HAVE FAITH IN MASSACHUSETTS; ***
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HAVE FAITH
IN
MASSACHUSETTS
[Illustration: Portrait of Calvin Coolidge _Copyright, Notman_]
HAVE FAITH
IN
MASSACHUSETTS
_A Collection of Speeches and Messages_
BY
CALVIN COOLIDGE
_Governor of Massachusetts_
SECOND EDITION ENLARGED
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
_The Riverside Press Cambridge_
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
There are certain fundamental principles of sound community life which cannot be stated too emphatically or too often. Few public men of to-day have shown a finer combination of right feeling and clear thinking about these principles, with a gift for the pithy expression of them, than has Governor Calvin Coolidge. It was an accurate phrase that President Meiklejohn used when, in conferring the degree of Doctor of Laws on him at Amherst College last June, he complimented him on teaching the lesson of "adequate brevity."
His speeches and messages abound in evidences of this gift, but in the main the speeches are not easily accessible. It has seemed to some of Governor Coolidge's admirers, as it has to the publishers of this little volume, that a real public service might be rendered by making a careful selection from the best of the speeches and issuing them in an attractive and convenient form. With his permission this has been done, and it is hoped that many readers will welcome the book in this time of special need of inspiring and steadying influences.
It is a time when all men should realize that, in the words of Governor Coolidge himself, "Laws must rest on the eternal foundations of righteousness"; that "Industry, thrift, character are not conferred by act or resolve. Government cannot relieve from toil." It is a time when we must "have faith in Massachusetts. We need a broader, firmer, deeper faith in the people,--a faith that men desire to do right, that the Commonwealth is founded upon a righteousness which will endure."
THE EDITORS
_Boston, September_, 1919
NOTE TO SECOND EDITION
In the issue of a second edition of this collection of Governor Coolidge's speeches and messages, the opportunity has been taken to add a proclamation and three recently delivered addresses, which bring the volume practically up to the date of publication.
_Boston, October, 1919_
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
_By His Excellency_
CALVIN COOLIDGE
GOVERNOR
A PROCLAMATION
Massachusetts has many glories. The last one she would wish to surrender is the glory of the men who have served her in war. While such devotion lives the Commonwealth is secure. Whatever dangers may threaten from within or without she can view them calmly. Turning to her veterans she can say "These are our defenders. They are invincible. In them is our safety."
War is the rule of force. Peace is the reign of law. When Massachusetts was settled the Pilgrims first dedicated themselves to a reign of law. When they set foot on Plymouth Rock they brought the Mayflower Compact, in which, calling on the Creator to witness, they agreed with each other to make just laws and render due submission and obedience. The date of that American document was written November 11, 1620.
