Evening star., 1924-06-12
Ey the Associated Press.

text of the address Of President
Marion Leroy Burton Of Michigan
University. placing the name of
President Coolidge before the Repuh-
lican national convention was as fol-
lows:
Mr.. Chairman. ladies and gentle
men. fellow Republicans and fellow
ntfzens of America. the greatest
country the world has ever known:
This hour is fraught with solemn
obiigat tions. Not a single member OF
this convention can escape that fact
A great party, with noble heritage.
with wise leaders. and with RESPONSE
bility for the government today. has
convened to nominate d candidate for
the presidency OF the United States
Of America. No higher office exists
among men. For time. and by con-
sent of the people, il places mar
velous forces at the disposal of one
man. America today occupies a
unique position of leadership in the
world Her financial strength is
uneQualed; her agricultural and
manufacturing activities are enor-
nous; her educational. religious and
phllanthropic institutions and agen-
clss are maintaining with vigor the
cultural, scientific and spiritual
values Of the nation. In nominating
this man to succeed himself YOU are
Virtually choosing the next Presi-
dent. Such task cannot he under
taken lightly.
Presents the Man.
! shall speak one who for
years has known the President, |
follow this plan because | believe
You want to hear from one who has
nrst .hand knowledge of his sub
Ject. The people have an unsatia BILE
desire TO learn about the life and
WAYS OF this man. The better you
hi kno" Nm nm me more YOU will trust
MN. me more carefully you study
MS written words the more certain
you VIII become of the clarity of his
mind, the depth of his thought and
The soundness OF his judgment.
out these Qualities. My function is
10 present the man. The emphasis
must be just there. Ny primary task
Goes not concer rn policies or plat
Iorms as such. These must. of
illustrative material. but I am asked
to tell YOU why | believe the Presi
Gent should succeed himself and
aormaliN TO place his name in
In these days of worthy emphasis
upon social obligations and public
mIndedness il is easy to overlook the
iheantns OF the individual.
Many powerful forces are now
ope rat1ve in America which make
ror the disintegration of personality
sno consequent failure aIways to
nnyno, nr 1nai back of every great
no citizenship without the citizen
ana no virtue without the virtuons
r-NcrN cause is identified with A
pSom Just 50 today the Republi-
can party has it's wise leader tried
through many years of faithfuI and
.!riNlne public Se-vice His prepsrs
tior for the high office he now boISs
HdS "eeh adequate and ideal
description Quite Impossible.
ri,o describe him in spoken or
rrfitten word is quite impossihIe
Personality defes the rigid barr;er.
or speech. To know any man yo,
mus see him. To know this
.ah YOU must spend time with him.
As ne himself said of Lincoln: The
great men of all times baffie ali analy.
sis and all description
Cne thins We can say. he illus
rates the paradox Of greatness.
paradox is something which is .appar
entity absurd Yet true. Any one will
zen Eou he is 'nne of us and he is
In Keeping with his real qualities |
snail make no effort to exalt him. for
r,T, nr ooes f not need it, 1t would be
He IS not supcrman and would be
N" last to think so. There is not a
trace or snow or ostentaton about
hln1' Tor he does nothing merely for
appearance. He may be an example
but he would never set one His
quiet, unobtrusive. and natural way
or dong things was beautifully and
eraciously illustrated during the sad
days of last August when he assum-
cd the duties Of the presidency. He
personities the plain simple virtues
OF our citizens at their best
Sees Something Elemental.
Yet this is not all. If il be said
that he is rarely common il must also
he known that he is nobly uncommon.
great man is always simple and di-
rect About this man there is some
thing elemental. He can see into the
heart of things. He knows that every
person has a soul and that the great
est thing about America is her spirit.
He never lacks dignity. The Office
he occupies is exalted, for when he
performs public duty il is a cere-
mony.
He has moral fiber To me it is
his most distinguishing character
fstic. There is moral grandeur
about him which does credit to
American life You simply cannot
think Of him soft nabby.
He aims actually to do what he
knows he ought TO do. There is a
rigor and Yigor in his life which sue-
g"sts Sterness and discipline. He
helps one to understand that righte-
BUSINESS has an actual place in
tho world. Knowing him, YOU see
At once why he believes that the
American spirit is the supreme NOR
al power Of the world With him
there is no compromise. There is no
substitute for virtue When he
knows what is right he follows il
with resistless logic and persistent
rndcavor. He seems the epitome Of
sheer sclf-control. His achievements
In this respect are worthy Of the
highest emulation ny The present
generation Of Americans. From his
youth up he learned that self-restraint
is necessity for useful living as
well a. for civilization.
Boyhsod Day Recalled.
His father TELLS an incident which
throws a food OF light upon his early
training II was the boys duty each
day to provide an ample supply of
fire wood for the kitchen stove. On
one occasion in the middle Of the
task because he had failed to pro-
vide the wood for the coming morn
ing. Stern duty was on his con-
science. He early learned that obe-
dience is essential in a well ordered
form of selfishness and evil They
exist to be conquered. To him char
acter Is the first necessity. He wei
comes prosperity. provided We trans
mute our wealth into social progress.
All our national power and grandeur.
all our physical wealth. all Of our
guarantees of life and liberty Will be
81 real avail just in proportion as in
dividual citizens develop sterling, de-
pendable character There can be no
national greatness which does not
rest upon the personal integrity OF
the people Such man, regardies,s
do the right. He can be trusted.
His Frugality Inherited.
is nf his hAinR