Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-06

, command of this body of horse, he
insisted that Leonard Wood be radh
colonel, and contended himself with
the lieutenant colonel's office. he Was
sworn in as lieutenant colonel on May
6, 1898, and from May 9 to 10 the
Rough Riders organized at San An
tonic, Tex. Later Wood was promoted
to be brigadier general and Mr..
Roosevelt was made colonel.
On the Soil of Cuba.
They left San Antonio on May 20.
arriving at Tampa, Fla. on June 3. On
June % they arrived on Cuban soil
and on the Gath of that month their
| first engagement took place, the fight
at Las GuasimaS.
Then came the battle of San Juan.
At the time of his charge, July 2.
1923; there was nothing but en-
comiums for the man who waited for
orders that came not and finally
headed the advance that swept over
Kettle Hill and then up the slope of
San Juan. under a calling fire.
The war over, the Rough Riders
returned to the United States hn
August is. 1898, landing at Montauk
point. They were greeted as the
heroes of the campaign and Mr..
Roosevelt. their leader was hailed
as a popular idol. On September 27
or the same year he was nominated
TOT Governor of New York state on
the republican ticket, and in the cleo
ton in November he won his fight
hands down. His tenure of office was
one OF the most memorable in the
annals of the state republican party
In six weeks after his inauguration
ne was the recognized master of the
political situation. During his term
of office he advocated the franchise
tax bill, measure that won him
much enmfty among politicians, and
set afoot plan to bury" him in the
vice presidency of the United States.
Mr.: roosevelt saw through this ruse
ana time and again announced that
under no circumstances" would he
accept the office. In the national conven-
ton hall in 1900. however, popular
sentiment proved too strong and he
was given the second position on the
republican ticket by reclamation. The
assassination of President Mckinley
followed on September 6, 1901, and
Mr.. Roosevelt, the man who was sup
posed to be politically buried, stepped
into the chair of the chief executive
of the United States.
Achievements as President.
Hardly had he taken his seat as
President at the White House when
of the country. Mr.. Roosevelt inau-
gurated an arbitration commission that
finally succeeded in settling that in
dustrial revolt on October Is. 1902.
Another notable achievement of the
Roosevelt administration was the
Qualification of the railroad situation
through the passage in the Fifty
seventh Congress of the Hepburn rate
law. Other railroad legislation under
the Roosevelt regime was the safety
appliance law, the employers liability
law and the law limiting the hours of
labor of railroad employees.
His prosecution of the Northern Sc
curitleS Company was another act
that brought wide publicity and at
tention to his administration. In this
prosecution the bitterest vituperations
were vented against Mr.. Roosevelt by
| men of wealth throughout the coun-
try. They claimed that his endeavor
to dissolve the great holding company
was a blow at the financial safety of
the nation" The Supreme Court up
held the governments action, how
| ever, and the prosecution Of this case
has since come to be viewed as one
of the greatest achievements Of the
| Roosevelt tenure of office.
The Hay-Herran treaty, which made
| the Panama canal possible of con-
struction by the United States, is
| another much attacked act of the
Roosevelt administration. 1t has been
claimed that without his cognizance
and help the revolution that resulted
| in the independence of Panama could
not have been engineered.
Strengthened National Defenses.
Mr.. Roosevelts attention to the
| Army and Navy resulted in the es-
| tablishment of a program that practi-
| cally doubled the strength of the
| water forces of the United States. He
| supplemented this achievement by an
! active interest in the act that incor-
porated the National Guard as a part
| of the national forces.
| Though President Mckinley had
| paved the way for the transfer of ad-
ministrative power in the Philippines
| from the military to civilians, it was
I under the rule of Mr.. Roosevelt that
this change actually took place. In
| addition to this move, Porto Rico be-
! came a territory of the United States
and the government of Cuba was re-
| turned to the Cubans while he was in
| office.
! The presentation of the Nobel peace
| prize to Theodore Roosevelt in 1906
| uucoverS another act of worldwide
| Importance which was performed dur
| ing his administration. The peace
| prize was awarded him because of his
, activities in bringing together the
| representatives of Japan and Russia
| at Portsmouth. This meeting between
| the warning factions resulted in the
cessation of hostilities in Manchuria.
/ 1t was also at the instigation of Mr..
| Roosevelt that the European powers
were goaded into action that led to
the resumption of The Hague confer
| ence in 1905.
| But if Mr.. Roosevelt's activities in
| matters relating to foreign affairs
| were great, his activities in regard to
| internal problems were still greater.
The Department of Commerce and
Labor came into being during his adj
ministration. The activities of the
Department of Agriculture were
greatly broadened. Conservation prof.
ects were established. The pure food
law was enacted. The bureau of cor
porations was born to the new De-
partment of Commerce and Labor.
The Post Office Department widened
it's range of service through the ex-
tension of the rural free delivery and
the establishment of two-cent post
age between the United States and
| several foreign countries.
| The strenuous physical activities in
which Roosevelt engaged at the
White House included boxing. 1t was
not until about eight years after he
left the White House that it was dis
closed that during one of these bouts
| which he welcomed as a means of
keeping him in fighting trim, a blow
landed by sparring opponent in
jured one of the coloners eyes Later.
blindness of this eye developed.
In the later years of his life two