The Washington herald., 1912-05-30
COLONEL LETTER
STARTLES HOUSE
indicated President Roosevelt Ex-
pected to Occupy White House
Permanently.
READ BY Mr.. FITZGERALD

Representative Fitzgerald Of New York
caused much excitement in the House
yesterday by the production Of q mem.
orandum which was sent by Col
Roosevelt to Congress in June. 1902, re-
lating to sthe construction of the new
executive ofices, and which contained q
marginal notation in the handwriting Of
former President Roosevelt. This nota-
tion Indicated that the then President
thought he would occupy the structure
during his lifetime.
It read as follows:
ITO be permanent during my lifetime.
II. r.
The memorandum was dug up by Mr..
Fitzgerald IN the files Of the House Ap-
preparations Committee, OF which he ID
chairman. It was sent to Congress by
Col. Roosevelt during a controversy be.
tween the then President and the House
relative to specifications for the execu-
tive ofices. It read, in part as follows:
The Letter in Part.
The problem of the location of a per-
manent building for the ofices OF the
President involves many considerations
as to the amount OF accommodations
needed and q scope and variety OF the
functions to be carried on in such a
building Provision for temporary quar-
ters for the executive offices is compare
lively a simple matter"
1t was on the margin directly opposite
this last sentence that there appeared in
Col Roosevelt's handwriting the indica-
tion that he would use the offices dur
ing his lifetime.
Representative Fitzgerald followed up
this startling disclosure by reading ex-
cerpts from an address delivered by
President Lincoln before the Young
Mems Lyceum OF Springfield, Ill The
words of the martyred Lincoln were pro-
phetic, and their significance made a deep
Impression upon the member of the
House. The excerpts follow:
What Lincoln Said.
Many great and good men sufficiently
qualified for any task they should un-
dertake may ever be found whose ambf-
tIon would aspire beyond a seat in Con-
rgress, a GubernatoriaI or Presidential
chair; but such belong not to the family
Of the Lion or the Tribe Of the Eagle.
What! Think you these places would
satisfy an Alexander. a Caesar. or a
Napoleon? Never, Towering genius
despises a beaten path. It seeks regions
heretofore unexplored. 1t sees no distinc-
monuments of fame erected to the
memory OF others
1T denies that # is glory enough to
serve under any chief. 1t scOrns TO tread
in the footsteps OF any predecessor, how
ever illustrious II thirsts and burns for
distinction, and IL possible II viii have
II, whether at the expense of emancipat-
ing slaves or enslaving freemen. Is it
unreasonable, then. to expect that some
man, possessed of the Ioftiest genius
codpled with ambition sufficient to push
it to its utmost stretch, will at some
time spring sup among ua2 And when
such q one does, Il viii require the
people TO be united with each other, at
tached to the government and laws, and
generally intelligent TO Illustrate his de-
signs. Distinction will be his paramount
object, and although he would as will
ingly. perhaps more so, acquire II by
doing good as harm, yet, that oppor-
tunity being passed, and nothing left to
be done in the way OF building up. he
would set boldly to the task OF pulling
down.
Representative Fitzgerald was sur
rounded and besieged by an eager crowd
Of House members at the conclusion of
his address, eager to see the notation in
gin. They seemed to appreciate its sig
nificsnce, and when Mr.. Fitzgerald had
the document photographed no one
raised objection when he asked unani-
nous consent to have a facsimile printed
in the Congressional Record. Il will
Illustrate his remarks.