialism and made
Americans citizens Of the world, and
that the principles Of this republic
should be applied to a liberation OF man
kind. he resolutely voiced a determine
ton that America. standing arm In
armed neutrality" must demonstrate
her claim to a minimum Of right and
freedom OF action" IN world affairs.
Peculiar interest and Significance, In
the light OF his rebuke last night to
Senators who prevented passage of the
armed neutrality bill. were attached to
the Presidents assertion on this point
Even more interest and concern were
aroused when he added:
I'VE may even be drawn on by cir
cumstances. not By our own purpose or
desire, to a more active assertion Of our
rights as we see them and a more i'm
mediate association with the great
struggle itself. But nothing will alter
our thought or our purpose.
We desire neither conquest nor advan-
tage. We wish nothing that can bs
had only at the cost Of another people