Moral Preceptor

According to the Constitution, it is the duty of the President to administer and enforce the laws of the land, to advise the Congress on the state of the Union, etc. The Constitution does not require the President to be the great moral preceptor of the people. President Coolidge has taken unto himself this extra-legal duty, as has many another President. The late Theodore Roosevelt used to dispense moral pap while he was tossing the "big stick," like a juggler chatting with his audience while his eggs are in the air. President Coolidge, however, in his speech on the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Trenton last week, confined himself to revolutionary history and morality. Excerpts:

Luxury. "While we have a considerable extent of what might be called luxury, it is not of that destructive nature which has in the past afflicted other people. In a wide measure it is for use rather than display. It makes its appeal to the soul rather than to the senses."

Character. "We are placing a great deal of emphasis on prosperity. Our people ought to desire to be prosperous, but it ought not to be their main desire. There are other things that they ought to want more. Prosperity is not a cause; it is a result It is all summed up in a single word. It is character."

Mind & Soul. "Under our institutions the only way to perfect our government is to perfect the individual citizen. It is necessary to reach the mind and the soul of the individual. I know of no way that this can be done save through the influences of religion and education."

If. "If the world had complete change of heart, complete moral disarmament, complete mutual understanding, complete sympathy, we would have little need of armaments and no need at all for international treaties limiting their use and size."