Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1910-09-10
IOVATION FOLLOWS
HIM TO KANSAS CITY.

roar of enthusiastic welcome, which
has greeted Roosevelt on his pres
ent trip today. The crowds that
blocked the streets cheered him
whenever he appeared and he was
told that he was an "insurgent"
through and through, but he said
it would be better to call him pro-
gressive. His definition of his politi-
cal status was cheered to the echo.
Roosevelt stopped at Kansas City
Kan. on his arrival and spoke in
favor of a federal workingman' S
compensation act. After a parade
he was the guest of the Kansas City
Commercial club at luncheon, where
he was toasted as the First Citi-
zen of the United States" In par
odies to the tune of popular songs,
he was declared an insurgent thru
and thru and reference was made
to him being the next president. His
speech at luncheon was devoted to
the subject of rebates" after lun-
cheon he was driven to the Wespot
school, where he talked to the pu-
pills; telling them stories of Afri-
ca and of adventures with wild ami
mails. When he left he gave the pu-
pills some advice; to the girls he said
81 don't want girls to dance all
night, so as to be too tired to help
their mothers next day." To the
boys he said Don't shirk, don't fool
and hit the line hard
His main speech of the day was
at Convention hall tonight. He said
that honesty should not be made a
party matter and that the first man
to attack scoundrels should be the
man in the scoundrels own party
He talked of corruption in New
York, Missouri, Illinois and Califor.
mia and said the duty of the people
was to war with equal sterness
against the corrupt man of great
wealth and the small man who made
trade of corruption. In his speech
at Convention hall Col. Roosevelt
spoke as follows:
There are certain matters which
should never be treated as party
matters; and foremost among these
is the great and vital virtue ot
honesty. Honesty should be treated
as prime necessity to our success as
nation. The minute that a ques-
tion Of honesty as against dishonesty
is involved, then we must all act
together as Americans, without the
slightest regard for party affiliations
Honesty is not a party matter; and
the first man to attack a scoundreI
of any party should be the honest
man Of that party. When in office,
always proceeded upon the theory
that there would be no need of my
opponents raising the cry of "Turr
the rascals out" because / would
turn them out myself just as soon
as, by vigilant and intelligent in.
dustry, could discover them. The
present Senator Bristow, for instance
was in the Post Office Department
when information reached me which
convinced me that there was exten-
sive rascality being practiced in the
Department. This information came
to me through the then First AS
sistant Postmaster General Mr.
Wynne-an admirable man whose
honesty l knew to be beyond proof
The active work of the investigation
was done by another Post Office Of
fetal in whose honesty, courage, and
energy | had absolte confidence
the present Senator Bristow. When
he got through l knew that all the
rascals whose rascality could be de-
tected were out of office and that all
of them that had committed acts
which we could proceed against as
criminal were indicted or imprisoned.
AS we delt with the crooked public
official, so We delt with the crooked
private citizen; with the rich swind-
Ter in New York or Chicago as with
the horse-thief or homicide in Indian
Territory. We never attacked a man
because he was a man of one politi-
cal faith or another, because he did
or did not possess wealth. and we
never shielded him because he was
poor or rich, because he belonged to
any particular church or any par
ticulcular party. But | also wish
you especially to remember that we
never hesitated to shield him and
stand up for him once we were con-
vinced that he was improperly at
tackled. There is no greater foe of
honesty than the man who, for any
reason, in auy capacity, attacks, or
seeks to attack, an honest man for
a crime he has not committed.
Falsely accusing an honest man of
is an act which stands on
the same level of infamy with that
of the dishonest man himself; and
it is no higher duty to attack the dis
honest man than it is to exonerate
the honest man falsely accused; and
shall be ashamed to hesitate the
fraction of a second longer in one
case than the other.
Remember that honesty cannot
be unilateral. Good citizens should
distrust the man who can
never see dishonesty excepting in