New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1917-08-31
Colonel OUT OF
EXCLUSIVE WAR
Found He Was Not Wanted by
Board Of Admissions"

New DIRK. Aug. 31.--Colonel Theo-
oore Roosevelt told an audience COM
poseu largely of soldiers at the Com
Guy lneater last night some of his
thouehts on the war. The occasion
was an entertainment for the benefit
OF the divisional headquarters corps
funu. Colonel Roosevelt occupied one
OIL !He Stage boxes with Major Gen.
eral ORyan, who introduced him to
the audience. The colonel touched
upon many Of his favorite themes
during his address, which he deliv-
cred from the box.
he began by telling the men in uni
form now proud he was of them, how
PROUD ne was Of all men who were
DONG their duty in some branch of
the service. He was as proud of the
men IN the draft army as of those in
tpe Natlonal Guard or regular serv-
lce' ne sa1o' and one Of his greatest
hopes was that when this war was
over there would no longer be any
need to draft men because universal.
obligatory service had been adopted.
NO man is fit to be a freeman" he
said, who is not willing and axious
to be a soldier if he is needed. OF all
the things that I am proud of in my
public life, the one of which I am
proudest is that I was permitted to
serve my country as a soldier, and by
so doing I claim the right of COM
radeship with you young men who
marched today. The war I was in
wasn't much of a war, but it was all
there was and it was not our fault If
there was not enough to go around.
I am proud today to be able to tell
my children why I was in that war
instead Of trying to explain to them
why I was not, and you, too, should
look forward with contentment to
telling your children what part you
took in this war rather than having
to tell them why you weren't in it,
Colonel "Deleted by Censor"
A little later in his talk Colonel
Roosevelt referred to the fact that in
the present war he was not soldier.
when 1 offered my services" he
said, II found that as far as I was
concerned this was an exclusive war
and that the Board of Admissions
would not accept me-"
The colonel dwelt at some length on
the subject of the conscientious OBJ
jector repeating his suggestions made
on former occasions that this class OF
individuals should be placed on mine
sweepers and thus enabled to do
their share without having to fire a
shot or endanger any ones life but
their own, or made to dig the 'front.'
line trenches to be filled by the men
who did not object to doing the sh oot-
ing There might be some few men of
this class who were really conscien-
tious, but more were selfish and fol-
lowed the policy Of letting George do
it," The conscientious objector, said
Colonel Roosevelt, should be deprived
Of his vote if he was not willing to
risk his life when his country was in
peril.
mo nation can endure whose
| mothers do not raise their boys to be
| soldiers" he continued ut is hard
! for parents to send their sons to war,
! but it would be harder for those who
| are worth their salt not to send them
! when they are needed. When you get
| to France you will find my four sons
| are there" 1t was at this point that
| the colonel expressed his regret at not
being with them.
Our deplorab BILE unpreparedness and
| those who had preached that unpre-
! paredness would keep us out of war
| received Colonel Roosevelt's attention.
He compared preparedness to fire in
surance and said that the one man in
| 500 who had a fire because he was in
| sured was the Hun in the fire insur-
| ance business.
1.-The fact that we are now able,
seven months after our entry into the
| war. to do things we should have
| done one, two, and three years ago,
is due to England's fleet and the army
of France. I want to take advantage
of the present opportunity to express
my profound contempt for the
wretched creatures who attack the
Allies. They are safe in attacking our
friends because our Allies are en-
gagged in protecting our interests on
the high seas
IT think / am not misstating the
facts when I say that we have not one
airplane fit to be sent over the en-
emys lines; that we have no field guns
big enough to be pitted against those
Of the Germans or alongside those OF
the British and French, and that even
in its present enlarged state our army
; is too small to cope with that of any
we'll orga nized country.
II fervently hope that this war will
prove a lesson to us, and that never
again will Uncle Sam be obliged tc
plead with some one else to protect us
until such time as he is ready to fight
his own battles. We must prepare il
times of peace, SO that no other nation
may take us unawares. We must pro.
|