The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1919-02-15
ROOSEVELT AS A MAN."
delivered at Kansas City, Kansas,
Forum, by L. Amasa Knox, last
undov

49,
with patriotic pride and sturdy man
hood, wrests victory from defeat. We
are charmed with the golden words
of the matchless orator, as he lashes
the hearts of his audience into a whirl-
pool of rage, or bids them with Peace
be still" We look with pride to the
statesman in the hour of national and
international conflict, who through the
mastery strokes of his diplomatic
genius, guides us safely from the sand
bars of national disaster. The his.
torian, the philosopher, the explorer,
the high class sportsman, If you
please, the devoted husband; all these
have added their part to the develop
ment and progress of mankind, yet few
men Of the world have combined so
harmoniously all of these characters
tics as were found in the hero of this
moment, Theodore Roosevelt. The sol.
der is unworthy Of that a~ppellation,
the orators words die with him, the
diplomat soon perishes from memory,
and the husband is e~ternally hated,
unless the active and just man is the
character behind all of these concom-
petants. Such was the man Roosevelt;
such was his character. The advocacy
All men up rather than some men
down." is one of his sayings uttered
at a time when he was being criti-
cised, especially by the South; at a
time when he sought to give recogni-
ton to worthy colored men and wo-
men. Step lightly and use the big
stick was another of his sayings,
and perhaps this saying more nearly
typiies his character as a public man
than any other. His activity carried
him in every legitimate field of human
endeavor and thought. When he first
appeared in the New York legislature,
he arrayed himself against the system
of the most powerful public men of
that time. They saw in him a force
of character with which they had to
crushed, and thus the most powerful
men of that state planned his defeat
and ruin and his elimination as a
public man. But the seeds of his
character had already burst their con-
fines and the flower of true manhood
had sprung up like the tender plant
on the slopes of the Alps, which in the
springtime bursts its way through the
slowly creeping glacier to kiss the life.
giving un.
| shall never forget the last time |
saw Mr.. Roosevelt. 1t was in the home
of Mr.. Kirkwood of the Kansas City
Star in Kansas City, in 1917. He had
come to Kansas City to speak to its
citizens On some phase of the war. !
was fortunate to be among the gen.
tlemen who waited upon him. He
stood there the picture of a great soul.
He regretted that the colored citizens
would not be permitted to hear his
speech. He spoke of his war plans
which he had no power to consum-
mate, and how much he desired to see
Colonel Young head a colored regi-
ment at the front. He mentioned the
Brownville affair and how he was criti-
cised at the time of that occurrence
and how delighted he was to note the
change of feeling of the colored peo.
pie on that affair. We who saw him
on that occasion knew full well that
Roosevelt would have at that moment
repeated his action in that Ease had he
been in position to do so and had the
occasion arisen.
Roosevelt was not only a man of a
great soul and character, but he was
a man of discipline. He was a con.
slant son of the government; he was
the embodiment of the highest char.
acter under the discipline of freedom
and liberty.
The life of Roosevelt typifies the
highest product of our history. He
was a man whose body had been
trained to be the ready servant of his
mind; whose passions were trained to
be the servant of his will; he enjoyed
the beautiful, he loved truth, he hated
wrong, he knew the beauties of home
life, and thus became one of our great
est advocates of the perpetuity of the
marital VOWS and obligations, and
propagation of the human species. The
purity of home and the care of chill
dren were among some of his strong
est doctrines, and against the father
who neglected his children, he was as
bitter and as pronounced as he was
against the unlawful Trusts and com.
bines. He was born of an a%ristocratic
family, yet his great efforts were to
harmonic the feeling between the
capitalist and the laborer.
In the very beginning of the worlds
war in Europe, with that f~orethought-
fulness of a statesman, he saw that
war between Germany and the United
States was inevitable. Thus he be.
gan to preach preparedness. When
others said that we were too proud TO
fight, Roosevelt said only towards re-
fused to fight when the provocation
was sufficient, and my friends. I make
bold the assertion, that Roosevelt, the
private citizen and the man, did more
to stimulate this country for the emer-
gency she finally had to face in that
war, than any other force in our land.
1t was his indomintable character that