PUBLICATIONS OF THE
ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION
II. ROOSEVELT IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS
ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION INC.
R. J. CUDDIHY
ARTHUR W. PAGE
MARK SULLIVAN
E. A. VAN VALKENBURG
[Illustration: _Theodore Roosevelt and W. R. Nelson_]
ROOSEVELT
IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR
WAR-TIME EDITORIALS
BY
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
RALPH STOUT
_Managing Editor of The Star_
[Illustration]
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1921
COPYRIGHT, 1917, 1918, AND 1919, BY THE KANSAS CITY STAR
COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY RALPH STOUT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION, BY RALPH STOUT xiii
DR. FITZSIMONS’S DEATH, SEPTEMBER 17, 1917 1
BLOOD, IRON, AND GOLD, SEPTEMBER 23, 1917 2
THE GHOST DANCE OF THE SHADOW HUNS, OCTOBER 1,
1917 5
SAM WELLER AND MR. SNODGRASS, OCTOBER 2, 1917 8
BROOMSTICK PREPAREDNESS, OCTOBER 4, 1917 10
THE BONDHOLDERS AND THE PEOPLE, OCTOBER 7, 1917 12
FACTORIES OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP, OCTOBER 10, 1917 13
PILLAR-OF-SALT CITIZENSHIP, OCTOBER 12, 1917 16
BROOMSTICK APOLOGISTS, OCTOBER 14, 1917 18
THE LIBERTY LOAN AND THE PRO-GERMANS, OCTOBER 16, 1917 20
A DIFFICULT QUESTION TO ANSWER, OCTOBER 18, 1917 23
NOW HELP THE LIBERTY LOAN, OCTOBER 20, 1917 25
A SQUARE DEAL FOR THE TRAINING CAMPS, OCTOBER 21, 1917 26
THE PASSING OF THE CRIPPLE, OCTOBER 23, 1917 28
THE PEACE OF COMPLETE VICTORY, OCTOBER 23, 1917 30
FIGHTING WORK FOR THE MAN OF FIGHTING AGE, OCTOBER
25, 1917 32
WISE WOMEN AND FOOLISH WOMEN, OCTOBER 27, 1917 34
WHY CRY OVER SPILT MILK? OCTOBER 28, 1917 36
SAVE THE FOODSTUFF, OCTOBER 30, 1917 38
ON THE FIRING LINE, OCTOBER 31, 1917 40
NINE TENTHS OF WISDOM IS BEING WISE IN TIME, NOVEMBER
1, 1917 42
WE ARE IN THIS WAR TO THE FINISH, NOVEMBER 2, 1917 43
SINISTER ALLIES, NOVEMBER 3, 1917 45
THE NEW YORK MAYORALTY ELECTION, NOVEMBER 8, 1917 47
GERMAN HATRED OF AMERICA, NOVEMBER 13, 1917 49
START THE SYSTEM OF UNIVERSAL MILITARY TRAINING
AT ONCE, NOVEMBER 17, 1917 52
A FIFTY-FIFTY WAR ATTITUDE, NOVEMBER 20, 1917 54
THE GERMANIZED SOCIALISTS AND PEACE, NOVEMBER 26, 1917 56
MOBILIZE OUR MAN POWER, DECEMBER 1, 1917 58
THE LANSDOWNE LETTER, DECEMBER 2, 1917 60
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE, DECEMBER 5, 1917 62
FOUR BITES OF A CHERRY, DECEMBER 7, 1917 64
THE RED CROSS CHRISTMAS MEMBERSHIP DRIVE, DECEMBER
12, 1917 66
BEING BRAYED IN A MORTAR, DECEMBER 18, 1917 68
RENDERING A GREAT PUBLIC SERVICE, DECEMBER 20, 1917 71
A BETRAYAL OF DEMOCRACY, DECEMBER 21, 1917 73
BROOMSTICK PREPAREDNESS--A STUDY IN CAUSE AND
EFFECT, DECEMBER 27, 1917 76
OUR DUTY FOR THE NEW YEAR, JANUARY 1, 1918 78
TELL THE TRUTH AND SPEED UP THE WAR, JANUARY 4, 1918 80
THE COST OF UNPREPAREDNESS, JANUARY 6, 1918 82
COÖPERATION AND CONTROL, JANUARY 8, 1918 85
THE ARTEMUS WARD THEORY OF WAR, JANUARY 17, 1918 87
THE FRUITS OF WATCHFUL WAITING, JANUARY 18, 1918 89
TELL THE TRUTH, JANUARY 21, 1918 92
JUSTIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, JANUARY
28, 1918 93
SECRETARY BAKER’S GENERAL DENIAL, FEBRUARY 2, 1918 96
LET GEORGE SPEED UP THE WAR, FEBRUARY 3, 1918 98
LET UNCLE SAM GET INTO THE GAME, FEBRUARY 5, 1918 101
CONSERVATION IS IMPORTANT AND PRODUCTION IS MORE
IMPORTANT, FEBRUARY 15, 1918 103
THE PEOPLE’S WAR, FEBRUARY 26, 1918 105
THE FRUITS OF FIFTY-FIFTY LOYALTY, MARCH 2, 1918 109
QUIT TALKING PEACE, MARCH 5, 1918 111
THE WORST ENEMIES OF CERTAIN LOYAL AMERICANS,
MARCH 10, 1918 113
GIRD UP OUR LOINS, MARCH 16, 1918 115
BOLSHEVIKI AT HOME AND ABROAD, MARCH 19, 1918 117
THE FRUITS OF OUR DELAY, MARCH 26, 1918 120
HOW THE HUN EARNS HIS TITLE, MARCH 31, 1918 122
THANK HEAVEN! APRIL 2, 1918 128
CITIZENS OR SUBJECTS? APRIL 6, 1918 129
WOMEN AND THE WAR, APRIL 12, 1918 133
TO MY FELLOW AMERICANS OF GERMAN BLOOD, APRIL 16, 1918 135
AN EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT IN HUMAN UPBUILDING,
APRIL 17, 1918 138
FREEDOM STANDS WITH HER BACK TO THE WALL, APRIL
20, 1918 140
A SQUARE DEAL FOR ALL AMERICANS, APRIL 27, 1918 142
THE GERMAN HORROR, MAY 2, 1918 145
SEDITION, A FREE PRESS, AND PERSONAL RULE, MAY 7, 1918 147
THE DANGERS OF A PREMATURE PEACE, MAY 12, 1918 150
THE WAR SAVINGS CAMPAIGN, MAY 27, 1918 155
ANTI-BOLSHEVISM, JUNE 5, 1918 158
GENERAL WOOD, JUNE 15, 1918 160
HELP RUSSIA NOW, JUNE 20, 1918 162
AN AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY, JUNE 23, 1918 166
HOW NOT TO ADJOURN POLITICS, JUNE 25, 1918 167
HATS OFF TO THE INTERNATIONAL TYPOGRAPHICAL
UNION, JUNE 27, 1918 170
THE PERFORMANCE OF A GREAT PUBLIC DUTY, JULY 3, 1918 172
REPEAL THE CHARTER OF THE GERMAN-AMERICAN ALLIANCE,
JULY 11, 1918 174
EVERY MAN HAS A RIGHT TO ONE COUNTRY, JULY 15, 1918 177
MURDER, TREASON, AND PARLOR ANARCHY, JULY 18, 1918 180
BACK UP THE FIGHTING MEN AT THE FRONT, JULY 26, 1918 183
THE AMERICANS WHOM WE MOST DELIGHT TO HONOR,
AUGUST 1, 1918 186
SOUND NATIONALISM AND SOUND INTERNATIONALISM,
AUGUST 4, 1918 188
THE MAN WHO PAYS AND THE MAN WHO PROFITS, AUGUST
9, 1918 196
OUR DEBT TO THE BRITISH EMPIRE, AUGUST 16, 1918 200
THE CANDIDACY OF HENRY FORD, AUGUST 20, 1918 202
SPEED UP THE WORK FOR THE ARMY AND GIVE ALL WHO
ENTER IT FAIR PLAY, AUGUST 23, 1918 206
SENATOR LODGE’S NOBLE SPEECH, SEPTEMBER 1, 1918 209
APPLIED PATRIOTISM, SEPTEMBER 8, 1918 211
GOOD LUCK TO THE ANTI-BOLSHEVISTS OF KANSAS, SEPTEMBER
12, 1918 213
THE FOURTH LIBERTY LOAN, SEPTEMBER 17, 1918 216
FAIR PLAY AND NO POLITICS, SEPTEMBER 20, 1918 218
SPIES AND SLACKERS, SEPTEMBER 24, 1918 221
QUIT PLAYING FAVORITES, SEPTEMBER 30, 1918 224
WAR AIMS AND PEACE PROPOSALS, OCTOBER 12, 1918 226
PERMANENT PREPAREDNESS AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS,
OCTOBER 15, 1918 229
HIGH-SOUNDING PHRASES OF MUDDY MEANING, OCTOBER
17, 1918 231
AN AMERICAN PEACE _versus_ A RUBBER-STAMP PEACE,
OCTOBER 22, 1918 236
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER, OCTOBER 26, 1918 239
WHAT ARE THE FOURTEEN POINTS? OCTOBER 30, 1918 241
FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF THE FOURTEEN POINTS,
OCTOBER 30, 1918 243
FOURTEEN SCRAPS OF PAPER, OCTOBER 31, 1918 248
THE TURKS SURRENDER UNCONDITIONALLY, NOVEMBER 3, 1918 251
PEACE, NOVEMBER 12, 1918 253
SACRIFICE ON COLD ALTARS, NOVEMBER 13, 1918 255
THE RED FLAG AND THE HUN PEACE DRIVE, NOVEMBER
14, 1918 258
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, NOVEMBER 17, 1918 261
AN AMERICAN CONGRESS, NOVEMBER 18, 1918 265
THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS AND THE ENSLAVEMENT OF
MANKIND, NOVEMBER 22, 1918 269
PRESIDENT WILSON AND THE PEACE CONFERENCE, NOVEMBER
26, 1918 272
THE LEAGUE TO ENFORCE PEACE, DECEMBER 2, 1918 277
THE MEN WHOSE LOT HAS BEEN HARDEST, DECEMBER 8, 1918 281
THE BRITISH NAVY, THE FRENCH ARMY, AND AMERICAN
COMMON SENSE, DECEMBER 17, 1918 283
LET US HAVE STRAIGHTFORWARD SPEAKING, DECEMBER
24, 1918 287
A SQUARE DEAL FOR THE MEN AT THE FRONT, DECEMBER
25, 1918 289
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, JANUARY 13, 1919 292
ILLUSTRATIONS
THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND W. R. NELSON
From a snapshot _Photogravure Frontispiece_
FACSIMILE OF A NOTE FROM ROOSEVELT TO W. R.
NELSON xxii
FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT OF ONE OF
ROOSEVELT’S EDITORIALS 2
INTRODUCTION
I
The request, repeated and urgent, has come from many sources that the
editorial articles, contributed by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt to The
Kansas City Star during our country’s participation in the World War,
be preserved for the future. It is in response to this request that
this volume is published.
Newspaper publication is ephemeral. Newspaper files are short-lived.
Anybody who has examined a newspaper of thirty years ago knows how
flimsy it is, how it breaks and disintegrates to the touch. It lacks
the enduring quality of the newspaper of sixty or seventy-five years
ago when other elements entered into the composition of news-print
paper. Newspaper publication is the thought of to-day; to-morrow, it
is gone save for the impression left on the mind of the reader. That
the recollection of Colonel Roosevelt’s articles may have something to
appeal to aside from crumbling newspaper files is the aim of this book.
And so these expressions on the events in a crisis in our national
history--from the mind of a man whose intense love of country was the
admiration of all who knew him, expressions which at the time of their
publication stirred many to greater sacrifice for country, some to
anger, even to rage--are here presented in enduring form.
Colonel Roosevelt’s contributions to The Star were his most frequent
expressions on the war; they were the outpouring of a great soul deeply
stirred by the country’s situation. There were more than one hundred
articles from his pen. They covered the vital time of our part in the
war from October, 1917, until his death January 6, 1919.
The reason he chose The Star as his medium of reaching the people,
in a period when a large section of the American people sought and
was guided by what he said, was that Colonel Roosevelt and The Star
had known and understood each other for a long, long time. Their
acquaintance dated back to the period of his service in the New York
legislature. The Star saw behind his conduct then the qualities and
the spirit which it was continually seeking to place at a premium in
offices of public trust.
Later, in 1889, when President Harrison appointed him a civil service
commissioner, The Star said:
The appointment of Theodore Roosevelt as one of the civil service
commissioners is a hopeful sign that President Harrison desires to
give civil service reform a fair representation in the government. Mr.
Roosevelt is an accomplished gentleman, with sincere aspirations for
reformed methods of administration, as shown by his career in the New
York legislature when Grover Cleveland was governor. Mr. Roosevelt is
too independent ever to serve as a party henchman, and his voice and
influence will always be in favor of what he believes to be the most
efficient and business-like administration of affairs.
Colonel Roosevelt and the founder and editor of The Star, the late
William R. Nelson, had met, but they did not really know each other
until after the war with Spain. In his canvass for the vice-presidency
in 1900 Colonel Roosevelt was entertained at the Nelson home, Oak Hall,
Kansas City. From this visit dated better acquaintance. They had much
in common and were alike in many characteristics: frank, outspoken,
impulsive, and passionately devoted to the same ideals of private life
and public service.
I recall a story of an impulsive act of Colonel Roosevelt back in his
ranchman days. A man of shady reputation had been appointed Indian
Agent with the Sioux on a Dakota reservation. He put into effect many
sharp practices with the Indians which would line his pockets with
money. Roosevelt’s ranch was not far away and ranch affairs took him to
the agency. One day he went to the agency and sought the agent.
“You are Mr. ----?” the ranchman asked.
“Yes,” was the reply.
“I have heard what you have been doing with the Indians. You are a
thief! Good-day!”
The story, as told, was that the agent, aghast at the boldness of his
visitor, turned and walked away.
The late Curtis Guild, Jr., of Boston, and Senator Beveridge, of
Indiana, were with Colonel Roosevelt on the Oak Hall visit. They found
delight in the paintings and books in Mr. Nelson’s home and Colonel
Roosevelt gave proof of his wide range of knowledge by his instant
recognition of the work of painters of long-established reputation. In
his inspection of the library he asked to see what Mr. Nelson had on
the Greek dramatists. “I always ask for them in a man’s library,” he
remarked.
During this visit I was a listener at an argument between the two men
on partisanship. Mr. Nelson had in his early days affiliated with
the Democratic Party. In 1876 he was Mr. Tilden’s personal manager
in Indiana. But with the party’s treatment of Tilden Mr. Nelson lost
partisan zeal, and never after could he be considered a party man. He
founded The Star in 1880 as an independent newspaper; it has remained
an independent newspaper.
Colonel Roosevelt’s argument was, that to accomplish anything in public
affairs a man or a newspaper had to belong to a party organization. He
probably had in mind his experience in the Blaine campaign of 1884. His
conclusion was that the American people were wedded to the two-party
system and that one who aspired to do anything for the country could
achieve only by working through a party organization.
Mr. Nelson granted what he said was true as to an individual, but
not as to a newspaper of the right sort. It was perhaps true as to
a newspaper which had as one of its aims the securing of political
honor for its owner, but the newspaper sincerely devoted to the public
interest could wield greater power by retaining its independence and
in the end could accomplish more substantial achievements, a statement
verified by his own conduct of The Star. Colonel Roosevelt saw the
force of Mr. Nelson’s contention, but stuck to his point that, with an
individual, accomplishment outside of party ranks was impossible.
It is interesting to look back over the growth of the mutual
understanding and the fondness of the two men for each other dating
from that visit in 1900. After leaving Kansas City, Colonel Roosevelt
sent back a letter expressing his delight at the day spent at Oak Hall,
closing with “How I do wish I could spend the week in your library
instead of upon this infernal campaigning trip!”
When the assassin’s bullet struck down President McKinley, Mr. Nelson
sent a telegram to Colonel Roosevelt expressing his horror at the deed
and pledging the whole-hearted support of his newspaper in aiding him
to carry the great burden which had been placed on his shoulders.
Mr. Nelson had no wish to be a distributor of federal patronage; he was
concerned in higher things. When Colonel Roosevelt turned to him for
advice on political matters, he was reluctant to give it, feeling his
own lack of real knowledge of the politics of Kansas and Missouri and
of the men who sought appointments. Late in 1901 Colonel Roosevelt,
asking about conditions in Missouri, wrote, referring to St. Louis
men, “I think they have been rather after the offices and not after
success.... I should like to have some office-holder in Missouri to
whom I could tie.”
Mr. Nelson asked the political writers of The Star to write their
estimate of the men seeking office and leadership, and these were
sent to the President with his endorsement. The President repeatedly
followed the ideas of these letters, and it is a pleasure to record
that in no instance was there subsequently cause for regret for any
selection based on the letters.
In 1908 the President’s appointment of the Farm Life Commission
received Mr. Nelson’s commendation, for he had long recognized the need
of making farm life more attractive; indeed, he would have financed
experiments along this line had he been younger. At the same time
Mr. Nelson spoke approvingly of the President’s recent comment on
the courts, adding, “Courts need such criticism the worst kind. They
steadily undermine confidence in law and legal justice.”
“I am sick at heart,” the President replied, “over the way in which
the courts have been prostituting justice in the last few years.
The greatest trouble will follow if they do not alter their present
attitude. I suppose I shall ‘pay’ myself in some way for what I have
said about the courts, but I have got to take the risk.”
In 1909, in the closing days of the Roosevelt Administration the
President issued an executive order looking to a quick settlement of a
long-pending controversy over the channel of the Kaw River at Kansas
City. It was unexpected; indeed, few in Kansas City knew that the
President was considering the subject. The order cut straight to the
heart of the controversy in true Roosevelt fashion. The same day Mr.
Nelson sent this telegram to the President:
It is quite worth while to have a real President of the United States.
The next day this reply came from the President:
It is even better worth while to have a real editor of just the right
kind of paper.
II
The Star supported Taft in the campaign of 1908 because it had faith
that he would carry out the Roosevelt policies. Events early in the
Taft Administration weakened that faith; the Winona speech withered
it. Mr. Nelson had had no correspondence with Colonel Roosevelt while
he was hunting in Africa. Two letters came from the ex-President,
one March 12, 1910, from the White Nile saying he expected to return
in June; another from Porto Maurizio, a month later, saying, “I know
you will understand how delicate my position is,” and asking for an
early conference with Mr. Nelson on his return to this country. Mr.
Nelson’s final, open break with President Taft was “more in sorrow than
in anger”; there was never bitterness of feeling, solely regret at a
mistake in believing Mr. Taft stood for principles which events early
in his administration showed convincingly he did not stand for.
Writing to Colonel Roosevelt, in 1910, after his return from Africa,
Mr. Nelson referred to the Winona speech and the Ballinger case,
concluding: “I have wondered whether sooner or later there would not
have to be a new party of the Square Deal.”
The succeeding two years there were frequent conferences and
interchange of letters between Colonel Roosevelt and Mr. Nelson. The
latter had absolute confidence and abiding faith in Roosevelt. Late
in 1910 the Colonel’s enemies were seeking to torment him from many
angles. Mr. Nelson wrote him:
It has occurred to me that the opposition will constantly be prodding
you and lying about you with the evident purpose of getting you angry
and so putting you to a disadvantage. That is the only hope on earth
they have of stopping you.
Your comment on Wm. Barnes was fine. It recalled to me an incident
connected with Governor Tilden, who was the wisest politician I ever
knew. As a young man I was his manager in Indiana. After the defeat of
Lucius Robinson, whom he was backing for Governor of New York, I went
East at his invitation to confer with him. He asked me to see Kelly,
Clarkson, Potter, Dorsheimer, and Sam Cox, and some of the other men
who had been fighting him, to get their views. “What shall I tell them
about your position if they ask me?” I said. “Oh, tell them,” he said,
“that I am very amiable.” In my adventures since that time I have
often had occasion to remember that as sound advice. Amiability is a
great weapon at times.
But my point is that you never need to defend yourself at all. The
people will take care of your defense. Besides, it is always a bad
policy, in my opinion, to get to talking about the past. You are a
Progressive. Your nose is to the front. The past doesn’t interest you.
So I hope you will ignore the critics, no matter how exasperating they
may be. And if you can’t ignore them, laugh at them!
To this the Colonel replied:
I guess you are right; but it does make me flame with indignation when
men who pretend to be especially the custodians of morals, and who sit
in judgment from an Olympian height of virtue on the deeds of other
men, themselves offend in a way that puts them on a level with the
most corrupt scoundrel in a city government....
But this does not alter the fact that, as you say, my business is to
pay no heed to the slanders of the past, but to keep my face steadily
turned toward the future. Here in New York the outlook is rather
dark. There are a great multitude of men, some of them nominally
respectable, but timid or misled, who do certainly, although rather
feebly, object to the domination of Barnes and his fellow bosses; but
who do sincerely, but rather feebly, prefer clean politics to corrupt
politics; but who, nevertheless, dread any interference with what they
regard as the rights of big business, any assault on what I regard as
an improperly arranged tariff, any effort to work for the betterment
of social conditions in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln; who regard all
assaults and efforts of this nature as being worse than the rule of
small bosses and the petty corruption of local politicians.
III
As the presidential campaign of 1912 developed, there were frequent
exchanges of views. In May Colonel Roosevelt wrote that he was
confident of victory in the Republican Convention in spite of all that
was being done against him by the men in control of the party. Only
those who were in the thick of the Republican Convention in Chicago
in June realize how the fighting blood of the men on the progressive
side, from the leader down, was aroused. Mr. Nelson was at Chicago
during the Republican Convention. Colonel Roosevelt sought his advice
throughout. The course which was ultimately followed had Mr. Nelson’s
full approval. In a telegram to Colonel Roosevelt after the break from
the Republican Party, Mr. Nelson said: “I am with you tooth and nail,
to the limit and to the finish.”
Following those vivid days and nights of the Republican Convention--a
period no active participant can ever erase from his memory--came
the Orchestra Hall meeting, the first definite step to organize the
Progressive Party, the National Progressive Party Convention in August,
and then the memorable three-party campaign.
In the midst of the campaign Mr. Nelson and the Colonel had the time
and inclination to carry on a correspondence on things not directly
touching the issues on which the fight was made. In a letter from
his summer home at Magnolia, Massachusetts, Mr. Nelson dropped into
a discussion of what he called his two hobbies--to drive money out
of the voting booth and out of the courthouse. His idea was that all
legitimate expenses of candidates for office should be paid by the
State, and that there should be a reform of the voting system which
would avoid the necessity of party organization to get out the vote.
Having the vote taken by letter carriers was one way that appealed to
him. He would make justice free, “not for sale as it is to-day when
the rich man gets the best lawyers.” Lawyers should be officers of the
court in fact as well as in theory, and should be compensated for their
work by the State, not by the litigants.
Replying to this letter late in July, Colonel Roosevelt said:
I am with you in principle on both the points you raise. I am with you
on the question of the State paying the election expenses right
away now. I have always stood for that course as the only one to give
the poor man a fair chance in politics.
Your other idea is new, but I have long been feeling my way to the
same conclusion. A lawyer is not like a doctor. No real good for the
community comes from the development of legalism, from the development
of that kind of ability shown by the great corporation lawyers who
lead our bar; whereas good does come from medical development. The
high-priced lawyer means, when reduced to his simplest expression,
that justice tends to go to the man with the longest purse. But the
proposal is such a radical one that I do not know how it would be
greeted, and it is something we will have to fight for later.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
[Illustration:
Tʰᵉ Outlook
287 Fourth Avenue
New York
Office of
Theodore Roosevelt
May 24, 1912
My dear Colonel Nelson:
It certainly is fine, and it looks now as though we shall be able to
win in the Convention.
Faithfully yours,
_Theodore Roosevelt
Good luck, oh staunchest of
friends!_
Colonel W. R. Nelson,
Kansas City, Mo.]
Late in September, during a campaign tour of the West, Colonel
Roosevelt spent a Sunday evening at Oak Hall. The subject of campaign
contributions came up, and the candidate became reminiscent,
recounting his first experience as governor of New York with campaign
contributions. It was an incident, he said, that might readily be
misconstrued and so he had not discussed it publicly.
Soon after he was elected governor of New York, he had discovered that
the street railways were paying almost no taxes. Accordingly he took
steps to introduce a franchise tax bill into the legislature. Mr. Odell
at once came to him and told him that he was following in the footsteps
of Bryan and “Potato” Pingree, which was the most severe condemnation
at that time. That warning having no effect, Mr. Platt came to him
and said, “Governor, you can’t do this. Don’t you know that the
Whitney-Ryan combination was one of the heaviest contributors to your
campaign fund?”
“The deuce they were,” said Roosevelt; “I supposed they made their
contributions to Tammany.”
“Of course,” Platt returned, “they contributed to Tammany, but they
gave us just half as much as they did Tammany. If they hadn’t expected
fair treatment from us they would have given it all to Tammany.”
“I told Platt they would get fair treatment from us,” Roosevelt said,
in telling the story, “but if they expected immunity from taxation they
were going to be left.”
At that time the Whitney-Ryan combination owned the New York street
railways and so were going to be hard hit by the franchise tax. Mr.
Roosevelt added that the franchise tax bill went through and created
quite a scandal in high finance at that time. “Everybody was talking
about it,” he said, “and all the big financiers knew about it. So
I never could have any sympathy with the view that Harriman or the
Standard Oil people--if they really contributed to my campaign fund--or
any other interest of that sort gave any money for campaign purposes
under a misapprehension. They knew from my deeds as well as my words
that they could not buy immunity from me, and that the best they could
expect was a square deal. I said one time to Bacon, ‘Bob, why is it
that Morgan and all his crowd are against me? Don’t they know that they
would get justice from me?’ Bacon smiled, hesitated, and then said,
‘Yes, I suppose they do.’”
In the Progressive campaign Mr. Nelson violated a personal rule of
many years’ standing which forbade his personal participation in
politics. Into this campaign he went with his whole soul. Then past
seventy years of age, he was abundantly able to direct but not to give
of his physical strength. He assumed responsibility for organizing the
party in Missouri and lent his newspaper organization to that end.
He thought day and night for the party’s candidate and the party’s
principles, and at the end of the campaign he had left undone nothing
which he could have done for the candidate who had his absolute and
unqualified confidence. After the election Colonel Roosevelt wrote Mr.
Nelson:
I can never overstate how much I appreciate all that you have done and
been throughout this fight. My dear Sir, I am very grateful and I know
that the only way I can show my gratitude is so to bear myself that
you will feel no cause for regret at having stood by me.
After the campaign of 1912, which showed the remarkable strength of
Colonel Roosevelt with the people and demonstrated that he was still
a factor in American public life to be reckoned with, the tormenting
by his political enemies continued. From many quarters darts had been
hurled at “the old lion.” In July, 1914, after a libel suit for fifty
thousand dollars had been started, Mr. Nelson telegraphed the Colonel
at Oyster Bay:
Too bad so much of the burden should fall on you. _Would gladly share
it with you._
In a few days the message brought this letter:
When a man is under constant fire and begins to feel, now and then,
as if he did not have very many friends, and as if the forces against
him were perfectly overwhelming, then, even though he is prepared to
battle alone absolutely to the end, he is profoundly appreciative of
the support of those whose support is best worth having. Your telegram
not only gave me real comfort, but touched and moved me profoundly.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
That was the end of the recorded correspondence between Colonel
Roosevelt and Mr. Nelson. The former came West on a speaking tour in
the fall of 1914 and during his stay in Kansas City was a guest again
at Oak Hall. Mr. Nelson accompanied him to a campaign meeting in a
skating rink packed with people in Kansas City, Kansas, where he spoke
in a sweltering atmosphere for more than an hour preaching with all his
old vigor and enthusiasm the doctrines of the Progressive Party.
There was the same display from great crowds of people, along the
streets around the hall and everywhere he went, of the keen interest
and personal admiration which Colonel Roosevelt’s presence in Kansas
City territory always brought out. Kansas City and its vicinity
had been Roosevelt ground since Kansas and Western Missouri became
acquainted with him; indeed, any appearance by him was sufficient to
fill Convention Hall in Kansas City to its capacity of fifteen thousand
people.
Following Mr. Nelson’s death in April, 1915, there came from Colonel
Roosevelt a sincere appreciation of his sorrow, ending, “We have lost
literally one of the foremost citizens of the United States, one of the
men whom our Republic could least afford to spare.”
IV
In the 1916 campaign Colonel Roosevelt and The Star were of the same
mind. Deeply attached to the principles on which the battle of 1912 had
been conducted by the Progressive Party, they were conscious of the
futility of continuing the fight for those principles in a third party.
The American devotion to the two-party system had been convincingly
demonstrated again. The World War had been in progress two years, the
Lusitania had been sunk without stirring the Administration to more
than impotent words. Both thought that the Republican Party presented
the only hope of accomplishment. Colonel Roosevelt was The Star’s
choice for the nomination, but his nomination was too much to expect
after the break of 1912, and it gave its support to Mr. Hughes.
Early in June, 1917, Mr. Irwin Kirkwood, Mr. Nelson’s son-in-law, on
his way West from New York, chanced to meet Colonel Roosevelt on the
train. A visit in the Colonel’s stateroom followed. The conversation
turned to the seeming impossibility of a Roosevelt division for France,
a subject in which Mr. Kirkwood was personally interested, for he had
been assured service in France if the Colonel’s ambition were realized.
The Colonel was discouraged over his failure to get active service
and restless at the Administration’s slow preparation for war. Of the
Nation’s whole-hearted support of the war he was certain, and the high
thought with him at the time was to bring influences to bear on the
Administration to speed up.
At this time Colonel Roosevelt was contributing a monthly article for
The Metropolitan Magazine written long in advance of its publication.
Daily, momentous problems of the war were coming up. Mr. Kirkwood
felt strongly that the American people were eager to know what
Theodore Roosevelt thought on these questions. If he could reach the
public quickly, great good would result to this country’s cause.
Recalling that Mr. Nelson had said, when there was criticism of the
ex-President’s purpose to write for The Outlook, when it was first
announced, he would be mighty glad to have him write for The Star, Mr.
Kirkwood said:
“Colonel Roosevelt, wouldn’t it be fine if you could get your ideas on
the war to the people before they were twenty-four hours old? The only
way that could be done is through a newspaper.”
“By George!” said the Colonel, with emphasis, “I never thought of that:
it sounds like a good idea.”
Mr. Kirkwood said if he would consider the suggestion, The Star would
certainly welcome him.
“Such a proposition would not tempt me from many newspapers,” Colonel
Roosevelt continued. “In fact I know of no others except The Kansas
City Star and The Philadelphia North American from which I would
consider it. The Star particularly appeals to me as being printed
in the heart of the great progressive Middle Western country, and
because, too, of my love and affection for Colonel Nelson.”
Colonel Roosevelt remarked that he would like to discuss the proposal
with Mrs. Roosevelt and his daughter, Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, for he
had great confidence in the judgment of both. On Mr. Kirkwood’s return
to New York a fortnight later, Colonel Roosevelt said he was still
“filled up” with the idea and asked Mr. and Mrs. Kirkwood out to dinner
at Oyster Bay with Mrs. Roosevelt and himself. Mrs. Kirkwood was unable
to go. Mr. Kirkwood again discussed the proposal. Colonel Roosevelt’s
position was that if The Star was still unafraid, he was willing to
start. The next time the Colonel came to New York he had tea with Mr.
and Mrs. Kirkwood, and there was a further full and frank discussion.
“You, of course, know what you are doing,” Colonel Roosevelt said.
“Many people do not like my ideas and probably many of your subscribers
will be perfectly furious at The Star for printing my editorials.”
Both Mr. and Mrs. Kirkwood assured him full consideration had been
given to that phase, and while it was possible he and The Star
might not always agree, that fact would not stand in the way of the
arrangement.
So the agreement was there entered into. Colonel Roosevelt suggested
that as 1920 was a presidential year the connection be for two years or
until October, 1919, to which Mr. and Mrs. Kirkwood assented.
Colonel Roosevelt said he never pretended to be much of a business
man, but a formal contract was the usual thing; he had one with The
Metropolitan. Anyhow he would gladly sign it. He was asked if he
desired a contract and answered he did not.
“You understand and we do--” said Mr. Kirkwood.
Without waiting for the sentence to be finished, Colonel Roosevelt
said quickly, “That’s all I want to know. Let’s don’t bother with a
contract.”
And on that basis the Colonel wrote for The Star until his death.
Early in September I was delegated to go to New York, as Managing
Editor of The Star, to discuss with the Colonel the details of his work
for the paper. I met him at a hotel in Fifty-Seventh Street where he
went on the days he came in from Oyster Bay. Mrs. Roosevelt was with
him. Roosevelt was in high spirits, which was no uncommon thing. I
recall vividly my introduction to Mrs. Roosevelt.
“Edith,” he said, leading me into the room where Mrs. Roosevelt was,
“_here is my new boss_!”
I didn’t say it, but the thought came to me that I would prefer the
task of “bossing” a tornado.
The talk that followed was that The Star had no desire to guide what
he wrote; that it desired him to write whatever was in him, and it
would print it. The Colonel said that was exactly what he wanted; he
could do nothing else. We discussed the distribution over the country
of his writings, which he left entirely to The Star, with the request
that they be not offered to certain newspapers which had long shown a
spirit of personal animosity to him and of habitual hostility toward
his principles, a suggestion which was wholly agreeable to The Star.
He asked about the length and frequency of the articles he was to
write. It was agreed that an editorial of around five hundred words
was ideal, and at the start there would be two contributions a week.
Later they were more frequent. The Colonel said he would probably find
it difficult to keep down to five hundred words, but he recognized the
limitations of newspaper space and would do his best.
“Now,” he said, “if I get too highbrow, don’t hesitate to tell me. I’m
no tender flower; I can stand criticism.”
His secretary had come into the room to receive dictation from
accumulated correspondence. I arose to go. “Stay with us,” the Colonel
said, “until I finish this; you are a member of the family now.”
Short, crisp sentences came from him as he dictated, each with the
animation of a face-to-face conversation with the writers of the
letters.
It was arranged that the Colonel was to take up his duties the first
of October, and a few days after this meeting announcement was made
the country over that Theodore Roosevelt was to write for The Kansas
City Star. Immediately applications for the right to print the articles
poured in from newspapers throughout the country.
Colonel Roosevelt came West in September on a speaking tour which
included Kansas City. So he came into the office of The Star on the
morning of September 22, 1917, and went to a desk which had been
assigned him, with the remark, “The cub reporter will now begin work.”
He was fond of that designation and often in conversation referred
to himself as “The Star’s cub reporter.” With pencil he wrote out
on newspaper copy-paper, with much scratching and interlining, the
editorial, “Blood, Iron, and Gold,” which appeared the following day.
His first editorial, however, was, a short time before, written on
suggestion of Mr. Kirkwood, a brief piece on the death of Dr. W. S.
Fitzsimons, of Kansas City, who was killed by a bomb in an airplane
attack on a hospital in France--the first American officer to fall in
the war.
The same day Colonel Roosevelt wrote another editorial for later
publication. He was good nature itself that Saturday morning in the
office, joked and chatted with members of the staff, and seemed to be
enjoying the novelty of his new connection.
The following Sunday there was a luncheon of The Star family at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kirkwood, at which the “new cub reporter”
made himself thoroughly at home. Editors, reporters, and men of the
mechanical and circulation departments were there and had luncheon
with the Colonel. He mingled with all and took delight in chatting
with them of their work. During the afternoon he made an informal talk
to “the family” out on the lawn, in which he commended the spirit of
working together shown in the expression “The Star family.” He spoke,
too, of his long acquaintance with the aims and purposes of Mr. Nelson
which were the aims and purposes of The Star, and said, as he had said
before, that The Star was one of two daily newspapers with which he
would be proud of a connection.
The arrangement was that Colonel Roosevelt was to telegraph his
editorials to The Star from Oyster Bay or wherever he was when he
wrote them. They were put in type in The Star office and sent out from
there for simultaneous publication in a selected list of about fifty
newspapers. These included the best-known newspapers in the country
and represented every section. The service was without charge beyond
telegraph tolls, it being The Star’s wish to give the widest diffusion
possible to Colonel Roosevelt’s ideas on the conduct of the war through
the best channel in each city.
Frequently there were suggestions from The Star to the Colonel. Always
he was gracious in his treatment of those suggestions, invariably
writing along the lines indicated and often amplifying and bettering
them. On the other hand--except in two instances--the Colonel’s
editorials were printed just as they were written, and if any change
in copy were considered advisable it was made only after he had been
consulted by wire and had approved it.
From the start the country was much interested in the expressions from
the Colonel. The newspapers which received them printed them faithfully
and conspicuously. However, the service had been in operation not more
than a fortnight before there came rumbles of disapproval and doubt,
almost altogether from newspapers published south of Mason and Dixon’s
Line.
One of the early editorials, entitled “Sam Weller and Mr. Snodgrass,”
presented Uncle Sam, “eight months after Germany went to war with us,
and we severed relations with Germany as the first move in our sixty
days’ stern foremost drift into, not going to, war,” as the boastful
Mr. Snodgrass, still taking off his coat and announcing in a loud voice
what he was about to do. This drew from the mayor of Abilene, Texas,
the following letter to The Star-Telegram, of Fort Worth, Texas, which
was publishing the Roosevelt articles:
ABILENE, TEXAS, October 3, 1917. Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth,
Tex. The Roosevelt article appearing in your paper of this date
is nothing short of the expression of the thoughts of a seditious
conspirator who should be shot dead, and, the Editor-in-Chief of your
paper should be tarred and feathered for publishing it, and your
paper should be excluded from the mails of the United States. You may
publish this if you wish, and stop my paper.
E. N. KIRBY
Mayor of Abilene
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram promptly published Mayor Kirby’s letter,
under the caption “The Retort Courteous,” adding the following:
The Editor-in-Chief presents his compliments to the Mayor of Abilene
and begs to say that should he conclude personally to conduct a tar
and feather expedition in our direction, he will experience no great
difficulty in locating the said Editor-in-Chief. Meanwhile we can
assure him that his reception will not be lacking in hospitality or
warmth.
The mayor of Abilene and the editor did not meet. Later, in an
editorial devoted to apologists for the delay in making war who were
saying, “Why cry over spilt milk?” Colonel Roosevelt referred to the
incident, saying:
Recently the mayor of Abilene, Texas, expressed his disapproval of my
pointing out that we, as a Nation, had wholly failed to prepare, by
saying that I was “a seditious conspirator who ought to be shot dead,”
and that the editor of the newspaper publishing the article “should
be tarred and feathered.” Although differing in method of expression,
this slight homicidal bleat of the gentle-souled (and doubtless
entirely harmless) mayor of Abilene, Texas, is exactly similar in
thought to the utterances of all these sheeplike creatures who raise
quavering or incoherent protests against every honest and patriotic
man who points out the damage done by our failure to prepare.
V
When the “cub reporter” came to take on his “new job,” he learned
for the first time of the conditions at Camp Funston, in Kansas, the
big national army training camp of the Middle West, to which his old
friend, Major-General Leonard Wood, had been assigned. The drafted men
were assembled there from the farms and towns of the Middle West before
adequate provision had been made for their care or their training.
They were trained with wooden cannon, and broomsticks served in place
of rifles. Colonel Roosevelt wrote an editorial entitled “Broomstick
Preparedness,” which touched mildly on the conditions at Funston. The
expression “Broomstick Preparedness” caught popular fancy as typifying
the Administration’s delay in many aspects of war preparation. It
stuck in the public mind. It was widely used by newspapers and by
speakers who thought the Government was not showing sufficient speed.
An editorial, “Broomstick Apologists,” followed, directed at people who
answered criticism of delay by making excuses for delay.
From the beginning Colonel Roosevelt had in the main devoted his
articles to speeding up the preparations for making war. The boosting
of Liberty bonds and the various war drives, the pacifists and
hyphenated enemies on our own soil, were not overlooked by any means,
but the thing that seared his soul was the lack of speed in making
ready for actual warfare. When his connection with The Star began,
we had been officially at war nearly six months, and how little the
Government had accomplished toward equipping for actual warfare was
continuously held up in his articles.
Colonel Roosevelt used the method, followed by newspaper writers who
earnestly seek to achieve results, of pounding continually on a few
things, dressing each article in different language, but keeping to
the front all the time the central idea, presenting the same thoughts
in article after article, but striving in each so to change the
presentation that the ideas would finally enter the reader’s mind and
stir him to action. Mr. Nelson used this method in the conduct of The
Star. For many years, beginning with its first publication, The Star
advocated parks and boulevards for Kansas City. It hammered away on the
subject in nearly every issue. It took almost twenty years to do it,
but at the end a splendid system of parks and boulevards stands as a
monument to The Star’s persistence.
Article after article Colonel Roosevelt devoted to the slow speed in
war-making until there was finally a response in Washington. It heard
from public opinion. War-making was speeded up, although at the best
and in the end there were many, many deficiencies in our war machine.
Colonel Roosevelt’s criticisms of the Administration were not widely
popular. The Star never had any idea they would be popular, but it
believed they were right and for the real good of the country. As he
had foreseen when the connection was made, “Many of your subscribers
will be perfectly furious at The Star for printing my editorials.”
They were. They wrote to The Star to denounce the Colonel for writing
the articles and The Star for printing them. In popular discussion in
the Middle West forms of disapproval ranged from “He should stand by
the President” to “He should be stood before a stone wall and shot.”
Generally the user of the latter phrase added “at sunrise.” That was an
expression often heard. It was used by political orators with effect.
Colonel Roosevelt knew full well of the feeling in the West and South
toward his articles. He wrote once asking what effect the storm was
having on The Star. Never a word from him to show he cared one whit
about himself. He knew he was doing the right thing for the country; he
went ahead.
The frank truth is, there was a strong and active pacifist element
in the territory in which The Star circulated. It had not been for
preparedness. It had voted for President Wilson in 1916 largely
“because he kept us out of war.” Undeniably that idea was popular.
A candidate for governor in a neighboring state, running on the
Republican ticket, had made a campaign identical with the Democratic
slogan and had carried the state, which at the same time gave its vote
to the Democratic presidential candidate. But once we were in war the
people of this section responded nobly; they went to the limit, but for
a long time after we were in war they did not approve the prodding-up
of Washington. The hostility toward the Roosevelt articles in the South
was more pronounced. At the beginning of the service ten Southern
newspapers were taking it. Their statements about discontinuance ran
from “We find further publication inadvisable in our territory” to an
apology to their readers for ever having allowed the Roosevelt articles
to enter their columns.
Colonel Roosevelt was not without defenders; many of them thought and
said he was rendering the greatest service to the country in all his
career. But in the excited state of mind in the spring of 1918, when
the Germans were driving toward Paris, it required courage to defend
the articles. Many, however, spoke out boldly; others did not. Party
lines were not followed strictly. Republicans were not so bitter as
men of the President’s party. “We must stand by the President” had a
popular appeal regardless of whether the Government was functioning
efficiently or not. The view was widely held that it was unpatriotic
to criticize the President. Frequently it was charged that Colonel
Roosevelt’s purposes were political, not patriotic. The articles were
often decried as pro-German propaganda and The Star was branded as
pro-German for publishing them.
In April, 1918, when this feeling was at its height, when the people
in Kansas City’s territory were in a highly inflamed state of feeling
toward criticism of the Government, Colonel Roosevelt sent a ringing
editorial, “Freedom Stands with her Back to the Wall,” which The Star
did not consider it advisable to publish. It had no doubt of the entire
righteousness of the criticism passed on the officials at Washington,
for the fruition of their slowness was shown in the poor showing
America was making in these critical days, but it could see no good
to come from the publication: in its opinion the article would only
further inflame Colonel Roosevelt’s enemies and irritate his friends.
Colonel Roosevelt was informed of the office opinion of this article
as he was on a later article (“How Not to Adjourn Politics,” June
25) which was not published. He acquiesced in the decision, saying
that he could readily conceive of local conditions which made their
publication ill-advised. He asked that they be telegraphed to two
other newspapers, which was done. The Star was willing to go as far as
it could go without, in its judgment, lessening the effectiveness of
the articles in accomplishing the speeding-up of the war, but it would
not go beyond this point.