Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-07-01
A GOOD MAN IS GOOD
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD"
So Declares Mr.. Roosevelt in
Vigorous Address to Alum
nae of Harvard Univ.

CAMBRIDGE. Mass, June S0.-Guest
and host in one, Theodore Roosevelt
brought energy and animation to COM
mencement day at Harvard university
yesterday. The cheers that marked MS
passage to and fro among the build
ings of the ancient yard indicated his
position as chief guest Of the day, while
his presence at the head of the table
at the commencement luncheon in Me-
mortal hall was the token that he was
most by virtue of his office as president
Of the Hardware Alumni association. it
was Roosevelt Of the class of 1880 to-
day, and he had a busy time shaking
hands with old college friends.
ADDRESS TO ALUMNI.
In opening the alumni meeting Colo
mel Roosevelt, after expressing his thanks
for the honor conferred in making him
president OF the association, said:
II come home with an increased and
hearty friendship and good will for other
countries. l have visited many different
nations, and the more l see of decent
people of other nationalities, the more
i realize the truth of Abraham Lincoln's
statement that there is deal of human
nature in mankind. good man is :
good man anywhere, and a scoundrcl
ought to be made to pay the penalty OF
his scoundrelism, whatever his birth or
no nationality. And yet, with that feeling
there has come a constantly increasing
understanding on my part Of the fact
that the man who wishes to be a good
citizen of the world, must first and fore
most be good citizen Of his own ma
ton" c1 .-..'.
GET YOUR EDUCATION AT HOME.
After stating that he had been given
honorary degrees in certain foreign uni
versities on the continent of Europe and
in England, Mr.. Roosevelt declared:
You will not misunderstood me when
l say that I come back feeling more
truly than ever that the place for a man
to be educated Is in his own home. Let
him be sent to school and to the uni
versity here in. the United States If
he has a chance to take a postgraduate
course elsewhere, according as his taste
and needs dictate, good; but let him
have the foundations laid here, where his
citizenship must be exercised.
Let me also point out the fact that
you cannot be useful abroad unless
you have abroad the respect that only
comes if your usefulness has been
proved at home No man ought to re-
ceive respect abroad unless as an Amer
lean he has won his spurs in American
life at home. To be useful to the
world-at-large 1t is necessary, first, to be
bone of your bone and blood of your
blood, citizen of your own country, feel
ing with your own countrymen, able to
do your duty to the fullest extent in deal
ing with the problems that your fellow
countrymen have to solve.
AMERICA A SYMBOL
IT was struck by two things every
where that 1 travelled abroad. One was
that the name America stood as gol-
den symbol of hope for all who felt that
they were downtrodden, that through no
fault of their own they had failed to re-
ceive the justice to which they were en-
titled in life. The name America stood
as a symbol of aspiration, Of POSSIBLE
ity of realizing ideals according to which
each man, rich or poor, should be treated
on his worth a man and should be
given an opportunity to show that worth
and to be judged as he succeeded In
showing It, That on one side.
ION the other side 1 found every
where a certain disheartened sense that
we had not come up to our ideals as
there was ground for believing that we
ought to have come; that we had not
achieved them as we ought to have
achieved them, and every instance of
corruption, of demagogy, of the unjust
use of wealth to the detriment of the
public, or the improper acceptance by
the public that mere wealth in, and of
itself, constituted a claim to regard in
the community, every instance of brutal
materialism on our part. every time that
1t was made clear that the attitude of
this country was such as ought not to
be the attitude of a democracy founded
on the principles upon which ours was
founded-every such instance served to
diminish the ideal that the name Amer
lea conjured up in the minds of those in
foreign lands; every such instance
served as an excuse for those who with
a sneer bid mankind halt where 1t is,
because the ideals that they have not
before us are the ideals of dreamers
only.
Now, you Harvard men here, you
men of America, If you can't see that
your house is put In order for your own
sakes, 1 suppose it would be useless to
ask you to put it in order for the sake
of other men; and yet 1 cannot imagine
a more stirring appeal being made to
any people than this well-nigh voiceless
appeal from those who, in other lands.
have not had the treatment to which
they are In justice entitled, who appeal
to us to manage our republic according
to the highest standards of morality and
decency, so that they can keep mistaken
their faith in a realizable IDEAL