502 Presidential Addresses 



interesting address ; and the address showed why he 

 can justly claim to be the historian of the people of 

 the United States, for what he has told us was what 

 the people did, not merely what the outward forms 

 and observances were, but what the life of the peo- 

 ple was a century ago. And, Mr. Justice, I think 

 that the recital has left in the minds of all of us 

 the feeling that while we revere our ancestors, we 

 are not wholly discontented that we live in the pres- 

 ent day. 



To each generation comes its allotted task; and 

 no generation is to be excused for failure to per- 

 form that task. No generation can claim as an ex- 

 cuse for such failure the fact that it is not guilty 

 of the sins of the preceding generation. It was a 

 surprise to me, I suppose it was a surprise to many 

 of us, to realize that a hundred years ago, in the 

 days of the fathers, the lot of the poor debtor was 

 so hard. It seems incredible to us now that there 

 should have been such callousness to the undeserved 

 human suffering then. I hope sincerely that a cen- 

 tury hence it will seem equally incredible to the 

 American of that generation that there should be 

 corruption and venality in public life. We can. di- 

 vide, and must divide, on party lines as regards 

 certain questions ; as regards the deepest, as regards 

 the vital questions, we can not afford to divide, and 

 I have the right to challenge the best effort of every 

 American worthy of the name to putting down by 

 every means in his power corruption in private life, 

 and above all corruption in public life. And, re- 



