The Republican., 1925-03-05
COOLIDGE BECOMES THIRTIETH
PRESIDENT OF The UNITED STATES
Standing At Historic Spot Where Long Line of
Predecessors Had Taken Sacred Vow, The
President Kissed Bible held by Judge Taft

Washington, March 4-President
Coolidge was inaugurated President
in his own right today by overwhelm-
ing mandate of the people.
For the first time in nineteen
months the country has a vice-presi-
dent.
Standing at the historic spot where
a long line of predecessors have TAX
en- the sacred oath, President Coolidge
bent and kissed the Bible in the hands
Of Chief Justice Taft and delivered
his inaugural address.
Vice President Dawes, few min
utes earlier, had taken his oath and
delivered his inaugural address in the
Senate chamber.
The President took the oath of office
precicely at 1 o'clock.
Vice President Dawes had taken the
oath of office at 12:14 o'clock.
Despite the Presidents firm stand
for a lack of expensive display, which
had reduced the ceremony to the last
degree of simplicity, it still was a
marked contrast from the midnight
movement of nineteen months ago,
when, reused from sleep by the news
of President Harding's sudden death,
he took the same oath by glow of an
oil lamp in his fathers Vermont farm
house.
The text of President Coolidge's ad-
dress follows:
My Countrymen:
No one can contemplate current
conditions without finding much that
is satisfying and still more, that is
encouraging. Our own country is
leading the world in the general re-
to the results Of the great
onfict. Many of its burdens will
Sa~3ear heavily upon us for years and
the secondary and indirect effects we
must expect to experience for some
time. But we are beginning to COM
prehend more definitely what course
should be pursued, what remedies
ought to be applied, what actions
should be taken for our deliverance,
and are clearly manifesting a deter
mined will faithfully and sonscien-
tiously to adopt these methods of re-
lief. Already we have sufficiently re-
arranged our domestic affairs so that
confidence has returned, business has
revived, and we appear to be entering
an era of prosperity which is gradu-
ally reaching into every part of the
nation. Realizing that we can not
live unto ourselves alone, we have
contributed of our resources and our
counsel to the relief of the suffering
and the settlement of the disputes
among the European nations. Because
of what America is and what Amer
lea has done, a frmer courage, a
higher hope, inspires the heart of all
humanity.
These results have not occurred by
mere chance. They have been secur-
ed by constant and enlightened eff
fort marked by many sacrifices and
extending over many generations. We
can not continue these brilliant sue
cesses in the future unless we contil-
ue to learn from the past. 1t is nee
essary to keep the former experiences
VI Jul SOuIlII DOIH dI HOIlG anu
abroad, continually before US, if we
are to have any science of govern
ment. If we wish to erect new struc-
lures, we must have definite knowl-
edge of the old foundations. We must
realize that human nature is about
the most constant thing in the uni
verse and that the essentials of hu-
man relationship do not change. We
must frequently take our bearings
from these fixed stars of our polit-
ical armament if we expect to hold
true course. If we examine care
fully what we have done, we can de-
termine the more accurately what we
can do.
We stand at the opening of the one
hundred and 50th year since our ma
tional consciousness asserted itself
by unmistakable action with an army
of force. The old sentiment of de-
tached and dependent colonies disap-
peared in the new sentiment of un-
tied and independent nation. Men be-
gan to discard the narrow confines of
local charter for the broader oppor-
tunities Of a national constitution
Under the eternal urge Of freedom we
became an independent nation. A lit
tie less than fifty years later that
Ereedom and independence were reas-
Z rted in the face of all the world,
and guarded, supported and secured
by the Monroe Doctrine. The narrow
fringe of States along the Atlantic
seaboard advanced its frontiers across
the hills and plains of an intervening
continent until it passed down the
golden slope to the Pacific. We made
freedom birthright. We extended
our domain over distant islands in or
der to safeguard our own interests
and accepted the consequent obliga-
ton to bestow justice and liberty up
on less favored peoples. In the de-
Tense OF our own ideals and in the
general cause of liberty we entered
the Great War. When victory had
been fully secured, we withdrew to
our own shores unrecoronpnsed save