Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1919-02-08
COL. ROOSEVELT AS WE SAW HIM

putting it as delicatsly as possible. The
Colonel listened attentivels and when
Hard finished he calle,. to /: mutual |
political friend who happened to De |
passing the table and said. Come here |
and sit down. Bill Har,i has Just beer |
telling me that I have hardening Of
the mental srterles. What do you
he summed up bluntly the accusation
which Hard mad taken so much time
and care to express in polite language
But he enjoyed the criticism because it
was friendly and honest.
With other kinds of critics he had
other ways OF dealing. Once a lady of
advanced views went out to tackle
him at Oyster Bay on the subject OF
birth control. She was determined to
speak very frankly AMI shock the Col
onel into giving some thought to her
views. Not content with birth control
| she daringly touched On free love. a
terrific assault on the known respeeta-
bility Of Sycamore Hill. Tho Colonel
allowed her to discourse with great
| freedom, and then. beanning upon her
in his most delighted manner, he said:
My dear lady, you and I are practical
| " of one mind. The only difference
ried women to have cEiidlEn. You
want only the unmarried ones to have
them"
When America first entered the war
most people had an idea that our con-
tribution would be mainly a matter of
ships. munitions and nonef Roose-
Welt knew ard declared ar once that
we couldn't win the war without fight
ing. When niS services ard his divis-
ion were refused he and 5offre be-
tween them upset the plans of Baker
and the general staff WIZ were for
sending no troops over at al in 1917.
That point was made clear in the cor
respondence between Roosevelt and
Baker. The pressure of Roosevelt and
Joffre brought about change in poll
cy. But still Baker Was content to
ship q maximum of fifty thousand men
a month. The Colonel denounced such
a backward policy. But Baker thought
it proud achievement md persuaded
the senate committee that il was all
!; that could possibly be done with the
shipping at or command. Then came
the fatal Dist of March. 1915 when the
British Fifth army was destroyed and
Ut was Immediately found possibly tc
ship six times fifty thousand mer
. across in a month. The Colonel had
been right. We had only h"en making
a sixth part of our possible effort.
So again about Siberia, Roosevelt
believed thai interventiop by way o.
: Siberia (not Murmansy nr Archan.
! gell was possible. There was a strone
nti-bolshevist nucleus in Siberia ant
plenty of food. But we rcedei an al
S lied army of 200. 900 men CT whom a
= least $4,000 should have keeh Arneri
t can. And We iSeeded q leader with pc
8 litical as wei! as military ability
y Roosevelt called for 50 ot.n men as
maximum with Leonard Wond in com
= nan6. We sent about 1000 men wit
e a man utterly untried in internationa
d affairs in command. ResuIt.fa misera
y bic failure. The excuse was that W
{ hadn't the men or the ships for Roose
velt's plan unless we stdrved the west
ern front, Just the same sort of argu
S ment had been used against sending
= real army to France. Yet when tn
n emergency started us in the face an
e we were forced to act we found til
e men and the ships. The fact is tha
Il no one ever took the trouble even t
n look for the men and ships in the cas-
e Of the Siberian expedition. Certainl
: Mr.. Baker did not look for Wood. No
: when the futility of that Siberian e1
y petition is exposed Roosevelt is agai
y seen to have been right-B. J. Wight
d man in Metropolitan.