South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-12-05
7. R. DENIES He
URGED WAR FOR
BELGIUM s SAKE
Also Declares to Editor of
Indiana Catholic That "We
Have No Duty" Regard
ing Irish Freedom.

Indianapolis. Ind, Dec. g.
Branding as 'uncalled for and IN
American" the attack by Col. Roose-
Welt on the Il points designated by
pres't Wilson as Americas war aims
and conditions of world peace, ]. 2.
O'Mahony, editor of the Indiana
Catholic and Record. today made
public a letter from Col. Roosevelt,
which O'Mahony says shows "RoOse-
welt has undergone a decided change
as TO our reasons for entering the
war or that he doesn't know what
he stood for two years ago"
O'Mahony. a staunch republican,
and formerly active in Roosevelt's
behalf throughout Indiana, said
Roosevelts letter was in reply to one
he had written the former president
in 1916 asking his views on the
rights Of small nations 10 liberty.
Roosevelt to O'MahOny.
The Roosevelt letter follows:
oyster Bay. L. l.. y. Y, June
4, 1915.
My dear Mr.. O'Mahony: In the
first place l have never advocated
that we go to war for Belgium and
your friend who told you so simply
repeated what he either knew or
ought 10 have known was a false
hood His comparison Of our duty
in Mexico with what he miscalls our
duty TO Ireland is sheer nonsense,
which he knew was sheer nonsense
when he made il. and thoroughly
unpatriotic nonsense at that. Our
own men have been murdered and
our own women raped in Mexico,
and If any man says that does not
esta blish more of a demand for &C
ton on our part than anything that
has occurred in Ireland or anywhere
else in Europe, he is not a good
American and has no business to be
in this country. L wish to emphasize
this statement Any such assertion
is a thoroughly and viciously un-
patriotic assertion. We have no duty
as regards Ireland at all. We have
a very urgent national duty in Mex
leo which we have failed to per-
form No man is a good American
who puts the two cases on a par.
( Apparently YOU think I ought to
| have taken some stand about what
has happened in Ireland. What has
| happened in Ireland is very much
| less bad than what has happened in
Poland. both to the Poles and the
Jews. and is not to be compared
with what has happened in Armenia.
7 have always sympathized with the
| Irish as against the English. exactly
as I have sympathized with the
| Danes of North Schleswig, the
/ French of Lorraine, and the Poles of
! Posen against Germany But il is
an outrage to propose that we take
action in one case which we would
! not take in the others, and it is pure
| demagogy TO advocate such ac-
! tion in one case unless at the same
I time like action is advocated in the
/ other
/ My dear Mr.. O'Mahony, you have
no business as an American TO advo-
cate our taking any action about
Ireland that we are not willing TO
| take about Lorraine. North Schles-
/ wig and Posen. You have no bust
| ness TO advocate our taking action
| against England that we would not
take against Germany and which
/ you would not advocate our taking
/ against Germany. OF course. If we
attempted TO take such action we
would make ourselves international
/ ly ridiculous. This letter is written
/ for your personal information I
/ feel so strongly on the subject that
| I could not answer your letter ct all
\ If you had not in the past so often
taken the proper ground in our
affairs
Sincerely y~urs.
Theodore Roosevelt"