LEGISLATURE HONORS BIRTHDAY OF LA FOLLETTE

...Give us an intelligent tolerance even .of the me.i we deem dangerous, born of a realisation thut most of the priceless privileges of our livjs were bought by the courage and creativeness of dead rebels...

...La Follette was a man with a real soul, a rare variety in all history...

...THE warm June sunshine shone peacefully on the grave of Robert Marion La Follette, and on the "faithful" who gathered there in commemoration of his seventy-second birthday...

...for a manifestation of unselfish devotion to a great cause...

...Much was accomplished, but much is still for us to do if we are to remain true disciples of his economic faith...

...Teach us that the direction of progress is even more important than its speed...

...When La Pollette goes, it is already certai* That the fire he kindled wilt be quenched,'' They cried: "What is the progressive movement in Wisconsin...

...Let the word die, the echo be kilted...

...We would immortalize his name and service...

...when necessary...

...Our words can not touch him now, nor alter his place in the heart and in the history of this Commonwealth, but in this" hour of honoring him we would learn anew how wisely to use the heritage of the 'highhearted leaders of other days...

...Our divine discontent sotmetim.es degenerates into a merely ruinous restlessness...

...Give u« an abiding faith ho our function a* guardians of the good mankind has gained in the past, but save us from the sin of preserving the obsolete a? wel...

...May this hour bring it...

...The fire that he kindled is not quenched But grows bright upon faces that remember...

...illumination alike to those who followed him and to those who fought him...

...President Glenn Frank, of the University of Wisconsin, gave the prayer that appears on this page...

...We are sometimes more autocratic than the autocrats we overthrow, more intolerant than the bigots wo damn...

...Sunrise and sunsets Have flamed upon his grave...

...We mourned his death...

...He would make us realize that the most loyal exponent of a righteous cause is the citizen who has the least ambition to wear a crown, and that unselfish disposition to serve the cause, whether as a private citizen or as a public official, will 'best tend to make this world a better place for human beings to live.* * * "Throughout a long and honorable career, in performing every act which affected the public welfare, Robert M. La Follette was guided by-standards and fundamentals...

...as the eternal in our heritage...

...But still his word hangs on the air a trumpet, Still its echo lifts and touches on the wind...

...He could not go wrong...

...In deabh, around this green mound and grcy sfcone, meet in spiritual symbolism the invisible hosts of tradition and of change, the divergent counsels of caution and of courage...

...And if we be men of conservative caution, instruct us, 0, Lord of Progress, in the purpose and in the perils of conservatism...

...the spirit of La Follette could speak to us across the mysterious gulf between heaven and earth, no man or woman here, or anywhere, who believes in the rights of human beings can doubt what he would say...

...We are finding the ways to carry forward...

...Give us the ancient philosopher's sense of life as a torch race...

...They said: 'In these changing times Words live no longer than their echoes...

...small children played about in the freedom he so loved...

...Phrases are paltry to frame the tribute that is due to you...

...With far-sighted wisdom, conspicuous ability, masterful leadership, constructive statesmanship almost unparalleled, and industry well nigh incredible, he built for his country and the race on the foundations left by the real souls who preceded him...

...In life, around his head, battered but unbowed, beat the ceaseless storms of revolt and reaction...

...And the people will forget...

...Let us .today—here in the presence of the tomb of Robert M. La Follette—and under the majestic influence of his spirit, make a new and steadfast resolution to test every man and measure by the standards which marked La Follette's way...

...The iniquities of the government you charged in your last days have been verified by evidence, and plans for their correction are under way...

...He would ask for self-sacrificing service involving a minimum of self-aggrandizement...

...Give us an abiding faith in our function ai advance agents of progress, but save us from blindness to our shortcomings...

...We would not make merchandise of his name or coin his spirit into-catchwords...

...Surrounded by prophet* of the untried, help us to be priests of the permanent, but...

...We have so often made loyalty to dead leaders a social sedative...

...Of the unfinished work which you charted for us to do there is still much to be done...

...We sometimes confuse change with improvement...

...If we be men of radical impulse, instruct us...

...We are here to rekindle our enthusiasm and devotion to the eternal principles he so steadfastly defended...

...The spirit of the occasion was LIFE—a re-striving, re-dedication to the human principles of the great leader who had been called away...

...We celebrate the memory of one who, by character and from choice, followed and filled the high office of prophet always and of rebe...

...In here rehearsing a life that was lived on the social battle fronts where challenge met defense and change pave tradition blow for blow, help u ;, whether we be by temperament radical or conservative, honestly anJ humbly now to assess and to valuate the roles we are ourselves playing in the life of this Commonwealth...

...lie would plead to us for a new pledge of loyalty...

...Shrine to I.a Follette WALTER D. CORRIGAN of Milwaukee, a life-long friend and valued co-worker with Senator La Follette, said in part: "There are profound reasons why men and women will come, year after year, to the shrine of Robert M. La Follette...

...Save us, here as always, from a servile ancestor worship that savors of sterile idolatry...

...Teach us the responsibilities of rebellion...

...Save us from meeting an importai.t radicalism with an intolerant reaction...

...When La Follette went, his work went—on...

...May the memory of his ministry to this Commonwealth mean the continuing emancipation of our spirits in free service to a free State...

...We are here in homage to thantc God that He gave the life of Robert M. La Follette to Wisconsin, and that Wisconsin gave it to the world...

...Moon after moon Has silvered, hours of darkness have blackened it...

...Huber read a telegram from Senator James A. Reed of Missouri, who had been asked to be present: "I have no language to express the disappointment I feel because I cannot join the citizens of Wisconsin in paying tribute to one of the very greatest men and patriots of recent times...

...He would beg us to uphold the banner which Prayer at the Tomb of a Leader Robert Marion La Follette 18 5 5-1925 By Glenn Frank [President University of Wisconsin] ALMIGHTY GOD, Lord alike of the leaders and of the led, we lift our hearts and loose our voices in the sacrament of remembrance, bathing our spirits in the beneficent memory of a leader who in life stood with his back to the past and in deabh fell with his face toward the future...

...In legislative halls of state and national government where once your words were scorned, they are now repeated with awe for their prophetic vision...

...Just before the exercises began, the crowd parted to let Frank Higgins, 8G, who was Senator La Follette's country school teacher in Argyle, bring in beautiful peonies...

...he' bore through a life of sacrifice and service for the men and women of the race...

...Robert M. La Follette visioned a government of the people, unsullied by the influence and the shackles of monopoly control...

...Save us from becoming dictators I've day after we win a fight for freedom, and ke%p U3 tolerant after w~ have ousted the bigot front his seat...

...May we realize that these silts are unworthy of true radicals...

...We loved and honored him...

...in our priesthood of established truth, sav: us from becoming the enemies of emerging truth...

...He loved and served mankind...

...When that final victory comes, when government among men is freed from selfishness and greed, when official life is untainted by corruption and graft—then will the name of Robert M. La Follette shine in a redemption light of true greatness...

...young men and women in the prime of life stood reverently contemplating the great idealists whose courage and energy were ever youthful...

...In our sometives too naive faith that progress can be manufactured o-ver night, we lack the patience that is wise enough to wait for tkiogs to grow...

...It was a beautiful picture out among the trees...

...And grant us, we beseeeh Thee, a goodly measure of his spirit of clarity, of courage, and of candor...

...The nation's oil reserves for which you battled are now being returned to the people, due to your initiation...

...So then the Leader passed...

...At the close of the exercises, Lieut...

...We may trace the never ending conflict between the friends and enemies of human rights through all history to our time, and thence throughout the life of this republic and at the end, an impartial judgment of the merits of men conspicious as 'leaders in this cause on the side of human freedom, must ultimately place the name of La Follette in the world's hall of fame beside that of Abraham Lincoln...

...When he passes, it will no longer breathe...

...may we make loyalty to this dead leader a spiritual stimulant...

...And who so socializes a state Has created some form of life everlasting...

...AMEN...

...Give us respect for sound traditions...

...The Progressives hope to make it an annual pilgrimage where they can gain hope and inspiration which will keep Piis memory alive through the generations...

...O, Lord of Order, in the responsibilities oT rebellion...

...It is La Follette, He alone is its breath...

...help us to feel that in our hands the torch of truth must be lit and lifted, that we must guard it as wc go, that we must keep it a flame that will burn in the breeze of motion, and that we must hand it undimmed to the guardianship of the next runner before wc begin to falter, lest we fall and in falling put out the flame we seek to protect...

...Huber Presided IT was not mournful...

...We are here humbly seeking the true light for meeting the problems, of coming events he predicted must come...

...White-headed grandfathers spoke o£ the days when they and "Bob" had campaigned together oa some vital political issue...

...may wc realize that change is not worth while for its own sake, and thai we may best serve our day by knitting the new into the old...

...Lieutenant-Governor Henry Huber, who pre-sided> was very moving in his salute to his friend: "Senator La FollettE,, we are here on this, your seventy-second birthday, to render an account of our stewardship...

...In our passion for movement, we sometimes forget the importance of direction...

...Give us to see that the car of progress is headed up hill, and so save us from the social waste of burning ourselves out as brakes...

...Give us, O, Lord of Order, a vision of society as a bridge over which the traffic of humanity must keep passing: even as we rebuild it...

...To Gather Inspiration ''WE are here today to gather inspiration * * to perform the important tasks he left for us to do...

...The truth is that La Follette socialized a state...

...The "Wisconsin legislature had voted and arranged memorial exercises on June 14...

...He would plead for patriotism...

...He would admonish us to support measures which square with the great fundamentals, not euch as are the mere toys for a political season...

...Place High in History ''T1S high place in history is the result of an extraordinary combination of intellectual honesty and unselfish devotion to fundamental standards...

...More than all, we appreciate his loyalty to the human race...

...Miss Zona Gale, beloved by the people of Wisconsin, read a stirring tribute which she recently wrote to La Follette and the movement he founded: They said: "When the Leader goes, all goes...

...For the breath that he breathed into the peoplo Quickened their clay, And the spirit that rose therefrom is not of the substance that dies...

...Those standards were as simple as those of the mariner following the shining stars...

...He was able, fearless, and tireless in the great conflict for human rights against special privilege, ever raging since the dawn of civilization...

...Would Plead for New Loyalty ''IF we could span today the great unknown, or if...

...No longer is your sincerity questioned...

...Many brought armfuts of garden flowers, roses, peonies, iris...

...Help us to realize that we can not guard this flame in the clois-ters of cowardice, walled in from the world of challenge and of change...

...Almighty God, Lord alike of the leaders and of the led, may we not dishonor the memory of him wc seek now to honor by forgetting these spiritual foundations of our service to this Commonwealth...

...May we never parody the devil fight...

...Help us to realize that we are guardians not of some fixed and final thing, but guardians of the flame of living truth...