The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-11
Of Ex-President
 ROOSeOelt At The Park
Compliments Birmingham For Adopting Commission Govern ment, But Says Good Government Must Proceed
 From the People, Not Officers

with those men in my regiment had the sons of the men who had served in the confderate army, and the sons of the men who had served in the Union armies, and we only knew one rivalry and that was the rivalry of each to do his best Tor our common country. (Applause.) And now that is the only rivalry left here in the United States, 10 see how each of us can best help in building up his sec ton and thereby help in building up the whole United States (Applause)
 And l do not know that there is moro progressive city than Birmingham. (Ap- rlause) I claim to be a model progress siye myself (applause) and then some. | daughter and appause) 1 see for in- stance that you are going to be the first city of your size anywhere in the world | to introduce the automobile in the fire department. It is a great lesson; 1t is a great thing to have that experiment made, and I congratulate you upon It. | You have the first city of its size that has introduced the commission system in mu- nicipal affairs. (Applause)
 Now, 1 believe in the commission sys- tenn. I believe in and l am glad you are going to try the experiment. But would like to say one word of warning to you based upon 30 years of mighty active ex- perience in practical politics. Daughter and applause) Don't you ever imagine that you can invent any patent system of government which will work by itself if you don't act the part of good citizens (Applause.)
 You need good laws. and if the laws are bad the best men cannot produce very good results under them. You need good laws. You need to try good governmental expedient; but af- ter these have been adopted don't for get that the root of the matter lies in the character of the individual citizen. | { right type of man and woman or no law that the wit of man can devise will avail to help you. (Applause.)
 Now. I want you just to think of that for yourselves for a moment. There are republics in the tropics south of Us. some of which have done well and others of which have done very badly. | Those others have had just exactly such constitutions as ours-the same constitution, the same law-but the result is different because the man behind the law was different.
 It Is just exactly as it is in war. You give the best repeating rifle avail able to the wrong man and you do not make him a soldier. (Laughter.) You want to give him a good rifle; but the rifle isn't going to help him if he won't stay put. daughter and ap- plause.) l have seen men to whom l could give the best rifle that ever was imagined. and then I know other men that would beat them with club. | (Laughter.) You need the rifle; you can't expect to do good work with out 1t. We saw that in the Spanish war. If you don't have the right type of rifle, if you give a man black powder and an old, archaic type of musket and send him against a man with a modern rifle the chances are against him. You need the right rifle, but you have got to have the right man | to carry the rifle
 And so with our citizenship; we need the right law, the right governmental scheme. But remember. friends. when you have got it you have got to elect | the right kind of man under 1t or your government will go on badly. (Ap- plause.) If you have not good men pre- pared to do their duty, you won't have good government.
 Now, remember that there is no right without corresponding duty. You cant have-there Is no such thing as- the right of self government unaccom- panied by the duty of governing your self we'll If you have got the righ. to control your own government, shame to you and woe to you if you do not recognize your duty and control it alright.
 | In other countries if the government goes wrong people lay it someone else; they can say the sovereign has made m1StdkeS. But IT things go wrong here who are the fellows who are to blame? We are to blame-you and [. We are the men who have been short in our duty if we fail to have gov ernmental matters fixed as they should be fixed.
 And now you are trying an experi- ment which l think is fraught with in- finite possibilities of good-this com mission form of government. I believe in the short ballot. l believe in ef- hciency and in responsibility, and we have got a right to look to you peo- pie of Birming gham and to see that you do your duty as citizens and make the commission form of government work well. (Applauset
 | "I have just visited Corey and was inn mensely impressed by it. I think that you have there town which can do | an enormous amount as educational center in training men in good citizen ship and in the efforts and business and befk ties of good citizenship.
 While Birmingham grows in capital, | in industry. see that the right type of manhood and womahood grow also. (Ap- plause) Look out for the living condi- tions of those that do the work. You cannot afford to say. Am my brothers keeper?" You are: each of you each one of Us here Is his brothers keeper and must be, (ApplauseD Now, don't mis- understand me, your brothers keeper; but the brother isn't worth keeping if he doesn't try to keep himself Daughter and applause)
 | Every man of us needs to have a | helping hand stretched out to him. Shame on the man who won't stretch out that helping hand. Help your brother up: put him on his feet. But if he lies down, there Is no use trying to carry him. daughter and applause.) Help him up; but he has got to walk when he Is helped up. It is not doing him any good if you coddle, him; he only loses the power and the will to walk for himself. l The only way In which you can help any man is to help him to help himself. l (Applause) Try to put manhood into him: that is the one safe doctrine on which to go.
 . T am glad to see you all. the men, and even more the women. and perhaps most of all the small folk. You know my views on the baby question. uaugh- ter and applause.) like all your crops, but I like the children crop most
 Slaughter and applause.) And. as MT Bowie has so admirably said. while 1t is essential that we shall conserve our nar- lural resOurces shaU keAp the sotv th>