The collected addresses and state papers of Elihu Root, of which this is
one of several volumes, cover the period of his service as Secretary of
War, as Secretary of State, and as Senator of the United States, during
which time, to use his own expression, his only client was his country.
The many formal and occasional addresses and speeches, which will be
found to be of a remarkably wide range, are followed by his state
papers, such as the instructions to the American delegates to the Second
Hague Peace Conference and other diplomatic notes and documents,
prepared by him as Secretary of State in the performance of his duties
as an executive officer of the United States. Although the official
documents have been kept separate from the other papers, this plan has
been slightly modified in the volume devoted to the military and
colonial policy of the United States, which includes those portions of
his official reports as Secretary of War throwing light upon his public
addresses and his general military policy.
The addresses and speeches selected for publication are not arranged
chronologically, but are classified in such a way that each volume
contains addresses and speeches relating to a general subject and a
common purpose. The addresses as president of the American Society of
International Law show his treatment of international questions from the
theoretical standpoint, and in the light of his experience as Secretary
of War and as Secretary of State, unrestrained and uncontrolled by the
limitations of official position, whereas his addresses on foreign
affairs, delivered while Secretary of State or as United States Senator,
discuss these questions under the reserve of official responsibility.
Mr. Root's addresses on government, citizenship, and legal procedure are
a masterly exposition of the principles of the Constitution and of the
government established by it; of the duty of the citizen to understand
the Constitution and to conform his conduct to its requirements; and of
the right of the people to reform or to amend the Constitution in order
to make representative government more effective and responsive to their
present and future needs. The addresses on law and its administration
state how legal procedure should be modified and simplified in the
interest of justice rather than in the supposed interest of the legal
profession.
The addresses delivered during the trip to South America and Mexico in
1906, and in the United States after his return, with their message of
good will, proclaim a new doctrine--the Root doctrine--of kindly
consideration and of honorable obligation, and make clear the destiny
common to the peoples of the Western World.
The addresses and the reports on military and colonial policy made by
Mr. Root as Secretary of War explain the reorganization of the army
after the Spanish-American War, the creation of the General Staff, and
the establishment of the Army War College. They trace the origin of and
give the reason for the policy of this country in Cuba, the Philippines,
and Porto Rico, devised and inaugurated by him. It is not generally
known that the so-called Platt Amendment, defining our relations to
Cuba, was drafted by Mr. Root, and that the Organic Act of the
Philippines was likewise the work of Mr. Root as Secretary of War.
The argument before The Hague Tribunal in the North Atlantic Fisheries
Case is a rare if not the only instance of a statesman appearing as
chief counsel in an international arbitration, which, as Secretary of
State, he had prepared and submitted.
The political, educational, historical, and commemorative speeches and
addresses should make known to future generations the literary,
artistic, and emotional side of a statesman of our time, and the
publication of these collected addresses and state papers will, it is
believed, enable the American people better to understand the generation
in which Mr. Root has been a commanding figure and better to appreciate
during his lifetime the services which he has rendered to his country.
ROBERT BACON.
JAMES BROWN SCOTT.
APRIL 15, 1916.