River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-05-12
ROOSEVELT GIVES
NOBEL LECTURE
AS Recipient of Peace Prize He
Talks in ChriStiania.
ENDING OF WARS HIS TOPIC
Treaties of Arbitration, Development
Of Hague Tribunal and Check on
Growth of Armaments Urged
by the Ex-President.

Christiania.-Col. Theodore Roose-
welt, former president of the United
States, lectured on international
Peace" Thursday, May 5, before the
Nobel prize committee which award
ed him the peace prize for his sue
cessful efforts in ending the war be-
tween Russia ald Japan. The great
hall where the lecture was delivered
was filled to the doors, many distin-
guished persons being in the audience,
and Colonel RooseVelts words were
heartily applauded. His lecture fol-
lows:
1t is with peculiar pleasure that
stand here today to express the deep
appreciation 1 feel of the high honor
conferred upon me by the presenta-
ton of the Nobel peace prize The
gold medal which formed part of the
prize / shall always keep, and shall
hand it on to my children as precious
heirloom. The sum of money provided
as part of the prize by the wise gen
crosby of the illustrious founder Of
this world-famous prize system, I did
not under the peculiar circumstances
of the case, feel at liberty to keep.
think 1T eminently just and proper
that in most cases the recipient of the
prize should keep for his own use the
prize In its entirety. But in this
case, while I did not act officially as
president of the United States, it was
nevertheless only because l was pres
ident that l was enabled to act at all;
and / felt that the money must be
considered as having been given me
In trust for the United States. / there
fore used 1t as nucleus for founda-
ton to forward the cause of indus
trial peace, as being well within the
general purpose of your committee;
for in our complex industrial civiliZa-
ton of today the peace of righteous
ness and justice, the only kind of
peace worth having, is at least as
necessary In the Industrial world as
1t Is among nations. There is at
least as much need to curb the cruel
greed and arrogance of part of the
world of capital, to curb the cruel
greed and violence of part of the
world of labor, as to check cruel
and unhealthy militarism in interna-
tional relationships.
When Peace May Be Evil.
We must ever bear in mind that the
great end in view is righteousness,
justice as between man and man, ma
ton and nation, the chance to lead
our lives on a somewhat higher level,
with a broader spirit of brotherly good
will one for another. Peace is gen
orally good in itself, but it is never
the highest good unless 1t comes as
the handmade of righteousness; and it
becomes a very evil thing if it serves
merely as a mask for cowardice and
sloth, or as an instrument to further
the ends of despotism or anarchy.
We despise and abhor the bully, the
brawler, the oppressor, whether in
private or public life; but we despise
no less the coward and the voluptu-
ary No man is worth calling a man
who will not fight rather than submit
to infamy or see those that are dear
to him suffer wrong. No nation de-
serves to exist if it permits itself to
lose the stern and virile virtues; and
this without regard to whether the
loss is due to the growth of a~heart-
less and all-absorbing commercialism,
to prolonged indulgence in luxury and
soft effortless ease, or to the deifica-
ton of a warped and twisted senti-
mentality.
Moreover, and above all, let us re-
member that words count only when
they give expression to deeds or are
to be translated into them. The lead
ers of the Red Terror prattled of
peace while they stepped their hands
In the blood of the innocent; and
many a tyrant has called it peace
when he has scourged honest protest
into silence. Our words must be
judged by our deeds; and in striving
for a lofty ideal we must use prac
teal methods; and If we cannot at
tain all at one leap, we must advance
towards it step by step, reasonably
content so long as we do actually
make some progress in the right di-
rection.
Now, having freely admitted the
limitations to our work, and the quail
ifications to be borne in mind, I feel
that 1 have the right to have my
words taken seriously when 1 point
out where, in my judgment, great adj
vance can be made in the cause of in
ternational peace. l speak as prac-
teal man. and whatever l now advo-
cate 1 actually tried to do when l was
for the time being the head of great