The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-11-23
BOOK REVIEW
"rhs Foes Of Our Own Household" BY
Theodore Roosevelt. Published BY
George II. 0oran company, New
York: az PIP, $3.50 net.

One may worship Theodore Roosc-
Welt or hate him; one may never ig
more him. BY virtue Of an cxtlaordi-
mary ability to express immediate and
vivid opinions about whatever is in'the
public mind at the moment, the great
lT. r. commands the attention even OF
those who profess to despsc him as
an arrant opportunist.
The more strenuous the supreme
business of the hour, the more vigor-
Gus and commanding the ideas Of the
Chief Strenuousness. There is :"
Imuch rcd blooded love of battle in this
Iamazing personality that combat
lsharpens the always cutting phrases
land points the deadly pencil thrasts.
Naturally the war has been to Rdosc-
Welt Il tremendous inspiration.
And no other phase Of the war
has moved Roosevelt to such viSor as
that displayed in discussing he
|anti-war and pro-1;erman activities Of
some of his fellow citizens. 1t is with
this phase that most of The Foes of
Our own Household is devoted. The
book is not Il single work. 1t is an
lcditcd collection Of some of Colonel
! Rooscvelts most recent utterances, in
lCludinS articles IN the Metropolitan
land outlook and speech delivered
last Fourth of July But IA single
spirit unifies the greater part of the
collection, and revision has fairly COM
plctcd the Synthesis. The Foes of
our iIousehold' is a satisfactory cX-
preston of the attitude taken by our
most vigorous citizen toward the uncs-
ton which he considers (now) the
most vital ever faced by the people Of
the United States.
The book is animated by that ire
mcndously active spirit which the
American nation expects from Mr..
Roosevelt. And il glitters with the
.teely edges of the authors uneuuallcu
satire, dangerous TO enemies because
of its instant popularity. Even Mr..
Wilson's most ardent friends must ad-
nit the nicely in Roosevelt's descrip-
lion of the administration "jauntily
expressing delight in conditions (of
unpreparcdness) which are a source of
bitter humiliation to every patriotic
and reasonably clear sighted Ameri-
can"
And is not the hand Of the master
coiner- of popular phrases seen in this
paragraphs:
THE deeds of peace are for the flu
ture. The instant need is for the deeds
of war. If we wish to preserve our
own self-respect we must do our own
fighting; and not merely pay, or feed
others to fight for us. We must not
make this a mere dollar war, or potato
war The dollars and potatoes are
needed; but the great need is for
EARNED men who are sternly ready to
face death in great cause. Pawn
broker patriotism is poor substitute
for fighting patriotism"
| But enough of the Roosevelt man
iner; no reader of newspapers but
knows what sort of writing to expect
from the colonel. The important thing
about this book is that it voices i'm
straightforward terms a strenuous and
popular creed of patriotism. One may
or may not agree with it; that is not
the question. The fact is that here is
written down incisively the American
attitude of today. Let pacifists, So
cialists, councils for democracy and
terms of peace protest if they WILL
Roosevelt has expressed here the code
, to which a majority of Americans are
, subscribing as the nation effectively
enters the war.
The man who still asks why we are
lat war or Apologies in any way for
Germany, should look to his own soul;
he is neither a patriot nor IL true
American, nor a lover of mankind. .
, And further:
, 1--WE should hold Germany in hor-
ror for what she has done. But we
should regard with contempt and loath-
ing the Americans who directly or in
directly give her aid and comfort .
, the men who oppose preparedness in
our military and our industrial life: the
, business ar political corruptionst or
! reactionary and the reckless dcma-
GoGuc who is his nominal opponent
, all these are the pcrma
nent foes of our own household
Not even President Wilson is spared
an obscure thrust dlscernible in the
following paragraphs:
"Thc Hun without our gates mas
laucradeS in many DISCUSSES; he is our
dangerous enemy, and he should be
hunted down without mercy. High
minded men and women should brace
their souls against the menace of
peace without victory for the right. 1t
is worse than idle to talk of a league
to enforce peace for the future, unless
! we, who are now partners in the league
to Smitc down wrong in the present
with iron will carry the war through
to overwhelming triumph"
An American, in the fight with all of
! soul and body and means, or a 'shad-
oW Hum" that is the Roosevelt die
tum, and it is the rule of the day.
| Agreeing with this doctrine or not
you viii find THE Foes of Our Own
Household" well worth reading 1t is
vigorous, unequivocal. clear; once
picked up it is not easily abandoned
Even those who win surely throw it
into the corner in anger will as sure
| ~ go eagerly to recover it. Those who
Iapprovc viii appreciate this tranSla-
ton of their feelings into Rooseveltian
thunder and lightning of phrase.
| The volume includes other discus
sons, ranging from Socialism to birth
reform. Not all of them possess the
Icurrent interest which the title giving
chapter claim but not one of them
is lacking III qualities to make the
reader thankful that the publishers
were compelled to pad their volume