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This year marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Constitutional Convention which made us a nation.
今年是制宪会议召开150周年，那次会议使我们成为一个国家。
At that Convention our forefathers found the way out of the chaos which followed the Revolutionary War;
在那次会议上，我们的前辈为摆脱革命战争后的混乱局面我到了出路；
they created a strong government with powers of united action sufficient then and now to solve problems utterly beyond individual or local solution.
他们创立了步调一致、坚强有力的政府，使我们足以在当时和现在都能解决个人或地方根本无法解决的问题，
A century and a half ago they established the Federal Government
他们在一个半世纪以前建立起联邦政府，
in order to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to the American people.
目的就是要增进美国人民的普遍福利，确保美国人民的自由幸福。
Today we invoke those same powers of government to achieve the same objectives.
今天，我们要同样运用政府的力量来达到同样的目标。
Four years of new experience have not belied our historic instinct.
4年来的新经验并没有使我们的历史直觉落空。
They hold out the clear hope that government within communities,government within the separate States,
这4年清楚地展现了一条希望之路，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.
和合众国政府都能按时代的要求行事而无需放弃民主。
Our tasks in the last four years did not force democracy to take a holiday.
我们过去4年的任务并没有迫使民主去休假。
Nearly all of us recognize that as intricacies of human relationships increase,
我们几乎所有的人都认识到，由于人类关系日趋复杂，
so power to govern them also must increase—power to stop evil; power to do good.
支配这种关系的权力也必须加强—包括抑恶的权力和扬善的权力，
The essential democracy of our Nation and the safety of our people depend not upon the absence of power,
我国的基本民主和人民安全的依据不是不要权力，
but upon lodging it with those whom the people can change or continue at stated intervals through an honest and free system of elections.
而是通过诚实和自由的选举制度，把权力交给可以由人民定期更换或连任的人。
The Constitution of 1787 did not make our democracy impotent.
1787年的宪法并没有使我们的民主软弱无力。
In fact, in these last four years, we have made the exercise of all power more democratic;
事实上，在过去4年中，我们使一切权力的行使都变得更加民主；
for we have begun to bring private autocratic powers into their proper subordination to the public's government.
因为我们已经开始使私人专断的种种权力恰当地服从于大众的政府。
