The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-07-25
Roosevelt on Americanism.
CExtracts from His Atlantic City spcech.)

of us need not merely to
n learn, but 10 learn so that
it shall become part of our
being, is that if we are good Ameri-
cans in spirit and soul and purpose we
will judge our fellow men without ref
erence to differences of creed, of sec
tion or social position, but upon each
mans worth as man.
There are two or three things that
Americlalsm means. In the first
place, 1t means that we shall give to
our fellOw-citize the same wide lat
itude as to his individual beliefs that
we demand for ourselves; that so long
as Il man does his work as "a man
should we shall not hold for or against
him in civic life nor inquire his method
of paying homage to his Maker. We
have right to demand that each man
shall be treated by our people on his
worth and merit, and that in political
life especially shall We beware above
everything of being misled by any of
the old world antagonsms of race or
creed, so that we shall feel that under
no circumstances are we justified in
supporting or opposing a man in pub
lie life save for the record he makes
as a public man, save for his worth
in public and private life alike, save
for cause shown by his conduct as an
American citizen in his ways of deal
ing with American purposes and in
iN1nnptOnt n
for ell of us to learn everywhere; but
it is doubly and trably important in
our great cities where we have a pop
ulation so cosmODOlitan, of such
various origin, belonging to such diff
ferent creeds and where the problem
of getting good government depends
in it's essence upon decent men stand
ing together and insisting that before
we take into account the ordinary
political questions we shall as a prere q.
quisite, have decency, honesty in any
party.
Now for another side of American
| ism, the side of work, OF strife of the
active performance of duty one side
| of Americanism, one side of DEM
| ocracy. our democracy means that
| we have no privileged class, no class
that is exempt from the duties or
| deprived of the privileges that are i'm
! piled in She words american citizen
/ ship" That principle has two sides
| to 1t itself, for all Of us would
| be likely to dwell continuously upon
one side-all have equal rights. It ia
more important that we should dwell
on the other sde-this is, that we all
have our duties, and that the rights
cannot be kept unless the duties are
performed. The law of American life
of course, it is the law of life every
where, the law of real life-but the
law of American life peculiarly must
be the law of work, not the law of
idleneEs, not the law Of self-indulgence
or pleasure merely-the law of work
That may seem like a trite saying
Most true sayings are trite. Don't you
know .'lenty Of your fellows, of your
friends, who practically fail to live ur
to 1t? The idle man, the man who
leads Il life of mere self-indulgence-
or woman either-comas short in his Ol
her duty, and comes as much shOrt
as the man who goes wrong. We have
a right to make heavier demands upor
those who have been exceptionally
favored by fortune than we have upor
others. 1t is a disgrace for any Amer,
lean not to do his duty, but 1t is g
double, a triple disgrace for o mar
of means or a man of education no
to do his duty.
You are never going to get a reform
permanent and lasting reform, by res
olutions. You have got to get it b!
the sense Of performing duty so 1
appeals to the individual. You ar
going to get good government, not b!
some movement or succession of move
ments, each of which may be a littl
hysterical, You are going to get goo'
government as each man gets 1t grad
ually fixed in his conscience that h
! is to be held blameworthy, to be hel,
derelict in his duty, If he does not, II
season end out, not spasmodically, bu
regularly, do his duty as a citizen
That means work, of course; 1t mean
effort; it means doing what is a littl
unpleasant. especially at first. But
has got TO be done; and of cours
what say of political life applies OK