Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-18
ROOSEVELT SAYS NATION NEEDS
STRONG MINDS.
MUST BE MORAL ALSO
in an Address Before Several Thous-
and Catholics at Oyster Bay He
Wants to See Men OF Principle and
Honesty-A Mastery Speech.

oyster Bay, Aug. ll.-Men, strong |
men, men who are strong of deed and !
word and who have physical might are |
the men who must rule the nation in
times to come if this country is to be-
come great This was the sentiment
of mastery address delivered by
President Theodore Roosevelt here
yesterday before a large audience ofI
Catholics, chiefly men, at St. Domin-
les church. Without clean tongue,
the President said, strength is weak.
But virtue must not be by word OIL
| mouth, merely; it must be lived, and
the fathers Of the nation must set an
example of righteous speaking and act
ing if the boys were to become men
of the properskind.
President Roosevelt spoke. at the
quarterly meeting of the Society of tho
Holy Name of Brooklyn and Long
Island. He was heartily applauded
both before and after his address by
the audience of 1000 or more persons.
Several Catholic prelates of this dio-
cese spoke briefly in continuation of
the meeting after the Presidents de-
parture. The meeting is said to have
been the largest in the history of the
society.
Urges "Decency and Strength"
"Very reverend dean, reverend clergy
and you of the Holy Name society,"
began President Roosevelt. Il
count myself fortunate in having the
chance to say word to you today and
at the outset let me, Father Powers,
in behalf of my neighbors, your con-
gregation, welcome you here to Oyster
Bay. l have partial right to join
in that welcome myself, for it was my
good fortune in the days of Father
Powers's predecessor, Father Belford,
to be the first man to put down a
small contribution for the erection of
the church here. l am particularly
glad to see such a society as this flour
. ishing as your society has fiourished
because the future welfare of our ma
tion depends upon the way in which
.. we can combine in our men
in our young men-decency and
strength.
"Just this morning when attending
service on the great battleship Kear.
sarge listened to a sermon address.
ed to the officers and enlisted men OF
the navy, in which the central thought
was that each American must be a
F good man or he could not be a good
citizen. And one of the things dwelt
upon in that sermon was the fact that
man must have clean mouth as well
Is clean of life-must show by his
words as well as by action his fealty
I to the Deity and to the Saviour if he
was to be what we have a right tC
eXpect from men wearing the national
uniform.
Strong Men Must Set Example.
1--WE have good scriptural authority
for the statement that it is not what
comes into mans mouth, but wha1
goes out of it, which counts. l an
not addressing weaklings or l SHOULD
not take the trouble to come here.
: am addressing strong, vigorous men
Y who are engaged in the active hare
work of life, and life to be worth liv
ing must be life of active and hare
work. l am speaking to men engaged
in the hard active work of life, ant
therefore men who will count for goot
: or for evil, and it is peculiarly incum
bent upon you who have strength t.
/. set right example to others.
"I ask you to remember that yol
cannot retain your self-respect if yol
are loose and foul Of tongue that
= man who is to lead a clean and honor
= BILE life must inevitably suffer if hi
speech is not clean and honorable
Every man here knows the tempta
tions that beset us in this world. A
= times any man will slip. do not eS
y pect perfection, but I do expect gen
- uine and sincere effort toward bein
decent and cleanly in thought, in wor
and in deed.
Wants Virtue With Might.
=. ''As 1 said at the outset, I hail th
work of this society as typifying on
of these forces which tend to the BET
: terment and uplifting of our social sys
TEN. Out whole effort should be tc
ward securing combination of tn
strong qualities with those qualitie
4 which we term virtues in the breast G
every good citizen. l expect you to b
strong l would not respect you if yo
~ were not. do not want to see Chris
- tianity professed only by weal1lings.
- want to see it a moving spirit anon
u men of strength. I do not expect yo
e to lose one particleSof your strength c
'e courage by being decent. On the col
trary, 1 should hope to see each ma
who is member of this society frol
a. his membership in it become all tn
3d. filter to do the rough work of th
lel ,DI...,,oa an Dooa O coao.a ry.1,,..,