7S'7 .tllcf Roosevelt Night Middlesex Club If Boston October 27, 1919 ADDRESSES BY Governor CALVIN COOLIDGE Hon. JAMES R. GARFIELD CHARLES SUMNER BIRD, Esq. WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER, Esq. Hon. DAVID JAYNE HILL GEORGE WHARTON PEPPER, Esq PRINTED BY THE CLUB 1919 £7>r7 OFFICERS OF THE MIDDLESEX CLUB PRESIDENT LOUIS A. COOLIDGE VICE-PRESIDENTS Henry Cabot Lodge W. Murray Crane John W. Weeks John L. Bates secretary asst. secretary Edward C. Mansfield Benjamin F. Felt TREASURER Charles H. Ramsay EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Charles S. Proctor, Chairman A. S. Apsey James E. Baker Herbert E. Fletcher Charles T. Cottrell Joseph W. Gerry Charles A. Grimmons Sidney M. Hedges Charles H. Innes Charles E. Fay Lincoln R. Welch John Jacob Rogers Paul S. Burns Seward W. Jones Edgar R. Champlin George H. Doty Frank W. Stearns Edward E. Jameson ; Joseph B. Jamieson '<''' George E. Smith ADVISORY BOARD Samuel L. Powers William H. Dyer Charles G. Bancroft '7 ADDRESSES BY CALVIN COOLIDGE. JAMES R. GARFIELD, CHARLES SUMNER BIRD. WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER, DAVID JAYNE HILL AND GEORGE WHARTON PEPPER BEFORE THE MIDDLESEX CLUB. "ROOSEVELT NIGHT," AT HOTEL SOMERSET, BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS MONDAY EVENING. OCTOBER 27. 1919 Louis A. COOLIDGE, "Presiding MR. COOLIDGE Gentlemen of the Middlesex Club: This is a Republican club, but more than that, it is an Ameri- can club. (Hear! Hear! and applause.) And more than that, it is a club which stands for law and order. (Renewed applause.) This is Roosevelt night — Roosevelt who stood for America and who stood for law and order. As police commissioner of New York he enforced the law, as Governor of New York he sus- tained the men who enforced the law, and as President of the United States he stood always for the United States, for the America which he loved and which we all love. "Massachusetts was fortunate, and so was the country, in the men who held high and responsible office at the crisis through which this great city and the State have just passed. (Ap- plause.) At the head of the State was the Governor. On him fell the gravest and the highest responsibility. He met it in a way which has commended admiration throughout the United States. Governor Coolidge saw the whole bearing of the ques- tion ; he was wise, calm, firm, and entirely courageous. We speak of him as our candidate. He is much more than that. He is (3) the candidate of every true American, whether native-bom or naturalized, who believes in American institutions. He stands for all those who are firm in the faith that the Government of Massachusetts is not to be arbitrated. Governor Coolidge has rendered the greatest possible service not only to the State but to the nation." This is not my language, gentlemen. It is the language of Henry Cabot Lodge — (cheers) — spoken before the Republican state convention, and here are his concluding words : "When we go in our tens of thousands to the ballot box we may well be thankful that we have such a man at the head of our brave old State, and as we cast our votes with grateful hearts we can say, 'Here's to the pilot who weathered the storm.' " (Ap- plause.) Governor, I can add nothing to that. GOVERNOR CALVIN COOLIDGE Mr. President and Fellow Members of the Middlesex Club: The memory of a great man is with us on this day, a soldier, a statesman, a patriot, a President, but above all a great Ameri- can, Theodore Roosevelt. He loved his fellow man. He loved his country. He loved justice. Life with him was a practical affair. He had thoughts and theories and principles, but they were important to him only as they gave a rule of action. With him a duty was something that ought to be done. Theodore Roosevelt was the courage of America to act. His voice is hushed now, his form is still, but his deeds live in an awakened civic conscience that takes on immortality. Others will speak of him and what he did. Let us, like him, consider what we ought to do, and knowing, let us, too, as becomes Americans, act. Recent events here have turned the eyes of the nation again toward Bunker Hill. What others see clearly, there is danger in the confusion of a campaign we may fail to perceive. A police- man is a public officer. He is the outward symbol of the law. He represents the authority of the people. It is a high crime to interfere with him in any way in the discharge of his duties. On him depends the peace and order of the state. He is a judi- cial officer. Well might he remember the words of Grover (4) Cleveland that "a public office is a public trust." They are not employees. They are not holders of a job. No private concern is trying to make a profit out of their efforts. On the night of Tuesday, Sept. 9, about three-fourths of the Boston police aban- doned their posts. They did not leave because of any grievance. They say their pay, which had just been raised $200, was small, their hours long, their station houses bad. That was not the reason they left. Besides, no one can be heard to assert that his selfish interests required him to violate the law and his oath of office. They left because they were determined not to obey the law as expressed in the rule of their department. They deter- mined to substitute their will and their welfare for the will and welfare of all the people. Unless those in authority would per- mit this, they were to be forced to permit it by turning over Boston to terrorism. Force was to be substituted for law. There was at once demonstrated the need of the order of Stephen O'Meara and the order and the rule which had the force of law against an affiliated police union. It was for this purpose alone that the police left their posts. The committee of Mayor Peters confirms this when it says that "at no time did the execu- tive committee of the union or the members of the union vote to surrender their union affiliation or in any other way act upon the matter, except by vote to strike following the suspension of the 19 members who were placed upon trial. And in justice to the commissioner it should further be stated that at no time during the progress of the affair did counsel for the union or officers of the union or men upon trial take any position with the commissioner other than to insist upon continuing and re- taining their membership in the union. And in justice to the Governor it should be stated that at all times he assured the members of your committee that whenever called upon for a military force he would provide sufficient men, if they could be secured, to maintain law and order. And in further justice to all parties it should be stated that the Governor and the mayor and the commissioner, in the opinion of the committee, acted at all times from the highest of motives and with but a single thought, namely: the welfare of the Commonwealth and its people." Up to this point the question was one of police discipline. Over that the Governor has absolutely no control. With it I declined to interfere. (5) From then until now the question has been whether terrorism was to succeed. So long as law and order is maintained there is no terrorism. For that purpose on the evening of the strike I sent into Boston about 60 state police and about 100 metro- politan police. Some of the metropolitan police force refused to do duty. That was in part the cause of the disorder of that night. As soon as possible under the law, the mayor and I called out the State Guard. Before night, on the day the disorder started, the State Guard were on the street. There has been no disorder since they arrived that they have not been more than able to disperse. All possible help has been rendered by Mayor Peters. He did all he could in conference with me to avert the strike and all he could to help me maintain law and order. In this important work Lieutenant-Governor Cox and the Council have aided vigorously. The Lieutenant-Governor knows Boston thoroughly, is a legislator of experience, a lawyer of ability, deci- sion and force of character. His counsel has been most helpful throughout the year. Many volunteers have appeared. They have done all kinds of work from patrolling the street to serving on committees for the solicitation and distribution of funds. The existence of the Government itself is due to the loyal men of the three police forces, volunteers, State Guard, new militia and private citizens. For their sacrifice and determination no praise is too high. An adroit attempt has been made to enlist organized labor against law and order. That has failed and will continue to fail. They desire to improve their condition. For that they organize. All that their worst enemy could wish is that they would array themselves against the peace and good order of the whole people in order to secure some fancied benefit for themselves. H that were to start, organized labor would end. The high estimation in which it comes to be held was because of its patriotic stand during the war. It did not fail to support the Government. That gave it public approval. That carried its legislation through the last session of the General Court. Labor was loyal. It refused to listen to appeals to withdraw its support from the Govern- ment. It will refuse now. If the organization of government fails, the organization of labor fails. All values fail, all oppor- tunity for employment ends, all rights of property and of per- sons end. Force and terror reign alone. Organized labor is on (6) the side of law and order and for the support of the Govern- ment. Its members in Massachusetts are not submerged. They sit in the Boston City Council, the House and the Senate, on the most important boards and commissions in the Commonwealth and in the Governor's Council. With them right and private interest join. The government is their government. This fight is their fight. If it is lost, they cannot win. They will not be deceived. They are not bent on suicide. They never authorized the Boston police to leave their post of duty. The leaders of those who sought to overthrow the administration of the law by terrorizing Boston are on the road now, apparently well fi- nanced, still striving to gain their end. They and their asso- ciates are picketing the Government. They are hindering in every way possible the organization of a new police force. They are villifying the State Guard for doing its duty. Misled and mis- leading, so long as I am in authority it is my solemn duty to resist those who resist the Government. (Loud applause and prolonged cheering.) It is of the utmost importance that this question be thoroughly understood. It is not a question between employer and employee. It has absolutely nothing to do with wages or conditions of labor. These questions can be compromised ; they can be arbitrated. We cannot arbitrate the supremacy of the law. We cannot arbi- trate the duty of all persons to be obedient to the law. When that is done, government ceases to exist. The will of all the people ends and the arbitrary will of some class, some dictator, begins. That is revolution. That is disorder. That is anarchy. That is destruction. Disaster, distress and universal poverty would follow in their wake. We are facing an issue which knows no party. It is not new. That issue is the supremacy of the law. On this issue America has never made but one decision. Since that day when the little band sat in the cabin of the Mayflower and, declaring the right of the people to make laws, bound themselves one to another, that they would observe obedience to those laws, America has rejected the rule of force and clung to the rule of reason. Since that day there has been a government in Massachusetts founded on the will of all the people, and that government has been supreme. This issue is the cause of all the people. It must not fail now. I am for a government of all the people founded on right and truth and justice. I am against a government of force or terrorism, or group, or class, or selfish interest, but most of all I am against an attempt at a government founded on organized mendacity. (Cries of "Good!" Applause.) The terror of force has failed. The terror of falsehood is failing. But the people must remem- ber this is their government. If it is saved, they must save it. No party can do it. It requires the united efforts of all the people if their cause is to prevail. I have presented but most briefly the dangers. The remedy lies in action. The press of the Com- monwealth and the nation, without regard to party, is unanimous in the support of this issue. I appeal to all the people to rise and stamp out terrorism of every form that there may continue to be a reign of law and ordered liberty. Fellow members of the Middlesex Club, though not by birth or residence, yet by the major part of my American inheritance, I belong to Middlesex. I have a great pride in that county. Within her soil rest many of my ancestors. It was there our kinsmen fired the first shot for liberty. Send forth your Minute- men again that what they won we may not lose now. The cour- age of America to act — let that mantle of Theodore Roosevelt rest worthily and mightily upon us. (Enthusiastic and pro- longed cheers.) Mr. COOLIDGE. And let us pay our tribute to another mem- ber of this Club — Edwin U. Curtis (great applause) — who trod alone for many weeks an unblazed and bewildering path where danger lurked on every side. Let us thank God that when at last the crisis came he was so splendidly sustained. He would be here tonight were he not occupied unceasingly in building up and strengthening our breastwork of defence. We send to him our greeting and applause. "One who never turned his back, but marched breast forward, Never doubted clouds would break; Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph; Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better — sleep to wake." The Middlesex Club was the first organization in the United States to establish a Roosevelt night. The motion was made at the last dinner of the Club, on Grant Night, April 26, by Senator Lodge, and was adopted unanimously. I understand that similar action has been taken since by many other organizations all (8) through the United States, but we were the first. Senator Lodge had hoped to be here on this first occasion, but could not come. I have this letter from him: My dear Mr. Coolidge: It is a matter of the utmost regret to me that I can- not be present at the Roosevelt Dinner of the Middlesex Club on October 27. Unfortunately, we are in the last stages of the treaty and we shall probably be voting at that time and holding daily sessions. It would not be right for me to leave Washington at this time, in fact it would be impossible. I should like of all things to be present at the Middlesex Club on that occasion and speak of Mr. Roosevelt, his great services and his noble character, and all that they meant and still mean to the American people. Although dead, he still speaks to us through his life and work. He was a great man and a great patriot and this is the time of all others to follow the example he set in the last years of the war and the triumph that followed. Sincerely yours, (Signed) H. C. Lodge. It is needless for me to say what it is in my heart to say about Theodore Roosevelt tonight. There are others here, however, who were very close to him, and they are going to speak to you. Not in all history has there been another instance of a man pass- ing into history for all time so rapidly, so instantaneously as Theodore Roosevelt, almost before we realize that he is gone. The country is alive and awake with him tonight, just as truly as it was a year ago tonight. And from now, so long as this country shall last, it will still continue to be awake and alive with the spirit he gave us. There is here a member of his cabinet, one who was very close and dear to him. There are here two sons of other members of his cabinet, Caspar Bacon and George Meyer, both members of the Roosevelt Club, which has been organized to perpetuate the traditions which he upheld. It is singularly fortunate that James R. Garfield should be here, because he is a tie which binds us to a time, now seemingly far back. He is the son of (9) a beloved Republican president, a brave Republican soldier, one who knew Lincoln, one who fought with Grant, and he himself was close to Roosevelt. They are our patron saints. Mr. Gar- field, I am proud to present you to this audience tonight. JAMES R. GARFIELD Mr. Coolidge and Gentlemen, My Friends: This anniversary brings to all of us the deepest and tenderest remembrances. Throughout our land citizens of the Republic are gathered as we are tonight to think of Theodore Roosevelt, to repeat the lessons of his life, and to take new inspiration for the tasks that lie ahead of us. It is seldom, as your Chairman has said, that so soon after a life is ended it takes its place in his- tory. But with Theodore Roosevelt, appealing as he did to so many kinds of men and women, his death meant to them more than the death of any other man in American life. Curiously enough, the bitterness of opposition, the criticism of partisan- ship, have been stilled in these last few months, and those who were in opposition to him in life are today studying his life and realizing that he lived for service to America and her people ; are realizing that he preached, as no other man in our day and generation has preached, the doctrine of sturdy honesty, righteous living, high thought and of service beyond compare. In these days, after the close of the military war and at the beginning of the greater tasks which our country faces, we long for his leadership, we long for his voice, speaking those great truths over and over again, and driving into our hearts those principles of justice, of decency and of honesty. (Applause.) And while we all have in our own thoughts the tinge of sadness, y^et we know that Theodore Roosevelt never permitted personal loss to stand in the way of the performance of high public duty. Do you remember that, on the day after the death of his beloved youngest son, when his heart was wrung as only a father's heart can be wrung, he did not hesitate to go forward with the daily task and give his full service for the benefit of his own people? (Applause.) You remember his saying that the torch bearer would fall, but that it was the duty of those running after him to grasp the torch and carry it forward regardless of the loss of the man who dropped it. So he would say to us tonight : "Spend (10) not your time in mourning, but look forward to the doing of the things that must be done if America is to be saved for its great destiny." Throughout this broad land we are facing the perils of dis- order and of anarchy because we have been false as a people to the teachings of Theodore Roosevelt, and because we have al- lowed months to pass at times when we have failed to perform our duties as American citizens. We have been content with a military victory abroad, and we have not taken home to our fire- sides the lessons which that great conflict has taught — the lesson of preparedness, the lesson of service ; aye, service to the last drop of the heart's blood to the end that righteousness might prevail. Theodore Roosevelt's life from youth up was a life of service and a life of performance of obligation and duty. You never heard Theodore Roosevelt clamoring for his rights ; you always heard him calling upon men to fulfill their duty, knowing full well that no right which any honest man has can be enjoyed unless that man has performed the obligation that supported that right. That was, in brief, his simple doctrine of service. He served and did not wish to gain personal advantage. He for- tunately was able to serve from the beginning of his manhood. He fortunately was free from the necessity of daily labor to earn his livelihood, but that did not make him forget that the obligation which every citizen owed to his family was the founda- tion of American life. He had learned at home the obligation due to the family, and he preached that obligation everywhere. He went out into life equipped for the kind of service that made him the great leader of men. Throughout his long career Theodore Roosevelt never brooked nor tolerated injustice or dishonesty. He had but one measur- ing rod, and that measuring rod was applied to all classes of peo- ple. There were those who believed that when he attacked certain great corporations he was playing politics and was at- tacking those corporations merely for public favor. But now everybody knows that what Theodore Roosevelt preached — for honesty in business, for the regulation of great corporations, and for making great corporations subservient to the power of Government — has made a new business life in our country, and has made business men the stronger, the more honest and the more decent, because of what Theodore Roosevelt said and did. (11) But he never used his great power against one class of men for the benefit of another. That same measuring rod which he ap- plied to the great corporations and to the rich men he applied equally to the labor leader or to unorganized labor, or to the poor man. He required of them the same kind of honesty, the same kind of decency, the same kind of courage which he re- quired of the corporations or of the rich man. I am reminded of a remark he made at a dinner given to Mr. Morley of England. At that dinner there was one of the lead- ers of labor who made the remark, "It's a long jump from the top of a freight car to a seat at the President's table. Now," he said, "labor will be heard." "Yes," said the President, "the door of the White House will swing open to honest labor, but it will swing open no more easily to honest labor than to honest capital." There was no difference in his mind between the two. He de- manded of each that high fulfillment of duty and of obligation. He had no sympathy whatever with the kind of appeal that is made by labor today in some quarters, that it shall be given a preference. I remember that at one of the meetings late at night, when we were considering the question of certain modifi- cations of the anti-trust law, and a labor leader was urging that the labor organizations be exempt from the penalties that would be imposed on a corporation for a violation of that law, the President turned to him and said, "You are the worst enemy labor has when you demand special privilege for labor. The honest labor union man must be as obedient to law as the capi- taHst for whom he works." So he always balanced his state- ments in dealing with this problem of capital and labor, and because of that he gained the confidence and respect of all hon- est, decent men, wdiether they were of the capitalist or of the laboring class. Now it is that kind of principle that we need to bring home to our lives today in the settlement of many problems that are before us. It gives me the greatest pleasure to be here tonight and to hear what Governor Coolidge has said. Were Theodore Roosevelt alive today, he would be within your Commonwealth, Mr. Governor, raising his voice for your re-election and up- holding your hands for what you have done. (Great cheering.) With him obedience to law was the foundation of liberty. He acted upon that great principle; he recognized that only under ( 12) law and by obedience to law could this nation continue to be great and its people to enjoy the blessings guaranteed to them by our constitution. And throughout his long life of service you never found Theodore Roosevelt advocating for one moment, or recognizing for one moment, disobedience to law. There was an orderly way to change a law if that law was not what it should be; there was an orderly, intelligent method of appeal to the people to the end that they might through their processes of government change that law ; and there was always stem rebuke from him to the man or set of men who sought to place themselves above the law or to take the law into their own hands. I recall an incident in Chicago when there was a strike of the teamsters, and they had engaged in terrorism, and unfortunately for the city of Chicago there was an executive in power who could not or was not willing to stem the tide of lawlessness. We were going through Chicago and the teamsters presented a peti- tion to the President, they having learned that he might take some action because of their threatened interference with the transmission of the mails from one station to another. They believed that because he was friendly to organized labor he would not be unfriendly to their appeal to let them do as they would. They presented a petition asking that the Government of the United States should not interefere in Chicago. His answer was instantaneous. "Men," he said, "there is absolutely nothing to arbitrate or even to consider as long as there is dis- order and violence, and if one of these wagons carrying the United States mail is interfered with the troops of the United States will shoot down the men who interfere with that trans- mission." (Applause.) They asked him if they could withdraw the petition. "No," he said, "you have given me your petition, and you have my answer. Now obey the law and stop violence." He did the same thing at a great meeting in Columbus, Ohio, where there was violence in a street car strike. Now it was that kind of action with which he backed up his sayings and the principles for which he lived and died. And so tonight, here as elsewhere through our country, we are show- ing not only our honor and love for his great character and memory but we are taking to our own hearts the principles for which he spent his life. Let us take the story of his life and (13) character back to our homes and hand it down to our children and to our children's children, to the end that our country, act- ing — not only speaking and saying, but acting — under the in- spiration of his life, shall go forward to its great destiny. Mr. COOLIDGE. It is an especial pleasure to present to you Charles Sumner Bird, who fought by Roosevelt's side. CHARLES SUMNER BIRD Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: My mind tonight does not dwell so much upon Roosevelt as a statesman, as a soldier, as an author, but chiefly as a forceful and invincible crusader, a valiant two-fisted fighter, always eager to enter a contest when he believed he was right, and with a rare courage and determination which enabled him to do any- thing within the limits of human accomplishment. First of all, he loved his country. He was a great patriot and he despised the hyphenated Americans and their close relatives, the Bolshe- vists and radical socialists who place the flag of communism above the Stars and Stripes. Roosevelt was a man of high ideals, and also a great and able executive. There is a popular belief that he was impetuous and intolerant, which is far from the truth. Like all executives, he had often to act quickly, but he was never rash and never undeliberate. I never knew a man more open to suggestions and to advice. His greatest service, as I see it, was the spirit of patriotism and civic responsibility with which, by his words and by his deeds, he inspired thou- sands and thousands of young men to enter the public service and work for the common weal. But after all is said, and beyond all that can be said, Roose- velt's greatest characteristic, the one that bound men to him with bonds of steel, was his large, human and loyal heart. All men who knew him well were eager to fight and, if need be, to die. "Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die, and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of living and the duty of life." Those words were said by him not long before he died. These were his principles, and he lived up to them. I love to think and to talk of Roosevelt. Every thought of him is to me inspiring and satisfying. From day to day I recall some virile word, some courageous and strenuous action of his. I cannot (14) see him in the body, but I love to dwell upon his spirit, just as I knew him in the past. "Please put out the light, James," were his last words. But his light, my friends, will never go out. It flames brighter and higher than ever, and tonight his noble spirit is with us close at hand, urging us onward, ever onward, fighting as he fought for equality of opportunity, for justice and for humanity. I, too, want to emphasize every word that Mr. Garfield said in reference to Governor Coolidge. It is our duty, the duty of every man here present to do his utmost from now till election day to see that Governor Coolidge carries this state by an enor- mous vote. Anything less than that will be a disgrace to Massa- chusetts ; anything less than that will be a disappointment to the Nation. (Applause.) We are facing today the greatest crisis that I believe this nation has faced for half a century. This struggle that is before us between employer and employee has, I fear, only just begun. Surely nobody can accuse me of being opposed to unionized labor or to any other kind of labor, but I fear that the real issue be- neath all the camouflage I see from day to day is the question whether a man shall have the right to work for a living as he sees fit; whether he is going to be obliged, in order to support his family, to join a labor union, or whether the non-union man who seeks to support his family shall have that right, as Theo- dore Roosevelt always thought he should have it. That, my friends, is the issue which is coming. It is below the surface today and Mr. Gompers and the American Federation of Labor have not brought it clearly into the light. But it is certainly close at hand. Some years ago I, as an employer of labor, was handed by the Federation a paper which, if I had signed it^ would have bound me to discharge every non-union man in my plant, and I replied, even amid the exigencies of a political cam- paign, that I would shut the doors of my factory before I would discharge men who had been working shoulder to shoulder with me during my entire life merely on the ground that those men refused to join the labor union. Just one word more. The time may come when there must be a People's Union for, mark me, the people are paying the bill of this enormous conflict that has just started — a so-called mid- dlemen's or middlewomen's union. All the talk of profiteering (15) is largely camouflage. The real truth is that the high cost of liv- ing is caused very largely by the relation of supply and demand, and until we learn to produce more or consume less living is going to be high, but labor is going up by leaps and bounds. But that is not the serious part of it. It is not so much a question of shorter hours, not so much a question of higher pay, but it is a question of less work, a question of less production. Labor is slackening on the job. I know it. I have seen it every day, more clearly in the last few years and especially during the war period. Before I close I must pay my heartfelt tribute — and I believe I voice the feelings of every man in this room — to the man who has stood resolutely, steadfastly, ably, defending America's honor and America's safety during the past trying years, and especially during the last two months, Henry Cabot Lodge. (Cheers.) Mr. COOLIDGE. Not the least striking thing about Theodore Roosevelt is the fact that even while he lived a literature had grown up around him hardly equalled by any other American, no matter who, and since his death that literature has continued to accumulate. Two men who have written discriminatingly and beautifully of him are sitting at this table tonight — Charles Washburn, who was his classmate and his intimate and who is a Republican life-long, and William Roscoe Thayer, who is an honorary member of this Club. He says he is here on false pre- tences because he never was a Republican. I am going to ask Mr. Thayer to speak to this audience, which is opposed to him politically. WILLIAM ROSCOE THAYER Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: I have watched you as a presiding officer and I have known your reputation for many years. This is the first time you have been known to blunder. You blundered when you called on me. You should have asked Mr. Washburn, who could have said something to you far better than anything I can say. Theodore Roosevelt was many-sided — and not only was he many-sided, because that is an external thing, but he was deep in all sides which he exhibited — one could spend an evening talk- ing about any one aspect. Take his humor. Any one who knew (16) him well, even those who heard him only at a public gathering or saw him cursorily passing in a public meeting, probably got some angle of his humor. Then there was his great naturalness. Yesterday I met a man who, on the day Roosevelt reached Amer- ica in 1910 and had his great ovation in New York, was motor- ing in Long Island and encountered a great thunderstorm in Oyster Bay. He went into a Httle inn to wait until the storm should pass and there saw a policeman. The policeman had one of his gloves off and held it tight in the other hand. My friend asked what it meant and the policeman said, "Why, I was at the Battery when the procession was starting, and Theo- dore saw me and came out and shook hands with me. 'Why, Jim, is that you?' This is the glove he shook, and I'm taking it home to put in my library and all my descendants will cherish it." Many persons thought that shaking of hands with the hoi polloi, or whatever other term is used, was one way of getting the popular vote. It was not at all. It was his complete natural- ness, that showed itself so often in his humor. I am reminded of that story, which you probably all know, of the old lady from Florida who came up to the White House and was admitted at the hour American citizens or their wives are told they may call. The President received her very gra- ciously. "Well, my dear Madam, what can I do for you?" "Well, sir, I came all the way from Jacksonville to see a live president." Finding her perfectly sincere the President said, "Madam, that is very kind of you. We often travel all the way from here to Jacksonville to see a live alligator." (Laughter.) That put the lady at her ease. Theodore Roosevelt in fact did that to more human beings than any man or woman that ever lived, yet we so often forget them, for it became to us a matter of course, such as, I suppose, Niagara becomes to people who live on its banks. So people became used to Roosevelt's many ways, to his terrific energy, his humor and his little idiosyn- cracies and forgot what a great man was behind it all. I was wondering tonight as I listened to the other speakers why it was that we all felt so eager to renew acquaintance and intimacy with Roosevelt, who has not been dead a year. I do not mean merely affection, but admiration, because that is the chief reason for many of us. But I have heard in the past week perhaps twenty speeches about this commemoration. I have (17) committed some myself, and I think we all turn to Roosevelt in this time of a really great crisis, and I should go one step further than Mr. Bird and say it is the greatest crisis the country has been in, because if in 1861 the United States had split into two nations our civilization might have gone on. But we have come to a turning point where a large part, a considerable part of the community, deny the very fundamental principles on which all civilization must be founded. Think of 1,100 policemen in Bos- ton breaking their oaths and finding here among demagogues of any party approval of their action. If Mr. Long believes in policemen breaking their oath, what can he consider of the oath he takes, of the promise he makes? That seems to me to be fundamental. Our Governor put it perfectly straight. I think there is no more debating that than debating the multiplication table or the rule of three. But unfortunately one symptom of the time is that in these fundamental questions of lying and honesty it is asked, "Are you sure you are right?" Now one great thing about Roosevelt is that he never had any doubt about funda- mental questions. "Murder is not debatable," he said, and he would say that of a man who broke his oath, and that man would not speak twice to him. Roosevelt recognized that there were certain things which it is better not to debate, and one is honesty and keeping your pledged word. Now I believe that because of what he said, especially in the last five years, we get back to fundamental truths. We are breathing the air our fathers breathed when we read those won- derful manifestos of his that came out month after month dur- ing the war. There is no evasion, there is no paltering, there is no double sense ; it is all perfectly straight, moral, honest. He was constituted of those ideal qualities of true Americanism, and when we go back to it now we get the perfectly straight things to do. After all, another secret, I think, of his enormous power in the world was that he saw the doing of the thing that you have talked about — believed that the doing of it is the solution. We all talk courage, we all believe in courage. He zvas coura- geous. He did it. It was perfectly simple. And so in so many of his own political moves he did the simple thing, like stepping out and shaking hands with that policeman, and by doing the simple, natural things he deceived a great many politicians who are always looking after some secondary or tertiary reasons. (18) "He must have other motives ; he must have some other reason." That v^as one of his characteristics, more than any other. The strokes that he made were perfectly straight, natural strokes, like the instances which Mr. Garfield told you of in the story of the strikers in Chicago and Columbus. There was no arriere- pensee about that, no motive. It was the one thing to do, and he did it. He saw it was the one thing to do because he was a moral man. I never have been so impressed by the power of a few moral principles to guide a man's life as I have been in going over rather carefully his life, since he died. They were throbbing in him as his blood. When justice, when courage were needed, they came naturally to him, and yet after all is said there is so much more of him than anyone has said, especially if you knew him. I shall not attempt to describe to you what I feel he was — certainly the most fascinating man — and I think those who knew him even better than I will admit that we have never seen, and that this age has never seen, a man so thoroughly represen- tative of this age, this age in America, above all. But living in this age, which is so helter-skelter, — the American Republic with all its various elements — he had running through his life one ruling principle which gave him his great power. Mr. COOLIDGE. The memorial meeting which is being held in Symphony Hall has been borrowing speakers from us all the evening. Mr. Pepper is over there now talking. He will be back here shortly. But we are rich in talent. It is our good fortune to have Dr. David Jayne Hill, who was an ambassador under Roosevelt and an Assistant Secretary of State under Roose- velt, afterwards Ambassador to Germany, and who stands — I shall have to say it while he is here — very nearly at the head of the diplomatic authorities of the United States. I am going to ask him to speak. DR. DAVID JAYNE HILL Mr. Coolidge, Gentlemen of the Middlesex Club and Ladies: It has been a very great privilege to me to hear the Governor of Massachusetts tonight. It has been an added privilege to hear what Mr. Bird has said. He has brought before you an issue, gentlemen, which, as he says, is the beginning of a serious crisis (19) in the United States. It is possible that the end may be reached soon, and if our people are really aroused to the situation, it certainly will not last long. As a citizen of another state I can confirm what he said with regard to the expectation of this Nation. We are looking to Massaachusetts with one voice to declare its adherence to the principle of the American Consti- tution and the basis of all civilization. We are here tonight, gentlemen, to honor the memory of a great Republican and American chieftain who has fallen. It is impossible upon one occasion, within the limits of the time al- lowed to us, for any man who personally knew and worked with Theodore Roosevelt to open all his mind and all his heart and give all his impressions of that great public leader, that loyal and devoted friend. There are so many aspects of Roosevelt's life, and every one of them rich in suggestion. Writer, essayist, historian, practical politician, administrative officer, ranchman, soldier, President, he has filled so many roles that it is difficult in a few words even to touch upon the topic which he illumined and to express all that comes to us with regard to his great career. Having had the privilege of serving under him, during his entire presidential term of nearly eight years, in the foreign service it is very natural for me, gentlemen, to think of what he stood for in the relations of this country to the other countries of the world. I have been deeply impressed by the skill and the insight with which he performed the sometimes exceedingly deli- cate and difficult task of avoiding international collisions, and at the same time steadily advancing the prestige of the nation and the good understanding of all nations by his acts and by his words. I think it may be said, without exaggeration, of Roose- velt's administration that more than any other in the history of our country it advanced the respect, esteem and the confidence of the Great Powers in the United States, and at the same time encouraged the belief in the small states that if they acted honor- ably — and that was the conditio sine qua non — they would have a sincere and powerful friend who would stand by them in the hour of trial and danger. The time permitted for these passing observations I shall do my best to condense into a very brief period, for I see the speaker of the evening has arrived. The main facts of our part as a nation in the international af- (20) fairs of that great period of nearly eight years are too well known to permit of our dwelling upon them in detail. But per- haps it may not be out of place for me to speak of some of those personal qualities of Roosevelt which gave his foreign policies their value and his methods their success. Now beneath them all were the probity, frankness, and the love of righteousness that always characterized the man. But these alone, however real and honorable, could not have procured for him the influence he exerted upon foreign nations or the conspicuous success which he achieved. The corner stone of President Roosevelt's diplo- macy was his innate love of truth and the habit of mind which sought the truth, not in self-introspection and reflection but in the study of positive, objective facts. It is not generally known that before we went into the war with Spain Mr. Roosevelt ac- quainted himself, while Assistant Secretary of the Navy, with all the military and naval resources of that country, and he knew from personal and official correspondence — for all this I have good evidence — the exact number, the precise location and the actual resources of the insurgents in Cuba who were carrying on the revolution, and the means of giving them the most effective aid. When few persons in the United States knew anything about the Philippine Islands, Assistant Secretary Roosevelt knew just what Admiral Dewey could do there, and made preparations for the capture of Manila. Without question, at that time of our war with Spain, Mr. Roosevelt was the best-informed man in the United States regarding what would be necessary to win the war. An insatiable seeker after facts, always an omnivorous reader, he knew the geography, the political status and the national characteristics of all the principal nations of the world, not ex- cluding the little states of Central and South America. What he did not know he was anxious to acquire, and he surrounded himself with men of solid attainments upon whose information he could draw and upon whose judgment he could rely. And when he had chosen them, he honored them, never pushing them into the background or claiming as his own the result of their labors or the prerogatives pertaining to their office. He corre- sponded personally and incessantly with kings and emperors, but he concealed nothing from his responsible ministers, and never embarrassed them by his conduct or by his public an- (21) nouncements, or carried on processes of secret diplomacy behind their backs. No man was ever less disposed to adhere to any opinion when it could be shown to be unsound or erroneous, or quicker to surrender it when he found it was wrong. He had that pre-eminent quality of greatness that he was ready to for- sake any theory that conflicted with or ignored reality, and he had that other quality of nobility that he never forsook a friend. Next to this valuation of knowledge and reliance upon it, maybe you have thought of him as an impulsive man. That im- pression came partly from an early impediment in his speech, a difficulty of expressing his thought without a certain gush, fol- lowed by a certain constriction, and that is the thing, Mr. Thayer, you have pointed out in your biography. Theodore Roosevelt never said what he did not know, never proposed what he had not considered, and never pledged himself to what he did not mean to perform. Now, next to this valuation and reliance upon knowledge, on the knowledge of reality and not on the figments of his own mind, was his habit of directness. It never took long to find out what Theodore Roosevelt thought about any subject. The conspicuous category in his mind was the distinction between right and wrong. He was not a great lawyer, he was hardly a lawyer at all, but he valued the counsels of great lawyers and was loyally served by them. In international law he made no pretence to authority, which perhaps would be rather risky in its present state. (Laughter.) But he had strong convic- tions of international right, and he knew that whatever the law was, it was intended to be right, and in this respect he was ready to make the law even where it did not exist. Now this directness was irrepressible in Roosevelt. As Governor of New York he had not the slightest responsibility in the business of treaty mak- ing, yet he constantly came out with the declaration regarding the fortification of the Panama Canal, as when we were seeking exemption from the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty in order to com- plete it, at the time when Secretary Hay made the first treaty with Lord Pauncefote. How much he loved and honored Hay ! Hay was an old acquaintance but Roosevelt loved his country and its safety more, and at the risk of offending Hay — I know it as a matter of fact, he offended him — for he knew that unless we could say "No" to an enemy wanting to use the canal in (22) time of war there was no use in building the canal at all, and he knew that we could not effectively say "No" to an enemy in the time of war unless we were prepared to defend the canal. The third quality distinctive of Roosevelt's diplomacy was his promptness. He understood that the vital moment in an inter- national situation is before anything is done. After a step has been taken, after a shot has been fired, the situation is irre- trievably altered. His methods wei^ therefore ^ preventive. When disturbance threatened he did not wait for the blow to be struck, but at once declared his attitude, and it had something to do with whether the blow would be struck or not. When the German Emperor was about to send a fleet to Caracas to levy upon the custom-house for the payment of an alleged debt on the part of Venezuela, President Roosevelt was not willing to permit the Kaiser to be both sheriff and judge at the same time, and he proposed arbitration to ascertain the justice and the amount of the debt. Now had he waited for events the German fleet would have proceeded on its mission, and it is doubtful if a German occupation, had it occurred, would ever have ended without war. As it was, a timely warning, of which Holleben, the German Ambassador at that time, was inclined to take little notice until it was repeated, saved Venezuela from an act of aggression, saved the Kaiser from a public humiliation, and saved the United States from eventual war. To take this course required unwavering courage, and that is the fourth foundation stone upon which President Roose- velt's national policy reposed. He is always thought of, by all of us, I presume, as a fighter, and yet this man, so often regarded as dangerous, of whom it was predicted when he went into the White House that in six weeks he would have involved us in war, not only kept the country out of war during his adminis- tration of eight years, but skilfully engineered peace between Japan and Russia under very extreme and delicate conditions, and was found worthy of a Nobel peace prize — the prize, the proceeds of which a little before his death he distributed in a manner that does great credit to his wisdom and to his honor. And not only this, but the personal esteem for Mr. Roosevelt and the prestige of his country followed him into private life and made him the welcome guest of kings and emperors, who received him when he was only a simple citizen with almost (23) royal honor, and throughout the world won for him the larg- est measure of respect and admiration enjoyed by any of his con- temporaries. At first, in contemplating this result, we seem to be confronted by a paradox, but the key to it is very simple. Mr. Roosevelt knew that every human good possessed by men has been won by resisting some form of evil, and he knew that this battle must go on so long as evil anywhere prevails. On this broad fact of human experience Theodore Roosevelt took his firm stand, and he commanded peace because the whole world knew that he would not tolerate wrong — a principle that would mean nothing further if it did not signify that he would fight for the right. Roosevelt's test of everything was the moral standard. In one of his great utterances — and the words seem to me more applicable now — he said that the vital line of cleavage in human society is the line which divides the honest man who tries to do well by his neighbor from the dishonest man who does ill by his neighbor. "This government is not and shall never be a gov- ernment by a plutocracy, but this government is not and it shall never be a government by a mob." Here is a secret of the honor in which Theodore Roosevelt is held today. He never threatened any man or any nation with any wrong if that was an honest man or an honest nation. He was the spirit of justice and fair play. His real greatness lay in the firm and unalterable conviction that in some way righteousness will at last prevail, and to him in all reverence may be applied the words of the Holy Scripture : "They who turn many to right- eousness shall shine as the stars in the firmament forever and ever." Mr. COOLIDGE. The Middlesex Club is under great obli- gation to you, Dr. Hill, for what in my humble opinion is the strongest, most profound and most comprehensive statement of Theodore Roosevelt's influence upon world affairs that I have ever heard. I have had several calls saying, "We want John Weeks." So do I. But you are not going to get him. James T. Williams, Jr., editor of the Boston Transcript, incidentally a real patriot and a real American, who was one of that splendid band of young men who got their inspiration from Theodore Roosevelt, who was with him in Washington, who followed him to the end, looks (24) apprehensively this way — but he is not going to speak. George Pepper is (applause) and I see I don't need to tell you who he is. He has been at Symphony Hall. He came from Philadelphia just for this occasion, and I think it is about time that we gave him a chance. All I am going to say to you about him is that I have worked with him and by his side for months, and that he is a thoroughbred, if ever there was one. Better than that, he is an American away from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. I think you will agree with me after you have heard him talk. GEORGE WHARTON PEPPER Gentlemen of the Middlesex Club: Your President has certainly made the amende honorable. What I had to say in friendly criticism of him dies upon my lips. I was wondering what had happened in the course of our friendly and official relationship which could possibly have justi- fied the distribution of a handbill announcing this dinner, in which I was described as "a master of eloquence." As Mr. Dooley remarked, "What a damned mean thing to say about anybody!" And when the program was printed he was unkind enough to list me as "the speaker of the evening," placing me in painful contrast to what you have heard from those who have just spoken and to what you may justly imagine would have been said to you by men far more entitled to speak than I. But he has given me the pleasure of coming before you, and to me this And as we draw nearer to Theodore Roosevelt tonight we be- is a very great occasion, and I am going to try very hard to rise to it. It seems to me most inappropriate that one should attempt forensic eloquence when one is talking of the memory of a friend. Rather I should like to speak most informally with you, just as men do when they are sitting about a fireside to- gether, exchanging recollections of someone whom they all re- vered and whom many loved. Because when men approach a common center they soon find themselves touching shoulders, come more keenly conscious of our own brotherhood. Loyalty to him makes our fellowship stronger, and whether we are sons of Massachusetts or of Pennsylvania, we become better Ameri- (25) cans in virtue of the tribute we pay to the memory of him who was a better American than the best of us. Now I believe, Mr. President, that it was a distinguished citi- zen of this great Commonwealth who once deplored the tendency to ring the changes on Marathon and Thermopylae and go back to Greece and Rome for the exemplars of patriotic virtue. And of course it is true that our own recollections, our own national recollections, must be the enduring foundations of our national greatness, and it seems to me particularly inspiring and stimulat- ing to turn to the memory and example of a man who in our day rendered conspicuous service to the Republic and achieved great- ness under the very conditions amidst which I, and perhaps some of you, with difficulty attained even to mediocrity. It is with mixed feelings that I think of the meetings held today in different parts of the country at which the memory of Theodore Roosevelt is the theme. Many of those meetings will be attended by people who are well aware that Roosevelt's great- ness will live. There will be many posthumous disciples at those meetings, and in all the audiences there will be a sprinkling not only of those who disagreed with him while he lived, but even misunderstood, and sometimes hated him. But today somehow or other they are swept into the current of his friends, because they are dimly conscious that the great American public will suspect there is something wrong with the man who stands aloof. The speakers at a meeting like this will speak with the motive of loyalty and deep conviction. There will be some little men who will take the opportunity to claim intimate friendship with Roosevelt, and those get the kind of satisfaction which the small often find in the society of the big; and many will make the mistake of supposing that these meetings, and that club nights like this, are held in order that we may add full lustre to Roose- velt's crown. But, as I understand it, the purpose of Roosevelt Day is not that we may give anything to Roosevelt, but that we may turn to him for light and leading, that our own feet may be guided in the ways of peace. When I think of the conditions under which we live tonight I venture to assume that you are like me to this extent, that you are sorely in need of light and leading. Our domestic situation is a maze, our foreign relations are in a tangle, the sea is rough, the sky is stormy. I feel the need of a pilot, and I turn to (26) Theodore Roosevelt. Almost the first ray of light he gives me is in the form of a proposition that is almost a paradox, and that is, that in situations of perplexity like this, the humanity of a leader — that is, I mean, his humanness — is of more importance than his intellectual equipment. Of course, it would be a for- tunate thing if any one intellect were all-embracing enough to comprehend all the problems that vex us, to perceive their right solution, where to find the tortuous channel and lay down the courses and distances by which the ship of state might be safely steered. But no such thing is possible. In such world condi- tions as those which we face the requisite wisdom is not to be found under any one hat. Collective wisdom is the wisdom of which we stand in need, and we need sorely that atmosphere of confidence which makes even diverse minds happy to unite in constructive thinking about common problems, and leads many hands to join in the work of building upon the foundations the fathers laid. If I am a corporation president or a journeyman carpenter — I do not know which is the economic order of their importance — but if I am either, what I want is a sense that my leader has something in common with me and I with him. There are two types of great men. There is in the first place the man I wonder at because he is very different from me. I realize that if I be- come a hundred times bigger than I am he and I will still belong to different species and talk different languages. Then there is the other man whom I like because he is so like me, only bigger and better. When he speaks I know what he is talking about, and when he presents a plan I am predisposed to accept it because I know he does not deal in abstractions. His plans are always instinct with profound psychology. He understands the people he has to deal with. They are people of flesh and blood. And when I choose my leader I want a man who will be a good mixer in the highest and best sense, not merely a man who will put everybody at his ease, but a man whose facility in dealing with other men arises from the conviction which he and they share that both are alike of one blood. And, my friends, when I turn again to Roosevelt and seek another ray of light I feel as sure that if he were with us tonight he would say to us in no uncertain terms that under such con- ditions as those under which we live measures count less in (27) the world than men. You might set up all that I do not think you will — a well-conceived and wisely drawn international coven- ant, but if your executive council of nine is made up of old-style diplomats or new-style doctrinaires, your League will be beached upon its maiden voyage, and you may call conference after con- ference in the effort to adjust the eternal differences between capital and labor, and the most wisely conceived program will end in nothing if under their breaths those who come ostensibly to confer are anathematizing the people that call them together. Men count more than measures. Again Roosevelt gives me a flash of light in the form of that oft-quoted proposition of his that nine-tenths of wisdom con- sists of being wise in time. He was a great man in emergencies. But he did not conform to the type of those who are content with a brilliant dash at preparedness after having first been caught unprepared. (Laughter.) As Dr. Hill has explained to you — and no man can explain with greater authority — he saw further than the rest of his fellow men, and when he perceived a cloud on the horizon, even if it were as small as a man's hand, he took into exact account the possibility that it might contain the makings of a tornado. They called him a fire-eater. It was a misnomer. The fact is that, like all men truly brave who know about fighting, he picked no quarrels and never provoked a fight. But he was ready to give a terrific account of himself if any man was looking for trouble. His advocacy of universal train- ing was much misunderstood and misrepresented. Roosevelt did not conceive of the soldier as a quarrelsome specialist whose only occupation was bloodshed. But he did consider the citizen as a man equipped and ready at all points for public service, including the service of making the Republic safe. If he were here tonight to speak to us I know that under existing condi- tions what he would advocate is universal and compulsory train- ing for American citizenship under military conditions. I do not hesitate for myself to declare most unequivocally in favor of a system of discipline vmder camp conditions for a year — in the life of every young American a year passed under the discipline of camp conditions, with attention focussed upon compulsory education in the English language and literature, in American history and in the fundamentals of our political, eco- nomic and social systems, as well as upon training in the art of (28) war and in the military sciences. I'd like to see a year like that count as a year in every high school course, and count as a substitute for a year in every college course. I'd like to see our young men not only getting education but getting it in a struggle in which body will compete with mind. I would like to see them get it directly from Uncle Sam, with the reciprocal obligation to use it for the Nation which has conferred it. I would not for a moment disturb the well-ordered and wholesome system which regards education as primarily the concern of each of the states, but I would put education for at least a year under the direction of the whole nation. I would have an education in which atten- tion would be fixed not only upon the art of war, but also upon those things on which must rest the superstructure of American safety. I believe I speak Colonel Roosevelt's mind when I say he would advocate such a measure could he speak to us today. The hour is late. I might touch upon many of the points of this man's character. But I prefer to rest my emphasis upon his humanness, upon his capacity to understand his fellow men. Be- cause unless I am very much mistaken these are the qualities upon which we must insist when we choose our leaders in the stormy days ahead. I know little about the details of your cam- paign in this state. We who look on at a distance can see only two figures in your Commonwealth today — your Governor and your Senior Senator. But with respect to the presidential cam- paign ahead, if I rightly interpret it, while of course there will be a formal issue, the real issue will be something more funda- mental than any issue that can be formulated. It will be a struggle for mastery between two different types of mind. On the one side will be ranged those who are convinced that the existing structure of American government, that our existing social and economic system, must be the basis upon which the many and the much needed reforms shall be worked out. And over against them will be ranged those whose supreme trust is placed in "isms" and in heretofore untried international experi- ments. In short, my friends, the campaign ahead of us is a campaign between the evolutionists and the revolutionists, and Theodore Roosevelt was essentially an evolutionist. There will be ample room in the evolutionary ranks for the man of con- servative mind, but there will be no place in the day that is dawning for the reactionary and stand-patter. There will be (29) ample room for men of vision, but no place whatever for the dreamers of dreams. And when we come to select our leader to guide the Republic in the perilous days ahead, let us insist that, whoever he may be, he will be characterized by humanity and sympathetic insight into the minds and hearts of his fellow men, and that he shall be such a man that upon his shoulder Theodore Roosevelt might have laid his hand while he grasped him with his strong right and, looking delightedly into his eyes^ have exclaimed, "Thank God, you are the kind of man I like." The Roosevelt Night dinner of the Middlesex Club was the largest in the Club's history. Five hundred members were there. The speakers were Governor Calvin Coolidge, James R. Gar- field, Charles Sumner Bird, William Roscoe Thayer, David Jayne Hill, George Wharton Pepper. Other guests of the Club were John W. Weeks, Samuel L. Powers, Charles G. Washburn, Robert M. Washburn, George H. Ellis, James T. Williams, Jr., James B. Reynolds, Caspar G. Bacon, George von L. Meyer. Invitations had been sent to Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Roose- velt and Kermit Roosevelt. Their replies follow : 19 West 44th Street New York City Mr. L. A. Coolidge, Middlesex Club, Boston, Mass. My dear Mr. Coolidge: I am afraid I will not be able to accept the invitation of the Middlesex Club, much as I would like to do so. During October I am giving up my time in speaking in my own district. I am running for the assembly. I work steadily for the American Legion, speaking all through the west until the end of September. It so happens, furthermore, that should I be able to come to Massachusetts I have promised Hall, chairman of the republican state committee, that I will place the time I could give at his disposal. (30) It is a very real regret to me not to be with you, par- ticularly as I know the real feeling for father that there is among certain of your members. With warm personal regards, Very truly yours, (Signed) Theodore Roosevelt. Sagamore Hill Dear Mr. Coolidge, Thank you very much for your invitation to the din- ner which is to be held on my father's birthday by the Middlesex Club. I regret very much that I already have an engagement for that night which it is absolutely impossible for me to break. Assuring you of my very great appreciation of your letter, Sincerely yours, (Signed) Kermit Roosevelt. This letter has been received from "Bill" Sewall, the Maine woodsman and guide, Roosevelt's boyhood friend : HOOK POINT CAMPS Island Falls, Maine Mr. L. A. Coolidge, Boston, Mass. Dear Sir: I was unable to be with you at the Roosevelt Birthday party. I was very sorry that I could not have the pleasure of meeting such a distinguished company. I wish to thank you for your very kind invitation and hope you will pardon me for not doing so before. Sincerely yours, (Signed) W. W. Sewall. 31) LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 981 525 7 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 981 525 7* penmaAipe*