The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-07-12
Ry MARK SULLIVAN

by MARK SULLIVAN
WASHINGTON, July 12-In the
Saturday Evening Post, of Philadel-
phia, Herman Kohlsaat continues his
vivid narrative of American politics,
From Mckinley to Harding" The
most recent instalment, like all the
others, is enriched by reproductions
of letters and other documents, which,
to an exceptional degree, make this
narrative both convincing and enter
| tanning
But there is one word in Mr.. Kohl
saat's recent instalment as to which
am moved to wonder whether his
recollection may not have fallen into
natural mistake, a mistake which, if
| it is a mistake, calls especially for in
curry, because of the obvious anthem
| ticy of Mr.. Kohlsaat's narrative as a
whole
This instalment deals largely with
| Roosevelt-the Roosevelt of about
1899. Mr. Kohlsaat reproduces a con-
siderable number of letters and tele-
grams that Mr.. Roosevelt wrote. But
there is one passage in which Mr..
Kohlsaat trusts to his own memory of
what Roosevelt's words were in a con-
versation of more than twenty years
ago. In this passage Mr.. Kohlsaat
quotes Mr.. Roosevelt as saying of a
certain British ambassador: He was
damn fine fellow"
am led strongly to wonder whether
the word that Roosevelt used was not
darn" instead of damn" Darn" is
word that was often in Roosevelt's
mouth damn" | never heard him use.
am strongly disposed to believe that
Roosevelt rarely, or never-my own
recollection is neyer-used this word
nor any other word of the class com
monty described as profanity. In say,
ing this l am not trusting to recol-
| lection.
Emphatic Without Profanity
| 1t was a thing which l remarked at
| the time and which l frequently dis
| cussed with others. ] had a theoru
about the fact that Roosevelt never
used profanity, and it was so much in
my mind that if Roosevelt had ever
varied from the practice, l think
should have been likely to notice 1t
My theory was and is that Roosevelt
had such a rich vocabulary of EN-
phasis, partly of his own invention
and partly acquired from wide read
ing, that he did not need to use pro
family in order to make his thought
| forceful
| Here was a man who made, on an
entire generation, a worldwide i'm
preston of virility and rugged
strength, but did it without recourse
to profanity The richness of Roose
velts vocabulary was such that con
| nj would hoUn hpnn
weak substitute for the pungent words
with which he contrived to make
people understand what he was talk
ing about. A man who could inven
such phrases as elderly fuddy-dudd1
with sweetbread brains" (this was hi:
description in a private conversation
of a certain justice of the supreme
court with whom he was in temporary
Disagreement, and who could borrow
from Bunyan, or from Dickens, o.
from other classics, such words anC
phrases as "muckraker," "mollycod
die" "meddlesome Matte" and the
like-such a man did not need to fal
back upon profanity. 1t is only Ill
, educated men, men of small reading
or of ill-disciplined minds, or of MAJ
, ural incapacity for self-expresslon
who need to fall back on profanity II
make their emotions clear.
The writer has not, of course, an.
idea of merely using this occasion t
J preach a homily on taste in the u.s.
of words. But what does strike M
las important is that the Roosevel
: legend, which is just now coming int
: being, shall be accurate. There ar
plenty of persons still living who cal
testify whether or not Roosevelt
habitually or ever, used profanity
: This being So there is no use allow
: ing the Roosevelt legend, the pictur
which history is to have of him, t
he inaccurate.
Lincoln Legend Cloudy.
The Lincoln legend has been pei
, mitted to become cloudy. Some pei
sons say that Lincoln habitually toll
: stories whose point depended upon
I primitive, backwoods conception o
: humor. Some persons deny it. Il
D Roosevelt's case there is still time t
1 make the historical picture completed
L accurate. The tendency will be TO
: the world to imagine that Roosevelt
e was violent swearer People thin
q this goes with his qualities of strength
4 Iforthrightness, and plains pokenness.
There was the same tendency t
) think that a man of such energy an
3 such many-sided activity must be
p drinking man. That particular legen
r about Roosevelt, which got abroa
during his lifetime, he succeeded i
\ squelching for all time by means
!. the libel suit he prosecuted against
G / Michigan small-town publisher VIII
= ventured to put the assertion in prin
;. The records of that law suit settle 70
!, all time the question whether Roos'
Il Welt was a drinking man or not. I'll
cidentally, it happens that, at the tins
Roosevelt told the present writer thi
| was his chief purpose in bringing ths
| libel suit; he said that he wanted tn
J record on this point made clear for a
time, and made some allusion to tn
same sort of thing have already sal
. here about the confusion attendin
L some aspects of Lincoln's personality
d. 1t is not unnatural that anyone, a
Y tempting to repeat Roosevelts eXat
words from distant memory, shout
d think he adopted profanity as near
of emphasis when, in fact he did no
The mistake is the easy one of a
tributing to him a form of expressio
: which seemed to go with the veher
5 ence of his manner a form OF EXPIRE