The San Francisco call., 1910-06-08
THEoDoRE ROOSEVELT


THEODORE ROOSEVELT
lean. both at home and abroad. are
brought into contact with utterly
alien peoples. some with a eiviliza-
ton more ancient than our own,
others still in. or having but recent
" arisen from, the barbarism which
our people left behind years ago.
The problems that arise are OF well
nigh inconceivabIe difficulty. They
can not be solved by the foolish
sentimentaIity of stay at home peo-
pie. with little patent recipes. and
those cut and dried theories of the
political nursery which have such
limited applicability amid the crash
of elemental forces. Neither can
they be solved by the raw brutality
of the men who. whether at home or
on the rough frontier of civiliza-
tion, adopt might as the only stand
ard of right in dealing with other
men and treat alien races only as
subjects for exploitation.
I'm the long run there can be no
justification for one race managing
or controlling another unless the
management and control are exer-
cised in the interest and for the ben
eft of that other race. This is what
our peoples have in the main done
and must continue to do-in India.
Egypt and the Philippines alike. In
the next place we can not afford TO
deviate from the great rule of right
eousness which bids US treat each
man on his worth as a man He
must not be ssntimentally favored
because he belongs to a given race;
he must not be given immunity in
wrong doing, or permitted to. cum
Der the ground or given other priv
ileges which would be denied to
the vicious and unfit among our
selves. On the other hand. where
he acts in way which would en-
title him to respect and reward if
he were of our own stock he is just
as much entitled to that respect and
reward if he comes of another stock,
even though that other stock pro-
duces a much smaller proportion of
men of his type than does our own
This has nothing to do with social
intermingling. with what is called
social equality. 1t has to do merely
with the question of doing to each
man and each woman that elementary
Justice which will permit him or her
to gain from life the reward which
should always accompany thrift, So
briefly, self-control. respect for the
rights of others and hard and in
teligent work TO a given end.
"As things are now it is the high
est duty of the most advanced and
freest peoples to keep themselves in
such a. state of readiness as to for
bid to any barbarism or despotism
the hope Of arresting the progress
of the world by striking down the
nations that lead in that progress
II would be foolish indeed to pay
heed to the unwise persons who
desire disarmament to be begun by
the very peoples who OF all others
should not be left helpless before
any possible foe. But we must re-
probate quite as strongly both the
leaders and the peoples who prac-
tice or encourage or condone aggres-
sion and iniquity by the strong at
the expense OF the weak. We should
tolerate lawlessness and wickedness
neither by the weak nor by the
strong. and both weak and strong
we should in return treat with
scrupulous fairness. The foreign
policy of great and self-respecting
country should be conducted on ex-
actly the same plane of honor as
when brave and honorable man Is
dealing with his fellows.
IT believe that we OF the great .
civilized nations of today have a
right to feel that long careers of
achievement lie before our several
countries. To each of US is vouch-
safed the honorable privilege Of
doing his part. however, small. in
that work. Let us strive hardly for
success. even if by so doing we risk
failure, spurning the poorer souls OF
small endeavOr who know neither
failure nor success. Let US hope
that our own blood shall continue
in the land, that our children and Z
children's children to endless gen
erations shall rise to take our places
and play a mighty and dominant
part in the world But whether this
be denied or granted by the years
we shall not see let at least The
satisfaction be ours that we have
carried onward the lighted torch in
our own day and generation. II
we do this then as our eyes close
and we go out into the darkness ana
other hands grasp the torch. at least
we can say that our part has been
III