Evening star., 1899-04-11
e NATIONS NEW TASK
Governor Roosevelt says sIsauss Be Faced
Earlaetly&
His speech Before the Hamilton
Club of Chicago on the
Strenuous Life.

Gov. Roosevelt was the principal speaker
at banquet given by the Hamilton Club
at Chicago last night His subject was
The Strenuous Life" He said. in part:
I'VE cannot avoid meeting great issues
All that we can determine for ourselves is
whether we shall meet them well or ILL.,
Last year we could not help being brought
lace to lace with the problem of war with
spain. All We could decide was whether
we should shrink like towards from the
contest, or enter into it as beseemed a
brave and high-spirited people; and, once
in, whether failure or success should
crown our banners.
so 1t is now. We cannot avoid the re-
sponsibilities that confront us in Hawaii
Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines. All
we can decide is whether we shall meet
them In way that will rebound to the
nhtional credit or whether We shall make
OF our dealings with these new problems
d oark and shameful page in our history.
10 refuse to deal with them at all merely
amounts to dealing with them badly We
have a given problem to solve. If we un-
oertake the solution, there is, of course
Always danger that We may not solve 1t
aright. But to refuse to undertake the So
luton simply renders it certain that we
cannot possibly solve it Alright.
we cannot sit huddled within our bor
ders ana avow ourselves merely an assem-
blage OF well-to-do hucksters, who care
nothing for what happens beyond Such a
pollcy would defeat even it's own end, for
as the nations grow to have ever wider and
WIDER interests and are brought into closer
and closer contact. if we are to hold our
own in the struggle for naval and COM
mercial supremacy, we must build up our
power without our own borders. We must
build the isthmian canal. and we must
grasp the points of vantage which will en-
able US to have our say in deciding the
nj a 1t
west.
SO much for the commercial side. From
the standpoint of international honor, the
argument is even stronger The guns that
thundered off Manila and Santiago left us
echoes of glory, but they also left US a
legacy OF duty. If we drove out a medieval
tyranny only to make room for savage
anarchy, we had better not have begun
the task at ALL 1t is worse than idle to
say that We have no duty to perform and
can leave to their fates the islands We
have conquered Such a course would be
the course of infamy. 1t would be followed
lands themselves. Some stronger, manlier
power would have to step in and do the
work; and We would have shown ourselves
weaklings, unable to carry to successful
completion the labors that great and high
spirited nations are eager to undertake.
The work must be DONE We cannot
escape our responsibility, and If we are
worth our salt, we shall be glad of the
chance to do the work-glad of the chance
to show ourselves equal to one of the great
tasks set modern civilization But let US
not deceive ourselves as teEthe Importance
of the task. Let us not be misled by vain
glory into Understanding the strain it will
put on our powers. Above all, let us, as We
value our own self-respect,-face the respon-
sibilitieS with proper seriousness, courage
and high resolve. We must demand the
highest order of integrity and ability in our
public men who are to grapple with these
new problems. We must hold to rigid
accountability those public servants who
show unfaithfulness TO the interests of the
nation or inability to rise 70 the high level
of the new demands upon our strength ana
our resources
Postmaster General Smith closed the ad-
dresses relating to the civil war by an
address on THE Gnlen.' his remarks were
met with the greatest applause, and his
sentiment that the flag that flew over the
men who followed Grant now flew alike 1or
those who marched with f4Iee, and would
continue to fly for both, called forph cheers
of approval.