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Show Proclamation Proclamation. "To the People of the United States: "The death of Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States from March 4, 1913, to March 4, 1921, which occurred at 11:15 o'clock today at his home at Washington, District of Columbia, deprives the country of a most distinguished citizen,, and is an event which causes universal and genuine sorrow. To many of us it brings the sense of a profound personal bereavement. "His early profession as a lawyer was abandoned to enter academic life. In this chosen field he attained the highest rank as an educator, and has left his impress upon the intellectual thought of the country. From the presidency of Princeton university, he was called by his fellow citizens to be the chief executive of the state of New Jersey. The duties of this high office he so conducted con-ducted as to win the confidence of the people of the United States, who twice elected him to the chief magistrate magis-trate of the republic. As president of the United States he was moved by an earnest desire to promote the best interests of the country as he conceived them. His acts were prompted by high motives and his sincerity of purpose pur-pose cannot be questioned. He led the nation through the terrific struggle of the world war with a lofty idealism which never failed him. He gave utterance to the aspiration aspira-tion of humanity with an eloquence which held the attention at-tention of all the earth and made America a new and enlarged influence in the destiny of mankind. "In testimony of the respect in which his memory - is held by the government and the people of the United States, I do hereby direct that the flags of the White House and of the several departmental buildings be displayed dis-played at half staff for a period of thirty days and that suitable military and naval honors, under orders of the secretary of war and of the secretary of the navy, be rendered on the day of the funeral. "Done at the City of Washington this third day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-four, and of the independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-eighth. forty-eighth. "CALVIN COOLIDGE. "By the President. By GEORGE R. HOLMES, WASHINGTON, Feb. 4. In the calm peacefulness of death, Woodrow Wilson slept in his modest little house in S street today while a reverent nation and an inspired world passed silently by and laid on his doorstep belated tributes to his greatness. A commanding figure in life, America's great war-time president became in death an even loftier, more towering symbol of the ideals for which he gave his life. And his ! passing from the stage of world affairs on which he had so long played the leading role, called for the expressions of ' sorrow in such volume as never before witnessed. From the far corners of the earth today came messages to visit a king and called him "Sir" instead of "Your . i T7i L 1 l J.1 1 11 woras oi an rurupean niuxiarcii lay siue uy siue un me na.u table with the single rose that was the mute offering of a plainly dressed woman whose identity was obscured by the tear-stained veil that hid her face. The world, no less than America, hastened to give Woodrow Wilson in death that which had been denied him in the latter days of his turbulent life the sincere acknowledgment that when the book of time is closed his name will be seen high among the great ones of all time. - - , Messages. of sorrow came from London where he deigned i to mourn his going. A simple slip of paper that bore the ! Majesty"; from Paris, where he spent the most momentous days jof his epoch in his tracing map of the world ; from Rome ' where flags whipped at half staff. They will remain so idolatrous and hated with a vehemence that amounted to obsession ob-session from the Americas, whose closer kinship he sought to further; from far off Philippines whose independence he favored; from the Orient, in whose affairs he occasionally ! dipped with a strong, firm hand. Wherever the printed word is known and wherever the echoes of a great conflict pene-(trated, pene-(trated, Woodrow Wilson was known and the acclaim that was sometimes denied him in life, came to him today while he slept his last long sleep in the quiet house in S street. In the national capitol and on public buildings everywhere every-where he was first acclaimed with the fervor that is most thirty days, the period of official mourning set aside by proclamation of President Coolidge. |