Page:The autobiography of a Pennsylvanian.djvu/453

 And now I bid farewell, I hope, forever, to that malodorous scandal which followed so closely upon the completion of a marvelous and commendable achievement and whose purveyors may be likened to those vile fish that swim in the wake of a good ship, her prow buffeting the seas and her flag flying proudly in the breezes of Heaven, but seek only to feast their appetites upon the offal which is cast overboard.

The capitol was dedicated on the 4th of October. It was a cold, dismal, rainy day. Penrose, Knox, congressmen, the state officials, the National Guard and the state constabulary all participated. The streets of Harrisburg and the capitol grounds were crowded with people. I had been much concerned about the safety of the platform. We called for bids and one was so much lower than all the rest that it aroused suspicion. Upon investigation it was found that this contractor had planned to lessen the strength of some of the supports. Then the matter was handed over to Huston, the architect, with my threat to behead him if anything happened, and he gave to it every care. Roosevelt delivered a forceful oration. It was th a e n that he said, alluding to the work of the special session: “It is surely not too much to say that this body of substantive legislation marks an epoch in the history of the practical betterment of political conditions not merely for your state but for all other states.” The notes of this address, used at the time and signed for me on the platform, I had bound for preservation. He has a stage habit of singling out some individual in the audience and giving to him special attention. On this occasion he picked out an old soldier, much to the delight of the veteran and his comrades. It had been widely proclaimed that the President would dedicate the building. Nothing would have been more inappropriate and I saw to it that this task was performed by the head of the commonwealth in an address which ran:

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