Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-06-26
R@OOSEYELT'S SPEECH.
He Speaks Of the Duty Of Soldiers
and Citizens Of the Country in
Time Of War and Peace.
CIVIC HONESTY NECESSARY
Oklahoma City Will Hold the Next Re-
union-Election of Officers by the
Regimental Association.

ernoon, and owing to the absence of
Secretary Carter, of Prescott, Lieuten-
ant William E. Dame, of Cerrillos, was
chosen secretary pro tenn.
The address of welcome on behalf of
the citizens Of Las Vegas was made by
A. A. Jones, a prominent attorney of
that place. He said in conclusion:
I'VE are more thar grateful to have
assembled here from the various states
and territories this happy throng, who
join us in extending to you our hospi-
tality, love and affection"
Colonel Roosevelt responded as fol-
lows, his remarks at times being enthu-
siastically applauded:
Just at this time l would not have
left New York state for any purpose
save to attend the reunion Of my old
regiment, and for that purpose l would
have gone to Alaska, or anywhere else,
for the bond that unites us together is
as close as any bond of human friend
ship can be. 1t vas our good fortune to
be among those accepted when the coun-
try called to arms a year ago last
spring, and when ten men volunteered
for every n that could be chosen. l
think l may say without boasting that
the regiment did its duty in very way,
and hat it's record is subject for hon
orable pride, not only as regards the
members themselves, but the country
at large. I am proud of you because
you never complained and never
tlinched. When you went to wal you
knew you would not have an easy time;
you expected to encounter hardships,
and you took them without a murmur.
ness and obedience, which make it pos
sible to turn the American volunteer SO
soon into a first-class type of fighting
man OF those who landed for the brief
campaign in the tropical midsummer
against Santiago, one-fourth were kill
ed or wounded, and three-fourths of the
remainder were at one time or another
stricken down by fever. Many died, but
there is not n among you SO poor in
spirit that he does not count fever,
wounds and death itself as nothing
compared with the honor of having been
able to serve with the regiment under
the flag of the United States in one of
the most righteous wars which this
century has seen. This was a typical
American regiment. The majority Of its
members came from the southwest, but
not all. We had in our ranks fasteners,
westerners, northerners, southerners,
Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Gentiles-
many or Ireland, and men whose ances-
tors were born on the banks of the
James, the Hudson, and at Plymouth
Rock nearly three centuries ago; and
all We're Americans in heart and soul,
in spirit and purpose-Americans, and
nothing else. We knew no distinction
of creed, birthplace or residence. All
the creed for us was that a man should
do his DUTY, should show himself alert,
patient and enduring, good in camp and
on the march, and valiant in battle.
My comrades, the regiment was but
a microsm Of u great country, and the
principles which enabled us to make SO
much out of it are those upon which we
must act in the nation itself if we are
to stand level to the needs Of our great
destiny. In administering this great
country we must know no north, south,
east or west; we must pay no heed to
a mans creed; we must be Indifferent
as to whether he Is rich or poor, provid-
ed only he is indeed a good man, a good
citizen, a good American. In our politi-
cal and social life alike, in order to per-
manently succeed, we must base our
conduct on the decalogue and the gold
en- rule. We must put in practice those
holy virtues, for the lack of which NO
intellectual brilliancy, no material pros
perity, can eve atone. 1t is a good
thing for a nation to be rich, but it is a
better thing for a nation to be the moth
err of men who possess the qualities OF
honesty, of courage, and of common
sense.
w have many great problems ahead
of us, we Americans, as we stride along
the road to national greatness-prob-
LENS of home administration, and prob.
lens that affect our dealings with the
outside world. We can not solve them
IT we approach them in the spirit OF
levity or vain-glorious boastfulness
still less if we approach them in a spirit
OF timidity, and least of all if in dealing
with them We do not insist upon hon.
esty and Righteousness, upon that up.
rightness of character which is the key.
stone in the arch of true national great.
ness. The problems that rise from veal
to year differ widely, and must be me,
in widely different ways, and not one
Of them can be properly solved unles.
we approach 1t with rigid fearlessnes.
and with a sincere purpose to do JUS
tice to all men, ~exacting it from others
and exacting 1t no less from ourselves
Il am proud of the way in which 70,
have taken up the broken threads O
your lives-in which you have gon,
back to the ranch, the mine and tn,
counting room. In SO doing you show
yourselves to be typical American citi
zens. for it has always been the prid,
of our country that an American, Will,
most earnestly DESTROYS Of peace, wa,
ever ready to show himself a hard ant
dangerous fighter IL need should rise
and that on the other hand, when ono,
the need had passed, he could prov,
that war had not hurt him for the worl
Of peace. and that he was all the fitte
to do this work for having done tn,
other, too. We may be called to war blu
once in a generation, and I most carr