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This year marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Constitutional Convention which made us a nation.
今年是制憲會議召開150周年，那次會議使我們成為一個國家。
At that Convention our forefathers found the way out of the chaos which followed the Revolutionary War;
在那次會議上，我們的前輩為擺脫革命戰爭后的混亂局面我到了出路；
they created a strong government with powers of united action sufficient then and now to solve problems utterly beyond individual or local solution.
他們創立了步調一致、堅強有力的政府，使我們足以在當時和現在都能解決個人或地方根本無法解決的問題，
A century and a half ago they established the Federal Government
他們在一個半世紀以前建立起聯邦政府，
in order to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to the American people.
目的就是要增進美國人民的普遍福利，確保美國人民的自由幸福。
Today we invoke those same powers of government to achieve the same objectives.
今天，我們要同樣運用政府的力量來達到同樣的目標。
Four years of new experience have not belied our historic instinct.
4年來的新經驗并沒有使我們的歷史直覺落空。
They hold out the clear hope that government within communities,government within the separate States,
這4年清楚地展現了一條希望之路，即地方政府、州政府
and government of the United States can do the things the times require, without yielding its democracy.
和合眾國政府都能按時代的要求行事而無需放棄民主。
Our tasks in the last four years did not force democracy to take a holiday.
我們過去4年的任務并沒有迫使民主去休假。
Nearly all of us recognize that as intricacies of human relationships increase,
我們幾乎所有的人都認識到，由于人類關系日趨復雜，
so power to govern them also must increase—power to stop evil; power to do good.
支配這種關系的權力也必須加強—包括抑惡的權力和揚善的權力，
The essential democracy of our Nation and the safety of our people depend not upon the absence of power,
我國的基本民主和人民安全的依據不是不要權力，
but upon lodging it with those whom the people can change or continue at stated intervals through an honest and free system of elections.
而是通過誠實和自由的選舉制度，把權力交給可以由人民定期更換或連任的人。
The Constitution of 1787 did not make our democracy impotent.
1787年的憲法并沒有使我們的民主軟弱無力。
In fact, in these last four years, we have made the exercise of all power more democratic;
事實上，在過去4年中，我們使一切權力的行使都變得更加民主；
for we have begun to bring private autocratic powers into their proper subordination to the public's government.
因為我們已經開始使私人專斷的種種權力恰當地服從于大眾的政府。
