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Show WILSON INDUCTED INTO HIGH OFFICE Inauguration of Twenty-Seventh President Is Witnessed by Great Crowds. MARSHALL SWORN, IN FIRST Simple Ceremony In Senate Chamber Followed by More Impressive Affair on East Portico of the Capitol. By GEORGE CLINTON. Washington, March 4. In the presence pres-ence of a vast throng of his fellow citizens, citi-zens, Woodrow Wilson today stood in front of the east portico of the capitol and took the oath of president of the United States. Thomas R. Marshall already had been sworn in as vice-president, vice-president, and with the completion of the ceremony the ship of state was manned by the Democratic party, which had been ashore for sixteen years. As the new chief executive of the nation stood with bared head, Edward Ed-ward Douglass White, chief justice of the Supreme court, held before him the Bible always used in the ceremony. cere-mony. Mr. Wilson placed his. hands upon the book and in a voice strong, though somewhat affected by emotion, swore to support the Constitution and the laws of the country and to perform the duties of his high office to the best of his ability. Thomas Riley Marshall swore fealty feal-ty to the Constitution and to the people in the senate chamber, where for four years it will be his duty to preside over the deliberations of the members of the upper house of congress. con-gress. Severely Simple Ceremonies. Both of the ceremonies proper were conducted in a severely simple but most impressive manner. The surroundings sur-roundings of the scene of the president's presi-dent's induction into office, however, were not so simple, for it was an out-of-door event and the great gathering of military, naval and uniformed civil organizations gave much more than a touch of splendor to the scene. In the senate chamber, where the the oath was taken by the man now x vice-president of the United States, there were gathered about 2,000 V people, all that the upper house will contain without the risk of danger because of the rush and press of the multitudes. It is probable that nowhere no-where else In the United States at any time are there gathered an equal number of men and women whose names are so widely known. The gathering in the senate chamber and later on the east portico of the capitol capi-tol was composed largely of those prominent for their services in America, Amer-ica, and in part of foreigners who have secured places for their names in the current history .of the world's doings. The arrangements of the ceremonies for the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson Wil-son and Thomas Riley Marshall were made by the joint committee on arrangements ar-rangements of congress. The senate ,v ;4 -'V, i -vvVs 'p President Woodrow Wilson. section of this committee was ruled by a majority of Republicans, but there is Democratic testimony to the fact that the Republican senators were willing to outdo their Democratic brethren iu the work of making orderly or-derly and impressive the inaugural ceremonies in honor of two chieftains of the opposition. Ride to the Capitol. President Tail and President-elect Wilson rode together from the White House to the capitol, accompanied by two members of the congressional committee of arrangements. The vice-president-elect also rode from the White House to the capitol and in the carriage with him were the senate's president pro tempore, Senator Bacon of Georgia, and three members of the congressional committee of arrangements. arrange-ments. The vice-president-elect took the oath just before noon in accordance with custom and prior to its taking by the president-elect. Every arrangement arrange-ment for the .enate chamber proceedings pro-ceedings had been made so that they moved forward easily and with a certain cer-tain ponderous grace. Marshall Sworn In. The admission to the senate cham-bcr cham-bcr to witness the oath-taking of the vice-president was by ticket, and h is needless to say every seat was occupied.. On the floor of the chamber cham-ber were many former members of the senate who, because of the fact that they once held membership in that body, were given the privileges of the floor. After the hall was filled and all the minor officials of government govern-ment and those privileged to witness the ceremonies were seated, William H. Taft and Woodrow Wilson, preceded preced-ed by the sergeant-at-arms and the committee of arrangements, entered the senate chamber. They were followed fol-lowed immediately by Vice-Presidentelect Thomas R. Marshall, leaning upon the arm of the president pro tempore of the Benate who, after the seating of the incoming vice-president, took his place as presiding officer of the senate and of the day's proceedings. proceed-ings. The president and the presidentelect president-elect sat in the first row of seats directly di-rectly in front and almost under the desk of the presiding officer. In the same row, but to their left, were the vice-president-elect and two former vice-presidents of the United States, Levi P. Morton of New York and Ad-lai Ad-lai A. Stevenson of Illinois. When the distinguished company en-'tered en-'tered the chamber the senate was still under its old organization. The oath of office was immediately administered admin-istered to Vice-President-elect Marshall, Mar-shall, who thereupon became Vice-President Vice-President Marshall. The prayer of the day was given by the chaplain of the senate, Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce, pas- iSlilBlli Vice-President Marshall. tor of All Souls' Unitarian church, of which President Taft has been a member. mem-ber. After the prayer the vice-president administered the oath of office to all the newly chosen senators, and therewith the senate of the United States passed for the first time in years into the control of the Democratic Demo-cratic party. Procession to the Platform. Immediately after the senate1 ceremonies cere-monies a procession was formed to march to the platform of the east portico por-tico of the capitol, where Woodrow Wilson was to take the oath. The procession pro-cession included the president and the president-elect, members of the Supreme Su-preme court, both houses of congress, all of the foreign ambassadors, all of the heads of the executive departments, depart-ments, many governors of states and territories, Admiral Dewey of the navy and several high-- officers of the sea service, the chief of staff of the army and many distinguished persons from civil life. They were followed by the members of the press and by those persons who had succeeded in securing secur-ing seats in the senate galleries to witness the day's proceedings. When President Taft and the president-elect emerged from the capitol on to the portico they saw in front of them, reaching far back into the park to the east, an immense concourse con-course of citizens. In the narrow line between the onlookers and the platform plat-form on which Mr. Wilson was to take the oath, were drawn up the cadets of the two greatest government schools, AVest Point and Annapolis, and flanking them were bodies of regulars reg-ulars and of national guardsmen. The whole scene was charged with color and with life. On reaching the platform the president presi-dent and president-elect took the seats reserved for them, seats which were flanked by many rows of benches rising tier on tier for the accommodation accommoda-tion of the friends and families of the officers of the government and of the press. Oath Administered to Wilson. The instant that Mr.' Taft and Mr. Wilson came within sight of the crowd there was a great outburst of applause, ap-plause, and the military bands struck quickly into "The Star Spangled Banner." Ban-ner." Only a few bars of the music were played and then soldiers and civilians ci-vilians became silent to witness respectfully re-spectfully the oath taking and to listen to the address which followed. The chief justice of the Supreme court delivered the oath to the president-elect, who, uttering the words, "I will," became president of the United States. As soon as this ceremony cere-mony was completed Woodrow Wiison delivered his inaugural address, his first speech to his fellow countrymen in the capacity of their chief executive. execu-tive. At the conclusion of the speech the bands played once more, and William Howard Taft, now ex-president of the United States, entered a carriage with the new president and, reversing the order of an hour before, sat on the left hand side of the carriage, while Mr. Wilson took "the seat of honor" on the right. The crowds cheered as they drove away to the White House, which Woodrow Wilson entered as the occupant and which William H. Taft immediately left as one whose lease had expired. |
