The triumphant life of Theodore Roosevelt ... the inspiring narrative of his wonderful career

Front matter

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Introduction

President Roosevelt has never been a favorite of the politicians. For the sake of their political existence, however, the professional politicians have been obliged to support him because of his great popularity with the people. The President has gone along his way, doing what he thought to be the right thing at all times, regardless of the political machinists. This has been his characteristic throughout his entire political career, from the time he served as a member of the New- York Legislature, beginning in 1882.

One of the greatest political manipulators this country has produced attempted to shelve Theodore Roosevelt in iqoo by nominating him for the Vice-Presidency. He succeeded in forcing the nomination upon him, but it did not operate to check his political career and place him where the political bosses thought he would be safe from doing the things that they are not accustomed to having done by men who are not rewarded with office.

Theodore Roosevelt always refused to be owned by any political machine or set of bosses. This "Eastern man with Western characteristics," as Senator Depew describes him, has forged ahead in his career by his own propulsive force and individuality.

This has brought him the severest kind of criticism on the part of not only liis opponents, but the political machinists within his own party. These latter do not, of course, dare

4 INTRODUCTION

speak above a whisper in unfavorable terms of the President and his acts. These politicians have discussed the President in a disparaging way, confidentially, but when it happens that their attitude regarding him becomes public, then they set up a loud cry of denial and declare over and over again their allegiance to the President. The great political bosses of the country, as a rule, are closely identified with the great trusts and corporations, and the desire of the strictly professional politicians is, generally speaking, the desire of the so-called trusts.

President Roosevelt has struck right out from the shoulder in expressing his mind to certain politicians who raised objections to Mr. Cortelyou as chairman of the National Republican Committee, at the time the President first proposed Mr. Cortelyou.

This caused some amusement and quite a little chagrin, but aside from the strictly professional politicians, the selection of Mr. Cortelyou on the part of the President was considered a wise one. The President is reported to have said to some of the political leaders:

"I had this matter open for months, and allowed plenty of time to make suggestions, and none of you had a word to say. Now, when it is settled, and it is too late for any discussion, you come here and want to unsettle it and find fault. I don't want to hear any more about it."

The President has forced upon the politicians the fact that this is a new era in politics. The politicians have been accustomed to look upon the national chairmanship as a position carrying with it an enormous political patronage. There is no system in the world like it for dickers and deals for place on the grandest scale. The politicians have been in the habit

'INTRODUCTION 5

of dealing with some one who has an appreciation of the place from the professional politician's standpoint. Every politician knows there is a vast amount of work connected with the position, a description of which they would not care to have presented to the public.

Theodore Roosevelt is not a politician-made President. He is the candidate of the people in the Republican party and not of the politicians. They favor him only because it is in their interests to do so.

More than a year ago, when I said to President Roosevelt that I proposed to write a book about him, he said that he believed the time for a man's biography to be written was after his death.

"I desire to write an account, the best I can, of the history that you have made and are making, Mr. President," 1 answered him, "rather than a biography or a 'life' in the°general acceptation of that term, and I believe the people are entitled to that." And every public man, the I^resident more than any other probably, realizes that the public are entitled to know about their public servants.

Mr. Loeb, the President's secretary, afterward remarked that the President might not be nominated, and cautioned me that I might have all of my work of more than a year collecting material for a cause that might not prove of interest to people generally.

"Not at all; the people everywhere in this country will not lose interest in Theodore Roosevelt, even though such an improbable contingency might happen that some other Republican gets the nomination," I answered. And so I believed.

Theodore Roosevelt is the greatest personal force in this country, and the record of no other man's life can be so full

6 INTRODUCTION

of thrilling interest to every reader and particularly of inspiration and incentive to young men of the nation, as this man's.

The author became enthusiastic over the idea. He became fired with the desire to place before the public a book that would tell about how success had come to this man who, although of ample estate, deliberately chose a life of hard work; this man of pure family life who appeals to every home; this man who stands for purity and fair play for the people in politics; the man who has neutralized the evil and despotic influences of political machines, their bosses and corruptionists; the man who does not fear the powerful but unseen influences of the great trusts and financial magnates; the man who stands for all the people and thus stamps himself as the most intense statesman, in his Americanism, of the age. This is a brief outline of the life of the man I shall endeavor, in the pages that follow, to tell you about.

After I was well along in the preparation of this book, the President consented to sit for special photographs with which to illustrate it. These photographs appear in the following pages with the President's reproduced autograph as written on the photograph that was his favorite. These photographs were taken for this work just before the Chicago Convention which nominated President Roosevelt, and are his latest pictures.

What a remarkable career! Is there a man or woman, boy or girl, who would not be interested in the account of the life of such an extraordinary man? He is our first President of the Twentieth Century.

J. Martin Miller

Washington, D. C.

Table Of Contents

PAGE

Introduction 3

Theodore Roosevelt— What He Has Accomplished 13

Theodore Roosevelt — His Qualifications for Office 31

Chapter I

Gigantic Responsibility— New-comer Closely Watched— The Prejudice Wears Away— A Democratic President— A Hard Worker- Kind and Thoughtful at All Times— Cabinet Days— A Splendid Horseman— Gives All His Time to His Country's Business 35

CHAPTER n

Many Cordial Welcomes— Tours of Prominence— The President's Carriage Struck by a Trolley Car— Death of Secret Service Officer Craig— At Chattanooga and Chickamauga— Made No Trips in 1904— The Presidential Train— The President a Delightful Companion— Sounding the Pulse of the Public. . 42

CHAPTER HI

Eastern Birth with Western Characteristics— Theodore Roosevelt's Ancestors- Birth— His Youth— His Family Strict Church People— As a Boy Was Robust in Spirit but Not in Body— Wincipal Events of His Life— His Books- Remarkable Versatility and Adaptability— An Interesting Romance— The Highest Type of an American 52

CHAPTER IV

HOME OF THE PRESIDENT

The President's Wife and Family— Mrs. Roosevelt a Domestic Woman— Receives Many Visitors— The White House Office— How the Business is Conducted— The President's Official Household— A Visit from Carrie Nation— Shaking Hands with Three Thousand People in One Day— Marvelous Knowledge of Foreign Countries— The Army and Navy — The White House Residence- Social Customs — New Year's Day 64

CHAPTER V

Visits from Societies— Mrs. Roosevelt Entertains Six Hundred Children— The President's Daily Habits— A Remarkable Memory— Official Duties— Diversions— Fond of Long Walks— Plays Tennis Well and Enjoys Wrestling— The

President's Secretary— Egg Rolling— At Oyster Bay 77

8 CONTENTS

CHAPTER VI LIFE IN THE WEST

Exciting Adv'entures— A Mistaken Ruffian— A. Western Episode— The Pleasures of the Chase— Shoots His First Buffalo— Kills Two Deer at Four Hundred Yards— An Exciting Elk Hunt— Hunting Dangerous Game— Stands Off a Band of Indians— Tribute to the Rough Riders 87

CHAPTER VII ROOSEVELT THE REFORMER

Appointed a Member of the Civil Service Commission— Views on the Subject— The Merit System— The Fair Plav Department— Head of the New York Police— Civic Corruption— Blackmail—An Unequal Battle— His Life Threatened—Becomes Assistant Secretary of the Navy— Military Preparedness,. . . 97

CHAPTER VIII THE ROUGH RIDERS

Organizing the Regiment— A Composite Lot— College Athletes and Cowboys— The Officers— Orders to March— The Landing at Daiquiri— The First Skirmish—Death of Sergeant Fish and Captain Capron— The La Quassina Fight-The Baptism of Fire— San Juan Hill— The Surrender of Santiago— The Celebrated "Round Robin" 105

CHAPTER IX GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK

Theodore Roosevelt's Pledge— Ambitious to be Right— Chauncey M. Depew Places Roosevelt's Name in Nomination — Advocate of Civil Service Reform — Labor Laws— Attorney-General's Department— State Canals— Did Not Wish to be Vice-President— Street Franchise Legislation— State Factory Law Enforced — Friend of the Common People 123

CHAPTER X HOW ROOSEVELT BECAME PRESIDENT

The'Cause of His Leadership— Attitude toward the Panama Republic — Self-confidence—The Spanish War— His First Chance— A Flesh and Blood Candidate — Roosevelt's Nomination as Vice-President — Seconds the Nomination of President McKinley— A Memorable Campaign Tour— A National Tragedy —Grasps the Reins of Power- A Hazardous Ride— Roosevelt's Proclamation. 129

.CHAPTER XI THE PANAMA CANAL

History of the Project— Its Inception— The Nicaragua Route Proposed— The Canal Bill Signed by the President- Text of the Law— The Spooner Substitute—The Direction of the Panama Canal Placed in the Hands of the War Department — President Roosevelt on the Canal Question — The Incompetency of Colombia— A Bloodless Rebellion— The Duty of the United States. 137

CONTENTS 9

CHAPTER XII THE MERGER DECISION

PAGE

The Anti-trust Act Can Prevent Combination — Judge Thayer's Decision Held as a Victory for the People — President Roosevelt Given Much Credit — The Declaration of the Court — Trusts are Illegal — A Sweeping Opinion— A Triumph of Law M^

CHAPTER XIII THE PRESIDENT STARTS ON HIS TRIP

Anxious to Give an Account of His Stewardship — Rides in the Cab with the Engineer — Throngs Await His Coming — Arrives at Chicago — Reception at Evanston — The President's Celebrated Speech on the Monroe Doctrine — Trip through Wisconsin— Famous Address on Trusts in Milwaukee 155

CHAPTER XIV WESTWARD ho!

Enthusiastic Crowds at Every Stopping Place— !n Minneapolis and St. Paul— The Wage-Worker and the Tiller of the Soil— Through the Dakotas— The Philippine Polic> — Yellowstone Park— The President in Nebraska — Across the State of Iowa 181

CHAPTER XV

Arrives at St. Louis — Dines vvitli Ex-President Cleveland — Dedicates the Louisiana Purchase Exposition — The President's Speech Receiver! with (ireat . Enthusiasm — Cordial Demonstration by Kansas City People — Ovations in Colorado and California— Speaks on Expansion in San Francisco— The Trip through Nevada and Oregon — Greeted by Cheering Thousands in Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah — Homeward Bound 200

CHAPTER XVI

Elihu Root Made Chairman— A Remarkable Speech— Difficult Problems— Will of the People Must Govern — Assurance of Good Government— Candidates <>{ Proved Competency — Past Achievements — Sound Currency — Trust Regulations—Practical Laws — Trade Doubled — The Isthmian Canal — Monroe Doctrine Upheld— Army and Navy Strengthened— Tribute to Roosevelt 224

CHAPTER XVII

Chairman Joseph G. Cannon Addresses the Convention— The Party's History — American Labor Fostered— The Country's Policy Outlined— Contrast in Administrations— The Philippine Islands— The Enemy of Trusts— The Strike Question— Great Things to be Done— The Platform Read and Adopted 247 lo CONTENTS

CHAPTER XVIII

PAGE

The Party's Record — Unhappy Conditions Met — The Gold Standard — Free Cuba— The Panama Canal— The Trusts Curbed— Tarifif Plank— Foreign Markets — The Merchant Marine — To Maintain the Navy — The Foreign Policy — Confidence in Roosevelt 262

CHAPTER XIX

Ex-Governor Black Places Theodore Roosevelt in Nomination— Discord in th« Democratic Party — Justice, Equality and Progress — The Republican Party Has Never Failed iii a Crisis— Roosevelt No Stranger— Events Select the Strongest Man — Enthusiasm Rampant — The Seconding Speech of Senator Beveridge — George A. Knight of California Arouses the Convention — Harry Stillwell Edwards Speaks for the South — Nomination of Charles W. Fairbanks — The Convention Adjourns 268

CHAPTER XX

President Roosevelt's First Message — Entertains Prince Henry of Prussia — Cuban Reciprocity — The Great Anthracite Coal Strike — The Venezuelan Affair — The Alaskan Boundary — The Panama Canal — Postoffice Frauds — The Railroad Merger Defeated — The Hay Note 2g+

CHAPTER XXI

Biography of Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks, Republican Nominee for Vice-President 305

CHAPTER XXII Letters of Theodore Roosevelt 316

CHAPTER XXIII Speeches of Theodore Roosevelt 331

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt.

Edith Kermit Roosevelt.

The President and His Family, Alice Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt at Twelve Years of Age.

The Hero of San Juan Hill.

The President in His Office.

Hunting the Cougar.

Mr. Roosevelt as a Cowboy.

President Roosevelt and His Sons.

The President Riding Across Country.

Ready for a Ride.

The President's Favorite Exercise.

The Executive Mansion at Washington.

President Roosevelt's Room in the New White House.

Hon. Charles Warren Fairbanks.

The Family op Hon. Charles Warren Fairbanks.

The President Says Good-bye.

The President in Rhode Island.

President Roosevelt in Vermont.

President Roosevelt and Senator Hoar.

An Open-Air Speech.

The Nation's Chief at St. Paul.

"Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot?"

At Fort Yellowstone.

The President in Wyoming.

A Sixty-Mile Ride.

At Yellowstone Park.

The Reception at Portland.

President Roosevelt in San Francisco.

The President and the Engineer.

The Celestial Dragon.

President Roosevelt in California.

The President in New Mexico.

The President's .Arrival at S.\nta Cruz.

II 12 List Of Illustrations

President Roosevelt ts Kansas.

At Grand Canyon, Arizona.

The President in Nebraska.

A Sea of Faces.

Easter Egg Rolling on the White House Grounds.

President Roosevelt and Prince Henry.

Sagamore Hill.

Interior View of President Roosevelt's Country Home.

Exterior View of the Collseum at Chicago.

Republican National Convention in Session.

William Loeb, Jr.

Cor.nelius Bliss.

Redfield Proctor.

Albert J. Beveridge.

Henry C. Lodge.

William P. Frye.

John C. Spooner.

Chauncey Mitchell Depew.

William McKinley.

The President in Missouri.

A Typical Iowa Audience.

At Chickamauga Park.

On the Top of Lookout Mountain.

WiLLiA.vi B. .\llison.

George F. Hoar.

Nelson W. Aldrich.

Edward O Walcott.

WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED

Many men have an idea that because of President Roosevelt's vigorous and somewhat restless nature he is not careful and thoughtful in the discharge of great duties; but the truth is that when he has a great or important duty to perform, realizing himself that he is full of energy and activity, he seems more inclined to consult and deliberate, before positive action is taken, than most men. Therefore when his career as president is looked over it is found that he has exercised good judgment, and has never done anything to lower the dignity of his great office or to jeopardize the interests and honor of his country.

Take, for instance, the diplomatic relations between the United States and foreign countries; there have been but few presidents in our history who have enjoyed the esteem of foreign rulers to the extent that President Roosevelt has.

His personal relations with many of the rulers of the great nations are exceedingly pleasant and there is not the slightest danger that the United States will have any trouble with any foreign nation, unless that nation should attempt in some way to take advantage of our country.

As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, I had

occasion to look into the question as to what the United States

had been doing in its dealings with foreign powers since the beginning of the McKinley administration and through the Roosevelt administration. I venture that nothing will be found in President Roosevelt's administration in dealing with foreign governments that would not be endorsed three to one by the American people. Under the McKinley-Roosevelt administration more important diplomatic questions were brought to a successful conclusion than under any previous administration in the history of the United States.

Our acquisition of Porto Rico and the Philippines, while important to the United States, has given to the people of those islands a better government, more liberty, greater prosperity than they ever enjoyed in their previous history.

To Porto Rico we have given practically the same government as we have given to our own Territories. The governor of the island is appointed by the president, but by law we have provided that Porto Rico shall have a local legislature elected by her own people, authorized to pass laws for the local government of the island. We have provided Porto Rico an admirable judiciary, composed principally of native Porto Ricans.

We have given to Porto Rico the benefit of free trade with the United States, which has in no small measure contributed to her prosperous condition.

The Porto Ricans are a quiet, orderly people, apparently perfectly satisfied to remain under our flag, and have given to the United States no embarrassment.

When we assumed control of the Philippine Islands, under the treaty of peace with Spain, the natives were in a state of revolution against the authority of the Spanish government. That revolution continued for a time against the sovereignty of the United States, but at last peace was restored, a comparatively small army of some 15,000 soldiers remaining to secure order. We have provided the Philippines with a complete civil service government and as large a measure of local self-government as they are capable of exercising.

President Roosevelt well summed up the Philippine situation in his message at the beginning of the second session of the Fifty-Seventh Congress, wherein he said:

"Civil government has now been introduced. Not only does each Filipino enjoy such rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as he has never before known during the recorded history of the islands, but the people taken as a whole now enjoy a measure of self-government greater than that granted to any other orientals by any foreign power, and greater than that enjoyed by any other orientals under their own government, save the Japanese alone.

"No policy ever entered into by the American people has vindicated itself in a more signal manner than the policy of holding the Philippines."

The termination of the war with Spain freed Cuba and gave to the United States Porto Rico and the Philippines. But there were more important results. That short, though momentous, conflict, small though it was in comparison with our own Civil War, had almost as important an effect upon the subsequent history and policy of the United States.

Our war with Spain brought the nation to a self-consciousness as no other event in our history has done. That conflict aroused us to a realization of the fact that more than a century of remarkable internal industrial development had rendered us an important factor in the world's system.

Under the administrations of McKinley and Roosevelt the United States obtained a position among the nations of the world which it never occupied in any former period of our i6 THEODORE ROOSEVELT

national life. Eight years ago we were not considered or consulted in the policies or politics of the world. To-day we are regarded by the other nations as one of the great leading nations of the world, and are consulted as a factor in the settlement of the policies and the disposition of the important questions arising among the nations.

The simple fact that this nation is a factor and is so recognized by other nations is of no very great consequence, except as it may influence other nations in their conduct toward us, and this nation may exert its power among other nations for the uplifting of mankind. The world is slowly moving toward the recognition of the doctrine that governments are made by and for the people and not the people for the government.

In securing the freedom of Cuba a question that had been before succeeding administrations since 1823 was finally and for all time disposed of.

The long-pending controversy between the United States and Great Britain over the boundary between Alaska and Canada was another very important diplomatic question which was settled under this administration.

In view of our long and undisputed occupation of the territory in question, President Roosevelt declined to allow the reference of the Alaskan boundary controversy to a regular arbitration at The Hague Court, but instead he proposed the creation of a judicial tribunal composed of an equal number of members from each country, feeling confident that our claim would be successfully established by such a body. Against much opposition and many predictions of failure, on January 24, 1903, a treaty between the United States and Great Britain was signed, providing for such a tribunal.

The treaty was ratified and the members of the tribunal k jt ^ ^ ^ ^ J >fc ^ .i tt ^'*- ^ c ft - t' tf

Copyright, l!in4. hy Arthur Hewitt

EDITH KERMIT ROOSEVELT

Wife of the President.

1 V appointed. Assembling on September 3, 1903, and being presided over by the lord chief justice of England, it reached a conclusion on October 20th, resulting in a complete victory for the United States and sustaining every material contention of our government.

Thus was confirmed the wisdom of President Roosevelt's action, peacefully settling this irritating controversy, which, it was believed by some, would eventually cause war between the United States and Great Britain, and which certainly stood as an obstacle to the maintenance of peaceful relations with Canada.

The diplomatic complications which had for years stood in the way of an interoceanic canal connecting the two great oceans were finally disposed of during the last two Republican administrations, and the practical work of constructing the canal was commenced under the administration of President Roosevelt.

A canal across the Isthmus, connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean, in the interest of the commerce of the world, has been the dream of the ages. F"or almost three-quarters of a century an interoceanic canal has been a policy of every party and almost of every administration.

It remained for the McKinley-Roosevelt administrations, through the diplomacy of Secretary Hay, to successfully negotiate the Hay-Pauncefote treaty with Great Britain, by which the Clayton-Bulwer treaty was finally superseded and the United States given authority to build a canal and assume the responsibility of safeguarding and regulating its neutral use by all the nations of the world on terms of equality.

The way was thus opened for the negotiation of a treaty with one of the two governments which had sovereignty over i8 THEODORE ROOSEVELT

the two available canal routes, Colombia or Nicaragua. Congress expressed its preference for the Panama route. A treaty with Colombia was ratified, and rejected by Colombia. The State of Panama seceded and regained her independence, and is now a complete and independent republic. A newtreaty was negotiated with Panama, much superior to the one which Colombia had rejected, which gave the United States every concession which we desired or could ask for the construction of a canal. Then the property of the Panama Canal Company was purchased.

This is only another illustration of the success of the Roosevelt administration in bringing to a triumphant termination a question which other presidents had failed to settle. Thus, under the short three years of President Roosevelt's administration more progress was made toward the construction of an interoceanic canal than in three-quarters of a century of our previous history.

During the past few years the situation in the Far East, and especially in China, has been a delicate and most critical one. The acquisition of Hawaii and the Philippines gave to the United States great interest in the important events transpiring in the Orient.

The open-door policy of Secretary Hay has succeeded; an opportunity has been given to secure enlarging markets for the products of our growing industries, and the territorial integrity and the complete sovereignty of the government of China assured.

Secretary Hay, on February lo, 1904, addressed to the governments of Russia, Japan and China, and to other powers interested in China, a note of the following tenor:

"It is the earnest desire of the government of the United

States that in the military operations which have begun between Russia and Japan, the neutrality of China, and in all practicable ways her administrative entity, shall be protected by both parties, and that the area of hostilities shall be localized and limited as much as possible, so that undue excitement and disturbance of the Chinese people may be prevented and the least possible loss to the commerce and peaceful intercourse of the world may be occasioned."

This measure was recognized as so wise and was so generally commended by the nations of the world that not only was it accepted by the neutral nations, but by Russia and Japan themselves.

Too much credit cannot be given to the administration of President Roosevelt for the splendid manner in which this delicate and complicated Chinese and Eastern question was managed by the admirable statesmanship and diplomacy of his great Secretary of State.

Immediately after the outbreak of the war, on February 11, IQ04, President Roosevelt issued his proclamation, declaring that war unhappily e.xisted between Japan on the one side and Russia on the other; that the United States were on terms of friendship and amity with both the contending powers and the persons inhabiting their several dominions; that the United States assumed a neutral position, and proclaimed the strictest rules of neutrality for the government of our nation and its people in the important conflict.

Under the administration of President Roosevelt alone, more than thirty treaties and international agreements were concluded. There were concluded and proclaimed extradition treaties with Peru, Switzerland, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Servia, Brazil, Guatemala, Orange Free State, Argentine

Republic, Great Britain, Bolivia, and an extradition and supplementary extradition treaty with Mexico.

The supplementary extradition treaty with Mexico was specially important as providing for the extradition of bribe givers and bribe takers, a precedent thereby being established for the crime of bribery being made an extraditionable offense.

President Roosevelt well said in one of his annual messages that there can be no crime more serious than bribery; that other offenses violate one law while corruption strikes at the foundation of all law.

An important treaty, establishing friendly relations with Spain and containing provisions general in treaties of friendship, was ratified and proclaimed. Water-boundary conventions were concluded with Mexico; property conventions with Great Britain and Guatemala; a convention with Spain for the cession to the United States of certain outlying islands in the Philippines; a trade-mark convention with Guatemala; a consular convention with Greece; a commercial convention with Ethiopia; a treaty with Mexico for the arbitration of the Pious Fund, and a number of less important conventions and diplomatic arrangements, which I cannot stop to enumerate, have in the past few years been concluded and proclaimed.

An important treaty with Great Britain and Germany was concluded, by which Great Britain retired from Samoa, and Germany and Great Britain renounced in favor of the United States all claim to the island of Tutuila and its outlying islets, Germany retaining the other islands in the Samoan group.

The consular service of the United States is constantly increasing in efficiency. Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt have appointed a corps of consuls to represent our commercial interests abroad who have displayed unusual ability in the discharge of the varied and important duties that consuls of the United States have to perform. In China and Central and South America the consular officers have been called upon to perform delicate and trying duties of a diplomatic character, and have discharged those duties with rare tact and ability.

Under the beneficent administration of Republican presidents the Union became consolidated into one nation, and in the recent crisis through which tur own nation and the nations of the world have been passing, the party of Lincoln and Grant and Blaine and McKinley and Roosevelt is still faithful to duty and manifests the wisdom and statesmanship necessary to meet every emergency and wisely dispose of all questions with an eye single to the welfare of the people, the stability of the Union, and the good of mankind.

The nation is no longer a house divitled against itself; it has followed the teachings of the Father of his Country in being mindful of our relations with foreign countries, in adopting the policy of extending our commercial relations with as little political connection as possible.

The policy of this nation now is and ought to be absolute neutrality between the nations of the world, whether at peace or at war, honest and straightforward in our intercourse with all.

The struggle between Russia and Japan is a calamity which the nations greatly regret, and all the nations would rejoice if that war would cease, and I am sure that this government would gladly do anything possible, by the consent of the contending powers, to effect a settlement on fair terms to each.

1 have no authority to speak for the Republican party or for the Republican administration — I speak only for myself — • but I believe I voice the judgment of both the people and our administration when I say they are for peace with all the nations and are not in favor of a policy of aggression in order to secure expansion of territory in any direction.