The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-10-23
Reads Verbatim Report on Ba-
ker's Recent Speech.
He Compared Colonial Army
With Mexicans.
EXCLUSIVELY UNFIT FOR JOB
Wholly UnmiIitary Character
Ignorant of Army Welfare.
Roosevelt Feted Extensively in
Albuquerque Today.

Albuquerque " NJ, Oct. pa
blistering rebuke to g -cretary of War
Baker was delivered here today by
Theodore Roosevelt at a MONDAY
luncheon speech before a large audi
ence of representative business men
Tho occasion was over the war secre-
tary's recent speech III which he hk-
ened Washingtou's colonial army and
its activity to Mexican soldiers of the
present war in that nation.
Colonel Roosevelt read a portion of
Bakers speech, touching on this par
ticular issue, which he said to be
stenCgraphic report.
Colonel Roosevelt in his ADDRESS
here said in part:
When men occupy an improper ana
unpatriOtic position and seek TO 1uSt-
fy themselves by precedents from tne
past, il is almost impossible for them
to avoid misrepresenting the facts they
desire to quote in their favor.
Wilson and Washington.
president Wilson'S positions and
actions have been entirely Justiflabte
from the standpoint OF those WnS
Justify the positions and actions OF
President Buchanan. But 1t is utterly
impossible to defend the conduct OF
President Wilson. save by inferentially
condemning the conduct OF such presl,
dents as Washington, jackson ana
Lincoln If President wilson's pc
havior toward Germany and especially
toward Mexico, if his attitude IN ooth
our international and internal AFFAIRS
are proper then Washington, jackson
and Lincoln acted improperly in up
holding and saving the Union and de-
Tending our position against 1oreish
nations by their readiness and ablnly
fo use force. If their attitude toWaru
,be army and navy was right, then the
attitude of Mr.. Wilson in app olntlnS
and maintaining Mr.. Daniels as sec
retary of the navy, and Mr.. BAKER As
secretary of war, is wholly nhde-
MIR. Baker is an amiable paciftst
who. do not doubt, could render
service along other lines, but ne IS eX-
o1isitelv unfit for his present position,
and would never have been appointed
TO it if Mr. Wilson had been willing
To look at the army from the stand
point of military efficiency, instead
Of creating it purely from the stand
point of temporary protective eNpeol-
ency-
Ignorance Appeals to Ignorance.
Mr.. Baker has been engaged re-
Gently on several occasions in the de-
fense Of Mr. Wilson. His effort is to
defend Mr.. Wilson's attitude toward
Carranza and the Mexican bandits
generally by alleging that Washington
and his soldiers stood on substantially
the same level. He is by TO means
as astute as Mr. Wilson, but he is
more sincere and Straightforward
When he was appointed to the
position of secretary of war the news
papers reported him as saying that he
knew nothing about the army that he
was a pacifist and that even when a
boy his principles had been such that
he never played with tin soldiers.
These artless attributes and es-
pecialIy Mr.. Bakers admitted and
complete ignorance of the job. appeal
ed strongly to Mr. Wilson's own igno-
rance of all militia matters, and the
amiable, but wholly unmilitary char
acter which this civic duty portrayed
is precisely that which Mr.. Baker has
shown in his office. He certainly un-
derstands nothing of efficiency in war,
and it is now apparent that he regards
all wars as standing on the same level
of infamy and all soldiers as equally
disreputa BILE Among his recent ex-
ploits was an elaborate comparison of
Washington and his followers and sol
diers in the revolutionary war, with
Carranza and the other bandits who
are responsible for the present
'withes Sabbath in Mexico.
just What Baker Said
THE New York Tribune made a
stenographic report of the speech OF
Mr.. Baker at Jersey City on October
l6. This speech by an American Sec
retary of war representing the Ameri-
can president had at least the merit
of presenting a wholly novel view OF
the founders of this republic
The speech runs in part: Some
people say they cannot understand the
presidents Mexican policy and 1 want
to tell you why. They have forgot
ten our own history and the Declara-
ton of Independence and the presi-
dent has not forgotten either Why
are we patient with Mexico? We
say they do not respect the lives and
property of our people. Perhaps they
don't. We say they do not pay their
honest debts. We say they are a raga-
muffin lot; we say their money is not
any good; that's true. it is not worth
two or three cents on a dollar We
say they do not respect church prop
erty. That also is true. The amazing
thing Is that people never respect
these things in a revolution
We had a revolution and from
the beginning to the end of that the
conditions in this country were so like
Mexico that it is perfectly astounding
to read. Washington's army was in
rags. and they stole. they stole the sill
yer vessels from the churches and
melted them up to buy things to eat
They drove ministers of the gospels
and preachers out of the churches ano
out of the country. The president is
in favor of letting the fourteen mil
lion people IN Mexico who had not hac
not had an opportunity to do so fight
out their ir dependence the way we
fought out ours.
applies Golden Rule to Atrocities,
Wherever you hear anybody sa,
they can not understand the presi-