as the human plan contains varied talents and differing degrees of
industry and thrift, but ours ought to be a country free from the great
blotches of distressed poverty. We ought to find a way to guard against
the perils and penalties of unemployment. We want an America of homes,
illumined with hope and happiness, where mothers, freed from the
necessity for long hours of toil beyond their own doors, may preside as
befits the hearthstone of American citizenship. We want the cradle of
American childhood rocked under conditions so wholesome and so hopeful
that no blight may touch it in its development, and we want to provide
that no selfish interest, no material necessity, no lack of opportunity
shall prevent the gaining of that education so essential to best
citizenship.

There is no short cut to the making of these ideals into glad
realities. The world has witnessed again and again the futility and the
mischief of ill-considered remedies for social and economic disorders.
But we are mindful today as never before of the friction of modern
industrialism, and we must learn its causes and reduce its evil
consequences by sober and tested methods. Where genius has made for
great possibilities, justice and happiness must be reflected in a
greater common welfare.

Service is the supreme commitment of life. I would rejoice to acclaim
the era of the Golden Rule and crown it with the autocracy of service.
I pledge an administration wherein all the agencies of Government are
called to serve, and ever promote an understanding of Government purely
as an expression of the popular will.

One cannot stand in this presence and be unmindful of the tremendous
responsibility. The world upheaval has added heavily to our tasks. But