New Britain herald., 1917-07-07
ROOSEVELT AND GOMPERS IN
 CLASH AT RUSSIAN MEETING

at him in most menacing way
 by explanation. silence or eva sion apologize for murdering helpless women and children, then how can we praise the people of Russia? l have heard very much the same excuse given by the Russian autocracy for the pogroms against the Jews
 Hall in Uproar.
 The hall was In an uproar. Good boy Teddy" shouted score and there was a chorus of "Boos' ind1cauns that the crowd was not all with the colonel.
 Shall we by silence acauiesce in this apology for men. women and children of our own country am a democrat of the democrats, and l will do everything for the 1aboring man except that which is wrong, and that I won't do for any man or any cause"
 Again the colonel turned and faced MT, Gompers and shook his fist. Mir. Gompers. white faced started to rise, thought better of 1t and sat down. The colonel continued to talk directly at him.
 T don't care a snap of my fingers for the head of the strongest organ ization in Illinois," he went This happened in a northern state where the whites outnumber the blacks twenty to one, and if the white men there cannot protect their rights with their votes against an insignificant minority and have to resort to the murder of women and children. then the state that gave Abraham Lincoln to the presidency must bow its head in shame"
 Wildly enthusiastic shouts greeted this. MT. Gompers got up. A large crowd yelled as he cried to the colonel:
 You ought to investigate first, then make your charges"
 Menaces Gompers.
 Evidently in passion the colonel stalked across to the labor leader who sat down. The colonel stood over him, shaking his fist down into his face.
 Murder is murder" he shouted. and I'll not allow you or any one else to justify it.
 Something else was said between the two and the colonel continued to shake his first at Gompers The yell ing of the crowd made what was said quite inaudible. Brave Teddy" shouted some; Answer him." cried others at Gompers. The colonel stalked back to the center of the stage.
 "I will go to any extreme which is necessary to bring justice to the la boring man and assure him his proper place. he said. The Gompers adher- n xxy6
 Accused by Labor Men.
 You never did; you never did, cried fully a hundred men.
 The colonel went on:
 But when there is murder I will put 1t down. and l will never submit to an apology for it; l never will!
 We are gathering here to greet and congratulate these men who come to us from nation that has gained its freedom. On such an evening l will never sit motionless while, directly or indirectly, apology is made for the murder of the help less. I never will!"
 And with that the colonel took his seat, perfectly white in the face
 For the next three minutes the row in the audience was almost deaf
 
 him. cries of "Gompers!" cries of Shame" cries of Bravo" Gompers waved his hand to those in the aud fence, motioning them to remain still The mayor motioned for silence and didn't get it. He pounded 1t with roll of paper. he carried. He shouted for silence, and at last he got 1t, or at least a little of it. ,a6jes and oapt1nrpop bo .oid we are here tonight to greet the envoys of the Russian people, Another outburst of mingled cheer ing and shouting greeted this, but the mayor raised his voice and kept on-"and for other purpose. now introduce to you Ambassador | Bakhmetieff of Russia, the leader of the Russian mission to this country. As far as the audience was con- cerned the hostilities ended there When Colonel Roosevelt was ques- | toned afterward he said: There never was any justification 1 for murder. Murder is not debat- able"
 . When men crowded about his auto and congratulated him on his stand he said
 While ] believe in democracy in the abstract I also believe in 1t In the concrete.'
 MT. Gompers. asked for his com ment. said:
 He (Roosevelt) imagines himself the self appointed custodian of the ! morals of the whole world. He took ] the holier-than-thou attitude when he jumped up the way he did. I told him earlier that he did not know all l the facts that I knew. But he did not l take the warning. It was an , other chance for him to get in the limelight and. of course, he took it.
 MT. Gompers explained that he was speaking of the conditions that led up to the riot in East St. Louis and had not intended to attempt to justify the actual killing of people l Some of the labor leaders, friends in