The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-07-05
Text of Harding Address
nr Aa.onlntnd rrrnn

with you again, and join you in
 tho centennial celebration of the
 founding of Marion. Frankly, 1t
 would be preferable to come sim
 ply as a Marionito and speak as
 one, because 1t easily possible for
 me to feel a peculiar intimacy
 toward such an occasion.
 T cannot justify a claim to
 any great part in tho making of
 Marion today, but as A newspa-
 per worker for moro than third
 of a century have done A lot
 of chee7ng, which is no less cs-
 sentlal to the forward move
 ment In a community than 1t Is
 in fooball or baseball. Amid tho
 cheering and boosting l did my
 share of observing and recording,
 and I could relate things inter-
 esting to me, probably interest
 ing to you of Marion, but they
 would seem rather trivial to that
 larger community which Is ha-
 bituated to expect some form of
 broadcastinR to every presiden-
 tial utterance.
 For an interesting reminder
 of the unacceptable responsibility
 for presidential utterance came
 to me a year ago l was on
 brief vacation in the mountains
 of New Hampshire and my gener-
 ous host said we must go to tho
 nearby village. which had been
 his boyhood home, and meet the
 people who would be assembled.
 We motored down the mountain,
 we had most agreeable meet
 ing, and l spoke extemporaneous-
 ly for, probably 16 minutes. Six
 ty days inter, there came to my
 desk newspaper published in
 Peking Chtna, with verbatim
 reprint of the speech.
 Would Talk Marion
 "Of course there was nothing
 In it I did not say sincerely No
 one fit for public service Will
 ever be guilty of that.
 My thought is, that ordinarily
 there Is time and place for par
 ticular speech, but in the presi-
 dential office all times and all
 places are very much alike. There
 may be a justified pride in tho
 manifest interest of all our own
 people and all the world being
 Interested in what the United
 States government Is thinking, or
 saving. but. confess being hu-
 man enough to wish to talk or
 the intiniste things relating to
 Marion. Mthout misconstruction
 or misapplication.
 .There Is very much of the latter. Maybe it will not be unseemly to TO- late an instance. Several weeks ago. when the returning tide or industriai activity made the time seem oppor- tune. | invited some 40 or 50 captains of the great iron and steel industry to dine with me, to confer apout thc abolition of the l2-hour work day. did not choose to proclaim tho pur- pose in advance, because dislike the tendency to promise excessively and accomplish inadequateiy. Imagine my surprise. yea. my amusement to read In an important metropolitan news paper that was dining the steel harons to shake them down for the deficit in campaign funds of 1920.
 Tt will be good to talk about Ma rion, Just among ourselves. know nothing more interesting to any man than hls own community. If he isn't interested, he isn't a good citizen.
 Tribute to Home
 "A~century sounds like long while at first impression. but after all. 1t Is only little while, There are com inunities in the world 10 or 20 cen turies old not half so important in world activities today; perhaps they have contributed to human progress infinitely less in all their time than Marion has in one century. Nay. in a shorter time than that. for the Ma rion we boast has been really only a half century in the making.
 T mean no Encouragement of the older and earlier citizenship by sturdy qualities which pioneer the way. Theirs was great and highly essen tinl work in blazing the way for the present-day civilization. It require ed strong men and noble women to turn wildernesses into worthwhile habi- tations. Malaria and ague sorely tried human bodies even though souls eheerfully resisted.
 PerxlinK Speaks
 "General Pershing has spoken Of the fearless colonists, and we ought 10 revere them for their surpassing bequest of liberty and nationality. but the builders of the west. the men and women who marched with the west ward star of empire' were no less brave. no less heroic. and were more prophetic.
 But there is a rther more personal reason for the little while view became citizen of Marion 70 years ago. almost to day. and have been a resident of the county just about 50 years. And 1t all has tha seem Ing of being but little while. Yet 1 could almost qualify as pioneer.
 Look Into Past
 The Marion I first saw in 1882 had less than 1000 people, but my first impression was that of very much city in which I feared I should be hopelessly lost. The in- dustrial awakening had not been given notable expression. Edward Huber had begun the industrial march but he was still struggling as most industries struggle, before they are firmly founded.
 Probably Marion was as country fled as I felt. but I did not know It was my viewpoint. my limited vis- ion. which kept me from knowing. You see. came from the farm and village. and the county seat of 1000 loomed big in my vision, because I had seen nothing greater. Surely it looked 10 times as large as 1t does today, though the Marion of today is 10 times larger than then and twice 10 times as important in its relationship to the world of human activities.
 This confession Is meant to have application. How important is tho viewpoint to all the Impressions and problems of life. The villager goes to the great city, is confused by the high tide of activities and awed by the .complacency of those accustomed 10 them. and so reveals himself n provincial. and is so designated. But those who proclaim him are oft times no less provincial. because they. too. have the narrow vision, they do not know the village and country life which is ever freshening and swell ing through the current of our na- tional life.