The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1917-05-04
COLONEL ROOSEVELT
WOULD LEAD ARMY
ASKS LEAVE TO LEAD VOLUN-
TIERS IN FRANCE
Says His Plan Would in No Wise Inter-
fere With General Conscription
Plans of Congress

Following are few of the most
salient features of an address given
by former President Roosevelt at the
stock yards pavilion in Chicago last
Saturday:
81 come here tonight to appeal to
the people of the great west, the peo-
pie of the Mississippi valley, the peo-
pie who are the spiritual heirs of the
men who stood behind Lincoln and
Grant.
We read the Declaration of 1nde-
pendence every Fourth of July be-
cause, and only because the soldiers
of Washington made that message
good by their blood during the weary
years of war that followed. If, after
writing the Declaration of Independ-
ence, the men of 'seventy-six had fail
ed with their bodies to make it good,
it would be read now only with con-
tempt and derision. Our children still
learn how Patrick Henry spoke for
the heart of the American people
when he said Give me liberty or give
me death, but this generation is
thrilled by his words only because the
Americans of those days showed in
very fact that they were ready to ac-
cept death rather than lose their lib
erty.
| appeal to you to take the lead in
making good the presidents message
of the second of this month, in which
ha xx,1xy
our unacceptable duty to make war
upon Germany. 1t rests with us
with the American people--to make
that message one of the great state
documents of our history. Let us ac-
cept the lessons it teaches. Let us
grasp what it says as to the frightful
wrongs Germany has committed upon
us and upon the weaker nations of
mankind, and the damage she has
wrought to the whole fabric of civil
ization and of international good
faith and morality.
Then let US steel our hearts and
grid our loins to show that we are fit
to stand among the free people whose
freedom is buttressed by their self
reliant strength. Put the American
flag on the firing line in France,
Flanders or the Balkan peninsula at
the earliest possible moment and keep
it there as long as the war continues
over a constantly growing fighting
force until the war brings victory"
In ending his speech Colonel Roose-
welt made a plea to be allowed to go
to the battlefelds of Europe at the
head of division which he has al
ready taken the preliminary steps to
raise, declaring that if this were done
he would take only such men as were
not subject to draft in the regular
way, thereby not interfering with the
forces that are to be raised by con-
scription. This is possibly not a
proper place for editorial comment,
but we beg to be permitted to say
that, in our estimation, there is not
man better fitted to raise an army for
immediate service in Europe than
Colonel Roosevelt. He could enlist
the seasoned veterans of the Western
plains, men who are fit to fight at any
moment, and he could lead them into
battle with more enthusiasm than any
man we know about. By all means,
we should say, let the Colonel and his
army go as soon as they are ready.
The only reason why his going could
be opposed would appear to be that he
might return home military hero
and again become a political power
that would have to be reckoned with.