IN THE CABINET
Roosevelt offers me a place in his Cabinet--I retire permanently
from private business--I become Secretary of the Department of
Commerce and Labor---The scope of the department--My bureau
chiefs--At home in the Venetian Palace--Cabinet dinners--What
Roosevelt drank--Roosevelt's fondness for terrapin--South Carolina
labor immigration--The Japanese question; the "Gentlemen's
Agreement"; General Kuroki's visit; the courts and Japanese
naturalization--My trip to Hawaii; Viscount Ishii--Japanese
transits between Canada and Mexico; Japanese immigration
statistics; I suggest a naturalization treaty with
Japan--Anti-Japanese agitation renewed in California--The Four
Power Treaty of the Washington Conference--Immigration head tax
immunity for diplomats--Revision of naturalization laws; prevention
of fraudulent naturalization--More frequent steamboat inspection
--The Alaskan salmon fisheries--Organization of the Council of
Commerce, predecessor to the Chamber of Commerce of the United
States--The Council of Labor--Roosevelt's Nobel Peace Prize
Foundation--A visit to Georgia; my old homes at Columbus and
Talbotton--Quentin Roosevelt--Social life in Washington; Christmas
celebration in the White House; the President's New Year's
reception; I give the last Cabinet dinner.
Before I became a member of President Roosevelt's official family, I was
in what he termed his "kitchen cabinet." My experiences in both cabinets
are among the treasured recollections of my life.
We were the unofficial advisers who met round the luncheon and dinner
table and afterwards in the White House study, where the President spoke
without reserve of his executive problems and read for our criticism and
counsel his rough drafts of congressional messages, speeches, and notes
to foreign governments.
Holding no portfolios of state, these "kitchen cabinet ministers" yet
gave of their best; were always prepared to toil to any extent to be of
assistance to the President. He had the quality of vitalizing things--a
situation or condition coming within his executive ken became so
charged with life and imagination that men wanted to put their hands and
minds to it. They served Roosevelt as energetically and loyally as if
the grave responsibilities of state were upon their own shoulders.
International relations and labor arbitration were the public activities
which interested me most. The President had appointed me a member of the
permanent board of arbitration at The Hague to succeed the late Benjamin
Harrison, and shortly thereafter in his charming manner had designated
me as a member of his "kitchen cabinet." Thus there had commenced for me
a memorable series of conferences.
There is much misapprehension regarding Roosevelt's so-called
impulsiveness. This was evident to those who had an intimate view of the
man at work. He was quick. He was a prodigious worker. He was so
constituted and so self-trained that he had to do things immediately,
get them out of the way. What people called his impulsiveness might have
been more aptly termed his preparedness.
I had hundreds of opportunities to observe his methods. When he accepted
an invitation to deliver an address or write an article, he would
prepare it immediately, even if the occasion were two, three, or six
months off. He revised considerably, showed his work freely to friends
and associates for criticisms, but completed it at the earliest
opportunity. He never waited. This method served to perfect his thought
and expression on a given subject. His promptness left him free for
other things.
The President never seemed to be hurried, though he always worked with a
wonderful driving force. He seemed never to waste any time. It was play
or work, and both with his whole heart.
His public addresses were almost invariably the result of preparation.
It was seldom that he spoke extemporaneously. The fire and animation
which he imparted in the delivery of his speeches certainly conveyed no
impression that they might have been carefully prepared and considered
at a desk in a study. The pages of his manuscript were so small and
inconspicuous that they did not interfere with his natural gestures. The
effect was almost as if he spoke extemporaneously. The written address,
printed on sheets about 3 x 6 inches, and held in one hand, was
completely lost sight of by the audience in those moments when Colonel
Roosevelt became emphatic. In those moments he also interspersed
extemporaneous remarks which brought out his arguments more vividly and
forcefully.
* * * * *
I stopped in Washington and called on President Roosevelt, early in
January of 1906, on my return from a short vacation in the South. He
took me into his private room, where we found his personal and political
friend, James H. Sheffield, and Senator Spooner. He spoke about the
political changes in New York, the defeat of the machine in that State,
the election of Herbert Parsons as chairman of the County Committee, and
of young Wadsworth (now United States Senator), son-in-law of John Hay,
as Speaker of the House. He took a special delight in the election of
both of these men; he had a high regard for them personally and for what
they stood. He said he had written a letter to Parsons which he hoped
would be helpful to him.
The President asked me to come to lunch with him, which was another of
those delightful, informal meetings. Besides Mrs. Roosevelt, his
daughter Alice, and her fiance, there were William Dudley Foulke, a
former colleague of the President on the Civil Service Commission and
friend of mine from my college days; Robert Hitt son of Congressman
Hitt; and Lieutenant Fortesque, an officer of the Rough Riders.
After luncheon, the President asked me to wait for him in the Red Room,
as he wanted to have a talk with me. When the other guests had departed,
he came back to me and with his face beaming with geniality he said: "I
don't know whether you know it or not, but I want you to become a member
of my Cabinet. I have a very high estimate of your character, your
judgment, and your ability, and I want you for personal reasons. There
is still a further reason: I want to show Russia and some other
countries what we think of the Jews in this country."
Of course I was gratified, very much gratified. I told him I had heard
from several persons that he had spoken of this intention, but that I
had meant to take no notice of it until he should speak to me about it;
that I should certainly esteem it the very highest honor to become a
member of the Cabinet, and especially to have the privilege of working
alongside of him.
"I knew you would feel just that way; therefore I was anxious to let you
know of my intention as long in advance as possible," replied the
President. He said all this in such a cordial and affectionate manner
that I was profoundly touched with this manifestation of close
friendship for me.
He then added that he could not see that it would do any good, and might
do harm, to make further protests or utterances regarding the massacres
in Russia under the disorganized conditions there; and he did not want
to do anything that might sound well here and have just the opposite
effect there. He thought it would be much more pointed evidence of our
Government's interest if he put a man like me into his Cabinet, and that
such a course would doubtless have a greater influence than any words
with the countries in which unreasonable discrimination and prejudice
prevailed.
He told me that it might be July or even later before he could carry out
his purpose. He would prefer to put me at the head of the Department of
Commerce and Labor, because of my knowledge in that field, but he could
not determine the specific position until later. But at any rate, I was
to regard my appointment to one of the Cabinet positions as certain.
He asked whether I knew Senator Platt, and indicated that it might be
well for several of my friends to have a talk with the Senator. But he
quickly added that it would make no difference to him whether it suited
the New York Senator or not, though it might perhaps be a little more
agreeable if I did not have the latter's opposition. I preferred to feel
that my selection was personal, which it really was, and without even
the semblance of political influence; so I did not ask any of my friends
to speak to Senator Platt, nor did I think he would oppose me.
My wife and the rest of my family were of course elated at hearing the
news, particularly my brother Isidor, whose attitude toward me, his
youngest brother, was always more like that of an affectionate father
than a brother. I felt no trepidation, especially should I be selected
for the Department of Commerce and Labor. My past training and interest
in many of the subjects that came up under that department made me
conversant with the main questions it had to administer.
Upon my return to New York I began to make arrangements for severing all
business connections. This I thought wise, particularly if I became head
of the Department of Commerce and Labor. It was not a necessary step,
but I wanted it never to be said that I advocated any measure or made
any decision that might in the remotest way be of advantage to my
private interests. I spoke to Roosevelt about my intention, and he said
that while it was not essential, if I could do so it would on the whole
be advisable; that situated similarly he would do the same thing
himself. Before assuming office, therefore, I had retired from business
for good, and I have not since that time been connected with any
business for personal profit.
My nomination was officially made in September, but it was not until
early December, 1906, that I received a letter from William Loeb, Jr.,
the President's secretary, notifying me that the President desired me to
assume office on December 17th. On that day, accordingly, I appeared at
9 A.M. at the Department of Commerce and Labor, then located in the
Willard Building across the street from the Hotel Willard on Fourteenth
Street. There I met my predecessor, Victor H. Metcalf, who had been
appointed Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Metcalf welcomed me in a brief
address and introduced me to the twelve bureau and five division chiefs
of the department.
The Department of Commerce and Labor was the youngest of the nine
departments of the Government, the bill creating it having been approved
by President Roosevelt on February 14, 1903. Roosevelt had done much to
establish the department and took great pride in it. The first Secretary
of Commerce and Labor was George B. Cortelyou, who had been secretary to
the President, and by reason of his intimate relations with the
officials of the Government was admirably equipped to organize this
department, which he did with great skill and administrative ability.
After holding the office for about a year and a half, Secretary
Cortelyou became Postmaster-General, and Victor H. Metcalf, Congressman
from California, was appointed, thereby becoming the next Secretary of
the Department on July 1, 1904; I was therefore the third.
The scope of the Department as constituted then was probably the largest
of the nine branches of the Government. It was charged with the work of
promoting the commerce, mining, manufacturing, shipping, and fishery
industries of the country, as well as its transportation facilities and
its labor interests; in addition it had jurisdiction over the entire
subject of immigration. It had twelve bureaus: corporations;
manufactures; labor; lighthouses; census; coast and geodetic survey;
statistics, including foreign commerce; steamboat inspection;
immigration and naturalization; and standards.
In order to cooerdinate the work of these various bureaus I instituted
the simple method employed by large business administrators of having
the several bureau chiefs come together with me twice a month to discuss
and confer regarding the more important administrative subjects. This
enabled me to keep better informed and served to make the various heads
of bureaus conversant with the whole scope of the Department, preventing
overlapping and duplication of functions. I learned that this simple
administrative method had never been made use of before in federal
departments, but thereafter it was adopted by several of the other
department heads.
Thanks to Mr. Cortelyou's admirable organization of the department, I
found, almost without exception, a fine and competent set of men in
charge of its several branches. Some of them were friends of Roosevelt,
members of his "tennis cabinet," and were thoroughly imbued with his
spirit and ideals. The assistant secretary was Lawrence O. Murray, a
capable and conscientious official. James R. Garfield, chief of the
Bureau of Corporations, devoted himself to the difficult task of
exposing the abuses and legal infractions of some of the great
corporations, and did it with judgment and ability, and with conspicuous
courage. Charles P. Neill, chief of the Bureau of Labor, a laboring man
in his early days, and afterwards an instructor at Notre Dame, and
professor of economics at the Catholic University, in Washington, D.C.,
was eminently qualified for his duties and had the confidence alike of
labor leaders and employers. Dr. Samuel W. Stratton, a scientist of
distinction and a fine administrator, was then chief of the Bureau of
Standards, a veritable institution of science.
Fortunately, when the Department of Commerce and Labor was organized,
the civil service law applied to all appointments excepting bureau
chiefs, so that I was able to devote my time to the duties of my office,
free from claims of patronage, which had been the bane of the older
departments of the Government before the civil service law became so
generally operative.
My wife had so promptly put our household in order that in a week after
our arrival, we were comfortably installed in our Washington home, No.
2600 Sixteenth Street, a house known as the "Venetian Palace" from the
style of its architecture. It was a new house, built by Mrs. John B.
Henderson, and well suited to our needs and for entertaining. The social
functions in Washington I found most agreeable. During the season we
either gave a dinner or attended a dinner on an average of five evenings
a week, but these occasions were not burdensome because they usually
ended by ten-thirty o'clock.
According to custom, President Roosevelt at the beginning of the season
designated the date on which each Cabinet member was to give a dinner to
the President, and the date assigned to me was February 19th. It had
been usual for each host to invite to this dinner all the other Cabinet
members and their wives, which left little opportunity to invite others.
Roosevelt changed this custom so that other friends of the host were
invited rather than one's fellow members in the Cabinet. Foreign
diplomats also were not invited, the entire purpose being to give these
occasions the character of intimate gatherings, not large, usually from
eighteen to twenty-five guests.
Our dinner went pleasantly. The President was in his usual good humor.
Wines were served liberally, but it was Roosevelt's habit to drink very
little. This I had observed on several previous occasions, both at the
White House and elsewhere. Roosevelt usually took some white wine with
apollinaris, and perhaps a glass of champagne. For this dinner my wife
had secured the additional services of a certain colored cook in
Washington, a woman famous for preparing terrapin, which was one of
Roosevelt's favorite dishes.
* * * * *
Tuesday and Friday mornings, beginning at eleven o'clock, were the
regular days for the meetings of the Cabinet, then as now. The day after
taking office, therefore, I attended my first meeting, taking the chair
assigned to me. It was labeled on the back "Secretary of Commerce and
Labor, December 17, 1906."
The Cabinet table is oblong, the President seated at the head, and to
his right and his left the secretaries in the order in which their
departments were created--Secretary of State first to the President's
right, Secretary of the Treasury first to the left, and so on. Being
head of the ninth and youngest Department, my seat was at the foot of
the table, opposite the President.
The meetings were informal and no minutes were taken or other record
made. After some brief preliminary talk, in which the President often
had some incident to relate or some amusing caricature or savage attack
upon himself to exhibit, the business of the day began. The President
calls on every secretary, but in no fixed order. He presents such
matters as he may deem important, and upon which he may want discussion
and advice.
At this meeting I intended not to bring up anything, preferring to wait,
as the saying is, until I got "warm in my seat." But an important matter
had come up that very morning upon which I had made a decision, based on
the carefully reasoned opinion by the solicitor of the department, Mr.
Charles Earl. The State of South Carolina, under one of its recent laws,
had authorized its State Commissioner of Immigration to go to Europe and
select a number of skilled factory hands for the industrial
establishments of the State. There were about four hundred and fifty of
these immigrants, and there was some question about admitting them. The
Immigration Law of 1903, as well as previous laws, excepted the State
from its contract labor clauses, and I therefore decided upon their
admission.
Indeed, no subject in the department occupied my daily attention to the
extent that immigration did. Fortunately, at the chief port of entry,
Ellis Island in the New York Bay, there was a capable, conscientious,
efficient commissioner, Robert Watchorn.
[Illustration: _Copyright by Clinedinst_
THE ROOSEVELT CABINET
Left to right: The President, Root, Straus, Garfield, Metcalf,
Cortelyou, Taft, Meyer, Wilson, Bonaparte]
The right of the immigrant to land, after his medical examination, was
based upon the decision of a board of inquiry. This board often made
hurried and ill-considered decisions, especially when the immigration
was large. In the case of exclusion, the immigrant has the right to
appeal to the Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Labor. Of
course, cases coming under certain portions of the exclusion provisions,
such as contract labor, mental deficiency, affliction with loathsome and
contagious diseases, were easily enough disposed of; but under the
provision "Likely to become a public charge" there was room for the
personal attitude of the members of the board, and the fate of the
immigrant then depended on whether or not these men were
restrictionists. I felt that there was a domestic tragedy involved in
every one of these cases, and as the law placed the ultimate decision
upon the Secretary, I decided this responsibility was one that should
not be delegated; so day by day I took up these decisions myself,
frequently taking the papers home with me and carefully reviewing them
before retiring.
* * * * *
Important among the immigration subjects were those which presented
phases of the Japanese question, the immigration _en masse_ of Japanese
to the Pacific Coast States, California in particular. The question was
brought up by Secretary Root at one of the Cabinet meetings. The city of
San Francisco had taken action excluding Japanese from the public
schools. It was deemed detrimental for the white children of tender ages
to be in the same classes with older and even adult Japanese who came to
these schools to learn English. My predecessor, who was a resident of
California, had investigated and was conversant with all aspects of the
case.
The President insisted that, as it directly affected the relations
between the two nations, it was a national concern. Several members of
the Cabinet also regarded the subject as one having serious
probabilities. Secretary Root asked me whether I could furnish some data
as to the use made of Hawaii by Japanese immigrants for circumventing
our contract labor law, as many of the Japanese immigrants were coming
to the mainland via Hawaii. Upon looking into this question I found
during the year previous fully two thirds of the Japanese came via
Hawaii. The President took the situation in hand and had the mayor of
San Francisco and other leaders of the Japanese agitation come to
Washington.
The obnoxious matter was finally adjusted with Japan in a manner to
allay irritation by a "Gentlemen's Agreement," by which that country
itself was to prevent the emigration of its laboring classes. It was, of
course, much better that the Japanese interdict emigration of their own
people than that we offend that nation's pride by preventing their
entrance, although it was made clear that we should pass an exclusion
law if they did not take prompt and effective action.
With some exceptions, this plan worked well. The whole Japanese
question, however, was still smouldering. A few months later, during a
call at the Department, the Japanese ambassador mentioned to me that in
some parts of the Pacific Coast the Japanese were being molested in the
streets and that, of course, such things made bad blood and stirred up
the people in Japan, with which I had to agree. I admitted that this was
an outrage, stating that I was sure our respective governments would do
all in their power to maintain good relations, to which he replied that
he did not see how those good relations could be disturbed.
Ambassador Aoki then referred to the naturalization of his countrymen in
the United States. I told him that on that question I agreed entirely
with the President, who in one of his recent speeches had dwelt
emphatically on it, advocating laws for the naturalization of Japanese
the same as accorded to other aliens. He then mentioned the Executive
Order of the President with reference to Japanese immigration and the
regulations for the enforcement of it. I told him I had these
regulations in hand and he could rely upon me to make them so as to
avoid every possible friction and reflect in every way the broad and
liberal spirit of the administration; also that under the immigration
act the matter was to a large extent in the control of Japan in issuing
limited passports to the special classes affected, namely, skilled and
unskilled labor.
After one of the Cabinet meetings I had a conversation with Secretary
Root and submitted to him redrafted regulations for any suggestion or
amendment that might appear to him desirable, for I was anxious that the
Secretary of State should give the regulations critical examination, in
view of their affecting our relations with Japan. He returned them to me
within a few days with one or two slight changes, which I adopted, and
out of them grew the "limited passports" provision of the Immigration
Act of 1907.
From time to time I brought up the Japanese situation and emphasized
that I regarded it in a most serious light. Meanwhile, whenever the
opportunity presented itself I did whatever was possible to promote
good-will between the two countries. Japan's great military chief,
General Tamemoto Kuroki, paid a visit to the United States, and was
given a gala dinner at the Hotel Astor in New York, following ovations
to him all the way across the continent from the time he landed at San
Francisco. There were over a thousand guests. Admiral Dewey was
presiding officer; John H. Finley was toastmaster, and it was felt he
was particularly chosen, being president of the College of the City of
New York, because of the protest this would imply against the exclusion
of Japanese children from the San Francisco public schools. I was
invited to deliver an address, in which I said:
The Government and people of Japan, not unmindful of the good-will
and early friendship of our country, are too wise to permit the San
Francisco school incident, which was fostered by ignorance and
propagated by injustice, to cloud their just appreciation of the
enlightened spirit of American institutions.
Captain Tanaka, of General Kuroki's staff, had handed me in translation
a message that the General had prepared for the American people, which I
read in the course of my address. It was as follows:
The Japanese people love peace. They fought for peace. My nation
wants peace in which to develop the opportunities that are hers. We
have no other desire.
The profession which I have the misfortune to follow is noble only
because sometimes it is necessary to establish conditions in which
peace may be maintained and in which the arts of peace may
flourish.
To this I added that nobler sentiments never fell from the lips of a
conquering hero, and they would stand beside those uttered by our hero
of the Appomattox: "Let us have peace." This was received with much
enthusiasm.
Early in June, 1907, there was another outbreak in San Francisco against
the restaurant keepers, and telegrams from Tokyo told of the irritation
this caused among the people in Japan. At the Cabinet meeting I took the
subject up again with considerable emphasis. I pointed out that these
incidents were accumulating and were bristling with grave consequences;
that Japan had come into the front rank among nations and could not
afford to permit us or any other nation to slap her, as it were, in the
face, or to treat her even in small things as a nation of inferior race.
I brought up the subject of Japanese naturalization. As the law stood,
a Japanese could not be naturalized, according to the rulings of one or
two judges of the United States courts; but the subject had never been
finally decided. A short time previous to this a Japanese seaman in
Florida had filed a petition for naturalization which was granted, and I
referred the matter to the Attorney-General to see whether that would
not afford an incident wherewith to test the law. But no action was
taken.
At first the President did not seem to attach to the subject the
importance that I did, but Secretary Root immediately spoke up that he
agreed with my view of it, and as the discussion went along, the rest of
the Cabinet, as well as the President, gradually came over to my view.
At the end the President remarked: "I am very glad you brought up that
subject."
During the discussion I reviewed the whole legal aspect of the matter,
and referred to the fact that the several decisions made had been based
on Chinese precedents. I also touched on the ethnological aspect, that
it was doubtful whether the Japanese could be classed as Mongolians.
This phase appealed to Roosevelt, who seemed well informed in
ethnological studies. I felt rather gratified with this thorough
discussion of the subject. It had interested me for years, and I had
been ruminating on it for several weeks.
* * * * *
At the last Cabinet meeting before the vacation season, each member
referred to his plans for the summer. I had decided to combine business
with pleasure by taking a trip along the Canadian border from Montreal
to Vancouver to inspect the lighthouse and immigration services, then
down the Pacific Coast and to Hawaii, where I might acquaint myself with
regard to immigration as it affected the Japanese question. The
President thought this would be a useful trip and urged me to take it.
In the administration of a department such as that of Commerce and
Labor, it was important to familiarize one's self as much as possible
with its outlying branches, to become personally acquainted with the
various officers and the details of their work and surroundings, thereby
to enable one better to do the administrative work than by remaining at
one's desk.
After leaving Vancouver we stopped a few days each at Seattle, Portland,
and San Francisco, where I conferred with the officials of the
Department. From San Francisco we took a steamer to Hawaii, on board
which we met George R. Carter, Governor of Hawaii, returning from a
vacation in the United States, and Congressman and Mrs. Nicholas
Longworth. It made a very pleasant party.
The authorities and the population gave us a rousing welcome, cannons
saluted, and the militia was out to escort us. Only once before since
the island became United States territory had a Cabinet official paid a
visit, and that was two years before when Secretary of War Taft stopped
there for a few days _en route_ to Japan. We were comfortably installed
in the Hotel Moana, in the suburb of Waikiki.
The islanders showered upon us bounteous hospitality in every
conceivable form. We participated in rounds of dinners and receptions.
Governor and Mrs. Carter entertained the Longworths and us in the
official residence, the former palace of the Hawaiian rulers, in the
throne room of which hung the portraits of those rulers from earliest
times to the deposed Queen Liliuokalani. The reception was a brilliant
occasion. The leading officials and the _elite_ of the population were
there; the grounds were beautifully illuminated; and the Royal Hawaiian
Band played the soft, plaintive music so typical of the mild
temperament of the people and the luxuriant foliage of the island. My
time was much taken up with official and semi-official duties. The
island residents impressed me with the great need for better shipping
facilities between the mainland and the islands. The coastwise shipping
laws applying to them since annexation penalized the carrying of
passengers or freight in other than American bottoms. Foreign ships
accepting either passengers or freight to American ports on the coast
were heavily fined. The result was, not only inconvenience to residents
who for one reason or another needed to leave the islands, but the loss
of much perishable freight, principally fruit, which rotted on the
wharves waiting for American ships. I promised them that I would do
everything in my power to help them get the shipping facilities they
needed.
A delegation of Japanese editors, representing the four Japanese
newspapers of Honolulu, called to ascertain my views regarding Japanese
matters in the islands, what my policy was with regard to Japanese
immigration, and whether I believed that the preponderance of Japanese
people in Hawaii was inimical to the interests of the territory. I
answered them:
An ideal condition for the future welfare of these islands would be
that there should not be too great a preponderance of any one race,
but that an equilibrium be maintained.
I would impress upon you, and upon each of the several races here,
to have a care not to exploit these islands and their resources for
the benefit of the country from which they come, but to act in the
spirit of loyalty to the government under which they live; of
loyalty to the interests of the islands which afford such happy and
ideal homes for them and their children. I am gratified that the
public school system has such a great influence upon the young, who
grow up with the American ideals and respect for the liberty of the
individual. I would like to see an increasing number of Americans
from the mainland come and settle in these islands, if for no other
reason than to guarantee for all time to come the continuance of
the American spirit for the benefit and welfare of all peoples who
have made and will make their homes here.
Unfortunately the time at my disposal did not permit my visiting the
various islands. We did, however, see everything to be seen at Oahu, the
island upon which Honolulu is situated. Rear-Admiral Very took us on the
U.S.S. Iroquois to visit Pearl Harbor, the famous landlocked bay large
enough to shelter the battle fleets of several nations. We also visited
the Waialua pineapple plantation and cannery, where twenty thousand cans
of the large, luscious fruit were put up daily. The processes of paring,
coring, slicing, and canning were done by machinery with great speed,
and we enjoyed tasting the fruit as much as any school children might.
In Honolulu I met Viscount Ishii, who was then Japanese under-Secretary
of State. He has since been ambassador at Washington and at this writing
is ambassador at Paris. We had frequent conferences and went over the
whole Japanese question. He had fully informed himself upon all phases
of the subject, as well as regarding the idiosyncrasies of the Pacific
Coast States in opposing the immigration of Japanese laborers. Ishii's
thorough understanding of the situation at that time did much to smooth
ruffled feelings in Japan. The Viscount returned to the States on the
steamer with us.
As we sailed out of the harbor on the Asia, bedecked with Hawaiian
flowers, the Royal Hawaiian Band played its farewell music. The last
words we heard from the Hawaiian shore were "Aloha Nui," the Hawaiian
farewell.
I had satisfied myself that, so far as concerned the carrying out of
the President's Executive Order of March 14, 1907, the Japanese
officials in both Hawaii and Japan were doing everything in their power.
Hawaii at the time had a population of about 160,000, in round figures,
of which about 80,000 were Japanese, 20,000 Chinese, and 25,000 native
Hawaiians. Of the white element the biggest percentage were Portuguese,
who numbered about 22,000, while all other Caucasians together,
principally American, British, and German, numbered 14,000. It therefore
behooved our officials on the islands, in the Pacific ports, and along
the Mexican border, to be especially watchful to carry out the
regulations which the Department had formulated with regard to the
admission of Japanese or Korean skilled and unskilled labor.
* * * * *
Soon after my return I had a conference with the President at Oyster
Bay. The President informed me that Secretary Taft was about to leave
for Japan, to go from there to Russia by the Siberian Railroad. He said
he had authorized him to see what could be done toward overcoming the
difficulties in our relations, and what might be the effect in Japan if
we were to endeavor to pass a law giving naturalization to Japanese
exclusive of the laboring classes and the small traders who practically
belonged to the same class. This subject the President had urged in his
last Message to Congress.
On October 25th I brought up in the Cabinet meeting, for the information
of the President, statistics regarding Japanese immigration up to
October 1, 1907, which showed that the immigration for the twelve months
then ended was almost double that of the preceding twelve months, and
also that there had been an appreciable increase since April 1, when the
President's Executive Order went into effect, compared with the
previous months. The statistics regarding the transit of Japanese
between Mexico and Canada showed that something like six hundred and
seventy registered from April to September, but only about one third
that number actually made the transits. It was presumed, therefore, that
the rest got off within United States territory.
The President seemed very much annoyed with this condition of things. I
recalled to his mind that when the regulations under his Executive Order
were originally presented by me, they contained a clause, along the
lines of the Chinese regulation on the subject, to prevent the abuse of
transit privileges, but that he and the Cabinet had decided it to be
unwise to put in that clause. A few months thereafter, when we first
suspected the abuse of transit privileges, I directed an accurate
account to be taken of these transits, the result of which I now
presented.
The first impulse of the President was to direct that all transit be
denied, but I pointed out that that would raise considerable objection,
as it would place the Japanese in a special class in that respect. He
insisted that something must be done. I suggested that the problem
needed careful thought and I would take it up and prepare regulations
similar to those for the Chinese. This I did, and the Japanese
regulations differ only in that we do not require the photographing of
the person to make the transit.
I did not propose to drop the matter of Japanese immigration and
naturalization. Again and again I brought it up in Cabinet meetings. I
believed the best way of adjusting the difficulties was to try to
negotiate a treaty with Japan permitting the naturalization of Japanese
other than laboring classes, and in return excluding all who came within
the category of skilled or unskilled labor. The belief that such a
treaty could be negotiated was confirmed by my talks with Ishii both at
Honolulu and later when he visited Washington. The right to
naturalization would be taken advantage of by only five or six thousand
and would not, of course, be granted to the laborers then resident in
the United States.
There were about seventy-three thousand Japanese in the United States,
and it was fair to assume that two thirds of these were of the laboring
class. Of the remainder there was a small percentage of women and
children, and then there were those born in America. Japanese eligible
for citizenship would therefore not exceed ten or twelve thousand, and
it was reasonable to assume that not more than half of them would be
willing to throw off their native allegiance. My belief was that such an
adjustment of the problem would leave no irritation behind it.
The President did not think such a treaty would be confirmed by the
Senate, and to have it rejected would make matters worse. Secretary
Metcalf thought the California members would not agree to such an
arrangement. Notwithstanding these objections I was of the opinion that
such force of argument could be found in favor of the arrangement that
even representatives from California would not fail to see its
advantage.
The whole question simmered along for a year or more, during which our
understanding with Japan in regard to the "Gentlemen's Agreement" and
the regulations under it were put into concrete and final shape; that
is, a letter was written by the Japanese ambassador to our Secretary of
State setting forth the understanding of Japan, to which the Secretary
replied accepting that understanding and setting forth the amicable
relations existing between the two countries.
In late January, 1909, there was a recrudescence of anti-Japanese
legislation in California. There were introduced in the State
legislature three bills: (a) to exclude Japanese from ownership of land;
(b) to segregate the Japanese in special districts of the city; (c) to
prohibit Japanese from attending the public schools. With his usual good
judgment the President telegraphed the Governor of California saying he
was writing him and asking that he withhold any legislation affecting
the Japanese until the receipt of that letter. For the time being this
action had the desired effect.
The legislature of California was somewhat under the influence of
agitators, like the Japanese and Korean Restriction League and some
labor bodies. It was believed that the general sentiment of California
was against such legislation, but either to avoid conflict, or from
indifference or lack of public spirit, such sentiment did not make its
influence felt. I had given out figures from month to month showing the
number of immigrants from Japan as compared with previous figures. I
then made public statistics which showed that for the calendar year 1907
the number of immigrants was 12,400, whereas for the calendar year 1908,
after the Japanese Government had taken the matter in hand in accordance
with the "Gentlemen's Agreement," the number of immigrants was 4400.
Deducting the figure for the emigration from that 4400 left a total
increase of Japanese population of only 185 for the year. The California
agitators claimed my figures were erroneous, and that hordes of Japanese
were surreptitiously coming from the Canadian and Mexican borders. I
gave out several interviews to the press to the effect that the figures
were absolutely correct; that it was absurd to deny their correctness as
I had proofs in my hands; and that if the Californians still doubted
them a committee might call on me and I should gladly lay my proofs
before them. I had sent a copy of these figures, certified by me, to the
California authorities.
* * * * *
Happily our relations with Japan are now more peaceful than they have
been for some time, and to a large degree this has been accomplished by
the Four Power Treaty negotiated at the Washington Conference on the
Limitation of Armaments in December, 1921. The various vexatious
instances that I have referred to were stimulated by German officers
stationed in the Far East and fostered by the sensational press in both
Japan and our own country. By this means these happenings were
exaggerated far beyond their significance. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance
of 1911 came into being because of the aggression of Germany and Russia
in the Far East. After the World War, of course, this condition no
longer obtained, and as the _raison d'etre_ of the alliance had
therefore vanished, there was a justified feeling in America that the
continuance of the treaty was a menace to our country. This fact was not
unrecognized in Great Britain itself. As Mr. Balfour stated at the
Washington Conference, it was necessary to "annul, merge, destroy, as it
were, this ancient and outward and unnecessary agreement, and replace it
by something new, something effective, which should embrace all the
powers concerned in the vast area of the Pacific." By the Four Power
Treaty the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was automatically discontinued, and
Great Britain, the United States, France, and Japan became associated in
friendly partnership as guardians of the peace in the Far East.
So far as concerns the relationship between our country and Japan, the
transcendent importance of this treaty has been to supersede and
overshadow all these minor matters that before were continually
menacing our good relations. By the reservations prepared by the
American delegates, and accepted by the other powers, it is provided
that the treaty "shall not be taken to embrace questions which according
to principles of international law lie exclusively within the domestic
jurisdiction of the respective powers." Verily this treaty stands out as
one of the great achievements of the Washington Conference.
* * * * *
To return to immigration problems during my incumbency as Secretary of
the Department of Commerce and Labor, a minor though nevertheless
annoying matter needing adjustment was the regulation with regard to the
head tax. After the passage of the Immigration Law of 1903 a head tax of
two dollars was levied upon all alien passengers, including even
officials of foreign governments. In 1905 Attorney-General Moody had
given an opinion to the effect that the tax applied to all alien
passengers, whether officers of foreign governments or not. I thought
this contrary to the law of nations and to well-established diplomatic
usages recognized throughout the world.
As the subject also came within the province of another department,
namely, the Department of State, I naturally brought it up at a Cabinet
meeting. The President recommended that I issue orders in accordance
with my suggestion, and Secretary Root agreed that it was an outrage to
levy such a tax upon the representatives of foreign governments.
Informally I took the matter up with Attorney-General Bonaparte, but as
the decision against this immunity had been made by his Department he
felt himself bound by the decision of his predecessor. He suggested that
I issue the order on my own responsibility, but I decided for the time
being not to do so. At a later Cabinet meeting I again brought up the
matter, this time reading the order as I proposed it. The President and
Secretary Root, also Secretary Taft, agreed that it should be issued,
and this I did.
At the same time I discussed a provision of the Immigration Act of 1906
requiring masters of all vessels bringing in aliens, without exception,
to fill out a blank or manifest giving the age, sex, calling,
nationality, race, of each alien, and whether able to read or write, and
whether anarchist or not. These blanks then had to be signed by the
aliens. I prepared two circulars, one ordering the discontinuance of the
head tax and the other discontinuing the filling out of these blanks so
far as concerned diplomatic or consular officials and other persons duly
accredited from foreign governments to the United States, in service or
in transit.
At dinner at the British ambassador's home some weeks thereafter Lady
Bryce mentioned having to sign a blank asking whether she believed in
the practice of polygamy. Of course, she brought it up in a humorous
way, but it was apparent that she had felt humiliated at such
questioning. I told her I fully appreciated her feelings and was happy
to be able to say that that stupid practice had been discontinued.
* * * * *
The subject of naturalization had occupied my attention for years past.
Under the law then existing, as well as under older laws, a person could
be naturalized not only in the United States courts, but in any State
court having a seal. And the naturalization laws prior to the Act of
1906 were most carelessly administered. In the larger cities of many of
the States naturalization applications were hurried through in bunches
at the direction of some political boss. In that way many persons were
naturalized who would have been found, had time been taken to sift the
applications, not entitled to citizenship. The effects of so careless a
method I saw in Turkey, and in my dispatches to the State Department I
repeatedly pointed out the evil.
Largely growing out of my presentation of the subject, Mr. Gaillard
Hunt, chief of the passport division of the State Department, had taken
it up in his thorough manner and made a report to President McKinley,
upon which the President appointed a commission to study the subject.
The commission was renewed by President Roosevelt. Its report, known as
House Document 326, 59th Congress, 2d Session, and entitled "Citizenship
of the United States, Expatriation, and Protection Abroad," was the
basis of the Act of 1906. This act went far in preventing fraudulent
naturalization as well as in withdrawing protection from those who were
using United States citizenship not with the intention of becoming part
of the new country in which they had chosen to reside, but as a means to
escape their duties as subjects of the country of their origin upon
returning there to live, as had happened so often in Turkey.
For the proper carrying out of this law additional examiners were
needed, and also about eleven additional assistant district attorneys. I
therefore arranged with Attorney-General Bonaparte to appear with him
before the Appropriations Committee of the House to explain the
necessity of an appropriation to cover the enlargement of the corps for
the enforcement and administration of the new law. During my experience
abroad much of the time of our diplomatic representatives was taken up
with questions relating to the protection of our citizens, and often
this protection was invoked by persons who should never have been
naturalized.
The exclusion and deportation of criminals and anarchists was another
phase of the immigration service to which I had given considerable
study. I found the law provided for arrest and deportation of criminal
aliens only up to three years of the time of their landing, and that
there was gross misconception regarding the scope of the law. There was
no cooperation between our immigration officials and the local police
departments for the detection of such persons. The police departments of
most of our cities were disposed to assume that by virtue of the
immigration law the whole subject was under the jurisdiction of the
Federal Government; and on the other hand our officials did not confer
with municipal officials to make use of the immigration law. It is one
thing to provide for the exclusion of criminals and anarchists, but it
is quite another to discover, on entry, whether a person belongs to
either class. They are usually neither illiterate nor lacking in cunning
and deception, but within three years they may be detected, as "birds of
a feather flock together."
I decided to issue a circular to all commissioners of immigration and
immigration inspectors, with a view to bringing about cooperation with
the local officials. I took the subject up in the Cabinet and the
President approved. It so happened that while this circular was being
prepared, an Italian immigrant, recently arrived, killed a Catholic
priest in Denver while the latter was officiating at a mass in his
church, and a day or two thereafter another recently arrived immigrant,
a Russian, attacked the chief of police of Chicago and his family with a
dagger. Both of these men would have come under the deportation
provisions of the immigration law had the police been aware of these
provisions, as in both instances they had been suspected, by their
affiliations and their talk, of being anarchists, as that term is
defined in the Immigration Act of February 20, 1907. Under the local
criminal laws this suspicion was not enough to justify arrest.
Appearing as it did immediately after these two incidents my circular
had much publicity and brought about the deportation of a number of
undesirables upon evidence supplied by the police and detective
officers.
* * * * *
In a Department which covered so many and such varied subjects, the
conflict between human and property interests was often apparent. I
recall a remark by the President, as we were speaking about this, that
whenever within my jurisdiction there occurred this conflict he was sure
I would lean on the human side, and I could always count on his support.
A striking example of this conflict grew out of an order I issued for
the inspection of excursion and ferry boats at least three times a year
instead of once. The summer before I took office the boiler of the
General Slocum, a large excursion boat on the Long Island Sound, blew up
and caused the death of over a hundred women and children. As spring
approached and the excursion season drew near, I made up my mind that I
should make all possible provision to prevent the recurrence of any such
disaster.
I accompanied the supervising inspector-general, George Uhler, to
witness the inspection of some passenger boats plying between Washington
and Norfolk, to get personal knowledge of the details of inspection. I
carefully studied a report made to me by Mr. Murray, the assistant
secretary of my Department, who had been a member of the board of
inquiry into the Slocum disaster and later the Valencia wreck. I called
a meeting of the board of supervising inspectors of steamboats and
impressed upon them the importance of great care in inspection. I urged
that no man be retained in the inspection service who was not thoroughly
competent and efficient, since they had to deal with the protection of
human life.
My order for more frequent inspection brought forth many objections from
the steamboat owners, and, as is usual in such cases, a committee came
to Washington and presented their grievances and objections direct to
the President, in the hope of inducing him to overrule my instructions.
They were patiently heard, but their main objection was that it would
cost a little more and be a little more inconvenient to have three
inspections instead of one, and the President gave them little more
comfort than to make it quite clear that he was thoroughly in accord
with my action for the provision of greater safety to human life. He
told them he felt he was fortunate in having at the head of the
Department of Commerce and Labor a man who was a humanitarian besides
having large business experience, for while it was his purpose to
harmonize human and business interests, always when they conflicted he
would lean toward the human side, as I had done in issuing that order.
* * * * *
The President was deeply interested always in the natural resources of
the country and their preservation, and asked me to take up the question
of the Alaska salmon fisheries. It was certain that unless some drastic
action was taken, the salmon would be destroyed in the Alaskan waters
just as they had been in the Columbia River. Roosevelt was familiar with
the problem and believed that Wood River ought to be closed. I devoted
parts of two days to a hearing on the subject. The cannery interests
were represented by their counsel and the Fishermen's Union by several
of its officers. Senator Fulton, of Oregon, as well as the two Alaskan
delegates in Congress, pleaded for the closing of the rivers.
After hearing all sides and studying the question I signed an order
directing the closing of both the Wood and Nushagak Rivers to trap and
net fishing, and if the law had permitted, I should have directed the
closing also of Nushagak Bay, where extensive trap fishing was carried
on.
* * * * *
When I was president of the New York Board of Trade and Transportation I
was impressed with the importance of establishing a closer relationship
between the commercial bodies of the country and the Government. Shortly
after I became Secretary of Commerce and Labor, therefore, I sought to
accomplish that end. I had a study made by Nahum I. Stone, tariff expert
of the Bureau of Manufactures, of the relations between the European
governments and their commercial bodies, especially in such countries as
Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium. I sent invitations
to about forty of the leading chambers of commerce, boards of trade, and
other commercial organizations throughout the country to send delegates
to Washington for a two days' conference, with a view to bringing about
an organization of these bodies for the purpose of cooperation between
them and the departments of the Government having to do with commerce
and manufactures.
Accordingly on December 5th a representative gathering of over one
hundred delegates met in my Department, and I put before them a plan for
organization. I invited Secretary Root, who took a deep interest in the
scheme, and he made a thoughtful address, in which he impressed upon the
gathering the things that ought to be done, and could be done only
through organization and the power of concerted effort. Andrew D. White,
our experienced ambassador at Berlin, had sent to the President a letter
containing the proposal that a method of instruction in commerce be
applied at the instance of our Government as had been done in
agriculture; this interesting proposal I read to the meeting.
I then went with the delegates in a body to the White House where the
President addressed them. In the afternoon Gustav H. Schwab, of the New
York Chamber of Commerce, was elected temporary chairman and the
organization of the council proceeded. A committee on organization and a
committee on rules were appointed, and it was decided that an advisory
committee of fifteen members was to have headquarters in Washington. The
number of meetings to be held per year was fixed, as well as the annual
dues. On December 5, 1907, the National Council of Commerce came into
being.
A year later the first annual meeting was held in my Department. The
Council now had permanent offices in the Adams Building, with William R.
Corwine in charge. In my address to the delegates I stressed the
importance of the development of our commercial relations with the South
American republics, particularly in view of the rapidly approaching
completion of the Panama Canal. At that time we had only twenty-three
per cent of the foreign trade of South America, and one of the main
requirements for increasing our share was the establishment of better
shipping and postal facilities. To that end I recommended in my annual
report that the Postal Subsidy Act of 1891 be extended to include ships
of sixteen knots and over, and my colleagues, the Secretary of State and
the Attorney-General, made similar recommendations.
A month after the change of Administration the executive committee of
the Council held a meeting, again in the Department of Commerce and
Labor, at which they passed the following resolution:
Resolved, by the members of the Executive Committee of the National
Council of Commerce in meeting assembled in the office of the Hon.
Charles Nagel, the present Secretary of Commerce and Labor, That
they tender their heartiest thanks to the Hon. Oscar S. Straus, the
former Secretary of Commerce and Labor, for his constant and
well-directed efforts in forming and promoting the National Council
of Commerce, expressing their appreciation of his far-sightedness,
his patriotism, his energy, his fairness, and his friendship,
assuring him of the high personal esteem in which he is held by all
of them, and asserting that in their judgment he has laid the
foundation for a movement which will redound not only to his credit
as a Cabinet officer, but one which will ultimately be productive
of incalculable benefit to the business interests of our country,
the development of which he has so deeply at heart.
Later that year the Council was reorganized and called the Chamber of
Commerce of the United States, which to-day is an important institution
in the commercial life of our country.
* * * * *
To bring about a similar relationship between the Department and the
labor bodies, I called another conference in February, 1909, to which I
invited the leading labor representatives throughout the country, and
about fifty attended. Unfortunately my term of office was drawing to an
end and there was not time to organize this wing, but I urged the men to
insist upon the continuance of the conferences and the cooperation with
the Department thus established.
The matters discussed at this meeting were mainly how best to lessen
unemployment, how the Division of Information under the Bureau of
Immigration might be administered for the greater benefit of labor in
general, and how the Nobel Peace Prize, which President Roosevelt had
set aside for a foundation for the promotion of industrial peace, could
be made most effective. There were addresses by Samuel Gompers,
president of the American Federation of Labor; Warren S. Stone, grand
chief of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; William F. Yates,
president of the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association; and Terence
V. Powderly, chief of the Division of Information in the Bureau of
Immigration. The presiding officer was Daniel J. Keefe,
Commissioner-General of Immigration and Naturalization.
During my term of office repeated efforts were made in Congress, backed
by organized labor, to divide my Department and make two of it--the
Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor. I successfully
opposed this plan, my idea being that labor and capital were the two
arms of industry, the proper functioning of which could best be secured
by cooperation, which in turn could best be promoted by administering
their interests together. In this I had the support of President
Roosevelt. During the Taft Administration, however, the bill was passed
creating the Department of Labor.
* * * * *
I have mentioned Roosevelt's Nobel Peace Prize. As received by the
President, it consisted of a medal and diploma, and a draft for
$36,734.79. He decided not to keep the money, but to turn it over in
trust for a foundation for the promotion of industrial peace. In
January, 1907, he called me to the White House and told me that he would
forward the draft and the papers to Chief Justice Fuller, with the
request that he communicate with the other trustees, of whom there were
four: James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture; John Mitchell, president
of the Anthracite Coal Operators; ex-Mayor Seth Low, of New York, and
myself.
Later the Chief Justice came to my Department with the papers to go over
them with me and to arrange for their safe-keeping until we could have a
meeting and formulate a plan of action. Subsequently he informed me that
before preparing the draft of the act granting the foundation it was
necessary to write a preamble setting forth its objects and purposes,
and this he found it difficult to do. I relieved his mind by offering to
prepare the bill with the preamble. I consulted with Dr. Cyrus Adler, of
the Smithsonian Institution, who had had considerable experience in
drafting documents for the creation of trusts of this nature. With his
assistance I prepared the draft of the preamble and the bill, which the
Chief Justice approved. I then took them to the President, who also
approved them and requested me to call a meeting of the trustees, of
whom there were to be nine instead of five as originally.
At the meeting of January 27, 1907, a few slight changes were made and
adopted in the bill. Thus redrafted, with a report attached giving a
history of the award, it was introduced in the House by Congressman
Richard Bartholdt, of Missouri, member of the Committee on Labor; and in
the Senate by John W. Daniel, of Virginia. It was promptly passed. The
board of trustees as finally constituted included: Archbishop Ireland,
Samuel Gompers, Daniel J. Keefe, Seth Low, Marcus M. Marks, Dr. Neill,
Warren S. Stone, James Wilson, and myself.
The foundation was in existence for about ten years, and in that time
the interest on the money merely accumulated, because the trustees were
unable to find a proper means for employing it. In July, 1917, Mr.
Roosevelt requested Congress to repeal the bill and return the money to
him, that he might distribute it among the different charitable
societies in the United States and in Europe which were affording relief
to the sufferers from the war. The request was granted, and the sum with
its accrued interest, amounting to $45,482.83, was thus distributed by
him.
Roosevelt always encouraged the members of his Cabinet to make speeches
in various parts of the country on subjects uppermost in the mind of the
public, with due regard, of course, to the duties of office. I accepted
a number of the many such invitations that came to me. At the banquet of
the National Association of Manufacturers, held in the Waldorf Hotel,
New York, in May, 1907, I was asked to be the principal speaker. I made
careful preparation of an address, part of which I devoted to advocating
a moderate tariff reform, with a view to providing a maximum and minimum
tariff to meet discrimination against us by some European nations. I
consulted with the President about it. While he agreed with my premises,
he thought the time not ripe to project that issue, so I redrafted my
speech and devoted it to such topics as the development of our
manufactures, the work of the Bureau of Corporations, and the relations
of employers and workers.
On April 3, 1908, the Savannah Board of Trade celebrated its
twenty-fifth anniversary, and I was asked to be one of the speakers. Two
others were Governor Hoke Smith and Representative J. Hampton Moore,
president of the Atlantic Deep Waterways Commission. It was a special
occasion and was widely advertised for several weeks. I prepared an
address in which I outlined also some of the activities carried on by my
Department for the benefit of the commercial interests of the country.
On this trip my wife and younger daughter accompanied me. During our
stay at Savannah we were the guests of the Board of Trade, who showed us
every possible attention, in true Southern fashion, and we thoroughly
enjoyed our stay.
The Mayor and prominent citizens of my former home, Columbus, upon
learning of our presence in the South, sent us a pressing invitation to
visit that city. A committee met us at the station, and in the evening a
dinner was given at the Opera House, at which about a hundred of the
leading citizens were present. The dinner was served on the stage, and
while the toasts were being responded to, the curtain was raised,
disclosing an auditorium crowded with people. I was quite touched by
this fine attention by the citizens of my former home, who took great
pride in the fact that one of their former townsmen was a member of the
Cabinet. In the audience were several of my schoolboy friends and those
of my brothers, and I found several friends and companions of my parents
still among the living.
In the South at that time it was still rare for a person to change his
politics, and one of the questions that was put to me was why had I, a
member of a Democratic family, once a Democrat myself, and even having
held office under a Democratic President, changed over to the Republican
side. In other words, why had I been on both sides of the political
fence, though they were too polite to ask the question in that direct
form. I told them that perhaps no one had a better right than they to
ask the reason for my political affiliations. It was true, I said, that
I had been, as it were, on both sides of the fence, but that was not my
fault; the fence had been moved. This produced great merriment and
applause.
Talbotton, the first American home of my family, also extended an
invitation to us, which I accepted with pleasure. A dinner and reception
were given in my honor at the public hall known as the Opera House, at
which the Mayor of the town made an address, as well as several other
prominent citizens. While in Talbotton we were the guests of the
Honorable Henry Persons, former member of Congress and an old friend of
our family. He gave me my first rubber ball, when I was six years old. I
visited all the scenes of my boyhood; it was forty-five years since I
had lived there. The population of the town was about the same, equally
divided between the whites and the blacks. The little Baptist church
where I went to Sunday school was much smaller than it had loomed up in
my imagination. Collinsworth Institute was abandoned, and only the
recitation hall was left standing. The several houses wherein my family
had lived brought back vivid memories of the toils and pleasures of my
parents. The little frame cottage with the green blinds especially
impressed upon me how little is required for happiness where there is
the love and contentment which always blessed our family. All who
remembered my father and mother spoke of them in the highest terms. I
met a number of my boyhood friends, grown gray and old. On the whole the
little town had not changed much, though it had fewer signs of
prosperity. Before the Civil War it was the center of a rich
slave-holding county. The people, however, seemed contented and happy.
From Talbotton we went to Atlanta, and then made one or two more stops
on the way home. At each place we met friends of former years and were
given a thoroughly royal welcome. In fact, the reception given us
throughout the whole tour was in the nature of an ovation. Wherever we
stopped our rooms were decorated with an abundance of the most
beautiful flowers. The Southerners have ever been known for their
hospitality, and in this respect the New South has lost nothing.
Later in the year the Southern Commercial Congress, representing ten
States, assembled in Washington, and I was asked to preside at the
opening session in the large ballroom of the New Willard Hotel. There
were three or four hundred people present. I devoted my address to a
comparison between the old agricultural South and the new industrial
South, pointing out that as the economic interests of the South were no
longer sectional but national, it must follow that politically there is
no longer a reason for "the solid South."
* * * * *
On leaving the Cabinet one day at about this time the President's
youngest son, Quentin, came up to me. I had a great affection for this
bright, attractive boy. He was eleven years old, and he informed me he
weighed one hundred and fourteen pounds. He was full of animal spirits,
frank, charming. "You gave my brother Kermit some coins," he said to me.
"Yes; are you interested in them?" I asked.
"I am making a little collection," was his answer.
I invited him into my carriage and to come to lunch with me. He accepted
readily, and I reminded him that he had better let his mother know. He
did so by hurriedly running into the White House and returning in a very
few minutes saying his mother said he might go. He behaved like a
perfect little gentleman and showed that under his sparkling vivacity
there was serious, intelligent hunger for knowledge. After lunch I took
him into my library and showed him my collection of Greek and Roman
coins. I told him he might pick out what he liked. To the several he
chose I added a gold stater of Philip. He was overjoyed. From that time
onward we became still greater friends, and he came to see me whenever
he got a new coin for his collection.
In 1909, when I was going through Paris, I met him there with his
mother. During this visit he and I were quite steadily together. We
visited the museums and other places of interest. I found him a most
sympathetic and delightful companion, notwithstanding the immense
difference in our ages. What a record of glory and patriotism this
lovable boy has left to his country! And with what fortitude his parents
bore their most painful loss! Their example strengthened the anguished
hearts of many patriotic fathers and mothers of the land who suffered
like affliction.
* * * * *
On Christmas Day Mrs. Straus and I received an invitation by telephone
to come to the White House between three and four o'clock to see the
Christmas tree. Some thirty or forty guests were there, mainly friends
of the family. In one of the side rooms in the basement of the house was
assembled a large company of children. The room was darkened, that the
lighted tree might stand out. There were presents for all the children,
and Mrs. Roosevelt played Lady Bountiful to see that each child got its
gift. Upstairs in the Red Room the gentlemen sat smoking. It was a
genuinely joyful and memorable day.
The social season in Washington is usually begun with the President's
New Year's reception, which lasts from eleven o'clock until half-past
two on New Year's Day. At a few minutes before eleven o'clock the
officials and their wives assembled upstairs, and promptly at eleven the
President and Mrs. Roosevelt led the march to the Blue Room. The
procession advanced toward the main stairway, where the line divided,
the ladies going to the left and the gentlemen to the right, reuniting
at the first landing; then through the main hall where the passageway
was roped off through a crowd of specially invited guests.
The order following the President was: the Cabinet officers; the doyen
of the diplomatic corps, the Italian ambassador and his staff; the
ambassadors and ministers of the other nations, according to rank. After
them, grouped in more or less regular order, the justices of the Supreme
Court, headed by the Chief Justice; Senators; Representatives; Army and
Navy officials; the officers of the Government.
On New Year's Day every one is accorded the right to pay his or her
respects to the President. The officials come straight to the White
House and the uninvited guests form a line on the grounds. On the
particular day of which I speak the line stretched through the grounds,
along Pennsylvania Avenue and down by the State Department Building,
probably more than half a mile long, and the President received about
sixty-five hundred people in all. At two o'clock the iron gates of the
White House grounds were closed, and those who had not reached that
point by that time were barred out. The reception had to end promptly,
as the Cabinet ladies who assisted had to be present at the receptions
at their own homes from half-past two until six, in accordance with a
custom that has been in vogue probably since the days of Washington. Our
buffet in the dining-room was kept well replenished, and there were
champagne and punch served. We had in all about four hundred guests.
The official functions at the White House during the Roosevelt
Administration were agreeable and in stately form. They were usually
followed by an informal supper to which were invited personal friends
and visitors.
[Illustration: MRS. OSCAR S. STRAUS]
Our series of official dinners began with the one to the
Vice-President and Mrs. Fairbanks and ended with the dinner to the
President and Mrs. Roosevelt. In addition we followed the pleasant
custom of the President and had guests to informal luncheons three or
four times a week. These luncheons we gave in the sun parlor back of our
dining-room, which was one of the attractive features of our Venetian
palace.
It was my privilege to give the last Cabinet dinner to the President, on
March 2d, two days before the close of the Administration. The event had
been postponed for a week on account of the death of the President's
nephew, Stewart Robinson, whose mother was the President's sister.
Governor and Mrs. Hughes, who were among our invited guests, stayed over
when it was found that the dinner had to be postponed. Mrs. Roosevelt
later informed me that she planned that our dinner be the last, knowing
that I had some sentiment about it which she and the President shared.
I have made several references to the wonderfully human touch
characteristic of Roosevelt. On February 5th, the day beginning the last
month of his Administration, a messenger from the White House brought me
a package containing a large folio, a handsomely illustrated memorial
volume describing the Castle of Wartburg in Saxony, in which Luther was
confined and where he worked on his translation of the Bible. The book
had been prepared by official direction, and Roosevelt had received two
copies of the royal edition, one from the Kaiser personally and one from
the Chancellor, which latter he sent to me with this inscription:
"To Mr. and Mrs. Oscar S. Straus, in memory of our days together in the
Administration; days which I have so much enjoyed and appreciated.
Theodore Roosevelt. February 5, 1909."