The Norfolk weekly news. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1888-1900, 1900-10-04

when he went there as assistant secre-
tary, fresh from the fight in Mulberry
street, to sharpen the tools of war. 1t
had familiar sound to us in New York,
when we heard the cry go up that
Roosevelt wanted row, and didn't
care what 1t cost. He was asking, If |
remember rightly, for something less
than II 100000 for target practice on
the big ships. The only notice he took
of IL was to demand another $500, 900
about the time he got Dewey sent to
the east. | was in Washington at the
time and remember asking him about
that Commodore Dewey was some
times spoken of in those days as if he
were kind OF fashion plate. And l
remember his answer, as we were
walking up Connecticut avenue:
dewey is all right" he said. "He
has a lion heart. He is the man for
that place"
Not many Of US quarrel with him
about that now, or about the wisdom Of
shooting away that million in target
practice. 1t made "the man behind the
gum" Of whom we are all so proud
The fact is that Roosevelt, so far from
being hasty man given to snap judg.
ments, is one Of the most far.sighted
statesmen Of any day. He has shown it
in everything he has taken hold Of. 1t
was in Washington as 1t was in New
York The thing that beclouds the
judgment of his critics is the man 8
amazing capacity for work. He can
weigh the pros and cons of case and
get at the meat of it in less time than it
takes most of us to state the mere prop
osition And he is surprisingly thor
ough. Nothing escapes him. His
Judgment comes sometimes rs shock
to the man of slower ways. He does
not stop at nventionalities. If n
thing is right, it is to be done-and right
away. 1t was notably so with the
round robin in Cuba asking the govern.
ment to recall the perishing army when
it had won the fight. People shook
their heads, and talked of precedents.
Precedents 1t has BEEN Roosevelt s
business to make them most of his time.
But is there anyone today who thinks
he set that one wrong? Certainly no
one who with me saw the army come
home. 1t did not come dav too soon.
When he had done his work for the
ships and resigned his Office to take the
field, the croakers shouted that at last
he had made the mistake of his life all
to get into n scrap. His men didn't
think so when he lay with them in the
trenches before Santiago, sharing his
last biscuit with them. They got to
know him there, and to love him. l
know what it cost him to leave his sick
wife and his babies. wanted to keep
him ut home, but 1 saw him go with
pride, because l knew be went at the
call of duty. He thought the warEjust
and right. He had done what he could
to bring it on as the only means of stop.
ping the murder in Cuba, and he went
to do his share Of the fighting as mat.
ter of right and of example to the young
men to whom he was type of the citi-
zen and the patriot. AS that type when
he came home, we made him our gov.
ernor in New York state. We ran him
on the pledge of his record-the pledge
of honesty, manhood and courage; and
he kept the pledge. l shalllet some one
else tell the story of that. Just let me
recall the last trip we took together, be-
cause it was so much like the old days in
Mulberry street. There Ghad ..arisen a
contention as to whether the factory in.
spector did his duty by the sweat shops
or not, and from the testimony he was
unable to decide. So he came down
from Albany to see forIhimself. 1t was
a sweltering hot day wheniwei made a
tour of the stewing tenements... ...on sthe
down town east side. l doubt if'any
other governor that ever was .swould at
tempt it. know that none! ever did
But he pever shirked one of the twenty
houses we had marked out for sexplora.
tion. He examined the--evidence in
each, while the tenants wondered who
the stranger was who took so much
interest in their affairs and as the re-
suit he was able to mark out course
for the factory inspector: that ought tc
double and treble the efficiency of hi
office and bring untold relief to hun
dred thousand tenement house, worker.
J if it is followed when Roosevelt is NJ
!; longer in Albany. That will be our enc
: of it to see to it that he did not labor il
, vain.
That is Roosevelt as saw him dali,
: during those good years. when.: thing
we had hoped for were done. Their,
stands upon my shelves row of books
, more than dozen in number, beginnin,
! with the "Naval War of 1872" writer
D when he was scarcely out of college, an,
. yet ranking as an authority, both her
/. and abroad, including the four stou