The times., 1898-02-13
PRAISE FOR THE NEW NAVY
Assistant Secretary Roosevelt'S
Speech in New York.
AT A LINCOLN DAY DINNER
of the Nation at Sea Can
BE Relied OH to Protect the COun-
try From Foreign Invasi on
Defenders OF the Tradition nal
Foreign Policy of the Government.

New York, Feb. 12.-Republicans of
amity at the dinner OF the Republican
Club at Delmonico's tonight in honor
of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.
The principal speech of the evening
was made by Assistant Secretary of
the Navy Roosevelt, who, in respond
ing to the toast Our Navy" said:
When 1 speak of the United States
Navy | do not have TO make a merely
party speech for when we reach the
wateTline we get beyond the domain Of
party. In preparing to face a foreign
foe all Americans should stand alike.
But it is certainly allowable to point out
that the Republican, party has right to
take peculiar pride in our Navy, for 1t
was under the Republican party that in
the civil war the United States led all
other civilized nations in. establishing
a modern navy; and 1t was under the Re
publican administration of the Navy De-
partment Chat of Senator ChandleT
that the creation of the new navy, which
we now have. was begun; while We have
with us as our guest tonight the chair
man of the Naval Committee of the
House. Mr.. Boutelle, who has taken as
active and efficient part as any
Secretary in upbuilding this navy. And
j am glad to add that Democratic Secre-
taries and chairmen of Naval Commit
tees have gone hand in hand with their
Republican brethren in this matter.
Fifteen years ago." the speaker con-
tnued, I'VE had no stand among naval
nations, we ranked below Spain and
Chile as a naval power, while now our
navy has been built up until it can fair
ly claim to be about tie with that of
Germany for fifth place. and has already
made its influence most powerfully felt
for good in national affairs, and to its
existence we owe the escape from war
with Chile seven years ago
THE navy is pre-eminently the arm
of the Government on which we must
rely in carrying out the traditional for
eign policy Of America" said Mr.. Roose-
Welt. and he mentioned that while great
good comes to the country from men of
wealth and from the scholar as well, the
timid scholar and the timid man Of
wealth, the scholar who judges of the
actual strife of living only from his
standpoint in the clo.ster, and the man
of wealth who gets to think of nothing
but wealth and to regard the unsettling
of the stock market as outweighing the
upholding of national honor-these show
themselves thoroughly undesirable citi-
Zens. Business thrift. business energy
and enterprise are Indispensable, but,
said Mr.. Roosevelt, I'VE have high scrip
tural authority for saying that man shall
not live by bread alone, and neither
shall any nation live national life
really worth living by material prosper
ity alone.
'In the words of one of the great
poets of our time, we must dare to be
great In the fate of China today the
shrill advocates of unintelligent peace
fu!ness should see grim object-lesson,
especially fitted to teach them, if they
are capable of learning, that unless we
are prepared some day to share this
fate (and long before that day to suf-
fer humiliation and insult which would
make every hgh-mnded American hang