The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-02
Negroes of KeOkuk Present Roosevelt With Gold 4
 Headed Cane a'T
HE MAKES l FEELING
 RESPONSIVE AOBhESS
Governors of More Than a Dozen States and Many Other DIstin- guished Men Assist In
 the Reception.

Keokuk, Iowa. October 1.-Keokuk put on gala attire to receive the President of the United States when he arrived here at 9 o'clock today.
 The city was assisted in it's reception of the magistrate by notable gathering of distinguished men, including the gov ernors of more than a dozen states, meni- bers of both houses of congress and the inland waterways commission.
 The occasion of the Presidents coming was movement of a deep waterway down the Mississippi river to the gulf. and this city was selected the point of authorization for his voyage down the river to Memphis. where he will arrive Friday. He made noteworthy speech To thousands of auditors. The reception to the President was cordial in the ex- treme. He was in excellent spirits. He embarked on the steamer Mississippi d few minutes before noon. The boat Is scheduled to reach St. Louis at 9:45 a. m. tomorrow. He was accompanied by Gov ernor Frantz Of Oklahoma and Seth Bull lock of the Black Hills.
 As at Canton. the President did not de- liver his speech here just as he had pre- pared 1t and had given 1t to the press. He did not omit any feature. but fre- quently turned from his manuscript to interiect extemporaneous remarks for emphasis and elaboration.
 Ropes Taken Down.
 Before beginning he insisted that the ropes be let down so as to admit enough persons to fill a number of vacant seats and when a man or woman appeared carrying children he directed tlaat they be given chairs. Again as on yesterday his theme was the similar treatment for the poor and rich. and again he found oe- casion to point his story with familiar colloquisms.
 Isn't this good doctrne?" he asked after stating his proposition. addressing the Grand Army group in front of him, and when he received shout of assent. he added that he was always willing to help man who stumbes and falls but not to carry the man who lies down.
 ''It does him no good and 1t Is too much for me"
 He added, That the American people can whip the world" but contended that they would have a hard time doing 1t if not prepared. He would have both men and women do well some work that was worth doing and he announced his con tempt for the woman who would shirN her duty as wife and mother.
 Considerable Rain FaIIs.
 Considerable rain fell during the speech, but the President did not allow it to in terfere After he had concluded he was presented a gold-headed cane by the ne- groes of keokuk.
 The presentation speech was made by a negro plasterer, who assured the Presi- be Ia nf olytls had confidence in his administration and his determination to treat the black race with fairness. The incident seemed to touch the President. He grasped the speakers hand and held it tightly while he made reply, saying that he accepted the present with great pleasure and add ing that fin dealing with the black man as in dealing with the white he followed what he believed the only sane principle. that of treating every man according to his merits as an individual. regardless of race.
 Presidents Speech.
 The President said:
 Men and Women of Iowa:
 am glad indeed to see you and to speak 10 you in this thriving city of your great and prosperous state. 1 be- lieve with all my heart in the people of Iowa, for l think that you are good. typical Americans. and that among you there has been developed to a very high degree that body of characteristics which we like to regard as dstinctvely Amer ican
 During the last few years we of the United States have been forced to con slider very seriously certain economic problems. We have made beginning in the attempt to deal with the relations of the national govarnment-that is. with the relations of the people of the country ito the huge and wealthy corporations. controlled for the most part by q few very rich men. which engaged in in- terstate business-especially the great railway corporations. You know my views on this matter. You know that I believe that the national government. in the interests of the people. should assume much of the same supervision and control over the management of the interstate common carriers that 1t now exercises over the national banks. You know furthermore that believe that this super vision and control should be exercised in a spirit of rigid fairness toward the cor porations, exacting justice from them on behalf of the people but giving them justice in return.
 Reads Ferrero.
 Recently I have been reading the work of the eminent Italian scholar Ferrero on the history of the Roman republic when the life of the Roman state had become that or complex and luxurious indus trial civilization. I am happy to say that the differences between that civilization and our own are more striking than the resemblances: and there Is warrant Tor our being drawn Into any pessimstio comparison between the two civilizations But there is every reason why we should study carefully the past in order to draw from 1t lessons for use in the present One of the most striking features of the years which saw the downfall of the Roman republic was the fact that the political life of Rome became split be- tween two camps, one containing the rich who wished to exploit the poor. and the other the poor who wished to plum der the rich. Naturally. under such cir cumstances. the public man who was for the moment successful tended to he either violent reactionary a violent dema- EoEue. Any such condition of political