The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-11-22
PRESIDENT At V|CkSBURG
MAKES NOTABLE SPEECH

In his recent visit to vicksburg
President Roosevelt was introduced a:
follows. in part, by John Sharp vii.
uams:
You cannot in the history of any
country, ancient or modern, find a sue
| cession of Is kings. emperors, or even
prime ministers, the equals in intel
ligence, culture, courage or character
of the % presidents of this great re-
public from Washington to Roosevelt,
inclusive. OF these I, southern Bour-
bon democrat, have an American pride
and pleasure in saying that the last is
by no means least 1t is an honor for
you and me- fellow Mississippians, to
meet and entertain with an old-time,
full-hearted southern hospitality, the
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, an honor
flowing at once from his official dig
nifty and from his many excellent traits
of private character. He is our chief
magistrate, Americas chief magis-
trate of the reunited Dixieland and
Yankeeland, never so firmly cemented
III DiDOu, ODlIlOL anu SSlIlIlIlC4l DIS IuGy
are today"
In his reply the President said: sit
is indeed an honor for me to be today
the guest of Vicksburg and of Missis-
sippi and | was inexpressibly touched
by the gree<ing over the great arch
of cotton bales which said, 'Missis-
sippi greets the President l should
not be fit to be President at all if I
did not with all my might and main,
with all my heart and brain, seek to
be in the full sense the President of
Mississippi, the President of every
State in this Union. l am glad to be
here in this historic city, this city for
ever memorable of the conflict in which
victor and vanquished alike showed
such splendid courage, such splendid
fealty to the light as it was given to
each. Even before the civil war Mis-
sissippi's sons had shown that they
knew how to fight.
"It was from Vicksburg that a COM
pany of that famous Mississippi regi-
ment which Won undying renown in
the Mexican war under the gallant
leadership.of its colonel, who afterwar1
became the favorite son not only of
Mississippi but of all the South, JEFF
ferson Davis, came. Think how fortu-
nate we are as nation that i: is
possible for the president of the nation
to come here today, to be conducted
through your national park by the sur
viving Acknowledgment of the con-
federate army, and to feel that every
instance of heroism recorded by the
monuments alike to the Union and to
the confederate dead on that battle-
field is a subject for just pride to
every citizen of this nation, no matter
where he lives.
Gen. Lee read to me that noble in
scription on sthe Pennsylvania mcnu-
ment, an inscription that should make
the heart of every true American thrill
as he reads it: Here brothers fought
for their principles; here heroes died.
for their country and a united people
will forever cherish the precious legacy
of their noble manhood What other
war is there of which we can say that
before the generation that fought it
had died away, the whole country rises
to feel the same triumph alike for those
who fought so valiantly for what they
believed to be right. and triumphed,
and for those who fought so valiantly
thought to be right, and lost? 1t is
a good thing for an American president
to travel over the country, not for
what he can teach, but for what he can
learn. 1 have twice been down to this
alluvial delta of the Mississippi. In
each case 1 came primarily for bear.
IA voice: Did you get any?'l THE
last time l got 'em; the first time all
/ can say is that the bears and | broke
even. got as many of them as
they did of me. But on each occasion
l learned lot that had nothing to do
with the bear hunting.
cit seems to me that no American
President could spend his time better
than by seeing for himself just what
a rich and wonderful region the lower
valley is, so that he may
go back to Washington as l shall go
back, with the set purpose to do every
thing that in me lies to see that the
United States does its full share in
making the Mississippi river a part of
the seacoast, in making it deep chan
mel to the Great lakes from the gulf.
And as an instance, in building the
levees for the lower part of that great
remove absolutely and completely from
the minds of all the jewellers in the
low lands all apprehension of a pos
sible overflow"