, 1923-08-09
PRESIDENT HARDING
Continued from Page One)

Today we are assembled to do
honor t one who is in a sense the
victim of a nations kindness. 1t
is a heavy task to be constantly
travelling; it Is still a heavier drain
on the strength of ordinary mar to
add innumerable addresses to the
fatigue OF travel; 1t Is yet a harder
drain on,human endurance to greet
thousands of persons. each one an
y'CIs to show respect n admira-
ton: each person to be met by n
friendly response and greeting.
We had a warning in the stroke
that came to President wilson; we
have had a second warning in the
blow that came to President Hard
ing. We are all SO anxious to do
honor to our chief, that we forget
that a president has the limitations
of ordinary men in pwers of endur-
ance.
| saw President Harding at 'Chey-
enne about six weeks ago, and | was
impressed by his manly appearance.
His combination of manly strength
and gracious which were
so characteristic of him appealed es-
pecially to me. His features in re-
pose were severe II gave the inn
prtNSlOu Oh great tdTUbSlnpSS, Dut
when engaged in conversation they
became alive with affability and an
imation. He could truthfully be
said to be a lover of his fellowman
mad one who thoroughly enjoyed
their campanionship, their approval
and their friendship. In many ways
President Harding was a composite
type of the outstanding American.
In nnT estimate nf the man wa
can easily lose sight of those politi-
cal differences which is the atmos-
phere in which our political leaders
have been compelled to live.
1t is of the nature of human re-
~lationship that we think different
ly, argue heatedly, and even indulge
in personal determinations while
men are still living and engaged in
the conflict of political interests.
II is amazing, however. how com
pletely the death of a principal robs
these political differences of any ex-
allied significance, and how we go
back at once to the elemental quail
tiles of personal integrity, human
sympathy and divine reverence.
He looked the price and played
the man in all the trying situations
OF his %eventful career. 1t Is no mere
figure of rhetoric to say that Presi-
dent Harding died because OF his
desire to meet human kindness with
friendly appreciation.
There is no ruler in Christen-
dom who carries the burdens borne
by our chief executive. To add to
a genial nature the burdens OF So
Ia to tax their pwers OF resistance
cial obligatins beyond their strength
to the breaking point.
Looking to the past at our ira
ditions. President Harding belonged
to that innumerable group Of sturdy
Americans who were brought up in
the village or country schools with
out much that we call culture, but
who worked their own way, built up
own education by virtue of their
earnestness. industry and perse-
verance. In their simple ways he
grew up with a sincere veneration
for the history OF the republic: for
those leaders who blazed the trail
of our national liberties: for the
constitution which embodied the
principles OF human liberty and for
the Bible which contains the tan
dards OF moral decency.
He was versed in business, in
politics and in social relations. He
was n man of religious instincts, a
lover OF home, devoted to his wife,
fond of recreation and unusually
obliging. In a sense he was an or
binary American raised to a high
power of a~daptability. one who
could bear himself in trying situa-
lions with dignity n yet with
~nmiability: with firmness yet with
courtesy; with passionate loyalty to
the nation and yet with n fine sense
OF gratitude to his friends.
He was no lone and solitary figure
looking down with %patronizing toll
erance upon ordinary folk. but one
who when raised to power, still en-
joyed association with those whom
he had known in the humber walks
OF life.
He believed in the sincerity and
wisdom of others. Instead OF sur.
rounding himself with small minds
he associated himself with men like
Hughes and Hoover. who doomed
large in public cnhdence and ap,
prevail. In the same spirit he Of.
.fected perhaps the most far-reach,
ing innovation in the history of tn,
presidents in recognizing that {
vice president was n potential presI
dent, and. therefore, possessed o.
unusual wisdom and ability which
should be made available to tn,
nation, and so he made him n mem
Der or his cabinet council, and avail