Daily Kennebec journal., 1916-09-01
Eres Roosevelt Ringing Speech Republican Rally at Lewiston

doing will they secure real and .,.,
safety. ! believe that they will UT. uoma&a
policy OF national action dsn,s SUPPORT 4
spirit or national courage. Tha u!ns a
people are at heart moral American
enthusiasts; and In the past sbs and
again ana again responded n oey have
huni isn, tor psacucai action, calling fos a..
lsnn M 70 perceive 1t and enthus,.aor .or Idea.
selI-devotion In order to ach;aasm ana
Inc men who came across ths II.
the 18th century to found here eaa ai
tion were men of courage and ensr. w "a
spired by idealism and enthusiast ~ h.
that inspiration they ATTEMPTED -. onde,
complished the American Revo,r.,.u &c.
later entered on the experime,, and
government, founding a new na,,,O set.
ceived In liberty and dedica,aa COZ.
proposition that all men are so,a INC
There were men of little faith .Saal"
them, men of the safety FIRST" ~. snoas
the professional r,cifist type. b,,. N Of
end our forefathers rejected tho ,s " ns
ship OF these men, and followed ~. aef'
ership Of Washington. read
Since then our population has :.
swollen by immigration; and orr ea
grants have generally been men a, ai'
age. energy and enterprise; a ,ara, Nu'
portion have been men of moral s.!a m0'
siasm. They dared to leave N.
world on the chance Of starting WI
life for themselves and their oh,, e*
under new conditions. On the wbo,. "a
men and women who were called - '
shores were the picked men and rr
of their countries. A nation drar,i.-s dia
blood from such sources is fundaro,.."s
sound, and In the end 1t will su,r,..
plan which combines practica, .a.
with genuine idealism. "a
Suppose Lincoln Had "kept u. A..
of War;"
In 1Soo the question whether the An.-
can people would allow the indean;,a
tension or slavery on the America, 49,,
nent became acute. Conservatism s.,
Let Well enough alone; timiditv said ~
US have peace; business interests s.,
safety first; the spirit of pacihsm s.s
Let us compromise. for the evils of sl,v
cry are not to be compared with tbs s,n,
OF civil war and possible disso,n,io, !,
the Union.
10 these arguments, so plausibls tb,.
apparently they carried the ,raa. ~'
Jof''y OF the Nation and had the sun.
port OF multitudes of the best men NV,
In church and state. Abraham Iinco,
answered in his Cooper Union snssch.
Eltner slavery is right or wrong. ~ .
Is right. we ought to do all that the son,'
asks OF us; if 1t is wrong, we hav. n,
right to allow it in territory under on.
control To this principle he adh.ra
through the political campaign which
elected him, through the dark and dan
serous days of interregnum after hi,
election, and through all the traeedv =,
the civil War. The American people "a.
sponded + the appeal and sustained /,
practical fashion the great moral nrirc.
pie Lincoln set forth and embod,.a
Ihey put duty first and safety second I
do not believe that we of this gensrs,,,
nave sunk so far below our sires az IA \.
incapable Of responding in similar fash.
Ion to similar appeal.
In 1896 Mr.. Bryan initiated ths c,u,
paign for Free Silver. He was nonu,.,
speaker. The arguments for Free Silva
were popular. and indeed plausible. The,
were: Our bonds are pavable /, co,r
why substitute gold? II silver has danr.
ciated' gold has appreciated; why saen
nee the debtor class to the gold bugs'
recognized experts have declared in fsvo,
or bi-metallism. Why abandon Itq Wbv
ask the consent of Europe to continu. y,
why not go it alone? The simple ar.u..
"as' II is not right for nation to nav II,
oeots 10 the world in anything less than
the WORLDS currency. AS fairly represent.
ing the national conviction which -ed =,
the national action, / quote sta.susr,
at 'he tlme by noted clergyman: "t h
rarely morally wise to do To ano,bs,
"hat ne thinks unjust. 1t is never NOR.
ally rlght to enter on a course OF action
as 10 the justice Of which the actor I,
himself in doubt. These principles ara A,
applicable to nations as to individuals" +"
IL was right to show that fres silver
would bring material disaster to the ns.
'ioh' out 1t was primarily the moral ap.
peal to the conscience of the people which
defeated Mr.. Bryan in 1896.
otner Questions of Right and Wrone
IN 1888 the conditions in Cuba had be-.
come unbearable to the American peopls.
"hen full knowledge was obtained o,
what had been done in the island {,
raised in this country a storm of moral
Indignation which was irresistible Tho
argument OF the pacitists at that tine
was the same as the argument Of tho
paciiists OF today. They varied between
dh unhealthy sentimentalty and still
more unhealthy materialism. They said
that we were not concerned with tha r.
justice practised by foreign governmen.
VII iorelgn people; that it was no bus-
ness OF ours; that the Cubans should bs
permitted to fight their own battles and
that the blood spilling" in Cuba was mol.
our affair. The answer then was the an.
s"er we ought to make now. We are our
orother's keeper; injustice whenever and
Wherever perpetrated does concern vs.;
ana whether we act or not, no consider
tions OF self-interest should prevent our
legitimate expression of that concern
Then followed the question Of the Phil
lppines. The arguments of the so-calsa
antl-lmperialists were much like the ar
guments of the pacifists of today. Again
they varied between an unhealthy sen
timentality and an even more unhealthy
materialism. They said that the Philip
pines were on the other side of the glon'
and would never repay what they cost Us
IN money; that serving the Filipn0'
would not Offset the sacrifice of the Lives
OF American soldiers; and they alternate