It is interesting to note that the original idea for a regiment such
as the Rough Riders was suggested to Roosevelt several years before
the Spanish War by no other man than Baron von Sternburg of the
German Embassy. The baron, when only seventeen, had served in the
Franco-Prussian War as a hussar. There was no war with Germany on the
American horizon in those days and the baron spent a week in camp at
Montauk with the Rough Riders upon their return.
On the Sunday before the regiment disbanded at Montauk, there came an
occasion of genuine surprise to the Colonel. He was asked out of his
tent by Lieutenant-Colonel Brodie and found the whole regiment formed
in a hollow square. When he entered the square one of the men stepped
forward and presented him with a splendid bronze of Remington’s “The
Bronco Buster.” Roosevelt was deeply touched and deeply appreciative of
this very appropriate gift. After the presentation the men filed past
and Roosevelt shook hands with each and bade him farewell.
The next morning the men scattered to their homes. Some went North and
South. Some went to the great cities of the East. Some turned to the
plains, the mountains and the deserts.
The straight-from-the-shoulder sermon the Colonel preached to his Rough
Riders as they went out to resume their citizen occupations was one
that made a permanent impression upon their lives.
“Get action; do things; be sane,” he said to them, “don’t flitter away
your time; create; act; take a place wherever you are and be somebody!”
Through the remainder of his historic career the Colonel never reached
too great a place to be out of touch with his Rough Riders, no matter
what humble positions they held. No member of the regiment ever came
to the White House to see his former chief without Roosevelt breaking
all engagements to shake his hand and talk over with him the stirring
events in Cuba.
It is said that when Senator Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois, went to
call on President Roosevelt and was forced to wait before he could get
in to see him he asked of the doorkeeper: “Who is in there?”
“A former Rough Rider,” was the reply.
“Then,” queried Cullom, “what chance have I, merely a Senator?”
He turned away, promising to return at a time when he would not have to
compete with such an attraction.
Roosevelt’s experience during the Cuban campaign made him deeply
sympathetic with the lot of the soldier. This was in evidence when,
while he was President, our army was engaged in combating the guerilla
warfare in the Philippines. An order was then issued by the War
Department that while the names of officers killed should be reported
by cable, only the numbers of privates fallen should be sent.
The press of the country announced that a certain regiment had been
engaged in battle. The War Department was besieged by the parents of
the soldiers for information, but no news as to who were killed or
wounded came until the lists arrived by mail.
President Roosevelt was at Sagamore Hill when the facts were reported
to him. General Corbin was present. He asked the general what the order
meant. The general told him that it had been issued for the purpose of
economy, that each officer had a symbol in the cable code, but that to
transmit the name and regiment of each private would cost $25 or more
for each man. When this explanation had been made Roosevelt said:
“Corbin, can you telegraph from here to the Philippines?”
The general said that he could and suggested that he be allowed to do
so when he returned from Washington.
“No,” said Roosevelt, “we cannot wait. Send the order to have the names
telegraphed at once. Those mothers gave the best they had to their
country. We will not have them breaking their hearts for $25 or $50.”
Now that the world war is over and the question of whether the United
States is to depend on volunteer military organization or on regular
armies has been definitely settled in favor of the latter view, it is
well to admit that the decision is a wise one. A regiment like the
Rough Riders was exceptional among volunteers. Roosevelt himself,
in his book “The Rough Riders,” makes this comparison between the
volunteer regiment and the regular regiment:
“The regiment was a wholly exceptional volunteer organization, and its
career cannot be taken as in any way a justification for the belief
that the average volunteer regiment approaches the average regular
regiment in point of efficiency until it has had many months of active
service. In the first place, though the regular regiments may differ
markedly among themselves, yet the range of variation among them is
nothing like so wide as that among volunteer regiments, where at first
there is no common standard at all; the very best being, perhaps, up
to the level of the regulars while the very worst are no better than
mobs, and the great bulk come in between. The average regular regiment
is superior to the average volunteer regiment in the physique of the
enlisted men, who have been very carefully selected, who have been
trained to life in the open, and who know how to cook and take care of
themselves generally.”
X
“The Great Peace-Maker”
We have dwelt in this narrative principally upon Colonel Roosevelt’s
fighting qualities; perhaps because they are the most picturesque and
appeal more to the imagination of author and public. Yet the story
of Theodore Roosevelt’s life would be indeed lacking if it did not
emphasize the fact that underneath his philosophy of conflict for that
which was right there lay an abiding love of peace and a desire for
world brotherhood.
Roosevelt’s experiences taught him that in the era in which he lived
war at times was essential to establish justice. He did not believe in
surrendering to the blusterer, or to the ruler who tried to overrun his
neighbor’s boundaries by force. He trained himself to be a warrior and
a hunter because he believed that a strain of the primitive man was
necessary to combat the too often debilitating influences of modern
life.
His sons, in their manhood, became warriors like himself, but in their
youth he trained them to love animals and to deal kindly with men. His
advice to them under all circumstances was “Be kind!”
The man who was sneered at by his political foes as “The Man on
Horseback” became “The Great Peacemaker.”
His own words form the best illustration of his attitude toward world
amity:
“Whenever on any point we come in contact with a foreign power, I hope
that we shall always strive to speak courteously and respectfully
of that foreign power. Let us make it evident that we intend to do
justice. Then let us make it equally evident that we will not tolerate
injustice being done us in return. Let us further make it evident that
we use no words which we are not prepared to back up with deeds, and
that while our speech is always moderate we are ready and willing to
make it good. Such an attitude will be the surest possible guarantee of
that self-respecting peace the attainment of which is and must ever be
the prime aim of a self-governing people.”
His acts while President bore out his preaching. When The Hague
Tribunal of Arbitration was established, a large part of the work, so
far as this nation was concerned, fell to Roosevelt.
When the old Alaskan boundary dispute between Great Britain and the
United States arose again, at Roosevelt’s suggestion the matter was
settled for all time by a joint commission that met in London. This
commission decided in favor of America.
Another dramatic crisis arose for Roosevelt’s solution when an
American, Ion Perdicaris, and his English son-in-law were kidnapped
from their home near Tangier, in Morocco, by the Moorish bandit,
Raisuli, on May 18, 1904. The bandit demanded a ransom and other favors
from the Sultan of Morocco before he would release his prisoners.
Roosevelt ordered the U. S. S. Brooklyn, Rear-Admiral Chadwick
commanding, to go to Tangier. Admiral Jewell followed with three
warships. British warships joined the American fleet.
“Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!” was said to be the slogan that
Roosevelt hurled at the Sultan. Whether or not he uttered it, the
report rang like Concord’s bullet around the world. A month later the
American and Englishman had been released.
Another example of Roosevelt’s desire to keep the peace of the world
was illustrated when, at the Easter of 1903, there occurred a massacre
of Jews in Kishinef, Russia. The Hebrews of the United States were
greatly aroused at the atrocities and besought their government to
protest to the Czar against these outrages. The Russian government
sent word privately to the European countries and to President
Roosevelt that the matter was exclusively a domestic one and that the
Russian government would not entertain any representations upon the
subject. The European governments took no further steps in the matter.
Roosevelt, however, promised the Jews of the United States that he
would bring their paper to the notice of the Czar.
Thus a crisis had arisen. Would Russia resent such a move? If she
refused to accept the representations of the United States, would that
be considered an affront by our government? Was war on the horizon?
No international troubles occurred. Though the Russian government
refused to receive the memorial, the American representative at St.
Petersburg visited the Foreign Office with a letter from Secretary of
State Hay, which inquired as to whether the Russian government would
accept the document. This letter to the Russian government went on to
set forth the full text of the memorial. The Russian Foreign Office
agreeably accepted it. Its publication in the press put before the
world every word of the petition of the American Jews. Thus America,
through Roosevelt, had spoken its opinion in the courts of mankind
without bringing about the war which timid souls predicted.
When Roosevelt became President it was his rule of peace that dominated
our country’s relations with other powers and that prevailed in the new
policy of territorial annexation entered upon in President McKinley’s
administration and carried forward by Roosevelt.
He decided that Cuba should not be taken over by the United States.
Europe expected the United States to annex Cuba, and many leading
men of his own party advised that this course be pursued, but he
determined that the little island should be given every opportunity to
govern itself as an independent republic. It was by his inspiration
that the American officials who administered government in the
Philippines, Porto Rico and, during the American occupancy, in Cuba,
devoted themselves to the welfare of the people in a way that won the
commendation of our sister nations. His course in this respect was
governed by a belief that when it was necessary for our government to
administer the affairs of the weaker nations under its control that
government should be, not for the profit of the people in the United
States, but for the people governed.
Always a sincere seeker of peace, he nevertheless exemplified in his
statesmanship his motto: “Speak softly, but carry a big stick!”
This was illustrated when he directed his policy directly athwart that
of the German Kaiser.
Those who remember the Venezuela incident of 1902 will recall that the
German and British fleets thought it necessary to discipline President
Castro. Germany, early in the proceedings, gave evidence that she
intended to seize a point in Venezuelan territory and hold it in order
to control the approach to the Isthmian Canal. The watchful Roosevelt
perceived this scheme, sounded out England and found that she had no
stomach for the alliance with Wilhelm’s fleet, and would refuse to help
Germany to fight America if a quarrel arose over Germany’s grasping
policy. Thereupon Roosevelt sent Dewey to the Caribbean Sea for fleet
maneuvers and sent word to Germany through her Ambassador that if
Germany did not agree to arbitrate within ten days he would instruct
Dewey to resist her taking possession of a foot of Venezuelan soil.
This meant war, and the President knew it, but he held resolutely to
his purpose. The ten days dwindled to two days, but no agreement had
come from Germany. Six more fateful hours passed. Then Germany agreed
to arbitrate.
Thus ended a disagreeable diplomatic episode that foreshadowed the acts
of the present Germany, but which revealed that the American spirit was
more than a match for that of the Hun.
The act that won for Roosevelt the enduring title of “the Great
Peacemaker” came during the Russo-Japanese War. When, in February,
1904, war was declared between Japan and Russia, Roosevelt showed
his deep concern in the matter by ordering his great Secretary of
State, John Hay, to send forth the famous Hay note, which asked the
two combatants to respect the neutrality of China, lest there should
be precipitated a still greater catastrophe. Both nations agreed to
Roosevelt’s request.
Then came Roosevelt’s nomination to succeed himself as President. He
was elected by the greatest popular vote ever accorded a Presidential
candidate.
Grave domestic problems pressed upon him, but the Russo-Japanese War
continued to occupy the uppermost place in his thoughts. The time
of his entering upon a new term seemed to him the right moment to
propose to Japan and Russia that they declare a truce and settle their
difficulties in conference.
Japan had already suffered terribly from the drain upon her men and
resources. Even if she were victorious in the conflict the chances were
that she would lose more than she would gain. The same was true of
Russia.
Roosevelt met with difficulty in getting the two powers to agree
to a common meeting place. Each, however, finally agreed to send
representatives to a conference at Portsmouth, N. H.
Roosevelt received the two delegations at Oyster Bay on the U. S. S.
Mayflower, and then had them conveyed by the Mayflower and another
naval vessel from Oyster Bay to Portsmouth.
The peace treaty was signed on September 5, 1905, and the world
acclaimed Roosevelt the warrior for his services in behalf of peace.
For bringing the two nations together he was awarded in the following
year the Nobel Peace Prize. This consisted of a medal and a sum of
$40,000, which, at the time, he turned over to a board of trustees as
a fund to be used in establishing industrial peace. However, when the
World War broke out, without this money having been expended by the
trustees, Roosevelt requested that the money, now increased to $45,000,
be distributed to the Red Cross and other war charities.
No greater sidelight can be thrown on Roosevelt’s influence for world
peace than this tribute paid to him at his death by Baron Makino, the
head of the Japanese Peace Commission, convened after the great world
war:
“I embrace this opportunity to pay a tribute to the immortal Roosevelt,
whose death is a sad calamity. He was a superb American, also a great
world’s citizen. His services were not confined to America, but
extended to the Orient. Especially are we grateful to him for the
following reasons:
“First, for his noble services in bringing to a successful conclusion
the Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese public and the rest of the
world did not comprehend at that time how sturdy were his efforts to
attain the result, but we who knew the inside facts regarding the war
situation in Manchuria felt that our good friend Roosevelt secured a
just peace--fair to both parties.
“Second, we are thankful for his extraordinary success in settling the
friction between the United States and Japan over the San Francisco
school incident in 1906.
“Most unusual was it for a President of the United States to say
that he would use every power within his control to secure a right
settlement. The ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ was the result.
“Third, we are deeply appreciative likewise of the fair appraisal he
made of Japan’s part in the World War. Few Americans are apprised as
to the extent of Japan’s participation in the war. But this remarkable
man fully comprehended and in many published articles gave full credit
to the stanch, honest co-operation Japan gave to her allies and to the
United States.”
In 1906 Roosevelt again went contrary to the plans of the German
government in the Algeciras affair. Possessing the pledge of the German
Emperor to accept his decision in this international dispute, he made a
decision that, while just, went against Germany.
It is an interesting commentary, however, upon his success as a
diplomat that when he came to settle the war between Japan and Russia
he induced the Kaiser to help him in an appeal to the rulers of the
warring countries.
Later on, when he was touring Europe, Roosevelt had the unique
experience of watching the maneuvers of the German troops, in company
with the Kaiser, whom he had thwarted. On this occasion he heard
himself thus addressed by the Hohenzollern:
“My friend Roosevelt, I am glad to welcome you, a most distinguished
American. You are the first civilian who has ever reviewed German
soldiers.”
[Illustration: COPYRIGHT, UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD
FAMILY GROUP, TAKEN WHILE ROOSEVELT WAS GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK.
THEODORE, JR. APPEARS IN THE BACKGROUND. BESIDE HIM IS ALICE (NOW
MRS. NICHOLAS LONGWORTH). WITH MRS. ROOSEVELT ARE KERMIT AND ETHEL
(NOW MRS. RICHARD DERBY). THE GOVERNOR HOLDS ARCHIE IN HIS ARMS.
QUENTIN WAS BORN A FEW YEARS LATER
]