THIRD TERM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23870, 22 January 1941, Page 8

THIRD TERM

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT INAUGURATION DAY WASHINGTON CROWDED Ry Telegraph—-Press Association—Copyright WASHINGTON, Jan. 'JO Mr. Ixonsovolt was to-day inaugurated as President of the United Slates for a third term. He drove from the White. House to the Capitol in an open car. escorted by four army scout cars, equipped with heavy machine-guns. A procession of official cars followed. while Secret Service, agents brought up the rear. A crowd estimated at 1,000,000 people lined the route and cheered as tin' President waved his hat. total of American aeroplanes, symbolising the country's race to rearm, marked the beginning of the inaugural parade, in which General George ('. .Marshall, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army, led 0100 troops and mechanised forces along the main avenues. Secret Service men arrested a man found in front of the White House carrying a, revolver. The man was within 100 feet of the President's reviewing stand. before the ceremony Mr. Roosevelt, accompanied by his wife, his mother and the members of his family, attended a service at St. John's Episcopal Church, where prayers were | oll'cred for divine guidance lor his third term. Broadcast to Britain Listeners throughout Britain, says a. ! British official wireless message, this evening heard Mr. Roosevelt take the | oath administered by the Chief .lus- ' tiee, Mr. Charles Evans Hughes, on ; the occasion of his third term as f'resij dent. The inauguration ceremony was heard with remarkable clearness. The President's strong. resonant voice ' created a deep impression as he defined ! the three periods of American history ! —the first when in Washington's day j the will of the people was to create and ! weld the nation; the second in bincoin's day to preserve the nation from disruption from within; and now to save the nation and its institutions from disruption from without. The President's analysis of the undying spirit of a democratic people was felt to apply as much to the British people as to the American and no doubt was left in his listeners' minds about Mr. Roosevelt's own determination, as shown by the emphasis he laid on his closing words, that the United States would never retreat. The President's Speech Tn his inaugural speech, President Roosevcit said: ''On each national day of inauguration since 1780 the people have renewed their sense oi dedication to the t ntted States. To-day the people's task is to ! save the nation and ils institutions | from disruption I rom without. "There are men who believe democracy as a form of government and frame of life is limited or measured by a kind of mystical, artificial fate —that I for some unexplained reason tyranny ! and slavery will become a wave i in the future, and that ireedom is a fleeing tide. "Eight year; ago (in the depression'), when the life of this Republic seemed ; frozen by fatalistic terror, wo proved ! this to be untrue. We acted quickly j and boldly. ; "These later years have been living j years, fruitful tor the people ol this i democracy. They have brought greater security and a better understanding that life's ideals can bo measured in i other than material things, j "Very vital for our present and I future is this experience of democracy j which has successfully survived the | crisis at home and put away many evils, built new structures on enduring lines and throughout maintained the fact of its democracy. Free Expression "Prophets of the downfall of American demoeraev have seen their dire predictions come to naught. Democracy is not dying. Wo know it because we have seen it revive and grow, and know it cannot die because it is built oil the unhampered initiative of individual men and women joined in common enterprise, and undertaken _ and carried through by free expression of a free majority. We know it because democracy alone of all forms of government enlists the full force of men's enlightened will. "We know it because democracy alone has constructed an unlimited civilisation, capable of infinite progress in the improvement of human life; because, if we look below the surface sense, it is still spreading on every continent. It is the most human, the most advanced and. in the end. the most unconquerable of all forms of human society. BuiWing Up Security (l Democratic Aspiration is no nioro recent phase of human history; it is human history. It permeated the ancient life of early peoples. It blazed anew in the Middle Ages. It was written in Magna Cliarfa. In the Americas its impact has been irresistible. " A republic's hopes cannot forever tolerate either undeserved poverty or self-serving wealth. Wo know we still have far to go, and we must build up security, opportunity and knowledge for every citizen in the measure that our resources and the capacity of our land justify. "But it is not enough to achieve these purposes alone; not enough to feed and clothe the nation's body and instruct and inform its mind. There is also the spirit, and of the three the greatest is the spirit. The preservation of the spirit and the faith of the nation does and will furnish the highest justification for every sacrifice we may make in the cause of national defence. "fn the face of great perils never before encountered our strong purpose is to protect and perpetuate democracy's integrity. For this we muster the spirit of America, and the laith of America. Wo do not retreat. Wn are not content to stand still. As Americans we go forward in the service of our country, by God's will."