(_March 5, 1917_)
My Fellow-citizens,--The four years which have elapsed since last I
stood in this place have been crowded with counsel and action of the
most vital interest and consequence. Perhaps no equal period in our
history has been so fruitful of important reforms in our economic and
industrial life or so full of significant changes in the spirit and
purpose of our political action. We have sought very thoughtfully to
set our house in order, correct the grosser errors and abuses of our
industrial life, liberate and quicken the processes of our national
genius and energy, and lift our politics to a broader view of the
people's essential interests. It is a record of singular variety and
singular distinction. But I shall not attempt to review it. It speaks
for itself and will be of increasing influence as the years go by.
This is not the time for retrospect. It is time, rather, to speak our
thoughts and purposes concerning the present and the immediate
future.