The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-04-20
ROOSEVELT TELLS
WHERE he STANDS
FORMER PRESIDENT GIVES INTER-
VIEW IN WHICH HE EXPLAINS
MANY OFF HIS ACTS AND
tTTERANCEs.
is NOT A CANDIDATE
SAGE OFgSAGAMORE HILL ANSWERS
ATTACKS ON HIMsELF--HIssAM-
BITIoN is TO BE SHOT ON
THE BATTLEFIELD.
IS NOT A CANDIDATE


nothing to ask of the American people.
bu, wants just to say howdy and
thank YOU" Is the assertion Of Henry
Beach Needham. warm personal friend
or the Colonel, and who has written
long Interview with the Sage of Oys-
ter Bay. The interview lie printed in
the Saturday Evening Post, and per-
mission has been granted the United
Press to reproduce excerpts from 1t.
Colonel Roosevelt. why did you say
thfsY why did you say anything? Why
did you not keep your mouth her
meticall' sealed? Why did you butt
IN u this party row and that political
hshtY Why did you not rest on your
far flung laures and chop wood at
oyster Bav? / did not ask all the
Questions at once, and the form,
perhaps. was little different
from what | have given you, but the
Colonel saw what was driving at In
ID minute"
This Is the way the interview be-
gins, The questions and replied which
follow show that the Colonel talked
Very frankly with his questioner and
stated exactly where he stands to- day,
what his aims and ambitions are and
what his position with regard to politics
Ia this country IL.
Popularity Transient.
Popularity is transient thing"
said the Colonel. ''One. day a man is
on the crest of the wave: the next
day ne fs in the trough OF the sea.
But this | will say. that when I am
40 longer ON the crest OF the wave,
YOU win find me swimming just as
strong and having a mighty good
time"
Answering the charge that he IL a
menace to prosperity. Colonel Rooss-
Welt said
I'm an enemy OF prosperity In just
the same sense that that officer out
there is "a menace TO prosperity when
he gets his grip on burglar who In
running of with somebody's spoons.
Necessarily he interferes with the pros
perity OF the burglar: II he ever runs
for office he won't get the burglar vote
Nevertheless, he liz a friend OF the hon
est man. In denouncing crookedness
in business / have always drawn a
clear distinction between the dishon-
est man In business--the man who
accepts rebates, brides legislators and
defsauds the Goyernment-~and the
man VINO. asking no favors of any
one, is honestly engaged in the up
puiidiiig or some commercial under
taking. have always believed that
the great majority of American bust
ness men are honest and that their
ethics are AS high as the ethics In any
other calling
If the honest business man thinks
/ ara against him." the Colonel con-
iinued with marked seriousness, that
/ have attacked him when denounc-
.nS wrong doing in crooked business,
either he Is ignorant of the facts or
else he has been wtifully misied by
those who have sinister purpose In
deceivtng him. | regret that | have
been used as the instrument to bring
about this unfortunate condition OF
affairs; but IL liz not my fault. l
Fave denounced dishonest business:
aud the men who call this an assault
on ali business are themselves respon-
sibie for cpnfounding honesty and dis
honesty | have tried at all times to
square my public utterances with
three quotations from Abraham Lin
coin, favorites of mine. The iirst In:
Labor ls the superior OF capital
ard deserves much the higher con-
s.deratfon.' IL that remark could be
Credited to me, think how much more
! should be denounced as a commun-
sAt Agasasors than | ara nnw quote
that To the capitalist. This / quote
to the workingman:"
Lincoln ON Labor and Capital
Capital has its right, which are
as worthy of protection as any other
rights. Nor should this lead
10 war upon the owners of prop
erty. Property is the fruit of labor:
..a- property Is si-ssta stfe; IL a pos
Hive good in the world
And with that | couple a thor
ouGhly Lfncoin-iike sentiment. Let
iaot him who IL houseiexs pull down
the house OF another, but let him
work diligently and build one for
himself, thus by example assuring that
his own shall be safe from violence
when built"
Informed that he had frequently
been accused of inconsistency. the
colonel said:
Inconsistency, Did you read the
excerpts from my speeches which |
printed In parallel columns In the
Outlook DO those speeches show
inconsistency Now. It's just as rldi-
eulous 10 attribute to me the tarin
plank adopted At Saratoga as to hold
me responsible for the judiciary plank
put into the Kansas platform after
my speech at osawatomie, OF the
ten hundred and fifteen delegates Al
the Saratoga convention. perhaps not
more than fifteen. certainly less than
one hundred. were real supporters
OF mine. MY selection as chairman
OF the convention WAS brought about
by a combination Of the New York
and Buffalo delegations--both OF
which were heart and soul for Taft
and with the aid OF Senator Root.
who had voted for the tarin bill, and
OF Serene Payne. one OF the authors
OF the Payne -Aldrich law. Do you
suppose for one moment that this
com hination would have adopted
tariff plank repudiating. even by In
direction, the Payne-Aldrich law ?''
In New York Fight. :.
Anent his entrance into the guber-
Material fight in New York last fall.
tho colonel said In reply to the Ques-
lion, Why did you get into the
tight anyway"
Il tried to explain that in the cam
patgn, the colonel replied. Governor
Hughes and his supporters were en-
tirely responsible for my appearance
at Saratoga. l didn't get them into
the fight They were In the fglN. All
! did was TO try to help them out In
fight In Which they were right. As
long as they were In II l couldn't stay
out. When got back from Europe /
wanted to 60 homo and be quiet;
didn't want to mix In politics. But
l. was tmportuned on every hand-by
the insurgents Of the West and by the
prcsressives In my own 6tate---to help
along the movement for honesty In
high places In the political and finan-
cial world. 1t seemed TO me that II
was my duty to try to help them In
the hght for popular government.
might be to me personally. I didn't
n kA ASsk - A. -.