Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-26
ASKED FOR FAIR PLAY
Two Speeches by the Presi-
dent Yesterday
AT LITTLE ROCK, ARK.
WARNED soUTHRoNs AGAINST
PERIL OF CLASS PREJUDICE.
Denounced Lynching and Exploited Es-
sentials for the Best Citizenship
Entertained at Luncheon.

President Roosevelt spent seven crowded
hours in and around Little Rock yesterday
and his journey from Fort Logan H. Roots
on the north side Of the Arkansas river, to
the City Park in Little Rock was marked
by enthusiastic demonstrations of welcome
by thousands of persons who lined the
streets. While in Little Rock the President
| delivered two speeches, in one of which he
denounced lynching, eliciting hearty ap
| olause.
AS the party entered the City Park under
an arch bearing the inscription. Little
Rock Greets YOU twelve white doves were
liberated from the apex of the arch. directly
| over the Presidents carriage. This feature
| caused great cheering and the President
| smiled.
| His First Speech.
The Presidents opening words, Fellow
| Americans" produced renewal of the
demonstration of welcome. His utterances
were followed closely by the large audience,
| and at intervals he had to desist while his
! hearers gave vent to their approba ton of
| his remarks. When he declared that the
menace and reproach of lynch law should
| be driven out of the United States there
| was much earnest cheering The Pres-
| dents declaration that ''if a President Is
| worth his salt he's the President of the
| whole country drew forth plaudits from
| the assembled thousands. The President s
| speech follows:
| Governor and My Felow-Americans:
\ cannot sufficiently express my gratitude
| and appreciation for the magnificent greet
| ing you have given me today, and in greet
| ing all of you l wish to say especially words
| OF greeting to those who wore the gray and
| those who wore the blue in the civil war,
! and l especially wish to emphasize this in
| behalf of my comrades of the National
| Guard, forming the guard of honor here to-
day, with whom l myself went to war in
| 1898. There could be no better augury than
that the escort of an American President
should be those who were once enemies
walking shoulder to shoulder
"Allusion has been made to the war of
| SO, in which had the good fortune to COM
mand regiment. OF that regiment the
fathers of more of them wore the gray than
wore the blue, but the only rivalry was to
mon country
Il have spoken all over the country. but
l would not make a remark here that
would not make anywhere else. l am fortu-
nate in being President of a country where
to praise one state you do not have to run
down any other. l am for all of them /
have been impressed not by the superficial
differences of the people, but by the posftive
hkenesses. The average American is a
pretty good fellow. All that is necessary
for the average American of all sections to
get along well Is that they should know
each other.
Glass Antagonism Denounced.
What is true of sections is true of oc-
curations and positions. Thank heaven. we
are free now from all the danger of terri
torial antagonisms. Now we must see that
there shall never come any antagonisms of
the class or antagonisms between capital
ana labor Treat each man according to
MS worth as man Don't hold for or
against him that he is either rich or poor
but If he is rich and crooked. hold 1t against
MIN; II not rich but crooked then hold it
against him. But If he is a square man.
stand by him. Distrust all who would have
any one class placed before any other
Other republics have fallen because of the
INSCRIPTIONS rich or the INSCRIPTIONS poor
who gained ascendency. who substituted
lCyalty to class for loyalty to the people as
a whole. Abolish the insolence and AFRO
gance of the rich who look down upon the
poor; If they lost their wealth they would
b. ready to plumber the rich, and the un-
scrGpulous man who became rich would
Cypress the poor. The man who is true TO
You is ultimately righteous. The man who
Will seek to persuade you that he will bene-
Mt you by wronging any one else will wrong
you when 1t viii benefit him.
What we must do as a nation Is to
stand for the immutable principles of de-
cency and virtue, regarding vice with alb
horrence. If we make any artificial dlyt-
the people"
Lynch Law Reproach to South
Referring to the race problem, to which
Gov. Davis had alluded, the President said:
"The worst enemy of the negro race is
the negro criminal. and, above all, the
criminal of the hideous type so often hid
eously avenged. Every reputable colored
man owes the duty to himself and to his
race to hunt down that criminal. Now as
to the white mans side: To avenge one
hfdeous crime by another is to reduce the
aveEger to the bestial level. Another thing
which makes this lynch law so abhorrent is
that three-fourths of the crimes for which
1t Is invoked are for others than that
against the women of the country. Cover
nor, you and l and all others in authority
owe it to our people to drive out the re-
preach and the menace of lynch law in the
United States.
I'VE can afford to be divided on oues
tons of mere partisanship, for compare
lively the differences of tariff and the
currency are of no consequence. After ALL
the real question is that of decency in tina
life of the home and honesty In public
life. 1t makes little difference in the long
run whether democrat or a republican
is President, but 1T makes every differ
ence to have all our public officials hon.
est and clean. The candidate Is the can
didate of the party, but the President. If
he is worth his salt, Is the President OF
the whole people.
Private Life Test of Citizenship.
You can't get good public life unless
you have good private life. The country
viii be all right If the average man is
decent and clean In his home life, but if
1t goes below that average you can't
make the country right. 1 have a great
respect for a good man, and the only one
! have a greater respect for is a good
woman, and If there is any here who
does not agree with me I don't think
much of him. We young men have a great
heritage in this free country of ours. and
let us see that we transmit 1t unimpafred
to our children Let their vaIor and their
heroism of war and the forty years Of
peace be an incentive to greater Efforts
He closed with tribute to the veterans
of the civil war and said:
The only people / feel as glad to see
as the veterans are the fathers and moth
crs with babies in their arms. Arkansas